Indian-film Fans Pack Rockland Theater By KHURRAM SAEED THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: Dec. 15, 2001) SPRING VALLEY — They first heard about the movie a year ago, their enthusiasm progressively heightened with tidbits on the Web, the release of the soundtrack a month ago, and trailers teasingly revealing what was to come. Most of the 600 people who packed Maveli Twin Cinema last night had reserved their seats in advance and arrived long before the 9 p.m. showtime. They weren't there to see "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" but the premiere of arguably the most hyped and anticipated Indian film ever made. "Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham," which loosely translates into "Some Happiness, Some Sorrow" in Hindi, features an all-star cast surrounding Amitabh Bachchan, the most popular actor in Indian cinematic history. It is by far the most expensive Indian movie ever produced — although at $10 million, it is very modest by Hollywood standards — and is expected to shatter the box-office record for an Indian film distributed throughout North America. "For our business and the Indian film industry, this film is as big as Harry Potter," said Jawahar Sharma of Yash Raj Films, head of U.S. and Canada operations for "Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham," or K3G. Nestled in a mall across Spring Valley High School on Kennedy Drive, Maveli Twin Cinema has been part of the subcultural phenomenon for the past three years. The movie theater shows films in three Indian languages — Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam — six days a week and is the only theater of its kind in the northern suburbs. Its audience primarily comes from Rockland and Westchester, which have about 20,000 Asian Indians between them, but also as far away as Hartford, Connecticut, and Poughkeepsie, said Jacob Roy, the theater's owner. A bad Hollywood movie can easily hang around in the theater for a month. Not so at Maveli. The Indian movie has a week to prove itself. If it survives, it may get another week's run. A truly popular movie makes it to a month. Theater manager Rajan Moses is optimistic that K3G, which checks in at 3 hours and 30 minutes, will measure up to its advance billing. "People were asking about the movie four months ago," Moses said. "People are eager to watch it. It'll be here for two months." To broaden its appeal amongst younger audience members, who may not have a firm command of Hindi, the theater ordered a print of the film with English subtitles. K3G tells the story of an obscenely rich family that is tight-knit but seldom get to meet each other in person. While the star cast and catchy soundtrack (almost every Bollywood film is a musical) assures its success in India. Yash Raj Films expects K3G to break North American box-office records for an Indian film set just three years ago, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai." That movie, also a love story starring two actors, whom are appearing in K3G, made $2.1 million and stayed on screen for 12 weeks. Yash Raj Films is also counting on a longer run and more money, upwards of $3 million, which, Jawahar Sharma said, is comparable to "Harry Potter money." For many South Asians these days, their mantra will be "Hooray for Bollywood!"

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