I don't care about who has financed the film, I have come here for Salman Khan and entertainment - in that order

Secretary Ramona Fernandes

In south Bombay's Eros theatre, opposite Churchgate station, all shows for the film - which is about a love triangle involving a man and two women - were sold out until Tuesday in the first few hours.

Heavy advance booking for the film - Chori Chori Chupke Chupke - in cinemas across Bombay ensured that the controversial film became a commercial success on the day of its release.

Amongst those who watched the film on the first day were scores of policemen in different cinemas of the city as ultra-nationalist Hindu activists of the right-wing Shiv Sena and Vishva Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) had threatened to disrupt screenings.

They say that the film was financed by Indian gangsters close to the Pakistan secret service.

Minor protests

But there were only some minor protests - including in India's capital city, Delhi where the police arrested a group of Shiv Sena activists demonstrating outside a cinema.

Bharat Shah: Charged with illegal financing

"I don't care about who has financed the film. I have come here for Salman Khan and entertainment. In that order, " said Ramona Fernandes, secretary in a media firm who was at Eros to catch the film's first showing.

The reaction of other film enthusiasts was along similar lines.

'Underworld' funds

Chori Chori Chupke Chupke was due for release in December last year - but got delayed first because of the arrest of the film's producer, Nazeem Rizvi, and then the film's financier and president of the Indian diamond merchant's association, Bharat Shah.

Both were arrested on charges that they were using underworld or slush funds to finance the song and dance musical which stars some of the biggest stars in Bollywood - including Salman Khan, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee.

Both Shah and Rizvi - who have been booked under a special anti-Mafia act by the police and are still to be released on bail - have denied police charges.

There is another interesting twist to this saga.

The commercial success of the film could be good news for the state government.

A special court hearing on the involvement of the underworld in its funding has ruled that until the case is settled, all box office proceeds should go to the state treasury.