Ghai confident 'Yaadein' will be a hit

India's king of popular cinema, Subhash Ghai, is confident his latest film, Yaadein (Memories), with muscled heartthrob Hrithik Roshan, will be a hit – even before it opens at the box office.

The veteran director says the first release by his company, Mukta Arts Ltd, since it went public last September, has covered production costs and the advance booking has been overwhelming in theatres all over India.

The movie – Ghai's first in two years – premieres in Delhi, Mumbai, New York and London this week and has already won glowing reviews. "Ghai's Yaadein has all it takes to make a hit," the editor of Film Information, Komal Nahta, wrote in the latest issue. The film, he added, would "sweep womenfolk off their feet".

One young computer professional who had a sneak preview of the movie was less enthusiastic. "I did not like the film. Some scenes were completely unrealistic and the story was very predictable," he said, though he did praise the performances of Roshan and fellow male star Jackie Shroff.

Ghai, chairman and managing director of Mukta Arts, India's only listed film production firm, has said that the $3.8 million film dealt with fundamental human issues. "Yaadein should do very well because it has all the qualities people like – sincerity and emotion," Ghai said. "I'm told the bookings have broken all records."

Yaadein is the tale of a father, played by Shroff, who is best known for action man roles, and his difficult relationship with his three teenage daughters. "It's a message from children to parents not to try to run their lives," Ghai said.

The light-eyed Roshan, a smash hit in his debut film last January, plays the son of a rich family who falls in love with one of the daughters, Bollywood sensation Kareena Kapoor.

The director, famous for his brief appearances in his films in the style of Alfred Hitchcock, has an impressive track record over his 25-year career with all but two of the 14 films he has directed box-office successes.

"People say Hrithik has acted better than all his previous films in Yaadein," said the director, who likes foreign locations, big budgets and lilting music. He described Kareena as an "instinctive, powerful actress".

Ghai said the sentimental love story, produced at a cost of Rs180 million ($3.8 million), had made Rs220 million before its release.