Venkatesh-Ram's 'Masala' Gearing up for Worldwide Release on 14 November

Venkatesh-Ram Pothineni's Telugu film "Masala" is all set for a grand worldwide release on 14 November.

According to reports, "Masala" is expected to release in approximately 600 screens in Andhra Pradesh. The film is likely to take a good opening on the first day of its release, considering that the film has a big star like Venkatesh.

The pre-release buzz for the film is positive, which is expected to ensure that the film registers good theatre occupancy despite releasing on a week day. Although the film is having a solo release on 14 November, it will face competition from the Telugu version of "Pizza 2-Villa", which will be hitting screens on 15 November. Directed by Deepan Chakravarthi, "Pizza 2" is a sequel to 2012-hit film "Pizza."

The film is carrying positive reports prior to its release. It might give out a tough competition to "Masala", a remake of Hindi film "Bol Bachchan", starring Abhishek Bachchan and Ajay Devgn. The Hindi version, directed by Rohit Shetty of "Chennai Express" fame, was a big hit at the box office.

"Masala" is expected to achieve similar success upon its release. The film, directed by Vijaya Bhaskar, will have Venkatesh reprising Ajay Devgn's role and Ram will play Abhishek's character from the original. The romantic-comedy entertainer will also have Anjali and Shazahn Padamsee as the female leads.

The film, reportedly made on a budget of ₹35 crore, is co-produced by Daggubati Suresh Babu and Sravanthi Ravi Kishore. Its music is composed by Thaman of "Ramayya Vastavayya" fame.

"Masala" would be Venkatesh's third release of the year after "Seethama Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu" (SVSC) and "Shadow." It will be the second film for Ram (this year) after "Ongole Githa." The actor has had two back-to-back flops in the last 18 months. It remains to be seen if Ram will be able to halt his flop streak with the release of "Masala."