Movie buffs at Sujata Cinema in Ranchi on Friday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Aug. 8: Take a break from the desi version of Fear Factor and watch the khiladi in a new avatar.

Singh Is Kinng ran to full houses in city theatres today.

The movie is being screened in three city theatres Meenakshi, Sujata and the multiplex Eylex.

“In the movie both Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar have entertained us the like Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone did in Om Shanti Om. After Namsatey London and Welcome, this romantic comedy will definitely make a new record this year,” said Vikram Kumar, a third-year student of St Xavier’s College.

Another BIT, Mesra, management student Sukant Shandilya, who had booked tickets a week in advance, loved the shots in Egypt.

“Pritam’s music is mind blowing, too. It’s going to be a big musical hit of the year,” Kapoor said.

However, the movie did not escape controversies. The Delhi Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee wanted to stop the release after they learnt Akshay was wearing an artificial turban, which was also not wrapped in the traditional way. “But the scene where Akshay was wearing the turban has been deleted,” Shandilya said.

Euphoria gripped the capital since advance bookings opened. “We got calls through the week. After Om Shanti Om this is the first movie for which we had to work over time,” said the manager of Eylex, Deepak Choudhary.

The multiplex was almost 70 per cent booked in advance. “While the weekend show is almost 80 per cent full. The tickets for today’s show were priced at Rs 120 and Rs 150 for gold and platinum seats, respectively. But the price for weekend has been increased to Rs 130 and Rs 160, respectively,” Choudhary said.

Today, Eylex screened 10 shows but from tomorrow 11 shows will be shown.

Meanwhile, Dushyant Jaiswal, the owner of Sujata Cinema, said they sold 60 per cent of their tickets in advance.

“We have booked the tickets till Thursday. Today’s shows were housefull,” he added.

A retired government employee, R.P. Sinha, who came to watch the show with his wife at Sujata Cinema, said he loved the movie and the title.

“When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won confidence vote in Parliament, news channels called him Sinngh is King! It feels good that movie makers are coming up with the innovative ideas and titles,” Sinha said.

While Paramjeet Singh, the secretary of Ranchi Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, said the movie is running successfully in all the cinema halls. “We have not received any complaints so far,” Singh added.