Will viewers splurge Rs.900 to watch 'Dhoom 3'?

As "Dhoom 3" readies to make its stylised entry at the Indian box office Friday, it seems that it will not just impact audiences visually but financially as well.

If that is not enough, the film is expected to make waves in Pakistan too.

As the film's release draws closer, the IMAX screens have set their prices at Rs.400-600 for the morning shows and Rs.700-900 for the night shows, according to their official website.

For a family of five, watching "Dhoom 3" could thus mean an expenditure of Rs.4,500, sans any coke and popcorn!

The prices might seem extravagant and uneconomical for a middle class family but advance booking status on the website shows that the seats are filling up fast and have even been sold out at places.

This might be the status for IMAX screens but others are keeping the ticket price affordable. The cost of tickets in multiplexes ranges between Rs.300-Rs.400.

The prices in New Delhi seem to be lesser than those in Mumbai and range between Rs.200-Rs.250, with the exception of a few theatres where the prices have gone upto Rs.500.

Smaller cities like Chandigarh and Jaipur fall in the average price range of Rs.150-Rs.400. However, there are also places like the Gaiety Galaxy theatre in Bandra here where you can enjoy Aamir Khan's grey character in the action thriller at reasonable rates.

"All the theatres might have been taking advantage of the release of 'Dhoom 3', but we at Gaiety Galaxy have made it a point to not increase the rate. Our ticket prices remain consistent at Rs.70-Rs.90," said Manoj Desai of Gaiety Galaxy.

Desai added that the weekend is already pre-booked and he is expecting an identical pattern in the following week as well.

Produced under the Yash Raj Films (YRF) banner and directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, the film boasts of a starry cast with Aamir in a new avatar - he will be seen as a gymnast.

Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra will reprise their roles of Jai Dixit and Ali from the last two "Dhoom" movies and Katrina Kaif will enhances the glamour quotient as the female lead in the movie, which will be Bollywood's first film to be released in the IMAX format, a specialised film format.

The 2D film is already being appreciated for the stunts featured in the trailer and especially the bike scenes featuring Aamir.

Trade analyst Amod Mehra predicts that the film will surpass the collections of previous blockbusters.

"Reality check.. Mark my words...'Dhoom 3' will cross Rs.100 crore in the first three days and it will also cross Rs.200 crore in the first seven days," Mehra said in post on Twitter Wednesday.

Raising the bar of pre-release promotions, the makers have also come up with innovative advertisements with tag lines reading - "It's Dhoom day...Are you bunking college today".

Not only is the film expected to flourish in India, it will also see a release in Pakistan.