ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Mediocre films fail to create fireworks at box office

    Mediocre films fail to create fireworks at box office

    MUMBAI: The pre-Diwali period being the worst in the calendar for new films to release, it used to see re-runs or dubbed films in the old days. Now, there is a horde of nondescript films releasing which, otherwise, would not get playtime at multiplexes. Last week saw a number of such films releasing, all to disastrous results. All of them faced the ‘no audience, no show’ status. 

     

    For Charlie Ke Chakkar Main, Naseeruddin Shah was the only USP, whereas the rest were a total at loss for the viewers. The film about a cop investigating into a drug hijack case, decides to be complicated and loses track. Shah in top billing is no help thereafter and the film performs poorly. The film has collected about Rs 70 lakh for its opening weekend.

     

    Four Pillars Of Basement, a poor adaptation of the Hollywood film P2, is lost in transition to such an extent, it is insufferable. Despite being based on just two characters hogging the footage, it’s them, these two untalented characters and the makers’ lack of qualification that sinks the film in the first place. The film is very poor with just about Rs 15 lakh to show for its first weekend.

     

    Ranbanka, another UP Baahubali film comes a cropper. Such cases don’t even merit a paragraph coverage in urban newspapers, what would justify a feature film on such themes? The film managed a poor Rs 25 lakh for the weekend.

     

    Yaara Silly Silly is another loser with collection of around Rs 40 lakh for its opening weekend.

     

    The last week faced the same situation as the only hope of the week, Main Aur Charles, boasting of a saleable star cast and decent promotion, failed badly. The film had a below par weekend of Rs 3.65 crore and just about managed to hold on as it finished its first week with approximately Rs 5.6 crore.

     

    Titli, the other release, produced by Dibakar Bannerjee and marketed by Yash Raj Films, fared poorly. The film managed to collect merely Rs 1.6 crore in its first week. 

     

    Guddu Ki Gun collected Rs 1.9 crore in its first week. 

     

    Shaandaar collected Rs 2.1 crore in its second week taking its two week tally to Rs 39 crore.

     

    Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 has collected Rs 6.8 crore in its third week to take its two week total to Rs 58.7 crore. The film is super hit.

  • Producer Gaurang Doshi signs Anees Bazmee & Abbas Mustan for two films

    Producer Gaurang Doshi signs Anees Bazmee & Abbas Mustan for two films

    MUMBAI: Producer Gaurang Doshi, who has previously produced films like the Amitabh Bachchan starrerAankhen (2002) and Deewaar: Let’s Bring Our Heroes Home (2004), has now signed directors Anees Bazmee and Abbas-Mustan for his upcoming projects.

     

    While Bazmee will be helming  a slick, big-budget, heist caper, Abbas-Mustan’s project is being touted as a never-seen-before adventure action romance with elements of spook.

     

    Doshi said, “I always wanted to work with these directors and there couldn’t be a better genre, better cast and better scripts for these projects!”

     

    However, Doshi is tight-lipped about the cast of the films. “What’s the fun in knowing everything all at once? The big announcement shall happens soon,” he signs off.

  • Film artists and intellectuals march to Rashtrapati Bhavan, decry charges of India becoming intolerant

    Film artists and intellectuals march to Rashtrapati Bhavan, decry charges of India becoming intolerant

    New Delhi, 7 November: A large number of filmmakes, intellectuals and artists led by vetran actor Anupam Kher – who had earlier questioned the logic of returning awards – today marched in Rajpath to Rashtrapati Bhavan to counter the protests by those who have been alleging “rising intolerance”.

     

    Kher said the “award-wapsi” campaign was to defame the country by projecting a “wrong” picture of the situation.

    A small delegation which also included Madhur Bhandarkar and some others presented a memorandum in this regard at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also meeting a small delegation this evening from amongst those who came for the march.

     

    “India is a very tolerant country. Some people have coined the term ‘growing intolerance’. They are very few. Not every Indian thinks like that. We are secular people. We do not believe in pseudo-secularism, selective outrage or selective patriotism,” Kher, whose wife Kirron is a Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament. 

     

    “We had a meeting with a lot of writers, artistes, filmmakers and they also believe that there is no intolerance in the country… This march is a symbolic gesture on part of a lot of people over here who say India is one and free of intolerance,” the 60-year-old said.

     

    Many filmmakers and artistes from the fraternity including Madhur Bhandarkar, Ashoke Pandit, Priyadarshan, Manoj Joshi, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, actor-director Bijoya Jena and writer Madhu Kishwar joined the march to hand over a memorandum signed by more than 40 personalities including actress Raveena Tandon.

     

    Bhandarkar, a National Award winner, alleged that those involved in the protest over intolerance had opposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi before he was elected, which raised questions about their intention.

     

    Kher asserted that they were not associated with any organisation or political party. “This march is led by Indians and for Indians.”

     

    Film-maker Priyadarshan said the act of returning the awards is “childish”. He said these people should use the power of pen. Instances of intolerance have always been there. It is not something that happened yesterday. 

     

    Shah Rukh Khan never said he is returning his award, Priyadarshan said, but he said he disapproved of those critical of Khan who had said that there was extreme intolerance in the country.

    The march also saw some disgruntled voices. Some National Award winning filmmakers and actresses who did not want to be named told indiantelevision.com that tjey felt let down because it was initially meant to be a march of ntellectual National Award Winners and not an Anupam Kher march.

     

     

    At least 75 members of the intelligentsia have returned national or literary awards in an escalation of protests by writers, historians, filmmakers and scientists over “growing intolerance”, voicing fears that the country’s robust democracy might be “coming apart” in the current atmosphere.

     

    The BJP-led government has dismissed the protest as “manufactured rebellion” and “politically” motivated.

    “Nobody has the right to call our country intolerant. We are secular people and don’t believe in selective outrage,” Mr Kher said this morning. “I have right to go to the President and say that we don’t feel India is intolerant. These talks can’t happen only on twitter/ Facebook, they need a personal presence,” the actor has said.

     

    The march follows the decision of a host of filmmakers, including Dibakar Banerjee and Anand Patwardhan, as well as writers and historians to raise voice against the rising intolerance under the BJP-led government and to return various government awards and honors. 

  • ‘Four Pillars Of Basement:’ Intolerable

    ‘Four Pillars Of Basement:’ Intolerable

    There’s a huge basement parking lot with scores of pillars. The film is copied almost frame to frame from a 2007 Hollywood psycho thriller, P2. The prime reason to copy P2 would seem to be that the events in the film take place entirely in a basement parking lot which, coupled with nil face value, makes this adventure cheap as well as easy to undertake.

    While lifting a foreign film may not need much imagination, adapting it into a local language for the local audience certainly does require some creativity. But from the title onwards, there is no evidence of either imagination or knowhow of filmmaking in the film’s 116 minute run. 

    It is Diwali night and Aliya Singh is working till late in her clerical job which, it would seem, is full of tharkees. A petty colleague is hitting on her by reciting shayaris while her boss wants to go the whole hog as he leers at her and even tries to molest her on a staircase landing. Aliya’s troubles have just started. As she tries to drive out of the basement parking, her car gets a flat tyre. She tries to seek the help of a guard but the regular one is missing. 

    Aliya sees some hope as another guard, Dilzan Wadia, offers to help her. Dilzan pretends to help her but she soon realises that it is not so. Dilzan in fact is her silent lover and has been stalking her for four years without her getting any hint. He is madly in love with her and has actually trapped her to convince her to marry him! 

    Dilzan drugs her and when she comes to, her clothes have been removed leaving her wearing only a pink slip so that she can do rest of her running around with ample show of cleavage. 

    The sweet talking Dilzan soon turns violent when he fails to convince Aliya. He has already killed the other guard. He proceeds to kill her boss who tried to molest her. Also in the line is the office shayar. As Aliya does running around trying to find a way out of the building, all exits are locked by Dilzan. She tries to contact her finance, Shawar Ali, and brother. The basement may be locked from all sides but both manage to get in and bash up Dilzan who turns the tables soon and kills them both. 

    Aliya also manages to get through to cops, three of whom arrive and leave after a cursory check and asking Dilzan’s wellbeing! Dilzan has a companion in a mentally unstable man who keeps making ugly faces till Dilzan lets him loose on Aliya (in the original it was a dog). It is time for a showdown between Aliya and Dilzan as she finally decides to show her naarishakti! 

    While Four Pillars Of Basement makes a mess of the original (which was a failure commercially), there was no need to stretch it to 116 minutes when the original was 98 minute duration! Direction is shoddy. So are the film’s other aspects. Dilzan and Aliya lack presence not to mention acting abilities.

    Four Pillars Of Basement is intolerable. 

    Producers: Gautam Bafna, Pravin Chudasama

    Director: Giresh Naik

    Cast: Dilzan Wadia, Aliya Singh, Shawar Ali, Anant Jog, Zakir Hussain, Shiva

    ‘Charlie Ke Chakkar Mein:’ Heavy on head

    Charlie Ke Chakkar Mein is about drugs, Charlie being the slang name for cocaine. 

    Naseeruddin Shah is a cop investigating a murder case, which has links to drugs. Shah comes across evidence about a bunch of youngsters, Amit Sial, Anand Tiwari, Subrat Dutta, Manasi Rachh, Disha Arora, in a den with graffiti all around and bodies lying on floors. The bunch is at loggerheads.

    A big consignment of “charlie” goes missing and the underworld goons want it back along with guys who hijacked it. The mobsters are targeting the young lot as Shah sets out to solve the mystery. Shah has found the crime being committed in the footage that he has come across but a lot of the film is about the perception: is what is seen in the footage true or not? 

    The film makes quick jumps between sequences and characters and becomes confusing in the bargain. Twists and turns are convoluted and try the viewer’s patience. The director could have made it into an easy-going crime thriller instead of complicating it so much. 

    The film has a couple of songs, which are utterly forgettable. Editing could have been crisper. Cinematography is good.

    Shah acts out his stock expressions and mannerisms. The young actors are okay with no real challenge in their characters. 

    Charlie Ke Chakkar Mein neither thrills nor entertains.

    Producers: Karan Arora

    Director: Manish Srivastava

    Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Amit Sial, Anand Tiwari, Subrat Dutta, Manasi Rachh, Disha Arora, Auroshikha Dey, Siraj Mustafa

    ‘Ranbanka:’ Bunkum

    Ranbanka is about a simple family man who is deputed to Mathura where he falls victim to a local bahubali, who borders on lunacy and derives power from his brother’s status as a local politician. In short, this is yet another film about a Hindi belt goon who terrorises people and the police happens to be on his side.

    The film is based on Hollywood film, Straw Dogs (1971; remade in 2011).

    Ravi Kishen is the Mathura strongman hanging out with a few of his goons. Like all politicians’ kin he seeks government contracts by bribing officials. If the official fails to deliver, he is in for some humiliation. 

    Manish Paul, an engineer, has been deputed to Mathura for a period of six months to handle a project. Even as he is entering the city, he sees a mob gathered around some incident. He wants to alight from the car and check out. However, his driver warns him against getting involved since whoever is down there is a victim of Ravi and nobody dares raise a voice against him for the consequences could be deadly. 

    Manish settles into the house provided to him with his wife, Pooja Thakur, and a six year old son. It may be a new city for her but Pooja likes to shop and roam around. During one of her outings, when Pooja is trying out some outfits in a store trial room without locking it from inside, Ravi is there too to buy denim and unknowingly walks into the same trial room. Pooja is in her bare minimums and it is lust at first sight for Ravi. Of course, he convinces himself it is love.

    Pooja soon becomes an obsession for Ravi who wants her to marry him no matter that she is already married and the mother of a six year old, a fact she mentions to Ravi. Ravi suggests an easy way out: he would kill the child as well as her husband. The family is terrorised. The police won’t help either. Manish tries to leave the town but is blocked by Ravi’s goons. Ravi’s politician brother is a decent man who tries to help but pays with his life instead. 

    Ravi gets more desperate and ends up killing Manish and Pooja’s son. Again, the couple’s efforts to leave fail. Manish feels trapped and helpless. That is when Pooja humiliates him and prods him to go out and kill Ravi or die in the process. Manish starts the process by killing Ravi’s men one after another. Like old-fashioned film heroes, Manish likes to get clobbered till half dead before he retaliates, which just stretches the inevitable. 

    The film is clichéd and treated like a 1960s small town background film. The script has no twists and turns and is totally predictable. The director adheres to mundane script. Music has one of each like old days: Holi song, an item song, a romantic one and so on. The film is merely 98 minutes long but, yet, full of flashbacks and montages. Manish does well despite limited scope. Ravi looks sinister enough. Pooja is passable. 

    The films about UP or Bihar bahubalis are not exciting at all and this is not the era when one can say the film is made for Hindi belt or, say, single screens. It is a no go for Ranbanka. 

    Producers: Ajay Yadav, Dasrath Singh Rathore, Suman Shukla

    Director: Aryeman Ramsay

    Cast: Manish Paul, Ravi Kishen, Pooja Thankur, Rudra Kaushish, Pooja Kasekar, Anita Sahgal, Avya Agarwal, Poonam Chopra, Navi Bhangu

  • IFFI 2015 to feature 200 films from 89 countries; Anil Kapoor to inaugurate

    IFFI 2015 to feature 200 films from 89 countries; Anil Kapoor to inaugurate

    NEW DELHI: Around 32 years after he first featured in a lead role, veteran actor Anil Kapoor will inaugurate the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) this month in Goa, which will feature a total of 187 films from 89 countries in the international section.

     

    In addition, the Indian Panorama will have 26 feature and 21 non-features in the Festival, which will open at Panaji on 20 November with the film The Man who knew Infinity by Mathew Brown. The film is a true story about the friendship between Indian mathematician Ramanujan and Professor GH Hardy that forever changed the world of mathematics.

     

    The Festival organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in association with the Goa Government will conclude on 30 November. It will have special classes in filmmaking in collaboration with the American Academy, which awards the Oscars.

     

    Noting that IFFI had become a global brand in the world of cinema, I&B Minister Arun Jaitley said that Spain is the focus country this year and the special focus within the country was on cinema from the north eastern states.

     

    The competition section will have 15 films including two from India and will be judged by a jury headed by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. The other members will include Michael Radford, Julia Jentsch, Suha Arraf and Jeon Kyu-Hwan.

     

    The Panorama films were selected by a 13-member Feature jury headed by filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma and a seven-member non-feature jury headed by Rajendra Janglay.

     

    Apart from Jaitley, those present at the press meet were Minister of State Rajyavardhan Rathore, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, I&B Secretary Sunil Arora, Festival Director Senthil Rajan, and Special Secretary J S Mathur. Jaitley also released the poster for the 46th Festival at the press conference.

     

    Jaitley agreed to consider a suggestion that the opening of IFFI should not clash with the International Children Film Festival of India in Hyderabad, which is held every second year. However, he said this could not be done this year.

     

    Jaitley said the Festival promoted excellence and provided an opportunity to showcase the best domestic and international talent.

     

    The Spanish package would have the films of master Spanish filmmakers Carlos Saura and Pedro Almadovar along with contemporary filmmakers like Alejandro Amenabar. The section would also feature Spanish actress Leticia Dolera’s directorial debut Requirements to Be a Normal Person.

     

    Jaitley said IFFI this year would feature a special section on ‘World Cinema Restored Classics’ to highlight the idea of film restoration. This would feature a package of classics to put spotlight on National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM). 

     

    The Minister added that the film festival will also introduce a new segment – First Cut – to recognise young talent in the field of cinema and would screen some of the outstanding directorial debuts of 2015. The section would feature emerging filmmakers including Brian Perkins (Golden Kingdom, USA) and Michael Klette (Solness, Germany) among others. The festival in association with the Oscar Academy will also promote skill development in filmmaking through master classes on varied topics like sound designing, film archive and film editing.

     

    Jaitley said IFFI would include a special award – ICFT- UNESCO Fellini Prize – in collaboration with the International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication (ICFT), Paris and UNESCO. The award would be presented to a film, which reflects the ideals of peace, tolerance, non-violence and friendship promoted by UNESCO. 

     

    Answering questions, Jaitley said that film festivals all over the world were now linked to a city and therefore there was no plans to shift the festival out of Goa, which had hosted it since 2004.

     

    Arora added that IFFI was the biggest Film Festival in Asia and a leading platform for art and creativity. He said Goa had been the perfect venue for the past 11 years for the film festival.

     

    The focus on the north east at IFFI will include a Special Retrospective on Aribam Syam Sharma along with a unique segment featuring next generation filmmakers from the north east.

     

    Answering questions, Rajan said that there was a film from Pakistan apart from other SAARC countries as well. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com Rajan said that while the Film Federation of India (FFI) and the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) had decided to boycott the Festival, they had not barred individual filmmakers from taking part. Furthermore, steps were being taken to address their grievances.

     

    IFFI will also be organising a special seminar on Film and Cultural diversity. A special series titled ‘In Conversation’ with eminent Indian filmmakers such as Shyam Benegal and Vettrimaran will also be organised to discuss films and the art of filmmaking with the audience. 

  • Eros International shares hit one year low; hires law firm to conduct internal review

    Eros International shares hit one year low; hires law firm to conduct internal review

    MUMBAI:  Leading Indian film studio Eros International Media is fighting back to save its image and reputation. The New York and Bombay stock exchange listed company has hired the US law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, and Meagher & Flom LLP to conduct an independent internal review and also to advise it on related matters to anonymous allegations which led to a steep drop in its share price.

     

    The Eros International share has gone into free fall over the past couple of weeks plummeting around 50 per cent to hit a low of Rs 250.50 in intra-day trading on 2 November.

     

    The downward run in the Eros script gathered momentumon 2 November following the revelation that three  investor rights law firms in the US Steinmeyer Law, Rosen Law Firm and Bronstein, Gewirtz and Grossman were investigating whether Eros International Media’s parent Eros International plc  and certain of its officers or directors have violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

     

    The Eros stock had anyone been shedding weight ever since reports appeared that it had allegedly resorted to financial misreporting. This was denied by Eros consistently but things got worse after Wells Fargo analysts fingered it about its rising trade receivables from UAE and others. Despite the company’s statement and explanations, the Eros stock had slimmed down to Rs 278 by end of trading on Friday last week as compared to the shares quote of Rs 438 on 23 October.

     

    The Bombay stock exchange had earlier today asked it to clarify to reports about it being investigated by the three law firms. To this, Eros  had clarified that it was not being investigated; rather it was its parent Eros International plc.

     

    Late in the evening, the company issued a statement in which it stated that “there has been a vicious campaign to damage the credibility of Eros International by spreading false rumors and misinformation regarding its business with an objective to create panic amongst the investor community. No new facts about the Company have come to light since the filing of the FY2015 financials or its Q1 FY2016 financials at which time the market sentiment was extremely positive.”

     

    It further added: “We are confident in our business fundamentals and we will be announcing our Q2 FY2016 results in the first half of November. Our credibility and reputation are of paramount importance.” Hence, it had hired the law firm to do an internal review.

     

    Further Eros addressed the principal allegations related to Increase in receivables, Amortization of content, Subsidiary financials, Capex increase, free cash flow and increasing debt,Auditors, Related party transactions and compensation packages of family members, The Eros Library, Eros Now.

     

    Said Eros in its response:

     

    — The Company’s fundamentals are strong with successful track record spanning decades. The Company may be two years old on NYSE but its business is not a start-up.

     

    — The Company has a dominant market share of the Indian box office worldwide. 50 per cent of the top 15 grossing films in Bollywod were Eros films.Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Tanu Weds Manu Returns earned $30 million and $65 million respectively and were in the top three grossing list.

     

    –Eros’ unique library of over 3,000 films is a key competitive advantage.

     

    —The Company’s unparalleled global distribution network allows it  to distribute its  films in over 50 different countries in over 25 different languages.

     

    —Eros’ entertainment platform Eros Now is an attractive consumer proposition with already 30 million registered users worldwide in the backdrop of 860 million plus mobile subscribers and growing 4G and broadband user base in India.

     

    —The Company’s strong under-levered balance sheet ensures that it well capitalized at all times.

     

    Eros’ statement concluded:  “We will survive this attack and emerge a winner in the long run for many keys reasons.” 

  • First govt run film festival for disabled to conclude with global Day of Persons with Disability

    First govt run film festival for disabled to conclude with global Day of Persons with Disability

    NEW DELHI: A total of 40 films including features, shorts and documentaries will be screened at the very first government-run International Film Festival for Persons with Disabilities (IFFPD) from 1 to 3 December in the capital.

     

    Lov Verma, Secretary in the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities of the Social Justice & Empowerment Ministry said the festival was being organised to recognise the spirit of the persons with disabilities and will show case films that open the world to their mind space, and sensitise on issue relating to disabilities. 

     

    The films include 10 features, 16 shorts and 14 documentaries and have been selected out of 541 entries received from India and abroad.

     

    The film festival will conclude on 3 December, which is commemorated worldwide every year as International day of Persons with Disabilities. 

     

    IFFPD 2015 will felicitate the Best Director and Best Film in each of the three categories of Films with cash awards with the First and Second Runner Up receiving trophies and citations from the Department.

     

    The awards are:

     

    Best Film (Feature) – (Fiction Feature) – Rs 3 lakh + Trophy + Citation; (Documentary- Feature) – Rs 1 lakh + Trophy + Citation. 

     

    Best Film (Documentary) Rs 2.5 lakh + Trophy + Citation; Best Film (Short) – Rs 1 lakh + Trophy + Citation. 

     

    Best Director (Feature) – Rs 2.5 lakh + Trophy + Citation; Best Director (Documentary) – Rs 1.5 lakh + Trophy + Citation; Best Director (Short) – Rs 1 lakh + Trophy + Citation.

     

    The unique film festival in collaboration with the National Films Development Corporation (NFDC) would also have workshop on film directing and screen writing etc for children.

     

    Until now, the non-governmental Brotherhood has been organising WeCare Film Festivals on Disability around the year in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan. 

  • Ajay Devgn’s ‘Shivaay’ to go on floors in Mussoorie

    Ajay Devgn’s ‘Shivaay’ to go on floors in Mussoorie

    MUMBAI: After almost a year of planning, Ajay Devgn’s next directorial venture Shivaay, is all set to go on floor in Mussoorie from 7 November.

     

    The first schedule kicks off in Landour, a small cantonment town contiguous with Mussoorie. The unit will then fly to Hyderabad and finally, to Bulgaria where major portions will be filmed.

     

    The film introduces Dilip Kumar’s grand-niece Sayesha Saigal while Devgn plays the title role.

     

    The movie is scheduled to release in Diwali 2016.

  • Box Office: ‘Main Aur Charles’ collects Rs 3.65 crore; ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2’ holds fort

    Box Office: ‘Main Aur Charles’ collects Rs 3.65 crore; ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2’ holds fort

    MUMBAI: The pre-Diwali period, considered to be dullest ever at the box office, used to be the exhibitor’s nightmare. The running time was fed with dubbed films or re-run films. The idea was to just minimise the loss.

     

    Come corporate era, no period is considered dull. This Friday, 30 October saw numerous releases; unheard of films with no promotion worth its name. Of course, all to disastrous results.

     

    Among all releases of the week, Main Aur Charles was the most publicised, boasted of known faces in the cast and also went on to bag favourable reviews. Yet, it was the best example of a mis-timed release. A film, which would have ended its opening day with over Rs 3 crore to improve on days to follow, managed barely a crore. Nothing better came its way on Saturday and Sunday that followed. The film ended its opening weekend with approximately Rs 3.65 crore.

     

    On the other hand, Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 is enjoying an excellent run at the box office, on its own merit as well as some help from poor new releases. The film is a favourite with the youth. It has had an impressive second week with figures of Rs 14.1 crore taking its two week total to Rs 51.9 crore.

     

    Guddu Ki Gun, a curious kind of film, which tries to create comedy out of a silly idea about a young man’s vitals turning to gold, falls flat. The only use the film will have is for future producers troubled by the Film Certification Board, to cite it as a precedent. The film managed about Rs 1.7 crore for the opening weekend. 

     

    Despite critical reviews and a strong word of mouth from the industry, Dibakar Bennerjee’s home production, Titli, is a disaster.

     

    Other nondescript adventures like Love Exchange, Once Upon A Time In Bihar, Mere Sai Ram and The Last Horror fail to find audience.

     

    Shaandaar collections go on a free fall in its first week after an indifferent opening weekend. The film suffers many cancelled shows due to lack of audience as the week progresses. A sheer waste of good star cast and ample funding thanks to a juvenile script and an unimaginative making. The film, which did its best in its four day opening weekend, managed to add a meagre Rs 6.1 crore for the four days after the weekend to show a poor Rs 36.9 crore for its first week. The film may add a crore or so at best for the rest of its run. 

     

    Jazbaa collects Rs 20 lakh in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 23.9 crore. 

     

    Singh Is Bliing adds Rs 10 lakh in its fourth week taking its four week total to Rs 74.05 crore. 

     

    Talvar collects about a crore in its fourth week taking its four week total to Rs 30.55 crore.

  • ‘Guddu Ki Gun:’ Toy Story

    ‘Guddu Ki Gun:’ Toy Story

    MUMBAI: The Indian Censor Board was much in news ever since its new chairman, Pahlaj NIhalani took over. All that mainly for blocking films for use of bad words. A week or so back, one watched a film called Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 with hundreds of blips suppressing words like ch***ya. So, what do we have this week was found suitable by the very same Censor Board conveniently named Central Board Of Film Certification aka CBFC?

    We have a rewritten modern fairytale, Guddu Ki Gun. In original fairytales, one read of a man turning to stone or a frog or gold. Here, in this contemporary fairytale, we have a story of a young man whose vital part, his claim to manhood, turning to gold! Filmmaking can’t get any more irrelevant! 

    Kunal Khemu, a Bihari migrant in Kolkata, is a door-to-door salesman and the predictable product he vends is a powerful detergent. While his detergent may or may not work on clothes, his charm certainly works on his female clientele. He seduces them all; so much so that he even maintains a diary noting his conquests.

    One among his victims is a young nubile girl to whom Khemu professes his love and takes advantage of her innocence. The girl’s grandpa happens to be a big time Kali bhakt and to get even, puts a hex on Khemu because of which his manhood turns into gold! He has all feelings in his now perpetually intruding vital part. Khemu can’t figure out what causes his discomfort when his friend, Sumeet Vyas, suggests that it has to be one of his women who put a curse on him. 

    Khemu follows the list on his diary ticking off each of his ‘clients’ who could have done this until he finally remembers the innocent girl he betrayed. After much pleading, the girl’s grandpa withdraws his curse conditionally: Khemu has to find true love and stay loyal to her come whatever. That is when he would be normal again.

    Meanwhile, a local don and an antique dealer are after Khemu to rid him of the very cause of his problem, the golden tool. They feel it is worth lakhs in the international market! Then Khemu comes across a girl, Payel Sarkar, in whose presence he feels normal again. Thinking she is the solution to his problem, Khemu asks for her hand in marriage. He has two problems: the girl is ugly with pockmarks on her face and her father wants Rs 10 lakh from Khemu. He has a one week deadline.

    Guddu Ki Gun is actually a stupid film treated in an old-fashioned way. It is loud and not funny in most parts. Song are placed at random as if its a ritual. Khemu overacts throughout. Sumeet is restrained and good. Payel Sarkar is natural despite limited footage. Flora Saini excels.

    Guddu Ki Gun, meant to be a cheap adult comedy, fails even on that count.

    Producer: Emenox Media P Ltd

    Directors: Sheershak Anand, Shantanu Ray Chhibber

    Cast: Kunal Khemu, Sumeet Vyas, Payel Sarkart, Flora Saini, Brijendra Kala

    Main Aur Charles:’ Slick & Stylish

    Not unlike the legendary ‘villain heroes’ in the West, we too have had some of them hogging newspaper headlines over the years. Charles Shobhraj was one of them who appeared on front pages through 70s and the early 80s. Born of a Sindhi father and a Vietnamese mother and christened Gurmukh Shobhraj, he was a French criminal who committed murders and other crimes across half of the universe. While in Asia, his prime targets were the hippie backpacking tourists. 

    Shobhraj built his lavish lifestyle around killing and stealing from his victims. He sort of mesmerised his victims, holding a special kind of sway over women who he came across to the extent that they stood by him even after learning of his criminal activities. It is hard to say if he committed more murders or married more women! Shobhraj also murdered people to grab their passports and forge them for his own use.

    Main Aur Charles is a 123 minute account of the criminal phase of  Shobhraj’s life, mainly the peak period of his criminal activities. Shobhraj has already been a subject of a few books and documentaries. Despite being based on the life and times of Shobhraj, the film flashes the mandatory disclaimer of being a fiction at the start.

    Randeep Hooda plays Shobhraj. While a lot of women play the parts of the glamourour ladies that came into his life periodically, as far as Hindi films go, Richa Chadda plays the female lead.  Since the film claims to be a fiction, Richa replaces the Nepali girl, NIhita Biswas. Richa, a law student, is mesmerised when she sees Shobhraj for the first time arguing his own case in a court. From that moment on, she is devoted to Shobhraj.

    The film deals with Shobhraj’s killings in Thailand in a montage, not wanting to dwell into details. For, after all, the victims did not mean anything to Shobhraj himself; they were just means to his ends. Shobhraj has a razor sharp brain which, sadly, is overpowered by his overconfidence. For all the crimes he commits, the evidence against him never goes beyond circumstantial; there is not enough proof to convict him. 

    Being the calculative criminal that he is, Shobhraj is serving a sentence in Tihar jail in Delhi. He knows that once out, he would be deported to Thailand where he is sure to face a shooting squad. He uses his knack to bribe and win over the jail staff to escape by drugging the entire jail staff. This is his ploy to get his Tihar sentence extended so as to not face a Thai shooting squad. 

    Shobhraj crisscrosses between continents and it is while he is in Goa that the police nabs him. The police as well as Shobhraj know that the proof against him in India, which can be proven is only jail break and can’t amount to more than a three year sentence.

    But, crime never pays is an adage that has more often than not passed the test of time. Shobhraj, out of jail, settles down in France but being the adventurous soul that he is, he makes the foolish decision to visit Nepal where he was wanted for murders. Nepal jail is where he is still cooling his heels.

    Main Aur Charles has been written and directed by Prawaal Raman. His background as filmmaker seems to start with Ramgopal Verma, which shows in certain aspects of his treatment of the film. He hurries through initial parts mixing flashbacks and present at random managing to create a bit of confusion in the viewers’ minds. He probably thinks his viewers know the legend of Shobhraj too well to waste time on establishing the gory crimes of the criminal whose story he intends to tell. Sadly, his story and his viewers are a few generations apart. 1970 was the last century; Main Aur Charles is 2015. 

    At interval time, Shobhraj is nabbed and one thinks this is it, what more is left to see? However, to his credit, Raman gets his grip back. This part is all about one-upmanship between the cops, Adil Hussain, being the top cop from Delhi Police handling the case. 

    To Raman’s credit, his handling technically is slick and stylish. The use of background music is effective. The use of the film’s single song is good. Dialogue carries at places. Cinematography captures this mostly outdoor film well.

    The film’s best part is its casting, well almost. Because, while Randeep Hooda fits Shobhraj to the T, Richa Chadda is a misfit. Richa hardly looks like a law student; in fact she looks much older and to add to that, her makeup and dressing make her look dowdy. To add to her woes, all the other women who play passing roles in the film are chic, glamorous and pretty. While the supporting cast does well, the three who make a mark are Adil, Tisca Chopra and Vipin Sharma. 

    Main Aur Charles is a well-executed film albeit with its appeal limited to elite multiplex audience; like with real life Shobhraj, the film too may appeal more to female audience. Having been released in dull pre-Diwali period, the film’s opening is poor. It can only count on positive critic reviews and word of mouth for some improvement over the weekend.

    Producers: Amit Kapoor, Vikram Khakhar, Raju Chadha

    Director: Prawaal Raman

    Cast: Randeep Hooda, Adil Hussain, Alexx O’nell, Richa Chadda, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma