This entry was posted on December 19, 2012 at 2:04 AM and is filed under the bad. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
287 Responses to “Dabangg 2, the rest of the box office”
It’s releasing in a couple of days and some of the pre-release reports have already started coming in. since there will be a lot of activity around this subject might as well start the thread early. The old one has 300 comments.
True! I’ve had both DVDs lying around for a while. Haven’t quite been in the mood for films as much for a while barring the rare exception. Currently it’s Haneke’s Amour which I’ll watch as soon as possible. I’ve came to the Law and Order party 20 years after the event. Currently getting through Season 9! So I’ve spent a lot of time with this!
But also when it’s a more serious effort like GoW I don’t watch it unless I’m completely in the mood. Other than Amour most excited about Kathapurushan (Adoor). This is now available on a proper DVD:
Law and Order is a bit of a weird addiction. It’s not something I’ve ever watched consistently but if it happens to be on I usually get sucked in. Not a great show but a very influential one and it’s always engaging at some basic level. It’s also one of those shows one can watch out of order and not have to worry (in general) about not being in on the loop with certain series-wide character or story arcs.
I am unable to understand this ‘hyper-excitement’ over Dabaang 2 by these trade guys. I mean, seriously, I am wondering if TA and KN are inventing phrases (hurricane, cyclone, sandy..) to help more and more footfalls into cinema or is it that they are hyper-ventilating like this AFTER they have seen the rush that is usually reserved for Rajnikanth movies…It seems like all over India this weekend, NONE will visit malls or gardens or go to picnics but everyone will be warming their assess in theatres!!!
Whether the film makes 1 $ or 10000000000$ makes no difference to me Vijay. It might for fans/fanatics.. All I am amused about is these trade ‘pundits’ falling over each other over this supposed ‘mania.’ And I am only wondering if this is a narrative that is being created or a true representation/reflection of the narrative.
Because TA, KN and truth have always been kind of oxy-moronic.
After ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, Salman Khan fever on the rise with ‘Dabangg 2’
Film analyst expects ‘Dabangg 2’ to fetch thunderous box office returns
Trade analyst in India expects ‘Dabangg 2’ to break all records. Taran Adarsh said, “Overseas collection of ‘Dabangg 2’ expected to fetch a thunderous start beyond the shores of the country as well. The craze for the film is humungous!”
Going by the promos of ‘Dabangg 2’ the film promises some jaw crushing, bone shattering action served along with some super-duper one liners.
hahaa cmon folks–out wiht your numbers
satyam will wait till the first week .. for any predictions
cmon–this one is not that difficult–shouldnt need a big 6–150 crores range hahah
anyhow for satyams viewing pleasure
Tena Desae –table no 21
Looks good and love Trivedi’s music here- And this is the only Bhagat book I somewhat liked. the name of the Rock On director gives me hope (btw the ‘sperm’ dialogue is directly taken from the novel)
Trailer of Kai Po Che- based on Chetan Bhagat’s “3 Mistakes Of My Life”-
It is story of 3 friends in Ahmedabad, and as u have read the book but for others i shall share following:
1) Its has cricket, Earthquake and 2002 incident of Gujarat state as backdrop.
2) it is about friendship, love and loss.
The novel had quite a few layers, and clearly they seem to have change the title character, as he makes 3 mistakes of his life. I am looking forward to see how they have seen Ahmedabad, also this shall be the pre-2002 version.
Farhan Akhtar wrote a poem on the Delhi Rape incident.
“What is this country that I live in?
With no equality
And the quality of life
Differs from husband to wife
Boy to girl, brother to sister
Hey Mister, are you the same?
Contributing to the national shame
Replacing your mothers
With the bent ideology of another`s
perception that women have a particular role in society
Fills my heart with anxiety
Where is all of this going?
What will emerge from these seeds that we`re sowing?
It makes my head spin
But I`m not giving in
Will keep asking the question
What is this country that I live in?
What is this country that I live in?
That takes away her right to love
Brutalises her with an iron glove
Rapes her without fear
of there being justice for her tear
We`ve demeaned our goddesses
Gone back on all our promises
Become a gender distorted nation
Given our conscience a permanent vacation
what do I tell my daughter?
That she`s growing up to be lamb for the slaughter
we`ve got to make a change
Reboot, reformat, rearrange,
and never give in
no matter how much our head may spin
Just keep asking the question
What is this country that I live in?”
I really don’t think this is true at all. We have no idea what the personal equation is between these 2. Also, Salman in all his interview for promoting Dabangg has been saying that next he is doing Sohail’s next, Then going on to Kick with Sajid N, And by that time the script for Barajatya’s will be ready and that would be next. This is just some kind of rumor.
This article is by Subhash K. Jha. The same thing appeared in TOI also. Jha has been on a campaign against Salman for some years now. He usually writes something negative and completely contradictory to every other news source. This is a typical piece from him. Since the film between Salman and Sooraj has been confirmed by them both several times over the last several months, I suppose Jha (or whoever is funding/egging him on, if you want to believe in conspiracy theories) thought it was time to throw a wrench into the works. Mr. Jha has had zero credibility with me for a number of years now, because of the kind of stuff he has written about many stars.
In his latest interviews, Salman has listed all the films mentioned by Bachchan 1 to 10 as his upcoming ones, but in addition, he has said that he starts shooting for Sohail’s film in January, and whenever Sooraj has his script ready, he will do that next, before doing any other confirmed film. So I’d rather take his word over Jha’s.
Okie let us know how dab2 is–thanx
“Atleast ETT” –it’s not that ‘atleast’ as films realise –there’s attrition up there–but yeah has good chances either way
Need 2 burn midnite oil now
May ‘explode’ soon & may end up watching dab2 v soon as well–let’s see who makes it first 🙂
Gud nite
Dabangg 2 has had a fantastic advance as expected at both single screens and multiplexes. Single screens are phenomenal and they had to be as many exhibitors have paid MG’s (Minimum Guarantee) as per the business that Ek The Tiger did at the cinema. In another words the exhibitors will only start to make money when the business surpasses the collections of Ek tha Tiger at their respective cinemas. This trend is very prevalent in many cities of UP like Meerut, Jhansi, Saharanpur etc.
The multiplexes also saw huge bookings yesterday (Wednesday) and no doubt today will also see excellent bookings. The film has record shows at multiplexes with some multiplexes going over 40 shows per day which will ensure a record number of tickets sold prior to release.
One key factor of the advance is that there are huge bookings for Sunday which means the families are really awaiting this film. There is always talk about the youth audience but eventually big box office is about the family audience and as there is going to be a huge family turnout on Sunday and if this audience has good of mouth then the sky will be the limit for Dabangg 2.
Dabangg 2 may smash all initial records but the ultimate record for the film is the second week record of Three idiots which collected around 55 crore nett in week two as initial records fall every six months..
There are hardly any films which can be even thought about in terms of this record because most films aim at that urban youth and all you can get is good one week run with this audience.
Looking at advance, Dabangg 2 is that film where the families will come in hordes on Sunday all across India especially the cities and towns outside the big metros and if this audience spreads the word then this ultimate second week record of Three Idiots which is almost 20 crore higher than anything else becomes a target for Dabangg 2.
Obviously if reports of the day one audience is not up to the mark then all equations go out of the window as that big Sunday will not materialise.
Exit polls predicted that Modi’s power will win more than 140 seats. And he used technology to appear at so many venues at the same time and I felt that he beat even Salman Khan advertising himself. The result is definitely a good victory but not that much as predicted.
Sometimes hype and over publicity just wont give earthshaking results.
Moditva and Salmania 2 sides of the same coin, it seems.
Deadline !
What man Ann
2 heck with what friggin arbaz, or goddamm nahata or tranny adarsh
Forget movies –difficult to punch in few lines on ones phone
When stress n exhaustion collide
Wanna make a film called ‘dead-line’
Anyhow
Sooner or later-I will hav a ‘release’
Someone around me will ‘pay the price’
😉
Anyhow all the best for dabang–hope it breaks some records ..
Stars are humans too Bored… hard as it might be for you to fathom. They too get past their peak phases! They can’t be expected to open films in the same way forever. But perhaps you’ll be the first human to defy gravity. Or else when you don’t you perhaps won’t mind people making fun of your waning abilities.
I’m hardly a great Tom Cruise fan myself but your commentary on him is simply ridiculous. Which is hardly surprising coming for you. With most stars your opinion belongs to the order of a grunt! There’s nothing more profound than this in your responses. not sure why you’re in such a miserable mood most of the time!
Good reply Satyam..but looking at acerbic and sadistic tone of his, I did not think it worth replying…
BTW, just picking and choosing convenient things is really a talent I think…because this part in the article was curiously not highlighted..
**”The U.S. market today is much less star-driven, but the international marketplace still is,” said Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore. “Our expectation that it will do more outside of the U.S. is a big reason to put Tom Cruise in a movie like this.”***
Oh and btw, for a 50 year actor, Bored exacting standards expect tremendous footfalls in the face of THE HOBBIT, DJANGO UNCHAINED, ZERO DARK THIRTY,back-lash from hard-core fan boys/girls/women attacking the film JUST because the character in the book is 6’5” and weighs 220 pounds and to top it all, people’s preconceived notions about sniper attacks thanks to the Newtown shootings..Still Cruise should deliver mommothly to be called a star.. Never mind that a romantic ‘relic’ back in India failed to fire the box-office in a big way inspite of the advantage of home-turf, an oscar-winning musician, a master lyricist, a shrewd production company throttling competition, 2 skin-showing ladies, and a romance-genre subject matter expert at the helm…
Verdict: Dabangg 2 is not meant to make sense. It’s only meant to entertain. If you are a Chulbul Pandey fan, go and enjoy your annual dose of Salman Khan, else give it BIG ignore. Dabangg 2 will be loved by the masses, but not the classes. Though the movie has nothing extraordinary to provide, yet, people might relish it just keeping their brains aside and not looking at it otherwise.
Noida: Dabangg 2 Bumper Opening And Record Screenings
Friday 21st December 2012 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 too a huge bumper opening in Noida with all shows practically housefull. It has also set a new record for screenings with 109 shows daily. Ek Tha Tiger had 85 shows daily.
These are just incredible numbers, when you look they are from multiplexes at early morning and on top of that, it is is from Noida, which remains very cold in the morning due to the winter. So keeping all these things put together, you witness Salman mania across classes and masses, which is making these class and mass boundaries irrelevant. I’m pleased for him as he is at the pinnacle of the game, rest of them seem pygmies, when compared to his box office typhoon.
Friday 21st December 2012 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 has taken a juggernaut opening at the box office all across India. The single screens that open early are fantastic and when they open at large at noon it will be historic.
The multiplexes have also taken a record start with housefull shows across the board. Basically the opening of the film is at record pace but what normally happens on working days is that multiplexes start better as lower tickets rates but pace slackens slightly from noon and a bigger drop around around 4pm and they pick up again in the late evening while on the holidays the whole day remains superb.
Friday 21st December 2012 12.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 has taken a historic start which was always likely but the reaction of the audience at various centres across the country gives it a chance to the do the unthinkable and that is go towards a record figure on a working day.
Although it is a tall order as collections at multiplexes tend to take dips especially in the late afternoon shows but if the craze seen in the morning can keep that a dip at minimum then its not out of the question that history can be created.
Looking at the morning and what tends to happen in the afternoon and evening the film should surpass 25 crore nett for the first day with possibilities of higher total and a record first day although very difficult, cannot be totally ruled out of the picture just yet. The late afternoon and evening shows will give a better indication. The record collections for the first day are around 31 crore nett.
Every review says that Salman is superb and has tremendous screensapce and screen presence. The others are merely more than extras, it seems.
Music is not that appreciated.
As I said, the small town has turned into a city this time. A sort of Shaan after Sholay.
In sheer Boxoffice appeal, Salman reminds of Amitabh of that Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra era. The genres are also somewhat alike.Masala, action, romance, comedy. Though there is an apparent similarity, they are as different as a well kept garden and a forest.
Sanjana, Its a bit unfair to compare salman to Bachchan here, (I understand that he comes closest to the Bachchan phase of giving hits in 70’s – 80’s). But reminding one of Bachchan from MMD or PM, that’s a little far fetched dont you think? Prakash Mehra and MMD were much better filmmakers then all the ones Salman is working currently (and in all their glory and on a good day). I dont think likes of Arbaaz can even come anywhere close to MMD or PM even on their bad days on story telling skills, It’s genuinely all the hype created by the media currently with the 100/200 cr clubs and what not. And many may not believe but the divide thats been created between Salman and Srk just adds to the whole hoopla right now. Imagine the kind of media we have now was available when Bachchan was around. I think all his films would have touched 100 cr(yes back then – not even talking inflation). I am certainly not trying to run down your comment, just my 2 cents genuinely on this subject, cause every now and then some one comes up and compares salman to Bachchan’s phase (Even I have said it once or twice) But, I reassesed my thoughts on it, and dont think he comes close.
This comparison as I suggested the other day is simply not a serious one and it is made when one is completely unaware of the magnitude of Bachchan’s box office. So actually it isn’t about a difference in degree. There is simply no comparison! If one thinks Bachchan was about getting a lot of hits whereas others weren’t doing so one has completely misunderstood what he was about. The scale of his box office simply cannot be comprehended using the ordinary and banal terminology of current box office debates.
Precisely Sir. Again, I was not around to see the phenomena during bachchans times (too young then). But as I have mentioned in the past, My family (and they are all movie fanatics – you ask any one of them about any movie from any era, they will know when it was made, how big a hit it was etc) on number of occassions have told me about the BO draw Bachchan had back then, I mean AAA in 28 cinemas just in Bombay hitting Silver Jubille and some Golden and Diamond Jubilee, just tells you the power this man had back then. Also, people keep talking about DDLJ being the longest running film, I wanna wake them up to reality, DDLJ is playing at a matinee show where Sholay was in Daily shows from 12 to 9, All shows Housefull for 5+ years man. Becuase of the proximity of our family business (Hotels and Restauarnts) Dad and uncles got to meet lots of Black Ticket marketers, They say they have made a fortune out of selling Sholay in Black, Bought Flats in high rise south mumbai locations, Imagine That. (Dont know if these black tickets are still happenning though)
haha Well said Sanjana, True but even on BO terms, and thats exactly what Satyam Sir is saying above. Given that Salman is a the biggest BO draw currently, But once it opens big, nothing happens after that. The trending (as satyam sir always presses the importance of it) has never been so great for him. Where as Bachchan is concerned just my example of AAA of 28 cinemas in Bombay is good enough to say otherwise on the whole comaparison.
Nowadays, media makes a star, boxoffice and other hype if we follow Taran, Komal etc. And I feel about mainstream media being paid to write superlatives. Except for one or two, none is above board.
salman is going the way bachan was,salman mania has buzz about it,I remember Amitabhs film in those days were doing 25th silver jubelees not in one cinema but several cinemas,not even srk or sallu can do that,at this moment of time salmans film are known to be a “gold” he touches it becomes..when a time is with you & luck,nothing can go wrong,even crap film will do wonders
Did I say familiar? That’s the trouble with Dabangg 2. Within 15 minutes, the novelty wears off. Our one-man Expendable has already done this and better in the previous installment of the franchise. And as much as he tries there are only so many ways a man can play himself.
Dabangg 2 serves primarily as a reminder of what this Rs 100 crore addiction is doing to the art of entertainment. Entertainment, not filmmaking, mind you. Even escapism deserves to be treated with boundless imagination.
B.O. update: ‘Dabangg 2’ all set to create history!
By Taran Adarsh, December 21, 2012 – 13:51 IST
DABANGG 2 is all set to create history in India. Rewrite boxoffice records. Set new benchmarks. The latest Salman Khan starrer opened to a thunderous, earth-shattering, unimaginable response across the nation. While the morning shows took off with fervour, the noon shows maintained the pace across the country, despite the fact that the film has opened really wide in India [2250 cinema halls, 3500 + screens].
A slight dip is expected between 3 to 5 pm, since it’s a working day, but the business is expected to witness a massive jump from evening onwards. The film is expected to be the biggest opener on a non-holiday, crossing the previous biggest non-holiday opener [ROWDY RATHORE] by leaps and bounds.
As per early indications, a 22 cr + start is being speculated, but if the evening and night shows are huge, the figure may cross the 25 cr mark, which is out of the world. The weekend collections are also expected to be record-breaking!
Why does most of our discussion about cinema centre primarily on box-office collections, especially if a big star is involved?
As I write this, Bollywood-oriented web sites are screaming that Talaash has finally entered the 100-crore club, though this figure includes revenues from overseas. (The domestic total is a little under Rs. 85 cr.) At the time of release, the story was slightly different. The web site boxofficecapsule.com mourned, rather ungrammatically, “Talaash collected rather good numbers over weekend and was expected to fetch good numbers on weekdays. But film dropped with every passing day and it was apparent that this time audience at large did not like the content of Aamir Khan’s latest offering.” Then came the clincher. “Film collected further 3.50 cr nett on Thursday and film has finished week one at 67 plus cr nett. Film has to collect 30 cr plus in 2nd week in order to reach 100 cr nett mark…” And the second week’s total was a mere Rs. 15.5 crore, which means that Talaash will not join the 100-crore club when only domestic receipts are totalled.
Hosted by imgur.com
This has been the dominant mode of discourse around the film, apart from reviews and a stray opinion piece or two expressing indignation over Aamir Khan’s apparent endorsement of superstition. On the other hand, had Talaash been a Hollywood movie, these are some of the topics that would have risen around the film’s release, in newspapers, magazines and web sites: the best supernatural-suspense films of all time; ten best cops with moustaches; the origins of rug-pulling in the movies; how spouses in the cinema deal with loss; the literary tradition of lonesome policemen; why hookers in cinema, with the exception of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, just cannot catch a break; ten reasons Talaash would have sucked had there been a male in the director’s chair; Farhan Akhtar’s evolution as a dialogue-writer; from Dil Chahta Hai to Talaash, a look at the male-centric multiplex movie; and, this being awards season, why Talaash won’t win the Oscar for Best Actor.
In short, we’d have had a range of writing around the movie, from the super-serious to the ultra-silly. And I’m not even talking about the lengthy profiles and interviews, the comment pieces and the debates that would have appeared. But here, all we seem to do is bother about the box office. That’s not wrong. You can do serious reporting using facts and figures that make up the trade aspect of a film. But when all those reports converge around a single question, whether or not Talaash will enter the 100-crore club, it’s depressing – not just because we can’t seem to think of other things to write about and around the film, but because the 100-crore mark itself is meaningless with this sort of film, with restricted appeal. That such a moody and slow-paced film made Rs. 85 crore so far is in itself a smashing success story, without speculating if Aamir is still the top Khan.
What, for instance, would Talaash have earned had Salman or Shah Rukh starred in it, both stars with a more massy appeal? Besides, a look at the Wikipedia page of Bollywood’s 100-crore grosser reveals that most of them are masala movies (or variants thereof, like the sci-fi masala Ra.One, or the masala comedy Housefull 2). Jab Tak Hai Jaan, if not quite a masala movie, is very much from a proven genre, plus it came with the star power of Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif, and the names of Yash Chopra and AR Rahman. The only two films that seem surprising additions to this club are 3 Idiots and Barfi!, the former a “social comedy,” pumped full with messages, and the latter a whimsical dramedy. Had Aamir made Ghajini 2 and had that film not made 100 crore, then there would be something to talk about. Why put these pressures on Talaash?
But that, I suppose, is part of the baggage of being a star – even a star director, for that matter. A lot of the number crunching around Lincoln has revolved around the fact that Steven Spielberg has, after a long time, had a $100 million hit. (His last blockbuster was the pre-sold Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; his last non-franchise, non-blockbuster film to hit that mark was Catch Me If You Can, a whole decade ago). You cannot completely do away with these expectations. But the difference is that there have been scores of other kinds of articles written about Lincoln, ranging from The Scoop: Why Lincoln Grew a Beard to How Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln Benefited from Crony Capitalism to The Eternal Reach: How Steven Spielberg’s evolving ideas continue to ignite cinema. And all we have about Talaash is endless handwringing about a numerical benchmark. You’re probably going to tell me that our mainstream media doesn’t have space, any longer, for serious, analytical writing about cinema, but isn’t that why blogs were invented?
Talaash Third Week Box Office Collection 7.78 cr nett.
Talash has collected around 7.78 crore nett all India in its 3rd Weekend at the box office. It collected around 5.03 crore in 3rd Weekend and another 2.75 crore in 3rd Weekdays. Talaash total collection after 21 days is around 92.16 crore nett all India. It registered a drop of 53% from the 2nd week collections.
Talaash remained steady in 3rd weekend and as well as 3rd weekdays. Collections are decent considering the first week start, but below the standard of Aamir Khan starrer. Anyways, Talaash is a Hit at the box office. Regarding its lifetime collection, Talaash will wrap up around 94 crore nett mark which will be around 6 crore less than the 100 crore nett mark.
2. Dabangg: Chulbul Pandey introduces himself (Hud hud dabangg).
Dabangg 2: Chulbul Pandey introduces himself (Hud hud dabangg).
3. Dabangg: Intro song, one dance number, two romantic songs, one item number.
Dabangg 2: Intro song, one dance number, two romantic songs, one item number.
7. Dabangg: Abhinav Kashyap, director.
Dabangg 2: Arbaaz Khan, director.
8. Dabangg: XX Bhai porn.
Dabangg 2: XXX Bhai porn.
9. Dabangg: Worked due to its unabashed admiration for the ’70s masala fillum and ability to recreate the formula in a contemporary set-up, maa ka badla and bhai ka pyaar et al.
Dabangg 2: Rehashes Dabangg itself, finding comfort in the formula rather than using it as a tool to entertain. Follows Singham and Khiladi 786, which tried hard to recreate Dabangg magic without being as successful. In other words, it’s wannabe-Dabangg.
It is a vicious circle. All are succumbing to it except for a few. Make a film which can appeal to the lowest , book a big star, book as many theatres as possible, create a hype with boxoffice pundits, voila we have a 100 crore hit. That is why Sajid Khan says with so much confidence that his films never fail.
All that is actually fine. I don’t have a problem with commercial filmmakers milking a formula till it’s bone dry (mainly because these films are easy enough to avoid) but the real problem here is the same box office metric is used to compare all sorts of films whose ambitions are clearly different. Not all commercial films are cut from the same cloth and Rangan’s very simple points here are that A) We can’t expect Ghajini results from Talaash and B) With all the discussions on grosses and star vs. star, people have gradually moved away from talking about actual films.
There is tremendous pressure to perform or perish. Just like our students face. The joy of education has gone as the emphasis has shifted to scoring marks rather than gaining knowledge. Same thing is happening with films. Winning elections has become more important than reflecting on value based politics.
But still we discuss films.Atleast some of us.
And the ridiculous extent to which even writing something has come to. Book promotions have become the norm and those who have influential friends can make commerce out of the purest of arts, writing.
The first part was so good but then (as usual) comparing to Hollywood spoiled it for me……………kitnee baar kahen Bharat – Bharat hai ……picture alag, log alag, culture alag !!!!
Rohit Shetty was so honest in saying that he does have the 100 cr. presuure on him……..
as for Talaash and Aamir – just as the crowd gives credit to Aamir Khan and boost the business of DG and a TZP’s , similarly they habe full right to be disappointed by his endorsing a movie like Talaash (rightly or wrongly is a different matter)…..
Talaash may be a semi-hit, not endorsed by general public; but quite a few discerning viewers have loved the film. A friend wants to see it a second time, but sadly, here in Chennai, only a solitary theatre ( not a centrally located moviehouse) is showing it in an afternoon matinee. I’m guessing that is the last of Talaash in my city. JTHJ lasted about 5-6 weeks and has just been pulled out. Life of Pi, released a week before Talaash, but it is holding strong.
I am personally glad that Aamir did Talaash; the film may have needed a bit of tweaking but that’s always the case with reception to any film. No audience is ever in agreement with director and film team totally.
To me Talaash is like a Mangal Pandey moment in Aamir’s career. It is a film he did with high hopes, put great time and effort in the film, but audience gave thums down mostly; a few liked both films. Self in that category. Thankfully, Talaash was better received than MP.
Most off the audience who go for cinema want entertainment. I am pretty sure it would have done lot better if the pace was increased little bit, but then movie would have been any regular thriller. I think post climax diluted what movie stood for (made it more main stream). As I said in one of comments the next shot in movie after climax should have been Aamir opening almirah and getting that letter.
I don’t buy that argument that climax was weak. It is infact easier to show Aamir or Rani or some person as killer than actual climax.
I dont think it was hyped like Mangal Pandey. It got attention because of delays, postponements etc. Infact, Aamir did not unleash his so called marketing and that might have harmed the film. Nowadays, even a detergent is marketed with much fanfare. It is a well crafted film and it was accepted. Otherwise it would not have made that much business.
Just discovered that another theatre ( a centrally located one) is in fact showing Talaash, afternoon 3.45. So, folks can still have a dose of Talaash if so desired. But don’t see it enetering 5th week. JTHJ did, so has Life of Pi. Ah well.
Enjoyed most of my nine films at the recently concluded Chennai Intl Filmfest. Have written about same at my blog—www.lalipond.blogspot.com. I did manage to watch one Oscar nominated film Amour, but missed out on the Swiss film Sister, something I had planned to watch, but did not; instead went for a Claude Chabrol thriller classic.
Satyam how did U find Killer Joe? I liked it a lot. The black humour and so on. And the cast is uniformally good here. Friedkin still has not lost his touch- I thought Bug was one of the best horror films of the past 2 decades
hmmm –quickly had skimmed thru this for a few seconds earlier–interesting rangan comments–will opine on this later when saner lol
More interesting is that remember ‘anya’ posting this earlier–seems this got quickly deleted ( it appears) and ‘satyam’ has now posted the same !
hahaha
not fit to ‘investigate’ further as of now
opps more fri nite stuff…. 🙂
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 85th Academy Awards®. Seventy-one films had originally qualified in the category.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:
Austria, “Amour,” Michael Haneke, director;
Canada, “War Witch,” Kim Nguyen, director;
Chile, “No,” Pablo Larraín, director;
Denmark, “A Royal Affair,” Nikolaj Arcel, director;
France, “The Intouchables,” Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, directors;
Iceland, “The Deep,” Baltasar Kormákur, director;
Norway, “Kon-Tiki,” Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, directors;
Romania, “Beyond the Hills,” Cristian Mungiu, director;
Switzerland, “Sister,” Ursula Meier, director.
Foreign Language Film nominations for 2012 are again being determined in two phases.
The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 71 eligible films between mid-October and December 17. The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.
The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend Friday, January 4, through Sunday, January 6, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.
The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.
Anil Sinanan’s worst film of 2012
Jab Tak Hai Jaan
My ‘tikka-turkey’ of 2012 is the blockbuster ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, the late Yash Chopra’s bland rehash of every single corny cliché from his back catalogue.
Regardless of quality of film or the durability of Salman’s current phase or eventual total of D2, Salman is currently riding a wave that can be challenged only by AB In 80’s or Khanna in 70’s.
Dabangg 2 which raced out of the traps in the morning slowed in the afternoon and evening period as many multiplex shows had lower occupancies than the morning. This was always the likely scenario as its not a holiday but at some places it slowed considerably. This could also be due to exceessive shows. The North was hit hard with evening occupancies down a lot due to the cold weather which is a norm for this time of the year.
The morning shows suggested a 25 crore nett total was on the cards but looking at it in the evening and late evening shows the all India collections could come in around the 18-19 crore nett range which is still huge but the film has been let down slightly by the multiplex business.
the excuses have begun. This is a 2 hr film or less and it’s not matching BG or Agneepath in terms of its day 1 number. It’s releasing almost a year after the latter and 16 months or so after the former. Would be surprised if it did as much as ETT. BOI are already spinning. They talked about about an afternoon slowdown and evening shows being strong. Now they’re changing their tune.
And holiday or no-holiday the film should not be 10 crores or so behind ETT on opening day.
Breaking News – Just heard that Bachchan Jnr has won some best gay comedy award in some BIG award function! Hope the fans didnt miss the celebrations, Abhishek has been tweeting with glee.
the multiplex show (fri nite) was not houseful–infact 50-60%!
-talaash was houseful in the second week when i saw..
JTHJ was houseful obviously
Crowd included some rowdy elements who ogled @ gals coming in and out of screenings (not atypical of some salman screenings lol) –only thing lacking was them breaking into a dhinka chika a la ready lol!
As always, i care a damn about whats considered cool, or politicially correct–this is another film which many will diss to enter the ‘discerning’ club and so on..
Found it entertaining—provided–
one liked dab1
GUys will like this more
I loved dabang, and more so the persona and the thought process of the protagonist had a connect for me.
Dabang and ETT remain the ONLY salman films ive watched in their entirety and liked.
Dab 1 vs 2
Does dabang 2 surpass/match dab1?—No…
Is dab2 as crap as expected given it is from untested arbaaz?– No
Weaknesses–the ‘story’ is paperthin, one-line plot –needed more bite n depth
The one-liners and smart alecky quips dont have the razor sharp and rustic quality of Dab1 though not a failure either..
Strengths–the director sticks to the basics and the overall set pattern/template of dab1—tries no heroics and does a reasonably good job in giving the audiences what they loved in dab1!
Obviously one need to love Dabang to like this one
Support cast–Kareena was horrible, Malaika was meh
I think a second/ new heroine was sorely missed !
Sonakshi was fine and endearing though
Prakash raj was fine but even his role lacked range and bite
Vinod khanna hasnt aged well but did a v good job, i think.
Salman Kahn
well, he is at the top of his game–loved him only in dabang and here he repeats the same feat, albeit with a somewhat weaker supporting structure and nearly manages to pull through…
Salmans current status in bollywood
is currently no 1 by a distance and theres no two ways about it!
All those spin masters should read the writing on the wall.
I feel it is better to sacrifice ones unfounded biases/snobbishness than credibiility
Highlights
it was salmans moments with his step bro arbaaz and stepdad vinod khanna that shone through (for me) and somehow carried the essence of dab1 forward, though not as effectively but reasonably enough
Music–Dagaabaaz re, pandeyji were quite good esp the former
The background music is the same as dab 1 and i like it
Openin credits–encapsulate and recap dab1–well presented
Box office
Think arbaaz somewhat exceeded my (low) expectations of him!
But the multiplex wont support this to the extent they patronised ETT as was evident from today itself (esp overseas)
As i mentioned earlier, the ‘ordinary feat’ of ETT may again prove difficult…
but would be surprised if this does less than 150 crores net domestic
Finally, love moments —
An aerial shot in dabang title song where salman literally orders the camera to come down, the camera obeys slowly in steps, comes to his level and then salman delivers his trademark dabang pelvic belt-movement—liked it
If Dabangg 2 fails to recreat magic, Khiladi 786 may gain and Talaash may also may make some money.
For the genre it is, Talaash trended quite well and it has not disappeared as some expected.
The frenzy that is being whipped up by the media is sending expectations soaring too high for D 2. It has 4 day advantage now like Saturday to Tuesday.
If SOS was given a fair deal, it would have been the biggest hit of this season.
DISCLAIMER TO FANATICS OF CONCERN:
ALL WORDS BELOW ARE ORIGINAL AND DO NOT REEK OF ANY ‘AGENDA’; I AM NEITHER A SALMAN FAN NOR A HATER..I WATCH SALMAN’S CURRENT PHASE OF ASTOUNDING POPULARITY WITH BEMUSEMENT..BUT NOT HATRED
ok then..holiday bonanza..got free AMC passes and hence caught D2 and Jack Reacher. As expected, Jack Reacher turned out to be the wiser decision..
D2:
Alex has covered pretty much everything on this. But seriously, he has been far too kind with the movie. It is really a parasite living off of D1. For non-Salman fans, you are NOT going to miss anything if you wait to catch it on dvds or torrent. AK, if he goes anywhere from here, HAS to owe his career to the original director AK. This is a cinematic replica of that outstanding Sachin Tendulkar’s life-affirming 136 amidst excruciating back-pain against Pak in Chennai in 1999 which India lost — all thanks to the great Indian life-less batting which resulted in India’s humiliating loss..4 batsmen in total couldn’t manage to put up 13 runs on the board to win the test match. Abhinav is the SRT of Dabaang..and Salman’s bro has just tried his best to live off of that innings..and fails pretty expectantly at that.
For reasons I cannot fathom, Salman is going through an extraordinarily God-endorsed phase; an extremely mediocre actor managing to economically out-gross all current stars put together..truly, his stars are burning bright..and he manages to infuse life into this movie with his mannerisms. But the film is so derivative of the 1st that even Nolan couldn’t salvage this..
D1 comes across a classic when compared to this. And it truly was a movie with some memorable masala moments..especially Chulbul’s family dynamics..it was wonderfully erratic and weird. In fact, Chulbul’s family affairs was THE usp of the first part. Here, it is just Salman porn as DNA review mentions. The film drags for its meagre length of 2+ hours. The main drawback is Prakash Rai’s character; this is, in Chulbul’s lingo, the most ‘thuski’ masala villain there ever was. He is a 3rd rate version of Jeevan or Pran or Amjad in Amitabh’s masala films. He has not a SINGLE, a SINGLE line befitting a retort status to Chulbul. He is actually the side-kick in terms of the overall projection of the movie. He is just there to fill in the gaps. One of the plus points of D1 was sonu sood’s villany. The man surely looked and acted equal to Chulbul. Here, Baccha Singh is just a nostril-flaring, eye-brow raising villain..and nothing else. Arbaaz’s directional intelligence is so dumb that the he has cut-pasted the first 30 minutes of D1 to D2. Chulbul enters, bashes, dances!! All that Arbaaz now has to do is stuff in stuff for another 90 minutes!! And he screws up here too. Salman is not even 2 percent of AB to carry of bizzare stuff like walking English in Namak Halal or preparing omlette from a live chicken in COOLIE; so he has to rely on his mannerisms and STRONG one-liners. With mannerisms as regard to Chulbul’s world, Salman is quite effective but his one-liners can be counted on the finger-tips!! Infact, the truly ingenious and LOL dialogues can be compiled on you-tube and it would not total more than 12 minutes!
To Arbaaz’s credit, he successfully tastes bread-crumbs off Abhinav’s plate; he plays the ‘Suppandi’ version from Tinkle comics quite naturally; and he manages to parade his anorexic but ‘filled’ wife and his brother in half-monty. (The sight of an anorexic Malaika and a bulemic Sonakshi is quite a wonderful sight of woman-hood for the male eye) The songs are horrendously shot. To please his middle-eastern fans, SK rides a bike in sand-filled Dubai with Ms. Sinha. It is such cheap imitation of D1 that really pisses one off..because this movie could have REALLY taken the ‘fable’ of Chulbul to greater heights.
This movie is like a left-over of last night’s feast (D1). If you like left-overs, please visit this movie.
Salman’s fans will visit his movie even if it is a porn movie..I get that..but for non-Salman fans, do not waste ANY petrol or gas driving to the theatres…you still want to, it is your wish…in the words of Jack Reacher ‘Remember, you wanted this..’
More on Jack Reacher tomorrow..this is my 3rd bottle of RAGING BITCH Belgian beer..can’t type more…
Lathi charge on protestors outside the president’s house. A lot of aggression in public. but all will be forgotten in days’ time. All will be forgotten. This is India
Sanju–thanx for all these updates
Btw honestly speaking–do u think the situation is as bad as made out in the media right now(just read some reports today)
Or is that one or two horrifying incidents isolated and rare
What’s the ground situation in your experience –in Bombay?
Thanx
Also sanju–u out up kela awards–u missed SOS which is also in the list lol
Btw all JTHJ, SOS, dabang2 are 100 crores plus –imo melas are turkeys which are rejected films
How can these 100cr+ be turkeys–they maybe critical disasters but not commercial …
Ha this is not fun–this is ‘agenda’ and bias
Putting three 100 crore plus films as ‘turkeys’–one may not like them but they haven’t been flops or even critical disasters since they weren’t supposed to be different /path breaking
Ok– u mean there is a anger
I’m asking is the situation for girls /women in public places that unsafe or are these isolated rare occurrences
Dabangg2 a lazy effort . Two moments which I found hilarious were Gainda(Deepak Dobriyal) vs Chulbul(Salman Khan) just before the interval, and an off-hand moment where Bachcha Bhai(Prakash Raj) tells his lackey not to go overboard with emotional dialogues.
Dabangg 2 has collected 19.50 crore nett approx on day one as per early estimates. It is the highest non holiday opening day beating the 14.75 crore nett of Don 2 released in the same period last year but it has also released on 600-700 more screens than that film.
As has been seen in the last two years it is really tough to collect really big at multiplexes without a national holiday and the trend continued with Dabangg 2. There is just not enough of a multiplex audience on a working day to pack out 25 or 30 shows daily at a multiplex. Some shows go house full but odd timing shows have very low occupancies.
The first day is still fantastic and there should be growth on Saturday and Sunday as huge number of shows multiplexes give the film potential to get much higher collections as long as the public takes to it.
Dabangg 2 collected 19.25 crore nett on day one. It is the highest non holiday opening beating last year’s Christmas release Don 2. The first day territorial breakdown is as follows
Dabangg 2 Reels In 20 Cr On Day One
by Soumita Sengupta (December 22, 2012)
Yesterday marked the release of Arbaaz Khan’s directorial debut Dabangg 2, featuring Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead. A sequel to 2010’s blockbuster Dabangg, the film had enormous expectations attached to it. It took a flying start and earned Rs 20 crore, all-India, on its first day. Setting a record for being the biggest non-holiday opener, Dabangg 2 has maintained its impressive numbers on its second day as well.
In Mumbai, Rajesh Thandani of Multimedia Combines says, “Dabangg 2 has created a gigantic wave and everyone loves the film. On day one, it earned Rs 7-7.5 crore in Mumbai and Rs 19.5-20 crore, all-India. Although there is a slight drop in Saturday morning’s shows, the evening and night shows will make up for it.”
In Delhi-UP, Brijesh Tandon of H K Tandon and Company adds, “In the Delhi-UP circuit, Dabangg 2 has earned Rs 3.4 crore. The movie is also doing well across territories and has been appreciated by everyone. The music is very nice and, being a Salman Khan film, it is certain to be a blockbuster.”
In East Punjab, Jaspal Dhingra of Nanaskar Enterprises adds, “On day one, the film earned Rs 1.5 crore in East Punjab and footfalls increased with the evening shows. The craze for ‘Bhai’ is increasing every day, and from kids to the elderly, everyone wants to watch his films as they are wholesome masala entertainers.”
In West Bengal, Debashish Dey of Aum Moviez says, “On its first day, Dabangg 2 garnered around Rs 1 crore. I expect the movie to do even better today as it is a weekend. The film is massy with a classy touch. The reports are very good and almost every show is house full. This morning, shows opened to 70-per cent occupancy and the evening along and night shows are already sold out.”
In Rajasthan, Gaurav Gaur from O’Real Imaginations says, “Salman Khan is a brand, so his fans want to watch every single film he makes. Some of them feel they must watch the first day, first show itself. Yesterday, almost all the shows were 80-per cent booked. On day one, Dabangg 2 earned Rs 1.21 crore in Rajasthan. We have huge expectations from this film.”
Let’s assume Sat is the same as Fri and Sun is higher. You probably have a 65 crore weekend, maybe slightly more (or less. The other day I said I’d be surprised if it got anywhere close to ETT’s number. Now I’d say anything more than 150 would surprise me and even for that it would have to be very stable during the week, basically pull in an average of 7-8 crores every day. That would give it 95 or so for the week. looking at trending patterns these days that should get it to 150. However if Sun isn’t significantly stronger or weekdays go down to 5 crores or so after a couple of days around 8 or a bit higher then it might not do more than 140 or something.
The Salman initial remains intact of course and he keeps crossing 100 crores without breaking a sweat. All of this is pretty remarkable by any measure. But the lack of a worthwhile film has caught up with him in every single instance. Not one film of his has doubled its week 1. Even the first Dabanng wasn’t even close to doing this. An Jo usefully called Dabanng 2 “Salman porn” but the problem is that the audience only wants this where he is concerned. This rules out good trending.
On Dabanng 2 though looking at the day 1 number and considering all contexts I think there was probably a segment of the potential audience that just wasn’t interested enough here. Don’t think it’s just about WOM. This film could have done 25 or so on day 1. There are films that are no more than half-decent in the morning/afternoon shows on Fri and that then get to a pretty good number because of pretty strong evening shows. Even with less than optimal WOM the film should have done more. Clearly even BOI were expecting stronger Fri evening shows. Unless WOM is poorer than expected accounting for this. We’ll know over the weekend looking at the Sat/Sun numbers but especially those during the week. Of course Dabanng has some holidays coming up but a film still needs some strength to profit from these. Don 2 didn’t become a huge grosser just because of the holidays.
If one looks at Salman’s initials though, holiday or not, Dabanng, Ready, BG, now Dabanng 2, all fall within a certain range, adjusted for inflation. Ready was a bit lower but the other three certainly weren’t. Dabanng 2 is really just keeping pace with the first Dabanng and BG unless it does something surprising over the weekend. But ETT was an outlier. Wasn’t just the holiday deal. It was well in excess of any other holiday opener, with or without Salman. So here the Yashraj banner, the Katrina addition, and a subject that seemed more serious than the usual Salman stuff, were probably hugely important in getting a lot more of the non-Salman base involved.
Satyam, GF, ls, Di and others would like to have your take on this ???
TOI : Creative people should not just entertain but build values, says Aamir Khan
Times take :
Entertainment a value in itself He has long shown a penchant for
taking up activist cudgels, but the label ‘superstar with a conscience’ has become especially cemented to Aamir Khan since he chose to make his TV debut with Satyamev Jayate. He has now said that every creative person must not just entertain, but also build values and the social fabric. While that might be Aamir’s brand – and there’s nothing wrong with it –such branding cannot be prescribed for every creative person. And the underlying disdain of “just” entertainment needs to be contested.
Movies are magic. They can hold a mirror to reality or conjure the most improbable of dreams, regardless of whether they build the social fabric. They can help us connect with each other or make us plunge into the depths of isolation. The year Khan made his blockbuster debut with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Mira Nair made her directorial splash with Salaam Bombay. To assign greater value to the latter just because it offered an explicit social judgment would be to misread the relationship between art and society. The Aamir film, including songs like ‘Papa kehte hain’, captured the spirit of the times and delivered great pleasure to great numbers. Not one or the other but both films reflected “responsible” creativity.
Today, growing multiplexes and ticket sales mean that India has even more room for both niche projects and mainstream masala, the boundaries between which are blurring. With many experts seeing the sun setting on Hollywood’s golden age and rising on Bollywood’s, with the definition of quality cinema continuing to expand, a monochrome future is simply out of the question. Meanwhile, it’s a moot point how “social values” are built up in blockbuster projects with which Aamir is associated – like Talaash, the latest film to join the Rs 100 crore club, or the upcoming Dhoom 3.
Another counter View :
Educate, don’t just entertain Anil Thakkar
When movie stars speak of social or political concerns, the knee-jerk reaction seems to be to dismiss them out of hand – as if being actors somehow robs their opinions of legitimacy.
“You are entertainers,” they are told, “Stick to doing what you know.” But Aamir Khan is someone who has bucked that trend time and again – from involving himself with Medha Patkar and Anna Hazare’s causes to his TV show Satyamev Jayate to making movies like Taare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots that incorporated learnings about specific social issues. So it comes as no surprise that he thinks creative people should bring grace to society and build values in people. After all, he has put his money where his mouth is – and done it successfully.
And he makes a strong point. Those who think that the media children consume today has no impact on their development are either deluding themselves or simply not paying attention to socio-cultural trends around them. Particularly in India, movies pervade every aspect of our society; they both reflect and shape broad cultural trends. While a specific violent movie, for instance, might not be the trigger that causes someone to commit an act of violence in real life, the general trend of violent movies certainly helps desensitise people to the idea of violence and creates an environment where that violence is thinkable. This is something even Hollywood has finally admitted, with various actors speaking up in the aftermath of the horrific Sandy Hook school shooting to say that Hollywood cannot shirk its social responsibility.
Given this, doesn’t it behoove our actors and filmmakers to take at least a little care? No one is asking them to turn into documentarians or social activists – but Aamir Khan has shown that it is perfectly possible to make movies that both contain positive social messages and do well at the box office. If you can both entertain and educate, why settle for just entertaining?
Thanx Ann –enjoyed reading your dab2 review
Cheers 2 Belgian beer 🙂
Agree with most of what uve said
Expected v little so enjoyed it & didn’t get bored
A pertinent point uve made though–
“For reasons I cannot fathom, Salman is going through an extraordinarily God-endorsed phase; an extremely mediocre actor managing to economically out-gross all current stars put together..truly, his stars are burning bright..and he manages to infuse life into this movie with his mannerisms”
That’s where I differ
It’s good that u acknowledge that “for reasons I cannot fathom..”
Even I can’t –but then let’s not belittle or deny that x-factor
Part of which is ‘stardom’ or ‘clicking wit the audience’
Unlike other things like honing the script, choosing right projects, working on ones acting –this is something that u eithe have (@ a point in career) or u don’t
This x-factor Needs to be respected
Now this was posted v briefly by ‘anya’ & surprisingly deleted v soon followed by Reposting by ‘satyam’
I wasn’t following this properly –just had a quick look but found this a bit interesting —lol
Was just a quick glance so maybe wrong–but maybe was deleted by Satyam since he wished to post it himself
Or someone is in control of both usernames Satyam and anya 🙂
Coming back to the piece itself–AGREE with b Rangan here predominantly
However on blogosphere, this point of films like talaash can’t be held comparable to other films of friendlier version is over represented
The same point if drilled in too many times starts looking irritating
Ok, people HAVE accepted it (@ least most sane ones have)
But every time, box office of other films or even talaash gets discussed –the way this is dished out speaks of a somewhat deeper ‘insecurity’
It’s as if the need for clarification is being felt more than the queries for clarification
To add–
There’s NOTHING wrong in having a box office criterion either
There are loads of subjective indicators
A)What’s ‘different’ /’edgy’/’path breaking ‘ for some maybe ‘pretentious’ intellectual masturbation for others ( arguably the ‘others’ maybe much more in number in this scenario)
B) what’s mindless entertainment for some, maybe the only way some folks see ‘entertainment’ as
C) While one can keep arguing till the cows come home, there’s no unanimity on subjective indicators
Then one looks at OBJECTIVE MEASURABLE indicators
Fr critical appeal–one looks at imdb ratings
Awards (one may not believe in them)
‘Respectable’ awards like national, oscars
Fr films like talaash, one can assess them from these tools as well
(I liked talaash and loved aamir there)–but I’m not into this default ‘protectionism’ either
Fr commercial–one HAS to look at box office and there’s no running away from it , sorry!
Dissing of box office achievers (& over achievers!) is no way to be ‘intelligent’ –it’s NOT that easy to create a universal hit –let’s not be mistaken
So context is important and skewing either ways needs to be viewed with circumspection imo
^this posting by ‘anya’, then deletion and then immediate reposting by ‘Satyam’ was picked up by chance by me!
Till either of them clarify, Satyam stands ‘exposed’ in front of us
🙂
Wow what Sherlock Holmes job I’ve done hahaha
C’mon Satyam —we didn’t expect this from u !! 🙂
Suspected your involvement/complicity in some previous such episodes –but your silence is raising even more questions now
Wow–sequel to Talaash
And I feel like the ‘hero’ aamir unravelling this ‘mystery’
And Satyam is Kareena here lol
But seriously —the blog demands answers –Satyam 😉
Sorry, haven’t been in the loop bit checked some news today and came across this medical student episode–horrible disgusting
Plus there are news reports of kids 3-5-7 year olds!
I mean there’s a limit!!!
What’s goin on?
Sanjana posted a link that I read this from and that took me to this other link on the same site–thanx sanju
Exerpt —
Long back, before the so-called modern age set in and left us all helpless in wonder of its advances, many communities believed in a myth. That of the Vagina Dentata. The legend was spoken of with an uncanny fear, and helped in keeping sex with unknown women – and, the problem of rape – at bay. The folk tale of the vagina dentata says that the vagina contains teeth. And hence, unsolicited or forced intercourse with a woman can leave a man with an injured organ – or without it.
Folk tales and myths might not exactly have made much difference to the modern man. With science and increased knowledge of the woman body, the myth of the vagina dentata has been laid to rest long back. But maybe, given the times and horrid situations that we are the denizens of, that is the only solution for womenfolk today. Not the vagina dentata, but an alternative closer to the myth, maybe.
In the wake of the recent diabolical crime that left the citizens of the country agape with horr
Related Stories
Can cinema curb rape in society?
How cinema glorifies a woman’s agony
or – the Delhi gang rape incident – many ‘solutions’ have been put forward by people across the entire social spectrum. While some have demanded capital punishment for the ones accused, others have put their fingers on life imprisonment, and yet others have zeroed in on chemical castration. Opinions are many, varied, and will perhaps never be unanimous. There will be differences, and there will be debates. What really needs to be answered is whether or not we, as women, will be able to live a life which is an iota more safe and peaceful than the ones we have been leading thus far. For while Delhi boils with pent-up anger, the rest of the country is loyally pouring in reports of gang rapes from their bowels. And gradually, people are getting close to the miserable, hopeless realization that perhaps a real ‘solution’ is far from being transformed into reality.
However, while the people in the higher echelons of power discuss and find out how to dole out ‘justice’ to the 23-year old medical student whose life was turned upside down because of no fault of her own, here’s another ‘solution’. This too, is a highly debatable one, and will perhaps dry up as a dream that has been left to die. Nevertheless, here it is.
Sonnet Ehlers, a South African doctor, had invented an anti-rape female condom – RapeX, later renamed ‘Rpe-aXe’, a few years back. Ehlers’ prototype draws its basic design from the myth of the vagina dentata; i.e., the latex sheath, which can be worn inside a woman’s vagina, is endowed with inward-facing barbs – teeth, in common language. Ehlers, while interacting with a rape victim, came across her motivation to create the Rape-aXe. The victim had said, “If only I had teeth down there,” thereby referring to the folklore of the vagina dentata. If a man were to force himself upon a woman who’s wearing the condom, the barbs within the sheath would close in upon the man’s organ – even after it is withdrawn – causing excruciating pain to the perpetrator and providing the victim with adequate time to escape.
I think in these sort of situations–these sort of measures won’t be out of place
Btw those actually living in India–is the ground reality actually this bad or are these isolated reports…
Just open TOI online any day. This a daily occurence and it is increasing spreading like plague all over India.
If I may say so, this is indulged in mostly by undereducated, underemployed and lower strata more than the upper strata. They must have witnessed how women are treated by their fathers, relatives etc. And politicians feed these ggondas for their own benefit and this encourages them. The police is hopeless.
There have been reports of MPs and other powerful, wealthy men raping women in the past- this is not limited to the lower class, it’s just that upper-class rapists have the means to hush up their crimes. When even the police force does not view rape as a crime, but instead blames the victim, you know that this is social and cultural problem and not one that is limited to just a small section of the population-
MInisters, MPs, Politicians rape but they dont brutalise. And mosyt of these ministers, mps, politicians are also from that strata. I dont want to name those parties, but everyone knows them.
Sanjana– the BIGGER problem is that those guys were so CONFIDENT they will get away in that medical student case.
I mean– even damaging intestines ? It needs an animal mentality to behave like this .
The ‘tolerance’ and the confidence they can escape is more shocking
There’s a view that Bombay is safer than Delhi/north –is it true?
Also I personally have an impression that these ills are lesser in South India like Kerala and madras –maybe it’s education or just bad trends maybe ?
Tamilnadu, andhra, Karnataka have some of the worst criminals and these crimes dont get reported in the mainstream media that much. It is a fallacy that south is safe.
In related news, the President has granted clemency to several criminals who’ve been convicted of crimes including murdering children and raping and killing little girls-
Just read an international blog post where a stupid Indian had apparently posted something –it’s too disgusting to be linked here
But his view was indian ‘morals’ are different
Young girls who go out late night, to ‘pubs’ and are out with ‘boyfriends’ etc are putting themselves at risk since they are ‘asking for it’ –now this view is trot objectionable I think
Don’t think it will be a problem in Indian major cities though, I think!
Seems a smaller town mentality
LOL! A smaller town mentality? In this article that I linked to above, the police force of New Delhi talk about how most rape is consensual because women who drink/ have boyfriends/ have divorced mothers ‘ask for it’:
Ami, I came across a sick comment on twitter (regarding the rape incident) while I was checking Kalki koechlin’s tweets (not puting up the link for certain ‘obvious’ reasons). Btw Kashyap is himself is being blamed for being a misogynist by many on twitter-
“there r many women in usa who get addicted to gangbang after being raped by blks.they enjoy it immensely.its a fact”
Just added all the deleted comments in one as you suggested.. though even this requires some effort if it’s many pages your idea is certainly a fair one.
Typo –this view is very objectionable and a patriarchal set up
Apparently there’s also a view to ban mobile phones to girls
Since they can use it to ‘acquire boyfriends’ and ‘network’ and set up dates etc
Hahahaha what bull !!
Ami
Yes, it’s worse for sure, but raping in itself is an absolutely awful and sickening crime, and it’s not restricted to the lower class alone…
AA
Shockingly even her intestines have been damaged
Think that girls life is in danger
I feel there’s no point in just protesting but gals in India should take action/steps—
Although they are ‘gross’ but options are
Gadgets like rapeX (details above)–’vaginal teeth’
Arming girls for self protection
Training in martial arts etc
Stricter laws
AA
Sanjana–my experience is v v limited
But I do feel that south in general is much safer and the men there are overall more docile and law abiding than north India.
Plus I think education is more prevalent
Also south has much less of this patriarchal society stuff
Infact in some places like Kerala I’ve heard it’s a matriarchal society
Saurabh
One of the reasons of rape in India is that society in general does not support a healthy interaction between boys and girls. Especially in small town if a boy talks to a girls, the family members among others start thinking that there is something ‘going on’ between the two. By the time these boys come to college etc they start visualizing a girl only as a sex object.
And this idea for blaming women for the rape is not only sick but as Ami pointed out, tells abt a deeper societal mindset. And as a male, I feel really sad that male onlookers hardly ever come forward to help a girl in such instances (is there some problem with our upbringing). Why are men turning into sissies
And I am completely in favour of capital punishment for such people. In fact Barkha Dutt had once organized a debate in my school on the topic of rape and i had said that rapists should be lynched. Though i am not comfortable for castration. I somehow find it too sick
AA
Skewed sex ratio
Sometimes one goes on a train/metro/bus in the west and note the skewed sex ratio
Obviously there are MUCH More girls than guys in general I think.
One sometimes feels uncomfortable with unwanted female attention haha though its good mostly
In India–due to other nefarious ‘activities’ like female infanticide, the sex ratio is extremely lopsided
This contributes to the other obvious issues, I think
Sanjana
Drinking adds to the problem.
It helps to have a good family financially stable and with good values will minimise these crimes. Unfortunately the poor and disadvantaged sections dont have good backup in terms of quality of life and they have to fend for themselves after dropping out of school. They fall into bad company most of the time and they just dont care when they are committing a crime like rape.
These gangrapes are especially horrible. Just like lions approaching the prey killing and feasting. In animals’ case, it is their hunger. But when humans turn into animals, the society also has to answer a lot of questions. The rich poor gap is increasing and the poor are becoming aggressive when opportunities arise. The upper classes have more outlets and even when they indulge, there are powerful lawyers to defend them. Rapes are a socio economic problem.
Punishment should be severe like hanging as a deterrent. This alone wont solve the problem because a rapist or murderer wont think twice before committing a crime.
No one is safe.
And why south is relatively safe as AA said? this is because of educational opportunities opened to the disadvantaged sections through reservations and in south parents are very much particular that their children must get good education and reasonable employment. In north also reservations are there, but the culture is different as the parents are not that much into giving their kids good education.
In north India, the Khaps are being supported even by political parties. And Bihar and UP has such pathetic underclass with no support system.
West Bengal and Orissa also have lesser rapes and this maybe because they worship womenfolk as durga. And Gujarat and Mumbai have also the benefit of development embracing all sections though unequally.
Ami
“One of the reasons of rape in India is that society in general does not support a healthy interaction between boys and girls. Especially in small town if a boy talks to a girls, the family members among others start thinking that there is something ‘going on’ between the two. By the time these boys come to college etc they start visualizing a girl only as a sex object.”
Excellent points Saurabh- I am at a loss to understand why some people think that isolating the sexes is some form of ‘superior Indian culture’!
Sanjana
Boys have usually mothers, sisters, cousins and hordes of relatives to interact with. Nowadays, there are very few exclusive girls only schools or colleges. Once you enter professional colleges, there ends all exclusivity. In these days of FB, boys and girls have lots of opportunities to mingle. the problem starts when boys want sex from girls and girls refuse. Or boys want love and girls may not be ready. Sometimes interaction leads to more problems than solving them. Girls being chased, stalked etc. Girls must become strong and face these situations with tact and courage. Interaction is the only way to make girls face future problems like this.
AA
“In these days of FB, boys and girls have lots of opportunities to mingle. the problem starts when boys want sex from girls and girls refuse. Or boys want love and girls may not be ready. Sometimes interaction leads to more problems than solving them”
sanju–that’s an ace ‘deep’ comment….
TonyMontana
It’sthe helpless feeling that has stuck and what’s worse is you know not much can be done in a city where the law-enforcement officers themselves treat a rape victim as something to be objectified.
This poor girl’s intestines were ruptured and displaced after her ovaries were pulled out.. FCUK.. I mean, how can such a thing happen in a civilized society. Dec 21 did indeed witness the end of world, especially on this side of the planet. A country of hypocrites, a city of animals..
left two long comments on this elsewhere, one today in fact:
[The horrifying Delhi rape incident reminds me of a remarkable section from Bolano’s 2666 (the Part about the Crimes) which is set in a fictitious city modeled on Ciudad Juarez, surely one of the most terrifying places on the planet, and one not too far from the US (Southern) border. There have been a couple of films on the subject as well but essentially the kind of event that took place in Delhi happened dozens of times here in the 90s and beyond.. the most gruesome rapes and sexual abuses followed by the most gruesome deaths. The bodies were often recovered but the mystery was never quite solved. Bolano’s book relies on a very important journalistic account of these events to create a terrifying fiction.
It is also a stark reminder of how globalization has gone hand-in-hand with a surge in violence against women. Of all kinds. This is also the ultimate theme of Stieg Larson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy (the original titles are a lot more harsh — ‘the Men who hate women’ and so on..). The reasons are sociological, political, economic.. complex and complicated one way or the other but at any rate the forces that unleash ‘global capital’ also seem to engage these rather atavistic impulses.
Delhi unfortunately has been a city which at least for the last decade or two has had an atrocious history on this score. from the rape of a Swiss diplomat to a man disposing of his girlfriend in a tandoor to now this sort of event which is alas quite routine. The powerful are often implicated. There is this heady and toxic mix in Delhi. And not surprisingly this is a city which compared to Bombay is far more regressive on issues of gender. This as a socio-cultural mix. The average woman is far more likely to get pinched far more times in a Delhi bus than in Bombay. These are never insignificant things.
At least one important index of a culture is the extent to which women are treated well or otherwise. Not that India is a shining example in any sense on this score but some occurrences (again not at all uncommon) particularly curdle the soul. We saw for instance that girl on KBC not too long ago who was ‘defaced’ in the most barbaric way for refusing the advances of some boys.
We keep congratulating ourselves that we are making enormous progress because we somehow have more multiplexes than ever before! Or we tend to locate the worst kind of violence in the hinterlands of the country. Two sides of the same coin essentially. The liberated, upscale urban environment juxtaposed with regressive, elemental rural (or small-town) brutality. But this is too comforting a picture. Too easy an equation.
It is all happening in the nation’s political heart..
It should shame all of us that these events do nothing more than feed media sensationalism and fake TV debates and the like and in the bargain we are nothing more than consumers of this horror. we express our outrage and we move along.. everything remains the same..
I might be forgetting something in between but Damini was probably the last high profile Hindi film that attempted an examination of some of these questions.. ]
[As new details keep emerging of the Delhi rape, this time from the victim herself, the reality turns out to be even more horrifying than one initially thought. This is such a barbaric case that it would be hard to devise suitable punishment for the perpetrators. Something one of the doctors said was nonetheless illuminating in a somewhat unfortunate way. He was praising the strength of the victim and so forth. At one point he mentioned how the girl’s reproductive organs were miraculously safe and that she could lead a “normal life”. This seems somewhat perverse to say given what she’s gone through and furthermore given that her intestines have been removed (she cannot eat or drink normally unless she gets a transplant). We of course all hope that she can be physically as normal as possible and gets the transplant. But the doctor’s remark is a bit of a ‘slip’ which is that we do not consider a woman’s life fully normal if she cannot reproduce. And so even in such horrifying circumstances the argument for normality revolved entirely around the reproductive organs being safe.
As I said the other day unfortunately these events are all too common in the subcontinent. It happens pretty much every day. This episode was particularly brutal but there are many others. A few days later there was that W Bengal episode where the girl was gang-raped and then set fire to when she tried to escape (she is in critical care currently). Just yesterday there was a case in Pakistan in Punjab where a landowner refused to pay his laborer after promising he would earlier. When the laborer insisted he got very annoyed and had the latter’s 13 year old daughter as well as his four nieces (aged between 13 and 18) abducted. All four were then brutally gang-raped. Again I’ve heard of many such stories from that side of the border.
Rape is an epidemic in the subcontinent. And this without a state of war being in place (the normal excuse for such horrors). It takes place for all sorts of reasons but it happens daily. And not just rape but gang-rape. I don’t know how we can as a society keep congratulating ourselves when this reality confronts us every single day. This isn’t about the normal ravages of ‘crime’ and so forth. This is about the systematic brutalization of women in very many different ways (with or without rape) and for reasons often sanctioned by society (honor rapes, dowry burnings etc). The law is often complicit or often helpless to deal with the scale of the problem. It’s appalling.
In Talaash recently there’s a poignant line about how ‘a girl disappears and no one cares’. Actually far worse happens and no one cares. I am of course gratified by the number of protesters who’ve taken to the streets in so many places following the Delhi incident but so much more is needed at a structural level. Once again democracy isn’t simply about the vote but the guarantee of basic security for everyone. Society sometimes has to be protected from itself!
And so when I often don’t like joining in with the celebratory narrative of ‘Shining India’ or whatever it’s for this kind of reason. I am not an absolutist. Nor am I foolishly naive. Every society, every nation has its share of ills. But it seems to me that a minimal bar has to be met before one starts engaging in pride about one’s country. And this sort of routine horror perpetrated systematically on one gender (not to mention issues of caste and so forth) cannot simply be ignored as ‘one side of the story’. Such atrocities sanctioned by segments of society and often beyond the reach of the law for a variety of reasons cannot simply be balanced out by economic accomplishment or whatever in other areas of life. This would be a depressingly vulgar calculus. ]
“Every society, every nation has its share of ills. But it seems to me that a minimal bar has to be met before one starts engaging in pride about one’s country.”
Well said.
The first day territorial comparison between Shahrukh Khan’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Salman Khan’s Dabangg 2.
A few important points
Dabangg 2 was a solo release, while Jab Tak Hai Jaan released with another big film Son Of Sardar
JTHJ released on a holiday (Diwali), while Dabangg opened on a working day (Friday).
Dabangg 2 had a wider release, 30 – 35% more screens compared to Jab Tak Hai Jaan.
More shows for Dabangg 2 at multiplexes, as it was a much shorter film 2.10 hours (D2) – 3 hours (JTHJ)
Territory Dabangg 2 Jab Tak Hai Jaan
Mumbai 7.48 crore 5.58 crore
Delhi/UP 4.10 crore 3.27 crore
East Punjab 1.62 crore 0.82 crore
Rajasthan 1.26 crore 0.55 crore
Nizam 1.23 crore 0.80 crore
Central Province 1.12 crore 0.65 crore
Central India 0.90 crore 0.32 crore
Mysore 1.14 crore 1.25 crore
West Bengal 0.98 crore 1.15 crore
Bihar 0.45 crore 0.12 crore
Others 0.70 crore 0.72 crore
Total 20.98 crore 15.23 crore
Dabangg 2 dropped on Saturday as it collected in the 16 crore nett range as per early estimates. The single screen drop was expected as collections were extremely strong on day one but surprisingly multiplexes failed to show growth on Saturday. Some multiplexes showed similar business to Friday while some very down slightly but very few were up.
The two day business of the film is around 35 crore nett which is huge as it is has done it without holidays but the next few days will tell that the drop that come on Friday was due to excessive screenings and cold weather or therew as more to it. The North was hit again in the evening by cold weather on Saturday.
Young multiplex viewers are getting lathi-charged in NCR, who has got time to watch an item song in Dabanng2.
Bwood also does not realize how it miscalculates its entertainment offerings, how it feeds into socio-economic factors and corrupts minds. The people at the bottom-rung of society, denied any access through realistic social security for upliftment, resort to banal animal instincts. Its a vicious cycle, fed almost entirely by a massively institutionalized corrupt state and society. Dabanng2 is the last thing on the minds of people glued to their TV sets.
It’s probably going to wrap up the week end at over 55cr which is very good considering the fact that it has yet to enjoy the benefits of the holidays periods. Tuesday is going to be big. And then it has at least 2 open weeks with the festive periods around.
Don’t want to compare with Talaash because they are completely different deals but those who want to use Talaash as a comparison to bash Dabang 2 tradewise are facing a losing battle here. Because Dabang 2 will most probably easily cross Talaash’s liftetime total within a week’s run.
I am a bigger fan of Aamir than of Salman but I do think that Salman is the current No. 1. The major stars of this year have been happy with their films scrapping through the 100cr barrier but with Salman, the benchmark is much higher. If Dabang 2 grosses 150-170 cr (and that’s 150% of what the other major stars usually achieve), it will still be considered as a major disappointment. That’s the testimony of Salman’s current stardom.
Mansoor Khan is a Bollywood urban legend, for being the director who made four popular films and gave it up to open a homestay in Coonoor. In this rare interview, Khan talks about his cinema, reveals that Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was supposed to be his first movie, that they shot an alternative, happy ending for Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and that cousin Aamir Khan still hasn’t gotten over the fact that he cast Shah Rukh Khan in Josh. Excerpts:
What made you swap films for making cheese?
I was never ambitious about films. Though I did study engineering and computer science, I knew that a non-urban life would make me happy. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was the only film I wanted to make. I wanted it to be my first film.
Then how did Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT) become your first film?
I started writing Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar much before QSQT. I was like the character Sanjay Lal (played by Aamir). I was irresponsible and needed to learn about responsibility and the importance of valuing others. I wanted to make a small-scale film about this boy and his world but I wasn’t able to write it well. I stopped midway. By this time, my father (filmmaker Nasir Hussain) wanted to launch Aamir and he came up with the story of QSQT. I ended up directing it.
How did films happen?
I had zero interest in films. I would watch my father’s films only to criticise them. My father was a sport about it and would only want to know ki mazaa aaya ki nahin. I went for engineering but didn’t complete it. I’ve actually never completed anything in my life. Films happened in the process of running away from engineering.
I was always into gadgets and introduced video edit on a Sony recorder. I had great plans of doing alternative programming for Doordarshan, and even asked them if I could video-edit their ghazal programme so that it could be presented in a better way. I used to play the piano and drums and liked to visualise the music. That was one of the reasons I got into filmmaking. I realised that if I wanted the songs to look good, I’d probably need to make a film. In a way, I took up making films in order to redeem myself. I made a pilot film called Umberto and Amole Gupte (Stanley Ka Dabba director and Taare Zameen Par writer) acted in it. I wanted to see whether I could tell a story. My dad saw the film and asked me to direct QSQT.
Most of your films have daddy issues right from QSQT’s Papa kehte hain to Jo Jeeta… and then, of course, Akele Hum Akele Tum.
You got me there. I didn’t realise that before. Perhaps because emotionally, I find the father-son theme strong. But I can’t take the credit for Papa kehte hain. I only suggested to Majrooh (Sultanpuri) saab that the song is about a boy who is graduating and who doesn’t know what to do with his life. But since he’s a romantic, he feels his destiny is love. Majrooh saab came up with the line. I found the word “Papa” very tacky and wanted it changed. My dad told me it’s a very good line and convinced me to keep it.
You gave in to your dad for the song but you had to fight your way for the tragic ending in QSQT.
Though my father wrote the basic story, he gave me the freedom to tweak it. The first 11 scenes, till the titles roll, were exactly what he wrote. Then I took over. I took his landscape of star-crossed lovers but added the nuances in Raj and Rashmi’s characters.
In my mind, they were always meant to die but my dad didn’t like sad movies. He was known for his happy films. He felt the audience couldn’t handle sadness. He had made Baharon Ke Sapne, which was based on a story he had written in college. It was a serious film and it didn’t work. He had to re-shoot a happy ending for the film after two days. I never agreed with this decision. I’ve always believed that the fate of a film is one thing, while its integrity is another thing.
My father insisted on a happy ending for QSQT. We did try to have a scene where Goga Kapoor gets shot by the sharpshooter who was hired to kill Aamir, and then Aamir piles on the shooter and kills him. But when we were shooting the sequence, someone or the other would laugh on the sets because it looked so fake. This just made my resolve stronger.
Youngsters felt the lovers should die but the elders hated it. Since the film was about young people, my father decided to go with their verdict.
In contrast, how did the happy ending for Akele Hum Akele Tum come about?
I agree that I compromised (on that). By the time we made the film, Aamir and I had different points of view. I should have been firm. Those characters were never meant to be happy together, they could only be happy apart. I guess I lacked conviction. Even while casting, I felt Aamir looked too young to play a dad to a six-year-old. I wanted Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit. There were date issues with Madhuri and my next choice was Manisha Koirala. Somehow, I couldn’t see Manisha with Anil, so I went ahead with Aamir.
The casting of Josh was like a film itself, wasn’t it? All three Khans—Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh — were attached with the project at one time.
Yeah, I wanted SRK as Max and Aamir for Rahul’s role. I had narrated the story to Aamir. Without my telling him what role I wanted him to play, he started wearing bandanas and wristbands. He thought he was playing Max. I went to SRK, who said no because he was sure that Aamir would be playing Max. Everyone wanted to play Max. Even Kajol, who I wanted for Shirley’s role, got up after the narration and said, “I want to play Max”. But I felt SRK would be the best Max. When I told Aamir this, he said, “If that’s the case, I’m not in the film.” Then I went to Salman who had date issues. Then my producer Ratan Jain took charge and said he’d speak to SRK. That was it. He agreed, even to play a brother to Aishwarya Rai.
So after four films, what made you chuck it all and go to Coonoor?
It was just a “now or never” feeling. I moved to Mandwa first on my own and managed to convince my wife Tina to move with our two kids to somewhere more peaceful. I had always liked Coonoor. We moved here and Tina got interested in cheese-making and that’s how our farmstay, Acres Wild, happened. I consider myself lucky to have married the right woman and together we created our own world. I was never crazy about films, the way Aamir and Imran (Khan) are, so I could do it.
But was it easy to give up something you were successful at?
I’ve always been wary of success. It’s like a drug. Actors chase it even when they are ageing, and directors chase it even when they lose touch with the audience.
Don’t you miss the camera?
No. I get nightmares of shooting — that the sun is going down and I’m not able to shoot my portion for the day.
What is your connect with films these days? Do you watch films?
My connect is through Aamir, Kiran (Rao) and Imran. Aamir called me to fill in as creative producer for Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na. I had a purely supportive role for the film; Aamir wanted me to make sure that Abbas (Tyrewala) shoots the film the way it was written. I only watch films that Aamir or Imran force me to.
Since you’ve been associated with all three of them—what is your take on Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh?
Of the three, Aamir has probably redefined himself the most, Salman is the luckiest of them all, while I think Shah Rukh needs to definitely redefine himself. Don’t get me wrong. I love SRK’s charisma and his screen presence but I feel his choice of scripts has let him down. I don’t know how his mind works — is he living up to his fans’ expectations, has his stardom become so huge that it affects his script choices? I think SRK is aiming for bigness, but I wish he would explore himself more.
Is there a cinema fight with Aamir that is yet to be resolved?
We totally don’t agree on the ending of Akele Hum… Aamir didn’t even like Jo Jeeta… He still feels he should have done Josh and I still feel that Shah Rukh was a better Max.
Name five films on your ‘eternal like’ list.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saaransh, Teesri Manzil, Breaking Away (people think I copied JJWS from it but I actually saw it after I wrote it) and Dil Chahta Hai.
Name some contemporary directors whose work you’ve liked.
Vishal Bhardwaj is quite good. I loved Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Sahib Biwi aur Gangster. Rajkumar Hirani is someone I’d like to connect with. 3 Idiots was quite a film — slightly OTT, yet it holds.
So you’ll never ever make another film again?
I won’t say never but I’m not trying to. I follow my heart and not filmmaking. I was always passing through films. I’m busy with my farm. We sell about eight kilos of cheese every day. I bake bread and Tina makes cheese. I give lectures at IIM-Bangalore and then there’s a book I am writing on oil, energy and economics.
What would you want your cinema legacy to be?
I’m not a very technical filmmaker. I have a poor sense of visual craft. It was never about the slick lensing and always about the sensibility and nuances in relationships
“f the three, Aamir has probably redefined himself the most, Salman is the luckiest of them all, while I think Shah Rukh needs to definitely redefine himself. Don’t get me wrong. I love SRK’s charisma and his screen presence but I feel his choice of scripts has let him down. I don’t know how his mind works — is he living up to his fans’ expectations, has his stardom become so huge that it affects his script choices? I think SRK is aiming for bigness, but I wish he would explore himself more.”
this man really speaks his heart and doesn’t play with words.
He almost sounds like a sanyasi or on an vanaprasthashram trip. Thank god Aamir and Imran have not followed him. to Coonoor.
Among his few films only QSQT stood out for introducing newcomers with a bang and qaulitywise JJHS was quite remarkable. the other two were too wishywashy.
I feel Kiran Rao and Mansoor can make some good offbeat movies if the latter wants to comeback.
“Yeah, I wanted SRK as Max and Aamir for Rahul’s role. I had narrated the story to Aamir. Without my telling him what role I wanted him to play, he started wearing bandanas and wristbands. He thought he was playing Max.”
Tony meant to respond to this earlier. I saw Iruvar on a friend’s lappy, it was a torrent version.
And I have never been able to see Miss Sunshine. Loved Wreck It Ralph- one of my films this yr- took me back to those days of arcade video games. And it has a rich colour palette- this reminded me of Wachowski’s Speed Racer.
They have been giving raw numbers for so many years but they never calculated NETT ; but since fans look for NETT they have resorted to giving NETT figures from producers.
It looks bad on them when both have data and they should come up with estimates themselve instead of taking someone’s number.
Salman Khan’s Eid 2013 release may be a remake of Chiranjeevi-starrer Stalin
Salman Khan is all set to announce his big film for Eid 2013. Early reports coming in suggest that Bollywood’s reigning superstar has once again chosen to remake a Telugu blockbuster.
He has reportedly bought the rights of the 2006 superhit, Stalin, and will be reprising the central role essayed by superstar Chiranjeevi in the film. Sources say this is the same project that made news recently, with reports that Salman will play a character named Radhe- his name in the 2003 hit Tere Naam- in the film.
Dabangg 2 has shown little growth on Sunday in Collections Nationwide. The Occupancy of Evening shows was dropping all over the country, especially in the North due to the Cold Weather.
The Sunday Collections are coming around 18-19 crore as per the early estimates, based on the collections from morning-afternoon shows. This figure may vary depening on evening shows.
The Weekend Collections for Dabangg 2 is around 58-60 crore. This is a figure which was the minimum expected by Dabangg 2 and the film has done this much only.
We hope that there are high collections on Tuesday as its a National Holiday, and the total of Dabangg 2 comes out Huge.
The Weekend Distributor share for Dabangg 2 will be around 35 crore which is fantastic. It is Higher than Khiladi 786′s lifetime Distributor share.
1st Saturday: After the euphoria and excitement on Day 1, Saturday morning shows opened slow and remained steady throughout the day. Hardly any growth at multiplexes, while single screens dropped by around 20% from Friday. The India vs England T20 cricket match too resulted in lower occupancy for evening/night shows. All India Collections – Rs 19 crore nett.
1st Sunday: As per early estimates, Sunday is likely to be around 25-26 crore net. Decent growth in business, although the trade expected bigger numbers from a film released on a huge numbers of screens. Salman Khan’s last release, Ek Tha Tiger collected Rs 23 crore on it’s 1st Sunday (released on Wednesday).
Dabangg2 First Weekend Collections: 65-66 crore nett (approx)
Will the film remain steady on Monday (first weekday) or crash? The Christmas holiday on 25th will benefit the film, but the keenly-awaited India vs Pakistan T20 cricket match is also scheduled to take place on the same day. What sort of impact will that have on the film?
For all the Dabangg 2 box office collections, analysis, comparisons and more.. stay tuned to Indicine. You can also follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
Dabangg 2 had a strong Sunday collecting around 22.50 crore nett. The weekend breakdown is 19.25 crore nett on Friday, 16.75 crore nett on Saturday and 22.50 crore nett on Sunday.
The weekend total has come to 58.50 crore nett approx which is a record three day collection beating the 56 crore nett of Ek Tha Tiger. The cold wave has affected it in the North as collections have remained lower than Ek Tha Tiger in Delhi/UP and East Punjab while other circuits have recorded higher or similar figures.
The film still potentially two more big days in Monday in Tuesday as Tuesday in Christmas holiday and Monday evenings will get benefit of next day being a holiday. The film should cross the 100 crore mark in the first week.
I am very much out of Box office stuffs of late but whatever I have been reading or hearing, it seems big opening and then fading away from Monday onwards has become a trend now for most of the big grossers barring a very few. 100cr is not a big deal anymore. This particular trend might be beneficial for the industry from the economics point of view, of course there will still be few people losing in the chain when a movie doesn’t run for a minimum weeks at the theater but this whole thing from a broader perspective throws questions like Is it really the way to go forward?! How long can the audience being fed with absolute juvenile stuffs in the name of entertainment? Saying moviegoers are being ‘cheated’ or ‘deceived’ these days won’t be wrong. But again it’s always a demand and supply thing at play.
AAn outstanding piece by Shuddhabrata Sengupta on the rape incidence
To the Young Women and Men of Delhi: Thinking about Rape from India Gate
“Dear young women and men of Delhi,
Thank you for the courage and the honour you have brought to Rajpath, the most dishonorable street in our city. You changed Delhi yesterday, and you are changing it today. Your presence, of all twelve thousand of you, yesterday, on Rajpath, that street that climbs down from the presidential palace on Raisina Hill to India Gate, getting soiled by the excreta of the tanks and missiles on Republic Day each year, was for me a kind of purificatory ritual. It made a claim to the central vista of ‘Lutyen’s Delhi’ as a space for democratic assertion in contravention of the completely draconian, elitist and undemocratic prohibitory orders that make the heart of this republic, a zone of the death, not the life and sustenance, of democracy.”…..
Every paper worth is running advertisement for D 2 . Dabangg 2 is strong and earning profits. Same sentences and same words. I think Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan panicked after drops on Saturday.
So, it’s anything between 58-60cr for a normal week end. That’s huge. It’s by far the biggest ever non-holiday week-end opening ever.
It will now benefit from Tuesday being a holiday. It’s going to outgross Talaash or JTHJ’s lifetime collections within a week’s run. And then it has 2 open weeks with the festive periods around. Decent trending can take it beyond ETT’s total.
xmas holidays and new year holidays combined with the weekends (2 of them) will see to it. No other film in sight – that too and sallu is riding all the luck of The Father, Son and everyone under the sun at the moment 🙂 that will see 150 cr easily. What a pity that such a crap of a film gets so much – but then people love sallu like they did Big B in his hey days and flocked to see him year after year.
Something innocent, endearing with this latest instalment of Peter Jacksons ambitions
Somewhat humanises & ‘hobbit-ises’ CGI & all the latest technology and dovetails into ones childhood books (this one based on Tolkeins book) and experiences
The fantasy adventure genre is something I wished to revisit
There were some over-eager LOTR fans who demanded their ‘pound of flesh’ after accompanying me to other films
But I didn’t regret
Drawbacks–long (3hours plus), repetitive, suffers from monotony @ places and one does get a feeling that something is being created out of nothing at places
The movie Is bloated and tries too hard
Cast–Ian McKellan as Gandalf was awesome
Freeman fit the part of hobbitt and brings the bumbling confused honesty and sincerely to the part
Andy serkis as golum was good expectedly
Technology–to be checked on 3D
I checked it out on the HFR (48 frames per second) which brings in reality better (though appears ‘hyper reality at places)
One can go for the ‘dbox’ option with motion sensor coding onto the seats
— every swing of the bridge, and jump is felt by a roll or tilt
Positives
The Lavish & epic scale
Passion for the source material evident
Endearing material –return to childhood deal
Luxurious landscapes
Wonderful camerawork
There’s a conflict between déjà-vu and the engrossing quality that pulls one in & also between dramatic/comedic
Finally brings New Zealand into the forefront of mainstream movie making.
Also the elves, orcs, goblins and trolls were good fun 🙂
Well, there have been mixed reactions. Some have torn it apart while some have been more charitable like this piece.
The world is going to look back on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as a game changer in the vein of The Jazz Singer (introduction of sound), The Wizard of Oz (popularization of color), or Avatar (3D).
With a 3D movie you’re looking through a window into reality, but with 48 fps / HFR 3D, Peter Jackson has, as James Cameron has said, removed the glass from that window. Blurry, incoherent action scenes? Gone. Now you can see every sword swing, running goblin, and flickering flame with crystal clarity. Strobing/judder during sweeping camera moves? Not a problem: everything in frame is beautifully rendered during these shots, from the mountains in the background to the characters in front. My eyes were overwhelmed with visual information, but in a good way. I’d often find myself mesmerized by the tiny water droplets of a Rivendell waterfall, or by the tiny threads on a costume. There is unprecedented detail present even during “still” shots: even minuscule camera or background movements shot in 24 fps would result in blur, rendering parts of the scene undecipherable. This has now been solved: the increase in clarity from standard digital or film projection to 48 fps is comparable to the difference between SDTV and HDTV. It’s amazing.
There were perhaps two or three shots in the movie where I could detect flaws in the makeup/costumes more readily than if it had been made at 24 fps. The production values in The Hobbit are simply so high that this is not an issue. And make no mistake: film craftspeople will soon learn the ins and outs of how to make their work look the best when captured at high frame rates. Any small kinks will be ironed out.
High frame rate technology finally allows 3D to come into its own as a format. Camera movements such as pans or tracking shots were always hard on the eyes in 3D, as the judder effect was magnified do to the greater impact of the moving 3D images. The 3D here made me think I was watching real people in real places.
A. Its generally good but expectations were very high because of the first film so there is always that initial reaction that film is not as good as first one which is the norm. But it is good word of mouth and the film should sustain well into week two.
R Romin
Q. Will Dabangg 2 beat Ek Tha Tiger and Three Idiots?
A. Three Idiots looks tough but the Ek Tha Tiger number is a possibility. At the moment it has a 50-50 chance to beat Ek Tha Tiger. Wednesday figures will give a better idea.
L Khan
Q. How many actual hit films have there been this year?.
A. 15 hit films. Agneepath, Kahaani, Housefull 2, Vicky Donor, Ishaqzaade, Rowdy Rathore, Bol Bachchan, Cocktail. Raaz 3, Barfi!, OMG! Oh My God, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Son Of Sardaar and Dabangg 2.
L Shroff
Q. Three Idiots was released on Christmas and and despite cold in North it went on to be biggest grosser so that can’t really be an excuse for Dabangg 2?
A. It can’t be excuse as far as lifetime business is concerned but initially the base is much wider today than 2009 so you are expecting much more people to brave the cold than in 2009. Eventually the lifetime business will not be affected as people will watch it but you can’t get the same daily footfalls in cities affected by cold weather that you would with normal weather.
What a pathetic excuse by BOI to even suggest the weather as a reason for the collections. I watched it on Fri and a 75% occupancy with so many children and elderly folk really enjoying themselves. Script was non existent and makes one wonder what on earth Arbaaz has been doing these past two years.
Salman is charisma personified. The guy rises above everything in the film and believe me there’s noting in the film in terms of story and the climax was a poor effort.
However, loved the bonding of Chulbul and his father. His chemistry with Rajjo was also lovely. I particularly loved two scenes…. 1) Kaise Bani Kaise Bani Pulahri Bina Chutney Kaise Bani. Haha seeing Chulbul dance to that song with Mamta Sharma had everyone LOL in the hall. Can anyone entertain better than Salman. I don’t think so. 2) when Makki begins to work and Chulbul recollects how his equation has changed with his bro and then says ‘maza agaya’.
My biggest complaint was how Prakash Raj was wasted. That confrontation he had with Salman in Wanted or with Ajay in Singham is missing here.
People were LOL in the hall in all the right moments and the ladies behind me seemed to like it esp when Chaubey ji and Tiwary ji were coming out with some crazy one liners. I had a smile thoughout the film and I guess being a big Salman fan definitely helps 😀
Forget 150 this film will do 180 no problem and the irony is many expected more. This is testimony to Salman’s stardom today. So many films this year crawled to 100 and hardly made anything more on top of that. Salman sprints to 100 and leaves the rest for dust.
Film will now benefit hugely due to Xmas holidays and New Year holidays. Overseas it has made 4m and broken records in Pak. I’m guessing UAE will also witness records being broken. So not just India but overseas Chulbul Pandey jalwa is happening. Kamal karte ho.
P. S @ AA – sorry for posting so late but due to the films coming on TV and shopping lol I’ve been rather busy. Instead of snow it’s just raining here 😀
It can’t be excuse as far as lifetime business is concerned but initially the base is much wider today than 2009 so you are expecting much more people to brave the cold than in 2009. Eventually the lifetime business will not be affected as people will watch it but you can’t get the same daily footfalls in cities affected by cold weather that you would with normal weather.
Dabangg 2 held up very strongly on Monday as it collected around 12 crore nett. It is the highest non holiday Monday of all time beating the previous record holder which was the first Dabangg released in 2010. Dabangg had collected 10.75 crore nett on Monday.
The highest Monday till date is Ek Tha Tiger at 19 crore nett but that was on a holiday for Eid. The four day total for Dabangg 2 is over 70 crore nett and a big Tuesday is expected as it is holiday for Christmas. For comparison Ek Tha Tiger was 72 crore nett after four days.
The business from Wednesday onwards and second weekend which will tell where the film is going. Around 150 crore nett looks assured on a worst case scenario and time will tell how much higher it goes.
Dabangg 2 is huge and no one says it is a disappointment per se. Some are finding fault with the way BOI tries to defend this film while it actually pulled down a film like Talaash irrespective of bo. Seems Arbaaz has added his own touches which is making Dabangg 2 even class friendly too. Somewhere Salman said that he will tie the knot after the verdict. Hope he wont.
It’s at least 70cr net after 4 days (it’s the lowest figure being thrown around). Tuesday will probably put it ahead of ETT’s 5 days figures. ETT did not trend great after its first week. I am not expecting Dabangg 2’s trending to be phenomenal either but the couple of weeks of open run will certainly help it. It will probably wrap up around the ETT’s lifetime collections.
Love that he asks these directors if they’ve ever wanted to punch someone on a set. I imagine the answer is probably never more than when they sat down with Masand.
Raja Sen has put Hashmi’s performance in Shanghai as the top one in his list of top 10 male actors this year
“Emraan Hashmi, Shanghai
Gobsmacked. Watching Hashmi in Shanghai is an abrupt revelation, like being slapped in the face only to finally see clearer. His character sounds straightforward, a videographer (with more than a passing interest in porn) who chances on a conspiracy and wants to help out, but Emraan plays him nuanced and authentic and, eventually, tormented. It’s a bravura performance, and here’s what I’d said about it in my review:
He occasionally shoots porn — this is off-camera, we see him ask his subjects to clear up and hear the hurried sounds of straps and zippers — and later, when the film’s heroine is about to sit on his bed, he instinctively barks that she sit somewhere else, because the bed’s dirty. It’s a throwaway grunt but Hashmi nails it — just like he nails highly energetic pelvic thrusts in a streetdance, one where he keeps biting his tongue, faux-scandalised by the words of the song. It’s one of the best performances from one of our leading men in quite some time, and in one chilling pre-climactic moment, when sitting on the floor and confounded by the situation, his plaintive wail is fittingly reminiscent of the late great Ravi Baswani’s angst in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’s darkest minute. Bravo.
Incredibly well done, then, Mr Hashmi. Yours is the year’s finest, bravest and most consistent performance. Congratulations are indeed in order”
Found this to be an incredibly overrated performance (much like the film). Hashmi fits the part in certain ways but there is nothing more than ‘competence’ to this performance.
Of course when Raja Sen then calls Ranbir the “finest mainstream leading man in decades” or “ever” perhaps the Hashmi commentary is the least of his problems. This is what passes of as ‘criticism’ in India. But then audiences get the films and critics they deserve!
Didn’t find anything special in any of the performances he mentions barring a couple of names (haven’t seen GoW yet).
Even in a year of unmemorable male performances, this was no way the best…I like him in this movie but there’s no revelation here. Just a re-contextualization of his smarmy screen persona to a more artful and appropriate narrative.
Siddharth Anand’s official remake of the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz starrer Knight And Day just got more exciting. After roping in Hrithik Roshan to reprise Cruise’s role and getting Katrina Kaif on board to be the desi Diaz, the director has planned out an impressive itinerary for the shoot.
The action thriller will be shot in Kashmir for over 40 days, making it one of the longest schedules in the valley in recent times (Yash Chopra shot Jab Tak Hai Jaan in Kashmir for 12 days). What’s more, the project has now been christened a catchy Bang Bang.
“Knight And Day was a popular film worldwide and to arrive upon an equally appealing title for its Hindi remake wasn’t easy. Siddharth sat down with his team for several brainstorming sessions before they locked in on Bang Bang,” said a source.
There is also speculation that the film title could also be a nod to Nancy Sinatra’s song by the same name which was cleverly used by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill. The on-the-run romcom will go on floors a day after St Valentine’s Day (quite apt?). And the crew will leave for the first schedule in Kashmir a day before.
“Siddharth decided to shoot the majority of the film in the valley and went with his crew for the recce last month. They finalised all the locations where Hrithik and Katrina will shoot,” the source added. For those who missed the 2010 Hollywood hit, it is a spyon-the-run thriller replete with action. Needless to say, the Hindi version will match it blow-by-blow.
“Siddharth has roped in Holywood action director Conrad Palmisano to choreograph the stunts for Hrithik and Katrina,” said the source. Incidentally, Conrad also directed the action sequences of Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger and YRF’s upcoming film Dhoom 3. And that’s not all, the director has also planned for a music track to match the film’s Hollywood predecessor.
“Siddharth has always trusted Vishal-Shekhar with the soundtrack of his films – be it Salaam Namaste, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Bachna Ae Haseeno or Anjaana Anjaani. This time too, the composer duo have been roped in for Bang Bang,” said the source. Surely, Siddharth’s three-yearlong wait to get on to a new project has been rather worthwhile.
Check out the track folks–enjoy
though the original (knight n day) wasnt much of a film but was a guilty pleasure due to the cast that i like
Im in for this 🙂
This could work is handled well. Siddharth Anand can be a hit or miss kind of director. Tara Rum Pum was a really bad film.
Bang Bang is a somewhat silly name for this film.
Dabangg 2 collected around 15 crore nett on Christmas Day taking the five day to over 85 crore nett. The business on Christmas Day was dented by the India v Pakistan cricket match otherwise the film would have collected around 17 crore nett.
The collections are the same as Ek Tha Tiger on Tuesday which also collected 15 crore nett though for that film is holiday in regions while for Dabangg 2 it was a national holiday.
The film has shown strong collections all over for five days with every circuit doing very well but the next two days are very important and the levels they stay at will decide where the film is going in terms of lifetime business.
‘Dabangg 2’ silences detractors, emerges triumphant!
By Taran Adarsh, December 26, 2012 – 08:01 IST
Salman Khan is competing with himself. A statement I made soon after the release of EK THA TIGER on national television and repeated it last week, when DABANGG 2 opened to packed houses. The Salmania is very similar to the Bachchan euphoria in the 1970s and 1980s, when a Hit movie would touch the magical figure of 1 cr [a humungous amount then], while a flop would manage more business than the successes of Bachchan’s contemporaries.
Of course, it’s a bit too early to gauge the amount of business that DABANGG 2 would do in the domestic market because the festivities have just begun and will last till New Year. With no significant release till 4 January 2013, DABANGG 2 should march gallantly and victoriously, accumulating a big fat total at the end of 2 weeks. Will it cross the lifetime biz of DABANGG and BODYGUARD? It should… Will it overtake the lifetime biz of EK THA TIGER? Too early to predict right now…
The advantage of releasing a film during holidays is for all to see. DABANGG 2 arrived four months after Salman’s EK THA TIGER created a hungama at the ticket window. Of course, the naysayers and negative forces were quick to dismiss the second instalment of the franchise. Even the critics, most of them, tore the film to shreds. But the BO numbers prove that Salman is currently in a different space and the negative word/review will hardly make a dent in his popularity.
DABANGG 2 is a success story. The nominal budget [excluding Salman’s fees] would be recovered from the sale of non-theatrical revenues itself. But the profits it will generate will only be known once the theatrical biz is exhausted. Till then, it’s Hud Hud Dabangg…
Dabangg 2 grossed around 7.75 crore nett on Wednesday which is an excellent number for Wednesday. If we compare the normal seven day releases the figure is the best ever for a Wednesday. Three Idiots had grossed around 7.50 crore nett and Dabangg around 7 crore nett. The fisrt week will gross around 100 crore nett.
The film has collected 93 crore nett in six days but it shows how important it is for holidays to fall on the right days. If a film is releasing on a national holiday week its a must that holiday is in the first three days preferably first which was not the case with Dabangg 2.
Bodyguard was just over 94 crore nett after six days. Dabangg 2 will sustain very well in week two as the weekday numbers are solid but with film not benefitting a lot from the holiday period, the lifetime collections stay well below Three idiots and Ek tha Tiger.
I think that’s right.. but leaving this aside the film was very close to its opening day number on the following Wed, not too far from its weekend numbers as a matter of fact. It was pretty much doing 10 crores or so every day over the weekdays. The stability was quite stunning. Even comparing this new Dabangg’s performance to the older one was a joke because again that film had lower total in week 1. You can’t say a film did 5 crores in day 6 irrespective of whether it started out at 25 crores or 10 crores! This is the kind of absurdity BOI are pushing!
So dabang 2 crossed the lifetime earnings of talaash in one week!
Well, obviously genres/treatment were different (chalk from cheese!)
But this ‘gap’ is just obscene–not sure whether to be happy or sad but there’s no doubt about the no1star right now
As for the no2–there are a few contenders now 🙂
Yes I remember one of the Pirates installments crossing the totals of the Departed and shutter Island in less than a week. That was pretty obscene too. But that’s what happens with losers like Scorsese (with other losers like DiCaprio and so on). Every other Hollywood blockbuster crosses their totals. And speaking for myself I’m not impressed by DiCaprio working with every prestigious director in town. How many times does he cross even the MI4 gross is the question?
Exactly. And what people very conveniently forget is where was Salman before Dabangg. He was almost finished (except a Partner with Govinda or MSK with Akshay) by the time Wanted came. And those who compare Salman’s current streak of superhits with Bachchan need to remember than Bachchan’s reign lasted from about ’73 to ’87. Salman has just 3 great yes.
And now Salman might not have a release next yr. Aamir on the other hand has D3.
Salman is no.1 to 10 right now. Good for him; a few years back he was in a bad state with poor films flopping continuously.
Yet, I prefer good films to these inane blockbusters, any day. Have seen bits of Dabang 1 on tv; will probably follow suit when Dabang 2 is shown, later. Watched Rowdy Rathore on tv , some bits. Serious masala, ha ha. Akshay’s fans have even voted highly for him, nominating him for best actor!
haha. Now some are pitting even akshay against aamir. On the basis of numbers!
Even I watched bits and pices of dabangg and RR and I felt MGR is far better in this genre and he even became Chief Minister based on his popularity, it seems.
The ‘slippery’ slot of No1 aka
The pitfalls for box office afficianados aka
The bread n butter of ‘spin kings’ aka
Aamirs 3I-credit –how much ? For how many years?
Disclaimers –1) am not a fan of any of these actors nor have anything against anybody of these
We can’t say the same about some others here
2) unlike ‘sun rises in the east’ dictum, these things are relative and subjective
3) not saying this is THE final viewpoint–take it or leave it but its the explanation that matters
A) Aamirs 3I—credit–how much ? For how long?
I LOVE 3idiots more than some aamir fans
But the key question is how much of 3idiots brilliance was aamir?
Will aamir continue to bear the fruits till convenient for him or his fans?
B) DYNAMIC situation at the top
Top rankings change /try to change all the time
If one thinks 3idiot is still valid –yeah it is as a record to be broken but not so much as an answer to Aamirs current ‘ top billing’
C) Its been MANY YEARS dammit since 3 idiots
It’s ok for box office comparisons since it hasn’t been broken but not to justify Aamirs CURRENT no 1 position
D)compare Aamirs contribution to the brilliant 3I (with hirani after munnabhai series ultra success) to Salmans in ‘mindless’ readys, bodyguards and now dabang2 ?
Take out Salman from these films and see
E) the TYPE of fan following
Salmans is more of a blind fan frenzy that’s reflexive, basal level, uncomplicated adulation
Aamirs is more cultivated, honed and designed
Not arguing against one or the other–but the true definition of a star corresponds to the former more than the latter
F) The ISSUE OF SPACING /gap between films
Well, this is a BIG important issue
When one argues that let someone break 3I first and then we will talk about aamir
Let aamir have 2-3 releases in 1-2 years as SOLO mainstream releases–take them to salmanesque current numbers and THEN we will talk!!
G) BIG GAPS between films ‘smell a rat’ !!
Now I love both aamir and hritik but when one analyses the gap between their projects it shows–
1) insecurity
2) lack of conviction and confidence in oneself
3) in Aamirs case– a well thought out strategy to elude fatigue and audience neglect and so on
Which is not wrong but DOES need to be accounted for
H) There’s another scenario of gaps –lack of genuine good offers
And SHEER CLUELESSNESS
Typical of abhishrek in post Bol bachchan scenario and some of Hritiks filmography
Ditto for aamir but due to his adept film sense and shrewdness aamir more than makes up for it
I) normal spacers
Like Salman , even srk deserve credit here
It’s V EASY to get a hit or two and then just Indulge in that SUCCESS
OR STRETCH THAT SUCCESS
Here someone like akshay doesn’t deserve credit
Actually taking tis onto account and also the various genres — a case can be made even for the likes of ajay devgun vis a vis aamir in the last two three years (though disputable but not that far fetched as some here argue agaimst!)
J) the ‘shutter island’ scorcese fatuoged analogy
Well, this proves that things are getting difficult when these are brought in
We ALL HAVE GOT the point
Nobody was expecting talaash to match ETT
But to fold around BARFI with aamir after three years and with two big heroines DOES raise eyebrows !
Things are NOT Totlally comparable
1) releases in Hollywood are NOT simultaneous world over unlike Bollywood
2) the star system isn’t as active or important as here
3) there being different tastes, audience profiles (more varied than bollywoods!) there are many more variables
4) things are MUCH more measurable and verifiable in Hollywood even to last dollar and pound unlike Bollywood
So let’s give shutter island and Leo a break for a while!!
K) ‘history of debates’
It’s ok that some sporadic folks who nonetheless call themselves ‘cool’ dude turn up–one can explain to them again
For others– refer to the background history
Aka ETT200 & barfi 100 in the archives
L) another aamir fan proclamation
Aamir could have done loads of masala films and got tens of easy successes after 3 idiots HAD HE WANTED
Well, this is true only to a point
The MOMENT aamir starts indulging in the same pattern of film selection and release patterns it takes AWAY HIS USP!
He becomes like any other mortal
M)
And mind my words–aamir in that scenario is similarly susceptible to audience fatigue and Lack of interest as the others
Case in point –Khiladi 786– there’s only a limit u can milk the teat !!
In fact, in Aamirs cast the fatigue may even be more !!
N) it’s not bad to use a knife to slice an apple but after a while one can’t start blaming the apple for lying underneath the knife and getting slit open!!
We ALL do this from time to time (including myself !)
It’s the frequency, extent and steadfastedness that makes the difference 🙂
Addendum
O) true and simulated aamir fans
The true ones like idea unique , prateek, myself aamir understood amirs statue and rightly predicted 150 crores plus for talaash
Talaash and aamir failed but their fandom won!
One can’t say the same about those fans who wanted aamir to do an emraan hashmi in raaz3 and be content wth anything from 80-150 crores and more lol
P) did any one really believe the likes of aamir, rani, Kareena, excel signed up for talash to potter towards 100 crore?
Knowing aamir he wanted to do a Delhi belly here –by that standards this should have done much more –but didn’t
Let’s not pretend all tins
Finally aamir will return to his position at/near the top after dhoom3(in all probability)
TILL THEN he has to be judged CURRENTLY as per talaash NOT a three years old 3 idiots and latch onto it till wither the sons of abhishrek or aamir himself start doing hero roles !!
Won’t blame even devgun fans fancying a chance till then forget srk, hritik fans (at the no2 slots) !! 🙂
@ AA –How dare you say this – ‘The true ones like idea unique , prateek, myself aamir understood amirs statue and rightly predicted 150 crores plus for talaash
Talaash and aamir failed but their fandom won’
WHAT the heck are you trying to say, making presumptions about ALL Aamir fans? Are you being sarcastic or straight up?
I’ve been an Aamir fan since late nineties, thanks to Ghulam, 1947Earth and Sarfarosh; became a bigger fan in early 200o plus years after watching Lagaan and the rest of his films on video. Yes, I did not bother to check out Lagaan in theatres in 2001; my daughter, a big Aamir fan along with her schoolgirl group, she wished me to watch the film, but somehow I stayed away since I was busy with other stuff. But finally did get round to it in 2002-2003, when it was shown on tv–and became a huger aamir fan than daughter; she still teases me about it.
I also have a son who returned to Hindi cinema thanks to Lagaan; drove miles to watch RDB in the US, as a student. He watched two Hindi films while in the US–Lagaan in univ auditorium, RDB in a theatre. Rest of Hindi stuff on vbideo, as and when convenient.
My point is — some of us love Aamir for the quality he brought back to mainstream Hindi cinema; and that’s it. I don’t care for Box office numbers, nether do like minded fans.
True Aamir fans–we are there, a big bunch of us, not on AA’s list.
@AA – Not sure why you dragged my name here but I never predicted 150 or 200 for Talaash. I do maintain I felt disappointed why it did not even reach 100 crore. I’d thought any Aamir film would comfortably cross at least 100 cr mark (Talaash wasn’t a DG). That’s about it.
@Rajen – Don’t you think star rankings parameters are subject to debate? What Salman has managed I doubt Aamir can manage. In same vein what Aamir managed I doubt if Salman can manage that. I’m not sure if people would’ve accepted Aamir had he continued to give same Ghajini style masala films in quick succession every 4-5 months within a span of 2 years. Similarly I doubt if people would accept Salman doing only one film in two years and doing a Talaash or TZP. Expectations from both stars are entirely different, their image is different.
Lowkey marketing and too many songs for a genre like this. Some of them were jarring.
If Gandhi was made by Aamir Khan, I suspect there would have been songs.
BY extrapolating Aamirs undoubted supreme achievement in 3idiots achieved three years or more ago to now–one is making a lot of of ASSUMPTIONS
It works BOTH ways
Salman the current box office god–go back three four years back
We get to yuvraaj and veer and the likes !
Katrina was spilling super hits with akshay left right n centre but with real life beau (brother?) they delivered a turkey in yuvraaj WITH rahmans music
Same for Kareenas mrs khanna and veer and so on
To summarise –when we say ‘CURRENT’ rankings–the word ‘current’ has a meaning, a reason !
think there are distinctions to be made between star rankings, even the most ‘current’ ones, and the stock market! The way you and many others frame it it’s like a star is #1 when he’s having breakfast one morning but descends to #3 by the time he finishes lunch and then later on by the time he begins dinner he’s tied at #2 with another gentleman.
The testosterone driven fan with the video game attention span finds all of this entirely logical and natural..
99% of debates about stars on blogs involve male stars and the people bloodying each other up are male fans. Who says homoerotic desire isn’t a rich part of Indian tradition?!
One such fan even got rather upset with me for daring to notice Deepika in a bikini in Cocktail. Perhaps I was meant to ogle at Saif the way he ogles at Hrithik.
yeah we are not into online trading on our laptops here where prices change every second–itd understood!
But at the same time, lets not hang onto a 3 year old 3idiot for aamirs current standing!
Even after his one-day 200, tendulkar had to start from scratch in the next inning –as everyone else, people need to prove themselves again n again
its not difficult have a success like 3i, go into ‘hibernation mode’ for 3-4 years–stretch the same succcess and standing lol
As for deepika–u said–u used rewind/ffwd only to see deepika in the red bikini many times—this sort of ogling isnt goosd–u shouldve been seeing her ‘acting’ and ‘angst’ 🙂
ps–anyhow lets celebrate this debate victory amy/ anya & hit a pub 🙂
“Even after his one-day 200, tendulkar had to start from scratch in the next inning –as everyone else, people need to prove themselves again n again”
but this analogy actually works against your claim if you would care to explore it more than superficially. Tendulkar did not have a double century every day, he did not even have a century every day. The days on which he had a sparkling 60 and someone else on the team scored a century no one said that that other guy was suddenly ahead of Sachin! Similarly Aamir has been doing a lot of this stuff for a very long time, i.e. across genres. And he hasn’t failed in Talaash even if one might have expected more (a 150 crore gross in your case.. evidently for you the bar on Dabanng 2 or Talaash is the same!.. for me better trending off a very good initial, the film did the latter). So there are cricket rankings every year for who has amassed the most runs that year and so on. But that’s not how the true experts in the game measure the very best players every year!
Also note how your argument essentially deconstructions your basic position. If stars are at the top only based on their most recent grossers, if all they have to do is chalk up a couple of big ones, if there is no history that matters, if there are no genre factors that matter.. then actually there is ‘no’ top star. Because hypothetically you could have a new top star every few months!
Of course this isn’t the way things work. As I’ve also said before Reema Kagti is not likely to cast Salman in a hurry no matter what his initial is. She’s also not likely to cast Akshay. And so on. But the Kagti kind of filmmaker represents a very important part of Bollywood. Clearly just grossing a lot is not going to impress her if the star doesn’t otherwise have the credibility for her projects. The same goes for other stars. This is precisely how it works in Hollywood. Scorsese doesn’t cast Will smith! In an industry system where there’s only one kind of genre one can perhaps only look at the gross (though this too is a somewhat imaginary position) but in a more fragmented system with limited attention spans grossing a lot in disposable cinema doesn’t mean as much as one might think. But again Aamir profits here because a distributor knows a certain kind of box office result is guaranteed with him on board. Whether it’s TZP or Talaash or Ghajini or 3I a certain important gross relative to the genre is a given. But Salman only works in what he does. Nothing wrong with it. But any investor knows this. And when Bollywood isn’t only in the business of disposable cinema, when there are these others films being made regularly a star who can straddle the divide has a certain unique market value.
Again a lot of these things have to be debated but one has to be serious. You can’t just list twenty points, some contradicting others, or inventing a new theory with each new point. When SRK didn’t have the top grossers according to you his history mattered, now when it’s Aamir apparently only last week matters! When it’s about Hrithik he’s only been around a dozen years and we need to give him more time to displace the ‘Khans’ (the promotion theory as I’ve called it elsewhere!), when it’s about Salman just the last three years are relevant, so on and so forth. So you keep changing positions. Beyond this all your claims are laced with this whiff of paranoia. As if something sinister is always afoot and one somehow has to dig out the top star from the conspiracy determined to hold him down. The same tone that you also employ to comment snidely on Sachin after almost a quarter century of playing the game at a competitive level (wonder how you’d like the same standards applied to you in a few more years! Maybe you’ll retire at 40 since you obviously won’t be able to keep up with the 25 year olds.. shudder to think what your options will be at 50.. following your own logic!).
A lot of this stuff can be debated. But let’s be serious. The logic one uses has to be consistently employed, one can’t keep changing the field one’s playing on and have new rules to boot, and the snide/paranoid stuff doesn’t convince anyone if the argument is faulty!
“only last week matters”– i think u are going on ad nauseum about last week or hour or morning etc
The FACT is–
aamirs last solo mainstream release is 3 idiots that was about 3 years ago (no less)
Salman since has given wanted, dabang, ready, bodyguard, ETT and now dabang 2
The issue of salmans poor range and lack of critical appeal remains and im the first one to point it out
and thats why its taken SO long after his successive successes that he wasnt called no1!
Even my calling him no1 now is relcutant even grudging but a point comes when one cant /shouldnt keep pretending!
Imagine aamir giving SIX box office hits in 2-3 years!! would u or even me even HEAR any other name in the discussion.?so the obvious difference in the prestige/critical appeal has ALREADY been factored in
Anyhow even if one decalres aamir as the no1 not only for now but for the next 10 years(!) theres no way one can conclusively argue against it..
of4sum fun now–thats my reading– u are free to have aamir no1 and abhishrek no2 for next 10 years 🙂
Using that logic Rajnikant shouldn’t be the top star when he doesn’t do films for years sometimes!
On the rest you should give up on trying to bait me on Abhishek. My views are not going to change based on this silliness. Of course I also do not say the same thing at every given point. Novel as this idea might sound I do account for the ‘facts’! I was at another forum once where a dozen like you would go at me all at once for some of the stuff I said on Abhishek. Can’t say it bothered me particularly even then.
On the rest it’s good of you to have waited this long before making up your mind about Salman or Aamir or whoever. But do be nicer still and present it as a consistent argument and at least not as fact.
Addendum 3
The final criteria–u may not agree but I feel that when a hero is REALLY at the v top u can damn make it out!!
He/she may be there fora v short while but there ARE tell tale signs!
Case in point —an example
Dabang reloaded track
Aerial camera — Salman ORDERS the camera to come down
It obeys comes down to Salmans level and what follows is the trademark dabang pelvic motion
When NOT at the top, one can’t pull off this stuff–looks out of place
Enjoy
Zindagi apni hum toka daan deyi de
Muskura ke jo maange praan deyi de
Kal mile ee humka bhool gaye aaj re
This whole argument about rankings is somewhat redundant and silly.
Salman is going through a phenomenal phase and is churning out big grossers in succession.In a way, he IS the current number one star. However, star power is not just about the ability to deliver big hits. If this needs to be explained to someone, they probably are never going to get it.A simpleton could look at last three years and come up with a conclusion that Salman is number one with Aamir,SRK,Akshay and may be even Devgun vying for number two slot. But, that would be a flawed conclusion.Ability to have an appeal across the genres, ability to experiment, consistently attract good scripts and directors and still be successful at BO is a much better indicator of a star’s power than churning out mindless potboilers in rapid succession.Salman has not had a really good film with a possible exception of Dabangg. Personally prefer RR to Dabangg. But,atleast Dabangg had quite a bit going for it. The rest – BG,Ready,D2 is all eminently forgettable stuff. Hashmi has been consistent too at a lower level. But, he hardly figures in any serious argument about star power. And, rightfully so.
A recent Forbes analysis identified Natalie Portman as the most bankable star in Hollywood followed by Kirsten Stewart,Robert Pattison,and Taylor Lautner. Based on money their films made and money spent. Hardly any sane would buy the argument.
A Talaash making 95-100 crores is a greater achievement than a Dabangg 2 making 140-150 crores. If someone’s pea sized brain cannot grasp this fact, I guess their long arguments and addenda are pretty pointless and a waste of bandwidth.
I actually don’t mind anyone who calls Salman the top star currently. There’s certainly a case to be made for this. But evaluating star rankings every ten minutes is a bit too much! of course it could be argued that in this more Hollywood-like system that Bollywood currently is there is no ‘obvious’ top star. In other words one can be ‘inferred’ looking at all the evidence but that’s not the same as being one unmistakably in the sense of uniting all the ‘constituencies’. And yes it is true that in no industry can the top box office draw (whether it’s Salman or Will Smith) simply be consider the top star without that asterisk attached. Because without the ability to attract true prestige projects a star is simply not transcendent enough in the true sense. So again agree with everything you’re saying.
“evaluating star rankings every ten minutes is a bit too much”–Yeah it it but nobody is doing it every “ten minutes”
The guy hasnt given anything below 100 crores for 2-3 years and unlke aamir hasnt been on hibernation..
If some have their way here–the no 1 slot was always for bachchan if not for abhishrek, or aamir and should be reserved for one of them till one of their sons ‘inherit the legacy”–unfortunately such ‘desires’ are ‘desires’.
“simply be consider the top star without that asterisk attached.”–when the scale and duraiton of success becomes this much, the asterisk remains more in the mind!
Res Ipsa Loquitur!
But as i said these things are subjective and aamir as no1 is certainly a dignified plausible choice–and i said, just like salman not long ago was in the ‘yuvraaj-veer’ stage, a similar phase may not be far ahead–but currently lets give the guy his due,
Was Salman always bald or is balding? Not that it matters anyway, coz currently, his producers or distributors are not losing their hair!!! Except maybe AA bit coz of the debates around NO. 1!!!!
SATYAMSHOT 
December 19, 2012 at 9:34 AM
A bit premature in opening this thread, aren’t you? Or did you just want to be prepared for the “hurricane” (Taran Adarsh’s word)? 🙂
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 9:37 AM
It’s releasing in a couple of days and some of the pre-release reports have already started coming in. since there will be a lot of activity around this subject might as well start the thread early. The old one has 300 comments.
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 10:54 AM
Sir, it’s high time you watch GoW and write a piece on it.
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 11:14 AM
True! I’ve had both DVDs lying around for a while. Haven’t quite been in the mood for films as much for a while barring the rare exception. Currently it’s Haneke’s Amour which I’ll watch as soon as possible. I’ve came to the Law and Order party 20 years after the event. Currently getting through Season 9! So I’ve spent a lot of time with this!
But also when it’s a more serious effort like GoW I don’t watch it unless I’m completely in the mood. Other than Amour most excited about Kathapurushan (Adoor). This is now available on a proper DVD:
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 12:08 PM
Law and Order is a bit of a weird addiction. It’s not something I’ve ever watched consistently but if it happens to be on I usually get sucked in. Not a great show but a very influential one and it’s always engaging at some basic level. It’s also one of those shows one can watch out of order and not have to worry (in general) about not being in on the loop with certain series-wide character or story arcs.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 10:08 AM
i am still catching up on the wire!
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 1:15 PM
I’d really like to hear your thoughts on Kathapurushan when you get around to watching it.
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 1:49 PM
I am unable to understand this ‘hyper-excitement’ over Dabaang 2 by these trade guys. I mean, seriously, I am wondering if TA and KN are inventing phrases (hurricane, cyclone, sandy..) to help more and more footfalls into cinema or is it that they are hyper-ventilating like this AFTER they have seen the rush that is usually reserved for Rajnikanth movies…It seems like all over India this weekend, NONE will visit malls or gardens or go to picnics but everyone will be warming their assess in theatres!!!
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 1:57 PM
An Jo ,
it is so exciting specially Dabaang was such a exciting film,get used to with is a ” sallu mania” hurricane,cyclone & sunami wawe
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 2:36 PM
Whether the film makes 1 $ or 10000000000$ makes no difference to me Vijay. It might for fans/fanatics.. All I am amused about is these trade ‘pundits’ falling over each other over this supposed ‘mania.’ And I am only wondering if this is a narrative that is being created or a true representation/reflection of the narrative.
Because TA, KN and truth have always been kind of oxy-moronic.
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 12:08 PM
After ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, Salman Khan fever on the rise with ‘Dabangg 2’
Film analyst expects ‘Dabangg 2’ to fetch thunderous box office returns
Trade analyst in India expects ‘Dabangg 2’ to break all records. Taran Adarsh said, “Overseas collection of ‘Dabangg 2’ expected to fetch a thunderous start beyond the shores of the country as well. The craze for the film is humungous!”
Going by the promos of ‘Dabangg 2’ the film promises some jaw crushing, bone shattering action served along with some super-duper one liners.
http://www.emirates247.com/entertainment/after-ek-tha-tiger-salman-khan-fever-on-the-rise-with-dabangg-2-2012-12-19-1.487824
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 12:13 PM
komal nahta with salman khan.
http://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/video/salman-khan-komal-nahta
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 2:51 PM
Dabang 2 predictions
Shouldn’t be that difficult this one folks
Whats your take–opening day , weekend, lifetime… Cmon
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 3:30 PM
500 crores..
massy film + no-brain entertainer + good songs + south-style action + holiday good-will + salman + salman + salman + salman + salman – arbaaz = 500
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 2:21 AM
– arbaaz
ROFL
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 6:32 AM
1 week : 85cr ( xmas holidays considered )
2 week: 60cr ( still holidays )
3 week: 40cr ( remember new film releases that week )
4 week 20cr ( includes overseas )
total : 205cr
if some how film flops then it will still do 100cr club due to high expectation ,huge initials.
but I think this film will have bumper opening and it will do 200cr due to salman mania
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 3:33 PM
hahaa cmon folks–out wiht your numbers
satyam will wait till the first week .. for any predictions
cmon–this one is not that difficult–shouldnt need a big 6–150 crores range hahah
anyhow for satyams viewing pleasure
Tena Desae –table no 21
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 5:25 PM
after ETT’s massive week 1 the question isn’t about how much this can do but about whether it can sustain any better..
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 5:43 PM
This may well be pretentious existentialism, but does carry some stunning images
Feel like checking out this documentary –has any1 seen it here
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 6:12 PM
-jackman, crowe, Hathaway seem in good form
Nice music– liked it–Gud nite
LikeLike
December 19, 2012 at 9:57 PM
In Salman Khan’s case, the talk is about how much earth shattering the opening will be and whether it will beat 3 Idiots’ record?
If Friday is earth shattering, Saturday and Sunday should be sky rocketting and Monday should not drop more than 30 percent.
As for the reviews, it will be friendly as no critic worth his or her salt will lock horns with bhai.
It will be like Spiderman series, a superhero movie without the mask.
I think it will be more refined than Dabangg. Like Shaan after Sholay.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 2:19 AM
Only thing is Salman doesnt give an eff about reviews and Arbaaz Khan is no Ramesh Sippy
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 12:53 AM
Trailer of Michael Bay directed and Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson starrer “Pain and Gain”
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 7:51 AM
Why is Rock given the First Billing?
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 12:56 AM
Trailer of Russel Crowe, Mark Wahlberg and Catherine Zeta-Jones starrer “Broken City”-
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 1:02 AM
Trailer of Bryan Singer’s upcoming 3d film “JACK THE GIANT SLAYER”
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 4:57 AM
Looks good and love Trivedi’s music here- And this is the only Bhagat book I somewhat liked. the name of the Rock On director gives me hope (btw the ‘sperm’ dialogue is directly taken from the novel)
Trailer of Kai Po Che- based on Chetan Bhagat’s “3 Mistakes Of My Life”-
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 7:47 AM
thanx saurabh, i was awaiting it.
It is story of 3 friends in Ahmedabad, and as u have read the book but for others i shall share following:
1) Its has cricket, Earthquake and 2002 incident of Gujarat state as backdrop.
2) it is about friendship, love and loss.
The novel had quite a few layers, and clearly they seem to have change the title character, as he makes 3 mistakes of his life. I am looking forward to see how they have seen Ahmedabad, also this shall be the pre-2002 version.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 8:36 AM
Lovely trailer, and Sushant Singh Rajput looks promising- surely this deserves its own thread, Satyam?
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 8:43 AM
Have you read any of Bhagat’s novels Ami? What do you think of his writing?
Btw did U read the Kagti interview
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 6:54 AM
Salman Khan to play Amrish Puri the ‘Mogambo’
it looks awful
http://www.pardaphash.com/news/salman-khan-to-play-amrish-puri-as-mogambo/701419.html#.UNL8PuRSjTw
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 8:39 AM
Farhan Akhtar wrote a poem on the Delhi Rape incident.
“What is this country that I live in?
With no equality
And the quality of life
Differs from husband to wife
Boy to girl, brother to sister
Hey Mister, are you the same?
Contributing to the national shame
Replacing your mothers
With the bent ideology of another`s
perception that women have a particular role in society
Fills my heart with anxiety
Where is all of this going?
What will emerge from these seeds that we`re sowing?
It makes my head spin
But I`m not giving in
Will keep asking the question
What is this country that I live in?
What is this country that I live in?
That takes away her right to love
Brutalises her with an iron glove
Rapes her without fear
of there being justice for her tear
We`ve demeaned our goddesses
Gone back on all our promises
Become a gender distorted nation
Given our conscience a permanent vacation
what do I tell my daughter?
That she`s growing up to be lamb for the slaughter
we`ve got to make a change
Reboot, reformat, rearrange,
and never give in
no matter how much our head may spin
Just keep asking the question
What is this country that I live in?”
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 1:44 PM
what do I tell my daughter?
That she`s growing up to be lamb for the slaughter
These 2 lines are enough to convey the message effectively.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 11:23 PM
http://shobhaade.blogspot.in/2012/12/rape-is-just-4-letter-word.html
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 10:54 AM
Salman – Barjatya
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/why-sooraj-barjatya-wont-work-with-salman-again/20121220.htm
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 11:35 AM
I really don’t think this is true at all. We have no idea what the personal equation is between these 2. Also, Salman in all his interview for promoting Dabangg has been saying that next he is doing Sohail’s next, Then going on to Kick with Sajid N, And by that time the script for Barajatya’s will be ready and that would be next. This is just some kind of rumor.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 12:29 PM
yeah seems like a bizarre story!
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 1:30 PM
This article is by Subhash K. Jha. The same thing appeared in TOI also. Jha has been on a campaign against Salman for some years now. He usually writes something negative and completely contradictory to every other news source. This is a typical piece from him. Since the film between Salman and Sooraj has been confirmed by them both several times over the last several months, I suppose Jha (or whoever is funding/egging him on, if you want to believe in conspiracy theories) thought it was time to throw a wrench into the works. Mr. Jha has had zero credibility with me for a number of years now, because of the kind of stuff he has written about many stars.
In his latest interviews, Salman has listed all the films mentioned by Bachchan 1 to 10 as his upcoming ones, but in addition, he has said that he starts shooting for Sohail’s film in January, and whenever Sooraj has his script ready, he will do that next, before doing any other confirmed film. So I’d rather take his word over Jha’s.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 5:12 PM
Well summed up sm
SK Jha is a moron. How he ever became a journalist I’ll never know.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 5:17 PM
when r u seeing dab2
and whats your prediction for dab2 gross lifetime…
200 cr+ or not?
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 5:53 PM
I’m watching the film tomorrow night and looking to have a real blast 😀
Will again watch on Wed (free tickets lol)
I’ll give you a more definite prediction once I see the film but I will be personally disappointed if it doesn’t atleast cross Ek Tha Tiger.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 6:06 PM
Okie let us know how dab2 is–thanx
“Atleast ETT” –it’s not that ‘atleast’ as films realise –there’s attrition up there–but yeah has good chances either way
Need 2 burn midnite oil now
May ‘explode’ soon & may end up watching dab2 v soon as well–let’s see who makes it first 🙂
Gud nite
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 12:29 PM
Fantastic Advance For Dabangg 2
Thursday 20th December 2012 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 has had a fantastic advance as expected at both single screens and multiplexes. Single screens are phenomenal and they had to be as many exhibitors have paid MG’s (Minimum Guarantee) as per the business that Ek The Tiger did at the cinema. In another words the exhibitors will only start to make money when the business surpasses the collections of Ek tha Tiger at their respective cinemas. This trend is very prevalent in many cities of UP like Meerut, Jhansi, Saharanpur etc.
The multiplexes also saw huge bookings yesterday (Wednesday) and no doubt today will also see excellent bookings. The film has record shows at multiplexes with some multiplexes going over 40 shows per day which will ensure a record number of tickets sold prior to release.
One key factor of the advance is that there are huge bookings for Sunday which means the families are really awaiting this film. There is always talk about the youth audience but eventually big box office is about the family audience and as there is going to be a huge family turnout on Sunday and if this audience has good of mouth then the sky will be the limit for Dabangg 2.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 12:30 PM
The Ultimate Record For Dabanng 2
Thursday 20th December 2012 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 may smash all initial records but the ultimate record for the film is the second week record of Three idiots which collected around 55 crore nett in week two as initial records fall every six months..
There are hardly any films which can be even thought about in terms of this record because most films aim at that urban youth and all you can get is good one week run with this audience.
Looking at advance, Dabangg 2 is that film where the families will come in hordes on Sunday all across India especially the cities and towns outside the big metros and if this audience spreads the word then this ultimate second week record of Three Idiots which is almost 20 crore higher than anything else becomes a target for Dabangg 2.
Obviously if reports of the day one audience is not up to the mark then all equations go out of the window as that big Sunday will not materialise.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 12:31 PM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
Looking at #Dabangg2 craze, it should emerge biggest opener [non-holiday], fastest 50 cr, fastest 100 cr, could cross #ETT by a margin.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 1:27 PM
Exit polls predicted that Modi’s power will win more than 140 seats. And he used technology to appear at so many venues at the same time and I felt that he beat even Salman Khan advertising himself. The result is definitely a good victory but not that much as predicted.
Sometimes hype and over publicity just wont give earthshaking results.
Moditva and Salmania 2 sides of the same coin, it seems.
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 2:12 PM
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/criticreview/id/542696
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 2:19 PM
Don’t know whom to believe..I am thinking it is better to call up Arbaaz himself for a review..
http://www.mouthshut.com/Hindi-Movies/Dabangg-2-reviews-925641769
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 2:47 PM
Deadline !
What man Ann
2 heck with what friggin arbaz, or goddamm nahata or tranny adarsh
Forget movies –difficult to punch in few lines on ones phone
When stress n exhaustion collide
Wanna make a film called ‘dead-line’
Anyhow
Sooner or later-I will hav a ‘release’
Someone around me will ‘pay the price’
😉
Anyhow all the best for dabang–hope it breaks some records ..
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 5:39 PM
Some1 I know checked out hobbitt– loved it — but u hav to be a LOTR diehard for that, I guess
Anyhow — something grand bout the music
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 7:00 PM
Orgasm time for some relic item fans of Tom Cruise here?
Jack Reacher expected to open at a mere 15M … http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-box-office-this-is-40-zero-dark-thirty-20121220,0,1476262.story
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 9:46 PM
Stars are humans too Bored… hard as it might be for you to fathom. They too get past their peak phases! They can’t be expected to open films in the same way forever. But perhaps you’ll be the first human to defy gravity. Or else when you don’t you perhaps won’t mind people making fun of your waning abilities.
I’m hardly a great Tom Cruise fan myself but your commentary on him is simply ridiculous. Which is hardly surprising coming for you. With most stars your opinion belongs to the order of a grunt! There’s nothing more profound than this in your responses. not sure why you’re in such a miserable mood most of the time!
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 10:00 PM
The name says it all!
LikeLike
December 20, 2012 at 10:20 PM
ROTFLMAO at Sanjana’s reply…
Good reply Satyam..but looking at acerbic and sadistic tone of his, I did not think it worth replying…
BTW, just picking and choosing convenient things is really a talent I think…because this part in the article was curiously not highlighted..
**”The U.S. market today is much less star-driven, but the international marketplace still is,” said Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore. “Our expectation that it will do more outside of the U.S. is a big reason to put Tom Cruise in a movie like this.”***
Oh and btw, for a 50 year actor, Bored exacting standards expect tremendous footfalls in the face of THE HOBBIT, DJANGO UNCHAINED, ZERO DARK THIRTY,back-lash from hard-core fan boys/girls/women attacking the film JUST because the character in the book is 6’5” and weighs 220 pounds and to top it all, people’s preconceived notions about sniper attacks thanks to the Newtown shootings..Still Cruise should deliver mommothly to be called a star.. Never mind that a romantic ‘relic’ back in India failed to fire the box-office in a big way inspite of the advantage of home-turf, an oscar-winning musician, a master lyricist, a shrewd production company throttling competition, 2 skin-showing ladies, and a romance-genre subject matter expert at the helm…
Oh boy..ANYthing is really fair in love and war..
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:25 AM
Verdict: Dabangg 2 is not meant to make sense. It’s only meant to entertain. If you are a Chulbul Pandey fan, go and enjoy your annual dose of Salman Khan, else give it BIG ignore. Dabangg 2 will be loved by the masses, but not the classes. Though the movie has nothing extraordinary to provide, yet, people might relish it just keeping their brains aside and not looking at it otherwise.
Read more at: http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/reviews/2012/dabangg-2-movie-review-102131.html
http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/reviews/2012/dabangg-2-movie-review-102131.html
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:37 AM
Noida: Dabangg 2 Bumper Opening And Record Screenings
Friday 21st December 2012 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 too a huge bumper opening in Noida with all shows practically housefull. It has also set a new record for screenings with 109 shows daily. Ek Tha Tiger had 85 shows daily.
Spice
10.00 – 25,800 100%
10.00 – 8,000 100%
10.15 – 16,500 100%
10.35 – 16,500 100%
11.15 – 14,000 100%
Wave
10.00 – 38,000 100%
10.30 – 38,000 100%
Big Ansal
09.30 – 14,900 100%
10.10 – 22,800 100%
Big TGIP
10.00 – 29,000 100%
10.15 – 22,000 100%
10.45 – 25,000 85%
11.15 – 14,900 100%
Movietime
10.00 – 15,000 100%
10.30 – 14,900 100%
http://boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5209&nCat=
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:48 AM
These are just incredible numbers, when you look they are from multiplexes at early morning and on top of that, it is is from Noida, which remains very cold in the morning due to the winter. So keeping all these things put together, you witness Salman mania across classes and masses, which is making these class and mass boundaries irrelevant. I’m pleased for him as he is at the pinnacle of the game, rest of them seem pygmies, when compared to his box office typhoon.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 2:25 AM
Where are the mumbai and maharashtra numbers?
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 2:59 AM
Wait Sanjana, they will also be massive, it is just the beginning of this TYPHOON!
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 3:01 AM
Dabangg 2 Takes Juggernaut Opening
Friday 21st December 2012 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 has taken a juggernaut opening at the box office all across India. The single screens that open early are fantastic and when they open at large at noon it will be historic.
The multiplexes have also taken a record start with housefull shows across the board. Basically the opening of the film is at record pace but what normally happens on working days is that multiplexes start better as lower tickets rates but pace slackens slightly from noon and a bigger drop around around 4pm and they pick up again in the late evening while on the holidays the whole day remains superb.
The opening of the film has assured it the biggest weekend in history of Hindi cinema and that too by a distance.
http://boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5210&nCat=
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 3:02 AM
Can Dabbagg 2 Do the Unthinkable?
Friday 21st December 2012 12.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 has taken a historic start which was always likely but the reaction of the audience at various centres across the country gives it a chance to the do the unthinkable and that is go towards a record figure on a working day.
Although it is a tall order as collections at multiplexes tend to take dips especially in the late afternoon shows but if the craze seen in the morning can keep that a dip at minimum then its not out of the question that history can be created.
Looking at the morning and what tends to happen in the afternoon and evening the film should surpass 25 crore nett for the first day with possibilities of higher total and a record first day although very difficult, cannot be totally ruled out of the picture just yet. The late afternoon and evening shows will give a better indication. The record collections for the first day are around 31 crore nett.
http://boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5211&nCat=
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 4:57 AM
Every review says that Salman is superb and has tremendous screensapce and screen presence. The others are merely more than extras, it seems.
Music is not that appreciated.
As I said, the small town has turned into a city this time. A sort of Shaan after Sholay.
In sheer Boxoffice appeal, Salman reminds of Amitabh of that Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra era. The genres are also somewhat alike.Masala, action, romance, comedy. Though there is an apparent similarity, they are as different as a well kept garden and a forest.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:47 AM
Sanjana, Its a bit unfair to compare salman to Bachchan here, (I understand that he comes closest to the Bachchan phase of giving hits in 70’s – 80’s). But reminding one of Bachchan from MMD or PM, that’s a little far fetched dont you think? Prakash Mehra and MMD were much better filmmakers then all the ones Salman is working currently (and in all their glory and on a good day). I dont think likes of Arbaaz can even come anywhere close to MMD or PM even on their bad days on story telling skills, It’s genuinely all the hype created by the media currently with the 100/200 cr clubs and what not. And many may not believe but the divide thats been created between Salman and Srk just adds to the whole hoopla right now. Imagine the kind of media we have now was available when Bachchan was around. I think all his films would have touched 100 cr(yes back then – not even talking inflation). I am certainly not trying to run down your comment, just my 2 cents genuinely on this subject, cause every now and then some one comes up and compares salman to Bachchan’s phase (Even I have said it once or twice) But, I reassesed my thoughts on it, and dont think he comes close.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:54 AM
This comparison as I suggested the other day is simply not a serious one and it is made when one is completely unaware of the magnitude of Bachchan’s box office. So actually it isn’t about a difference in degree. There is simply no comparison! If one thinks Bachchan was about getting a lot of hits whereas others weren’t doing so one has completely misunderstood what he was about. The scale of his box office simply cannot be comprehended using the ordinary and banal terminology of current box office debates.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:09 AM
Precisely Sir. Again, I was not around to see the phenomena during bachchans times (too young then). But as I have mentioned in the past, My family (and they are all movie fanatics – you ask any one of them about any movie from any era, they will know when it was made, how big a hit it was etc) on number of occassions have told me about the BO draw Bachchan had back then, I mean AAA in 28 cinemas just in Bombay hitting Silver Jubille and some Golden and Diamond Jubilee, just tells you the power this man had back then. Also, people keep talking about DDLJ being the longest running film, I wanna wake them up to reality, DDLJ is playing at a matinee show where Sholay was in Daily shows from 12 to 9, All shows Housefull for 5+ years man. Becuase of the proximity of our family business (Hotels and Restauarnts) Dad and uncles got to meet lots of Black Ticket marketers, They say they have made a fortune out of selling Sholay in Black, Bought Flats in high rise south mumbai locations, Imagine That. (Dont know if these black tickets are still happenning though)
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:21 AM
I compared only the BO part, not quality. Salman cant hold a candle quality wise even to his own peers, forget about Bachchan.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:25 AM
haha Well said Sanjana, True but even on BO terms, and thats exactly what Satyam Sir is saying above. Given that Salman is a the biggest BO draw currently, But once it opens big, nothing happens after that. The trending (as satyam sir always presses the importance of it) has never been so great for him. Where as Bachchan is concerned just my example of AAA of 28 cinemas in Bombay is good enough to say otherwise on the whole comaparison.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:28 AM
Nowadays, media makes a star, boxoffice and other hype if we follow Taran, Komal etc. And I feel about mainstream media being paid to write superlatives. Except for one or two, none is above board.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:50 AM
salman is going the way bachan was,salman mania has buzz about it,I remember Amitabhs film in those days were doing 25th silver jubelees not in one cinema but several cinemas,not even srk or sallu can do that,at this moment of time salmans film are known to be a “gold” he touches it becomes..when a time is with you & luck,nothing can go wrong,even crap film will do wonders
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:58 AM
I am also only talking about the box office bit.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:59 AM
Salman Khan’s Dabangg 2 gets fantastic opening at Box Office
Read more at: http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/box-office/2012/salman-khan-dabangg-2-opening-response-box-office-102143.html
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 5:48 AM
http://www.indicine.com/bollywood/dabangg-2/reviews/
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 6:07 AM
Did I say familiar? That’s the trouble with Dabangg 2. Within 15 minutes, the novelty wears off. Our one-man Expendable has already done this and better in the previous installment of the franchise. And as much as he tries there are only so many ways a man can play himself.
Dabangg 2 serves primarily as a reminder of what this Rs 100 crore addiction is doing to the art of entertainment. Entertainment, not filmmaking, mind you. Even escapism deserves to be treated with boundless imagination.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-dabangg-two-sukanya-verma/20121221.htm
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 6:38 AM
Top 5: ‘Khiladi 786’ 70 cr, ‘Talaash’ 93.40 cr
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 7:54 AM
Not bad.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 6:40 AM
B.O. update: ‘Dabangg 2’ all set to create history!
By Taran Adarsh, December 21, 2012 – 13:51 IST
DABANGG 2 is all set to create history in India. Rewrite boxoffice records. Set new benchmarks. The latest Salman Khan starrer opened to a thunderous, earth-shattering, unimaginable response across the nation. While the morning shows took off with fervour, the noon shows maintained the pace across the country, despite the fact that the film has opened really wide in India [2250 cinema halls, 3500 + screens].
A slight dip is expected between 3 to 5 pm, since it’s a working day, but the business is expected to witness a massive jump from evening onwards. The film is expected to be the biggest opener on a non-holiday, crossing the previous biggest non-holiday opener [ROWDY RATHORE] by leaps and bounds.
As per early indications, a 22 cr + start is being speculated, but if the evening and night shows are huge, the figure may cross the 25 cr mark, which is out of the world. The weekend collections are also expected to be record-breaking!
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 8:12 AM
http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/f4JMaMcj278vsZyrtlWfIK/Film-Review–Dabangg-2.html
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 8:19 AM
OT,
Secular Industry of India 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.543269562352787.132829.528658540480556&type=1
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 8:25 AM
Public reaction..
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:05 AM
Why does most of our discussion about cinema centre primarily on box-office collections, especially if a big star is involved?
As I write this, Bollywood-oriented web sites are screaming that Talaash has finally entered the 100-crore club, though this figure includes revenues from overseas. (The domestic total is a little under Rs. 85 cr.) At the time of release, the story was slightly different. The web site boxofficecapsule.com mourned, rather ungrammatically, “Talaash collected rather good numbers over weekend and was expected to fetch good numbers on weekdays. But film dropped with every passing day and it was apparent that this time audience at large did not like the content of Aamir Khan’s latest offering.” Then came the clincher. “Film collected further 3.50 cr nett on Thursday and film has finished week one at 67 plus cr nett. Film has to collect 30 cr plus in 2nd week in order to reach 100 cr nett mark…” And the second week’s total was a mere Rs. 15.5 crore, which means that Talaash will not join the 100-crore club when only domestic receipts are totalled.
Hosted by imgur.com
This has been the dominant mode of discourse around the film, apart from reviews and a stray opinion piece or two expressing indignation over Aamir Khan’s apparent endorsement of superstition. On the other hand, had Talaash been a Hollywood movie, these are some of the topics that would have risen around the film’s release, in newspapers, magazines and web sites: the best supernatural-suspense films of all time; ten best cops with moustaches; the origins of rug-pulling in the movies; how spouses in the cinema deal with loss; the literary tradition of lonesome policemen; why hookers in cinema, with the exception of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, just cannot catch a break; ten reasons Talaash would have sucked had there been a male in the director’s chair; Farhan Akhtar’s evolution as a dialogue-writer; from Dil Chahta Hai to Talaash, a look at the male-centric multiplex movie; and, this being awards season, why Talaash won’t win the Oscar for Best Actor.
In short, we’d have had a range of writing around the movie, from the super-serious to the ultra-silly. And I’m not even talking about the lengthy profiles and interviews, the comment pieces and the debates that would have appeared. But here, all we seem to do is bother about the box office. That’s not wrong. You can do serious reporting using facts and figures that make up the trade aspect of a film. But when all those reports converge around a single question, whether or not Talaash will enter the 100-crore club, it’s depressing – not just because we can’t seem to think of other things to write about and around the film, but because the 100-crore mark itself is meaningless with this sort of film, with restricted appeal. That such a moody and slow-paced film made Rs. 85 crore so far is in itself a smashing success story, without speculating if Aamir is still the top Khan.
What, for instance, would Talaash have earned had Salman or Shah Rukh starred in it, both stars with a more massy appeal? Besides, a look at the Wikipedia page of Bollywood’s 100-crore grosser reveals that most of them are masala movies (or variants thereof, like the sci-fi masala Ra.One, or the masala comedy Housefull 2). Jab Tak Hai Jaan, if not quite a masala movie, is very much from a proven genre, plus it came with the star power of Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif, and the names of Yash Chopra and AR Rahman. The only two films that seem surprising additions to this club are 3 Idiots and Barfi!, the former a “social comedy,” pumped full with messages, and the latter a whimsical dramedy. Had Aamir made Ghajini 2 and had that film not made 100 crore, then there would be something to talk about. Why put these pressures on Talaash?
But that, I suppose, is part of the baggage of being a star – even a star director, for that matter. A lot of the number crunching around Lincoln has revolved around the fact that Steven Spielberg has, after a long time, had a $100 million hit. (His last blockbuster was the pre-sold Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; his last non-franchise, non-blockbuster film to hit that mark was Catch Me If You Can, a whole decade ago). You cannot completely do away with these expectations. But the difference is that there have been scores of other kinds of articles written about Lincoln, ranging from The Scoop: Why Lincoln Grew a Beard to How Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln Benefited from Crony Capitalism to The Eternal Reach: How Steven Spielberg’s evolving ideas continue to ignite cinema. And all we have about Talaash is endless handwringing about a numerical benchmark. You’re probably going to tell me that our mainstream media doesn’t have space, any longer, for serious, analytical writing about cinema, but isn’t that why blogs were invented?
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:06 AM
Rangan as usual sums it up superbly !
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:05 AM
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:12 AM
http://www.addatoday.com/2012/12/talaash-third-week-box-office.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AddaToday+%28Adda+Today%29
Talaash Third Week Box Office Collection 7.78 cr nett.
Talash has collected around 7.78 crore nett all India in its 3rd Weekend at the box office. It collected around 5.03 crore in 3rd Weekend and another 2.75 crore in 3rd Weekdays. Talaash total collection after 21 days is around 92.16 crore nett all India. It registered a drop of 53% from the 2nd week collections.
Talaash remained steady in 3rd weekend and as well as 3rd weekdays. Collections are decent considering the first week start, but below the standard of Aamir Khan starrer. Anyways, Talaash is a Hit at the box office. Regarding its lifetime collection, Talaash will wrap up around 94 crore nett mark which will be around 6 crore less than the 100 crore nett mark.
Collection Breakup –
1st Week – 67.69 cr nett.
2nd Week – 16.69 cr nett.
3rd Fri – 1.02 cr nett.
3rd Sat – 1.73 cr nett.
3rd Sun – 2.28 cr nett.
3rd Weekdays (Mo+Tu+We+Th) – 2.75 cr nett.
Total – 92.16 cr nett.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:30 AM
Hilarious review by Aniruddha Guha of DNA
Dabangg 2: Wannabe-Dabangg
Spot the difference:
1. Dabangg: Opening sequence: Warehouse action scene.
Dabangg 2: Opening sequence: Warehouse action scene.
2. Dabangg: Chulbul Pandey introduces himself (Hud hud dabangg).
Dabangg 2: Chulbul Pandey introduces himself (Hud hud dabangg).
3. Dabangg: Intro song, one dance number, two romantic songs, one item number.
Dabangg 2: Intro song, one dance number, two romantic songs, one item number.
4. Dabangg: Villain takes on Chulbul. Chulbul insults villain. Villain angry.
Dabangg 2: Villain takes on Chulbul. Chulbul insults villain. Villain angry.
5. Dabangg: Villain takes revenge by killing Chulbul’s family member.
Dabangg 2: Villain takes revenge by killing Chulbul’s family member.
6. Dabangg: Chulbul angry. Goes shirtless. Punches shirtless villain in ultra slo-mo shots.
Dabangg 2: Chulbul angry. Goes shirtless. Punches shirtless villain in ultra slo-mo shots.
7. Dabangg: Abhinav Kashyap, director.
Dabangg 2: Arbaaz Khan, director.
8. Dabangg: XX Bhai porn.
Dabangg 2: XXX Bhai porn.
9. Dabangg: Worked due to its unabashed admiration for the ’70s masala fillum and ability to recreate the formula in a contemporary set-up, maa ka badla and bhai ka pyaar et al.
Dabangg 2: Rehashes Dabangg itself, finding comfort in the formula rather than using it as a tool to entertain. Follows Singham and Khiladi 786, which tried hard to recreate Dabangg magic without being as successful. In other words, it’s wannabe-Dabangg.
10. Dabangg: 145cr.
Dabangg 2: ___
http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/review_aniruddha-guha-review-dabangg-2-wannabe-dabangg_1780157
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:55 AM
Its bit unfair to the makers but here is salman’s intro in D2.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 12:38 PM
If this was the least bit surprising, it would have been unfair.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:10 AM
Rangan on the madness of the 100 crore debates:
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:23 AM
Was about to post this myself. Glad a serious writer took this on, this is an important piece.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:36 AM
It is a vicious circle. All are succumbing to it except for a few. Make a film which can appeal to the lowest , book a big star, book as many theatres as possible, create a hype with boxoffice pundits, voila we have a 100 crore hit. That is why Sajid Khan says with so much confidence that his films never fail.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:44 AM
All that is actually fine. I don’t have a problem with commercial filmmakers milking a formula till it’s bone dry (mainly because these films are easy enough to avoid) but the real problem here is the same box office metric is used to compare all sorts of films whose ambitions are clearly different. Not all commercial films are cut from the same cloth and Rangan’s very simple points here are that A) We can’t expect Ghajini results from Talaash and B) With all the discussions on grosses and star vs. star, people have gradually moved away from talking about actual films.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 11:02 AM
There is tremendous pressure to perform or perish. Just like our students face. The joy of education has gone as the emphasis has shifted to scoring marks rather than gaining knowledge. Same thing is happening with films. Winning elections has become more important than reflecting on value based politics.
But still we discuss films.Atleast some of us.
And the ridiculous extent to which even writing something has come to. Book promotions have become the norm and those who have influential friends can make commerce out of the purest of arts, writing.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 11:20 AM
The first part was so good but then (as usual) comparing to Hollywood spoiled it for me……………kitnee baar kahen Bharat – Bharat hai ……picture alag, log alag, culture alag !!!!
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 11:26 AM
Rohit Shetty was so honest in saying that he does have the 100 cr. presuure on him……..
as for Talaash and Aamir – just as the crowd gives credit to Aamir Khan and boost the business of DG and a TZP’s , similarly they habe full right to be disappointed by his endorsing a movie like Talaash (rightly or wrongly is a different matter)…..
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 12:07 PM
Talaash may be a semi-hit, not endorsed by general public; but quite a few discerning viewers have loved the film. A friend wants to see it a second time, but sadly, here in Chennai, only a solitary theatre ( not a centrally located moviehouse) is showing it in an afternoon matinee. I’m guessing that is the last of Talaash in my city. JTHJ lasted about 5-6 weeks and has just been pulled out. Life of Pi, released a week before Talaash, but it is holding strong.
I am personally glad that Aamir did Talaash; the film may have needed a bit of tweaking but that’s always the case with reception to any film. No audience is ever in agreement with director and film team totally.
To me Talaash is like a Mangal Pandey moment in Aamir’s career. It is a film he did with high hopes, put great time and effort in the film, but audience gave thums down mostly; a few liked both films. Self in that category. Thankfully, Talaash was better received than MP.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 12:23 PM
Most off the audience who go for cinema want entertainment. I am pretty sure it would have done lot better if the pace was increased little bit, but then movie would have been any regular thriller. I think post climax diluted what movie stood for (made it more main stream). As I said in one of comments the next shot in movie after climax should have been Aamir opening almirah and getting that letter.
I don’t buy that argument that climax was weak. It is infact easier to show Aamir or Rani or some person as killer than actual climax.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:47 PM
I dont think it was hyped like Mangal Pandey. It got attention because of delays, postponements etc. Infact, Aamir did not unleash his so called marketing and that might have harmed the film. Nowadays, even a detergent is marketed with much fanfare. It is a well crafted film and it was accepted. Otherwise it would not have made that much business.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 12:29 AM
Just discovered that another theatre ( a centrally located one) is in fact showing Talaash, afternoon 3.45. So, folks can still have a dose of Talaash if so desired. But don’t see it enetering 5th week. JTHJ did, so has Life of Pi. Ah well.
Enjoyed most of my nine films at the recently concluded Chennai Intl Filmfest. Have written about same at my blog—www.lalipond.blogspot.com. I did manage to watch one Oscar nominated film Amour, but missed out on the Swiss film Sister, something I had planned to watch, but did not; instead went for a Claude Chabrol thriller classic.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:49 PM
Satyam how did U find Killer Joe? I liked it a lot. The black humour and so on. And the cast is uniformally good here. Friedkin still has not lost his touch- I thought Bug was one of the best horror films of the past 2 decades
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:55 PM
It was pretty engaging..
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:18 PM
hmmm –quickly had skimmed thru this for a few seconds earlier–interesting rangan comments–will opine on this later when saner lol
More interesting is that remember ‘anya’ posting this earlier–seems this got quickly deleted ( it appears) and ‘satyam’ has now posted the same !
hahaha
not fit to ‘investigate’ further as of now
opps more fri nite stuff…. 🙂
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:15 AM
Another interesting interview of Salman.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:37 AM
Nine Films Up For Foreign Language Oscar
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 85th Academy Awards®. Seventy-one films had originally qualified in the category.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:
Austria, “Amour,” Michael Haneke, director;
Canada, “War Witch,” Kim Nguyen, director;
Chile, “No,” Pablo Larraín, director;
Denmark, “A Royal Affair,” Nikolaj Arcel, director;
France, “The Intouchables,” Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, directors;
Iceland, “The Deep,” Baltasar Kormákur, director;
Norway, “Kon-Tiki,” Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, directors;
Romania, “Beyond the Hills,” Cristian Mungiu, director;
Switzerland, “Sister,” Ursula Meier, director.
Foreign Language Film nominations for 2012 are again being determined in two phases.
The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 71 eligible films between mid-October and December 17. The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.
The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend Friday, January 4, through Sunday, January 6, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.
The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.
http://www.deadline.com/2012/12/foreign-language-oscar-academy-award/
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 11:05 AM
Salman Khan @ Dabangg 2 Premiere – Fans Goes Crazy
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 11:34 AM
Anil Sinanan’s worst film of 2012
Jab Tak Hai Jaan
My ‘tikka-turkey’ of 2012 is the blockbuster ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, the late Yash Chopra’s bland rehash of every single corny cliché from his back catalogue.
http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/3461/the-best-of-2012-film/8
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 12:36 PM
http://www.boxofficeindia.co.in/dabangg-2-first-day-in-mumbai/
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 12:58 PM
Regardless of quality of film or the durability of Salman’s current phase or eventual total of D2, Salman is currently riding a wave that can be challenged only by AB In 80’s or Khanna in 70’s.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:38 PM
But look at the filmography or variety. It is more like Darasingh Mumtaz starrers.
Govinda was praised so much that success went to his head and david Dhawan tried to make the same comedy again and again.
How long can one stretch the same thing? And our Priyadarshan also tried the same thing and now he reached a low point.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 12:54 PM
Masand goes with a generous 2.5/5…doesn’t matter anyway, all that the movie team is looking for is the moolah..
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dabangg-2-review-salman-khan-is-the-glue-that-hold-together-a-slipshod-film/311736-47-84.html
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:31 PM
It is surprising that most of the critics gave standard 2.5.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:09 PM
Anupama Chopra reviews Dabaang2-
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:55 PM
Ok folks– enuf work– need a break
Goin for a movie
Dabang/ life of PI / hobbitt-Depending on company
Some1 shall bear the ‘brunt’ 🙂
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:56 PM
Dabangg 2 Slows At Multiplexes In Evening
Friday 21st December 2012 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 which raced out of the traps in the morning slowed in the afternoon and evening period as many multiplex shows had lower occupancies than the morning. This was always the likely scenario as its not a holiday but at some places it slowed considerably. This could also be due to exceessive shows. The North was hit hard with evening occupancies down a lot due to the cold weather which is a norm for this time of the year.
The morning shows suggested a 25 crore nett total was on the cards but looking at it in the evening and late evening shows the all India collections could come in around the 18-19 crore nett range which is still huge but the film has been let down slightly by the multiplex business.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 1:59 PM
the excuses have begun. This is a 2 hr film or less and it’s not matching BG or Agneepath in terms of its day 1 number. It’s releasing almost a year after the latter and 16 months or so after the former. Would be surprised if it did as much as ETT. BOI are already spinning. They talked about about an afternoon slowdown and evening shows being strong. Now they’re changing their tune.
And holiday or no-holiday the film should not be 10 crores or so behind ETT on opening day.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 3:05 PM
omg.. if that’s going to be true first day collections would be 12-14 crore less than ETT’s first day
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 5:28 PM
it will end way below ett since multiplex audience is not going to line up beyond this weekend
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:26 PM
^^ ok boss anya–uve said it–now the box office should abide 🙂
amen…
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 2:17 PM
Barfi is out of Oscar’s race.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 4:25 PM
& thank god for that…otherwise it would have setup a new benchmark at the oscars in plagiarism..
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 8:09 PM
It wouldn’t have got anywhere close to the short list.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 3:11 PM
Watching dab2–review v shortly..
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 4:09 PM
Breaking News – Just heard that Bachchan Jnr has won some best gay comedy award in some BIG award function! Hope the fans didnt miss the celebrations, Abhishek has been tweeting with glee.
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 4:18 PM
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 9:13 PM
Dab 2–some random tired thoughts
the multiplex show (fri nite) was not houseful–infact 50-60%!
-talaash was houseful in the second week when i saw..
JTHJ was houseful obviously
Crowd included some rowdy elements who ogled @ gals coming in and out of screenings (not atypical of some salman screenings lol) –only thing lacking was them breaking into a dhinka chika a la ready lol!
As always, i care a damn about whats considered cool, or politicially correct–this is another film which many will diss to enter the ‘discerning’ club and so on..
Found it entertaining—provided–
one liked dab1
GUys will like this more
I loved dabang, and more so the persona and the thought process of the protagonist had a connect for me.
Dabang and ETT remain the ONLY salman films ive watched in their entirety and liked.
Dab 1 vs 2
Does dabang 2 surpass/match dab1?—No…
Is dab2 as crap as expected given it is from untested arbaaz?– No
Weaknesses–the ‘story’ is paperthin, one-line plot –needed more bite n depth
The one-liners and smart alecky quips dont have the razor sharp and rustic quality of Dab1 though not a failure either..
Strengths–the director sticks to the basics and the overall set pattern/template of dab1—tries no heroics and does a reasonably good job in giving the audiences what they loved in dab1!
Obviously one need to love Dabang to like this one
Support cast–Kareena was horrible, Malaika was meh
I think a second/ new heroine was sorely missed !
Sonakshi was fine and endearing though
Prakash raj was fine but even his role lacked range and bite
Vinod khanna hasnt aged well but did a v good job, i think.
Salman Kahn
well, he is at the top of his game–loved him only in dabang and here he repeats the same feat, albeit with a somewhat weaker supporting structure and nearly manages to pull through…
Salmans current status in bollywood
is currently no 1 by a distance and theres no two ways about it!
All those spin masters should read the writing on the wall.
I feel it is better to sacrifice ones unfounded biases/snobbishness than credibiility
Highlights
it was salmans moments with his step bro arbaaz and stepdad vinod khanna that shone through (for me) and somehow carried the essence of dab1 forward, though not as effectively but reasonably enough
Music–Dagaabaaz re, pandeyji were quite good esp the former
The background music is the same as dab 1 and i like it
Openin credits–encapsulate and recap dab1–well presented
Box office
Think arbaaz somewhat exceeded my (low) expectations of him!
But the multiplex wont support this to the extent they patronised ETT as was evident from today itself (esp overseas)
As i mentioned earlier, the ‘ordinary feat’ of ETT may again prove difficult…
but would be surprised if this does less than 150 crores net domestic
Finally, love moments —
An aerial shot in dabang title song where salman literally orders the camera to come down, the camera obeys slowly in steps, comes to his level and then salman delivers his trademark dabang pelvic belt-movement—liked it
LikeLike
December 21, 2012 at 10:45 PM
http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/box-office/2012/khiladi-786-talaash-2-3-week-collection-box-office-102149.html
If Dabangg 2 fails to recreat magic, Khiladi 786 may gain and Talaash may also may make some money.
For the genre it is, Talaash trended quite well and it has not disappeared as some expected.
The frenzy that is being whipped up by the media is sending expectations soaring too high for D 2. It has 4 day advantage now like Saturday to Tuesday.
If SOS was given a fair deal, it would have been the biggest hit of this season.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 2:35 AM
DISCLAIMER TO FANATICS OF CONCERN:
ALL WORDS BELOW ARE ORIGINAL AND DO NOT REEK OF ANY ‘AGENDA’; I AM NEITHER A SALMAN FAN NOR A HATER..I WATCH SALMAN’S CURRENT PHASE OF ASTOUNDING POPULARITY WITH BEMUSEMENT..BUT NOT HATRED
ok then..holiday bonanza..got free AMC passes and hence caught D2 and Jack Reacher. As expected, Jack Reacher turned out to be the wiser decision..
D2:
Alex has covered pretty much everything on this. But seriously, he has been far too kind with the movie. It is really a parasite living off of D1. For non-Salman fans, you are NOT going to miss anything if you wait to catch it on dvds or torrent. AK, if he goes anywhere from here, HAS to owe his career to the original director AK. This is a cinematic replica of that outstanding Sachin Tendulkar’s life-affirming 136 amidst excruciating back-pain against Pak in Chennai in 1999 which India lost — all thanks to the great Indian life-less batting which resulted in India’s humiliating loss..4 batsmen in total couldn’t manage to put up 13 runs on the board to win the test match. Abhinav is the SRT of Dabaang..and Salman’s bro has just tried his best to live off of that innings..and fails pretty expectantly at that.
For reasons I cannot fathom, Salman is going through an extraordinarily God-endorsed phase; an extremely mediocre actor managing to economically out-gross all current stars put together..truly, his stars are burning bright..and he manages to infuse life into this movie with his mannerisms. But the film is so derivative of the 1st that even Nolan couldn’t salvage this..
D1 comes across a classic when compared to this. And it truly was a movie with some memorable masala moments..especially Chulbul’s family dynamics..it was wonderfully erratic and weird. In fact, Chulbul’s family affairs was THE usp of the first part. Here, it is just Salman porn as DNA review mentions. The film drags for its meagre length of 2+ hours. The main drawback is Prakash Rai’s character; this is, in Chulbul’s lingo, the most ‘thuski’ masala villain there ever was. He is a 3rd rate version of Jeevan or Pran or Amjad in Amitabh’s masala films. He has not a SINGLE, a SINGLE line befitting a retort status to Chulbul. He is actually the side-kick in terms of the overall projection of the movie. He is just there to fill in the gaps. One of the plus points of D1 was sonu sood’s villany. The man surely looked and acted equal to Chulbul. Here, Baccha Singh is just a nostril-flaring, eye-brow raising villain..and nothing else. Arbaaz’s directional intelligence is so dumb that the he has cut-pasted the first 30 minutes of D1 to D2. Chulbul enters, bashes, dances!! All that Arbaaz now has to do is stuff in stuff for another 90 minutes!! And he screws up here too. Salman is not even 2 percent of AB to carry of bizzare stuff like walking English in Namak Halal or preparing omlette from a live chicken in COOLIE; so he has to rely on his mannerisms and STRONG one-liners. With mannerisms as regard to Chulbul’s world, Salman is quite effective but his one-liners can be counted on the finger-tips!! Infact, the truly ingenious and LOL dialogues can be compiled on you-tube and it would not total more than 12 minutes!
To Arbaaz’s credit, he successfully tastes bread-crumbs off Abhinav’s plate; he plays the ‘Suppandi’ version from Tinkle comics quite naturally; and he manages to parade his anorexic but ‘filled’ wife and his brother in half-monty. (The sight of an anorexic Malaika and a bulemic Sonakshi is quite a wonderful sight of woman-hood for the male eye) The songs are horrendously shot. To please his middle-eastern fans, SK rides a bike in sand-filled Dubai with Ms. Sinha. It is such cheap imitation of D1 that really pisses one off..because this movie could have REALLY taken the ‘fable’ of Chulbul to greater heights.
This movie is like a left-over of last night’s feast (D1). If you like left-overs, please visit this movie.
Salman’s fans will visit his movie even if it is a porn movie..I get that..but for non-Salman fans, do not waste ANY petrol or gas driving to the theatres…you still want to, it is your wish…in the words of Jack Reacher ‘Remember, you wanted this..’
More on Jack Reacher tomorrow..this is my 3rd bottle of RAGING BITCH Belgian beer..can’t type more…
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 7:50 AM
What a Dabangg review! The credit must be shared with that Belgian beer.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:15 AM
“The sight of an anorexic Malaika and a bulemic Sonakshi is quite a wonderful sight of woman-hood for the male eye”
How on earth is Sonakshi bulemic looking?
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 3:14 AM
Lathi charge on protestors outside the president’s house. A lot of aggression in public. but all will be forgotten in days’ time. All will be forgotten. This is India
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 7:52 AM
I dont think so. It will be like Jessica killing. The girl is going to live and she will keep it alive until justice is done.
II hope so.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Minister of Home Affairs RPN Singh takes bus ride through the same route and finds conditions appalling.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/delhi-gangrape-mos-home-affairs-takes-bus-ride-witnesses-lax-security-on-roads/311762-3-2
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:05 AM
Sanju–thanx for all these updates
Btw honestly speaking–do u think the situation is as bad as made out in the media right now(just read some reports today)
Or is that one or two horrifying incidents isolated and rare
What’s the ground situation in your experience –in Bombay?
Thanx
Also sanju–u out up kela awards–u missed SOS which is also in the list lol
Btw all JTHJ, SOS, dabang2 are 100 crores plus –imo melas are turkeys which are rejected films
How can these 100cr+ be turkeys–they maybe critical disasters but not commercial …
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:09 AM
Kela awards are fun awards.
The situation is not media created but real anger.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:12 AM
Ha this is not fun–this is ‘agenda’ and bias
Putting three 100 crore plus films as ‘turkeys’–one may not like them but they haven’t been flops or even critical disasters since they weren’t supposed to be different /path breaking
Ok– u mean there is a anger
I’m asking is the situation for girls /women in public places that unsafe or are these isolated rare occurrences
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 5:30 AM
Dabangg2 a lazy effort . Two moments which I found hilarious were Gainda(Deepak Dobriyal) vs Chulbul(Salman Khan) just before the interval, and an off-hand moment where Bachcha Bhai(Prakash Raj) tells his lackey not to go overboard with emotional dialogues.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 7:07 AM
Trailer of Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) directed and Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper starrer “The Place Beyond The Pines”
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 7:10 AM
Sorry the director is Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine)
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 7:12 AM
Trailer of Jim Carrey, Steve Carrell and Olivia Wilde starrer “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone”
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 7:46 AM
http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/movies/jthj-dabangg-2-up-for-worst-film-at-golden-kela-awards_124891.htm
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 7:54 AM
JTJH and D2 are competing for Kela awards.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 8:12 AM
http://www.addatoday.com/2012/12/dabangg-2-saturday-collection-update.html?showComment=1356155381559
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 8:20 AM
Dabangg 2 First Day Business
Saturday 22nd December 2012 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 has collected 19.50 crore nett approx on day one as per early estimates. It is the highest non holiday opening day beating the 14.75 crore nett of Don 2 released in the same period last year but it has also released on 600-700 more screens than that film.
As has been seen in the last two years it is really tough to collect really big at multiplexes without a national holiday and the trend continued with Dabangg 2. There is just not enough of a multiplex audience on a working day to pack out 25 or 30 shows daily at a multiplex. Some shows go house full but odd timing shows have very low occupancies.
The first day is still fantastic and there should be growth on Saturday and Sunday as huge number of shows multiplexes give the film potential to get much higher collections as long as the public takes to it.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 8:20 AM
Dabangg 2 First Day Territorial Breakdown
Saturday 22nd December 2012 15.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 collected 19.25 crore nett on day one. It is the highest non holiday opening beating last year’s Christmas release Don 2. The first day territorial breakdown is as follows
Mumbai – 6.15 crore
Delhi/UP – 3.68 crore
East Punjab – 1.59 crore
West Bengal – 95 lakhs
Bihar – 45 lakhs
CP Berar – 1.11 crore
CI – 90 lakhs
Rajasthan – 1.26 crore
Nizam – 1.21 crore
Mysore – 1.08 crore
TNK – 38 lakhs
Others – 45 lakhs
TOTAL – 19.21 crore
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 8:21 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Dabangg2 *actuals* Fri 21.10 cr nett.
Komal Nahta @KomalNahta
Good morning. Just woke up to get the D2 1st day figure: Rs. 21.1 crore. Highest non-holiday opening. Much much more than previous highest
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 8:23 AM
Dabangg 2 Reels In 20 Cr On Day One
by Soumita Sengupta (December 22, 2012)
Yesterday marked the release of Arbaaz Khan’s directorial debut Dabangg 2, featuring Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead. A sequel to 2010’s blockbuster Dabangg, the film had enormous expectations attached to it. It took a flying start and earned Rs 20 crore, all-India, on its first day. Setting a record for being the biggest non-holiday opener, Dabangg 2 has maintained its impressive numbers on its second day as well.
In Mumbai, Rajesh Thandani of Multimedia Combines says, “Dabangg 2 has created a gigantic wave and everyone loves the film. On day one, it earned Rs 7-7.5 crore in Mumbai and Rs 19.5-20 crore, all-India. Although there is a slight drop in Saturday morning’s shows, the evening and night shows will make up for it.”
In Delhi-UP, Brijesh Tandon of H K Tandon and Company adds, “In the Delhi-UP circuit, Dabangg 2 has earned Rs 3.4 crore. The movie is also doing well across territories and has been appreciated by everyone. The music is very nice and, being a Salman Khan film, it is certain to be a blockbuster.”
In East Punjab, Jaspal Dhingra of Nanaskar Enterprises adds, “On day one, the film earned Rs 1.5 crore in East Punjab and footfalls increased with the evening shows. The craze for ‘Bhai’ is increasing every day, and from kids to the elderly, everyone wants to watch his films as they are wholesome masala entertainers.”
In West Bengal, Debashish Dey of Aum Moviez says, “On its first day, Dabangg 2 garnered around Rs 1 crore. I expect the movie to do even better today as it is a weekend. The film is massy with a classy touch. The reports are very good and almost every show is house full. This morning, shows opened to 70-per cent occupancy and the evening along and night shows are already sold out.”
In Rajasthan, Gaurav Gaur from O’Real Imaginations says, “Salman Khan is a brand, so his fans want to watch every single film he makes. Some of them feel they must watch the first day, first show itself. Yesterday, almost all the shows were 80-per cent booked. On day one, Dabangg 2 earned Rs 1.21 crore in Rajasthan. We have huge expectations from this film.”
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 8:25 AM
First Day Comparison – Dabangg 2 Vs Rowdy Rathore
http://www.boxofficeindia.co.in/first-day-comparison-%E2%80%93-dabangg-2-vs-rowdy-rathore/
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 8:43 AM
Let’s assume Sat is the same as Fri and Sun is higher. You probably have a 65 crore weekend, maybe slightly more (or less. The other day I said I’d be surprised if it got anywhere close to ETT’s number. Now I’d say anything more than 150 would surprise me and even for that it would have to be very stable during the week, basically pull in an average of 7-8 crores every day. That would give it 95 or so for the week. looking at trending patterns these days that should get it to 150. However if Sun isn’t significantly stronger or weekdays go down to 5 crores or so after a couple of days around 8 or a bit higher then it might not do more than 140 or something.
The Salman initial remains intact of course and he keeps crossing 100 crores without breaking a sweat. All of this is pretty remarkable by any measure. But the lack of a worthwhile film has caught up with him in every single instance. Not one film of his has doubled its week 1. Even the first Dabanng wasn’t even close to doing this. An Jo usefully called Dabanng 2 “Salman porn” but the problem is that the audience only wants this where he is concerned. This rules out good trending.
On Dabanng 2 though looking at the day 1 number and considering all contexts I think there was probably a segment of the potential audience that just wasn’t interested enough here. Don’t think it’s just about WOM. This film could have done 25 or so on day 1. There are films that are no more than half-decent in the morning/afternoon shows on Fri and that then get to a pretty good number because of pretty strong evening shows. Even with less than optimal WOM the film should have done more. Clearly even BOI were expecting stronger Fri evening shows. Unless WOM is poorer than expected accounting for this. We’ll know over the weekend looking at the Sat/Sun numbers but especially those during the week. Of course Dabanng has some holidays coming up but a film still needs some strength to profit from these. Don 2 didn’t become a huge grosser just because of the holidays.
If one looks at Salman’s initials though, holiday or not, Dabanng, Ready, BG, now Dabanng 2, all fall within a certain range, adjusted for inflation. Ready was a bit lower but the other three certainly weren’t. Dabanng 2 is really just keeping pace with the first Dabanng and BG unless it does something surprising over the weekend. But ETT was an outlier. Wasn’t just the holiday deal. It was well in excess of any other holiday opener, with or without Salman. So here the Yashraj banner, the Katrina addition, and a subject that seemed more serious than the usual Salman stuff, were probably hugely important in getting a lot more of the non-Salman base involved.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:36 AM
That’s right. I was also surprised at Singham doubling it gross (don’t think it was much better than Dabangg)
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 8:26 AM
OT,
Satyam, GF, ls, Di and others would like to have your take on this ???
TOI : Creative people should not just entertain but build values, says Aamir Khan
Times take :
Entertainment a value in itself He has long shown a penchant for
taking up activist cudgels, but the label ‘superstar with a conscience’ has become especially cemented to Aamir Khan since he chose to make his TV debut with Satyamev Jayate. He has now said that every creative person must not just entertain, but also build values and the social fabric. While that might be Aamir’s brand – and there’s nothing wrong with it –such branding cannot be prescribed for every creative person. And the underlying disdain of “just” entertainment needs to be contested.
Movies are magic. They can hold a mirror to reality or conjure the most improbable of dreams, regardless of whether they build the social fabric. They can help us connect with each other or make us plunge into the depths of isolation. The year Khan made his blockbuster debut with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Mira Nair made her directorial splash with Salaam Bombay. To assign greater value to the latter just because it offered an explicit social judgment would be to misread the relationship between art and society. The Aamir film, including songs like ‘Papa kehte hain’, captured the spirit of the times and delivered great pleasure to great numbers. Not one or the other but both films reflected “responsible” creativity.
Today, growing multiplexes and ticket sales mean that India has even more room for both niche projects and mainstream masala, the boundaries between which are blurring. With many experts seeing the sun setting on Hollywood’s golden age and rising on Bollywood’s, with the definition of quality cinema continuing to expand, a monochrome future is simply out of the question. Meanwhile, it’s a moot point how “social values” are built up in blockbuster projects with which Aamir is associated – like Talaash, the latest film to join the Rs 100 crore club, or the upcoming Dhoom 3.
Another counter View :
Educate, don’t just entertain Anil Thakkar
When movie stars speak of social or political concerns, the knee-jerk reaction seems to be to dismiss them out of hand – as if being actors somehow robs their opinions of legitimacy.
“You are entertainers,” they are told, “Stick to doing what you know.” But Aamir Khan is someone who has bucked that trend time and again – from involving himself with Medha Patkar and Anna Hazare’s causes to his TV show Satyamev Jayate to making movies like Taare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots that incorporated learnings about specific social issues. So it comes as no surprise that he thinks creative people should bring grace to society and build values in people. After all, he has put his money where his mouth is – and done it successfully.
And he makes a strong point. Those who think that the media children consume today has no impact on their development are either deluding themselves or simply not paying attention to socio-cultural trends around them. Particularly in India, movies pervade every aspect of our society; they both reflect and shape broad cultural trends. While a specific violent movie, for instance, might not be the trigger that causes someone to commit an act of violence in real life, the general trend of violent movies certainly helps desensitise people to the idea of violence and creates an environment where that violence is thinkable. This is something even Hollywood has finally admitted, with various actors speaking up in the aftermath of the horrific Sandy Hook school shooting to say that Hollywood cannot shirk its social responsibility.
Given this, doesn’t it behoove our actors and filmmakers to take at least a little care? No one is asking them to turn into documentarians or social activists – but Aamir Khan has shown that it is perfectly possible to make movies that both contain positive social messages and do well at the box office. If you can both entertain and educate, why settle for just entertaining?
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=CAP/2012/12/22&PageLabel=24&EntityId=Ar02403&ViewMode=HTML
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 9:21 AM
Thanx Ann –enjoyed reading your dab2 review
Cheers 2 Belgian beer 🙂
Agree with most of what uve said
Expected v little so enjoyed it & didn’t get bored
A pertinent point uve made though–
“For reasons I cannot fathom, Salman is going through an extraordinarily God-endorsed phase; an extremely mediocre actor managing to economically out-gross all current stars put together..truly, his stars are burning bright..and he manages to infuse life into this movie with his mannerisms”
That’s where I differ
It’s good that u acknowledge that “for reasons I cannot fathom..”
Even I can’t –but then let’s not belittle or deny that x-factor
Part of which is ‘stardom’ or ‘clicking wit the audience’
Unlike other things like honing the script, choosing right projects, working on ones acting –this is something that u eithe have (@ a point in career) or u don’t
This x-factor Needs to be respected
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 9:39 AM
OBJECTIVE MEASURBLE INDICATORS of success
Read bits of this briefly
Now this was posted v briefly by ‘anya’ & surprisingly deleted v soon followed by Reposting by ‘satyam’
I wasn’t following this properly –just had a quick look but found this a bit interesting —lol
Was just a quick glance so maybe wrong–but maybe was deleted by Satyam since he wished to post it himself
Or someone is in control of both usernames Satyam and anya 🙂
Coming back to the piece itself–AGREE with b Rangan here predominantly
However on blogosphere, this point of films like talaash can’t be held comparable to other films of friendlier version is over represented
The same point if drilled in too many times starts looking irritating
Ok, people HAVE accepted it (@ least most sane ones have)
But every time, box office of other films or even talaash gets discussed –the way this is dished out speaks of a somewhat deeper ‘insecurity’
It’s as if the need for clarification is being felt more than the queries for clarification
To add–
There’s NOTHING wrong in having a box office criterion either
There are loads of subjective indicators
A)What’s ‘different’ /’edgy’/’path breaking ‘ for some maybe ‘pretentious’ intellectual masturbation for others ( arguably the ‘others’ maybe much more in number in this scenario)
B) what’s mindless entertainment for some, maybe the only way some folks see ‘entertainment’ as
C) While one can keep arguing till the cows come home, there’s no unanimity on subjective indicators
Then one looks at OBJECTIVE MEASURABLE indicators
Fr critical appeal–one looks at imdb ratings
Awards (one may not believe in them)
‘Respectable’ awards like national, oscars
Fr films like talaash, one can assess them from these tools as well
(I liked talaash and loved aamir there)–but I’m not into this default ‘protectionism’ either
Fr commercial–one HAS to look at box office and there’s no running away from it , sorry!
Dissing of box office achievers (& over achievers!) is no way to be ‘intelligent’ –it’s NOT that easy to create a universal hit –let’s not be mistaken
So context is important and skewing either ways needs to be viewed with circumspection imo
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:39 AM
^this posting by ‘anya’, then deletion and then immediate reposting by ‘Satyam’ was picked up by chance by me!
Till either of them clarify, Satyam stands ‘exposed’ in front of us
🙂
Wow what Sherlock Holmes job I’ve done hahaha
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 11:04 AM
C’mon Satyam —we didn’t expect this from u !! 🙂
Suspected your involvement/complicity in some previous such episodes –but your silence is raising even more questions now
Wow–sequel to Talaash
And I feel like the ‘hero’ aamir unravelling this ‘mystery’
And Satyam is Kareena here lol
But seriously —the blog demands answers –Satyam 😉
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 12:47 PM
Didn’t repost anything. Someone had already posted the Rangan link. There was duplication which I deleted.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 9:58 AM
The horrifying endemic rapes in India
Sorry, haven’t been in the loop bit checked some news today and came across this medical student episode–horrible disgusting
Plus there are news reports of kids 3-5-7 year olds!
I mean there’s a limit!!!
What’s goin on?
Sanjana posted a link that I read this from and that took me to this other link on the same site–thanx sanju
Exerpt —
Long back, before the so-called modern age set in and left us all helpless in wonder of its advances, many communities believed in a myth. That of the Vagina Dentata. The legend was spoken of with an uncanny fear, and helped in keeping sex with unknown women – and, the problem of rape – at bay. The folk tale of the vagina dentata says that the vagina contains teeth. And hence, unsolicited or forced intercourse with a woman can leave a man with an injured organ – or without it.
Folk tales and myths might not exactly have made much difference to the modern man. With science and increased knowledge of the woman body, the myth of the vagina dentata has been laid to rest long back. But maybe, given the times and horrid situations that we are the denizens of, that is the only solution for womenfolk today. Not the vagina dentata, but an alternative closer to the myth, maybe.
In the wake of the recent diabolical crime that left the citizens of the country agape with horr
Related Stories
Can cinema curb rape in society?
How cinema glorifies a woman’s agony
or – the Delhi gang rape incident – many ‘solutions’ have been put forward by people across the entire social spectrum. While some have demanded capital punishment for the ones accused, others have put their fingers on life imprisonment, and yet others have zeroed in on chemical castration. Opinions are many, varied, and will perhaps never be unanimous. There will be differences, and there will be debates. What really needs to be answered is whether or not we, as women, will be able to live a life which is an iota more safe and peaceful than the ones we have been leading thus far. For while Delhi boils with pent-up anger, the rest of the country is loyally pouring in reports of gang rapes from their bowels. And gradually, people are getting close to the miserable, hopeless realization that perhaps a real ‘solution’ is far from being transformed into reality.
However, while the people in the higher echelons of power discuss and find out how to dole out ‘justice’ to the 23-year old medical student whose life was turned upside down because of no fault of her own, here’s another ‘solution’. This too, is a highly debatable one, and will perhaps dry up as a dream that has been left to die. Nevertheless, here it is.
Sonnet Ehlers, a South African doctor, had invented an anti-rape female condom – RapeX, later renamed ‘Rpe-aXe’, a few years back. Ehlers’ prototype draws its basic design from the myth of the vagina dentata; i.e., the latex sheath, which can be worn inside a woman’s vagina, is endowed with inward-facing barbs – teeth, in common language. Ehlers, while interacting with a rape victim, came across her motivation to create the Rape-aXe. The victim had said, “If only I had teeth down there,” thereby referring to the folklore of the vagina dentata. If a man were to force himself upon a woman who’s wearing the condom, the barbs within the sheath would close in upon the man’s organ – even after it is withdrawn – causing excruciating pain to the perpetrator and providing the victim with adequate time to escape.
http://zeenews.india.com/blog/delhi-gang-rape-case-time-to-usher-in-the-vagina-dentata-in-india_5933.html
I think in these sort of situations–these sort of measures won’t be out of place
Btw those actually living in India–is the ground reality actually this bad or are these isolated reports…
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:16 AM
Just open TOI online any day. This a daily occurence and it is increasing spreading like plague all over India.
If I may say so, this is indulged in mostly by undereducated, underemployed and lower strata more than the upper strata. They must have witnessed how women are treated by their fathers, relatives etc. And politicians feed these ggondas for their own benefit and this encourages them. The police is hopeless.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:22 AM
There have been reports of MPs and other powerful, wealthy men raping women in the past- this is not limited to the lower class, it’s just that upper-class rapists have the means to hush up their crimes. When even the police force does not view rape as a crime, but instead blames the victim, you know that this is social and cultural problem and not one that is limited to just a small section of the population-
http://www.firstpost.com/living/from-the-delhi-police-six-reasons-why-women-deserve-to-be-raped-269957.html
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:26 AM
MInisters, MPs, Politicians rape but they dont brutalise. And mosyt of these ministers, mps, politicians are also from that strata. I dont want to name those parties, but everyone knows them.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:28 AM
Isn’t raping bad enough?
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:30 AM
Raping and then brutalising is terrible. Insult over injury, I mean.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:22 AM
Sanjana– the BIGGER problem is that those guys were so CONFIDENT they will get away in that medical student case.
I mean– even damaging intestines ? It needs an animal mentality to behave like this .
The ‘tolerance’ and the confidence they can escape is more shocking
There’s a view that Bombay is safer than Delhi/north –is it true?
Also I personally have an impression that these ills are lesser in South India like Kerala and madras –maybe it’s education or just bad trends maybe ?
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:28 AM
Tamilnadu, andhra, Karnataka have some of the worst criminals and these crimes dont get reported in the mainstream media that much. It is a fallacy that south is safe.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:27 AM
In related news, the President has granted clemency to several criminals who’ve been convicted of crimes including murdering children and raping and killing little girls-
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-22/india/32367604_1_pardons-mercy-petitions-molai-ram
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:28 AM
Just read an international blog post where a stupid Indian had apparently posted something –it’s too disgusting to be linked here
But his view was indian ‘morals’ are different
Young girls who go out late night, to ‘pubs’ and are out with ‘boyfriends’ etc are putting themselves at risk since they are ‘asking for it’ –now this view is trot objectionable I think
Don’t think it will be a problem in Indian major cities though, I think!
Seems a smaller town mentality
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 10:30 AM
LOL! A smaller town mentality? In this article that I linked to above, the police force of New Delhi talk about how most rape is consensual because women who drink/ have boyfriends/ have divorced mothers ‘ask for it’:
http://www.firstpost.com/living/from-the-delhi-police-six-reasons-why-women-deserve-to-be-raped-269957.html
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 6:38 AM
Ami, I came across a sick comment on twitter (regarding the rape incident) while I was checking Kalki koechlin’s tweets (not puting up the link for certain ‘obvious’ reasons). Btw Kashyap is himself is being blamed for being a misogynist by many on twitter-
“there r many women in usa who get addicted to gangbang after being raped by blks.they enjoy it immensely.its a fact”
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 12:49 PM
sorry guys had to delete a number of comments. A few comments on rape are fine but two pages drown out the box office thread.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 3:59 PM
I think if the comments are decent it is better to put all of them in one larger comment of yours (or any editor).
ps – We do discuss politics, cricket and other stuff.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 5:54 PM
fair enough.. will do this next time.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 6:01 PM
Just added all the deleted comments in one as you suggested.. though even this requires some effort if it’s many pages your idea is certainly a fair one.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 6:19 PM
Thanks and it does take some effort that is why I suggest write one big comment than multiple small comments.
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 5:59 PM
AA
Typo –this view is very objectionable and a patriarchal set up
Apparently there’s also a view to ban mobile phones to girls
Since they can use it to ‘acquire boyfriends’ and ‘network’ and set up dates etc
Hahahaha what bull !!
Ami
Yes, it’s worse for sure, but raping in itself is an absolutely awful and sickening crime, and it’s not restricted to the lower class alone…
AA
Shockingly even her intestines have been damaged
Think that girls life is in danger
I feel there’s no point in just protesting but gals in India should take action/steps—
Although they are ‘gross’ but options are
Gadgets like rapeX (details above)–’vaginal teeth’
Arming girls for self protection
Training in martial arts etc
Stricter laws
AA
Sanjana–my experience is v v limited
But I do feel that south in general is much safer and the men there are overall more docile and law abiding than north India.
Plus I think education is more prevalent
Also south has much less of this patriarchal society stuff
Infact in some places like Kerala I’ve heard it’s a matriarchal society
Saurabh
One of the reasons of rape in India is that society in general does not support a healthy interaction between boys and girls. Especially in small town if a boy talks to a girls, the family members among others start thinking that there is something ‘going on’ between the two. By the time these boys come to college etc they start visualizing a girl only as a sex object.
And this idea for blaming women for the rape is not only sick but as Ami pointed out, tells abt a deeper societal mindset. And as a male, I feel really sad that male onlookers hardly ever come forward to help a girl in such instances (is there some problem with our upbringing). Why are men turning into sissies
And I am completely in favour of capital punishment for such people. In fact Barkha Dutt had once organized a debate in my school on the topic of rape and i had said that rapists should be lynched. Though i am not comfortable for castration. I somehow find it too sick
AA
Skewed sex ratio
Sometimes one goes on a train/metro/bus in the west and note the skewed sex ratio
Obviously there are MUCH More girls than guys in general I think.
One sometimes feels uncomfortable with unwanted female attention haha though its good mostly
In India–due to other nefarious ‘activities’ like female infanticide, the sex ratio is extremely lopsided
This contributes to the other obvious issues, I think
Sanjana
Drinking adds to the problem.
It helps to have a good family financially stable and with good values will minimise these crimes. Unfortunately the poor and disadvantaged sections dont have good backup in terms of quality of life and they have to fend for themselves after dropping out of school. They fall into bad company most of the time and they just dont care when they are committing a crime like rape.
These gangrapes are especially horrible. Just like lions approaching the prey killing and feasting. In animals’ case, it is their hunger. But when humans turn into animals, the society also has to answer a lot of questions. The rich poor gap is increasing and the poor are becoming aggressive when opportunities arise. The upper classes have more outlets and even when they indulge, there are powerful lawyers to defend them. Rapes are a socio economic problem.
Punishment should be severe like hanging as a deterrent. This alone wont solve the problem because a rapist or murderer wont think twice before committing a crime.
No one is safe.
And why south is relatively safe as AA said? this is because of educational opportunities opened to the disadvantaged sections through reservations and in south parents are very much particular that their children must get good education and reasonable employment. In north also reservations are there, but the culture is different as the parents are not that much into giving their kids good education.
In north India, the Khaps are being supported even by political parties. And Bihar and UP has such pathetic underclass with no support system.
West Bengal and Orissa also have lesser rapes and this maybe because they worship womenfolk as durga. And Gujarat and Mumbai have also the benefit of development embracing all sections though unequally.
Ami
“One of the reasons of rape in India is that society in general does not support a healthy interaction between boys and girls. Especially in small town if a boy talks to a girls, the family members among others start thinking that there is something ‘going on’ between the two. By the time these boys come to college etc they start visualizing a girl only as a sex object.”
Excellent points Saurabh- I am at a loss to understand why some people think that isolating the sexes is some form of ‘superior Indian culture’!
Sanjana
Boys have usually mothers, sisters, cousins and hordes of relatives to interact with. Nowadays, there are very few exclusive girls only schools or colleges. Once you enter professional colleges, there ends all exclusivity. In these days of FB, boys and girls have lots of opportunities to mingle. the problem starts when boys want sex from girls and girls refuse. Or boys want love and girls may not be ready. Sometimes interaction leads to more problems than solving them. Girls being chased, stalked etc. Girls must become strong and face these situations with tact and courage. Interaction is the only way to make girls face future problems like this.
AA
“In these days of FB, boys and girls have lots of opportunities to mingle. the problem starts when boys want sex from girls and girls refuse. Or boys want love and girls may not be ready. Sometimes interaction leads to more problems than solving them”
sanju–that’s an ace ‘deep’ comment….
TonyMontana
It’sthe helpless feeling that has stuck and what’s worse is you know not much can be done in a city where the law-enforcement officers themselves treat a rape victim as something to be objectified.
This poor girl’s intestines were ruptured and displaced after her ovaries were pulled out.. FCUK.. I mean, how can such a thing happen in a civilized society. Dec 21 did indeed witness the end of world, especially on this side of the planet. A country of hypocrites, a city of animals..
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 6:46 PM
left two long comments on this elsewhere, one today in fact:
[The horrifying Delhi rape incident reminds me of a remarkable section from Bolano’s 2666 (the Part about the Crimes) which is set in a fictitious city modeled on Ciudad Juarez, surely one of the most terrifying places on the planet, and one not too far from the US (Southern) border. There have been a couple of films on the subject as well but essentially the kind of event that took place in Delhi happened dozens of times here in the 90s and beyond.. the most gruesome rapes and sexual abuses followed by the most gruesome deaths. The bodies were often recovered but the mystery was never quite solved. Bolano’s book relies on a very important journalistic account of these events to create a terrifying fiction.
It is also a stark reminder of how globalization has gone hand-in-hand with a surge in violence against women. Of all kinds. This is also the ultimate theme of Stieg Larson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy (the original titles are a lot more harsh — ‘the Men who hate women’ and so on..). The reasons are sociological, political, economic.. complex and complicated one way or the other but at any rate the forces that unleash ‘global capital’ also seem to engage these rather atavistic impulses.
Delhi unfortunately has been a city which at least for the last decade or two has had an atrocious history on this score. from the rape of a Swiss diplomat to a man disposing of his girlfriend in a tandoor to now this sort of event which is alas quite routine. The powerful are often implicated. There is this heady and toxic mix in Delhi. And not surprisingly this is a city which compared to Bombay is far more regressive on issues of gender. This as a socio-cultural mix. The average woman is far more likely to get pinched far more times in a Delhi bus than in Bombay. These are never insignificant things.
At least one important index of a culture is the extent to which women are treated well or otherwise. Not that India is a shining example in any sense on this score but some occurrences (again not at all uncommon) particularly curdle the soul. We saw for instance that girl on KBC not too long ago who was ‘defaced’ in the most barbaric way for refusing the advances of some boys.
We keep congratulating ourselves that we are making enormous progress because we somehow have more multiplexes than ever before! Or we tend to locate the worst kind of violence in the hinterlands of the country. Two sides of the same coin essentially. The liberated, upscale urban environment juxtaposed with regressive, elemental rural (or small-town) brutality. But this is too comforting a picture. Too easy an equation.
It is all happening in the nation’s political heart..
It should shame all of us that these events do nothing more than feed media sensationalism and fake TV debates and the like and in the bargain we are nothing more than consumers of this horror. we express our outrage and we move along.. everything remains the same..
I might be forgetting something in between but Damini was probably the last high profile Hindi film that attempted an examination of some of these questions.. ]
[As new details keep emerging of the Delhi rape, this time from the victim herself, the reality turns out to be even more horrifying than one initially thought. This is such a barbaric case that it would be hard to devise suitable punishment for the perpetrators. Something one of the doctors said was nonetheless illuminating in a somewhat unfortunate way. He was praising the strength of the victim and so forth. At one point he mentioned how the girl’s reproductive organs were miraculously safe and that she could lead a “normal life”. This seems somewhat perverse to say given what she’s gone through and furthermore given that her intestines have been removed (she cannot eat or drink normally unless she gets a transplant). We of course all hope that she can be physically as normal as possible and gets the transplant. But the doctor’s remark is a bit of a ‘slip’ which is that we do not consider a woman’s life fully normal if she cannot reproduce. And so even in such horrifying circumstances the argument for normality revolved entirely around the reproductive organs being safe.
As I said the other day unfortunately these events are all too common in the subcontinent. It happens pretty much every day. This episode was particularly brutal but there are many others. A few days later there was that W Bengal episode where the girl was gang-raped and then set fire to when she tried to escape (she is in critical care currently). Just yesterday there was a case in Pakistan in Punjab where a landowner refused to pay his laborer after promising he would earlier. When the laborer insisted he got very annoyed and had the latter’s 13 year old daughter as well as his four nieces (aged between 13 and 18) abducted. All four were then brutally gang-raped. Again I’ve heard of many such stories from that side of the border.
Rape is an epidemic in the subcontinent. And this without a state of war being in place (the normal excuse for such horrors). It takes place for all sorts of reasons but it happens daily. And not just rape but gang-rape. I don’t know how we can as a society keep congratulating ourselves when this reality confronts us every single day. This isn’t about the normal ravages of ‘crime’ and so forth. This is about the systematic brutalization of women in very many different ways (with or without rape) and for reasons often sanctioned by society (honor rapes, dowry burnings etc). The law is often complicit or often helpless to deal with the scale of the problem. It’s appalling.
In Talaash recently there’s a poignant line about how ‘a girl disappears and no one cares’. Actually far worse happens and no one cares. I am of course gratified by the number of protesters who’ve taken to the streets in so many places following the Delhi incident but so much more is needed at a structural level. Once again democracy isn’t simply about the vote but the guarantee of basic security for everyone. Society sometimes has to be protected from itself!
And so when I often don’t like joining in with the celebratory narrative of ‘Shining India’ or whatever it’s for this kind of reason. I am not an absolutist. Nor am I foolishly naive. Every society, every nation has its share of ills. But it seems to me that a minimal bar has to be met before one starts engaging in pride about one’s country. And this sort of routine horror perpetrated systematically on one gender (not to mention issues of caste and so forth) cannot simply be ignored as ‘one side of the story’. Such atrocities sanctioned by segments of society and often beyond the reach of the law for a variety of reasons cannot simply be balanced out by economic accomplishment or whatever in other areas of life. This would be a depressingly vulgar calculus. ]
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 8:18 PM
“Every society, every nation has its share of ills. But it seems to me that a minimal bar has to be met before one starts engaging in pride about one’s country.”
Well said.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 7:26 AM
pl create a new post abt that rape incident
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 12:52 PM
JTHJ, Dabangg 2 up for worst film at Golden Kela Awards
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/jthj-and-dabangg-2-up-for-worst-film-at-golden-kela-awards/1/239023.html
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 2:51 PM
The first day territorial comparison between Shahrukh Khan’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Salman Khan’s Dabangg 2.
A few important points
Dabangg 2 was a solo release, while Jab Tak Hai Jaan released with another big film Son Of Sardar
JTHJ released on a holiday (Diwali), while Dabangg opened on a working day (Friday).
Dabangg 2 had a wider release, 30 – 35% more screens compared to Jab Tak Hai Jaan.
More shows for Dabangg 2 at multiplexes, as it was a much shorter film 2.10 hours (D2) – 3 hours (JTHJ)
Territory Dabangg 2 Jab Tak Hai Jaan
Mumbai 7.48 crore 5.58 crore
Delhi/UP 4.10 crore 3.27 crore
East Punjab 1.62 crore 0.82 crore
Rajasthan 1.26 crore 0.55 crore
Nizam 1.23 crore 0.80 crore
Central Province 1.12 crore 0.65 crore
Central India 0.90 crore 0.32 crore
Mysore 1.14 crore 1.25 crore
West Bengal 0.98 crore 1.15 crore
Bihar 0.45 crore 0.12 crore
Others 0.70 crore 0.72 crore
Total 20.98 crore 15.23 crore
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 6:57 PM
I read somewhere that Talaash first day in Pakistan is 90 lakhs and D2 is one crore. Can anyone confirm these figures?
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 7:16 PM
Could not resist posting the link.
Please dont post comments and hijack this thread. Just read and enjoy or hate.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/employers-can-fire-workers-they-find-too-sexy-us-court-rules-308575?pfrom=home-
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 11:40 PM
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5223&nCat=
The second day figures for Dabangg 2 from some circuits are as follows. The day one numbers are in brackets.
Delhi/UP – 302 (368)
East Punjab – 133 (159)
CP Berar – 91 (111)
CI – 69 (89)
Rajasthan – 96 (126)
Gujarat – 149 (158)
All above figures are in lakhs
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 11:41 PM
Dabangg 2 dropped on Saturday as it collected in the 16 crore nett range as per early estimates. The single screen drop was expected as collections were extremely strong on day one but surprisingly multiplexes failed to show growth on Saturday. Some multiplexes showed similar business to Friday while some very down slightly but very few were up.
The two day business of the film is around 35 crore nett which is huge as it is has done it without holidays but the next few days will tell that the drop that come on Friday was due to excessive screenings and cold weather or therew as more to it. The North was hit again in the evening by cold weather on Saturday.
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5220&nCat=
LikeLike
December 22, 2012 at 11:44 PM
Cold weather and excessive screen!
And everyone screaming Talaash did not do well.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 12:18 AM
I think sunday may show growth and also tuesday which is a holiday. Like Khiladi786.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 1:24 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Dabangg2 Sat *estimates* around 17 cr to 18 cr nett.
he had it at 21 on Fri.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 1:32 AM
He has 21.1 for Friday and Komal has exact same. Most likely from same source.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 2:01 AM
Young multiplex viewers are getting lathi-charged in NCR, who has got time to watch an item song in Dabanng2.
Bwood also does not realize how it miscalculates its entertainment offerings, how it feeds into socio-economic factors and corrupts minds. The people at the bottom-rung of society, denied any access through realistic social security for upliftment, resort to banal animal instincts. Its a vicious cycle, fed almost entirely by a massively institutionalized corrupt state and society. Dabanng2 is the last thing on the minds of people glued to their TV sets.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 12:59 AM
The role of Bollywood in India’s rape culture: Shabana Azmi, Priyanka Chopra and Shekar Kapur, from 50:00 minutes onwards
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/india-decides-9/massive-outrage-anger-erupts-over-delhi-gang-rape/258773
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 2:13 AM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Aurat-bandh-on-December-26/Article1-979646.aspx
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 4:24 AM
It’s probably going to wrap up the week end at over 55cr which is very good considering the fact that it has yet to enjoy the benefits of the holidays periods. Tuesday is going to be big. And then it has at least 2 open weeks with the festive periods around.
Don’t want to compare with Talaash because they are completely different deals but those who want to use Talaash as a comparison to bash Dabang 2 tradewise are facing a losing battle here. Because Dabang 2 will most probably easily cross Talaash’s liftetime total within a week’s run.
I am a bigger fan of Aamir than of Salman but I do think that Salman is the current No. 1. The major stars of this year have been happy with their films scrapping through the 100cr barrier but with Salman, the benchmark is much higher. If Dabang 2 grosses 150-170 cr (and that’s 150% of what the other major stars usually achieve), it will still be considered as a major disappointment. That’s the testimony of Salman’s current stardom.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 5:09 AM
Brilliant interview of Mansoor Khan
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-i-took-up-making-films-to-redeem-myself-/1047499/0
Mansoor Khan is a Bollywood urban legend, for being the director who made four popular films and gave it up to open a homestay in Coonoor. In this rare interview, Khan talks about his cinema, reveals that Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was supposed to be his first movie, that they shot an alternative, happy ending for Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and that cousin Aamir Khan still hasn’t gotten over the fact that he cast Shah Rukh Khan in Josh. Excerpts:
What made you swap films for making cheese?
I was never ambitious about films. Though I did study engineering and computer science, I knew that a non-urban life would make me happy. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was the only film I wanted to make. I wanted it to be my first film.
Then how did Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT) become your first film?
I started writing Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar much before QSQT. I was like the character Sanjay Lal (played by Aamir). I was irresponsible and needed to learn about responsibility and the importance of valuing others. I wanted to make a small-scale film about this boy and his world but I wasn’t able to write it well. I stopped midway. By this time, my father (filmmaker Nasir Hussain) wanted to launch Aamir and he came up with the story of QSQT. I ended up directing it.
How did films happen?
I had zero interest in films. I would watch my father’s films only to criticise them. My father was a sport about it and would only want to know ki mazaa aaya ki nahin. I went for engineering but didn’t complete it. I’ve actually never completed anything in my life. Films happened in the process of running away from engineering.
I was always into gadgets and introduced video edit on a Sony recorder. I had great plans of doing alternative programming for Doordarshan, and even asked them if I could video-edit their ghazal programme so that it could be presented in a better way. I used to play the piano and drums and liked to visualise the music. That was one of the reasons I got into filmmaking. I realised that if I wanted the songs to look good, I’d probably need to make a film. In a way, I took up making films in order to redeem myself. I made a pilot film called Umberto and Amole Gupte (Stanley Ka Dabba director and Taare Zameen Par writer) acted in it. I wanted to see whether I could tell a story. My dad saw the film and asked me to direct QSQT.
Most of your films have daddy issues right from QSQT’s Papa kehte hain to Jo Jeeta… and then, of course, Akele Hum Akele Tum.
You got me there. I didn’t realise that before. Perhaps because emotionally, I find the father-son theme strong. But I can’t take the credit for Papa kehte hain. I only suggested to Majrooh (Sultanpuri) saab that the song is about a boy who is graduating and who doesn’t know what to do with his life. But since he’s a romantic, he feels his destiny is love. Majrooh saab came up with the line. I found the word “Papa” very tacky and wanted it changed. My dad told me it’s a very good line and convinced me to keep it.
You gave in to your dad for the song but you had to fight your way for the tragic ending in QSQT.
Though my father wrote the basic story, he gave me the freedom to tweak it. The first 11 scenes, till the titles roll, were exactly what he wrote. Then I took over. I took his landscape of star-crossed lovers but added the nuances in Raj and Rashmi’s characters.
In my mind, they were always meant to die but my dad didn’t like sad movies. He was known for his happy films. He felt the audience couldn’t handle sadness. He had made Baharon Ke Sapne, which was based on a story he had written in college. It was a serious film and it didn’t work. He had to re-shoot a happy ending for the film after two days. I never agreed with this decision. I’ve always believed that the fate of a film is one thing, while its integrity is another thing.
My father insisted on a happy ending for QSQT. We did try to have a scene where Goga Kapoor gets shot by the sharpshooter who was hired to kill Aamir, and then Aamir piles on the shooter and kills him. But when we were shooting the sequence, someone or the other would laugh on the sets because it looked so fake. This just made my resolve stronger.
Youngsters felt the lovers should die but the elders hated it. Since the film was about young people, my father decided to go with their verdict.
In contrast, how did the happy ending for Akele Hum Akele Tum come about?
I agree that I compromised (on that). By the time we made the film, Aamir and I had different points of view. I should have been firm. Those characters were never meant to be happy together, they could only be happy apart. I guess I lacked conviction. Even while casting, I felt Aamir looked too young to play a dad to a six-year-old. I wanted Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit. There were date issues with Madhuri and my next choice was Manisha Koirala. Somehow, I couldn’t see Manisha with Anil, so I went ahead with Aamir.
The casting of Josh was like a film itself, wasn’t it? All three Khans—Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh — were attached with the project at one time.
Yeah, I wanted SRK as Max and Aamir for Rahul’s role. I had narrated the story to Aamir. Without my telling him what role I wanted him to play, he started wearing bandanas and wristbands. He thought he was playing Max. I went to SRK, who said no because he was sure that Aamir would be playing Max. Everyone wanted to play Max. Even Kajol, who I wanted for Shirley’s role, got up after the narration and said, “I want to play Max”. But I felt SRK would be the best Max. When I told Aamir this, he said, “If that’s the case, I’m not in the film.” Then I went to Salman who had date issues. Then my producer Ratan Jain took charge and said he’d speak to SRK. That was it. He agreed, even to play a brother to Aishwarya Rai.
So after four films, what made you chuck it all and go to Coonoor?
It was just a “now or never” feeling. I moved to Mandwa first on my own and managed to convince my wife Tina to move with our two kids to somewhere more peaceful. I had always liked Coonoor. We moved here and Tina got interested in cheese-making and that’s how our farmstay, Acres Wild, happened. I consider myself lucky to have married the right woman and together we created our own world. I was never crazy about films, the way Aamir and Imran (Khan) are, so I could do it.
But was it easy to give up something you were successful at?
I’ve always been wary of success. It’s like a drug. Actors chase it even when they are ageing, and directors chase it even when they lose touch with the audience.
Don’t you miss the camera?
No. I get nightmares of shooting — that the sun is going down and I’m not able to shoot my portion for the day.
What is your connect with films these days? Do you watch films?
My connect is through Aamir, Kiran (Rao) and Imran. Aamir called me to fill in as creative producer for Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na. I had a purely supportive role for the film; Aamir wanted me to make sure that Abbas (Tyrewala) shoots the film the way it was written. I only watch films that Aamir or Imran force me to.
Since you’ve been associated with all three of them—what is your take on Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh?
Of the three, Aamir has probably redefined himself the most, Salman is the luckiest of them all, while I think Shah Rukh needs to definitely redefine himself. Don’t get me wrong. I love SRK’s charisma and his screen presence but I feel his choice of scripts has let him down. I don’t know how his mind works — is he living up to his fans’ expectations, has his stardom become so huge that it affects his script choices? I think SRK is aiming for bigness, but I wish he would explore himself more.
Is there a cinema fight with Aamir that is yet to be resolved?
We totally don’t agree on the ending of Akele Hum… Aamir didn’t even like Jo Jeeta… He still feels he should have done Josh and I still feel that Shah Rukh was a better Max.
Name five films on your ‘eternal like’ list.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saaransh, Teesri Manzil, Breaking Away (people think I copied JJWS from it but I actually saw it after I wrote it) and Dil Chahta Hai.
Name some contemporary directors whose work you’ve liked.
Vishal Bhardwaj is quite good. I loved Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Sahib Biwi aur Gangster. Rajkumar Hirani is someone I’d like to connect with. 3 Idiots was quite a film — slightly OTT, yet it holds.
So you’ll never ever make another film again?
I won’t say never but I’m not trying to. I follow my heart and not filmmaking. I was always passing through films. I’m busy with my farm. We sell about eight kilos of cheese every day. I bake bread and Tina makes cheese. I give lectures at IIM-Bangalore and then there’s a book I am writing on oil, energy and economics.
What would you want your cinema legacy to be?
I’m not a very technical filmmaker. I have a poor sense of visual craft. It was never about the slick lensing and always about the sensibility and nuances in relationships
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 7:33 AM
“f the three, Aamir has probably redefined himself the most, Salman is the luckiest of them all, while I think Shah Rukh needs to definitely redefine himself. Don’t get me wrong. I love SRK’s charisma and his screen presence but I feel his choice of scripts has let him down. I don’t know how his mind works — is he living up to his fans’ expectations, has his stardom become so huge that it affects his script choices? I think SRK is aiming for bigness, but I wish he would explore himself more.”
this man really speaks his heart and doesn’t play with words.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 11:32 AM
so articulate, level-headed and honest. no wonder he didn’t fit in.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 11:45 AM
Hmmm 😉
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 8:38 AM
thanks for posting this, saurabh. Good to read his interview. always wondered why he gave up on films
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 7:51 AM
Great interview, Mansoor Khan sounds like such a chilled out, straight forward person.
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 8:11 AM
He almost sounds like a sanyasi or on an vanaprasthashram trip. Thank god Aamir and Imran have not followed him. to Coonoor.
Among his few films only QSQT stood out for introducing newcomers with a bang and qaulitywise JJHS was quite remarkable. the other two were too wishywashy.
I feel Kiran Rao and Mansoor can make some good offbeat movies if the latter wants to comeback.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 8:36 AM
“Yeah, I wanted SRK as Max and Aamir for Rahul’s role. I had narrated the story to Aamir. Without my telling him what role I wanted him to play, he started wearing bandanas and wristbands. He thought he was playing Max.”
— lol, oldgold will be happy hearing that!
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 8:49 AM
Tony meant to respond to this earlier. I saw Iruvar on a friend’s lappy, it was a torrent version.
And I have never been able to see Miss Sunshine. Loved Wreck It Ralph- one of my films this yr- took me back to those days of arcade video games. And it has a rich colour palette- this reminded me of Wachowski’s Speed Racer.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 9:41 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Dabangg2 *actuals* Fri 21.10 cr, Sat 19.06 cr. Total: 40.17 cr nett.
Komal Nahta @KomalNahta
D2. All india nett. Fri. 21.10.. Sat. 19.06.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 3:23 PM
They have been giving raw numbers for so many years but they never calculated NETT ; but since fans look for NETT they have resorted to giving NETT figures from producers.
It looks bad on them when both have data and they should come up with estimates themselve instead of taking someone’s number.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Happy new year & merry Xmas folks
Recovering from a private gig I attended last nite …some music 2 wake me
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 1:09 PM
For shanghai & dibakar fans like mr/ms anya—
Just came across this song while flipping channels
Didn’t know of this track–liked it
Enjoy (& ignore emraan hashmi–the songs nice)
Ps: folks— hobbitt or life of PI?
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 1:45 PM
Ok folks–off again–payback time–will be decided by voting on the spot—hobbitt vs life of PI
😉
Ann–is life of PI worth it? Quick
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 1:55 PM
Yup it is..watch it on 3D ONLY…to get back your pound’s worth..GF doesn’t agree with me..but you can check it out for yourself..
https://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/the-great-gatsby-trailer/#comment-201880
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 9:17 AM
Thanx Ann–but too late 🙂
Those with me demanded their ‘pound of flesh’ haha
But had to see hobbitt—didn’t repent it –my views below
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 6:55 PM
Salman Khan’s Eid 2013 release may be a remake of Chiranjeevi-starrer Stalin
Salman Khan is all set to announce his big film for Eid 2013. Early reports coming in suggest that Bollywood’s reigning superstar has once again chosen to remake a Telugu blockbuster.
He has reportedly bought the rights of the 2006 superhit, Stalin, and will be reprising the central role essayed by superstar Chiranjeevi in the film. Sources say this is the same project that made news recently, with reports that Salman will play a character named Radhe- his name in the 2003 hit Tere Naam- in the film.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/salman-khan-eid-2013-release-chiranjeevi-stalin-remake-india-today/1/239065.html
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 8:15 PM
dabaang 2 will surely be done 200ce,soon
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 9:50 PM
http://boxofficeday.com/2012/12/2430/dabangg-2-sunday-collections-early-estimate/
Dabangg 2 has shown little growth on Sunday in Collections Nationwide. The Occupancy of Evening shows was dropping all over the country, especially in the North due to the Cold Weather.
The Sunday Collections are coming around 18-19 crore as per the early estimates, based on the collections from morning-afternoon shows. This figure may vary depening on evening shows.
The Weekend Collections for Dabangg 2 is around 58-60 crore. This is a figure which was the minimum expected by Dabangg 2 and the film has done this much only.
We hope that there are high collections on Tuesday as its a National Holiday, and the total of Dabangg 2 comes out Huge.
The Weekend Distributor share for Dabangg 2 will be around 35 crore which is fantastic. It is Higher than Khiladi 786′s lifetime Distributor share.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 9:53 PM
http://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/dabangg-2-weekend-box-office-collections/
1st Saturday: After the euphoria and excitement on Day 1, Saturday morning shows opened slow and remained steady throughout the day. Hardly any growth at multiplexes, while single screens dropped by around 20% from Friday. The India vs England T20 cricket match too resulted in lower occupancy for evening/night shows. All India Collections – Rs 19 crore nett.
1st Sunday: As per early estimates, Sunday is likely to be around 25-26 crore net. Decent growth in business, although the trade expected bigger numbers from a film released on a huge numbers of screens. Salman Khan’s last release, Ek Tha Tiger collected Rs 23 crore on it’s 1st Sunday (released on Wednesday).
Dabangg2 First Weekend Collections: 65-66 crore nett (approx)
Will the film remain steady on Monday (first weekday) or crash? The Christmas holiday on 25th will benefit the film, but the keenly-awaited India vs Pakistan T20 cricket match is also scheduled to take place on the same day. What sort of impact will that have on the film?
For all the Dabangg 2 box office collections, analysis, comparisons and more.. stay tuned to Indicine. You can also follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 11:26 PM
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5227&nCat=
Dabangg 2 had a strong Sunday collecting around 22.50 crore nett. The weekend breakdown is 19.25 crore nett on Friday, 16.75 crore nett on Saturday and 22.50 crore nett on Sunday.
The weekend total has come to 58.50 crore nett approx which is a record three day collection beating the 56 crore nett of Ek Tha Tiger. The cold wave has affected it in the North as collections have remained lower than Ek Tha Tiger in Delhi/UP and East Punjab while other circuits have recorded higher or similar figures.
The film still potentially two more big days in Monday in Tuesday as Tuesday in Christmas holiday and Monday evenings will get benefit of next day being a holiday. The film should cross the 100 crore mark in the first week.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 11:29 PM
LOL, but ETT did not release on Fri! Can’t understand such pointless spin!
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 11:27 PM
I am very much out of Box office stuffs of late but whatever I have been reading or hearing, it seems big opening and then fading away from Monday onwards has become a trend now for most of the big grossers barring a very few. 100cr is not a big deal anymore. This particular trend might be beneficial for the industry from the economics point of view, of course there will still be few people losing in the chain when a movie doesn’t run for a minimum weeks at the theater but this whole thing from a broader perspective throws questions like Is it really the way to go forward?! How long can the audience being fed with absolute juvenile stuffs in the name of entertainment? Saying moviegoers are being ‘cheated’ or ‘deceived’ these days won’t be wrong. But again it’s always a demand and supply thing at play.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 11:31 PM
Suniel Wadhwa@sunielwadhwa
# Dabangg *India* Early Est : Fri- 19.40 Sat- 16.50 Sun- 23.10 Total 3 Days Opng Weekend : 59 Cr. Huge for Non-Holiday.
LikeLike
December 23, 2012 at 11:50 PM
Khiladi 786 collected 16 crore nett approx in its second week. The two week distributor share is 32.25 crore approx.
Talaash collected 7.75 nett approx in its third week. The three week distributor share is 45.25 crore approx.
Talash compartively fared well in its third week than Khiladi786 in its second week in West Bengal and Mysore circuits. Best in Mysore circuit.
Boxofficeindia figures.
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 1:37 AM
AAn outstanding piece by Shuddhabrata Sengupta on the rape incidence
To the Young Women and Men of Delhi: Thinking about Rape from India Gate
“Dear young women and men of Delhi,
Thank you for the courage and the honour you have brought to Rajpath, the most dishonorable street in our city. You changed Delhi yesterday, and you are changing it today. Your presence, of all twelve thousand of you, yesterday, on Rajpath, that street that climbs down from the presidential palace on Raisina Hill to India Gate, getting soiled by the excreta of the tanks and missiles on Republic Day each year, was for me a kind of purificatory ritual. It made a claim to the central vista of ‘Lutyen’s Delhi’ as a space for democratic assertion in contravention of the completely draconian, elitist and undemocratic prohibitory orders that make the heart of this republic, a zone of the death, not the life and sustenance, of democracy.”…..
http://kafila.org/2012/12/23/to-the-young-women-and-men-of-delhi-thinking-about-rape-in-delhi/
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 3:09 AM
1st image from Tom Cruise starrer All You Need Is Kill (Doug Liman)
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 6:11 AM
Great! Sriram Raghavan has released his script of Agent Vinod
Agent Vinod Script
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 3:35 PM
really interesting. thanks for sharing, saurabh!
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 7:22 AM
Every paper worth is running advertisement for D 2 . Dabangg 2 is strong and earning profits. Same sentences and same words. I think Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan panicked after drops on Saturday.
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 8:14 AM
Midweek: ‘Dabangg 2’ has rocking 60 cr + weekend!
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 8:44 AM
So, it’s anything between 58-60cr for a normal week end. That’s huge. It’s by far the biggest ever non-holiday week-end opening ever.
It will now benefit from Tuesday being a holiday. It’s going to outgross Talaash or JTHJ’s lifetime collections within a week’s run. And then it has 2 open weeks with the festive periods around. Decent trending can take it beyond ETT’s total.
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 8:52 AM
would be surprised if it did more than 150. And even this I am not certain about at the moment.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 2:46 AM
xmas holidays and new year holidays combined with the weekends (2 of them) will see to it. No other film in sight – that too and sallu is riding all the luck of The Father, Son and everyone under the sun at the moment 🙂 that will see 150 cr easily. What a pity that such a crap of a film gets so much – but then people love sallu like they did Big B in his hey days and flocked to see him year after year.
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 8:49 AM
Taran has it at 65cr. That’s huge really.
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 9:03 AM
The Hobbitt–3D-HFR/D-box
Something innocent, endearing with this latest instalment of Peter Jacksons ambitions
Somewhat humanises & ‘hobbit-ises’ CGI & all the latest technology and dovetails into ones childhood books (this one based on Tolkeins book) and experiences
The fantasy adventure genre is something I wished to revisit
There were some over-eager LOTR fans who demanded their ‘pound of flesh’ after accompanying me to other films
But I didn’t regret
Drawbacks–long (3hours plus), repetitive, suffers from monotony @ places and one does get a feeling that something is being created out of nothing at places
The movie Is bloated and tries too hard
Cast–Ian McKellan as Gandalf was awesome
Freeman fit the part of hobbitt and brings the bumbling confused honesty and sincerely to the part
Andy serkis as golum was good expectedly
Technology–to be checked on 3D
I checked it out on the HFR (48 frames per second) which brings in reality better (though appears ‘hyper reality at places)
One can go for the ‘dbox’ option with motion sensor coding onto the seats
— every swing of the bridge, and jump is felt by a roll or tilt
Positives
The Lavish & epic scale
Passion for the source material evident
Endearing material –return to childhood deal
Luxurious landscapes
Wonderful camerawork
There’s a conflict between déjà-vu and the engrossing quality that pulls one in & also between dramatic/comedic
Finally brings New Zealand into the forefront of mainstream movie making.
Also the elves, orcs, goblins and trolls were good fun 🙂
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 9:28 AM
To add– the soundtrack had a lingering grand quality
Anyhow the hobbitt enthused the kid in me somewhat 🙂
Misty mountains cold—
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 9:48 AM
An edited clip made by some fan–Neil Finn version
Inspite of all the bloatedness & premise issues, something about this film that gladdens the kid in u
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 1:34 PM
HFR-a game changer?
Well, there have been mixed reactions. Some have torn it apart while some have been more charitable like this piece.
The world is going to look back on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as a game changer in the vein of The Jazz Singer (introduction of sound), The Wizard of Oz (popularization of color), or Avatar (3D).
With a 3D movie you’re looking through a window into reality, but with 48 fps / HFR 3D, Peter Jackson has, as James Cameron has said, removed the glass from that window. Blurry, incoherent action scenes? Gone. Now you can see every sword swing, running goblin, and flickering flame with crystal clarity. Strobing/judder during sweeping camera moves? Not a problem: everything in frame is beautifully rendered during these shots, from the mountains in the background to the characters in front. My eyes were overwhelmed with visual information, but in a good way. I’d often find myself mesmerized by the tiny water droplets of a Rivendell waterfall, or by the tiny threads on a costume. There is unprecedented detail present even during “still” shots: even minuscule camera or background movements shot in 24 fps would result in blur, rendering parts of the scene undecipherable. This has now been solved: the increase in clarity from standard digital or film projection to 48 fps is comparable to the difference between SDTV and HDTV. It’s amazing.
There were perhaps two or three shots in the movie where I could detect flaws in the makeup/costumes more readily than if it had been made at 24 fps. The production values in The Hobbit are simply so high that this is not an issue. And make no mistake: film craftspeople will soon learn the ins and outs of how to make their work look the best when captured at high frame rates. Any small kinks will be ironed out.
High frame rate technology finally allows 3D to come into its own as a format. Camera movements such as pans or tracking shots were always hard on the eyes in 3D, as the judder effect was magnified do to the greater impact of the moving 3D images. The 3D here made me think I was watching real people in real places.
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 9:05 AM
Can Anyone post Dhoom 3 logo ?
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 11:32 PM
http://boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5233&nCat=
. What is the word of mouth on Dabangg 2?
A. Its generally good but expectations were very high because of the first film so there is always that initial reaction that film is not as good as first one which is the norm. But it is good word of mouth and the film should sustain well into week two.
R Romin
Q. Will Dabangg 2 beat Ek Tha Tiger and Three Idiots?
A. Three Idiots looks tough but the Ek Tha Tiger number is a possibility. At the moment it has a 50-50 chance to beat Ek Tha Tiger. Wednesday figures will give a better idea.
L Khan
Q. How many actual hit films have there been this year?.
A. 15 hit films. Agneepath, Kahaani, Housefull 2, Vicky Donor, Ishaqzaade, Rowdy Rathore, Bol Bachchan, Cocktail. Raaz 3, Barfi!, OMG! Oh My God, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Son Of Sardaar and Dabangg 2.
L Shroff
Q. Three Idiots was released on Christmas and and despite cold in North it went on to be biggest grosser so that can’t really be an excuse for Dabangg 2?
A. It can’t be excuse as far as lifetime business is concerned but initially the base is much wider today than 2009 so you are expecting much more people to brave the cold than in 2009. Eventually the lifetime business will not be affected as people will watch it but you can’t get the same daily footfalls in cities affected by cold weather that you would with normal weather.
M Sodhi
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 11:49 PM
What a pathetic excuse by BOI to even suggest the weather as a reason for the collections. I watched it on Fri and a 75% occupancy with so many children and elderly folk really enjoying themselves. Script was non existent and makes one wonder what on earth Arbaaz has been doing these past two years.
Salman is charisma personified. The guy rises above everything in the film and believe me there’s noting in the film in terms of story and the climax was a poor effort.
However, loved the bonding of Chulbul and his father. His chemistry with Rajjo was also lovely. I particularly loved two scenes…. 1) Kaise Bani Kaise Bani Pulahri Bina Chutney Kaise Bani. Haha seeing Chulbul dance to that song with Mamta Sharma had everyone LOL in the hall. Can anyone entertain better than Salman. I don’t think so. 2) when Makki begins to work and Chulbul recollects how his equation has changed with his bro and then says ‘maza agaya’.
My biggest complaint was how Prakash Raj was wasted. That confrontation he had with Salman in Wanted or with Ajay in Singham is missing here.
People were LOL in the hall in all the right moments and the ladies behind me seemed to like it esp when Chaubey ji and Tiwary ji were coming out with some crazy one liners. I had a smile thoughout the film and I guess being a big Salman fan definitely helps 😀
Forget 150 this film will do 180 no problem and the irony is many expected more. This is testimony to Salman’s stardom today. So many films this year crawled to 100 and hardly made anything more on top of that. Salman sprints to 100 and leaves the rest for dust.
Film will now benefit hugely due to Xmas holidays and New Year holidays. Overseas it has made 4m and broken records in Pak. I’m guessing UAE will also witness records being broken. So not just India but overseas Chulbul Pandey jalwa is happening. Kamal karte ho.
P. S @ AA – sorry for posting so late but due to the films coming on TV and shopping lol I’ve been rather busy. Instead of snow it’s just raining here 😀
Goodnight.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 2:19 AM
Thanks for ur very balanced take Naveed and it seems to be exactly what I expected
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 11:42 PM
It can’t be excuse as far as lifetime business is concerned but initially the base is much wider today than 2009 so you are expecting much more people to brave the cold than in 2009. Eventually the lifetime business will not be affected as people will watch it but you can’t get the same daily footfalls in cities affected by cold weather that you would with normal weather.
RIDICULOUS!
LikeLike
December 24, 2012 at 11:43 PM
Now we can have averaging inflation and averaging cold weather! Next what???
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 12:56 AM
http://boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5235&nCat=
Dabangg 2 held up very strongly on Monday as it collected around 12 crore nett. It is the highest non holiday Monday of all time beating the previous record holder which was the first Dabangg released in 2010. Dabangg had collected 10.75 crore nett on Monday.
The highest Monday till date is Ek Tha Tiger at 19 crore nett but that was on a holiday for Eid. The four day total for Dabangg 2 is over 70 crore nett and a big Tuesday is expected as it is holiday for Christmas. For comparison Ek Tha Tiger was 72 crore nett after four days.
The business from Wednesday onwards and second weekend which will tell where the film is going. Around 150 crore nett looks assured on a worst case scenario and time will tell how much higher it goes.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 12:57 AM
More likely around 11-11.5..Mass centers dropped around 50% from sunday. Good numbers but huge release.
Suniel Wadhwa
Early Est:C.P. 112-90.50-127-65 C.I .89-69-102-56 Raj.126-96-148-74 Mys- 89-97-118-57 EP: 159-149-187-85.
CP – 49%
CI – 46%
Raj – 50%
Mys* – 52%
EP – 55%
Kanpur drop from sunday 46+%
* – Not a mass center
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 2:17 AM
If Dabanng 2 had a 11-12 crore Monday, that is amazing trending IMO- I don’t see how people can say that it’s a disappointment.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 5:19 AM
Picture abhi baaki hain.
Dabangg 2 is huge and no one says it is a disappointment per se. Some are finding fault with the way BOI tries to defend this film while it actually pulled down a film like Talaash irrespective of bo. Seems Arbaaz has added his own touches which is making Dabangg 2 even class friendly too. Somewhere Salman said that he will tie the knot after the verdict. Hope he wont.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 2:36 AM
It’s at least 70cr net after 4 days (it’s the lowest figure being thrown around). Tuesday will probably put it ahead of ETT’s 5 days figures. ETT did not trend great after its first week. I am not expecting Dabangg 2’s trending to be phenomenal either but the couple of weeks of open run will certainly help it. It will probably wrap up around the ETT’s lifetime collections.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 6:23 AM
http://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-box-office-dabangg-2/20121224.htm
Is this site anti salman?
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 6:59 AM
Oh dear lord, why is Rajeev Masand so obsessed with emulating all things Hollywood? He now has his own Bollywood version of THR’s Roundtable Videos.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 4:28 PM
Love that he asks these directors if they’ve ever wanted to punch someone on a set. I imagine the answer is probably never more than when they sat down with Masand.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 9:12 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Dabangg2 Fri 21.10 cr, Sat 19.06 cr, Sun 25 cr, Mon 12 cr. Total: Rs 77.16 cr nett. Excellent!
Komal Nahta @KomalNahta
D2 monday 12 crore. Total 77. Superb,
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 11:07 AM
Raja Sen has put Hashmi’s performance in Shanghai as the top one in his list of top 10 male actors this year
“Emraan Hashmi, Shanghai
Gobsmacked. Watching Hashmi in Shanghai is an abrupt revelation, like being slapped in the face only to finally see clearer. His character sounds straightforward, a videographer (with more than a passing interest in porn) who chances on a conspiracy and wants to help out, but Emraan plays him nuanced and authentic and, eventually, tormented. It’s a bravura performance, and here’s what I’d said about it in my review:
He occasionally shoots porn — this is off-camera, we see him ask his subjects to clear up and hear the hurried sounds of straps and zippers — and later, when the film’s heroine is about to sit on his bed, he instinctively barks that she sit somewhere else, because the bed’s dirty. It’s a throwaway grunt but Hashmi nails it — just like he nails highly energetic pelvic thrusts in a streetdance, one where he keeps biting his tongue, faux-scandalised by the words of the song. It’s one of the best performances from one of our leading men in quite some time, and in one chilling pre-climactic moment, when sitting on the floor and confounded by the situation, his plaintive wail is fittingly reminiscent of the late great Ravi Baswani’s angst in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’s darkest minute. Bravo.
Incredibly well done, then, Mr Hashmi. Yours is the year’s finest, bravest and most consistent performance. Congratulations are indeed in order”
http://rajasen.com/2012/12/25/hindi-cinemas-best-actors-of-2012/
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 11:26 AM
Found this to be an incredibly overrated performance (much like the film). Hashmi fits the part in certain ways but there is nothing more than ‘competence’ to this performance.
Of course when Raja Sen then calls Ranbir the “finest mainstream leading man in decades” or “ever” perhaps the Hashmi commentary is the least of his problems. This is what passes of as ‘criticism’ in India. But then audiences get the films and critics they deserve!
Didn’t find anything special in any of the performances he mentions barring a couple of names (haven’t seen GoW yet).
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 5:19 PM
Even in a year of unmemorable male performances, this was no way the best…I like him in this movie but there’s no revelation here. Just a re-contextualization of his smarmy screen persona to a more artful and appropriate narrative.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 6:11 PM
Siddharth Anand’s official remake of the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz starrer Knight And Day just got more exciting. After roping in Hrithik Roshan to reprise Cruise’s role and getting Katrina Kaif on board to be the desi Diaz, the director has planned out an impressive itinerary for the shoot.
The action thriller will be shot in Kashmir for over 40 days, making it one of the longest schedules in the valley in recent times (Yash Chopra shot Jab Tak Hai Jaan in Kashmir for 12 days). What’s more, the project has now been christened a catchy Bang Bang.
“Knight And Day was a popular film worldwide and to arrive upon an equally appealing title for its Hindi remake wasn’t easy. Siddharth sat down with his team for several brainstorming sessions before they locked in on Bang Bang,” said a source.
There is also speculation that the film title could also be a nod to Nancy Sinatra’s song by the same name which was cleverly used by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill. The on-the-run romcom will go on floors a day after St Valentine’s Day (quite apt?). And the crew will leave for the first schedule in Kashmir a day before.
“Siddharth decided to shoot the majority of the film in the valley and went with his crew for the recce last month. They finalised all the locations where Hrithik and Katrina will shoot,” the source added. For those who missed the 2010 Hollywood hit, it is a spyon-the-run thriller replete with action. Needless to say, the Hindi version will match it blow-by-blow.
“Siddharth has roped in Holywood action director Conrad Palmisano to choreograph the stunts for Hrithik and Katrina,” said the source. Incidentally, Conrad also directed the action sequences of Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger and YRF’s upcoming film Dhoom 3. And that’s not all, the director has also planned for a music track to match the film’s Hollywood predecessor.
“Siddharth has always trusted Vishal-Shekhar with the soundtrack of his films – be it Salaam Namaste, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Bachna Ae Haseeno or Anjaana Anjaani. This time too, the composer duo have been roped in for Bang Bang,” said the source. Surely, Siddharth’s three-yearlong wait to get on to a new project has been rather worthwhile.
Check out the track folks–enjoy
though the original (knight n day) wasnt much of a film but was a guilty pleasure due to the cast that i like
Im in for this 🙂
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 4:39 PM
This could work is handled well. Siddharth Anand can be a hit or miss kind of director. Tara Rum Pum was a really bad film.
Bang Bang is a somewhat silly name for this film.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 11:55 PM
Dabangg 2 Collects 15 Crore On Christmas Day
Wednesday 26th December 2012 10.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 collected around 15 crore nett on Christmas Day taking the five day to over 85 crore nett. The business on Christmas Day was dented by the India v Pakistan cricket match otherwise the film would have collected around 17 crore nett.
The collections are the same as Ek Tha Tiger on Tuesday which also collected 15 crore nett though for that film is holiday in regions while for Dabangg 2 it was a national holiday.
The film has shown strong collections all over for five days with every circuit doing very well but the next two days are very important and the levels they stay at will decide where the film is going in terms of lifetime business.
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 11:55 PM
Five Day Comparision: Dabangg 2 v Ek Tha Tiger
Wednesday 26th December 2012 10.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Below is a the first five day comparison between Dabangg 2 in Ek Tha Tiger
Day One
Dabangg 2 – 19.25 crore
Ek Tha Tiger -30.75 crore (National Holiday)
Day Two
Dabangg 2 – 16,75 crore
Ek Tha Tiger – 13.50 crore
Day Three
Dabangg 2 – 22.50 crore (Sunday)
Ek Tha Tiger – 12 crore
Day Four
Dabangg 2 – 12 crore
Ek Tha Tiger – 15.75 crore
Day Five
Dabangg 2 – 15 crore (National Holiday)
Ek Tha Tiger – 21.50 crore (Sunday)
TOTAL
Dabangg 2 – 85.25 crore
Ek Tha Tiger – 93.50 crore
LikeLike
December 25, 2012 at 11:56 PM
‘Dabangg 2’ silences detractors, emerges triumphant!
By Taran Adarsh, December 26, 2012 – 08:01 IST
Salman Khan is competing with himself. A statement I made soon after the release of EK THA TIGER on national television and repeated it last week, when DABANGG 2 opened to packed houses. The Salmania is very similar to the Bachchan euphoria in the 1970s and 1980s, when a Hit movie would touch the magical figure of 1 cr [a humungous amount then], while a flop would manage more business than the successes of Bachchan’s contemporaries.
Of course, it’s a bit too early to gauge the amount of business that DABANGG 2 would do in the domestic market because the festivities have just begun and will last till New Year. With no significant release till 4 January 2013, DABANGG 2 should march gallantly and victoriously, accumulating a big fat total at the end of 2 weeks. Will it cross the lifetime biz of DABANGG and BODYGUARD? It should… Will it overtake the lifetime biz of EK THA TIGER? Too early to predict right now…
The advantage of releasing a film during holidays is for all to see. DABANGG 2 arrived four months after Salman’s EK THA TIGER created a hungama at the ticket window. Of course, the naysayers and negative forces were quick to dismiss the second instalment of the franchise. Even the critics, most of them, tore the film to shreds. But the BO numbers prove that Salman is currently in a different space and the negative word/review will hardly make a dent in his popularity.
DABANGG 2 is a success story. The nominal budget [excluding Salman’s fees] would be recovered from the sale of non-theatrical revenues itself. But the profits it will generate will only be known once the theatrical biz is exhausted. Till then, it’s Hud Hud Dabangg…
LikeLike
December 26, 2012 at 12:01 AM
top Tamil films of 2012 according to Sify:
http://www.sify.com/movies/2012-top-grossers-at-the-box-office-news-tamil-mmymFPgigch.html
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 8:41 AM
Dabangg 2 Has 7.75 Crore Wednesday
Thursday 27th December 2012 10.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 grossed around 7.75 crore nett on Wednesday which is an excellent number for Wednesday. If we compare the normal seven day releases the figure is the best ever for a Wednesday. Three Idiots had grossed around 7.50 crore nett and Dabangg around 7 crore nett. The fisrt week will gross around 100 crore nett.
The film has collected 93 crore nett in six days but it shows how important it is for holidays to fall on the right days. If a film is releasing on a national holiday week its a must that holiday is in the first three days preferably first which was not the case with Dabangg 2.
Bodyguard was just over 94 crore nett after six days. Dabangg 2 will sustain very well in week two as the weekday numbers are solid but with film not benefitting a lot from the holiday period, the lifetime collections stay well below Three idiots and Ek tha Tiger.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 8:42 AM
“Three Idiots had grossed around 7.50 crore nett and Dabangg around 7 crore nett.”
and ‘where’ did those films start when they released?!
Again it’s not the spin that offends but the lack of intelligence behind it!
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 10:43 AM
Satyam if i am not wrong, 3 idiots had a wednesday of 8-9.5 crores.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 11:31 AM
I think that’s right.. but leaving this aside the film was very close to its opening day number on the following Wed, not too far from its weekend numbers as a matter of fact. It was pretty much doing 10 crores or so every day over the weekdays. The stability was quite stunning. Even comparing this new Dabangg’s performance to the older one was a joke because again that film had lower total in week 1. You can’t say a film did 5 crores in day 6 irrespective of whether it started out at 25 crores or 10 crores! This is the kind of absurdity BOI are pushing!
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 8:43 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Dabangg2 Fri 21.10 cr, Sat 19.06 cr, Sun 25 cr, Mon 12 cr, Tue 15.5 cr, Wed 8.12 cr. Total: Rs 100.78 cr nett. 100 cr crossed in 6 days!
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 8:50 AM
So dabang 2 crossed the lifetime earnings of talaash in one week!
Well, obviously genres/treatment were different (chalk from cheese!)
But this ‘gap’ is just obscene–not sure whether to be happy or sad but there’s no doubt about the no1star right now
As for the no2–there are a few contenders now 🙂
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 11:34 AM
Yes I remember one of the Pirates installments crossing the totals of the Departed and shutter Island in less than a week. That was pretty obscene too. But that’s what happens with losers like Scorsese (with other losers like DiCaprio and so on). Every other Hollywood blockbuster crosses their totals. And speaking for myself I’m not impressed by DiCaprio working with every prestigious director in town. How many times does he cross even the MI4 gross is the question?
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 1:53 PM
Exactly. And what people very conveniently forget is where was Salman before Dabangg. He was almost finished (except a Partner with Govinda or MSK with Akshay) by the time Wanted came. And those who compare Salman’s current streak of superhits with Bachchan need to remember than Bachchan’s reign lasted from about ’73 to ’87. Salman has just 3 great yes.
And now Salman might not have a release next yr. Aamir on the other hand has D3.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 11:55 AM
dude…are you purposely this dumb or is this natural?
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 11:56 AM
In other words, Dabangg-2 Crossed Lifetime business of Sholay in 1.75 days.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 12:02 PM
Salman is no.1 to 10 right now. Good for him; a few years back he was in a bad state with poor films flopping continuously.
Yet, I prefer good films to these inane blockbusters, any day. Have seen bits of Dabang 1 on tv; will probably follow suit when Dabang 2 is shown, later. Watched Rowdy Rathore on tv , some bits. Serious masala, ha ha. Akshay’s fans have even voted highly for him, nominating him for best actor!
http://www.zorsebol.com/movies/bollywood-movies/58th-idea-filmfare-awards-2013-nominations-winners-vote-your-favorite/
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 12:48 PM
haha. Now some are pitting even akshay against aamir. On the basis of numbers!
Even I watched bits and pices of dabangg and RR and I felt MGR is far better in this genre and he even became Chief Minister based on his popularity, it seems.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 1:44 PM
Next in line for 100 crores plus will be Rajpal Yadav, Tusshar Kapoor(ekta will see to it) etc.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 1:30 PM
The ‘slippery’ slot of No1 aka
The pitfalls for box office afficianados aka
The bread n butter of ‘spin kings’ aka
Aamirs 3I-credit –how much ? For how many years?
Disclaimers –1) am not a fan of any of these actors nor have anything against anybody of these
We can’t say the same about some others here
2) unlike ‘sun rises in the east’ dictum, these things are relative and subjective
3) not saying this is THE final viewpoint–take it or leave it but its the explanation that matters
A) Aamirs 3I—credit–how much ? For how long?
I LOVE 3idiots more than some aamir fans
But the key question is how much of 3idiots brilliance was aamir?
Will aamir continue to bear the fruits till convenient for him or his fans?
B) DYNAMIC situation at the top
Top rankings change /try to change all the time
If one thinks 3idiot is still valid –yeah it is as a record to be broken but not so much as an answer to Aamirs current ‘ top billing’
C) Its been MANY YEARS dammit since 3 idiots
It’s ok for box office comparisons since it hasn’t been broken but not to justify Aamirs CURRENT no 1 position
D)compare Aamirs contribution to the brilliant 3I (with hirani after munnabhai series ultra success) to Salmans in ‘mindless’ readys, bodyguards and now dabang2 ?
Take out Salman from these films and see
E) the TYPE of fan following
Salmans is more of a blind fan frenzy that’s reflexive, basal level, uncomplicated adulation
Aamirs is more cultivated, honed and designed
Not arguing against one or the other–but the true definition of a star corresponds to the former more than the latter
F) The ISSUE OF SPACING /gap between films
Well, this is a BIG important issue
When one argues that let someone break 3I first and then we will talk about aamir
Let aamir have 2-3 releases in 1-2 years as SOLO mainstream releases–take them to salmanesque current numbers and THEN we will talk!!
G) BIG GAPS between films ‘smell a rat’ !!
Now I love both aamir and hritik but when one analyses the gap between their projects it shows–
1) insecurity
2) lack of conviction and confidence in oneself
3) in Aamirs case– a well thought out strategy to elude fatigue and audience neglect and so on
Which is not wrong but DOES need to be accounted for
H) There’s another scenario of gaps –lack of genuine good offers
And SHEER CLUELESSNESS
Typical of abhishrek in post Bol bachchan scenario and some of Hritiks filmography
Ditto for aamir but due to his adept film sense and shrewdness aamir more than makes up for it
I) normal spacers
Like Salman , even srk deserve credit here
It’s V EASY to get a hit or two and then just Indulge in that SUCCESS
OR STRETCH THAT SUCCESS
Here someone like akshay doesn’t deserve credit
Actually taking tis onto account and also the various genres — a case can be made even for the likes of ajay devgun vis a vis aamir in the last two three years (though disputable but not that far fetched as some here argue agaimst!)
J) the ‘shutter island’ scorcese fatuoged analogy
Well, this proves that things are getting difficult when these are brought in
We ALL HAVE GOT the point
Nobody was expecting talaash to match ETT
But to fold around BARFI with aamir after three years and with two big heroines DOES raise eyebrows !
Things are NOT Totlally comparable
1) releases in Hollywood are NOT simultaneous world over unlike Bollywood
2) the star system isn’t as active or important as here
3) there being different tastes, audience profiles (more varied than bollywoods!) there are many more variables
4) things are MUCH more measurable and verifiable in Hollywood even to last dollar and pound unlike Bollywood
So let’s give shutter island and Leo a break for a while!!
K) ‘history of debates’
It’s ok that some sporadic folks who nonetheless call themselves ‘cool’ dude turn up–one can explain to them again
For others– refer to the background history
Aka ETT200 & barfi 100 in the archives
L) another aamir fan proclamation
Aamir could have done loads of masala films and got tens of easy successes after 3 idiots HAD HE WANTED
Well, this is true only to a point
The MOMENT aamir starts indulging in the same pattern of film selection and release patterns it takes AWAY HIS USP!
He becomes like any other mortal
M)
And mind my words–aamir in that scenario is similarly susceptible to audience fatigue and Lack of interest as the others
Case in point –Khiladi 786– there’s only a limit u can milk the teat !!
In fact, in Aamirs cast the fatigue may even be more !!
N) it’s not bad to use a knife to slice an apple but after a while one can’t start blaming the apple for lying underneath the knife and getting slit open!!
We ALL do this from time to time (including myself !)
It’s the frequency, extent and steadfastedness that makes the difference 🙂
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 1:55 PM
Addendum
O) true and simulated aamir fans
The true ones like idea unique , prateek, myself aamir understood amirs statue and rightly predicted 150 crores plus for talaash
Talaash and aamir failed but their fandom won!
One can’t say the same about those fans who wanted aamir to do an emraan hashmi in raaz3 and be content wth anything from 80-150 crores and more lol
P) did any one really believe the likes of aamir, rani, Kareena, excel signed up for talash to potter towards 100 crore?
Knowing aamir he wanted to do a Delhi belly here –by that standards this should have done much more –but didn’t
Let’s not pretend all tins
Finally aamir will return to his position at/near the top after dhoom3(in all probability)
TILL THEN he has to be judged CURRENTLY as per talaash NOT a three years old 3 idiots and latch onto it till wither the sons of abhishrek or aamir himself start doing hero roles !!
Won’t blame even devgun fans fancying a chance till then forget srk, hritik fans (at the no2 slots) !! 🙂
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 3:30 PM
I’m really impressed you know the alphabet all the way to P. Gold star for you man.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 4:28 PM
GF,
YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO PUT PEOPLE IN THEIR PLACE!!
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 4:36 PM
Mind the caps lock m8-don’t get over excited –murder3 hasn’t released yet
🙂
LikeLike
December 28, 2012 at 12:04 AM
@ AA –How dare you say this – ‘The true ones like idea unique , prateek, myself aamir understood amirs statue and rightly predicted 150 crores plus for talaash
Talaash and aamir failed but their fandom won’
WHAT the heck are you trying to say, making presumptions about ALL Aamir fans? Are you being sarcastic or straight up?
I’ve been an Aamir fan since late nineties, thanks to Ghulam, 1947Earth and Sarfarosh; became a bigger fan in early 200o plus years after watching Lagaan and the rest of his films on video. Yes, I did not bother to check out Lagaan in theatres in 2001; my daughter, a big Aamir fan along with her schoolgirl group, she wished me to watch the film, but somehow I stayed away since I was busy with other stuff. But finally did get round to it in 2002-2003, when it was shown on tv–and became a huger aamir fan than daughter; she still teases me about it.
I also have a son who returned to Hindi cinema thanks to Lagaan; drove miles to watch RDB in the US, as a student. He watched two Hindi films while in the US–Lagaan in univ auditorium, RDB in a theatre. Rest of Hindi stuff on vbideo, as and when convenient.
My point is — some of us love Aamir for the quality he brought back to mainstream Hindi cinema; and that’s it. I don’t care for Box office numbers, nether do like minded fans.
True Aamir fans–we are there, a big bunch of us, not on AA’s list.
LikeLike
December 28, 2012 at 6:13 AM
@AA – Not sure why you dragged my name here but I never predicted 150 or 200 for Talaash. I do maintain I felt disappointed why it did not even reach 100 crore. I’d thought any Aamir film would comfortably cross at least 100 cr mark (Talaash wasn’t a DG). That’s about it.
@Rajen – Don’t you think star rankings parameters are subject to debate? What Salman has managed I doubt Aamir can manage. In same vein what Aamir managed I doubt if Salman can manage that. I’m not sure if people would’ve accepted Aamir had he continued to give same Ghajini style masala films in quick succession every 4-5 months within a span of 2 years. Similarly I doubt if people would accept Salman doing only one film in two years and doing a Talaash or TZP. Expectations from both stars are entirely different, their image is different.
LikeLike
December 28, 2012 at 6:29 AM
Lowkey marketing and too many songs for a genre like this. Some of them were jarring.
If Gandhi was made by Aamir Khan, I suspect there would have been songs.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 2:16 PM
addendum 2
The three year gap –PERILS OF EXTRAPOLATION
BY extrapolating Aamirs undoubted supreme achievement in 3idiots achieved three years or more ago to now–one is making a lot of of ASSUMPTIONS
It works BOTH ways
Salman the current box office god–go back three four years back
We get to yuvraaj and veer and the likes !
Katrina was spilling super hits with akshay left right n centre but with real life beau (brother?) they delivered a turkey in yuvraaj WITH rahmans music
Same for Kareenas mrs khanna and veer and so on
To summarise –when we say ‘CURRENT’ rankings–the word ‘current’ has a meaning, a reason !
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 3:11 PM
think there are distinctions to be made between star rankings, even the most ‘current’ ones, and the stock market! The way you and many others frame it it’s like a star is #1 when he’s having breakfast one morning but descends to #3 by the time he finishes lunch and then later on by the time he begins dinner he’s tied at #2 with another gentleman.
The testosterone driven fan with the video game attention span finds all of this entirely logical and natural..
99% of debates about stars on blogs involve male stars and the people bloodying each other up are male fans. Who says homoerotic desire isn’t a rich part of Indian tradition?!
One such fan even got rather upset with me for daring to notice Deepika in a bikini in Cocktail. Perhaps I was meant to ogle at Saif the way he ogles at Hrithik.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 3:31 PM
yeah we are not into online trading on our laptops here where prices change every second–itd understood!
But at the same time, lets not hang onto a 3 year old 3idiot for aamirs current standing!
Even after his one-day 200, tendulkar had to start from scratch in the next inning –as everyone else, people need to prove themselves again n again
its not difficult have a success like 3i, go into ‘hibernation mode’ for 3-4 years–stretch the same succcess and standing lol
As for deepika–u said–u used rewind/ffwd only to see deepika in the red bikini many times—this sort of ogling isnt goosd–u shouldve been seeing her ‘acting’ and ‘angst’ 🙂
ps–anyhow lets celebrate this debate victory amy/ anya & hit a pub 🙂
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 5:16 PM
“Even after his one-day 200, tendulkar had to start from scratch in the next inning –as everyone else, people need to prove themselves again n again”
but this analogy actually works against your claim if you would care to explore it more than superficially. Tendulkar did not have a double century every day, he did not even have a century every day. The days on which he had a sparkling 60 and someone else on the team scored a century no one said that that other guy was suddenly ahead of Sachin! Similarly Aamir has been doing a lot of this stuff for a very long time, i.e. across genres. And he hasn’t failed in Talaash even if one might have expected more (a 150 crore gross in your case.. evidently for you the bar on Dabanng 2 or Talaash is the same!.. for me better trending off a very good initial, the film did the latter). So there are cricket rankings every year for who has amassed the most runs that year and so on. But that’s not how the true experts in the game measure the very best players every year!
Also note how your argument essentially deconstructions your basic position. If stars are at the top only based on their most recent grossers, if all they have to do is chalk up a couple of big ones, if there is no history that matters, if there are no genre factors that matter.. then actually there is ‘no’ top star. Because hypothetically you could have a new top star every few months!
Of course this isn’t the way things work. As I’ve also said before Reema Kagti is not likely to cast Salman in a hurry no matter what his initial is. She’s also not likely to cast Akshay. And so on. But the Kagti kind of filmmaker represents a very important part of Bollywood. Clearly just grossing a lot is not going to impress her if the star doesn’t otherwise have the credibility for her projects. The same goes for other stars. This is precisely how it works in Hollywood. Scorsese doesn’t cast Will smith! In an industry system where there’s only one kind of genre one can perhaps only look at the gross (though this too is a somewhat imaginary position) but in a more fragmented system with limited attention spans grossing a lot in disposable cinema doesn’t mean as much as one might think. But again Aamir profits here because a distributor knows a certain kind of box office result is guaranteed with him on board. Whether it’s TZP or Talaash or Ghajini or 3I a certain important gross relative to the genre is a given. But Salman only works in what he does. Nothing wrong with it. But any investor knows this. And when Bollywood isn’t only in the business of disposable cinema, when there are these others films being made regularly a star who can straddle the divide has a certain unique market value.
Again a lot of these things have to be debated but one has to be serious. You can’t just list twenty points, some contradicting others, or inventing a new theory with each new point. When SRK didn’t have the top grossers according to you his history mattered, now when it’s Aamir apparently only last week matters! When it’s about Hrithik he’s only been around a dozen years and we need to give him more time to displace the ‘Khans’ (the promotion theory as I’ve called it elsewhere!), when it’s about Salman just the last three years are relevant, so on and so forth. So you keep changing positions. Beyond this all your claims are laced with this whiff of paranoia. As if something sinister is always afoot and one somehow has to dig out the top star from the conspiracy determined to hold him down. The same tone that you also employ to comment snidely on Sachin after almost a quarter century of playing the game at a competitive level (wonder how you’d like the same standards applied to you in a few more years! Maybe you’ll retire at 40 since you obviously won’t be able to keep up with the 25 year olds.. shudder to think what your options will be at 50.. following your own logic!).
A lot of this stuff can be debated. But let’s be serious. The logic one uses has to be consistently employed, one can’t keep changing the field one’s playing on and have new rules to boot, and the snide/paranoid stuff doesn’t convince anyone if the argument is faulty!
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 5:32 PM
“only last week matters”– i think u are going on ad nauseum about last week or hour or morning etc
The FACT is–
aamirs last solo mainstream release is 3 idiots that was about 3 years ago (no less)
Salman since has given wanted, dabang, ready, bodyguard, ETT and now dabang 2
The issue of salmans poor range and lack of critical appeal remains and im the first one to point it out
and thats why its taken SO long after his successive successes that he wasnt called no1!
Even my calling him no1 now is relcutant even grudging but a point comes when one cant /shouldnt keep pretending!
Imagine aamir giving SIX box office hits in 2-3 years!! would u or even me even HEAR any other name in the discussion.?so the obvious difference in the prestige/critical appeal has ALREADY been factored in
Anyhow even if one decalres aamir as the no1 not only for now but for the next 10 years(!) theres no way one can conclusively argue against it..
of4sum fun now–thats my reading– u are free to have aamir no1 and abhishrek no2 for next 10 years 🙂
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 5:43 PM
Using that logic Rajnikant shouldn’t be the top star when he doesn’t do films for years sometimes!
On the rest you should give up on trying to bait me on Abhishek. My views are not going to change based on this silliness. Of course I also do not say the same thing at every given point. Novel as this idea might sound I do account for the ‘facts’! I was at another forum once where a dozen like you would go at me all at once for some of the stuff I said on Abhishek. Can’t say it bothered me particularly even then.
On the rest it’s good of you to have waited this long before making up your mind about Salman or Aamir or whoever. But do be nicer still and present it as a consistent argument and at least not as fact.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 5:59 PM
ok will let u have your way with abhishrek
We all are entitled to some fetishes 🙂
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 6:58 PM
I am happy to share a fetish with Ratnam!
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 2:45 PM
Addendum 3
The final criteria–u may not agree but I feel that when a hero is REALLY at the v top u can damn make it out!!
He/she may be there fora v short while but there ARE tell tale signs!
Case in point —an example
Dabang reloaded track
Aerial camera — Salman ORDERS the camera to come down
It obeys comes down to Salmans level and what follows is the trademark dabang pelvic motion
When NOT at the top, one can’t pull off this stuff–looks out of place
Enjoy
Zindagi apni hum toka daan deyi de
Muskura ke jo maange praan deyi de
Kal mile ee humka bhool gaye aaj re
🙂
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 4:26 PM
This whole argument about rankings is somewhat redundant and silly.
Salman is going through a phenomenal phase and is churning out big grossers in succession.In a way, he IS the current number one star. However, star power is not just about the ability to deliver big hits. If this needs to be explained to someone, they probably are never going to get it.A simpleton could look at last three years and come up with a conclusion that Salman is number one with Aamir,SRK,Akshay and may be even Devgun vying for number two slot. But, that would be a flawed conclusion.Ability to have an appeal across the genres, ability to experiment, consistently attract good scripts and directors and still be successful at BO is a much better indicator of a star’s power than churning out mindless potboilers in rapid succession.Salman has not had a really good film with a possible exception of Dabangg. Personally prefer RR to Dabangg. But,atleast Dabangg had quite a bit going for it. The rest – BG,Ready,D2 is all eminently forgettable stuff. Hashmi has been consistent too at a lower level. But, he hardly figures in any serious argument about star power. And, rightfully so.
A recent Forbes analysis identified Natalie Portman as the most bankable star in Hollywood followed by Kirsten Stewart,Robert Pattison,and Taylor Lautner. Based on money their films made and money spent. Hardly any sane would buy the argument.
A Talaash making 95-100 crores is a greater achievement than a Dabangg 2 making 140-150 crores. If someone’s pea sized brain cannot grasp this fact, I guess their long arguments and addenda are pretty pointless and a waste of bandwidth.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 4:54 PM
Thanks for injecting some sanity into the debate!
I actually don’t mind anyone who calls Salman the top star currently. There’s certainly a case to be made for this. But evaluating star rankings every ten minutes is a bit too much! of course it could be argued that in this more Hollywood-like system that Bollywood currently is there is no ‘obvious’ top star. In other words one can be ‘inferred’ looking at all the evidence but that’s not the same as being one unmistakably in the sense of uniting all the ‘constituencies’. And yes it is true that in no industry can the top box office draw (whether it’s Salman or Will Smith) simply be consider the top star without that asterisk attached. Because without the ability to attract true prestige projects a star is simply not transcendent enough in the true sense. So again agree with everything you’re saying.
LikeLike
December 28, 2012 at 3:10 AM
@rajen1 — Well said.
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 5:06 PM
“evaluating star rankings every ten minutes is a bit too much”–Yeah it it but nobody is doing it every “ten minutes”
The guy hasnt given anything below 100 crores for 2-3 years and unlke aamir hasnt been on hibernation..
If some have their way here–the no 1 slot was always for bachchan if not for abhishrek, or aamir and should be reserved for one of them till one of their sons ‘inherit the legacy”–unfortunately such ‘desires’ are ‘desires’.
“simply be consider the top star without that asterisk attached.”–when the scale and duraiton of success becomes this much, the asterisk remains more in the mind!
Res Ipsa Loquitur!
But as i said these things are subjective and aamir as no1 is certainly a dignified plausible choice–and i said, just like salman not long ago was in the ‘yuvraaj-veer’ stage, a similar phase may not be far ahead–but currently lets give the guy his due,
LikeLike
December 27, 2012 at 7:06 PM
Was Salman always bald or is balding? Not that it matters anyway, coz currently, his producers or distributors are not losing their hair!!! Except maybe AA bit coz of the debates around NO. 1!!!!
http://photos.mid-day.com/b-town-specials/rare-pictures-of-salman-khan/hrithik-salman/
LikeLike
December 28, 2012 at 5:52 AM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Salmans-birthday-celebration-shrouded-in-despondency/articleshow/17791928.cms
LikeLike