EYE CANDY: Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in the latest Bollywood blockbuster, Dhoom 2

The big Bollywood year just keeps getting bigger. From Rang De Basanti to Fanaa to Krrish to KANK to Don, it has been a barrage of blockbusters at the box-office. And now comes the biggest film of them all.

With 1,200-plus prints worldwide, Dhoom 2 this Friday will become the widest Bollywood release ever. Opening at 70 theatres, the Yash Raj Films production will also be the biggest release in Bengal. “I am handling 127 prints in Bengal, Bihar and Assam. Such numbers are unheard of in our trade,” says east India distributor Pritam Jalan.

But unlike other cities like Mumbai and Delhi, where multiplexes are ready to run up to 15 D2 shows daily, the Calcutta strategy is to divide the business between standalone theatres and plexes. “There are only going to be six to eight shows a day at the four multiplexes, plus Menoka, Hind, Elite...” adds Jalan. “If the first week goes full, we are looking at a record gross collection of Rs 3.5 crore.”

D2 is, of course, not only the sequel to the 2004 bike blockbuster Dhoom, it also boasts a galaxy of stars — Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu.

“We have had inquiries and block-booking requests for the past three months, ever since the first teaser was screened with Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna,” says Vikas Syal, general manager of INOX (Forum). “The hype around the movie is unprecedented and we plan to cash in on it by running a lot of contests and giving away movie merchandise.”

The ticket prices for Dhoom 2 at the plexes during the weekends should go up to a maximum of Rs 250, a high point already touched by KANK. The standalone theatres haven’t upped ticket prices, with Rs 120 being the balcony rates for a weekend watch of the Sanjay Gadhvi film.

“We had gone up to Rs 150 for KANK but that was a mature film for grown-up audiences, while Dhoom 2 is for the young and we don’t want to take the ticket prices beyond them,” reveals Pranab Roy, owner of Menoka. “The inquiries have been mostly from school and college kids.”

The first two weeks will be crucial for the high-octrane, 150-minute action adventure ride. Says Prashant Shrivastava, vice-president of 89 Cinemas (Swabhumi): “While there is no other release on November 24 and no big release on December 1, Baabul with Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Salman Khan, John Abraham and Rani Mukherjee will arrive in a big way on December 8.”

By then, box-office history might already be created.