November 20, 2007

Shah Rukh Khan tops Diwali box-office

HOLLYWOOD (19 November 2007) - When "Om Shanti Om" star Shah Rukh Khan vowed that his pic would open bigger than rival "Saawariya" during the Hindu holiday of Diwali, many Bollywood fans thought he was just talking smack.

"Diwali is all mine," the Bollywood star -- nicknamed King Khan -- boasted at a Nov. 8 event in Mumbai.

"'Saawariya' may be a wonderful film, but I have not been sitting on my hands these past 17 years," he said, reminding listeners that his films took the top spot at the B.O. during prior Diwali weekends.

And when the numbers were tallied, Khan was proved right.

His Eros Intl. release took the top berth at the overseas box office last weekend with $17 million -- beating Sony's "Saawariya," which collected $15.5 million, and even topping Tom Cruise's "Lions for Lambs," which came in third with $10.3 million.
'Saawariya' is a Bollywood film released by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and has thus become the first Indian movie to be co-produced and distributed by a Hollywood production house. The story tells of a lonely guy who spends his days and nights locked in his apartment. He gets a new lease on life when he meets a mysterious woman on one of his rare sojourns outside. Over the next four nights, the couple meet up and quickly fall in love.

'Om Shanti Om' is the latest Bollywood film directed by Farah Khan. n the 1970s, Om, an aspiring actor, is murdered, but is immediately reincarnated into the present day. He attempts to discover the mystery of his demise and find Shanti, the love of his previous life.

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