It has been dubbed by trade 'pundits' as the clash of the titans with the 'charisma' and stardom' of the 'Baadshah of Bollywood' Shahrukh Khan vying for 'audiences' eyeballs' with the cinematic brilliance of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and the youthful freshness and fervour of star debutants Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor.

However, in the unprecedented frenzy in film trade circles caused by the simultaneous release today of Farah Khan's 'Om Shanti om' and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Saawariya', it is the film industry and the trade - the distributors and the exhibitors - who are the ultimate gainers.

For, the "mad craze" to watch the charming Shahrukh Khan and the ethereal Deepika Padukone in 'Om Shanti Om' and endearing Ranbir and Sonam setting the big screen ablaze in 'Saawariya' has, after a huge period of lull at the box office, sent the cash registers of the distributors and exhibitors jingling, even before its release across the world today. Thanks to the hype surrounding 'Saawariya' and 'Om Shanti Om', the housefull boards in cinema halls, a rare sight for quite some time now, are back. Advance bookings for both 'Om Shanti om' and 'Saawariya' have witnessed a tremendous rush in the run up to their release, trade sources say.

Considering that the last few years saw the trend of rush in advance bookings running out of vogue, barring a few films like 'Kkrish' and 'Dhoom 2', the rush for advance bookings for 'Om Shanti Om' and 'Saawariya' is a sign of good tidings for Bollywood, analysts say.

In Delhi, for instance, tickets for the opening weekend were sold out in many theatres as soon as the advance booking opened on Monday. This was the case both in single-screen theatres as well as multiplexes. This, despite the fact that many multiplexes in Delhi are running 'Om Shanti om' and 'Saawariya' in about eight to ten shows a day.

In Surat, advance booking for 'Saawariya' in two cinema halls opened last Friday instead of this Monday due to huge anticipation for the film among cinegoers. Huge queues were witnessed for advance booking with tickets worth Rs four lakh being sold out on the first day of the advance booking itself.

Trade analysts say, the huge levels of public curiosity for the two films is something one has not witnessed for a long time now.

Among the two films, 'Om Shanti Om' banks largely on the star power of Shahrukh Khan, who has a huge fan following in India as well as abroad moreso in the wake of the stupendous success of Shimit Amin's 'Chak De India' where Shahrukh played the role of a hockey coach 'Kabir Khan' who leads the Indian women's hockey team to a World Cup win.

The success of 'Chak De India' has seen Shahrukh and the actresses playing the role of women hockey players ride a huge popularity wave across the country. No wonder, post-'Chak De', Shahrukh is at the crest of his popularity, having proved his mettle with an unconventional role in 'Chak De India'.

What has further fuelled the curiosity of the cinegoing public is the six-pack abs that Shahrukh is said to have developed for his character in the movie'Om Shanti Om'. The desire to witness on the big screen the 'muscular' avatar of the 'Badshah Khan' is bound to bring audiences to the theatres, analysts feel.

--- UNI