The special advance preview of Eros International’s “Cheeni Kum” at Empire Leicester Square, London, received an overwhelming response yesterday.

The cast & crew present at the preview were led by Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal, R Balakrishnan, the director, and Sunil Manchanda, the producer.

The fully packed cinema of 1300 people gave a standing ovation when Mr. Bachchan and the rest of the Cheeni Kum team were introduced to the expectant audience.

Eros International is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year and Andrew Heffernan, CFO, Eros International, started by thanking the audience for their continued support in taking Indian cinema to the world.

Cheeni Kum, which translates into “Less Sugar”, is a romantic comedy with a large helping of humour. It is based on the relationship of 64-year old Buddhadev Gupta, a chef obsessed with his restaurant and culinary skills, and 34-year old Nina Verma, who walks into Buddha’s restaurant and his life with a twist. With intriguing characters in the garb of Nina’s Gandhian father (Paresh Rawal), who will not accept a son-in-law 6 years younger than him, Buddha’s sweet but quirky mother (Zohra Sehgal) and his 9-going-on-90 year old child mentor, Cheeni Kum is a through and through family entertainment.

The film drew loud cheers of appreciation from the audience and was very well received by press and public alike. Attached are some glimpses of the excitement at the event.

Cheenil Kum received rave reviews at the world premiere at Cannes Film Festival on 21^st May. The film is releasing in cinemas worldwide on Friday, 25^th May.