ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Film audience rues being taken for granted: stars & others’ poor show this week

    *What Shah Rukh Khan and director Imtiaz Ali have done with Jab Harry Met Sejal can be called a patch-up job. The distributors may lose money but what Shah Rukh Khan has lost in this one weekend is his 25 years of stardom and goodwill.

    The Pandora’s Box opened with a poor response. The film turned out to be the most negatively rated film ever; the audience anger was palpable — for being taken for granted. To add to their fury were the escalated admission rates at the cinema halls, especially at the multiplexes.

    The film collected approximately Rs 145 million on day one, dropped a little on Saturday followed by and managed similar collections even on Sunday to end its first week. The film was expected to get some sustenance on Raksha Bandhan holiday in many parts of India.

    *Gurgaon, a film about a local land-grabbing mafia of Gurgaon city, found no takers. Local issues don’t draw viewers.

    *Mubarakan failed to encash on its potential. Despite being a family entertainer, it suffered due to poor opening and, then, also failed to pick during its first week. However, due to negative reports of Jab Harry Met Sejal, the film got a better second weekend. It collected Rs 349 million for its opening week and added Rs 60 million in the second weekend.

    *Indu Sarkar, the film on the Emergency, collected Rs 45 million in its first week. Very poor.

    *Raag Desh, the film about three INA soldiers facing the wrath of the British army, remained very poor. It collected about Rs 7.5 million in its first week.

    *Munna Michael added Rs 11.5 million in its second week taking its two-week tally to Rs 319.5 million.

    *Lipstick Under My Burkha collected Rs 64 million in week two to take its two-week total to Rs 169 million.

    *Jagga Jasoos collected about Rs 8 million in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 512 million.

    *Mom collected Rs 7.5 million, taking its three-week total to Rs 326 million.

  • Jab Harry Met Sejal……they go bankrupt — creatively

    Jab Harry Met Sejal is a road movie where romance happens on the way. There have been some films on this theme like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, and Jab We Met in the romantic- fun category while Dhanak was a beautiful film about two kids.

    On the heavier side were Highway and NH 10. All were very different from each other. But, how different can they be every time and look plausible at the same time?

    A road movie attempting to be a romantic film counting on just two stars for all of its length of 144 minutes can get tedious. Especially when the reason for taking to roads crisscrossing across Europe is feeble.

    Shah Rukh Khan, playing a Sikh farmer from mofussil Punjab, comes to England after a failed romance. He is now a Euro Tour Guide which means he is familiar with the entire European continent. He is seeing off a group of Gujarati family who are returning to Mumbai after a tour of Europe. Their tour also included an impromptu engagement ceremony of the character of Anushka Sharma.

    But, no sooner is Shah Rukh ready to depart from the airport after waving them adieu, Anushka is back and catches up with him. As it happens, she has lost her engagement ring making her fiancé unhappy. He was angry because the ring was a family inheritance.
    Anushka wants Shah Rukh to continue to be her guide for one more day till she finds her ring. She thinks she knows where she dropped the ring.

    As her memory keeps ‘remembering’ the next place when the ring is not found where she though she had lost it, the search for the engagement ring takes the duo to six countries across Europe.

    In the process, they sing, dance and get into tight situations while also falling in love—just the way it has happened in earlier such films. While the two stars do their bit, there are no distractions, no other actors to either relieve the two, Shah Rukh and Anushka, nor the viewer! Yes, there are European landmarks in the background, but they look lifeless in absence of a cogent content on the screen. And, then, this is a road romance, not a tourism film.

    The script is weak in all departments. Be it characters, drama, romance or emotions. There is no chemistry between Shah Rukh and Anushka, considering they take a couple of hours discovering they are in love. Just to make Anushka sound like a Gujarati, her character has been turned into a caricature; she is from a filthy rich Mumbai family and a law graduate but she speaks Gujarati like a native missing H in all her pronunciations.

    Like Asok for Ashok, for example. Greeting with JSK (Whatsapp language) instead of Jai Shri Krishna like Gujarati from Vaishnav sect do. Which audience will identify with this among Hindi moviegoers? To cap it all, the climax is stretched and lacking in imagination.

    The direction is lacklustre. The film has some good songs but they fail to impact the proceedings. Visually good, but the film’s editing leaves much to be desired.

    Anushka Sharma tries to save the film to some extent with a lively performance. Shah Rukh Khan looks past his prime and his face looks tired, not something that would gel with a romantic film.

    On the whole, Jab Harry Met Sejal lacks in imagination. It’s a poor film with opening response to match.

    Producer: Gauri Khan.

    Director: Imtiaz Ali.

    Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Chandan Roy Sharma,

  • Word of mouth may help family entertainer

    Mubarakan came as a full family entertainer after a long gap, a gap when fillers and mediocre films reigned. However, the film’s opening day collections were poor to put it plainly. To a certain extent, the promotion and the presentation of the film were not quite attractive.

    The promos on theatrical as well as electronic media were really dull telling little about the film except that it was about Arjun Kapoor playing double roles with Anil Kapoor playing the uncle. Little was visible or came through about the other aspects, the talented other artistes or, mainly, the music of the film which is its asset.

    The film’s projection proceeded more like a family enterprise of Kapoors which is not an added attraction. Father sons, uncle nephews coming together is neither novelty nor assures a draw.

    The result was that, the film opened to 15 per cent footfalls on Friday, failed to pick up and ended its opening day with just a little over `50 million. However, the word of mouth was generally positive and the film was expected to gain some momentum over Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday improvement looked good in percentage as it was over 40 per cent but not really since the opening Friday was poor. The collections took a leap on Sunday with double the opening day figures to end its opening weekend with `226 million.

    If the film fails to cash in on the positive word of mouth that it enjoys through rest of the week, it is headed to be a loser. Also, because, this is the only week it gets to establish itself as come next Friday, there is a new, bigger release in Shah Rukh Khan- Anushka Sharma starring, Jab Harry Met Sejal.

    *RaagDesh is a film about a British era court martial of three Royal Army Indian soldiers who were captured by the Japanese, let off to join Subhash Chandra Bose’ Indian National Army and, later charged for the killing of some soldiers. This film is beyond comprehension.

    Which moviegoer would want to pay anything between `100 to 2000 to watch this film when they did not care to watch films on Sardar Patel, B R Ambedkar, Veer Savarkar, Nehru made over the years when even the ticket prices were not so high! The only film on a political leader of whatever we call history which got some attention was Gandhi and that too its English version; the Hindi version simply failed.

    The purpose of making this film about ‘unknown heroes’ of IAN defies logic and, why the RajyaSabha TV involved in this project is a question!

    As for box office, the film had no commercial prospects to explore to collect a mere `5.5 million for its opening weekend.

    *Indu Sarkar is another example of a film which should never have been made. The trade describes this as an enterprise of personal political aspirations. The film on the 1975 emergency bore no relevance a few months after it was over as films made on the subject like KissaaKurseeKa and Nasbandi proved to be capital loss.

    This shows on the box office. The film has been rejected. The film collected `26 million for opening three days.

    *Munna Michael fails. After a mediocre opening, the only day it picked up a little was on Sunday only going downhill thereafter to end its first week with a total of `308 million.

    *Lipstick Under My Burkha managed `105 million in its first week maintaining low but steady collection through the week. The film is holding steady in its second week.

    *JaggaJasoos added `73 million in its second week to take its two week tally to `504 million.

    *Mom has collected `22 million in its third week taking its three week tally to `318 million.

  • RaagDesh……..Purposeless

    RaagDesh has been backed by RajyaSabha Television which, in itself, is quite curious! What is the Upper House of the Parliament, which is not even elected by direct public voting and the TV channel devoted to the august house, getting into any sort of a commercial activity, obviously, financed by the tax payers’ money? Unless, of course, the credit given to the RajyaSabha TV is for some other reasons.

    In the last many decades, a much selected history of India and her freedom struggle has not been available into public domain. Even when it comes to the educational institutions, the exposure has been kept limited to a select few.

    The files and suspense over the sudden vanishing of the great freedom fighter, Subhash Chandra Bose, a Congress leader, who parted ways with the Congress and who, during the World War II, raised and led the Indian National Army (INA), joined forces with the Japanese army to fight the British occupying Hindustan to free her from their clutches.

    One thought the Government owned TV channel got involved itself in this film project to bring to the people the glory of Bose and his endeavours towards freeing India from the slavery of British. Sadly, in the process, Indians belonging to the British army and the INA ended up killing each other; an Indian killing another Indian! However, there is little or nothing about Bose except passing references and a few visuals.

    The film is about the British Indian army men of the Indian origin who, when they were losing ground to the Japanese at Burma (Myanmar), were compromised by the British and, when they surrendered, they were handed over to the soldiers of the Japanese Imperial army.

    What follows is the story of three British army Indian officers from those handed over to the Japanese who, when freed, joined the INA. The three being Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh and MohitMarwah, portraying a Sikh, a Muslim and a Punjabi Hindu thus, according to the makers, representing all of India. The South is represented by MrudulaMurali, who plays the army doctor in INA as LaxmiSehgal.

    The three officers are charged with the murder of some British army men and tried by an army court. The film also reminds one of the prominent Mumbai based Congressman and an eminent lawyer, Bhulabhai Desai (after who the upscale South Mumbai road, earlier known as Warden Road, has been named.) who decides to fight the case of these three soldiers.

    As the trial begins of the three officers, it goes into the flashback of war encounters the three faced. The circumstances of their capture and accusations.

    RaagDesh is a shoddy, pretentious film which even fails to establish the background and the credentials of its three protagonist. Symbolism (soldiers from three communities), unconvincing romance between Marwah and Mrudula, confusing war scenes where you don’t know who is on which side and who is killing who. The court scenes are stagey and grab most footage. And, the British court martial officers or whatever are caricatures. The language in the film is Punjabi and English just because the main protagonist is Punjabi!

    The three men, Kunal Kapoor, MohitMarwah, Amit Sadh as well as MrudulaMurali look sincere to no avail.

    RaagDesh fails to invoke any sort of emotions, let alone patriotism.

    Producers: Gurdeep Singh Sappal.

    Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia.

    Cast: Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh, MohitMarwah, MrudulaMurali, Kenny Desai, Zakir Husain, Kanwaljit Singh, Kenny DeoriBasumatary.

  • Indu Sarkar…….Who cares!

    There seems to be some kind of intent among some filmmakers to please the present dispensation at the helm in India. So, we have a film here which concocts a story around 1975/1977 Emergency declared in India by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi to save her government and her position. This is a women-oriented film, following soon in the line-up of recent failures such as Mom, Mattr and the ilk.

    Emergency was a black spot on the world’s largest democracy, India. And, it was a serious issue when the best and bravest of nationalist leaders either went into hiding or were whisked off from their homes at midnight and consigned to jails.

    And, when all and mighty of the opposition were helter skelter, running to save their own skin, filmmaker, Madhur Bhandarkar, finds this underdog played by Kirti Kulhari, a stuttering marriage unhappy woman, to take on the might of the authority of the emergency imposing powers. Her inspiration being the character of Anupam Kher, leading an identifiable Hindu right wing group who arouses her conscious and edges her on to lead a move to free the country!! One wonders, why Kher and his group expect a woman to take on the might of emergency while they stay in the background!

    There are references and scenes dedicated to the excesses of the emergency era like slums demolitions and forced nasbandi (sterilisation) on young and old alike (Though this was limited to the Hindi belt, mainly to Delhi and UP, and bore no all India effect.) besides strong armed tactics and violence by those ruling. Kirti finds her cause in life when she learns that her husband, played by Tota Roy Chowdhury, being a government servant, is responsible for acts of slum demolitions etc.

    Indu Sarkar, the title, has the connotations that Indira (Gandhi), referred to as Indu by those close to her including Moraraji Desai, was the Sarkar, the ultimate authority. But, that hardly adds to the film’s USP.

    The Emergency, like many other events such as the Sikh massacre, are a thing of the past and of use only for the sling matches by the opposing political parties. Indians forget and forgive fast.

    This is 2017 and this film bears no relevance today and is a futile exercise and waste of resources. Films like Nasbandi (IS Johar) and Kissaa Kursee Kaa (Amrit Nahta), released soon after the Emergency, were disasters.

    Producers: Bharat Shah, Madhur Bhandarkar.

    Director: Madhur Bhandarkar.

    Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Supriya Vinod, Anupam Kher, Tota Roy Chowdhury.

  • Mubarakan……Fun while it lasts

    Mubarakan is designed to be a crazy comedy on the lines of Bazmee’s own, Welcome, Sajid Khan’s Housefull, Nikhil Advani’s Patiala House and other such movies where knotty situations are created leading to one tangle after another, leading to a lot of funny situations and laughter as a result.

    The prime ingredient is a horde of artistes, preferably a talented lot if it has to work better. However, depending on the script and screenplay, not to forget peppy dialogue of which some work, some don’t.

    Being a situational comedy, more the characters on the screen, better the pace. With fewer characters, it would become tedious. The story about identical twin brothers separated at birth because of circumstances, helps add spice. And, of course, a film has to justify folks dancing in colourful costumes at a family wedding. That is being so Indian.

    This muddle revolves around a Sikh family divided between Chandigarh in India and London in the UK.
    It falls upon the bachelor played by Anil Kapoor to bring up his twin nephews, the character of Arjun Kapoor in a dual role, when his brother played by Sanjay Kapoor and his wife die in a car crash. Not in a position to take up the responsibility, he sends off one of the twins to his older brother, played by Pawan Malhotra, and the other to his sister, played by Ratna Pathak Shah.

    Charan, one of the twins, brought up by Pawan grows up to be a shy, introvert and traditional Sikh, sporting his pagdi while the one brought up in London by Ratna is bold, has shorn his hair and, is outgoing. However, both brought up by their adoptive parents, are in awe of them and give them full respect.

    Arjun from London has followed the character of Ileana D’Cruz to Chandigarh whom he has been courting for two years. He keeps promising her that he will talk to his parents soon but, an accident meeting between her and Ratna, turns into Ileana calling Ratna names and ridiculing her. That puts paid to Arjun’s plans to take Ileana’s to meets his strong headed mother, Ratna.

    The shy Arjun with pagdi loves the character of Neha Sharma, a lawyer by profession. He is scared to take her home to meet his father, Pawan, for he is shy by nature as it were and the fact that she is not from the Sikh community deters him from doing so.

    Pawan decides to fix up his nephew, Karan’s wedding with the character of Athiya Shetty, daughter of a London tycoon played by Rahul Dev. But, being in love with Ileana, he wriggles out of the proposal, instead, suggesting the family choose Athiya for Charan. But, Charan wants to marry Neha.

    None of the two is opening up about their true intentions and, instead, approach their maternal uncle, Anil Kapoor, to help get them out of the situation. Anil has decided to remain a bachelor, drowning his sorrows in alcohol after a failed romance. In helping his nephews, he finds a cause.

    To start with, when the family reaches Rahul’s palatial house, Anil suggests Arjun (Charan) act as a drug addict which would be easy to pass off since his home state, Punjab, has been in news for drug abuse; he even quotes Udta Punjab (a recent film on the Punjab drug menace).

    Then on starts a chain of events which create funny situations in the film which at most times keep viewers giggling.

    Comedy writing has not been the forte of Hindi filmmaking clan. But, in the case of Mubarakan, the team of writers has done a good job, which was expected considering the director, Bazmee, who himself began his career as a writer, would know what he wanted. Dialogue adds to the fun.

    Despite this, some scenes stretch and the climax, though enjoyable, follows on the predictable lines. Bazmee, the director, handles his artistes well, making their causes look convincing and not letting the performances look like buffoonery.

    The cinematography is good with ample help from the choice of locations. Choreography adds colour to the proceedings. Editing could have been a little crisper. Though dominated by Punjabi songs, the music works in the film’s favour with foot tapping numbers. The title song is already popular with the reworked version of Hasan Jehangir’s 1987 number, Hawa hawa… and the romantic song, Hathon mei haath…..being appealing.

    This despite being a no holds barred comedy attempt, the actors are reigned in well. Anil Kapoor verges on going overboard but that is what his character demands. Arjun Kapoor does a very good job in two totally different characters. Ileana D’Cruz is aptly peppy. Athiya has a limited role in first half and is restrained in the latter parts when she gets more exposure; her dancing is graceful. Neha Sharma impresses. Rahul Dev and Karan Kundra live up to their roles of arrogant but traditional Sikhs. However, the ones who give the comic film credence are Ratna Shah Pathak and Pawan Malhotra.
    Mubarakan is a family entertainer and though the opening is average (the film’s promos were uninspiring), the film has the prospects to pick up over the weekend.

    Producers: Ashwin Varde, Murad Khetani.

    Director: Anees Bazmee.

    Cast: Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor (double role), Ileana D’Cruz, Athiya Shetty, Neha Sharma, Rahul Dev, Karan Kundra,, Ratna Pathak Shah, Pavan Malhotra.

  • Emergency-based ‘Indu Sarkar’ released, three cases dismissed

    NEW DELHI: ‘Indu Sarkar’, a film which dramatises the period of the National Emergency between 1975 and 1977, was released today after the dismissal of three different cases against the film.

    The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed the plea of a woman, who claims to be the biological daughter of late Sanjay Gandhi, seeking a stay on the release of the film.

    A three-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said the film is an “artistic expression” within the parameters of law, and there was no justification to stall its release.

    The film had earlier faced problems when the Central Board for Film Certification had demanded 14 cuts in the political drama. Abiding by the revising committee of the CBFC’s suggestions, director Madhur Bhandarkar made revisions to the film, about which Bhandarkar informed the apex court.

    Counsel for the petitioner had submitted that the movie was “full of concocted facts and is totally derogatory.”

    The Bombay High Court had rejected a similar plea by the woman on 24 July on the grounds that the petitioner was unable to make her case seeking stay on the release of the movie. The court had further observed that none of the acknowledged descendant of Sanjay Gandhi had raised an objection to the movie.

    The Delhi High Court also dismissed yesterday the plea by a lawyer to revoke the CBFC’s clearance. Merely stating that one is a strong believer of Gandhis does not give a right to seek a stay on the release of the film, it said. The petition claimed the movie depicted late Indira Gandhi and her late son Sanjay in a bad light and was a “propaganda film.”

  • PVR Q1 profit increases 3% to Rs. 443 mn

    MUMBAI: PVR Limited announced its audited standalone and consolidated financial results for the quarter and year ended 30 June, 2017.

    The consolidated revenues for quarter ended June, 2017 was Rs 6.53 billion as compared to Rs 5.79 billion during the corresponding period of last year, up by 13%.

    Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was Rs. 1.29 billion as against Rs 1.23 billion in the same period last year, up by 4%. Consolidated PAT for the quarter was Rs. 443 million as against Rs 432 million in the same period last year, up by 3%.

    The box office revenues for the quarter were up by 11% from Rs 3080 million to Rs 3430 million. F&B revenues were up by 12% from Rs 1.48 billion to Rs 1.65 billion led by strong growth of spend per head. Advertising revenues showed a stellar growth of 31% & increased to Rs 674 million as compared to Rs 515 million.

    During the first quarter PVR added a total of 8 screens (5 screen in Chennai & 3 screen in Kota) and currently operates a network of 587 screens spread over 128 properties in 51 cities across the country. The company intends to add approx. 65-70 screens in FY 17-18.
     
    Commenting on the results and performance, PVR Ltd CMD Ajay Bijli said, “For 20 years, we have worked ardently to take India to the movies with new and innovative offerings like Gold Class, Director’s Cut, Plush recliners, IMAX, 4DX, Playhouse, PXL, Dolby Atmos, VR Lounge, Vkaao to add more layers of excitement and joy to the cinematic experience of our customers. It has been the propeller of our growth engine over the years & it shall continue for years to come. We are the leading multiplex player in India and will soon surpass the 600 screens mark.”

    ALSO READ :

    NextGen 3D screens in Kota takes PVR tally to 587 screens in 51 cities

    Brands hop on to pre-IIFA events, Rahman & Sushant join in

    Cheaper content demand, piracy & OTT popularity dog A-Pac pay-TV, avers innovation forum

  • Viacom18 partners with FHF in its film restoration and archiving for third year

    MUMBAI:  Viacom18 announced its support to the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) for the annual Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India being held from 7 to 14 October 2017 in Chennai.

    The partnership was flagged off for the third consecutive year at an event held today in the city and was attended by Viacom 18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, legendary actor and producer Kamal Haasan, renowned film-maker Mani Ratnam and celebrated film-maker, archivist and founder director of Film Heritage Foundation Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.

    The Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2017 aims to train an indigenous pool of film archivists and restorers as well as to create awareness about the urgent need to save India’s cinematic heritage. With previous editions being held in Mumbai and Pune, this year the workshop hopes to not create awareness among  the South Indian film industry to this urgent issue but to build on the movement that has been created all over India as well as in neighboring countries.

    “At the heart of it, civilization is a chronicle of stories across generations. As India’s foremost storytellers we connect deeply with this ethos and our support to Film Heritage Foundation is a confluence of this shared belief. India’s culture and heritage is captured creatively and reflected through our films and therefore, these become historical artefacts representative of the times they were created in. It is pertinent that this content is preserved for reference as well as archived for perusal by future generations”, Vats said.

    public://Photo-2-fhf.jpg

    Dungarpur added, “Film Heritage Foundation is committed to preserve the film heritage of India across various genres and languages. Bringing the workshop to Chennai this year, our aim is to create awareness about the urgent need to preserve India’s film heritage including the rich regional film heritage of the South Indian film industry. The programme this year is further strengthened with support of Viacom18 and enriched by partnering with the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, L’Immagine Ritrovata, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Prasad Corp., La Cinémathèque Française, Imperial War Museums, Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, the Finnish Film Archive and the Czech National Film Archive and Criterion Collection.”

    Open to applicants from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, the Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2017 will extensively focus on repairing damaged and decayed celluloid film, restore and preserve film posters, lobby cards, song booklets and photographs, techniques of digital preservation and restoration etc.

    public://Photo-4-fhf.jpg

    There are several scholarships available for deserving candidates along with job opportunities at FHF on successful completion of the course.

    Speaking about the workshop, Haasan said, “I am very happy and proud to know that the Film Heritage Foundation has decided to come to Chennai to run a workshop on film archiving. I have seen them do it once in Pune. There were about 50 students and I was really moved. The film industry should come forward to conserve, save and keep our film heritage intact. And this very important workshop is going to teach future archivists how to go about preserving film.It is a very important workshop for those interested in cinema itself, cinema not only of today but of yesterday.”

    Eminent experts from across the globe such as FIAF’s Head of Training and Outreach David Walsh, Camille Blot-Wellens from FIAF, Tina Kelly from Imperial War Museum, Dawn Jaros from the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts & Sciences, Emilie Cauquy from La Cinémathèque française, and Marianna De Sanctis from L’Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna, amongst others will comprise the faculty of the workshop.

  • A week full of damp squibs, despite huge expectations

    Some whiz kid got the idea that to make an Indian version of the popular comic book series Adventures of Tin Tin,blending it with a generous dose of Hollywood musicals and the rest will follow. But this just an idea, a one-liner. Not a script. However, a star fell for it for as he had nothing to lose. One can understand that, but how does a studio fall prey to the idea and commits anything between Rs 300 to Rs 1.50 billion?

    If last week the result was Jagga Jasoos costing around Rs one billion in the making, this week there was Munna Michael which was a straight but unimaginative ‘inspiration’ taken from the films of 1980s, described as disco films. When they were not branded as Disco films, Jumping Jack Jeetendra ruled and later when Mithun Chakraborty took over the mantle of the dancing star, it was the disco era and, he was the disco star!

    While the films in that era boasted of massive twists and turns and emotional appeal, Munna Michael is poorly scripted with nothing except dances and action. Casting Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a film cannot be considered an asset just because he is building a fan base despite not fitting into the scheme of things by any stretch of imagination!

    Not surprisingly, Munna Michael proves to be a loser. It opened such a poor response that immediately on its release, the theatre managements decide to reduce the film’s screening slots. The film collected 64 million on day one, lost some ground on Saturday while improving by around Rs 100 million on Sunday. The film collected Rs 205 million for its opening weekend.

    Lipstick Under My Burkha, a pretentious film based on the lives of women in Bhopal had the maker raise an issue, highlights the lives of four miserable women with their dreams and aspirations, mainly related to sex and freedom but ending without a remedial conclusion or even a suggestion to this end.

    Thanks to the controversy generated at the Film Censors, the film found few viewers mainly in select Delhi and Mumbai multiplexes. The film managed to collect Rs 11.5 million on day one and showed a marginal rise on Saturday and peaking on Sunday to collect Rs 55 million for its opening weekend. The real test for the film will be through the rest of the week.

    Jagga Jasoos, having been rejected, managed the first week’s collections of about Rs 431 million. The second week holds no promise as the film managed to add Rs 12 million on its eighth day compared to Rs 79 million on its first day

    The highly-touted Sridevi starrer Mom collected Rs 71 million in its second week to take its two-week total to Rs 296 million.

    Guest in London added Rs 1.5 million in its second week to take its two-week total to Rs 68.5 million.