ITV

Tag: Akshay Kumar

  • ‘A Flying Jatt’ flies average; ‘Rustom’ touches Rs 115 cr

    ‘A Flying Jatt’ flies average; ‘Rustom’ touches Rs 115 cr

    MUMBAI: A Flying Jatt a film with Tiger Shroff playing a superhero, aimed at children, gets an average opening response and meets with mixed reactions. Besides trying to imitate Hollywood superhero films, the casting of the gigantic foreign actor, Nathan Jones, as villain also makes the film’s superhero, Tiger look puny in front of him.

    The film, released on Thursday to reap the benefit of Gokulashtami holiday in parts of the country, collects a not so impressive Rs. 6.8 crore on day one. The film drops on Friday, even as the Saturday figures remain almost similar to the opening day while on Sunday, the film does a little better to end its opening weekend with Rs 27.85 crore. The film will find it tough to sustain in remaining four days of the week.

    Happy Bhag Jayegi, after a reasonable opening weekend, sustains well through the week in the absence of a major opposition as well as its simplistic and light comedy theme. The film collects 16.9 crore for its first week.

    Rustom continues a healthy trend in its second week. The film, having added to the popularity of Akshay Kumar following a lineup of his purposeful films in recent times, adds Rs. 24.75 in its second week to take its two week total to Rs. 114.8 crore.

    Mohenjo Daro proves to be a box office disaster meeting with a total rejection all over. A poorly conceived and executed film, its second week figures fall to less than 10 per cent of its first week. The film collects a measly Rs. 4.6 crore in its second week taking its two week total to Rs. 53.8 crore.

    *Budhia Singh- Born To Run adds Rs 1 lakh in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 2.16 crore.

  • Akshay Kumar’s Rustom manages to hold attention while Mohenjo Daro trails way behind

    Akshay Kumar’s Rustom manages to hold attention while Mohenjo Daro trails way behind

    MUMBAI: With two major releases wanting to make the most of the long Independence Day weekend extending toMonday, the media had a field day. However, this was not the case with the two releases. While one raked in the mulla and the audience admiration, the other hit the bottom even before it could take off.

    Rustom, with Akshay Kumar playing a naval officer and a murder accused, won half the hearts just by donning his navy uniform; the gaps in the story and the convenient play with the screenplay notwithstanding. With a limited screen engagement compared to big bill movies, the film managed to cross an impressive Rs 14 crore mark. The film held on well and consolidated on day two, Saturday, by over 10% peaking on Sunday by bettering its opening day collections by almost 40% its opening weekend just falling short of the Rs 50 crore mark at Rs 49.85 crore.

    The film held on strongly on Monday thanks to the Independence Day national holiday to match itsSunday figures with about Rs 17.8 crore to take its four-day total to Rs 67,65 crore.

    Mohenjo Daro, a routine script couched as a pre-historic saga from Mohenjo Daro civilization, pays heavily for total lack of creativity, be it story, script or narration. A routine B grade bahubali story takes the audience for granted who failed to turn up in required number resulting in poor opening day figures.

    The film even fell way short of the Rs 10 crore mark on its opening day to collect Rs 8.8 crore, gaining only little on Saturday with the Sunday growth also being insignificant as it struggled to put together Rs 29.8 crore. The film managed to add another Rs 9.25 crore for the Independence Day holiday on Mondayas the poor word of mouth spread. The fact that the film would be carrying an exorbitant price tag would qualify it as a huge disaster.

    Budhia Singh- Born To Run, despite much appreciation, does not manage to add much to its opening weekend, collecting Rs 1.9 crore for its first week.

    The Legend of Michael Mishra could not add much to its first weekend collections. The film closes its first week with a poor Rs 75 lakh in its first week.

    Fever fails to create thrill with its poor suspense drama as it collected a meagre Rs 80 lakh for its first week.

    Dishoom did well in its second week though falling short of the promise it showed during the second weekend as it ended its second week with Rs 12.8 crore to take its two-week tally to Rs 64.6 crore.

    Madaari braves all oppositions in its third week by collecting Rs 1.25 crore to take its three- week tally to Rs 16.7 crore.

    Kabali (Hindi dubbed from Tamil) collected Rs 1.1 crore for its third week to take its three week total to

  • Akshay Kumar’s Rustom manages to hold attention while Mohenjo Daro trails way behind

    Akshay Kumar’s Rustom manages to hold attention while Mohenjo Daro trails way behind

    MUMBAI: With two major releases wanting to make the most of the long Independence Day weekend extending toMonday, the media had a field day. However, this was not the case with the two releases. While one raked in the mulla and the audience admiration, the other hit the bottom even before it could take off.

    Rustom, with Akshay Kumar playing a naval officer and a murder accused, won half the hearts just by donning his navy uniform; the gaps in the story and the convenient play with the screenplay notwithstanding. With a limited screen engagement compared to big bill movies, the film managed to cross an impressive Rs 14 crore mark. The film held on well and consolidated on day two, Saturday, by over 10% peaking on Sunday by bettering its opening day collections by almost 40% its opening weekend just falling short of the Rs 50 crore mark at Rs 49.85 crore.

    The film held on strongly on Monday thanks to the Independence Day national holiday to match itsSunday figures with about Rs 17.8 crore to take its four-day total to Rs 67,65 crore.

    Mohenjo Daro, a routine script couched as a pre-historic saga from Mohenjo Daro civilization, pays heavily for total lack of creativity, be it story, script or narration. A routine B grade bahubali story takes the audience for granted who failed to turn up in required number resulting in poor opening day figures.

    The film even fell way short of the Rs 10 crore mark on its opening day to collect Rs 8.8 crore, gaining only little on Saturday with the Sunday growth also being insignificant as it struggled to put together Rs 29.8 crore. The film managed to add another Rs 9.25 crore for the Independence Day holiday on Mondayas the poor word of mouth spread. The fact that the film would be carrying an exorbitant price tag would qualify it as a huge disaster.

    Budhia Singh- Born To Run, despite much appreciation, does not manage to add much to its opening weekend, collecting Rs 1.9 crore for its first week.

    The Legend of Michael Mishra could not add much to its first weekend collections. The film closes its first week with a poor Rs 75 lakh in its first week.

    Fever fails to create thrill with its poor suspense drama as it collected a meagre Rs 80 lakh for its first week.

    Dishoom did well in its second week though falling short of the promise it showed during the second weekend as it ended its second week with Rs 12.8 crore to take its two-week tally to Rs 64.6 crore.

    Madaari braves all oppositions in its third week by collecting Rs 1.25 crore to take its three- week tally to Rs 16.7 crore.

    Kabali (Hindi dubbed from Tamil) collected Rs 1.1 crore for its third week to take its three week total to

  • Colors Infinity’s formula for success

    Colors Infinity’s formula for success

    MUMBAI: There’s infinite merriment at Viacom18 as executives at the network celebrate its English general entertainment channel Colors Infinity’s first birthday. And they have a century of reasons to rejoice: beginning with eight advertisers the channel today boasts 100-plus brands that are using it to connect with consumers through their TVCs. Its ad growth rate has been a scorching 30 per cent, and this has enabled it to improve the effective rate it offers to advertisers.

    Now the channel headed by Ferzad Palia is stepping into its second year with more might behind local productions with a determination to continue the good work and offer advertising partners even more co-branding opportunities.

    “Advertisers have been happy to pay us a premium. They don’t buy us on basis of the ratings but for various other reasons. They have realised it’s not only about viewership but also about the audiences in India. The core audiences’ consuming this do not want people meters in their homes. With 250 million people comfortable with the English language, the measurement remains as a challenge,” says Palia.

    This year, the team plans to increase its focus on local English content as well as bring in newer seasons of the channel’s popular shows. Amongst the properties that are going to continue to get a leg up include: Infinity-On-Demand and instant premieres. “Most people do about four to five instant premieres but we have done upward of 50 premieres,” says Palia.

    He adds: “Local production is our focus going ahead. It is not about number of hours of production. Currently we are cracking various concepts and will develop them well. Our show, The Stage is 25-30 hours of programming but it has a strong recall value. We are focusing not on quantity but quality. We came in quite late in the genre so disruption and differentiated content was the need of the hour. The brands can be integrated and incorporated heavily in local productions.”

    Reaching out to a 200 million audience, the channel has managed to capture 60 per cent viewership from the aspirational, neo-urban consumers in the country. On the whole its English channel cluster (VH1, Comedy Central and Colors Infinity) holds a rather dominating 53 per cent market share of its genre, claims the company. And it has tapped into even smaller towns and markets nationally.

    According to a recent report, Colors Infinity has a major stake in the Chennai region with 51 per cent reach whereas Star World’s figure is at 48 per cent. AXN, Comedy Central, Zee Café, FX have a reach of 36 per cent, 33 per cent, 29 and 19 per cent respectively. It also is in the top five channel list when it comes to metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and non-metros. Clearly, the channel has been distributed well by its partner Indiacast.

    “We had insights that suggested the consumers wanted to watch content at their comfort level or else they illegally downloaded it. So we further leveraged binge watching on our channel by showcasing 3 back-to-back episodes of globally acclaimed shows such as Arrow, Fargo, The Big C, The Last Ship, Chasing Life,” explains Palia. The channel also initiated live binging of all-new seasons of Mad Dogs and Orange is The New Black, at the same time as its US telecast.

    “It was a victory for us,” he exclaims.

    It plans to further amplify the Colors Infinity’s international offering with launches of new shows such as Nashville, and Law and Order; as well as new seasons and instant premieres of Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, iZombie and Shades of Blue. The viewers’ favorite reality shows: So You Think You Can Dance and My Kitchen Rules are also slated to return with the latest season.

    So, how has the channel benefitted the network? Palia is of the opinion that “Our network has spread out well into the regional space and has expanded well in youth and kids. One of the areas where there was a need gap was the English entertainment space. We have seen tremendous expansion in this genre from the past three to four years. Now, we are in a position to derive 50 per cent share from our English cluster.”

    Palia points out with pride to the fact that in October 2015, the channel, under his leadership pioneered India’s first-ever home-grown English language music TV show – The Stage. Season 2 of The Stage will hit TV screens in September.

    Then it roped in Grey Goose to partner it for the show Born Stylish – a celeb chat show. It showcased Bollywood style icons such as Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, and Anil Kapoor, as well as international fashion pioneers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Anna Zegna, Massimiliano Giornetti of Salvatore Ferragamo and many more, who interacted with host Pria Kataria Puri and spilled the beans on the evolution of their style quotient.

    A media planner points out that she would like to see Colors Infinity step up the game and introduce more daring and engaging domestically produced shows – which would appeal to English speaking audiences in the metros and second rung towns.

    “Doing one or two shows and shouting about making them work is laudable and appreciation worthy,” says she. “But Palia and team should realize they are operating in the English language which has myriad opportunities for anyone. Yes viewers are very demanding; they would like the same quality in the domestic series like they see in the international ones. And this is where the opportunities lie; experimentation with domestic scripted and unscripted formats in the English language. I’d like to see more full flowing action from the folks at Colors Infinity rather than these solitary strokes. I’d like the team to believe in the genre it says it leads.”

    Be that as it may, that advice can be kept aside for another day. Right now it’s time to bring out the bubbly for team Colors Infinity.

  • Colors Infinity’s formula for success

    Colors Infinity’s formula for success

    MUMBAI: There’s infinite merriment at Viacom18 as executives at the network celebrate its English general entertainment channel Colors Infinity’s first birthday. And they have a century of reasons to rejoice: beginning with eight advertisers the channel today boasts 100-plus brands that are using it to connect with consumers through their TVCs. Its ad growth rate has been a scorching 30 per cent, and this has enabled it to improve the effective rate it offers to advertisers.

    Now the channel headed by Ferzad Palia is stepping into its second year with more might behind local productions with a determination to continue the good work and offer advertising partners even more co-branding opportunities.

    “Advertisers have been happy to pay us a premium. They don’t buy us on basis of the ratings but for various other reasons. They have realised it’s not only about viewership but also about the audiences in India. The core audiences’ consuming this do not want people meters in their homes. With 250 million people comfortable with the English language, the measurement remains as a challenge,” says Palia.

    This year, the team plans to increase its focus on local English content as well as bring in newer seasons of the channel’s popular shows. Amongst the properties that are going to continue to get a leg up include: Infinity-On-Demand and instant premieres. “Most people do about four to five instant premieres but we have done upward of 50 premieres,” says Palia.

    He adds: “Local production is our focus going ahead. It is not about number of hours of production. Currently we are cracking various concepts and will develop them well. Our show, The Stage is 25-30 hours of programming but it has a strong recall value. We are focusing not on quantity but quality. We came in quite late in the genre so disruption and differentiated content was the need of the hour. The brands can be integrated and incorporated heavily in local productions.”

    Reaching out to a 200 million audience, the channel has managed to capture 60 per cent viewership from the aspirational, neo-urban consumers in the country. On the whole its English channel cluster (VH1, Comedy Central and Colors Infinity) holds a rather dominating 53 per cent market share of its genre, claims the company. And it has tapped into even smaller towns and markets nationally.

    According to a recent report, Colors Infinity has a major stake in the Chennai region with 51 per cent reach whereas Star World’s figure is at 48 per cent. AXN, Comedy Central, Zee Café, FX have a reach of 36 per cent, 33 per cent, 29 and 19 per cent respectively. It also is in the top five channel list when it comes to metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and non-metros. Clearly, the channel has been distributed well by its partner Indiacast.

    “We had insights that suggested the consumers wanted to watch content at their comfort level or else they illegally downloaded it. So we further leveraged binge watching on our channel by showcasing 3 back-to-back episodes of globally acclaimed shows such as Arrow, Fargo, The Big C, The Last Ship, Chasing Life,” explains Palia. The channel also initiated live binging of all-new seasons of Mad Dogs and Orange is The New Black, at the same time as its US telecast.

    “It was a victory for us,” he exclaims.

    It plans to further amplify the Colors Infinity’s international offering with launches of new shows such as Nashville, and Law and Order; as well as new seasons and instant premieres of Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, iZombie and Shades of Blue. The viewers’ favorite reality shows: So You Think You Can Dance and My Kitchen Rules are also slated to return with the latest season.

    So, how has the channel benefitted the network? Palia is of the opinion that “Our network has spread out well into the regional space and has expanded well in youth and kids. One of the areas where there was a need gap was the English entertainment space. We have seen tremendous expansion in this genre from the past three to four years. Now, we are in a position to derive 50 per cent share from our English cluster.”

    Palia points out with pride to the fact that in October 2015, the channel, under his leadership pioneered India’s first-ever home-grown English language music TV show – The Stage. Season 2 of The Stage will hit TV screens in September.

    Then it roped in Grey Goose to partner it for the show Born Stylish – a celeb chat show. It showcased Bollywood style icons such as Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, and Anil Kapoor, as well as international fashion pioneers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Anna Zegna, Massimiliano Giornetti of Salvatore Ferragamo and many more, who interacted with host Pria Kataria Puri and spilled the beans on the evolution of their style quotient.

    A media planner points out that she would like to see Colors Infinity step up the game and introduce more daring and engaging domestically produced shows – which would appeal to English speaking audiences in the metros and second rung towns.

    “Doing one or two shows and shouting about making them work is laudable and appreciation worthy,” says she. “But Palia and team should realize they are operating in the English language which has myriad opportunities for anyone. Yes viewers are very demanding; they would like the same quality in the domestic series like they see in the international ones. And this is where the opportunities lie; experimentation with domestic scripted and unscripted formats in the English language. I’d like to see more full flowing action from the folks at Colors Infinity rather than these solitary strokes. I’d like the team to believe in the genre it says it leads.”

    Be that as it may, that advice can be kept aside for another day. Right now it’s time to bring out the bubbly for team Colors Infinity.

  • ‘Dishoom’… Weekend fun: ‘Murder Madhuri’…Cinema murdered!

    ‘Dishoom’… Weekend fun: ‘Murder Madhuri’…Cinema murdered!

    MUMBAI:  Sajid Nadiadwala believes in presenting entertaining fare, having experimented with serious stuff only once with Highway. With the best of stars available to him thanks to his track record, his entertainers generally pass muster, usually meaning profits to him and his distributors.

    Dishoom  as the title suggest, in an action film though the title is only suggestive as the action is of the fast-paced gun-and-chase kind. One-day matches are being played in the Middle East where, thanks to their star batsman, Saqib Salim’s (named Viraj in the film to read as Virat) last over heroics scoring the required runs. The next and final match is with the traditional rivals, Pakistan.

    All bets are being laid on to India win, again, thanks to Saqib. But someone somewhere has other plans. Rahul Dev kidnaps Saqib 36 hours before the finals. Soon the phone lines are burning between the host country officials and cricket bosses in India. The matter is beyond both and soon gets the Indian government involved.

    When solving tough cases overseas, Indian cops are the best and, thus, the ministry dispatches their very best, John Abraham, to do the needful. He is supposed to work with the best the host country police has to offer but, instead, John opts for a bungling cop, Varun Dhawan, whose CV so far credits him with tracking a lost dog, fetching provisions for the superior cop’s family and escorting his children to and from school.

    It seems, in the process of tracking the lost dog, Varun has become a sort of Google Map for the county. That is what John needs, a guide, since, like all super cops, he believes in working alone otherwise. As the two set out to find Saqib, they remind you of pairings in films like 48 Hours (remade in Hindi as Andar Baahar), the Terence Hill-Bud Spencer films, Abhishek Bachchan-Uday Chopra capers and many more.

    It is fun as the duo get tracking the culprits, what with Varun’s gimmicks and the one-liners between the two till the interval. That is when Varun decides to turn into a serious cop thanks to the influence of John and the villains are brought into open at this stage. The fun is over and so is the suspense. Rahul, it seems, was only the face in the kidnap drama while the real villain is Akshaye Khanna.

    The second half is serious chases with modern cars, bikes, speedboats and choppers joining the action. In the process, the makers also take you on a brief trip into a medieval Arab town right out of Arabian nights, but with goons wielding guns rather than swords!  The fun is over. In the process of investigations, the John-Varun duo is also introduced to Jacqueline Fernandez. That is some pastime till she decides on which of the two will be her man. As a consolation, Varun does get to meet his match in the end title song in Parineeti Chopra to complete the foursome.

    The script by Tushar HIranandani and Rohit Dhawan treads familiar ground and borders on routine through its second half. Dialogue is fun at times, drying out as the film progresses. Rohit has handled the film well considering its canvas and extensive action scenes. Music in the film is foot tapping, fast to blend with the proceedings. Action sequences are ably executed and keep the viewers’ interest going in the later parts. Cinematography is very good. Editing is okay considering the film’s duration is a mere 124 minutes with nothing much to delete.

    While John playing the no-nonsense cop serious only about his mission does well, Varun gets a better deal playing a light role catering to the mass. Jacqueline looks charming and does better than in her earlier films. In the absence of an established evil man, establishing Akshaye as the villain is a task the writers-director accomplish only partly. Rahul as junior villain is okay. Akshay Kumar regales in a cameo.

    Dishoom is a fair entertainer with appeal for both, mass (mainly) as well as class where it is expected to pick up. The solo release status is a plus. The collections in the Hindi belt will be affected till early next week due to (Kavadia) religious processions causing road blocks leading to traffic restrictions in many parts of UP and Delhi.

    Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala.

    Director: Rohit Dhawan.

    Cast: John Abraham, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Akshaye Khanna, Saqib Salim, Rahul Dev, Vijay Raaz and, in cameos, Akshay Kumar, Mohinder Amarnath, Rameez Raja, Atul Wassan, Parineeti Chopra.

    Murder Madhuri:

    Murder Madhuri  seems to be the outcome of somebody’s lifelong dream to make a film. Previous experience: Having watched numerous films, Hollywood as well as Indian. Qualification: Money to waste. The catch to draw audience: name Madhuri in the title.

    A girl, Shanaya Kureel, has finished some sort of her exam at some odd hour of the day when it is dark all over, the streets are deserted and no public transport is available or no private vehicle willing to give her a lift. However, the girl need not worry because her father, Sharat Saxena, is with her for safety.

    Finally, after trying to hail down a lot of vehicles, they succeed in getting a ride with a private luxury coach. They are welcomed by four, a driver and three others, with ‘goons’ written all over them. If the producers are inspired from the real life incident of Nirbhaya, it seems, so are the goons.

    Though tough as he may be, Saxena is overpowered by the goons. The guys take turns to rape Shanaya as the other two keep Saxena under control. After the rapes, the father-daughter duo are thrown out on the streets. They are spotted lying unconscious by a mentally disturbed woman who herself is a rape victim; she was raped by one of the luxury bus men’s father, Kiran Kumar. Raping, it seems, runs in the family.

    Kiran Kumar is the home minister of wherever this incident has taken place which, according to convenience, keeps shifting between Mumbai and other places.

    Shanaya succumbs to her injuries sustained because of the brutal assault on her by the rapists. The police is divided. While the commissioner is at service of Kiran and seems to be running his force from Kiran’s bungalow, there is one honest office in Sonali Joshi who takes on the home minister as well as her commissioner to bring the rapists to book. Nothing works though arrests and acquittals take place on regular basis.

    That is when, suddenly, Saxena remembers he is senior ex-army man who specialized in hand-to-hand combat no matter the number of enemies he had to contend with. Good too that he did not remember this in the bus for had he done so, this film would not have reached so far!

    Saxena arms himself with guns of various shapes and sizes and decides to play Charles Bronson (Death Wish and sequels) to pick the culprits and seek revenge for his daughter.

    The film has one 1960s song playing in the background meant to rouse the viewers’ emotions. The script, direction, make up, props, just about everything ranges between amateur and juvenile.

    Producer: Ali Mohamed Oosman.

    Director: Ali Mohamed Oosman.

    Cast: Sharat Saxena, Kiran Kumar, Deepshikha, Sonali Joshi, Vinay Verma, Suneeta Rana, Raza Murad, Amit Kumar, Shanaya Kureel.

  • ‘Dishoom’… Weekend fun: ‘Murder Madhuri’…Cinema murdered!

    ‘Dishoom’… Weekend fun: ‘Murder Madhuri’…Cinema murdered!

    MUMBAI:  Sajid Nadiadwala believes in presenting entertaining fare, having experimented with serious stuff only once with Highway. With the best of stars available to him thanks to his track record, his entertainers generally pass muster, usually meaning profits to him and his distributors.

    Dishoom  as the title suggest, in an action film though the title is only suggestive as the action is of the fast-paced gun-and-chase kind. One-day matches are being played in the Middle East where, thanks to their star batsman, Saqib Salim’s (named Viraj in the film to read as Virat) last over heroics scoring the required runs. The next and final match is with the traditional rivals, Pakistan.

    All bets are being laid on to India win, again, thanks to Saqib. But someone somewhere has other plans. Rahul Dev kidnaps Saqib 36 hours before the finals. Soon the phone lines are burning between the host country officials and cricket bosses in India. The matter is beyond both and soon gets the Indian government involved.

    When solving tough cases overseas, Indian cops are the best and, thus, the ministry dispatches their very best, John Abraham, to do the needful. He is supposed to work with the best the host country police has to offer but, instead, John opts for a bungling cop, Varun Dhawan, whose CV so far credits him with tracking a lost dog, fetching provisions for the superior cop’s family and escorting his children to and from school.

    It seems, in the process of tracking the lost dog, Varun has become a sort of Google Map for the county. That is what John needs, a guide, since, like all super cops, he believes in working alone otherwise. As the two set out to find Saqib, they remind you of pairings in films like 48 Hours (remade in Hindi as Andar Baahar), the Terence Hill-Bud Spencer films, Abhishek Bachchan-Uday Chopra capers and many more.

    It is fun as the duo get tracking the culprits, what with Varun’s gimmicks and the one-liners between the two till the interval. That is when Varun decides to turn into a serious cop thanks to the influence of John and the villains are brought into open at this stage. The fun is over and so is the suspense. Rahul, it seems, was only the face in the kidnap drama while the real villain is Akshaye Khanna.

    The second half is serious chases with modern cars, bikes, speedboats and choppers joining the action. In the process, the makers also take you on a brief trip into a medieval Arab town right out of Arabian nights, but with goons wielding guns rather than swords!  The fun is over. In the process of investigations, the John-Varun duo is also introduced to Jacqueline Fernandez. That is some pastime till she decides on which of the two will be her man. As a consolation, Varun does get to meet his match in the end title song in Parineeti Chopra to complete the foursome.

    The script by Tushar HIranandani and Rohit Dhawan treads familiar ground and borders on routine through its second half. Dialogue is fun at times, drying out as the film progresses. Rohit has handled the film well considering its canvas and extensive action scenes. Music in the film is foot tapping, fast to blend with the proceedings. Action sequences are ably executed and keep the viewers’ interest going in the later parts. Cinematography is very good. Editing is okay considering the film’s duration is a mere 124 minutes with nothing much to delete.

    While John playing the no-nonsense cop serious only about his mission does well, Varun gets a better deal playing a light role catering to the mass. Jacqueline looks charming and does better than in her earlier films. In the absence of an established evil man, establishing Akshaye as the villain is a task the writers-director accomplish only partly. Rahul as junior villain is okay. Akshay Kumar regales in a cameo.

    Dishoom is a fair entertainer with appeal for both, mass (mainly) as well as class where it is expected to pick up. The solo release status is a plus. The collections in the Hindi belt will be affected till early next week due to (Kavadia) religious processions causing road blocks leading to traffic restrictions in many parts of UP and Delhi.

    Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala.

    Director: Rohit Dhawan.

    Cast: John Abraham, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Akshaye Khanna, Saqib Salim, Rahul Dev, Vijay Raaz and, in cameos, Akshay Kumar, Mohinder Amarnath, Rameez Raja, Atul Wassan, Parineeti Chopra.

    Murder Madhuri:

    Murder Madhuri  seems to be the outcome of somebody’s lifelong dream to make a film. Previous experience: Having watched numerous films, Hollywood as well as Indian. Qualification: Money to waste. The catch to draw audience: name Madhuri in the title.

    A girl, Shanaya Kureel, has finished some sort of her exam at some odd hour of the day when it is dark all over, the streets are deserted and no public transport is available or no private vehicle willing to give her a lift. However, the girl need not worry because her father, Sharat Saxena, is with her for safety.

    Finally, after trying to hail down a lot of vehicles, they succeed in getting a ride with a private luxury coach. They are welcomed by four, a driver and three others, with ‘goons’ written all over them. If the producers are inspired from the real life incident of Nirbhaya, it seems, so are the goons.

    Though tough as he may be, Saxena is overpowered by the goons. The guys take turns to rape Shanaya as the other two keep Saxena under control. After the rapes, the father-daughter duo are thrown out on the streets. They are spotted lying unconscious by a mentally disturbed woman who herself is a rape victim; she was raped by one of the luxury bus men’s father, Kiran Kumar. Raping, it seems, runs in the family.

    Kiran Kumar is the home minister of wherever this incident has taken place which, according to convenience, keeps shifting between Mumbai and other places.

    Shanaya succumbs to her injuries sustained because of the brutal assault on her by the rapists. The police is divided. While the commissioner is at service of Kiran and seems to be running his force from Kiran’s bungalow, there is one honest office in Sonali Joshi who takes on the home minister as well as her commissioner to bring the rapists to book. Nothing works though arrests and acquittals take place on regular basis.

    That is when, suddenly, Saxena remembers he is senior ex-army man who specialized in hand-to-hand combat no matter the number of enemies he had to contend with. Good too that he did not remember this in the bus for had he done so, this film would not have reached so far!

    Saxena arms himself with guns of various shapes and sizes and decides to play Charles Bronson (Death Wish and sequels) to pick the culprits and seek revenge for his daughter.

    The film has one 1960s song playing in the background meant to rouse the viewers’ emotions. The script, direction, make up, props, just about everything ranges between amateur and juvenile.

    Producer: Ali Mohamed Oosman.

    Director: Ali Mohamed Oosman.

    Cast: Sharat Saxena, Kiran Kumar, Deepshikha, Sonali Joshi, Vinay Verma, Suneeta Rana, Raza Murad, Amit Kumar, Shanaya Kureel.

  • Box Office: Housefull 3 – decent collection

    Box Office: Housefull 3 – decent collection

    MUMBAI: Akshay Kumar’s films have a safe selling price because of which they also have a safe recovery target. Most of his films fold up within the hundred crore mark save for a couple.

    Houseful 3 has been panned by our critics who will praise the similar Dumb & Dumber or The Nice Guys of the similar genre. Houseful 3 is an entertainer even if branded a no brainer. The public has been deprived of a mass entertainer catering to all sort of audience for over three months because of which the film has had a decent opening. It has maintained well and the collections saw a huge leap on Sunday to end its opening weekend with Rs 53.25 crore.

    The collections will affected from tomorrow onwards as Ramadan sets in.

    Project Marathwada was poor.

    Waiting, despite Naseeruddin Shah in the lead, has failed to stir up any interest in the audience. The film has managed to collect barely Rs 1.9 crore in its first week.

    Phobia, a kind of thriller laced with horror, collected Rs 2.95 crore in its first week.

    Veerappan, did better finding some support from single screen mass cinemas. The film collected Rs 6.75 crore in its first week.

    Fredrick went down as a total loss project.

    Sarbjit collected Rs 6.65 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 26.05 crore.
    Azhar added Rs 30 lakh in its third week taking its three week total to Rs 31.95 crore.

    Baaghi has added Rs 20 lakh in its fifth week to take its five week total to Rs 78.25 crore.

  • Box Office: Housefull 3 – decent collection

    Box Office: Housefull 3 – decent collection

    MUMBAI: Akshay Kumar’s films have a safe selling price because of which they also have a safe recovery target. Most of his films fold up within the hundred crore mark save for a couple.

    Houseful 3 has been panned by our critics who will praise the similar Dumb & Dumber or The Nice Guys of the similar genre. Houseful 3 is an entertainer even if branded a no brainer. The public has been deprived of a mass entertainer catering to all sort of audience for over three months because of which the film has had a decent opening. It has maintained well and the collections saw a huge leap on Sunday to end its opening weekend with Rs 53.25 crore.

    The collections will affected from tomorrow onwards as Ramadan sets in.

    Project Marathwada was poor.

    Waiting, despite Naseeruddin Shah in the lead, has failed to stir up any interest in the audience. The film has managed to collect barely Rs 1.9 crore in its first week.

    Phobia, a kind of thriller laced with horror, collected Rs 2.95 crore in its first week.

    Veerappan, did better finding some support from single screen mass cinemas. The film collected Rs 6.75 crore in its first week.

    Fredrick went down as a total loss project.

    Sarbjit collected Rs 6.65 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 26.05 crore.
    Azhar added Rs 30 lakh in its third week taking its three week total to Rs 31.95 crore.

    Baaghi has added Rs 20 lakh in its fifth week to take its five week total to Rs 78.25 crore.

  • Houseful 3……Happy hours!

    Houseful 3……Happy hours!

    MUMBAI: Houseful 3 follows Sajid Nadiadwala’s Houseful (2010) and Houseful 2 (2012), both of which saw varying degrees of success. This instalment too follows the same pattern of many characters filling the screen with silly gags and actions that are meant to keep the viewer occupied. In short, it is a leave-your-brain-at-home film that does not require a script.

    Boman Irani is a kind of shipping tycoon based in UK with three daughters, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nargis Fakhri and Lisa Haydon who he assumes to be simple, sanskari girls living according to their names: Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati. He has some superstition about women in his family marrying because there are instances of bad happenings in the aftermath.

    However, unknown to Boman as well as to each other, all three sisters have a man in their life. These are Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh. These three pretend to be in love but their real aim is to pocket many millions of wealth that vests between these three sisters.

    Boman has sought the help of Chunky Pandey, playing Aakhri Pasta in all the films, who comes dressed as a fortuneteller and predicts that the marriage of each girl bodes ill for Boman, who will die the moment the each sister’s man sets eyes on him, or steps into the house or utters the first word to Boman, respectively.

    For the comedy and buffoonery to happen, most of the characters have to be under one roof. The girls and guys devise a plan. Akshay, an aspiring footballer, comes over on a wheel chair, he is incapable of stepping down or walking so Boman is safe on that count. Abhishek, dreaming of becoming a rapper, enters the house as a mute so there is no question of uttering a word to Boman. Riteish, who is raring to become a formula one driver, pretends to be blind; he can’t set eyes on Boman and hence even the third bad omen is ineffective.

    Now enter three more suitors for these girls in Nikitin Dheer, Sameer Kochhar and Arav Chowdhary. Just out of jail, they are presented as Boman’s choice for the girls. Jackie Shroff enters the scene. An ex-don of Mumbai, Jackie is also just out of jail and decides to meet his underling, Boman in London. When jailed, Jackie had transferred Boman along with all his wealth to London. He also agrees with Boman’s choice of boys.

    For Dheer, Kochhar and Chowdhary, the hitch is that though Boman and Jackie prefer them for the girls, but the girls love Akshay, Abhishek and Riteish. After some more one-upmanship duels between the two groups, the good have to win over the evil. The idea is toraise some laughter and, hence, the battles have to be won with wit, not hand-to-hand fights.

    The film does not have to adhere to a particular script. It resorts to gags to follow a loosely woven story and anything can be turned or twisted at will. On that count, Sajid and Farhad do a fair job. The film has passable musical score despite a number of lyric writers and composers; however, the choreography is executed in an entertaining manner. Photography captures lush London locations very well.

    As for performances, Akshay Kumar, playing one with a split personality, excels in this film with his varied expressions and deadpan timing. Abhishek and Riteish play the perfect foils. Jacqueline, Nargis and Lisa add to the glamour quotient. Boman and Jackie do well. Of the three villains, Nikitin towers over the rest while Kochhar and Chowdhary are okay.

    Houseful 3 is a fair entertainer to hit the cinemas after a long draught. The film caters to all kind of audience and should manage a decent stay at the box office.

    Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala.

    Directors: Sajid, Farhad.

    Cast: Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nargis Fakhri, Lisa Haydon, Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff, Chunky Pandey, Nikitin Dheer, Sameer Kochhar, Arav Chowdhary.