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Tag: Kaabil

  • Kaabil shines light on women who power change

    Kaabil shines light on women who power change

    MUMBAI: They came, they skilled, they conquered. Mahindra & Mahindra’s Kaabil initiative and Centum Foundation have unveiled a stirring new film that celebrates the extraordinary journeys of women who turned opportunity into empowerment.

    Conceptualised by Upgrad Enterprise’s marketing team, the short film spotlights women from across 19 states whose lives have been transformed through skill-based training and sustainable livelihoods. Told through powerful first-person stories, it’s a moving ode to resilience, dignity and the quiet revolution taking shape in rural India.

    Opening with a voiceover comparing women’s strength to ‘Shakti’, the film captures the struggles and triumphs of women finding their footing in sectors like automotive, retail and customer service. The Kaabil Initiative, Mahindra Group’s flagship CSR programme, has already trained over 20,000 women across 250 locations, with more than 9,000 placed in meaningful jobs, many for the very first time.

    Mahindra & Mahindra head of women’s empowerment Pooja Nanda said, “Kaabil aims to empower one million women by 2027 through skilling and employability. Our partnership with Centum Foundation has helped us scale our impact and foster lasting livelihoods.”

    Adding to this, Upgrad Enterprise revenue head Sunita Mohant noted, “These women aren’t just statistics, they’re stories of courage and transformation. Their ambition proves that India’s growth isn’t limited to its cities.”

    With its heartwarming visuals and purpose-led storytelling, the film goes beyond awareness to ignite inspiration, reminding viewers that true empowerment begins when skill meets opportunity.

     

  • Period films don’t work in India

    MUMBAI: Period films, whether fantasy or based on real events, don’t work in India. They usually spell disaster at the box office. Rangoon adds to the list of recent disasters like Pankaj Kapur’s Mausam (2011), Kunal Kohli’s Teri MeriKahaani (2012) and Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet (2015). Just when one thought Kashyap’s indulgence called Bombay Velvet was the ultimate disaster at the box office, Rangoon has come as the bigger one.

    The other day, Rangoon director Vishal Bhardwaj stated on a TV show that he had no clue about World War II having been fought on an Indian border and yet he decided to make this film? It was okay to do that if one was making a fantasy but not a period film from a chapter from the history as huge as World War II!

    *Rangoon opened on 24 February, a general holiday for Mahashivratri. The holiday could not in any way help the film generate a decent opening response. In fact, it was pathetic opening of five crore.

    There was no sign of Saturday adding anything much as the film remained stagnant while the Sunday collections hovering at same levels with nil improvement.

    The film ended its first weekend with a tally of Rs 14.5 crore.

    The film may not even recover its cost on print and promotion, proving to be a total disaster.

    *The Attack On Ghazi, a film on the 1971 war of the Indian Navy drowning the powerful Pakistan Navy submarine, Ghazi, is appreciated but not enough to make its mark on the box office. The film collects Rs 11.4 crore from its Hindi version in its first week. The film may gain some more patronage as the week’s release, Rangoon, is poor.

    *Running Shaadi is poor, just managing to cross a crore mark in its first week with a figure of Rs 1.5 crore.

    *Irada, despite the presence of Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi in the cast, fails to get footfalls and falls short of one crore mark in its first week raking in just about Rs 90 lakh!

    *Jolly LLB seems to be making the most of poor oppositions despite being a mediocre film, especially compared to the first version. The brand equity of the title and Akshay Kumar in the lead have helped the film sustain. The film has added a good Rs 23.8 crore in its second week taking its two week total to Rs 95.9 crore. However, the film still needs to hold its own to emerge as an earning film.

    *Raees adds Rs 20 lakh in its fourth week to take its four week total to Rs 130.6 crore.

    *Kaabil collects Rs 50 lakh in its fourth week to take its four week total to Rs 92.7 crore.

    *Dangal has added another Rs 20 lakh to its total in its ninth week taking its nine week total to Rs 388.1 crore.

  • Tax concessions would have boosted ‘Attack On Ghazi’

    The past week saw a variety of new releases. `The Attack On Ghazi’, was a rare war film for the Indian audiences and an underwater film about war between an Indian and Pakistani submarine, Ghazi. The film, based on the 1971 war, was painstakingly made.

    The other film, `Irada’ — film’s title did not reveal much about the product — was on an ecological problem faced by the State of Punjab as some vested interests involved in reverse boring draining water and causing ground water to turn poisonous for farm lands as well as for drinking purposes.

    The third was the usual run of the mill romantic comedy about a couple on the run.

    Though ‘The Attack On Ghazi’ emerged as the best of the three releases at the box office, it was not enough as the film registered just over Rs. 1 crore or Rs 10 million on its opening day. The film deserved much better and the initiative to attract more footfalls should have rested with multiplexes, which could consider reducing the admission rates for this kind of film that is made with sincere intentions.

    The film narrates a chapter from Indian history, not very far long, though. If multiplexes increase admission rates at will with big star cast films, reducing the rates for a film like `The Attack On Ghazi’ is the least they can do to promote honest cinema.

    The film deserved entertainment exemption but many States did not do so under election’s model code of conduct and the film stayed deprived of this advantage. The film showed a decent rise on Saturday in collections doing better on Sunday to end its opening weekend with Rs. 6.6 crore or Rs. 66 million (excluding Telugu and Tamil versions).

    `Irada’, a film with a message on environment, takes the thriller route to present and make interesting the issue of how ecology of the bread basket of India, Punjab, was compromised. The problem with the thriller part, that is the investigations, is that you just witness conclusions and not told how they were arrived at. Also, if the film really wanted to take the message across the States, the use of heavy Punjabi language could have been avoided.
    The opening day collections as well as the weekend remained very poor. The film collected approximately Rs. 60 lakh or Rs. 60, 00000 for its opening weekend.

    `Running Shaadi’, a routine love story about a couple in love on the run, fails to convince on counts of comedy as well as romance. Launched a couple of years back, the film did take its own time hitting the screens. Another drawback is that the film is almost entirely in Punjabi language. To what purpose one can’t fathom?
    The film is poor all over from one day one. The film fell far short of even Rs. 1 crore or Rs 10 million mark and collected Rs. 70 lakh or Rs. 70, 00000 for its first weekend.

    `Jolly LLB 2’ that had a tepid opening response picked up on Saturday and Sunday. Though the film dropped on Monday, it had a healthy Tuesday, thanks to Valentine’s Day. Being a solo release in the comedy genre, it maintained Rs. 10 crore or Rs. 100 million per day average to end its first week with Rs. 72. 1 crore or Rs. 721 million. It will get some benefit in its second week in the absence of any strong film releases.
    `Raees’ added Rs. 2.1 crore or Rs 21 million for its third week, taking its three-week tally to Rs. 130.4 crore or Rs. 134 million.

    `Kaabil’ collected Rs. 3.8 crore or Rs. 38 million in its third week taking its three week total to Rs. 92.2 crore (Rs. 922 million).

    `Dangal’ comes at the end of its glorious run. The film added about Rs. 50 lakh (Rs. 50, 00000) in its eighth week, taking its eight-week total to Rs. 387.9 crore or Rs. 3879 million.

  • No film sustained after Dangal

    The bad run at the box office continues as no film released after Dangal has been able to sustain. The new releases have not been able to hold their own post the opening weekend. After the midweek release of two major films, Kaabil and Raees backfired. The films could not draw enough footfalls after the 26 January national holiday.

    On the other hand, the people behind last week’s releases, Raees and Kaabil, have been throwing wild figures in the market through the media. Some gullible media may publish these figures but readers have stopped believing them.

    *The trade held its hopes on Jolly LLB 2 since its lead man, Akshay Kumar, has been having a decent run with most of his films lately. The Jolly franchise was also expected to help the earlier one, Jolly LLB, had done well as the box office.

    Somehow, the promos of the film did not excite people. Also, there was no music with popular appeal. This showed on the film’s opening, which was below average. However, being the only film gracing the screens during the week, it did pick up some pace on Saturday and excelling on Sunday, giving it a healthy opening weekend of Rs 47.1 crore. However, for the collections to maintain through the week will be a tough call as the film has a limited merit.

    *Raees has been doing badly from day one. The only good figures it has to show are on 26 January holiday. Since then, it has been only a downward slide. The film which collected Rs 111.9 crore in its first nine days, has dropped by almost 85% in its second week and collected just Rs 16.4 crore taking its two week total to Rs 128.3 crore.

    *Kaabil released simultaneously with Raees. As both the films could not compete at the box office as both lacked appreciation and, hence, patronage, the competition shifted to issuing false figures to the media. Kaabil lagged behind its competition and these wrong figures were not really adding to the tally. The film did catch up with Raees in its second week as it collected a little more but that will be no help in the final tally. The film added Rs 16.85 crore in its second week taking its two week total to Rs 88.45 crore.

    *Dangal has braved all new releases and finding the residual or the repeat audience even as it comes to the end of its tremendous run at the box office. The film’s seven week total stands at Rs 387.4 crore.

  • Alif & Kung Fu Yoga go unnoticed

    Alif & Kung Fu Yoga go unnoticed

    In their unmindful head to head clash, and their un-businesslike decisions to release their films bang during a midweek, on 25 January, a day before the Republic Day national holiday, both the films, Kaabil and Raees, seemed to be harming their own prospects. And, that is how the results at the box office of both the films show.

    While the opening of the films was below par, the only day they really peaked was on the national holiday of 26 January. The next day, both dropped by almost 50 per cent. The figures thereafter took only downward trend.

    Since the films lacked in content department. Raees, glorified an anti-national as a do-gooder while the other, Kaabil, tried to sell an age-old story of revenge for a raped woman, with a different angle. Both failed to draw crowds — Raees failed or find appreciation, Kaabil, though, liked by a section of moviegoers, was not enough to fill the coffers. The collection figures issued by the production houses don’t stand the scrutiny.

    *Raees collected Rs 111.9 crore (nine days) and, despite an open week as no major film has released this week, there is no benefit for the film to reap.

    *Kaabil, though, remained on the lower side through rest of the week as the film could add just about 14 crore for the remaining four days taking its first week (nine days) total to Rs 71.6 crore.

    *Dangal keeps adding bit by bit to its total as the film seems to enjoy some repeat audience. The film collected Rs 1.8 crore in its sixth week to take its six week tally to Rs 386.86 crore.

  • Strategies rule over content, fail

    Strategies rule over content, fail

    Nothing worthwhile came along since Dangal, the film which helped the cinema halls sustain. When it did, two major production houses decided to release their films simultaneously. Kaabil from Rakesh Roshan’s production house and Raees from Excel Entertainment.

    Both the releases wanted to cash in on the long weekend as the 26 January, the Republic Day holiday fell on Thursday. To start with, both films releasing on the same day, whatever the occasion, was suicidal. And, for a producer to do that in an era when the multiplex owners call the shots had a role to play when having agreed to give both films an equal exposure, reneged and went along with Raees, which was not really meant for the multiplex audience. The outcome for both the films is tragic.

    The idea of releasing the film on Thursday to cash in on the Republic day, made sense. But, what was the logic of both film deciding to hit the screens on Wednesday, the day before the holiday. It was a midweek working day ahead of a long weekend. It turned out to be a bad decision. Both films had a poor opening day collections. While Kaabil suffered because of the competition, Raees was affected as the film’s negative word of mouth spread which reflected on its collections on other days.

    *Raees had an average opening of around Rs 20 crore on Wednesday. On Thursday, because of the holiday, it touched its peak only to drop by as much as 50 per cent on Friday and decline thereafter with even Sunday figures being below par. Looking at these figures, the film showed a potential to reach about Rs 90 crore for the opening weekend of five days.

    *Kaabil opened to a weak response and though the film enjoyed positive word of mouth from a section of the audience, it did not reflect much on the collections. This praise seemed more from the fallout of disappointment with Raees. It was more like a comparison than the real praise for the film. The film opened to half the figures of Raees and had its best day in Republic Day.

    The film collected Rs 57.4 crore for its opening weekend of five days.

    *OK Jaanu collected Rs 3.5 crore in its second week taking its two week total to Rs 20.35 crore.

    *Dangal added Rs 8.92 crore in its fifth week to take its five week total to Rs 383.87. It added another Rs 1.19 crore for the sixth weekend which takes its 38-day total to Rs 385.06 crore.

  • Strategies rule over content, fail

    Strategies rule over content, fail

    Nothing worthwhile came along since Dangal, the film which helped the cinema halls sustain. When it did, two major production houses decided to release their films simultaneously. Kaabil from Rakesh Roshan’s production house and Raees from Excel Entertainment.

    Both the releases wanted to cash in on the long weekend as the 26 January, the Republic Day holiday fell on Thursday. To start with, both films releasing on the same day, whatever the occasion, was suicidal. And, for a producer to do that in an era when the multiplex owners call the shots had a role to play when having agreed to give both films an equal exposure, reneged and went along with Raees, which was not really meant for the multiplex audience. The outcome for both the films is tragic.

    The idea of releasing the film on Thursday to cash in on the Republic day, made sense. But, what was the logic of both film deciding to hit the screens on Wednesday, the day before the holiday. It was a midweek working day ahead of a long weekend. It turned out to be a bad decision. Both films had a poor opening day collections. While Kaabil suffered because of the competition, Raees was affected as the film’s negative word of mouth spread which reflected on its collections on other days.

    *Raees had an average opening of around Rs 20 crore on Wednesday. On Thursday, because of the holiday, it touched its peak only to drop by as much as 50 per cent on Friday and decline thereafter with even Sunday figures being below par. Looking at these figures, the film showed a potential to reach about Rs 90 crore for the opening weekend of five days.

    *Kaabil opened to a weak response and though the film enjoyed positive word of mouth from a section of the audience, it did not reflect much on the collections. This praise seemed more from the fallout of disappointment with Raees. It was more like a comparison than the real praise for the film. The film opened to half the figures of Raees and had its best day in Republic Day.

    The film collected Rs 57.4 crore for its opening weekend of five days.

    *OK Jaanu collected Rs 3.5 crore in its second week taking its two week total to Rs 20.35 crore.

    *Dangal added Rs 8.92 crore in its fifth week to take its five week total to Rs 383.87. It added another Rs 1.19 crore for the sixth weekend which takes its 38-day total to Rs 385.06 crore.

  • Dangal benchmarked; new big race on cards

    Dangal benchmarked; new big race on cards

    MUMBAI: It has been tough going for the exhibition trade for the last couple of weeks as there has been nothing to feed the screens. Thankfully, Dangal sustained the trade for three weeks and still, in its fourth week and fifth weekend, has been drawing better footfalls than the new releases could do.

    The new week comes as a windfall for the exhibition trade as two major films, Kaabil and Raees, release midweek, on 25 January, to cash in on the Republic Day holiday on Thursday. In fact, this is more than the exhibitors could have asked for as their acumen is on test on which film should be given how many screens!

    The scale will probably tilt in the favour of whichever film looks more likely to go with the multiplex audience. Such competition and simultaneous release between two major star-cast films coming from established banners, is not wise and also rare in the high stakes scenario.

    *Coffee With D proves to be another film made on whim! The makers fancy with the don Dawood has caused many losses among investors. And, to think that a poorly conceived idea of shaming the don could work, the idea was amateur. Not to mention that so was the scripting and direction besides the poor casting.

    The film remained below a collection of Rs 15 lakh on its opening day and faced the same fate as other such films do, no viewers leading to cancelled shows. The film collected a total of around Rs 50 lakh for its opening weekend.

    *Haraamkhor makers shared the ‘success’ of their film with the media the other day! For a film that was rejected outright and failed to find audience on most days of its opening week, this must be quite an achievement. The film’s collection figures barely crossed merely a crore-mark, for the week.

    *OK Jaanu is poor; but managed to collect just Rs 16.85 crore in its first week. The big names of Karan Johar and Mani Ratnam didn’t help, only the content does.

    *Dangal has sustained very well in its fourth week by collecting Rs 15.08 crore taking its four-week total to Rs 374.95 crore. The film has added further Rs 6.12 crore for its fifth weekend to take its 31-day tally to Rs 381.07 crore.

  • Dangal benchmarked; new big race on cards

    Dangal benchmarked; new big race on cards

    MUMBAI: It has been tough going for the exhibition trade for the last couple of weeks as there has been nothing to feed the screens. Thankfully, Dangal sustained the trade for three weeks and still, in its fourth week and fifth weekend, has been drawing better footfalls than the new releases could do.

    The new week comes as a windfall for the exhibition trade as two major films, Kaabil and Raees, release midweek, on 25 January, to cash in on the Republic Day holiday on Thursday. In fact, this is more than the exhibitors could have asked for as their acumen is on test on which film should be given how many screens!

    The scale will probably tilt in the favour of whichever film looks more likely to go with the multiplex audience. Such competition and simultaneous release between two major star-cast films coming from established banners, is not wise and also rare in the high stakes scenario.

    *Coffee With D proves to be another film made on whim! The makers fancy with the don Dawood has caused many losses among investors. And, to think that a poorly conceived idea of shaming the don could work, the idea was amateur. Not to mention that so was the scripting and direction besides the poor casting.

    The film remained below a collection of Rs 15 lakh on its opening day and faced the same fate as other such films do, no viewers leading to cancelled shows. The film collected a total of around Rs 50 lakh for its opening weekend.

    *Haraamkhor makers shared the ‘success’ of their film with the media the other day! For a film that was rejected outright and failed to find audience on most days of its opening week, this must be quite an achievement. The film’s collection figures barely crossed merely a crore-mark, for the week.

    *OK Jaanu is poor; but managed to collect just Rs 16.85 crore in its first week. The big names of Karan Johar and Mani Ratnam didn’t help, only the content does.

    *Dangal has sustained very well in its fourth week by collecting Rs 15.08 crore taking its four-week total to Rs 374.95 crore. The film has added further Rs 6.12 crore for its fifth weekend to take its 31-day tally to Rs 381.07 crore.

  • Weak films fall by Dangal-side

    Weak films fall by Dangal-side

    The exhibition sector felt some relief with a blockbuster in Dangal after a long gap to help them sustain the cinemas, the vacuum faces them again as the two new movies, OK Jaanu and Haraamkhor, failed to bring in even the initial audience or, for that matter, even the compulsive first day or first weekend viewers.

    With the forthcoming week offering no solace in the form of a major release, the cinemas face another dull week of ‘No audience, No show’ till two major films, Kaabil and Raees, fight it out for the playtime at the multiplexes on the eve of the Republic Day. Both release on 25 January.

    *OK Jaanu, a remake of the Tamil film, O KadhalKanmani, in Hindi failed to arouse the curiosity depriving it of an initial draw. The film suffered due to its length sans face value, its South flavour and lack of a decent musical score, a mandatory ingredient in any romantic movie.

    The film managed an average opening day figures of a little over Rs 3 crore. Friday, 13 January, and Saturday, 14 January, collections remained below par, too, as the film vied for attention on both days when the nation celebrated various festivals in different parts of India.

    As these two days managed to pull in just about Rs 7.5 crore. The film managed to collect Rs 11.9 crore for its first weekend, which is on a low side.

    *Haraamkhor is another film to go down as ‘No audience No show’ category film.

    *Dangal continues to create havoc as well as new records. The film’s three week total reached Rs 359.87 crore, the highest domestic box office collections so far.

    The film added another Rs 10.24 crore for its fourth weekend to take its 24-day total to Rs 370.11 crore.