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Santhosh Chandran
Doha
THE much-talked about and reportedly the highest-grossing Indian film of all time, 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion', a sequel to the 2015 epic 'Baahubali: The Beginning', has evoked a tremendous response from audience in Qatar.
Not only Indians and other South Asian expatriates, but a large number of Qataris, other Arabs and even Europeans are watching the film at multiplexes and other cinema theatres, sources told Qatar Tribune.
According to a Q-Tickets official, Qataris were the second largest community watching the film after Indians as per their data records while Arabs came third, so far. It is noteworthy that Q-Tickets constitutes 86 percent of online sale of film tickets in Qatar.
Qatari national and an avid Indian film lover Ahmed Abdulla Mohannadi said after watching the film:"Indian films have always been my favourite especially because of its colourful canvas. I had watched and loved 'Baahubali 1' for its grand and colourful sets and was eagerly waiting for its second part. As expected, 'Baahubali 2' is also an exciting mix of technology and art."
Sources said that despite having over 60 screenings until Friday since its release, the Rs450 crore budget film which has already collected $131 million worldwide, is still witnessing packed shows at theatres.
An employee of City Centre Cinema said that he had not seen such a rush for any movie in the last six years of his job."What is surprising is that the audience constitutes even European and Arab residents, which creates a festival like atmosphere at the theatre," he said.
An official of Ibin Ajayan Projects that manages the four cinema halls at Asian Town said:"Altogether, 17 screenings of 'Baahubali 2' took place at the four cinema halls at Asian Town last weekend and all the shows were houseful. Many families also came to watch the movie."
He added:"The film's availability in four languages Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam has widened its reach to the audience. While Malayalam and Tamil versions of the film are widely watched by film loving expatriates from South India and Sri Lanka, expatriates from north India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh prefer to watch the Hindi version of the film. Seeing the overwhelming response of people toward the film, we expect another houseful week at the theatres, this week."
It is worth mentioning here that the film directed by Rajamouli and starring Prabhas, Ramya Krishnan and Anushka Shetty will soon be released in Japanese and Chinese languages.
A Nepali expatriate said:"I have watched the movie twice and now I plan to watch the Telugu version of the film."
An Asian Town Cinema employee working in the ticketing division said:"A large number of single workers were not able to watch the film last week, because most of the tickets were booked online in advance. So, we expect them at theatres leading to another houseful week for the mega film."
