The new recipe for a Bollywood blockbuster: marinate lots of big stars, add a dash of peppy chartbusters, garnish it with a small screen promo blitz, squeeze in as many shows as possible over the first weekend and serve up a hit.

Weekend winner is the new mantra of tinsel town and city multiplexes are more than happy to keep pace. Parineeta, Paheli, Sarkar, Dus, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya? the formula has worked so well that cineplexes from south Calcutta to Salt Lake have doubled the number of shows for a new release and opened bookings seven days in advance.

?It started with Veer-Zaara, when Yash Raj grabbed almost all screens in the opening weekend,? says Prashant Srivastava of 89 Cinemas. ?Now, with big-budget releases every week, it has become vital to strike it rich in the first three days before another biggie comes in next Friday.?

The number of shows of a new film has gone up to five or even six a day, a far cry from the two or three screenings earlier. What?s more, the Wednesday rush for a Friday ticket is a fading flashback, with first-day-first-show seats up for grabs the preceding Sunday.

?While all shows may not be running house full, we are making up with the added number of shows,? says Subhashish Ganguly, general manager of INOX (City Centre). ?And with advances opening three days early, we are pre-selling as much as possible.?

So, ?instant hits? are no longer dependent on content or word-of-mouth publicity and making a killing before the Monday morning blues can set in. Proof: Dus threw a success party within five days of its release, even though the occupancy percentage dropped radically after the first Sunday.

?A good start these days is 75 per cent of the battle won,? says trade analyst Komal Nahta from Mumbai. ?Almost one-fourth of the production cost is recovered in the first three days and together with satellite rights, overseas earnings and music sales, you can break even in that period.?

Like all smart formulas, this one, too, has a flip side. Says distributor and exhibitor Arijit Dutta: ?If the film doesn?t open well for some reason, the producer can lose a lot of money because of the extra costs incurred for more number of prints ordered. But it?s a gamble worth taking and making the most of the first weekend is fast becoming a global trend.?

No wonder, the advance ticket counter has emerged as a busier hub than the current window. ?When a consumer is coming out after watching a new film on Sunday, he already has the option of booking a seat for the next release,? adds Srivastava from 89 Cinemas. ?So, watching a new film every week is becoming a habit.?