ITV

Tag: Mantostaan

  • Non-Khan Bahubali2 shows the power of three — Rs 300 cr

    It is happy hours for the exhibitors, especially the multiplex properties. After starving for footfalls, Bahubali 2: The Conclusion has come as a saviour. Never look a gift horse in the mouth so no matter it is not a Hindi super star film, just a dubbed film from South. The film carried a solid brand equity created by its predecessor, Bahubali: The Beginning.

    The multiplexes tried all possible avenues to feed their auditoriums in absence of films. Earlier, they tried to programme IPL matches and other such events to no avail. Who would want to watch an exciting match of cricket in a dark hall under a disciplined guidelines when you can watch it at home or a restaurant or a club with drinks and full control over the proceedings with a remote in your hand?

    So, building multi-screen halls was not a wise decision which proves a liability when you don’t have a Salman Khan or Aamir Khan film. They give you a fortnight audience while others manage a weekend’s feed.

    Saying, ‘where the next meal is is coming from’ won’t be an exaggeration in case of these multiplexes.

    Bahubali: The Beginning came out of the blue and left promising a lot. Hence, Bahubali 2: The Conclusion, became the most awaited film by both, the audience as well as the exhibition trade. To every stakeholder’s relief, the film has more than lived up to all the expectations the earlier film promised.

    Because, except Bahubali 2 there is nothing the multiplexes as well as the single screens have to screen. They have been facing the ‘No audience, No show’ routine for a long time.

    *Bahubali 2: The Conclusion (Dubbed from Telugu) has been collecting figures all through its first week which most Hindi superstar films do on their day one or two if they manage to find a holiday release. In fact, the film has exceeded best Hindi film collections by miles.

    *Since the entire exhibition trade is surviving on just one film for the last few days, here is how and why: The film has continued to maintain collections in high crore range all through its first weekend by collecting Rs 40 crore on Friday and Saturday and peaking at Rs 46 crore on Sunday to end its opening weekend with over Rs 146 crore.

    The victorious run continued as the film kept on the same scale on Monday with part of India having a holiday. The collections dropped by 25% on Tuesday but that was not alarming since the film picked up again. Finally, the film ended its first week sweep of the box office with a total take of Rs 245.6 crore.

    The film has been enjoyed a fitting second weekend which is reported to have added another Rs 80.2 crore for its second weekend thus taking its 10 day total to Rs 325.8 crore.

    The other films released in recent weeks, Noor, Maatr, Begum Jaan, Naam Shabana, Phillauri have all ended with disastrous outcome.

    *Last week’s release, Mantostaan, despite a very limited release, has failed to draw the audience.

  • Mantostaan….For a select few

    If you go by the title, it is not really designed to draw the audience to the cinema halls. Also, not many in today’s movie-going audience would know about Sadat Hasan Manto. Talking of Staan, Manto had none. He was not quite happy in India before Partition nor when he migrated to the newly formed country, Pakistan. The Staan in the title refers to Manto’s own space he created for himself.

    Mantostaan takes four of Manto’s short stories for this film. The four stories, all set around the Partition are: Khol Do, Aakhri Salute, Thanda Ghosht and Assignment.

    These omnibus short story stuff has been tried earlier in films, the last one in memory being Vinay Shukla’s Mirch, which told four stories written by the Italian writer, Giovanni Boccaccio, who in turn had copied his collection of short stories from the Indian legends of The Panchtantra, among others.
    That said about films with multiple stories, Mantostaan’s four stories run simultaneously with each other. And, that, at times affects the narration. One feels that telling these four short stories independent of each other may have been more effective.

    The stories depict violence that took place during the Partition.

    In Khol Do, a man trying to go to Pakistan along with his wife and daughter survives but remembers his wife being killed. When he comes to a refugee camp, he searches for his daughter. Then, he is promised by some young men who risk going back to Amritsar and bring women and children back, that they will search for his daughter.

    Another story, Assignment, is about a retired Muslim judge stuck in his house in Amritsar with his daughter and son as most other Muslims have moved to safer locations. It is Eid day and a Sikh who owed the judge a favour pays a visit even as a mob waits down the street to finish their task.

    Aaakhri Salute is about a banter between an Indian soldier and a Pakistani, both serving at the border.

    The fourth story is about a man trying to hide a macabre truth about himself, something he did during the riots, from his woman.

    Manto, for those initiated, makes for taut reading, but here, in the film, it does not really grip you. Direction shows lack of experience.

    Performances are mediocre, save for Raghuvir Yadav.

    Producers: Rahat Kazmi, Tariq Khan, Aditya Pratap Singh.

    Director: Rahat Kazmi.

    Cast: Raghuvir Yadav, Sonal Sehgal, Veerendra Saxena and Rahat Kazmi.