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109 Responses to “Kahaani, Paan Singh Tomar (ongoing), the rest of the box office”
The collections of Paan Singh Tomar showed a rise on Wednesday from the previous day as collections were strong in the evening as next day is a national holiday. The Wednesday collections are likely to be in the 85 lakhs nett range as per early estimates. The big urban centre collections were also better than Monday.
Today (Thursday) being a holiday should also see a jump and the week is likely to finish in the 7.50 crore nett which is a good number as first day was just 70 lakhs odd.
The film will face competition from Kahaani and Chaar Din Ki Chandni which will release on Thursday and Hollywood release John Carter which opens on Friday at most places with select theatres on Thursday.
The releases this week Chaar Din Ki Chandni and Kahaani will seen an early release on Thursday due to Holi holiday. Both films have limited screenings though while the screenings of Kahaani will from 6pm onwards, Chaar Din Ki Chandni screenings will start early at a few theatres and will have 4-5 shows.
Both the films are not likely to get a strong opening but Kahaani should lead as it has a better advance whatever little there is and far more promotion.
Kahaani has a target audience of the urban multiplex audience while Chaar Din Ki Chandni is being targeted towards masses but problem is mass audience is never too keen on non big star cast films while multiplex audience is much more receptive to films without superstars. So Kahaani will find it easier to reach its target audience.
Good word of mouth will be the key factor and Yamla Pagla Deewana the last film of Chaar Din Ki Chandni director Samir Karnik did very well at the box office but was driven by the star power of Sunny Deol in North India where it was a huge hit and decent hit/success in other parts.
PST has some real good WOM, My sister is actually goint to watch it tonight ( in India) bcause as she said-” badee tareef sun rahe hain iskeee, aur Irfaan Khan humen pasand bhee hai “…..
My sister loved PST and Irfaan Khan a lot , she also saw Kahani – her views- Vidya balan is too good lekin aisa lag raha tha kee Sony per CID serial dekh rahe hain……
So …. finally watched ‘Kahani’, the new release made by my dear mad friend Sujoy Ghosh, who made ‘Aladin’ with me. And my message to him after all the congratulatory tones was – ” what the heck were you doing all this while making films like Aladin ” ??!!
Such a wonderfully gripping story shot superbly and enacted by all the cast so deliciously. I feel a sense of great joy to be in some minuscule manner a part of this film in commentary and song. I am often wary of voice overs to film. Most of the time they fail ! But I am certain this one will keep the box office flag flying … well done Sujoy, and keep up the good work .. !!
The Gujarat Tourism has used a unique technique to promote their campaign. They have covered an entire metro train New Delhi with promotional pictures – both inside and outside, a first of its kind. And whoever thought of it deserves plaudits. Wonder if it can be put up here … let me try ..
Also please find the link below of the Train Exterior video.
Okay guys, I have just come back after watching Kahaani.
Do yourself a favour and watch the film. More than anything else, I would want to congratulate Vidya for choosing this role. She deserves an award not only for her brilliant act in there but also her choice of role.
Coming back to the film – its taut, edgy, and very-well executed. After a couple of disasters, Sujoy Ghosh is back with a bang, and he’s really surprised me by how he’s held the narrative. Not that the movie is flawless but the positives overwhelm and leave the nagatives behind by a big, big margin. The twist ending, though somewhat expected for me (wont ruin the suspense) was a fine culmination to the story.
Apart from Vidya’s stupendous act, it was marvellous to see the supporting actors delivering some rare good acting. Parambrata Chatterjee as the cop who helps her comes up with a restraint, subtle act and is surely likeable. And as Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui comes up with another brilliant act after Peepli Live.
Kudos also to the casting director for his choice of the contract killer. He was creepy.
A film not to be missed. Rarely you get a Hindi film like this one, where just about everything works.
and dont be surprised if Vidya sweeps the awards next year too 🙂
Heirs apparent or scions of change? Why did everyone read the tea leaves wrong? Poser after poser, what are the answers?
Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Jayant Chaudhury, Manpreet Badal, the list is long. Some winners, others losers.
Dynasties and dynastic politics is a story that nobody can run away from in India. Hindi movies and Indian polity are both replete with such instances. For good, bad or indifferent, India has this amazing knack of making both politics and films a family concern. If I am a politico or a film star, all it requires is a nudge from me to the frat.
From Amitabh Bachchan to Feroz Khan, from Yash Chopra to Jeetendra, Hindi films have seen star sons, musicians, directors and you name it all push their children into the family vocation as it were.
You would wonder – why blame the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty then? The bigger question is that even as some star sons and politicos’ sons make the cut with their charisma, an equal or perhaps larger number fall by the wayside. Abhishek Bachchan can never be Amitabh Bachchan just as Ashok Mankad could never be Vinoo Mankad. Why then does Rahul Gandhi not connect with the masses?
The crowds throng to his rallies, they appear to be transfixed by what he is saying and yet they don’t vote for him. Is it due to the fact that the voter reckons that Rahul Gandhi is not rooted in the state?
After all the same voter voted with his feet in the general elections.
In many ways, the viewers and voters continue to reject both Abhishek and Rahul.
They bring a surname to the table, but they probably lack the ability to connect with either the classes or the masses. Famous fathers and their progeny have to bear this cross.
I’ve just come back from seeing The Raven on the first night of the UK release. Starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a guilty pleasure that has its moments but it makes the mistake of carrying on for 15 more minutes after the climax is over.
I thought I’d have to wait for Talaash for the next suspense thriller, but Kahaani stole a march oiver it – and how!!
Doubt Talaash can beat the story, tightness of the script and a focus which creates involvement in Kahaani, it’s a hard hitting suspense. Loved it.
3 years back .. When Paa was released on just 500 prints and collected 2.25 Crore on first day .. Poor collections and negative commentary was all rounds by likes of boxofficeIndia and Komal Nahta.
Now after 3 years, when ticket prices has hiked so much and business has reached to another level, 2.5 Crore opening of Kahaani with 1000 Prints is treating like Good collections by same folks.
Do there any more proof require for BOI and Nahta against Bachchan campaign ??
B.O. update: ‘Kahaani’, ‘C.D.K.C.’ start slow, but reports positive
By Taran Adarsh, March 9, 2012 – 18:25 IST
The two releases, KAHAANI and CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI, have started on a comparatively lower note. While KAHAANI was leading at multiplexes of several centres, CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI was better at some stations of North India; the single screens specifically. However, the morning and noon show numbers were far from encouraging. Fortunately for their investors, the word of mouth is extremely positive and the business of both, KAHAANI and CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI, is expected to escalate towards the evening shows.
Meanwhile, KAHAANI collected Rs 85 lacs [approx] on Thursday [paid previews], while CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI, which had a limited release on Thursday, collected Rs 79.69 lacs.
Kahaani first day came in at around 2.60 crore nett as West Bengal was a huge outperformer due to local content. The first day territorial breakdown is as follows.
these numbers for a film that had very effective trailers, good reviews and so on establishes once again the points some of us were making about heroine-centric films in Bombay. Balan is coming off a career high in TDP and even though the subject is very different here surely a relatively higher opening wasn’t an unreasonable ask. The film might do well from here on based on WOM but that’s a different thing. It can now hardly do more than 20-25 crores even with very significant jumps and stability. Which would be a good result for the film. I’m just talking about initial interest.
I’m going to watch Kahaani tonight (Paan Singh Tomar tomorrow); must say it was very hard to get tickets, as just about everything was sold out, or with available seats restricted to only the first couple of rows. Finally managed to find good seats at an 11PM show quite a distance from me…
Paan Singh Tomar remained rock steady on its 8th day as it collected around 70-75 lakhs nett which is a similar coillection to its first day. The film should do a second weekend of around 3.50 crore nett as Saturday should see a big jump in collections. The first weekend collections were around 4 crore nett approx.
The film has been well appreciated by its target audience and is settled for a good run as high end multiplexes will keep on screening the film for a few weeks.
The film should now do over 15 crore nett lifetime business which would be a very good result considering at what levels the film started from.
just saw the kahani promo-=looks good
and yet to hear a negative report
btw one cannot compare kahani with paa, even after tdp
paa had bachchan sr and it was a home production
plus abhishrek wasnt so down n out at that time (bo wise)
anyhow-am not really convinced if these heroes deduct their own remuneration from the costs of theie home productions–technically they should since theuy are giving up their time and are efffectively blocking themselves from toher films where they could earn–and this includes the bachchan sr and jr for paa
so creditable for vidya and kahani
well done vidya
ps–so even oldgold has seen this
oldgold –how did u manage–not showing near me
pray tell me the ‘trick’ 🙂
di–is it running at a theatre near u or are u also indulging in piracy 😉
can we have your review, di
and how cum have u not watched kahaani
on one hand, u claim to be VBs biggest fan
u need to contiribute to the weekend gross- go 4 it
VB needs your support, ladies
then u keep cribbing about lack of ‘female oriented roles’
and complain about ‘female objectification”–reminds me –amy has abandoned VB when needed most :-)someone i know has LOVED kAhaani—And she usually loves trashing bollywood films (sometimes for the heck of it)–feel it has to be really good to make ultra finnicky people happy
Saw Paan Singh Tomar running in theater very close to home despite busy schedule. Wanted to see Kahani but I was afraid that PST will not have a very long run (only 3 people in the theater in afternoon show). Here is brief dhal/roti reactions (for chinese/continental/ufo read gf/Q/Sattu).
Here is a movie you could take your non-desi friends and be proud. The dialogues are in bundeli but very close to hindi, so there is no struggle or frustration on the audience. Keeping in mind the desi audience’s lack of attention and popcorn entertaintment abused brain, Dulia’s script moves really-really fast. We don’t have too many lingering shots or slowness to appreciate/absorb the way you would have in a movie like Hugo. Irrfan is very fit and looks convincing in his younger avatar (even though he is 50!!!) as a jawan in army. First half has lot of humor; scenes were he is eating roti in canteen or bunch of bananas after a run and many other scenes. The character of PST is very well developed through out the movie, his innocence, his native intellect is captured well (he tells his coach not to give maa-behen gali or where he tells his opinion on govt/army-desh to his superiors). The romance with his wife is sweetly captured. The 5 stars of the movie for me are:
1) Characters: They are almost documentary film real. I have a feeling lot of those characters are real people and not actors at all!! Rest assured there is no “Mr Oberoi” coming in helicopter (lolz) in this movie. Even though I have never gone to chambal hinterlands I know that these are my people. You forget you are watching Irrfan…you would see only PST.
2) The landscape (the era): adds authenticity…the rugged, dusty ‘beehad’ and the army cantonement. Attention to detail in the movie where on the radio there is news of Nargis Dutt’s death.
3) The dialogues: Unlike some recent movies where one liners was all the entire movie made of, this movie’s oneliners fall very well with character and don’t feel like they are there to “entertain”. I loved the humor and lol moments in first half
4)The tight script, pace: The movie is moves very fast, almost running a marathon…the audience left breathless.
5) We know going in what the end is like. Second half there is a scene (he is saying his goodbyes to people close to him) he grabs a bunch of dry-fruits from his coach’s home, puts in his shirt pocket and gives it to his future daughter-in-law..”lo khaO” made me sob more than the last scene of the movie.
In the end, it is a tragedy that meritorious director/actors have to struggle while others have 100 crores to bring forth trash content week after week.
thanx di-entertaining review 😉
“despite busy schedule..’–wow, busy shcedules in saturday..hmm–what r u up2? lol
‘only 3 people in the theater’—di and her two toyboys….hahaha joking
good review from ‘normal’ peoples point of view
hopin to hear bout kahani as well
none of them showing near me
also somehow going to a movie nowadays means one half day/nite
3 hours plus accompanying shananigans/meals etc
difficult to spare enbloc
easier to see portions here n there and punch in comments lol
ps–im happy to see irrfan soing well
also happier to see VBs kahaani doing well
rhose i know whove seen kahani are going gaga
extreme praise
congrats VB fans –have a party –and atleast go n support her movie by viewing it
No songs or item numbers for you but the music is good in PST. You should seriously do a day outing and watch both movies back to back (PST and Kahani). Carry your lunch with you to keep the cost down 😉
I hope and pray that Tigmanshu gets bigger budgets and more work to make movies.
lol Di @ “Here is brief dhal/roti reactions (for chinese/continental/ufo read gf/Q/Sattu).”
Definitely a good watch IMO.
Kahani is a closer to Hollywood thriller genre( like Shitaan)..There are loopholes here and there .but it is a well made movie..Calcutta locations are treat to watch..
Thanks Munna. Planning to watch Kahani on a wkday if possible. I read some negative reviews of Paan Singh Tomar today for the first time. I guess some people liked Kapoor’s poolan devi-bandit queen more. For me, personally PST is superior movie; but again it is made 20 years (or so) after.
I didn’t like Bandit Queen during college time..may be I will like if I revisit it. Our media generally has sycophancy tendcies as far as recognition is concerned.
Kahaani had a huge jump in business on Saturday of 60-70% from its Friday business. Multiplexes showed huge jumps while single screens also showed improvement but at much lower levels.
The Saturday business of the film will be at least 4.50 crore nett and could even go to around 5 crore nett if places that opened strongly like West Bengal and Mysore have shown the sort of jumps that other metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Pune which opened at lower levels managed to show on Saturday
The two day collections including paid previews will be in the 8-8.50 crore nett region with the weekend heading for 13.5-14.5 crore nett business and if the film manages good business on the weekdays and second weekend it may emerge the second hit film of 2012 after Agneepath.
bachchan is wondering what was sujoy upto in alladin after seeing kahaani
Dear Mr Bachchan–
im your bigggest fan but plz give respect to your own presence in projects -only then viewers and your fans will
Sujoy makes alladin with u and kahaani with VB
RoMehra makes d6 with u (wont count abhishreks discretion) and Rang de basanti with Aamir
After the blockbuster Raajneeti, Jha comes up with Aarakshan with u (though dont blame u/jha entirely here)
Talking of abhishreks choices, plz dont wanna start here
Also it would be good if you encourage negative criticism on your blogs and selettively pay heed to those rather than ‘blind fans’
also pray use satyam in some capacity towards script secletion etc since due to some idiopathic reasons, u dont seem to have mastered it yet
like aamir or even Vidya Balan
Pplz take this as an earnest plea and not a default mischief mongering
Hope to se emore of khakis, blacks and paas from u
“pray use satyam in some capacity towards script secletion etc since due to some idiopathic reasons, u dont seem to have mastered it yet
like aamir or even Vidya Balan”
Why just script selection. I think if Satyam, Q and GF came together, they can give Hirani’s writing team a run for its money…they should be hired to write a script!
I seriously believe that when an artist runs after money instead of worshipping art, his art is lost. If one is successful, one should invest in creating content, invest in good quality script writers. Imagine Dulia making movies on 4 crore budget. People like Bigb, Aamir can surely finance entire or half of talented people like that. In that regard, I think very highly of Balaji (Jitendra’s daughter-Ekta Kapoor)….she has consistently picked talent and gone with her gut!
Hiya Amy
So u finally got the laptop bak -jokin 😉
Time 2 support vb
Don’t rememwber more positive reviews from critics /public recently
So uve ditched vb and PST after all the talk of ‘female objectification’
Learn from Di
Inspite of her ‘busy schedules’ she has paid her bits
Hoho
Cheer up Amy
There’s more interesting stuff out there 🙂
Or else suggest some ‘Home work’ as in school
watch the ‘love actually’ DVD
& rate the various stories 😉
“I haven’t ditched anybody- I really want to watch both PST and Kahaani- but they aren’t playing anywhere near me.”
Awww, we believe you…that is really sad. Hopefully you can watch it on DVD soon.
Ooh some 1 left a sue townsend book-the women who web to bed for a year!!!!
Shudder shudder !!!
If any1 has the guts for real Auteur stuff-check out ‘turin horse ‘
Been to an Auteur panel discussion-am off ‘normal’ films on multiplexes for a few weeks now 🙂
The film’s director Tigmanshu Dhulia, lead actor Irrfan Khan and producers UTV Motion Pictures are spearheading the trust, which is being called SOS – Save Our Sportspersons.
Dhulia says the move to initiate a trust for needy athletes arose from megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s concern for them, after he watched ‘Paan Singh Tomar’.
He saw the film and grew very concerned about how we treat our sportspersons. We’ve of course been thinking about these unfortunate sportspersons all through the making of our own.
Armed with the determination to get this project on the way, Dhulia and his team are set to get the SOS project going. Hopefully, Big B would be the face of the project.
Dhulia hopes to discuss the matter with the 69-year-old veteran, who is currently recuperating after two surgeries that he underwent last month.
Kahaani did well in its first weekend after a slow start. The weekend business including paid previews was in the 13.50 crore nett region as collections picked up a lot on Saturday though Sunday showed a much smaller jump. The approx breakdown of its weekend business is as follows.
Thursday – 75 lakhs
Friday – 2.75 crore
Saturday – 4.75 crore
Sunday – 5.25 crore
Kahaani has done fantastic business in Mumbai, West Bengal and Mysore while other areas were good to average.
The film should sustain on Monday especially at multiplexes and with no major competition until Agent Vinod on the 23rd March it should have a good run for two weeks.
Cant resist one more interesting write up on this modern day masterpiece
Though if one finds this Uninteresting -not surprising
BY ANDREW SCHENKER ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2011 JUMP TO COMMENTS (2) OR ADD YOUR OWN
Béla Tarr is the cinema’s greatest crafter of total environments and in The Turin Horse, working in his most restricted physical setting since 1984′s Almanac of Fall, he (along with co-director Ágnes Hranitzky) dials up one of his most vividly immersive milieus. Excluding one of the director’s now-famous virtuoso, film-opening tracking shots, the film is entirely confined to the dilapidated rural spread where a farmer lives with his daughter and the horse he depends on for his livelihood, but in Tarr’s hands, the unpromising setting teems with textures and, if not exactly vitality, then an almost tangible sense of presence. The remarkably expressive black-and-white cinematography fixes both the scrubbiness of the exterior terrain and the dankness of the house’s interior, while registering with a shock the difference between dim darkness and the occasional burst of exterior light when the door is opened. The sound design, always exquisitely detailed in Tarr’s films, is attentive to both the noises squeaked out by quotidian chores and the ever-present wind that howls throughout the film. And Fred Keleman’s camera, guided by the director’s now legendary, but here less virtuostically showy, tracking shots, guides the viewer through every inch of the terrain, whether it’s the natural landscape, the domestic architecture, or the characters’ faces.
In fact, it’s Tarr’s attention to visages that tempers his bleak and sometimes cruel view of humankind’s fate, countering cosmic absurdity with human (and equine) brokenness and blind, but vaguely heroic, determination. Whether training his camera on the horseman’s bearded, weathered face, his daughter’s alternatively worried and deeply sad mien (never more effectively so than in a late, Wavelength-inspired ultra-slow track-in to the fixed point of her head through a window), or the unfathomable eyes of the horse, it’s these close-ups that keep the film fixed at the level of individual endurance. In these shots, it’s almost as if Tarr is convinced that if he looks long and hard enough at a character’s face, he’ll penetrate through to some sort of essential meaning, but, for all that, these figures remain as dumb and inscrutable as ever.
The Turin Horse is a cyclical fable of daily drudgery that strips human life to its barest elements and banalities, that tantalizes us with the prospect of a higher meaning only to deny that possibility all together, and then ultimately finds whatever little value is present in humankind’s (or animalkind’s) existence in the ability to simply carry on. In this most Beckettian of films, the characters endlessly enact the same quotidian tasks over the course of six days, unable to leave their property both because of a windstorm that rages the entire time and because of the horse’s stubborn Bartleby-like refusal to not only pull the man’s wagon, but even to eat or drink. This defiance on the part of the animal, the result, we’re told in an opening monologue, of a severe whipping the animal received from his owner which was viewed by and profoundly affected Friedrich Nietzsche, is at once heroic (he refuses not only to serve, but to receive sustenance from his abusive owner) and a pointedly contrasting example to the tenuously adhered-to routines of his owners.
Samuel Beckett famously ended his trilogy of increasingly abstract novels (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) with the line “I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” Part admission of defeat and part desperate, if not quite determination, than example of a bare will to endure, the sentence is structured to end on a note, however tenuous, of positivity. In The Turin Horse, a film in which defeated characters act out the process of bare-bones endurance, Beckett’s formulation becomes simply “We must eat,” the final words spoken by the farmer. But the man’s assertion feels hollow, an empty set of ciphers no longer believed, as the characters’ determination to carry on has been seriously eroded both by external threat (the storm, a band of menacing gypsies who steal their water) and internal inertia. If the great Irish writer gave us “I can’t go on, I’ll go on,” the Hungarian filmmaker can be said to reverse the emphasis: “I’ll go on, I can’t go on.”
And yet, as we watch man and girl perform the same tasks over and over again, Tarr emphasizes not only the banality of the actions, but a certain, sometimes ironic, grandeur in the simple act of surviving. Every day the pattern repeats. The girl wakes up, goes to the well for water, dresses her father, makes potatoes; the father drinks a few shots of palinka; the pair eat the potatoes, ripping them apart with their bare hands and stuffing them into their mouths; they make futile efforts to rouse the horse; and they settle in for afternoon tasks like sewing and chopping wood. But Tarr shoots some of these scenes as a sort of mock-heroic that nonetheless exudes something of the genuinely heroic. He films, for example, the daughter dressing her haggard father from a low angle in starkly dramatic chiaroscuro, and lets Mihály Vig’s rousing strings-and-organs score run free on the soundtrack, a gesture that both mocks and commemorates the baseness of the characters’ situation.
And then, again, there are the faces. Because Tarr is essentially shooting the same events over and over, he’s able to include a series of alternating views of the various quotidian tasks the characters perform. This cubistic approach announced in the opening sequence, in which the camera tracks alongside the farmer as he rides his horse home, darting around the animal’s body to take in different angles, different details, recalls that of his celebrated project, Sátántangó. But whereas the earlier film would repeat an identical scene from a range of viewpoints, The Turin Horse offers up different instances of what amounts to the same activity from a variety of shifting perspectives. In Tarr’s latest there are no wild dance parties or cat killings, the focus is on the banal, but, just to take one example, by training in on the faces of first father, then daughter as they eat their potatoes on two consecutive days, the film tells us at least as much about the raw human need for sustenance and the difference between the characters’ specific modes of eating, of living, of being, as do the more lavish sequences of Sátántangó.
Ultimately, The Turin Horse is a film that asks what meaning there is to be found in the daily toil, in the quotidian chore. Almost as if to mock this idea of meaning, Tarr includes a sequence mid-film in which a neighbor pops in to beg a glass of palinka and while he’s drinking his booze, launches into a lengthy monologue which, with abstractly apocalyptic overtones, attempts to give some significance, any significance, to what he calls the “degradation of humanity.” In one of the film’s most cruelly comic moments, the father responds to his neighbor’s harangue with a simple “Come off it, that’s rubbish” at which point the neighbor shrugs, drops a few coins on the table and leaves.
It’s almost as if Tarr is dismissing even the possibility of there being any meaning to life, even if that meaning were to be strictly negative. Similarly, a scene of the half-literate daughter slowly sounding out a Bible passage seems to be a wry commentary on the (im)possibility of achieving any kind of higher communion. And yet, whatever value there is in life, the film seems to be suggesting, is not to be found in any cosmic scheme, but simply in humankind’s ability to live day by day. By the end of the film, that ability has been severely tested, as the father and daughter lack even the ability to bring (literal) light to their humble abode, but rarely in the cinema have such lives, such tasks been endowed with so much presence, such a sense of exhausted vitality. The characters’ lives may be insignificant in any kind of larger scheme, but as they unfold on the screen, they are everything. If ever a film had a claim to being profound in its banality, The Turin Horse is it.
Couldn’t watch either PST or Kahaani- but did manage to catch Best Exotic Marigold Hotel- very disappointing. The potential of the ensemble cast of absolutely terrific actors is completely squandered.
Very stereotypical, emotionally manipulative fairy tale of an idyllic, dignified vision of retirement intended as fantasy-fulfilment for the old-aged. I kind of expected that from the trailer- but I was expecting a lot more wit and also a feel good message that was relied with a bit more finesse and subtlety- but this was just dull and saccharine.
Judi Dench was the only good thing about the film- a wonderful performance as always- but then it’s impossible for her to be anything but compelling onscreen. Her romantic arc with Bill Nighy was the only enjoyable bit of the movie for me.
It is amply clear from the promos itself that marigold will cater to not only a certain western sensibility but also to a cliched view of India that is not only prevalent in the west, but also the one the west likes to take Olaf is comfortable with wrt India
So no surprise there
Ps Amy -did u do the ‘homework’ given to u ie watching the cd of ‘love actually’ and ranking the various plots
Others are welcome to do it as well
I’m working on a similar amateur multiplier storyline -though not all love stories-mostly wacky abstract an also wierd 🙂
Kahaani sustained well at the box office on Monday as it collected around 2.50 crore nett as per early estimates which is not much lower than the Friday figures which were around 2.75 crore nett.
The four day plus paid previews business of the film is in the 16.25-16.50 crore nett and the week should end at around 22 crore nett which would be a good first week collection and higher than multiplex hits released last year like No One Killed Jessica and Tanu Weds Manu.
On Monday there were some areas which were even better than Friday but other places like Uttar Pradesh which had 30% plus fall.
The film should comfortably cross the 30 crore nett mark as no competition in its second week and if can get screens with the release of Agent Vinod it may even cross 35 crore nett.
that is great to know Satyam… sometimes I feel that certain Intellectuals will never be satisfied with any Hindi film.
they will critcize the multiplex audience for supporting rooted films but at the same if they di support and appreciate a movie like Dirty Picture, it makes them uncomfortable and they get sarcastic and try to bring it down by saying it is highly overrated etc..
overrated by who ? the junta loved it, the critics loved it…kahani khatam…. apparently a movie has to be slow/ gloomy/ pathetic (like Paar) to be rated high…yikes !!!
But films can be critiqued for very different reasons. When I for example attack a multiplex audience for not liked rooted films very often that is a larger ‘meta’ argument. There might be very many worthwhile films within the set of films this audience does end up supporting. Similarly many rooted films might also be useless ones!
On Dirty Picture my own criticism was about what I saw as the film’s questionable ‘feminism’. But this was in any case a more ‘specific’ or micro point.
Much as I love masala cinema. Doesn’t mean I like all films here even though even the bad ones are quite rooted. Nor incidentally is the rooted about the ‘rural’ and so on. All the Yashraj films that I criticize could have been more ‘rooted’ with exactly those same storylines. These could also have been more rooted within their NY and London contexts.
my objection is to the summary dismissal of these movies by some people 0f kind of like – if it was well liked then it has to be bad , as in they don’t know what they are talking about..we know it all…
Don’t you think though Rocky that that happens less often these days? If anything the critical establishment is eager to embrace films it sees as potentially successful whereas it will almost never be on the side of the truly radical (assuming its box office failure). So they either support the little Kashyap film that two people watch. They pretend this proves their edge but really these films are popular within a very small cross-section of the audience. Or else they celebrate the ZNMD kind of deal which is ‘different’ for multiplex ‘masses’! They are even kind on a lot of atrocious commercial blockbusters because they just follow the money. It is always the different film which has no immediate appeal even within limited segments of the audience that gets the most flak from them. Hence Abhishek gets the really rough end of the bargain with films like D6 or Raavan. Now here too you have a pretty decent gross on each film given that each was sold like the disaster of the century or something. But the point here is that there is no demographic that however small corresponds to ‘liking’ this film. It really cuts across all demographics where people are likely to support or hate it in equal measure. There’s no real socio-economic correlation. In other words you might get the small town guy who says ‘D6 is ok’ but also the Bombay multiplex patron. Similarly so among those who hate it. On the other hand this isn’t the Kashyap graph. His films are only seen by very small minorities that correlate with certain demographic and within those minorities most like and/or think highly of the films. So the media voices always speak to some base or the other. They’re very unlikely to support films even in a relative sense that have no base whatsoever. I think the ‘thumbing one’s nose at commercial films’ complex was once much more in evidence than it is today. Of course I’d argue that that entire structure was part of a ‘classes’ reaction to Bachchan’s mass cinema (and by extension all mass cinema). A lot of the vocabulary and really a lot of the terms of the debate in terms of overall film reception (with Hindi cinema) come about with Bachchan. As a means of ‘denying’ his cinema validity.
getting late for lunch , but it’s not only the media..even amongst my friend circle every male and female loved TDP, only certain males liked D-6, no one liked Raavan….
one noticable change that I am experiencing though is that when I bash SRK, now , I find a lot more support than I used to get earlier ..LOL
[Satyajit Ray in a piece on great Japanese directors noted rather perceptively:
“I am not saying that these masters did not learn from the West. All artists imbibe, consciously or unconsciously, the lessons of past masters. But when a film maker’s roots are strong, and when tradition is a living reality, outside influences are bound to dwindle and disappear and a true indigenous style evolve.”
Ian Buruma, a well-known cultural historian and essayist, expanded on this in the late 80s in the following fashion:
“This was certainly true of Ray, Mizoguchi, Ozu, even Kurosawa. They all imbibed the work of such different directors as John Ford, Frank Capra, and Jean Renoir. But they also had their roots in their own traditions, which was the very condition that made their art universal. This is what has changed. Few young Japanese filmmakers are at home in Japanese painting, as Mizoguchi was; few Indian filmmakers could compose a score of Indian music, as Ray does. What is left, in this world of instant communications, is a constant exposure to Western fashions, which, without a strong traditional culture to absorb them, become meaningless ornaments. These ornaments are merged with the showy conventions of local pop culture. The result is often profitable, sometimes entertaining, but never a masterpiece.”
The rooted then is not a rejection of influence much less a definition of insularity. The great periods of Hindi cinema, of which Maya is an example, were all soaked in ‘foreign’ influences from Hollywood to Italian neo-realism and so on. The same was true for Japanese cinema as Ray correctly pointed out. But it was always ‘blended’ with a more ‘local’ tradition and not least because Japan much like India had been the product of an encounter with colonialism. One cannot go ‘nativist’ in an unthinking way. One has to account for these larger historical and cultural economies. It was ‘proper’ that from Satyajit Ray to Raj Kapoor to others the major Indian figures (not just directors but talents at every end of the production process) were ‘at home’ in international cinematic currents but equally the ‘arts and entertainment’ impulses of their own tradition from literature to street theater and so forth. One cannot think the ‘Indian’ in an meaningful sense without at least a sense of all these registers. And so rootedness here is about privileging the ‘local’ but this ‘local’ already operates with the ‘foreign’ at its heart. As a political matter but also in a more philosophical sense. We read novels set in small French provincial towns and recognize something universal in these stories. Because the local always opens onto the universal. The human and his or her life are always mediated by historical circumstance but once you start peeling away the layers on the local you start seeing the mirror that presents the universal. You see, in effect, your own self. You see what is common to humans everywhere, to life everywhere. But this can only come about by insisting on the local, not by scurrying away from it. Otherwise, and as in Buruma’s words, one is left with the ‘ornamental’. In the Bollywood context this means films that pay homage to various ‘international’ registers and do little else. These are just ‘foreign films’ made to speak in Hindi (or Hinglish!). This is not at all what the rich older ages of Bombay cinema were about. In the 70s one can spot all kinds of Hollywood influences right down to certain B-movie (‘campy’) genres. But those films could only have been made in India just as the directors Ray talks about could only have made movies in Japan. If Hindi cinema cannot offer that specific difference or that slice of the local which in turn accesses the universal why turn to it at all? Why not watch a new wave Tamil film? Why not even watch a good French film? When that investment in the local is simply not available one can easily turn elsewhere for interpretations of the human condition! In the same sense when I watch a Tamil film I don’t just want Bombay-like films. I want the specific difference of the Tamilian heritage. what I love in Malayalam films from the 80s is precisely that these films so uniquely represent the matrix of the Malayali experience (which incidentally is not only about being ‘Keralite’). When I read a Norwegian realist novel from the last century I don’t just want a mirror image of an English realist novel. I want that Norwegian inflection. Otherwise I could go on reading the English tradition! These examples could be multiplied beyond measure but hopefully one doesn’t need to. ]
great points ..i recently saw a discussion with Dhulia after the screening of PST ( if you have not seen it then you you should) at miliblog site…
one of the things he recounted was that in the 80’s in the north there was this practice of exchanging your old clothes with new utencils became very popular..now I have witnessed that too , and it instantly clicked on me that may be that is why Dhulia is so rooted in his movies…..
“discussion with Dhulia after the screening of PST ( if you have not seen it then you you should) at miliblog site…”
Rocky..site kaa naam/link kya hai?
hmmm, I see your point , but agin no one is claiming it to be a documentry or a masterpiece…..it was a well made entertaining movie with some great acting/ dialouges, songs and cleavage ….
It had all that and had some good story and was rooted.. issmey harz kya hai ???
is BOI expecting 60-70% fall on second week ?? With such extreme +ve WOM .. i wonder if fall in second week will be more than 40%. IMO .. Kahaani will do minimum 35 Crore in 2 weeks and 45 Crore lifetime.
Kahaani has reached Number 11 on the UK box office on the opening weekend. It’s pretty impressive for a Vidya Balan – no big hero starrer. She’s occupying a kind of unique space for herself, the kind of space that Tabu and Konkona Sen would have liked.
“the kind of space that Tabu and Konkona Sen would have liked…”
yes, the key word here is ‘liked”–since they couldnt..
incidentally i find tabu and even shabana for that matter, slightly over rated–not to say they are not talented, but the discourse (and the incestuous film fraternity) has been a bit lenient for them
Havent seen most of vidyas work ie ishqiya, TDP and kahaani
but can see why she seems to have created a niche–
i see a certain “KILLER INSTINCT” in her as a person and as a performer
she knows her obvious limitations and is hellbent in making her every movie count
No point in preteding she hasnt done something special
A person i know who has NEVER praised a bollywood film in her life has gone mad over kahaani and vidya…
hope 2 catch it someday–alas not showing
ps1–someone said –she has made the ‘aunty’ or “matureish’ look in–hahahaha
not sure what the actual ‘aunties’ say to that 🙂
ps2–shalini–“if someone is dying to know the spoliers….”—ace one (again) !!!!! ha
Thank you… Ah, the defeat of Gabbar Singh – “my shining moment”. lol!
Tabu has had a few films do well like Chandni Bar and Cheeni Kum. She kind of wanted commercial success which is why you saw her in Biwi Number One and Hum Saath Saath Hain (all her flicks with Karisma were hits – that’s what you call a hit jodi!).
I think, also, Tabu came at a time when the divide between arthouse and commercial was very big (there wasn’t the “multiplex” factor). Whereas Vidya has the opportunity to do a commercial flick that is quite offbeat and can still rake in the box office numbers.
not sure of what the ‘orginal’ is like
but gud to see abhishrek getting another film (at this stage, it is crucial for him to GET films and stay in circualtion first and foremost..)
is this a massy film?
he’s one of the top commercial directors in the South.. this film was a double project.. the Telugu version released sometime back. Made Bbuddah with Bachchan. But according to this story it’s RGV who’s directing the Hindi version:
this alters things because RGV doesn’t make blockbusters. Unless something has changed more recently. Would be odd to do a masala film for the obvious reason but then not have the specialist direct it!
The New Big B
By Taran Adarsh, March 14, 2012 – 08:02 IST
In the 1970s and 1980s, Hema Malini called the shots.
In the 1990s, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit ruled the roost.
Now meet the new Big B. Her sterling act in PAA, ISHQIYA, NO ONE KILLED JESSICA, THE DIRTY PICTURE and KAHAANI makes Vidya Balan the most bankable actress in film firmament today. The name is synonymous with qualitative films. No leading lady from the current lot commands as much respect as Vidya, amongst moviegoers. Her choice of films, her choice of characters, her choice of directors [most of them, except Milan Luthria and Sujoy Ghosh, were relative newcomers] defies the set norms of the industry.
I reiterate, it’s not the juicy bytes to TV channels or glam pics on Page 3 that contributes to a solid fan-base. Nor can anyone be adjudged the Numero Uno star on the basis of polls conducted by the media. It’s the box-office that decides what your true ranking is. Vidya has been consistent in that respect. She’s enjoying both — critical acclaim and box-office success. Awards and box-office rewards. What more can an actor ask for?
Like last week’s PAAN SINGH TOMAR, KAHAANI had a slow start at the ticket window. And like PAAN SINGH TOMAR, KAHAANI had a meteoric rise with each passing day. The film showed 50% jump at several centres on Saturday, while Sunday witnessed another big jump. With no major opposition this Friday, KAHAANI is expected to be the first choice of moviegoers in its second week as well. As you sow so shall you reap. It holds true for PAAN SINGH TOMAR as well as KAHAANI.
KAHAANI has not only won critical acclaim, but is also a commercial success. Let’s have a look at its economics… Sold to Viacom18 for approx. Rs 11 cr, the studio spent another 7.5 cr on its P&A, taking the total cost to Rs 18.5 cr. The Satellite Rights and Music Rights have fetched Rs 8 cr. Hence, the Studio has to recover Rs 10.5 cr from India and Overseas theatrical and Home Video. At the rate KAHAANI is faring, the amount [Rs 10.5 cr] will be recovered in its first week itself, that too from India theatrical alone. The revenue from Overseas will only add to the kitty and so will be the revenue generated in its second week.
The second release of the week, CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI, has been rejected at the ticket window. Despite being an escapist fare that caters to the hoi polloi, the movie never got the mandate from the paying public.
Palin-Focused Film ‘Game Change’ Draws Big Audience to HBO
By BILL CARTER
Riding outstanding reviews and a flood of attention because of the controversy around its portrayal of Sarah Palin, the HBO film “Game Change” attracted a big audience for the pay-cable channel Saturday night.
The film pulled in 2.1 million viewers for its initial airing on HBO, making it the most-watched original movie on the channel in eight years. Viewer totals for the movie increased in each of its half-hours, topping out at 2.3 million viewers.
HBO has repeated the movie three times and the total audience for “Game Change,” which is based on a book with the same name about the 2008 presidential campaign, now stands at 3.6 million.
The movie was especially praised for Julianne Moore’s portrayal of Ms. Palin as she was selected to become John McCain’s running mate in 2008.
Ms. Palin has denounced the film as inaccurate, though she has not specified which elements of the film are wrong. One of the other major characters, Steve Schmidt, who was the chief strategist for the McCain presidential campaign, appeared on MSNBC this week and praised the movie for its accuracy.
Posted on March 14, 2012
by Shailesh Kapoor, CEO Ormax Media
Warning: This may end up being a ‘reverse-troll’ post. But since it has bothered me all day long, may as well write it.
I happened to read film critic Raja Sen’s column in Mumbai Mirror this morning (This). He wrote a ‘passionate’ piece on Hugo not getting a theatrical release in India, and hence, film fans being denied the chance to see a great 3D product in the theatres. I was with his line of argument for much of the article, till I read the following:
To those of us who burnt up Twitter in anger, making the #WeWantHugo war-cry trend across the nation yesterday, those forced to watch big-screen films at home, I recommend at least some mild revenge if we don’t get a taste of Hugo in 3D: Viacom 18’s next release, Blood Money, hits theatres on Friday, the 30th of March, and I feel we should do with it exactly what they suggest we do with Marty’s film: do please pirate it, won’t you?
Did I read “do please pirate it”? Yes, I did. It doesn’t matter if it was meant to be literal or not. Someone actually seeded that thought in mainstream media – a leading English newspaper, no less. Definitionally itself, the language is irresponsible.
Here are my three key concerns with the piece, in particular the portion quoted above:
1. The film industry loses 30-50% of its potential revenue to piracy. To even encourage it in jest is ridiculous. One of the reasons piracy continues to thrive (amongst several others) is that the media has not really “co-opted” the issue at any level at all.
2. Viacom 18 Motion Pictures is a business entity. In a free market, a business entity has the right to take business decisions based on its evaluation of the market situation. Just because you have access to prime space in a leading newspaper does not mean that you can spit venom at a private business and run down a forthcoming release of their’s, irrespective of how big or small it may be.
3. The issue in question (Hugo not releasing theatrically in India) is one of taste, not of moral standing. To make it sound like a ‘social’ issue (any suggested protest would imply that) is going way too far. People may be ‘deprived’, but they are not being ‘wronged’ if the film is not released. It is important to note this distinction.
In the war of words on twitter since this morning, one of the arguments being given is that since the Bhatts, co-producers of the forthcoming film in question (Blood Money), have been plagiarizing foreign films for ages, they have no moral authority in this matter. My simple reaction to that: Two wrongs don’t make a right. Period.
There is good journalism and bad journalism. But even more important is the distinction between mature and immature journalism. Raja Sen’s piece could have easily been an example of mature, good journalism. He could have made his point in a dignified yet effective manner, and driven the idea home to his readers. Instead, it ends up coming across as immature and childish. Because evidently, a journalist wore the hat of a ‘fan’ while writing the piece, and lost perspective of the responsibility that comes with the power the medium gives him. A pity!
It’s easy to write flamboyant pieces and make fun of filmmakers and directors. Do that by all means when you don’t like their work. But why get personal? Why cross the line? Why drag a filmmaker, who has invested his blood and sweat in his debut film (with a mere Kunal Khemu at his disposal), into it? Think again, will you?
PS: I know what some of you must be wondering: Is Viacom 18 on my client list? Why am I writing this piece? Yes, they are clients. Like the rest of the film industry. And if you are cynical enough, you will indeed correlate this article and my client roster. But you know what, I stopped worrying about such cynicism many months ago.
PPS: (I’m sure) There are trolls who hate Raja Sen, and hence, will “love” my post. Dear Those: Thanks but no thanks!
Hahaha nice one
Anyhow : had seen hugo 3D
Def a brilliant film but somehow didn’t really grip me
(Slept for some parts of it)
Best thing was Ben Kingsley and the dreamy ambience
SATYAMSHOT 
March 9, 2012 at 6:52 AM
Paan Singh Tomar Shows Jump On Wednesday
Thursday 8th March 2012 11.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
The collections of Paan Singh Tomar showed a rise on Wednesday from the previous day as collections were strong in the evening as next day is a national holiday. The Wednesday collections are likely to be in the 85 lakhs nett range as per early estimates. The big urban centre collections were also better than Monday.
Today (Thursday) being a holiday should also see a jump and the week is likely to finish in the 7.50 crore nett which is a good number as first day was just 70 lakhs odd.
The film will face competition from Kahaani and Chaar Din Ki Chandni which will release on Thursday and Hollywood release John Carter which opens on Friday at most places with select theatres on Thursday.
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March 9, 2012 at 6:52 AM
Kahaani Expected To Lead Chaar Din Ki Chandni
Wednesday 7th March 2012 11.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
The releases this week Chaar Din Ki Chandni and Kahaani will seen an early release on Thursday due to Holi holiday. Both films have limited screenings though while the screenings of Kahaani will from 6pm onwards, Chaar Din Ki Chandni screenings will start early at a few theatres and will have 4-5 shows.
Both the films are not likely to get a strong opening but Kahaani should lead as it has a better advance whatever little there is and far more promotion.
Kahaani has a target audience of the urban multiplex audience while Chaar Din Ki Chandni is being targeted towards masses but problem is mass audience is never too keen on non big star cast films while multiplex audience is much more receptive to films without superstars. So Kahaani will find it easier to reach its target audience.
Good word of mouth will be the key factor and Yamla Pagla Deewana the last film of Chaar Din Ki Chandni director Samir Karnik did very well at the box office but was driven by the star power of Sunny Deol in North India where it was a huge hit and decent hit/success in other parts.
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March 9, 2012 at 6:52 AM
Top 5: ‘PST’ 7.54 cr, ‘LPNY’ 6.12 cr, ‘TNLHG’ 5.88 cr/18.88 cr
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March 9, 2012 at 10:08 AM
Kahaani’s getting some great reviews. Seems like another winner for Vidya.
After long we have an actress that gets audience interested in a film. When was the last time it happened?
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March 9, 2012 at 10:54 AM
PST has some real good WOM, My sister is actually goint to watch it tonight ( in India) bcause as she said-” badee tareef sun rahe hain iskeee, aur Irfaan Khan humen pasand bhee hai “…..
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March 9, 2012 at 3:03 PM
Irrfan kafi sexy hai…can you believe he is 50!!!
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March 10, 2012 at 9:24 AM
My sister loved PST and Irfaan Khan a lot , she also saw Kahani – her views- Vidya balan is too good lekin aisa lag raha tha kee Sony per CID serial dekh rahe hain……
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March 9, 2012 at 2:43 PM
Big B on Kahani—-
So …. finally watched ‘Kahani’, the new release made by my dear mad friend Sujoy Ghosh, who made ‘Aladin’ with me. And my message to him after all the congratulatory tones was – ” what the heck were you doing all this while making films like Aladin ” ??!!
Such a wonderfully gripping story shot superbly and enacted by all the cast so deliciously. I feel a sense of great joy to be in some minuscule manner a part of this film in commentary and song. I am often wary of voice overs to film. Most of the time they fail ! But I am certain this one will keep the box office flag flying … well done Sujoy, and keep up the good work .. !!
The Gujarat Tourism has used a unique technique to promote their campaign. They have covered an entire metro train New Delhi with promotional pictures – both inside and outside, a first of its kind. And whoever thought of it deserves plaudits. Wonder if it can be put up here … let me try ..
Also please find the link below of the Train Exterior video.
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March 9, 2012 at 2:56 PM
Apparently irfan has officially dropped the surname ‘khan’
He says he doesn’t believe in labels and wants to avoid bias
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March 9, 2012 at 3:05 PM
Quiz for you Lexy: What is common bet. Irrfan, Naseer, SRK, Aamir…..?
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March 9, 2012 at 3:07 PM
Circumcision
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March 9, 2012 at 3:14 PM
pagal ho kya…how would I know that? Take another guess.
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March 9, 2012 at 3:15 PM
Hahahhaha
Di seems u didn’t like my answer
Rotflol
Was it wrong teacher ? 😉
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March 9, 2012 at 4:05 PM
boy o boy…. u nailed it bro
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March 9, 2012 at 4:09 PM
Thanx
I love ‘nailing’ 🙂
Statutory warning: no offence meant and nothing derogatory intended
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March 9, 2012 at 4:11 PM
Lexy…doc would know…after he might have performed the surgery…;-)
lolz
Anyway..Doc, did you see PST?
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March 9, 2012 at 4:13 PM
Shaurya have u completed your internship yet ; chum
Decided any specialisation?
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March 9, 2012 at 3:11 PM
Note how rocky has suddenly gone quiet after I handed him kareena
Ok so what do u wish for, Di …
😉
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March 9, 2012 at 3:15 PM
Saab log tere tarah ‘free’ thodi naa hotey hai. ;-0
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March 9, 2012 at 4:10 PM
Note: rocky has becum a ‘rock’ ever since I gave him Kareena (even thought is enuf)
Hahaha
Ps-watching bits of bachna as hasseeno
Not bad-let’s see how long can sustain
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March 10, 2012 at 9:21 AM
Alex Adam-
Phool ahista phenko. phool bade nazuk hotey hain….
the reply to commomn thing is frigging priceless…maza aa gaya..
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March 9, 2012 at 3:17 PM
Don’t worry Di
U can be. ‘free’
Go 4 it
Lemme get some scotch for u too 🙂
I’m worried about rocky and kareena (worried for rocky !!!)
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March 9, 2012 at 3:55 PM
C’mon Di- stop now:enif of scotch now
Merit can’t be hidden
Just saw this interview
Impressed
Will see PST
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March 9, 2012 at 4:10 PM
Okay guys, I have just come back after watching Kahaani.
Do yourself a favour and watch the film. More than anything else, I would want to congratulate Vidya for choosing this role. She deserves an award not only for her brilliant act in there but also her choice of role.
Coming back to the film – its taut, edgy, and very-well executed. After a couple of disasters, Sujoy Ghosh is back with a bang, and he’s really surprised me by how he’s held the narrative. Not that the movie is flawless but the positives overwhelm and leave the nagatives behind by a big, big margin. The twist ending, though somewhat expected for me (wont ruin the suspense) was a fine culmination to the story.
Apart from Vidya’s stupendous act, it was marvellous to see the supporting actors delivering some rare good acting. Parambrata Chatterjee as the cop who helps her comes up with a restraint, subtle act and is surely likeable. And as Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui comes up with another brilliant act after Peepli Live.
Kudos also to the casting director for his choice of the contract killer. He was creepy.
A film not to be missed. Rarely you get a Hindi film like this one, where just about everything works.
and dont be surprised if Vidya sweeps the awards next year too 🙂
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March 9, 2012 at 4:10 PM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2111881/Rahul-Gandhi-Abhishek-Bachchan-boat.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Heirs apparent or scions of change? Why did everyone read the tea leaves wrong? Poser after poser, what are the answers?
Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Jayant Chaudhury, Manpreet Badal, the list is long. Some winners, others losers.
Dynasties and dynastic politics is a story that nobody can run away from in India. Hindi movies and Indian polity are both replete with such instances. For good, bad or indifferent, India has this amazing knack of making both politics and films a family concern. If I am a politico or a film star, all it requires is a nudge from me to the frat.
From Amitabh Bachchan to Feroz Khan, from Yash Chopra to Jeetendra, Hindi films have seen star sons, musicians, directors and you name it all push their children into the family vocation as it were.
You would wonder – why blame the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty then? The bigger question is that even as some star sons and politicos’ sons make the cut with their charisma, an equal or perhaps larger number fall by the wayside. Abhishek Bachchan can never be Amitabh Bachchan just as Ashok Mankad could never be Vinoo Mankad. Why then does Rahul Gandhi not connect with the masses?
The crowds throng to his rallies, they appear to be transfixed by what he is saying and yet they don’t vote for him. Is it due to the fact that the voter reckons that Rahul Gandhi is not rooted in the state?
After all the same voter voted with his feet in the general elections.
In many ways, the viewers and voters continue to reject both Abhishek and Rahul.
They bring a surname to the table, but they probably lack the ability to connect with either the classes or the masses. Famous fathers and their progeny have to bear this cross.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2111881/Rahul-Gandhi-Abhishek-Bachchan-boat.html#ixzz1oekNhaPx
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March 9, 2012 at 4:11 PM
Ghuma fira kar bechare abhishek ki maar lo…. aisa lagta hai bechare ne hindustan mein paida ho kar crime kar diya…
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March 9, 2012 at 7:29 PM
I’ve just come back from seeing The Raven on the first night of the UK release. Starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a guilty pleasure that has its moments but it makes the mistake of carrying on for 15 more minutes after the climax is over.
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March 10, 2012 at 7:14 AM
I thought I’d have to wait for Talaash for the next suspense thriller, but Kahaani stole a march oiver it – and how!!
Doubt Talaash can beat the story, tightness of the script and a focus which creates involvement in Kahaani, it’s a hard hitting suspense. Loved it.
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March 10, 2012 at 7:19 AM
I agree! A delightful watch
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March 10, 2012 at 7:34 AM
3 years back .. When Paa was released on just 500 prints and collected 2.25 Crore on first day .. Poor collections and negative commentary was all rounds by likes of boxofficeIndia and Komal Nahta.
Now after 3 years, when ticket prices has hiked so much and business has reached to another level, 2.5 Crore opening of Kahaani with 1000 Prints is treating like Good collections by same folks.
Do there any more proof require for BOI and Nahta against Bachchan campaign ??
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March 10, 2012 at 7:38 AM
Paa with just 487 Prints and 11.5 Crore first weekend was Poor opening for BOI …….. 🙂
http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=290&catName=MjAwOQ==
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March 10, 2012 at 7:39 AM
Here they are saying opening was Poor.
http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=288&catName=MjAwOQ==
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March 10, 2012 at 7:43 AM
And you will see many bigger releases and lesser collections in above links having given good opening note .. 🙂
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March 10, 2012 at 8:43 AM
B.O. update: ‘Kahaani’, ‘C.D.K.C.’ start slow, but reports positive
By Taran Adarsh, March 9, 2012 – 18:25 IST
The two releases, KAHAANI and CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI, have started on a comparatively lower note. While KAHAANI was leading at multiplexes of several centres, CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI was better at some stations of North India; the single screens specifically. However, the morning and noon show numbers were far from encouraging. Fortunately for their investors, the word of mouth is extremely positive and the business of both, KAHAANI and CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI, is expected to escalate towards the evening shows.
Meanwhile, KAHAANI collected Rs 85 lacs [approx] on Thursday [paid previews], while CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI, which had a limited release on Thursday, collected Rs 79.69 lacs.
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March 10, 2012 at 8:44 AM
Kahaani First Day Territorial Breakdown
Saturday 10th March 2012 14.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Kahaani first day came in at around 2.60 crore nett as West Bengal was a huge outperformer due to local content. The first day territorial breakdown is as follows.
Mumbai – 95 lakhs
Delhi/UP – 50 lakhs
East Punjab – 19 lakhs
West Bengal – 30 lakhs
CP Berar – 9 lakhs
CI – 7 lakhs
Rajasthan – 9 lakhs
Nizam – 10 lakhs
Mysore – 20 lakhs
Others – 10 lakhs
TOTAL – 2.59 crore
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March 10, 2012 at 8:47 AM
these numbers for a film that had very effective trailers, good reviews and so on establishes once again the points some of us were making about heroine-centric films in Bombay. Balan is coming off a career high in TDP and even though the subject is very different here surely a relatively higher opening wasn’t an unreasonable ask. The film might do well from here on based on WOM but that’s a different thing. It can now hardly do more than 20-25 crores even with very significant jumps and stability. Which would be a good result for the film. I’m just talking about initial interest.
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March 10, 2012 at 9:27 AM
I’m going to watch Kahaani tonight (Paan Singh Tomar tomorrow); must say it was very hard to get tickets, as just about everything was sold out, or with available seats restricted to only the first couple of rows. Finally managed to find good seats at an 11PM show quite a distance from me…
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March 10, 2012 at 2:25 PM
Bcoz Kahaani is Vidya balan minus Sex
TDP was Vidya Balan plus Sex…
its like Bodygaurd… Salman plus NOnsense comedy
Main aur misses Khanna… Salman minus Nonsense
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March 10, 2012 at 8:47 AM
Paan Singh Tomar 8th Day Similar To First Day
Saturday 10th March 2011 13.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Paan Singh Tomar remained rock steady on its 8th day as it collected around 70-75 lakhs nett which is a similar coillection to its first day. The film should do a second weekend of around 3.50 crore nett as Saturday should see a big jump in collections. The first weekend collections were around 4 crore nett approx.
The film has been well appreciated by its target audience and is settled for a good run as high end multiplexes will keep on screening the film for a few weeks.
The film should now do over 15 crore nett lifetime business which would be a very good result considering at what levels the film started from.
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March 10, 2012 at 8:47 AM
this is excellent news.
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March 10, 2012 at 2:27 PM
Lol… and Komal Nahata said it wall never recover its cost… even after the 1st weekend
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March 11, 2012 at 1:28 AM
These days he sounds worse than Taran.
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March 10, 2012 at 12:05 PM
just saw the kahani promo-=looks good
and yet to hear a negative report
btw one cannot compare kahani with paa, even after tdp
paa had bachchan sr and it was a home production
plus abhishrek wasnt so down n out at that time (bo wise)
anyhow-am not really convinced if these heroes deduct their own remuneration from the costs of theie home productions–technically they should since theuy are giving up their time and are efffectively blocking themselves from toher films where they could earn–and this includes the bachchan sr and jr for paa
so creditable for vidya and kahani
well done vidya
ps–so even oldgold has seen this
oldgold –how did u manage–not showing near me
pray tell me the ‘trick’ 🙂
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March 10, 2012 at 4:19 PM
watched Paan Singh Tomar and loved it. Will write more on it later. Now go watch it y’all.
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March 10, 2012 at 4:30 PM
di–is it running at a theatre near u or are u also indulging in piracy 😉
can we have your review, di
and how cum have u not watched kahaani
on one hand, u claim to be VBs biggest fan
u need to contiribute to the weekend gross- go 4 it
VB needs your support, ladies
then u keep cribbing about lack of ‘female oriented roles’
and complain about ‘female objectification”–reminds me –amy has abandoned VB when needed most :-)someone i know has LOVED kAhaani—And she usually loves trashing bollywood films (sometimes for the heck of it)–feel it has to be really good to make ultra finnicky people happy
satyam–why havent u watched PST/Kahani
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March 11, 2012 at 9:10 AM
Saw Paan Singh Tomar running in theater very close to home despite busy schedule. Wanted to see Kahani but I was afraid that PST will not have a very long run (only 3 people in the theater in afternoon show). Here is brief dhal/roti reactions (for chinese/continental/ufo read gf/Q/Sattu).
Here is a movie you could take your non-desi friends and be proud. The dialogues are in bundeli but very close to hindi, so there is no struggle or frustration on the audience. Keeping in mind the desi audience’s lack of attention and popcorn entertaintment abused brain, Dulia’s script moves really-really fast. We don’t have too many lingering shots or slowness to appreciate/absorb the way you would have in a movie like Hugo. Irrfan is very fit and looks convincing in his younger avatar (even though he is 50!!!) as a jawan in army. First half has lot of humor; scenes were he is eating roti in canteen or bunch of bananas after a run and many other scenes. The character of PST is very well developed through out the movie, his innocence, his native intellect is captured well (he tells his coach not to give maa-behen gali or where he tells his opinion on govt/army-desh to his superiors). The romance with his wife is sweetly captured. The 5 stars of the movie for me are:
1) Characters: They are almost documentary film real. I have a feeling lot of those characters are real people and not actors at all!! Rest assured there is no “Mr Oberoi” coming in helicopter (lolz) in this movie. Even though I have never gone to chambal hinterlands I know that these are my people. You forget you are watching Irrfan…you would see only PST.
2) The landscape (the era): adds authenticity…the rugged, dusty ‘beehad’ and the army cantonement. Attention to detail in the movie where on the radio there is news of Nargis Dutt’s death.
3) The dialogues: Unlike some recent movies where one liners was all the entire movie made of, this movie’s oneliners fall very well with character and don’t feel like they are there to “entertain”. I loved the humor and lol moments in first half
4)The tight script, pace: The movie is moves very fast, almost running a marathon…the audience left breathless.
5) We know going in what the end is like. Second half there is a scene (he is saying his goodbyes to people close to him) he grabs a bunch of dry-fruits from his coach’s home, puts in his shirt pocket and gives it to his future daughter-in-law..”lo khaO” made me sob more than the last scene of the movie.
In the end, it is a tragedy that meritorious director/actors have to struggle while others have 100 crores to bring forth trash content week after week.
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March 11, 2012 at 9:30 AM
thanx di-entertaining review 😉
“despite busy schedule..’–wow, busy shcedules in saturday..hmm–what r u up2? lol
‘only 3 people in the theater’—di and her two toyboys….hahaha joking
good review from ‘normal’ peoples point of view
hopin to hear bout kahani as well
none of them showing near me
also somehow going to a movie nowadays means one half day/nite
3 hours plus accompanying shananigans/meals etc
difficult to spare enbloc
easier to see portions here n there and punch in comments lol
ps–im happy to see irrfan soing well
also happier to see VBs kahaani doing well
rhose i know whove seen kahani are going gaga
extreme praise
congrats VB fans –have a party –and atleast go n support her movie by viewing it
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March 11, 2012 at 12:55 PM
No songs or item numbers for you but the music is good in PST. You should seriously do a day outing and watch both movies back to back (PST and Kahani). Carry your lunch with you to keep the cost down 😉
I hope and pray that Tigmanshu gets bigger budgets and more work to make movies.
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March 11, 2012 at 2:22 PM
Lol @ carrying a lunch box !!
Btw is vidya b the new female aamir khan -atleast in the knack of choosing the right scripts
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March 11, 2012 at 5:51 PM
lol Di @ “Here is brief dhal/roti reactions (for chinese/continental/ufo read gf/Q/Sattu).”
Definitely a good watch IMO.
Kahani is a closer to Hollywood thriller genre( like Shitaan)..There are loopholes here and there .but it is a well made movie..Calcutta locations are treat to watch..
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March 11, 2012 at 9:03 PM
Thanks Munna. Planning to watch Kahani on a wkday if possible. I read some negative reviews of Paan Singh Tomar today for the first time. I guess some people liked Kapoor’s poolan devi-bandit queen more. For me, personally PST is superior movie; but again it is made 20 years (or so) after.
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March 11, 2012 at 9:31 PM
I didn’t like Bandit Queen during college time..may be I will like if I revisit it. Our media generally has sycophancy tendcies as far as recognition is concerned.
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March 11, 2012 at 5:24 AM
This looks interesting…
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March 11, 2012 at 5:37 AM
Kahaani had a huge jump in business on Saturday of 60-70% from its Friday business. Multiplexes showed huge jumps while single screens also showed improvement but at much lower levels.
The Saturday business of the film will be at least 4.50 crore nett and could even go to around 5 crore nett if places that opened strongly like West Bengal and Mysore have shown the sort of jumps that other metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Pune which opened at lower levels managed to show on Saturday
The two day collections including paid previews will be in the 8-8.50 crore nett region with the weekend heading for 13.5-14.5 crore nett business and if the film manages good business on the weekdays and second weekend it may emerge the second hit film of 2012 after Agneepath.
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=4142&nCat=
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March 11, 2012 at 8:32 AM
great news.. so is sujoy in talks for Kahaani 2?
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March 11, 2012 at 9:38 AM
bachchan is wondering what was sujoy upto in alladin after seeing kahaani
Dear Mr Bachchan–
im your bigggest fan but plz give respect to your own presence in projects -only then viewers and your fans will
Sujoy makes alladin with u and kahaani with VB
RoMehra makes d6 with u (wont count abhishreks discretion) and Rang de basanti with Aamir
After the blockbuster Raajneeti, Jha comes up with Aarakshan with u (though dont blame u/jha entirely here)
Talking of abhishreks choices, plz dont wanna start here
Also it would be good if you encourage negative criticism on your blogs and selettively pay heed to those rather than ‘blind fans’
also pray use satyam in some capacity towards script secletion etc since due to some idiopathic reasons, u dont seem to have mastered it yet
like aamir or even Vidya Balan
Pplz take this as an earnest plea and not a default mischief mongering
Hope to se emore of khakis, blacks and paas from u
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March 11, 2012 at 10:16 AM
I actually liked Delhi 6 better than RDB-I thought it was the finer film by far- RDB was enjoyable but a tad too emotionally manipulative.
Happy to see that Kahaani had a good saturday- hope it sustains over the next week and a half- there is no significant film until Agent Vinod.
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March 11, 2012 at 9:07 PM
“pray use satyam in some capacity towards script secletion etc since due to some idiopathic reasons, u dont seem to have mastered it yet
like aamir or even Vidya Balan”
Why just script selection. I think if Satyam, Q and GF came together, they can give Hirani’s writing team a run for its money…they should be hired to write a script!
I seriously believe that when an artist runs after money instead of worshipping art, his art is lost. If one is successful, one should invest in creating content, invest in good quality script writers. Imagine Dulia making movies on 4 crore budget. People like Bigb, Aamir can surely finance entire or half of talented people like that. In that regard, I think very highly of Balaji (Jitendra’s daughter-Ekta Kapoor)….she has consistently picked talent and gone with her gut!
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March 11, 2012 at 10:29 AM
Hiya Amy
So u finally got the laptop bak -jokin 😉
Time 2 support vb
Don’t rememwber more positive reviews from critics /public recently
So uve ditched vb and PST after all the talk of ‘female objectification’
Learn from Di
Inspite of her ‘busy schedules’ she has paid her bits
Hoho
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March 11, 2012 at 10:39 AM
I haven’t ditched anybody- I really want to watch both PST and Kahaani- but they aren’t playing anywhere near me. 😦
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March 11, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Cheer up Amy
There’s more interesting stuff out there 🙂
Or else suggest some ‘Home work’ as in school
watch the ‘love actually’ DVD
& rate the various stories 😉
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March 11, 2012 at 9:09 PM
“I haven’t ditched anybody- I really want to watch both PST and Kahaani- but they aren’t playing anywhere near me.”
Awww, we believe you…that is really sad. Hopefully you can watch it on DVD soon.
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March 11, 2012 at 10:32 AM
Ooh some 1 left a sue townsend book-the women who web to bed for a year!!!!
Shudder shudder !!!
If any1 has the guts for real Auteur stuff-check out ‘turin horse ‘
Been to an Auteur panel discussion-am off ‘normal’ films on multiplexes for a few weeks now 🙂
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March 11, 2012 at 12:24 PM
Playing second fiddle:
http://mumbaimirror.com/article/54/2012031120120311020758310e001cf4a/Playing-second-fiddle.html
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March 11, 2012 at 12:32 PM
The film’s director Tigmanshu Dhulia, lead actor Irrfan Khan and producers UTV Motion Pictures are spearheading the trust, which is being called SOS – Save Our Sportspersons.
Dhulia says the move to initiate a trust for needy athletes arose from megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s concern for them, after he watched ‘Paan Singh Tomar’.
He saw the film and grew very concerned about how we treat our sportspersons. We’ve of course been thinking about these unfortunate sportspersons all through the making of our own.
Armed with the determination to get this project on the way, Dhulia and his team are set to get the SOS project going. Hopefully, Big B would be the face of the project.
Dhulia hopes to discuss the matter with the 69-year-old veteran, who is currently recuperating after two surgeries that he underwent last month.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-10/news-interviews/31142849_1_asian-games-gold-athletes-gold-medalist
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March 12, 2012 at 3:44 AM
HUM (1991) Humgama
http://bollybusiness.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/hum-1991-humgama/
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March 12, 2012 at 6:52 AM
Yakuza, I can’t enlarge the piece and therefore it’s not readable.. any way to do this?
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March 13, 2012 at 2:33 AM
Yeah, unfortunately its not readable and i don’t have hard-copy with me.
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March 12, 2012 at 7:29 AM
Midweek: ‘Kahaani’, ‘PST’ lead, ‘CDKC’ fails
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March 12, 2012 at 7:31 AM
Kahaani Has A Good First Weekend
Monday 12th March 2012 12.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Kahaani did well in its first weekend after a slow start. The weekend business including paid previews was in the 13.50 crore nett region as collections picked up a lot on Saturday though Sunday showed a much smaller jump. The approx breakdown of its weekend business is as follows.
Thursday – 75 lakhs
Friday – 2.75 crore
Saturday – 4.75 crore
Sunday – 5.25 crore
Kahaani has done fantastic business in Mumbai, West Bengal and Mysore while other areas were good to average.
The film should sustain on Monday especially at multiplexes and with no major competition until Agent Vinod on the 23rd March it should have a good run for two weeks.
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March 12, 2012 at 11:01 AM
wow…so looking at a 20cr week or something like that. this is awesome. another solo hit for vidya. thats three in a row for her…all solo.
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March 12, 2012 at 7:53 PM
Alex:
Cant resist one more interesting write up on this modern day masterpiece
Though if one finds this Uninteresting -not surprising
BY ANDREW SCHENKER ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2011 JUMP TO COMMENTS (2) OR ADD YOUR OWN
Béla Tarr is the cinema’s greatest crafter of total environments and in The Turin Horse, working in his most restricted physical setting since 1984′s Almanac of Fall, he (along with co-director Ágnes Hranitzky) dials up one of his most vividly immersive milieus. Excluding one of the director’s now-famous virtuoso, film-opening tracking shots, the film is entirely confined to the dilapidated rural spread where a farmer lives with his daughter and the horse he depends on for his livelihood, but in Tarr’s hands, the unpromising setting teems with textures and, if not exactly vitality, then an almost tangible sense of presence. The remarkably expressive black-and-white cinematography fixes both the scrubbiness of the exterior terrain and the dankness of the house’s interior, while registering with a shock the difference between dim darkness and the occasional burst of exterior light when the door is opened. The sound design, always exquisitely detailed in Tarr’s films, is attentive to both the noises squeaked out by quotidian chores and the ever-present wind that howls throughout the film. And Fred Keleman’s camera, guided by the director’s now legendary, but here less virtuostically showy, tracking shots, guides the viewer through every inch of the terrain, whether it’s the natural landscape, the domestic architecture, or the characters’ faces.
In fact, it’s Tarr’s attention to visages that tempers his bleak and sometimes cruel view of humankind’s fate, countering cosmic absurdity with human (and equine) brokenness and blind, but vaguely heroic, determination. Whether training his camera on the horseman’s bearded, weathered face, his daughter’s alternatively worried and deeply sad mien (never more effectively so than in a late, Wavelength-inspired ultra-slow track-in to the fixed point of her head through a window), or the unfathomable eyes of the horse, it’s these close-ups that keep the film fixed at the level of individual endurance. In these shots, it’s almost as if Tarr is convinced that if he looks long and hard enough at a character’s face, he’ll penetrate through to some sort of essential meaning, but, for all that, these figures remain as dumb and inscrutable as ever.
The Turin Horse is a cyclical fable of daily drudgery that strips human life to its barest elements and banalities, that tantalizes us with the prospect of a higher meaning only to deny that possibility all together, and then ultimately finds whatever little value is present in humankind’s (or animalkind’s) existence in the ability to simply carry on. In this most Beckettian of films, the characters endlessly enact the same quotidian tasks over the course of six days, unable to leave their property both because of a windstorm that rages the entire time and because of the horse’s stubborn Bartleby-like refusal to not only pull the man’s wagon, but even to eat or drink. This defiance on the part of the animal, the result, we’re told in an opening monologue, of a severe whipping the animal received from his owner which was viewed by and profoundly affected Friedrich Nietzsche, is at once heroic (he refuses not only to serve, but to receive sustenance from his abusive owner) and a pointedly contrasting example to the tenuously adhered-to routines of his owners.
Samuel Beckett famously ended his trilogy of increasingly abstract novels (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) with the line “I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” Part admission of defeat and part desperate, if not quite determination, than example of a bare will to endure, the sentence is structured to end on a note, however tenuous, of positivity. In The Turin Horse, a film in which defeated characters act out the process of bare-bones endurance, Beckett’s formulation becomes simply “We must eat,” the final words spoken by the farmer. But the man’s assertion feels hollow, an empty set of ciphers no longer believed, as the characters’ determination to carry on has been seriously eroded both by external threat (the storm, a band of menacing gypsies who steal their water) and internal inertia. If the great Irish writer gave us “I can’t go on, I’ll go on,” the Hungarian filmmaker can be said to reverse the emphasis: “I’ll go on, I can’t go on.”
And yet, as we watch man and girl perform the same tasks over and over again, Tarr emphasizes not only the banality of the actions, but a certain, sometimes ironic, grandeur in the simple act of surviving. Every day the pattern repeats. The girl wakes up, goes to the well for water, dresses her father, makes potatoes; the father drinks a few shots of palinka; the pair eat the potatoes, ripping them apart with their bare hands and stuffing them into their mouths; they make futile efforts to rouse the horse; and they settle in for afternoon tasks like sewing and chopping wood. But Tarr shoots some of these scenes as a sort of mock-heroic that nonetheless exudes something of the genuinely heroic. He films, for example, the daughter dressing her haggard father from a low angle in starkly dramatic chiaroscuro, and lets Mihály Vig’s rousing strings-and-organs score run free on the soundtrack, a gesture that both mocks and commemorates the baseness of the characters’ situation.
And then, again, there are the faces. Because Tarr is essentially shooting the same events over and over, he’s able to include a series of alternating views of the various quotidian tasks the characters perform. This cubistic approach announced in the opening sequence, in which the camera tracks alongside the farmer as he rides his horse home, darting around the animal’s body to take in different angles, different details, recalls that of his celebrated project, Sátántangó. But whereas the earlier film would repeat an identical scene from a range of viewpoints, The Turin Horse offers up different instances of what amounts to the same activity from a variety of shifting perspectives. In Tarr’s latest there are no wild dance parties or cat killings, the focus is on the banal, but, just to take one example, by training in on the faces of first father, then daughter as they eat their potatoes on two consecutive days, the film tells us at least as much about the raw human need for sustenance and the difference between the characters’ specific modes of eating, of living, of being, as do the more lavish sequences of Sátántangó.
Ultimately, The Turin Horse is a film that asks what meaning there is to be found in the daily toil, in the quotidian chore. Almost as if to mock this idea of meaning, Tarr includes a sequence mid-film in which a neighbor pops in to beg a glass of palinka and while he’s drinking his booze, launches into a lengthy monologue which, with abstractly apocalyptic overtones, attempts to give some significance, any significance, to what he calls the “degradation of humanity.” In one of the film’s most cruelly comic moments, the father responds to his neighbor’s harangue with a simple “Come off it, that’s rubbish” at which point the neighbor shrugs, drops a few coins on the table and leaves.
It’s almost as if Tarr is dismissing even the possibility of there being any meaning to life, even if that meaning were to be strictly negative. Similarly, a scene of the half-literate daughter slowly sounding out a Bible passage seems to be a wry commentary on the (im)possibility of achieving any kind of higher communion. And yet, whatever value there is in life, the film seems to be suggesting, is not to be found in any cosmic scheme, but simply in humankind’s ability to live day by day. By the end of the film, that ability has been severely tested, as the father and daughter lack even the ability to bring (literal) light to their humble abode, but rarely in the cinema have such lives, such tasks been endowed with so much presence, such a sense of exhausted vitality. The characters’ lives may be insignificant in any kind of larger scheme, but as they unfold on the screen, they are everything. If ever a film had a claim to being profound in its banality, The Turin Horse is it.
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March 12, 2012 at 11:59 PM
Couldn’t watch either PST or Kahaani- but did manage to catch Best Exotic Marigold Hotel- very disappointing. The potential of the ensemble cast of absolutely terrific actors is completely squandered.
Very stereotypical, emotionally manipulative fairy tale of an idyllic, dignified vision of retirement intended as fantasy-fulfilment for the old-aged. I kind of expected that from the trailer- but I was expecting a lot more wit and also a feel good message that was relied with a bit more finesse and subtlety- but this was just dull and saccharine.
Judi Dench was the only good thing about the film- a wonderful performance as always- but then it’s impossible for her to be anything but compelling onscreen. Her romantic arc with Bill Nighy was the only enjoyable bit of the movie for me.
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March 13, 2012 at 4:34 AM
It is amply clear from the promos itself that marigold will cater to not only a certain western sensibility but also to a cliched view of India that is not only prevalent in the west, but also the one the west likes to take Olaf is comfortable with wrt India
So no surprise there
Ps Amy -did u do the ‘homework’ given to u ie watching the cd of ‘love actually’ and ranking the various plots
Others are welcome to do it as well
I’m working on a similar amateur multiplier storyline -though not all love stories-mostly wacky abstract an also wierd 🙂
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March 13, 2012 at 6:29 AM
Kahaani Has Good Monday
Tuesday 13th March 2011 12.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Kahaani sustained well at the box office on Monday as it collected around 2.50 crore nett as per early estimates which is not much lower than the Friday figures which were around 2.75 crore nett.
The four day plus paid previews business of the film is in the 16.25-16.50 crore nett and the week should end at around 22 crore nett which would be a good first week collection and higher than multiplex hits released last year like No One Killed Jessica and Tanu Weds Manu.
On Monday there were some areas which were even better than Friday but other places like Uttar Pradesh which had 30% plus fall.
The film should comfortably cross the 30 crore nett mark as no competition in its second week and if can get screens with the release of Agent Vinod it may even cross 35 crore nett.
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March 13, 2012 at 6:30 AM
whatever I might think of some of the films (haven’t seen Kahaani yet) I am extremely pleased with Balan’s success.
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March 13, 2012 at 10:56 AM
that is great to know Satyam… sometimes I feel that certain Intellectuals will never be satisfied with any Hindi film.
they will critcize the multiplex audience for supporting rooted films but at the same if they di support and appreciate a movie like Dirty Picture, it makes them uncomfortable and they get sarcastic and try to bring it down by saying it is highly overrated etc..
overrated by who ? the junta loved it, the critics loved it…kahani khatam…. apparently a movie has to be slow/ gloomy/ pathetic (like Paar) to be rated high…yikes !!!
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March 13, 2012 at 12:01 PM
But films can be critiqued for very different reasons. When I for example attack a multiplex audience for not liked rooted films very often that is a larger ‘meta’ argument. There might be very many worthwhile films within the set of films this audience does end up supporting. Similarly many rooted films might also be useless ones!
On Dirty Picture my own criticism was about what I saw as the film’s questionable ‘feminism’. But this was in any case a more ‘specific’ or micro point.
Much as I love masala cinema. Doesn’t mean I like all films here even though even the bad ones are quite rooted. Nor incidentally is the rooted about the ‘rural’ and so on. All the Yashraj films that I criticize could have been more ‘rooted’ with exactly those same storylines. These could also have been more rooted within their NY and London contexts.
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March 13, 2012 at 12:08 PM
my objection is to the summary dismissal of these movies by some people 0f kind of like – if it was well liked then it has to be bad , as in they don’t know what they are talking about..we know it all…
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March 13, 2012 at 12:26 PM
Don’t you think though Rocky that that happens less often these days? If anything the critical establishment is eager to embrace films it sees as potentially successful whereas it will almost never be on the side of the truly radical (assuming its box office failure). So they either support the little Kashyap film that two people watch. They pretend this proves their edge but really these films are popular within a very small cross-section of the audience. Or else they celebrate the ZNMD kind of deal which is ‘different’ for multiplex ‘masses’! They are even kind on a lot of atrocious commercial blockbusters because they just follow the money. It is always the different film which has no immediate appeal even within limited segments of the audience that gets the most flak from them. Hence Abhishek gets the really rough end of the bargain with films like D6 or Raavan. Now here too you have a pretty decent gross on each film given that each was sold like the disaster of the century or something. But the point here is that there is no demographic that however small corresponds to ‘liking’ this film. It really cuts across all demographics where people are likely to support or hate it in equal measure. There’s no real socio-economic correlation. In other words you might get the small town guy who says ‘D6 is ok’ but also the Bombay multiplex patron. Similarly so among those who hate it. On the other hand this isn’t the Kashyap graph. His films are only seen by very small minorities that correlate with certain demographic and within those minorities most like and/or think highly of the films. So the media voices always speak to some base or the other. They’re very unlikely to support films even in a relative sense that have no base whatsoever. I think the ‘thumbing one’s nose at commercial films’ complex was once much more in evidence than it is today. Of course I’d argue that that entire structure was part of a ‘classes’ reaction to Bachchan’s mass cinema (and by extension all mass cinema). A lot of the vocabulary and really a lot of the terms of the debate in terms of overall film reception (with Hindi cinema) come about with Bachchan. As a means of ‘denying’ his cinema validity.
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March 13, 2012 at 12:37 PM
getting late for lunch , but it’s not only the media..even amongst my friend circle every male and female loved TDP, only certain males liked D-6, no one liked Raavan….
one noticable change that I am experiencing though is that when I bash SRK, now , I find a lot more support than I used to get earlier ..LOL
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March 13, 2012 at 1:07 PM
” if it was well liked then it has to be bad ”
I agree. Anupama Chopra didn’t like PST!!
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March 14, 2012 at 12:14 AM
I don’t mind the bollywoodish tone in Shingham but I do mind when they deal with serious topic (like in TDP) and have masala dialogues.
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March 13, 2012 at 12:08 PM
part of an older comment:
[Satyajit Ray in a piece on great Japanese directors noted rather perceptively:
“I am not saying that these masters did not learn from the West. All artists imbibe, consciously or unconsciously, the lessons of past masters. But when a film maker’s roots are strong, and when tradition is a living reality, outside influences are bound to dwindle and disappear and a true indigenous style evolve.”
Ian Buruma, a well-known cultural historian and essayist, expanded on this in the late 80s in the following fashion:
“This was certainly true of Ray, Mizoguchi, Ozu, even Kurosawa. They all imbibed the work of such different directors as John Ford, Frank Capra, and Jean Renoir. But they also had their roots in their own traditions, which was the very condition that made their art universal. This is what has changed. Few young Japanese filmmakers are at home in Japanese painting, as Mizoguchi was; few Indian filmmakers could compose a score of Indian music, as Ray does. What is left, in this world of instant communications, is a constant exposure to Western fashions, which, without a strong traditional culture to absorb them, become meaningless ornaments. These ornaments are merged with the showy conventions of local pop culture. The result is often profitable, sometimes entertaining, but never a masterpiece.”
The rooted then is not a rejection of influence much less a definition of insularity. The great periods of Hindi cinema, of which Maya is an example, were all soaked in ‘foreign’ influences from Hollywood to Italian neo-realism and so on. The same was true for Japanese cinema as Ray correctly pointed out. But it was always ‘blended’ with a more ‘local’ tradition and not least because Japan much like India had been the product of an encounter with colonialism. One cannot go ‘nativist’ in an unthinking way. One has to account for these larger historical and cultural economies. It was ‘proper’ that from Satyajit Ray to Raj Kapoor to others the major Indian figures (not just directors but talents at every end of the production process) were ‘at home’ in international cinematic currents but equally the ‘arts and entertainment’ impulses of their own tradition from literature to street theater and so forth. One cannot think the ‘Indian’ in an meaningful sense without at least a sense of all these registers. And so rootedness here is about privileging the ‘local’ but this ‘local’ already operates with the ‘foreign’ at its heart. As a political matter but also in a more philosophical sense. We read novels set in small French provincial towns and recognize something universal in these stories. Because the local always opens onto the universal. The human and his or her life are always mediated by historical circumstance but once you start peeling away the layers on the local you start seeing the mirror that presents the universal. You see, in effect, your own self. You see what is common to humans everywhere, to life everywhere. But this can only come about by insisting on the local, not by scurrying away from it. Otherwise, and as in Buruma’s words, one is left with the ‘ornamental’. In the Bollywood context this means films that pay homage to various ‘international’ registers and do little else. These are just ‘foreign films’ made to speak in Hindi (or Hinglish!). This is not at all what the rich older ages of Bombay cinema were about. In the 70s one can spot all kinds of Hollywood influences right down to certain B-movie (‘campy’) genres. But those films could only have been made in India just as the directors Ray talks about could only have made movies in Japan. If Hindi cinema cannot offer that specific difference or that slice of the local which in turn accesses the universal why turn to it at all? Why not watch a new wave Tamil film? Why not even watch a good French film? When that investment in the local is simply not available one can easily turn elsewhere for interpretations of the human condition! In the same sense when I watch a Tamil film I don’t just want Bombay-like films. I want the specific difference of the Tamilian heritage. what I love in Malayalam films from the 80s is precisely that these films so uniquely represent the matrix of the Malayali experience (which incidentally is not only about being ‘Keralite’). When I read a Norwegian realist novel from the last century I don’t just want a mirror image of an English realist novel. I want that Norwegian inflection. Otherwise I could go on reading the English tradition! These examples could be multiplied beyond measure but hopefully one doesn’t need to. ]
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March 13, 2012 at 12:15 PM
great points ..i recently saw a discussion with Dhulia after the screening of PST ( if you have not seen it then you you should) at miliblog site…
one of the things he recounted was that in the 80’s in the north there was this practice of exchanging your old clothes with new utencils became very popular..now I have witnessed that too , and it instantly clicked on me that may be that is why Dhulia is so rooted in his movies…..
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March 13, 2012 at 12:28 PM
yes I’m very eager to watch it.. no theater within my vicinity is playing it and I want to wait for a proper DVD on this one. Same goes for Kahaani.
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March 13, 2012 at 12:34 PM
Satyam- I meant the Interview with Dhulia… I am also waiting for the DVD of both the movies…
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March 13, 2012 at 11:00 PM
“discussion with Dhulia after the screening of PST ( if you have not seen it then you you should) at miliblog site…”
Rocky..site kaa naam/link kya hai?
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March 13, 2012 at 12:17 PM
my problems with TDP:
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March 13, 2012 at 12:26 PM
hmmm, I see your point , but agin no one is claiming it to be a documentry or a masterpiece…..it was a well made entertaining movie with some great acting/ dialouges, songs and cleavage ….
It had all that and had some good story and was rooted.. issmey harz kya hai ???
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March 13, 2012 at 12:27 PM
but I’m not arguing against the film as much as I am against the lionization of the same in the media and elsewhere.
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March 13, 2012 at 8:18 PM
“By the way do you really believe Ekta Kapoor and Milan Luthria get together and create Scorsese-like cinema?”
LOL! I do agree with your thoughts on The Dirty Picture – I felt the same way.
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March 13, 2012 at 11:21 PM
apparently PST is the biggest hit this year vis a vis cost
Di–y r u sooo busy lol
r u a psychiatrist?
can we have some free ‘sessions’ 😉
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March 14, 2012 at 4:59 PM
“whatever I might think of some of the films (haven’t seen Kahaani yet) I am extremely pleased with Balan’s success.”
Vidya true successor of Aamir: Kashyap
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Vidya-true-successor-of-Aamir-Kashyap/articleshow/12220458.cms
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March 14, 2012 at 5:21 PM
>Vidya true successor of Aamir
So, he should retire now 😉
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March 13, 2012 at 9:45 AM
is BOI expecting 60-70% fall on second week ?? With such extreme +ve WOM .. i wonder if fall in second week will be more than 40%. IMO .. Kahaani will do minimum 35 Crore in 2 weeks and 45 Crore lifetime.
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March 13, 2012 at 8:29 PM
Kahaani has reached Number 11 on the UK box office on the opening weekend. It’s pretty impressive for a Vidya Balan – no big hero starrer. She’s occupying a kind of unique space for herself, the kind of space that Tabu and Konkona Sen would have liked.
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March 13, 2012 at 10:45 PM
“the kind of space that Tabu and Konkona Sen would have liked…”
yes, the key word here is ‘liked”–since they couldnt..
incidentally i find tabu and even shabana for that matter, slightly over rated–not to say they are not talented, but the discourse (and the incestuous film fraternity) has been a bit lenient for them
Havent seen most of vidyas work ie ishqiya, TDP and kahaani
but can see why she seems to have created a niche–
i see a certain “KILLER INSTINCT” in her as a person and as a performer
she knows her obvious limitations and is hellbent in making her every movie count
No point in preteding she hasnt done something special
A person i know who has NEVER praised a bollywood film in her life has gone mad over kahaani and vidya…
hope 2 catch it someday–alas not showing
ps1–someone said –she has made the ‘aunty’ or “matureish’ look in–hahahaha
not sure what the actual ‘aunties’ say to that 🙂
ps2–shalini–“if someone is dying to know the spoliers….”—ace one (again) !!!!! ha
ps3–thakur–finally i found your ‘hands” 🙂
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March 14, 2012 at 7:32 AM
Thank you… Ah, the defeat of Gabbar Singh – “my shining moment”. lol!
Tabu has had a few films do well like Chandni Bar and Cheeni Kum. She kind of wanted commercial success which is why you saw her in Biwi Number One and Hum Saath Saath Hain (all her flicks with Karisma were hits – that’s what you call a hit jodi!).
I think, also, Tabu came at a time when the divide between arthouse and commercial was very big (there wasn’t the “multiplex” factor). Whereas Vidya has the opportunity to do a commercial flick that is quite offbeat and can still rake in the box office numbers.
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March 14, 2012 at 9:28 AM
Gabbar if u see clearly in the slo mo, gabbars hands visible for a Sec …In oneof the related links
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March 13, 2012 at 11:23 PM
not sure of what the ‘orginal’ is like
but gud to see abhishrek getting another film (at this stage, it is crucial for him to GET films and stay in circualtion first and foremost..)
is this a massy film?
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March 13, 2012 at 11:59 PM
he’s one of the top commercial directors in the South.. this film was a double project.. the Telugu version released sometime back. Made Bbuddah with Bachchan. But according to this story it’s RGV who’s directing the Hindi version:
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/more/news/view/id/1415005
this alters things because RGV doesn’t make blockbusters. Unless something has changed more recently. Would be odd to do a masala film for the obvious reason but then not have the specialist direct it!
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March 13, 2012 at 11:44 PM
hahahah
some hilarious clips–btw i like john abaraham a lot (but not this much lol)
Bollywood style
Inception
Friends with benefits
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March 14, 2012 at 7:34 AM
The New Big B
By Taran Adarsh, March 14, 2012 – 08:02 IST
In the 1970s and 1980s, Hema Malini called the shots.
In the 1990s, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit ruled the roost.
Now meet the new Big B. Her sterling act in PAA, ISHQIYA, NO ONE KILLED JESSICA, THE DIRTY PICTURE and KAHAANI makes Vidya Balan the most bankable actress in film firmament today. The name is synonymous with qualitative films. No leading lady from the current lot commands as much respect as Vidya, amongst moviegoers. Her choice of films, her choice of characters, her choice of directors [most of them, except Milan Luthria and Sujoy Ghosh, were relative newcomers] defies the set norms of the industry.
I reiterate, it’s not the juicy bytes to TV channels or glam pics on Page 3 that contributes to a solid fan-base. Nor can anyone be adjudged the Numero Uno star on the basis of polls conducted by the media. It’s the box-office that decides what your true ranking is. Vidya has been consistent in that respect. She’s enjoying both — critical acclaim and box-office success. Awards and box-office rewards. What more can an actor ask for?
Like last week’s PAAN SINGH TOMAR, KAHAANI had a slow start at the ticket window. And like PAAN SINGH TOMAR, KAHAANI had a meteoric rise with each passing day. The film showed 50% jump at several centres on Saturday, while Sunday witnessed another big jump. With no major opposition this Friday, KAHAANI is expected to be the first choice of moviegoers in its second week as well. As you sow so shall you reap. It holds true for PAAN SINGH TOMAR as well as KAHAANI.
KAHAANI has not only won critical acclaim, but is also a commercial success. Let’s have a look at its economics… Sold to Viacom18 for approx. Rs 11 cr, the studio spent another 7.5 cr on its P&A, taking the total cost to Rs 18.5 cr. The Satellite Rights and Music Rights have fetched Rs 8 cr. Hence, the Studio has to recover Rs 10.5 cr from India and Overseas theatrical and Home Video. At the rate KAHAANI is faring, the amount [Rs 10.5 cr] will be recovered in its first week itself, that too from India theatrical alone. The revenue from Overseas will only add to the kitty and so will be the revenue generated in its second week.
The second release of the week, CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI, has been rejected at the ticket window. Despite being an escapist fare that caters to the hoi polloi, the movie never got the mandate from the paying public.
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March 14, 2012 at 8:31 AM
Palin-Focused Film ‘Game Change’ Draws Big Audience to HBO
By BILL CARTER
Riding outstanding reviews and a flood of attention because of the controversy around its portrayal of Sarah Palin, the HBO film “Game Change” attracted a big audience for the pay-cable channel Saturday night.
The film pulled in 2.1 million viewers for its initial airing on HBO, making it the most-watched original movie on the channel in eight years. Viewer totals for the movie increased in each of its half-hours, topping out at 2.3 million viewers.
HBO has repeated the movie three times and the total audience for “Game Change,” which is based on a book with the same name about the 2008 presidential campaign, now stands at 3.6 million.
The movie was especially praised for Julianne Moore’s portrayal of Ms. Palin as she was selected to become John McCain’s running mate in 2008.
Ms. Palin has denounced the film as inaccurate, though she has not specified which elements of the film are wrong. One of the other major characters, Steve Schmidt, who was the chief strategist for the McCain presidential campaign, appeared on MSNBC this week and praised the movie for its accuracy.
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March 14, 2012 at 9:08 AM
Lol@ palin focused
What’s she upto now btw
And what’s lewinsky doing nowadays 🙂
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March 14, 2012 at 2:29 PM
Think Again, Will You?
Posted on March 14, 2012
by Shailesh Kapoor, CEO Ormax Media
Warning: This may end up being a ‘reverse-troll’ post. But since it has bothered me all day long, may as well write it.
I happened to read film critic Raja Sen’s column in Mumbai Mirror this morning (This). He wrote a ‘passionate’ piece on Hugo not getting a theatrical release in India, and hence, film fans being denied the chance to see a great 3D product in the theatres. I was with his line of argument for much of the article, till I read the following:
To those of us who burnt up Twitter in anger, making the #WeWantHugo war-cry trend across the nation yesterday, those forced to watch big-screen films at home, I recommend at least some mild revenge if we don’t get a taste of Hugo in 3D: Viacom 18’s next release, Blood Money, hits theatres on Friday, the 30th of March, and I feel we should do with it exactly what they suggest we do with Marty’s film: do please pirate it, won’t you?
Did I read “do please pirate it”? Yes, I did. It doesn’t matter if it was meant to be literal or not. Someone actually seeded that thought in mainstream media – a leading English newspaper, no less. Definitionally itself, the language is irresponsible.
Here are my three key concerns with the piece, in particular the portion quoted above:
1. The film industry loses 30-50% of its potential revenue to piracy. To even encourage it in jest is ridiculous. One of the reasons piracy continues to thrive (amongst several others) is that the media has not really “co-opted” the issue at any level at all.
2. Viacom 18 Motion Pictures is a business entity. In a free market, a business entity has the right to take business decisions based on its evaluation of the market situation. Just because you have access to prime space in a leading newspaper does not mean that you can spit venom at a private business and run down a forthcoming release of their’s, irrespective of how big or small it may be.
3. The issue in question (Hugo not releasing theatrically in India) is one of taste, not of moral standing. To make it sound like a ‘social’ issue (any suggested protest would imply that) is going way too far. People may be ‘deprived’, but they are not being ‘wronged’ if the film is not released. It is important to note this distinction.
In the war of words on twitter since this morning, one of the arguments being given is that since the Bhatts, co-producers of the forthcoming film in question (Blood Money), have been plagiarizing foreign films for ages, they have no moral authority in this matter. My simple reaction to that: Two wrongs don’t make a right. Period.
There is good journalism and bad journalism. But even more important is the distinction between mature and immature journalism. Raja Sen’s piece could have easily been an example of mature, good journalism. He could have made his point in a dignified yet effective manner, and driven the idea home to his readers. Instead, it ends up coming across as immature and childish. Because evidently, a journalist wore the hat of a ‘fan’ while writing the piece, and lost perspective of the responsibility that comes with the power the medium gives him. A pity!
It’s easy to write flamboyant pieces and make fun of filmmakers and directors. Do that by all means when you don’t like their work. But why get personal? Why cross the line? Why drag a filmmaker, who has invested his blood and sweat in his debut film (with a mere Kunal Khemu at his disposal), into it? Think again, will you?
PS: I know what some of you must be wondering: Is Viacom 18 on my client list? Why am I writing this piece? Yes, they are clients. Like the rest of the film industry. And if you are cynical enough, you will indeed correlate this article and my client roster. But you know what, I stopped worrying about such cynicism many months ago.
PPS: (I’m sure) There are trolls who hate Raja Sen, and hence, will “love” my post. Dear Those: Thanks but no thanks!
http://shaileshkapoor.com/2012/03/14/think-again-will-you/
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March 14, 2012 at 3:28 PM
Hahaha nice one
Anyhow : had seen hugo 3D
Def a brilliant film but somehow didn’t really grip me
(Slept for some parts of it)
Best thing was Ben Kingsley and the dreamy ambience
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March 14, 2012 at 11:05 PM
Shootout at Wadala First Look
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