Another
weekend comes and goes …
The distributor’s despair just grows…
Theaters are running four shows…
All are greeted by empty rows…
Four Bollywood releases this weekend and none
of them as much as created a minor movement
at the box office. The poor times continue to
roll on…
1. Water
The Oscar nomination, the Deepa Mehta tag and
the presence of John Abraham were all expected
to combine and result in a decent opening for
the movie. But, a few multiplexes apart, the
movie has gone unnoticed and any hope of a surge
after the first three days is like hoping for
a miracle. The movie’s stay in theaters
will be very very brief. A shame for an Oscar
nominated movie. Critics on the other hand are
falling over each other in singing praises of
the movie and director. At the same time Oscar
nominee Will Smith’s ‘The Pursuit
of Happyness’ is getting noticed. Ironical.
2. Red
The promos generated a lot of hype around the
movie. As a result it has turned out to be the
best of the releases this weekend managing a
20% opening (imagine the fate of the other movies).
The critics have trashed it. Aftab’s presence
and Celina Jaitley’s glamour might just
keep the film running for the first two weeks.
But the general verdict about the movie seems
to be, ‘old wine in a new bottle.’
3. 1971
A whiff of fresh air is what critics have called
it. Based on a daring escape of Prisoners of
War from Pakistan post the 1971 Indo-Pak war,
it has been hailed as a great movie. Manoj Bajpai
finally gets some appreciation, Bhojpuri superstar
Ravi Kishen makes his mark in Hindi and four
other actors get noticed. However, for all it’s
quality, its start at the box office has been
dismal. If the critics’ verdict is anything
to go by, then the movie will pick. But critics
can seldom read the minds of the viewers.
4.
Sarhad Paar
Sarhad…. What. That is what the general
reaction seems to be. The movie stars Sanjay
Dutt and Tabu. The verdict, well obviously will
burn a hole in the pocket of the producer and
distributors. This is not to say that the movie
is poor, just that most people do not even know
that such a movie has released.
