Emraan ecstatic as Jannat matches Race opening

The team of Jannat can't believe it.

Their film has taken an opening which, as per prominent distributors and trade insiders, is at par with that of this year's biggest success Race. In the process, it has supposedly also matched the records set by Welcome, the biggest hit ever of Akshay Kumar.

"Yeah man, I can't believe the kind of numbers which are being thrown in front me", exclaims Emraan who has been promoting his film non-stop across the sub-continent', "People from Bhatt saab's office and other distributors have been sending congratulating notes about the huge opening that Jannat has taken. After Awarapan, on which I was really banking a lot, this success is pretty timely and has acted as a shot in the arm."

Kunal Deshmukh, the first time director reaffirms, "I was there in Kolkata yesterday for the film's premiere and the response there had to be seen to be believed. Especially so, since yesterday there was an IPL match in the city and still people were thronging the theater in a big way."

"Can you believe it that it took us almost an hour to even get away from the theater once the show ended", says a visibly thrilled Emraan, "There were a couple of thousand of people inside the theatre and on the road and it was quite some challenge to get the car out of that place. Of course, I didn't mind this at all. I was charged to see the way crowds were reacting."

Talking about his Pakistan premiere experience, Emraan added, "The moment I reached the venue I was shocked to see as many as 500 odd reporters/journalists out there. For a theater with a capacity of 1500 people, there were 2500 watching the film. They were seated all over on aisles and floors. It was surreal to say the least."

Tell Kunal that though reviews have ranged from average to very good, no one has thrashed Jannat and he laughs, "Thanks goodness for that. It is quite important to see how your first film is received. Yup, critics have been overall fair though you can't stop them from nitpicking. A couple of them feel that Jannat should have spoken more about match fixing. Arrey yaar, it is entirely the team's prerogative on what story it wants to tell. One should comment on what the film 'is' rather than what it 'should' be!"

On his performance being unanimously acclaimed, Emraan says, "That's quite reassuring actually. Now I want box office success to be coupled with good reviews as well. After an opening like this, I am looking forward to how audience continues to react on the weekdays. We have taken up a big challenge of fighting it out with the IPL and we better carry on the momentum now."