Tom Hanks plays symbologist Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code, releasing on Friday

With four days to go for decoding day at the theatres, clamour for The Da Vinci Code has reached fever pitch at the bookstores.

With the much-awaited film adaptation of the Dan Brown bestseller hitting the halls this Friday amidst controversy and craze, book sales have been going through the retail roof in town.

So, before Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou crack the celluloid code, Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu rule from the pages of the book, revolving around a murder at the Louvre Museum.

?There has been a rise of almost 50 per cent in the book sales ever since news about the movie release started filtering in,? says Sidharth Pansari of Crossword. ?For such adapted films, people want to go prepared to the theatres. And even those who have read it before are brushing up their Da Vinci facts.?

The Elgin Road store ? a shout away from INOX (Forum) ? will also be hosting a special screening of Unlocking Da Vinci?s Code: The Full Story, a one-and-a-half-hour National Geographic documentary dissecting fact and fiction in the Dan Brown book, on the eve of the film?s release.

From Elgin Road to Lord Sinha Road, Landmark has had to order a fresh Da Vinci lot to meet the ever-rising reader demand.

?This is just the start, once the film releases more people will be motivated to buy the book,? feels Gautam Jatia, CEO of Landmark. ?While the main book has been selling really well, there is also a lot of interest in the other publications which The Da Vinci Code has spawned. People are even buying the Fodor?s travel guide about the places mentioned in the book.?

The picture on Park Street is no different. Cracking The Da Vinci Code and The Dan Brown Companion occupy pride of place on the front table at Oxford Bookstore. Four other titles, like The Real History Behind Da Vindi Code, are also in stock.

?The hype is huge. We have never seen such levels of curiosity about a work of fiction,? admitted S.G. Motwani at the store.

Oxford is even planning a panel discussion on the book and the movie once The Da Vinci Code settles down at the city theatres.

?This, of course, is an important film for us and we are looking forward to the May 19 release,? says Vikramjit Roy, publicity manager of Sony Pictures Releasing India, the distributors of the Code in the country.

The hot haunts, Friday onwards, would be Nandan, Globe, Priya and INOX (Forum and City Centre). ?Talks are on with the other multiplexes also and we should have up to seven prints of the movie playing in Calcutta,? reveals east India distributor Arijit Dutta.