When 'Raajneeti' had released last summer, it was Prakash Jha's tenth film and had done the kind of business which was much bigger than the combined footfalls of his last nine films. That was indeed an accomplishment for Jha who does have commercially successful films like 'Apaharan' and 'Gangaajal' to his credit. All eyes are now on whether 'Aarakshan' would be able to surpass this feat as well.

"Audience won't be expecting anything lesser from him this time around since 'Aarakshan' too boasts of a huge starcast, scale and a topical subject," says a trade source, "Also, the current season has been pretty much favourable to Bollywood with five super hits in a row. It would be quite surprising it 'Aarakshan' doesn't embark on a very

positive note. Also, the film has three open weeks for itself since 'Bodyguard' is the competition in sight and that arrives only on Eid."

Meanwhile the man at the hot seat, Prakash Jha, is positive that his latest film on the issue of reservation would do quite well due to its emotional subject. Smiles Jha, "In the film, emotions are at the core of it all while characters too are very well defined."

When asked whether he believed that 'Aarakshan' would become bigger than 'Raajneeti' commercially as well, Jha responds diplomatically, "See, when you make a movie you don't think about the pressure of delivering a hit bigger than your last flick; you can just hope that you have made a better film."

'Aarakshan' releases all over this Friday.