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240 Responses to “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, the rest of the box office”
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Set For Historic Start At Multiplexes
Wednesday 29th May 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yej Jawaani Hai Deewani is set for historic opening at multiplexes. The film had a fantastic advance at multiplexes which started advance on Monday and the same is expected today when advance opens at large. A multiplex like E – Square UR in Pune saw the first show sold out practically in minutes.
The film is looking to beat the multiplex collections of Dabangg 2 which collected the highest figures for a non holiday. A chain like PVR collected 2 crore nett for Dabanng 2 on its first day and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani should beat that figure. It is likely to be the same story at all the major chains with the possible exception of Big cinemas due to there big presence in smaller centres.
The single screens are not likely to be anywhere near the figures of Dabangg 2 and that is what will probably hold the film back from taking the biggest non holiday opening day ever.
It will be an interesting weekend to see how high multiplex collections can go on a non holiday.
Anurag Kashyap, who attended the special screening of Ranbir Kapoor-Deepika Padukone starrer Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani last night in Mumbai, is all praise for the film and its director Ayan Mukerji.
‘I love “wake up Sid” so much and I never thought I would say this but I am saying this, I love “Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani” so much more.. I expected why the F&@£ Ayan has done this, I thought I am going to sleep but wow.. He really twisted every cliche and kicked a,’ the 40-year-old filmmaker tweeted.
‘I do not watch films for who is in it. but who has made it.. its always the director.. From DB(Shanghai) to Zoya(ZNMD), Imtiaz , Ayan, Vishal B are people i have been consistent about since the Days of PFC,’ he continued.
‘Only difference between then and now is, I do not talk about films i don’t like anymore. kind of pointless,’ he added.
He didn’t stop there. He added: ‘i love good acting like anyone but i make my choice on the basis of who is directing. And the tweet was a response to all the mainstream films (Shanghai,ZNMD, Rockstar and YJHD) that i have praised on twitter.’
Incidentally, Anurag’s wife Kalki Koechlin has a pivotal role in the film.
Quite frankly this does inspire much confidence even though I might be jumping the gun as it looks nothing more than a rough cut. And no dialogue of AB in the teaser! Jha also seems to have committed the mistake of over-correction (after their fight over Rajneeti) since Devgn looks to have gotten the top-billing here.
Anyway, got around to watching Bachchan and Shatru starrer Yaar Meri ZIndagi last night- it is not bad but the most disappointing thing is that some other actor has enacted Bachchan’s scenes in the climax (they have taken all those climax shots from the rear so the actor’s face is never visible). Also Bachchan’s voice seems to be dubbed by someone else at places. Will try and write more if possible later
yes Bachchan talked about it on his blog yesterday. I was initially horrified when I heard stories about a possible TV show for him. But if this is more of an HBO-like deal or something I wouldn’t mind it. Still not expecting great things from it but at least it will be a serious attempt.
Very sad news. There is no need to venture into this now. Hindi satellite television is at its REGRESSIVE worst in proportion to its entire period of existence. It is so disgusting that TEXAS can replace its lethal injection death sentence with one week of forceful watch of Hindi ‘soaps.’ Job will be done. Unless AK has serious inputs into this, this will bomb and will tar AB’s name. By bomb I don’t mean TRPs but that it will be a blot on AB’s succesful TV stint.
I hope Satyam and the regular writers on his blog (Efam he calls I think..) who call the shots veto this attempt on his blog and saner sense prevails..
he mentioned on his blog that the production values and so on would be very different and that Kashyap would be the creative guy on it etc. So I’m hoping this is truly something serious. Otherwise it would indeed be a disastrous decision.
It’s a rock and a hard place. Because if this turns out to be something serious the problem then becomes it probably won’t find an audience. Bachchan being on it could help but I just don’t see a TV culture as poor as this one shouldering a serious attempt. At least not unless there’s a transitional phase that leads up to the truly worthwhile kind of shows. Of course this might be exactly that sort of transitional effort, but then if that’s the case, it’s probably not worth someone of Bachchan’s stature.
Yjhd spoof update
It’s an instinctive hunch of which film/songs to spoof–as they say, the ‘ball’ is now in the court of the public & hit/flop etc status are all acceptable. Since we had a ball (Amy had more than a ball!!)
@ Amy-Thanx for being such a v comfortable co-star–obviously she’s bound by contract &can do only my banner/spoofs now lol–I will ‘use’ her talent whenever needed…
Anyhow -a couple of tracks still left to film …
Amy –since your hindi is not as good as mine (!!)-u need to work on
this for lipsync (& if u don’t understand, do ask me!)
Ek din kabhi jo khud ko taraashe
Meri nazar se tu zara, haaye re
Aankhon se teri kya kya chhupa hai
Tujhko dikhaaun main zara, haaye re
Ik ankahi si daastaan daastaan
Kehne lagega aaina
Subhanallah… 🙂
Also thanx to the ‘dilliwaali girlfriend’ –go figure haha
Friday 31st May 2013 11.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has taken a bumper opening across India at multiplexes. The opening at multiplexes can be compared with Ek Tha Tiger which was a holiday release. It is practically opened 90-100% across the board and multiplexes which tend to start slow have also started strongly.
It is not a holiday release so the film will slow in the late afternoon as this sort of pace is normally only kept when it is holiday. The film was always expected to open huge in the metros but the multiplexes in Rajasthan, CP Berar and CI have also opened to excellent collections.
The single screen opening is also likely to be very good though not like the multiplexes. The opening is sure to be the second highest non holiday opening of all time (beating films like Ra.One, Don 2, Rowdy Rathore etc) and the record non holiday 19.50 crore nett figure of Dabangg 2 is also not safe but that will depend on the range of contribution from single screens.
B.O. update: ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ takes mindboggling start!
By Taran Adarsh, May 31, 2013 – 13:09 IST
The first major release after IPL, YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, fetched a 95% to 100% start in the morning shows. With a screen count stretching to more than 3,000 screens in India alone, the much-talked-about movie is expected to fetch fabulous numbers on Day 1 as well as in its opening weekend.
Like I pointed out in the Biz Talk two days ago, “Ranbir Kapoor enjoys tremendous popularity amongst the paying public thanks to his choice of films. In addition, the pairing of Ranbir-Deepika, the popularity of Aditya Roy Kapur soon after the super success of AASHIQUI 2, Ayan Mukerji’s credibility after WAKE UP SID, the trendy soundtrack, the right marketing and KJo’s brand value… all these factors combined together will ensure a fantabulous start for YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI in India and Overseas.”
Of course, it remains to be seen how YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI performs at smaller centres/single screens, but the multiplex business will be so huge that UTV should collect a big fat total eventually.
Poor M Night Shyamalayan cannot buy a review these days. His current film (After Earth) is doing 13% on rottentomatoes. It’s been quite a fall for him. From being the hottest director around after Sixth Sense and cementing things after Signs to the Raavan-like response to the Village (at least among audiences and to a great extent among critics) and the continuous slide since.
It’s difficult to believe it’s as bad as some of the reviews have suggested. But my impression in any case is that Smith’s son (besides being the opposite of the kind of charming star his father is or was!) is far too green to shoulder a movie of this scale and carrying these kinds of expectations…
In any case unless the box office paints a wildly different picture, (which given the intensely negative reviews seems like a long shot) this looks pretty bleak for Shyamalan.
I’ve felt this about the one he made right after Village. I forget the name. The one with Paul Giamatti. Or maybe it was the second one after the Village. But yeah if he makes an average film (for the genre) he gets mauled like crazy. I do the find the Village excellent. Think it’s one of his best. Probably like it more than the Sixth Sense. And despite its imperfection still have the greatest weakness for Unbreakable within his work. In fact this and Village are the only two films I have revisited. The Sixth Sense is definitely well put together but has never done too much for me. Preferred Amenabar’s the Others in this sense.
Completely agree on The Others. My favourite of his films is Unbreakable, by far.
This is his fourth critically panned movie after Lady in the Water, The Happening and The Last Airbender. The box office is really what will make the difference because if he can’t open with Will Smith on this blatantly summer-movie terrain, it’s news. That said, he’s proving his nine lives, and he’s probably enough of an insider that he’s not going anywhere soon. If nothing else he’s turning into a studio hand for reliably middling scripts.
Box Office Guru is predicting a 33 million opening weekend. Like most movies like this, a lot will depend on overseas. An 80-100 crore domestic total can be sizeably bolstered by additional 300 million from overseas. Any ways, his days of blockbusters seem to be behind him and is a shame for a guy who was touted as the next Speilberg. One of his interviews after
Signs he was quoted as saying he has box office all figured out and I thought then- this guy is in for a rude awakening!
But this guy seems sort of unfazed by his recent filmy debacles. He ends up making his next movie just the way he wants to, unscathed by the failures. TLA received a solid bashing from both critics as well as audiences but here he is now, with AE that seems to be a film drawn on a larger scale. None of his films are ’empty’ , visually extremely well thought out and paced. Don’t think S can ever become a down and out director.
Whatever the merits of the film, Ranbir seems to have pushed most big stars aside.He is possibly the biggest draw today after Salman and might overtake him soon. SRK era is now well and truly over ( has been over for a while now but his ‘slow’ fans have had a hard time accepting it).
Rajen, I wouldn’t go that far. He’s certainly not a bigger draw than Hrithik or Aamir or even comparable. This film is getting a huge opening but Johar knows how to push the right buttons as well. So he’s playing on the Ranbir-Deepika thing, he has Madhuri for an item song, WUS has a cult following, so on and so forth. Ranbir is obviously doing very well for himself but this isn’t the truest measure of his draw just as Agneepath wasn’t the truest measure of Hrithik’s draw. Of course it is true that all his films are the ‘right’ ones and have been for a while and he’s certainly going from strength to strength as a star. And there’s a cumulative factor to these things as well. But Rockstar didn’t get this kind of initial (though it was pretty good) and I doubt it would get it today either. What I will give you is that Ranbir, rightly or wrongly (and I of course have an opinion on this), is drawing the buzz at the moment the way most other stars aren’t. I think Ranbir is in a zone which Hrithik never occupied despite his attempts at the different. But on the other hand he’s been a huge box office force throughout his career, this isn’t something stars easily achieve. Getting back to Ranbir he’s certainly on a roll or has been over the past couple of years or so. But because he does different genres the cumulative factor doesn’t kick in in the same way. it’s true for every star. Now he could be on the Aamir track where eventually the credibility becomes so high that everything opens big, at least relative to the genre.
Ya last 2 years have been massive to ranbir and for now he is fresh So he is enjoying the buzz and this opening will benifit besharm more as it will be less audience friendly
Hrithik will be targetting 3 idiots record with krrish 3 and it will be huge and so will be dhoom3 ….well that’s totally different league
Hrithik should open very big in a strength genre. Admittedly it’s been much water under the bridge since 2006 when the last Krrish released but leaving aside trending (which of course depends on the film) it should open huge. D3 will probably still have the biggest initial around. On Krrish again the films are cheesy for a multiplex audience but people like seeing hrithik do his thing so much that they can overlook the cheese! And of course the single/double screens are kept happy! Having said they are feeling the pressure of all these other big openers and they might try to do too much. The key is keeping things simple which was true for both older films in the franchise. In some sense though just going for the biggest initials misses the point. Because rightly or wrongly, corrupt or not, the media-trade says exaggerated things about every other big opener. Soon it stops making a difference. Even if it’s a truly historic opener what does this mean when records are broken every few months and even if they aren’t when the language is so exhausted because of constant hyperbole? And so for instance YJHD has opened hugely well. The gap between this opening and something like Krrish or D3 or whatever cannot be covered by language because all the superlatives have already been used up for YJHD! And this happens all the time. The only thing that then matters is obviously to have the success but to also have films with a shelf-life in this age of disposable 100 crore films. Simply trying to outgross everybody isn’t a model that works anymore unless you’re in the Salman position. So it’s either this option or the Aamir one. And the Salman one still has a relatively temporary shelf life. Ranbir is clear following the Aamir model but he’s also learnt enough from Abhishek (according to him his best model) not to go too far in terms of taking on risk. And so he’s mixing it up with different multiplex-pleasing fare on one side and regular multiplex-pleasing types on the other! Now he’s doing a film with Kashyap who himself is enjoying his hottest multiplex phase! Even when the films don’t work (Anjaana Anjaani) his image isn’t hurt. Nothing wrong with it of course specially when the media is wildly cheering all the way! On Krrish finally yes it should do 150 even if it disappoints somewhat.
Agree with that Satyam. Hritik is (still) a different ball-game. Whilst ranbir is already more evolved as the ‘actor’, as far as the ‘star’, hritik is still ahead. and on a comparative basis, right from his first film to alll films that ‘clicked’, the bar for HR has been to cream ALL competition (including all the khans!)
Yeah- he lags in the pure ‘acting’ deptt but he isn’t lagging in a big way anyways and always has been more than effective in the very least.
The question is not how much krish3 ultimately ends up making–
It’s how much people are predicting for his solo starrer in a fatigued cheesy franchise in a genre that doesn’t work traditionally in Bollywood– and I’m not talkng about Hritiks fans-it’s his detractors who are quoting 150cr plus figures….anyhow will come to krish3 soon…
Was never really impressed with ranbir inspite of good performances esp in rocket Singh and eventually barfi. People who are ‘ranbir supporters’ would have been so even with/without those films actually.
The ‘game changer’ for ranbir (as far as I’m concerned) and the one which brought in some unexpected supporters/fans has been only one film –rockstar –wherein he shares credit with ar Rahman, Imtiaz Ali (& nargis fakhri)…
It’s to his credit though that he has seized the initiative and strung together a momentum& chosen wisely.
As mentioned earlier– in the post khan bunch–there have been only two authentic stars in Bollywood– hritik and ranbir ( more so the former!)
The rest are ..well..
rajen1, one should be realistic to visualise things.Ranbir is just ten films old and with that much background at present,he can’t over take big stars particularly Khans.Plus Srk is still there,his films might not have performed that well in domestic market in recent times but in overseas he still is a big force and unmatchable.If you don’t like any star that is ok but don’t make your personal opinion,a general rule and force others to follow that.
Satyam,I request you to look into such matters in future.As per your statement,there is no place for those who try to spread negativity unnecessarily here on this blog.So please take care of it as fans of other star get agitated by such unwanted comments and then they directly start ridiculing Bachchan.Then things turn more worst as a result of fan wars plus for me as a fan, it is very painful to read anti Bachchan comments here on this site and i hope you also must not be enjoying the said situation,whenever it arises.And above all rule should be same for all..
Michael, I don’t believe there’s anything odd about Rajen’s comment. One can disagree with it. He’s just making a claim about Ranbir. There’s no reason for anyone else to take offense. He’s not ridiculing anyone else here. Now does this sort of comment nonetheless invite some extreme reactions? Sure! But hey that’s the nature of the beast. All kinds and all sorts are attracted to these discussions. I’d say even to you not to be so pained about the anti-Bachchan stuff. These things happen all the time on blogs. I’ve often talked about how I consider Abhishek a superior actor to most of the competition and so on and lots of other things as well. People used to attack me for comparing him with others. Some people just don’t like to hear certain things and are not especially bothered by the nature of the discussion. Now we all go over the line from time to time. But this particular Rajen comment is not objectionable in the least. I think no one should have problems with any comment and any view as long as the language is kept civil. This doesn’t mean one cannot argue and even vociferously. I do it all the time.
Satyam,okay i may agree with you for the sake of comment here on Rajen’s part but if it is like that, then on what grounds prince was attacked yesterday?Hadn’t he also made a claim on same grounds i.e on Satyagrah teaser?I have seen Rajen in past also making such comments about a particular star whether that thread was related with that subject or not.So,isn’t this also a troll?Anyway,you being administrator of this blog,may be knowing better how to run it.I can just suggest or even request anything.Plus,i have no problem with it but i am concerned when people start attacking senoir Bachchan, only because their favourite star was attacked by any bachchan fan.I just want to put things rest in the said matter.Rest is your wish.
Not at all. And I made this clear yesterday. Here’s that comment again:
[Opposition is not the problem. Trolls are. Some people just come once in a blue moon to provoke or say something ridiculous and then disappear. This is a problem. Still I hardly stop anyone even on these grounds but sometimes things get out of hand. How? Because these folks then get into ‘debates’ with others who might not be familiar with them and negativity is unnecessarily created. Since I have never been big on Satygraha myself, since I’ve voiced the greatest doubts about it on Bachchan’s blog, some anti-Satyagraha talk would hardly bother me if it were a normal discussion.]
You don’t get the same privileges if you just come here to create trouble. You can be infrequent, that’s not a problem, but you can’t only show up to provoke. There is no comparison with Rajen here in any sense who is one of the most regular people here, I’ve known him for much longer than this blog’s history, and he’s ‘essential’ here. By the way Prince isn’t the only one. There are others too who resort to these tactics. Nonetheless I try and tolerate it until things start getting out of hand and they do eventually because many people are not aware of all the contexts and get provoked and say stuff in turn.
I’d finally make this larger point yet again. It is all about contexts for me. It is not only about what is said but where it’s coming from. We have to make sense of what people say here within those larger contexts. Much as we do everywhere in life. Certain people can say things to us that other people cannot. Even in public situations. The rules are the same for everyone here including myself. We all step over the line from time to time, that’s fine. I never said the blog would be Singapore where one could be fined hundreds of dollars for spitting gum! Some feistiness is fine. Occasionally it gets too much, things have to be controlled. But contexts once more intervene. This is not unfairness. It is in fact more fair to take the most comprehensive view possible. It’s not granting anyone special privileges.
And once again if people attack a star (bachchan or otherwise) because they think their favorite is being attacked that’s just too bad. One can’t police juvenilia! Or stop saying stuff because others react this way. I just put up a long comment on Ranbir or two actually. In the first I talked about his amazing numbers in YJHD and his larger trajectory and so on. I was very complimentary. This was followed up by a darker comment on his media reception. Now people can read all kinds of things into it based on their ability to read (!) but I can’t censor myself just because some people won’t take it the right way. If others don’t grow up I cannot retard myself to keep up (or down)!
Just back from YJHD…not a patch on WUS….this may go the Yaaden way !! Ayan Mukharjee ko KJo ney barbaad kar diya..
some really good moments but over all it was more like KKKG
the best part- deepiks asks Ranbir ” ab mere Bole Choodiya” wala dance kaun dekeheg? Ranbir replies-“Karan Johar”..and the subtitles show it as ” Uncles” !!!! LMAO
Ranbir, Deepika, Aditya have all acted really well….kalki ko kyon role deta hai koi ??
Madhuri looks really old and the whole sequence looks so fake and forced..
Thursday 31st May 2013 13.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is likely to create history in Delhi city as the film has started with just unbelievable collections. The collections will easily beat Dabangg 2 which collected around 1.50 crore nett in Delhi city and will even surpass films like Bodyguard and Agneepath in Delhi city which were major holiday releases.
The craze is such for the film in the capital that it is likely to cross 2 crore nett in Delhi city which so far only Ek Tha Tiger has managed but that was on Independence Day Holiday.
In major North India cities like Delhi city, Gurgaon and Chandigarh the film is sure to smash the non holiday opening day records of Dabangg 2 and will be second only to Ek Tha Tiger and that also due to the holiday factor.
that “Badtamiz Dil” is so damn catchy that evenif the film were not so good – it wud have run to 100 cr – my sis and her hubby and daughter went for it today and they were totally bowled over by the film…..
Contd-Hey Amy– have only skimmed thru the reports but they seem ok eh…let’s sit bak n watch the public verdict….
Credit goes to Amy for inspiring this spoof. I cast apt actors for apt roles-I told u in JTHJ that your role will come lol-u weren’t ‘ready’ then.. As for me, im ‘mouldable’ lol
Ok some lyrics for u to lipsync n enjoy 😉
Kal nahi thi jo aaj lagti hoon
Taareef meri hai khaamakha
Tohfa hai tera meri adaa
Ps: stop blushing…
“Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Is HISTORIC In Delhi City”– Amy– we should give credit to the ‘dilliwaali girlfriend’ 🙂
C’mon let’s film some ‘key scenes now’….
Top ALLTIME Opening Days: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Fourth
Saturday 1st June 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has taken the fourth biggest opening of all time and the highest non holiday opening as Ek tha Tiger, Agneepath and Bodyguard all opened on major holidays. The top ten opening days of all time are as follows.
the interesting thing here is that if YJHD is at 20 was Agneepath so extraordinary as 21 or even bG at its number? Some time has passed but not that much! Specially with Agneepath. Or even Dabanng 2. And some of these are holiday films. My point is that YJHD is still a multiplex deal, those other films were supposed to be huge everywhere. But these numbers are more or less the same. The same superlatives were exhausted for all those older films too.
B.O. update: ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ takes mindboggling start!
By Taran Adarsh, May 31, 2013 – 13:09 ISTThe first major release after IPL, YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, fetched a 95% to 100% start in the morning shows. With a screen count stretching to more than 3,000 screens in India alone, the much-talked-about movie is expected to fetch fabulous numbers on Day 1 as well as in its opening weekend.
Like I pointed out in the Biz Talk two days ago, “Ranbir Kapoor enjoys tremendous popularity amongst the paying public thanks to his choice of films. In addition, the pairing of Ranbir-Deepika, the popularity of Aditya Roy Kapur soon after the super success of AASHIQUI 2, Ayan Mukerji’s credibility after WAKE UP SID, the trendy soundtrack, the right marketing and KJo’s brand value… all these factors combined together will ensure a fantabulous start for YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI in India and Overseas.”
Of course, it remains to be seen how YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI performs at smaller centres/single screens, but the multiplex business will be so huge that UTV should collect a big fat total eventually.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani opened huge on Friday collecting Rs. 19.45 cr
Right after Rockstar I knew Ranbir was special. Ranbir is the only actor who makes me watch every moment he is on screen, right from his first film..After Dilip Kumar he is the only actor who makes me do it.
And I had announced from the rooftop that after Cocktail Deepika had evolved into a different creature and had entered a different league.
The Ranbir era began with Rockstar..and is now well reach iis peak with YJHD, Besharam and Bombay Velvet.
It is the easiest and safest thing to worship the rising sun. How can you compare him to DK? At the best he is like Shammi Kapoor in his heyday. As for YJYD success, remove that song and dance, you have another tepid film which is being churned out day in and day out. And you are forgetting actors like AB, Rishi Kapoor himself, aamir and others.
I said it when SAAWARIYA came out….Ranbir Kapoor will be a HUGE superstar….he has a universal appeal. His character is well played in YJHD. Most enjoyable K-jo film in ages alongside AGNEEPATH
I watched YJHD today, and even though the trailers prepared me for glossy inanity, I was astonished at exactly soulless and superficial this managed to be. However, the one redeeming aspect was the likeable and charming cast of friends, all four of whom were more than competent. But make no mistake, this film belonged to Deepika. She shone despite being riddled with a highly unconvincing and puerile character arc, and has grown into such a confident and charismatic star; she’s probably never going to be even half the actor that Ranbir is, but this film required stardust and screen presence not thesping talent, and she managed to outshine him. I’m happy to see that many critics (as diverse as Raja Sen and Anupama Chopra) have acknowledged this, and have not fallen prey to the temptation of classifying this as another stepping stone in Ranbir’s path to superstardom. He may well go onto become a new age superstar, but that will have little to do with YJHD’s success, since this is Deepika’s film all the way. As a Deepika fan, I am happy that I watched the film, despite how cringeworthy and cliched it was.
Thanx for the early review & thoughts Amy –“But make no mistake, this film belonged to Deepika”– as mentioned earlier and as utkal uncle mentions above, ‘cocktail’ made her find her ‘inner self’ & she is a different actress now—no wonder, I gave u this role hahah–enjoy
Btw couldn’t check it –no Bollywood viewers around me currently. There’s one Kareena-seque ultra snobbish person-but hear this–she insists on watching great gatsby again & doesn’t want to seen watching Yjhd like deals –what double-standards!!
Will have to find some bakras/bakris …
Anyhow Amy-enjoy the suxess of your role 🙂
@ sanjana–nice to see u back. Btw thought that poor anu isn’t posting due to certain harsh comments against her earlier by some here, but now it seems the problem is different… Hmm.and I think I know it ….Hope she is safe since she already was on the ‘edge’ lol
Btw have got two murgis for yhjd who not only don’t know Bollywood/hindi but are eminently dumb…watching Yjhd shortly to see how Amy has performed 🙂
Ami,
Havent seen the film.So cannot comment on whose film it is or who outshone whom. But, regardless this already is a huge step for Ranbir and is already being acknowledged as such. Deepika, too might benefit from the film and may be deservedly so. But, make no mistake- there is no comparision as far as star wattage goes. Deepika’s presence in the film mgiht be a big reason for the success, may be even more so than Ranbir but cannot be because she ‘has stardust and screen presence’ !
Ranbir is going to benefit far,far more here and is perceived to have far more starpower and presence than Deepika Padukone who is good looking,mildly talented and a welcome presence at best! Most males who are her fans are presicley so because of what Q pointed out. She seems to fulfill some juvenile male fantasy with here carefree bit.
Let’s not spoil the day of deepika fans like Amy
These days (& nights) are few n far between anyways…
Amy– don’t worry—the film is a hit only due to deepika–
Happy? 🙂
Ps: having said that, deepika truly deserves credit for not allowing ranbir to hog the limelight totally and did ‘evolve’ as the film progressed
For eg deepika ‘evolved’ from sawaar kameez (when studying alone at home!!!!) and mini skirts while skiing(!!) to a designer Saree-seque thing with a skimpy ‘blouse’ and so on….
So yeah –there WAS progresssion
Joking Amy–irrespective of attempts to ‘discredit’ her, deepika DID a good job and deserves equal credit–peace … Hahah
yes agreed, even if Deepika is more of a presence here (as many are suggesting) the way these things work the male star is still benefited the most. Not without reason because audiences just don’t show up for films in comparable fashion for female leads.
Sanjana: Shammi Kapoor? Has he done anything like Rajneeti in his life? Or rocket Singh? Or Rockstar? Or Barfi? Waht is inetresting about Ranbir is that he is so watchable even when he is doing so little. Like in Rajneeti. Like DK.In Mughal-e-Azam. Smouldering hot intensity. Without doing almost anything.
Shammi Kapoor’s acting had layers behind all that baffonery. Brhmachari for example. He was typecast somewhat. Ranbir still looks somewhat too enthusiastic and he may reach more maturity as an actor after he ages a little.
This might be even news to Shammi Kapoor were he alive. I loved his movies , God bless him but ‘layers’!
Only layers I can think of are those caused by folds of adipose tissue! There probably was a decent director inside him though that never really got a decent chance!
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 14h
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani takes not just India, but Overseas markets by storm. Is all set to beat #Barfi and #Rockstar by a big margin!
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is heading towards record collections over the first weekend. The film has seen a huge for a Saturday and will have the highest ever collections for a Saturday as business again is likely to be in the 19-20 crore nett region.
The collections coming in for Saturday are in the same range as Friday and it could show a small gain or small drop but the range will be similar to Friday.
The film will have collected 38.50-39.50 crore nett in two days and is chasing a 58 crore nett weekend of Dabangg 2 while Ek Tha Tiger collected 56 crore nett.
It is looking like that Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani may be the first film in history of Hindi cinema to collect over 60 crore nett in three days.
Saw this last night….turned out to be a lot better than anticipated. Ranbirs character is well etched out….deserves to be a big hit….turning out to be a lot bigger hit than I thought.
Same with FAST & FURIOUS 6 and THE HANGOVER 3…looking fwd to THE GREAT GATSBY and THE INTERNSHIP
yes it’s putting up these incredible numbers. It’s the biggest multiplex grosser by far (i.e. a multiplex only kind of deal) but it’s also sprung a big surprise in that no one was expecting it to challenge Dabanng 2 and ETT! And again I’ll repeat an older point. The likes of BOI and Taran were as ‘breathless’ over Dabanng 2. But with national holidays and so on the comparable numbers of the latter (and similar films) were still obviously great but ‘weaker’ than they might have been because those films also had full single/double screen participation. Now to be completely fair about it a multiplex audience that gets hugely excited about a film like YJHD is not likely to be excited by a Salman Khan film in the same way! And the target multiplex demographic is either the younger one (roughly 16-30) that favors such films or a somewhat older one that favors ‘family’ films. However since the peak periods of Yashraj and Johar in those formats there haven’t been films for the latter group. Consequently there haven’t been such massive numbers for a multiplex film. On the other hand a multiplex film catering to the youth-only demographic also hasn’t been a massive runaway success (the next best is ZNMD which had a relatively moderate start though it remained stable). This one has really bust the bank. And Ranbir really has a huge moment here in absolute terms. Also very significant because he’s doing a certain kind of mix where this success is repeatable. So he will have such a film again sooner or later. But equally the initials for his other films, which too tend to appeal to the same multiplex audiences one way or the other, will also get jacked up. And he’s had success with these anyway. So Ranbir doesn’t really need to tinker with his formula at this point. Even the Kashyap (Anurag) film is happening at a point when Kashyap is hottest in the multiplexes and without doubt Bombay Velvet will be a much more accessible film than GoW! In the meantime Besharam with Abhinav Kashyap also seems to belong to the kind of genre where huge numbers are possible.
but having said all this the connected point about the ‘selling of Ranbir’ is equally important. It’s not that he has fostered it in any active sense. He has merely been its beneficiary but it has been there all the same. Ranbir has in a way been ‘smart’ about things , he’s followed certain safer options (nothing wrong with this of course) at any end of the spectrum and sure enough the initials kept getting better or stronger. However it is also the case that there was a parallel media narrative which was pushed from day 1 about Ranbir being a ‘great’ actor, even before a single film released, and then the moment he had some success, it was exaggerated even when it was only at WUS level, or the failures were not talked about much when these happened, then in a bigger success like Rajneeti he got favorable media attention when clearly there were other important parts and performances around, when it was a Rockstar that didn’t do all that well, it was the performance of the century.. on and on. So not to deny the obvious but the most favorable media reception has greeted him at every turn. He’s certainly in the zone now but the importance of pushing a certain narrative throughout a star’s young career cannot be underestimated. And so whether it’s being a great thespian or a superstar he is so before the event. Now I might find both characterizations absurd but the point is that there is a certain structure in place that wasn’t there for just about anyone else. Even Hrithik had to get that kind of success instantly.
I could use a political shorthand here. The narrative surrounding Ranbir is not completely legible without also taking into account the relative hostility Abhishek has received at most points. The Bachchan name is not just about legendary success but also a seminal politics. It is this that must be repressed. The Bachchan starson has to be repressed and the Kapoor one celebrated. Precisely because the Kapoor name is pure genealogy without the political charge (at least no one since Raj Kapoor has ever had it! being Shashi or Shammi or Rishi Kapoor has no significant meaning in this sense). So someone like Ranbir can have the genealogy benefits without the burden of it and of course the name ‘Bachchan’ confers some very special burdens! Ranbir by way of his choices and his physicality and the kind of actor he is is in any case fine for the multiplex moment but set against the Bachchan contrast the narrative starts becoming something more. Part of it is as always that folks play this double game of first excoriating Abhishek for being a perfect representative of industry nepotism and so on and then having accounted for their guilt (which is that they ‘consume’ every starson and daughter that comes their way!) they pretend they are celebrating Ranbir or whoever for the pure merits of the case! And of course because Abhishek’s choices, certainly in the past have made them uniquely uncomfortable, it is easier to package the resistance in some sort of absurd nepotism discourse. There’s a difference between failing in Anjaana Anjaani and doing so in D6. In one case the star’s essential image is not hurt, the audience still recognized the genre, is still on board with the politics but sees the particular film as a bad mix. With D6 on the other hand it’s the opposite. The politics gets uncomfortable, the star is not as recognizable and so forth. Note how despite the hostility every time Abhishek does something sanctioned by the same multiplex-media apparatus he gets kind (I’d argue sometimes too kind) attention. And so we saw this with Dostana but even moreso with BB recently which is after a Rohit Shetty deal. As long as you’re with the program the hostility can be kept at bay. I won’t repeat everything I’ve said here about a longer Bachchan trajectory (father and son) and the reception politics surrounding each.
But nor is it my aim to take anything away from Ranbir’s sensational moment here in YJHD. Or the longer arc he’s developed for himself. Even if I am completely unable to spot the actor or indeed star (in the descriptive sense and not the box office one) that many in the media and elsewhere routinely spot I have nothing against him. Quite like his off screen persona anyway. And of course I’m not suggesting that he’s fostering this narrative. But it is there and its effects cannot be underestimated. When a star is constantly sold as a craze among the youth before he becomes such a craze, when he’s sold as a thespian before he becomes one, when he’s sold as superstar before becoming one. Assuming the latter to be somehow true in every case the groundwork is prepared long before and this creates a body of opinion that cancels out any potential negativity for the star. The greatest hyperbole at every turn. I of course do not believe there’s a Pacino in the making here to warrant this kind of response (!) but even if it were Pacino this kind of reception would still be ‘false’ before the event. When such overwhelming opinion in one direction is ‘manufactured’, when Ranbir is offered as the ‘true’ and ‘deserving’ starson (versus who? Ha!) to a public constantly soaking in the 24/7 media blitz certain consequences follow. Ranbir has of course done his best not to be on the wrong side of these very same audiences. But it creates a perfect confluences of factors. He isn’t to blame but he is nonetheless the recipient of a narrative which is falsely framed in the ways I’ve pointed out.
Re: “The narrative surrounding Ranbir is not completely legible without also taking into account the relative hostility Abhishek has received at most points. The Bachchan name is not just about legendary success but also a seminal politics. It is this that must be repressed. The Bachchan starson has to be repressed and the Kapoor one celebrated. Precisely because the Kapoor name is pure genealogy without the political charge (at least no one since Raj Kapoor has ever had it! being Shashi or Shammi or Rishi Kapoor has no significant meaning in this sense). So someone like Ranbir can have the genealogy benefits without the burden of it and of course the name ‘Bachchan’ confers some very special burdens!”
But in a sense this “emptiness” — the dynasty that means nothing except some vague sense of “family”, “privilege”, and “history”; heck the dynasty that isn’t really a dynasty and hence doesn’t threaten the bourgeoisie’s sense of itself as citizens of a republic, even as it is often bereft of any commitment to equality in a liberal sense, let alone any sense more radical — is perhaps the most germane to the new India (where it’s about merit — except that it’s constantly about “good families” and who you know). Only RGV treated the Bachchans as purely about nothing except themselves, but in retrospect, that was a bridge too far: despite (and it pains me to write this) the Great One’s best efforts over the last two decades, he hasn’t been able to completely empty the Bachchan signature (partly because his destructive work has been undone by Abhishek’s cussed insistence — perhaps now worn out, but we’ll have to see what the post-Bol Bachchan career brings — on standing for something!)…
On a related note it’s interesting how Aditya Chopra wanted to make Mohabbatein first but (and by his own admission) did DDLJ first to get more experience. In a way he just had this one idea in him! Because after Mohabbatein paralysis more or less hit him and DDLJ though a classic came about ‘unintentionally’. Meanwhile Johar himself has always had Kabhi Kabhie on the mind (quite often the films he has a hand in have something to do with the passage of time and relationships developing), his dream film was clearly K3G, again he started out with KKHH as a safe ‘spinoff’ to DDLJ. And once again after K3G he too didn’t quite know what to do. While he has forever tried to get an Aamir moment for SRK (KANK, MNIK) even prior to this he didn’t direct KHNH. He too has been rudderless as a director for quite sometime. Once again like Aditya Chopra he’s trying to make up the deficit on the production side.
Why do I get into these two examples in such detail? Because, and as I’ve said before, the Bachchan ghost has stalked even the 90s. The question for these iconic directors who delivered these important age-defining films was still: what shall we do with Amitabh Bachchan? They came of age in a world where Bachchan was still completely supreme and hence quite naturally wanted to work with him. But even later there was a sense in which they had to incorporate him into their ‘system’. Whatever choices Bachchan was making on his own, rightly or wrongly, they couldn’t do without being associated with his sign. And as I’ve argued before we are still in a post-Bachchan age where his peak period is of course behind us but for all the often dramatic new Indian changes since (in cinema) ‘Bollywood’ still isn’t a space which can do without his transcendence or some trace of his sign. This is often not measurable in box office terms for all sorts of reasons but it is assuredly so in a larger cultural sense. bachchan continues to suck up the oxygen at so many levels. But also in the decisions many of these filmmakers make. And once again Aditya Chopra and Johar are key. The SRK age has long been eclipsed but the Bachchan sign has not dimmed. Which is to say it hasn’t grown weaker than where it was a decade ago, more or less. And then of course there is the Abhishek story once more. The resistance to him even today, irrespective of his box office fortunes (except when he does what is plainly acceptable to everyone.. otherwise the excuses change.. most infamously Taran and Nahata saying a blockbuster like BnB which would have been absolutely massive in today’s money was doing well only in Bombay and Delhi! Or some of the other ridiculous theories) indicates the strength of even a diminished (which is to say post-peak and post-post-peak) Bachchan charge. Specially when Abhishek was not willing to be ‘Joharised’ or ‘Yashrajized’ despite getting success after a long struggle.
But the Ranbir reception by the media establishment and beyond is in a way even more depressing than the SRK one. Because while I don’t have anything against Ranbir at all he represents precisely the emptiness you’re referring to. And this has nothing to do with his acting or anything. SRK’s films could at least be read as a reaction to the 80s or an age of action or as the expression of new Indian/diaspora desire. One could be severe critic of what he represented in these films (as I have been) but there was a ‘stance’ to them. On the other hand Ranbir doesn’t even represent even this kind of message. It is simply the film. Or if one wants to push it further he’s taking the role Hrithik did in the first part of Lakshya and making it his own. So from WUS to Rockstar and evidently the current film (and elsewhere too in some ways) he’s the Bandra slacker type who eventually does ‘something’! This is the limit of the ‘politics’ associated with him. Nothing more here. I’d take Ranbir over many others and this is not meant to be a personal knock on him but it is certainly one on his audience and once more the larger mindset you’ve been referring to.
Re: “But the Ranbir reception by the media establishment and beyond is in a way even more depressing than the SRK one. Because while I don’t have anything against Ranbir at all he represents precisely the emptiness you’re referring to. And this has nothing to do with his acting or anything. SRK’s films could at least be read as a reaction to the 80s or an age of action or as the expression of new Indian/diaspora desire. One could be severe critic of what he represented in these films (as I have been) but there was a ‘stance’ to them. On the other hand Ranbir doesn’t even represent even this kind of message. It is simply the film. Or if one wants to push it further he’s taking the role Hrithik did in the first part of Lakshya and making it his own. So from WUS to Rockstar and evidently the current film (and elsewhere too in some ways) he’s the Bandra slacker type who eventually does ‘something’! This is the limit of the ‘politics’ associated with him. Nothing more here. I’d take Ranbir over many others and this is not meant to be a personal knock on him but it is certainly one on his audience and once more the larger mindset you’ve been referring to.”
Somewhat off the main topic, but I can relate to your last paragraph: for me too, the problem with SRK was him, and, secondarily, his audience; whereas the problem with Ranbir is his audience.
He does need to be careful, though: like Deepika Padukone (who is forever playing some juvenile male’s fantasy of the carefree woman (who won’t, of course, end up too carefree: just carefree enough to titillate an uncle in “Cocktail” with a bare leg rested on a sofa, carefree enough to be puzzled why Saif is gesturing to her to put her leg down; an inauthentic moment if there ever was one, as anyone who has ever known a woman from just about any country will vouch — the lack of authenticity is, of course, in her surprise. It helps that the carefree attitude is lubricated by copious amounts of alcohol: it makes transformations by film’s end seem that much more plausible — “hey, we stopped the drinking scenes pre-interval!”)), Ranbir is getting trapped in the sort of role you mention, typically overlaid with a kind of smug privileged air that the multiplex faithful might relate to or aspire to, but that does not help forge a connection across places and demographics (Hrithik, although I like him far less than Ranbir, did not have this — he’s inert, and one is relatively free to project; like Hrithik, Ranbir can seem unhinged when he tries to play something out of his skin — not the rockstar in “Rockstar”, but the Hindu College-boy in the film’s first few reels). It’s a pity, because he didn’t have this issue in “Saawariya” (nor, to be fair, in “Barfi!”), but in the Johar films he seems to be (eagerly) trapped. In fact, Ranbir offers the SRK model on steroids — as in Karan’s telling comment years ago: “he has the looks; he has the dancing ability; most importantly, he has the genes”.
On the Johar ‘genes’ comment perhaps one should take it more seriously than he does in a different direction. Abhishek betrays Johar’s hopes precisely by staying true to his genes. Actually he betrays the hopes of many of his and his father’s fans too who naively assume that with just more testosterone in one’s gesturality it would be 1980 all over again! Ranbir meanwhile is in a perverse sense true to Rishi Kapoor because the father too in the 70s and for all his many gifts as a fluid actor and so forth once again couldn’t mean anything in the age of Bachchan. So while even Dharam was very secondary to Bachchan he had his own iconic brand-name. Rishi starred in some iconic films but could never be more than this. Given that he was easily the most talented Kapoor offspring (after Raj Kapoor and I’d say this holds even now) he always lacked this greater sign. Yes he wasn’t cut out for masala, he would have been disadvantaged in any case but he also didn’t stand for anything. Not saying that every star represents something specific. Just that Ranbir isn’t betraying his genes in this sense. Which is why there is sometimes this desperation on the part of his directors to portray him in Raj Kapoor’s shadow. An absurd exercise if ever there was one. Could there be anything farther from Raj Kapoor’s concerns and his Chaplinesque image than the consumption obsessions of new India?! If at all Raj Kapoor inhabited this world he’d be safely on the other side of the tracks in a manner of speaking!
finally and in terms of genre the smart move these days is to take the multiplex romantic-comedy and marry it to certain Rock On-like themes of disillusionment or ‘growing up’. ZNMD though it didn’t open anything like YJHD was extremely stable. The purely nothing romantic comedies aren’t doing as much even with stars. You can get a weekend bang at the box office and come up with respectable numbers but not much more. Now it remains to be seen how far YJHD goes but nonetheless the response here has completely exceeded even the most optimistic expectations here so clearly something here has struck a chord, at least in some limited sense. Ironically Akhtar already had this disappointment/growing up undercurrent in DCH but it’s take the rest a while to catch up.
Interesting reading! Do not agree entirely but have a few things to add. There is no parallel between Abhishek and Ranbir other than being star sons. Abhishek came with a burden of gargantuan expectations and did not have the chocolate good looks or the physique.He was a little careless in choosing the initial films and his career wasnt thought out. He found his way and chose a different path. And, full marks to him for that. He has stuck to his guns inspite of setbacks and seems to be finding a balance. Love and admire him dearly and not just because of his father.
Ranbir had a lesser burden in terms of expectations. He is OBVIOSULY talented (inspite of somequestioning it ), has the looks and physical attributes. Is sincere and atleast so far has been more careful in his choices.
Media has obviously played a role but there is no parallel with SRK. His off screen persona is much more likeable. IT would be foolish t9o suggest that he owes his success largely to the media support and narrative. He has connected somehow and not just with the youth. I find the suggestion that his success is not deserved inappropriate. And,certainly wouldnt blame his audience. Here is a likeable,talented star making good movies and (except for the philandering) behaving in a dignified manner. How can one blame the audience?
Speaking for myself Rajen I am not disagreeing with anything you’ve said on Ranbir. I might accent things differently or not go as far as you have on certain points but those aren’t essential differences (except perhaps on the looks bit.. I often find him gawky and in terms of his physique obviously he isn’t Abhishek but he isn’t in the Hrithik-John ‘stud’ camp either.. he’s doing no more nor less than just about every other star in this sense, barring Abhishek who even when he works out doesn’t exactly conform to the gym model.. and to be honest this is a plus for me.. whatever I might think of his physicality Ranbir still looks normal.. and yes I’d agree he’s a likable, sincere performer too). And I’m not blaming the audience for liking Ranbir. I am blaming them for having a certain mindset which then makes a certain kind of cinema and star most appropriate for their ‘desires’. And this isn’t just about Ranbir but about many other stars as well who either belong loosely to this group or become this. Abhishek even if he wished to couldn’t become this, even on terrain like Dostana’s. Because a certain charge resonates through him, often consciously, and he can never appear ’empty’ which is the requirement of much of today’s cinema. As we have seen this is true largely for the masala films that are made today as well. And so to the extent Ranbir succeeds doing this sort of stuff it’s just another reminder. If Abhishek did mostly the Dostana kind of film to succeed I’d find that unfortunate too even with all the caveats I’ve added. I don’t even think that much about his more commercial choices along masala lines. I prefer them to the alternatives perhaps but my problem here too is the fact that these films are mostly empty. This still doesn’t mean I mind Ranbir’s extraordinary moment here. In fact I’d rather it happen to him than most other stars. And perhaps just my liking for his father is enough for me to celebrate this, leaving aside Ranbir for a moment. But it is still a reminder of a completely consumption industry. In this sense I am even wrong to criticize Abhishek for some of his current choices or have held hopes in the past for some of his other films. Because if YJHD or Race or ETT is the norm a Deewar isn’t going to suddenly pop up! Once in a while this audience will reward something different as long as it is still fairly entertaining (Guru or Barfi or whatever). Cinema as ‘experience’ is a thing of the past. The Aamir compromise is the best one possible these days and Ranbir might get there with time.
by the way, and responding to your Fri comment, and though I didn’t agree with it I will say this — given the way Ranbir is being projected by the media he is bad news not just for SRK (he was in any case losing out on a number of fronts to other stars) but perhaps more importantly Hrithik. The latter despite being one of the biggest openers since his debut never quite graduated to the ‘absolute star’ stage and forever seemed to be waiting in the wings. He either had commercial hits that confirmed what we already knew or different films that didn’t do much for him even when these worked at some level. Put differently he was never given the write-ups Ranbir is now getting, at least not since KNPH. Partly because the ‘actor’ romance as I’ve said for years is still alive even in this otherwise bankrupt industry. And so in Ranbir can be presented as the completely package he steals a march on everyone. Abhishek (despite the media and online politics on all this) is far less affected. Not surprisingly his path has always involved getting successful on his terms. Because he has never followed the reigning genre model completely. But it is true that both he and Hrithik have been transitional figures so far. There is still something ‘unsettled’ about Abhishek’s career (it’s not completely clear where he’s going, which could be good or bad, and I don’t just mean box office success) and Hrithik meanwhile has stagnated at his own level. Abhishek would need not just the box office but something more buzz-oriented to get back into the game in the true sense whereas with Hrithik it’s oddly more tricky. So he had ZNMD and Agneepath fairly close together. But the world didn’t really change for him. He’s still ‘back to the future’ with Krrish. Ranbir is clearly the blue-eyed boy of the moment.
“the way Ranbir is being projected by the media he is bad news not just for SRK (he was in any case losing out on a number of fronts to other stars) but perhaps more importantly Hrithik.”
Agree completely with this. In some ways Ranbir has been the correction to Hrithik Roshan, at least for those who saw Hrithik as the exemplary star/actor of his time, but who also could not completely sell him successfully as such. As you rightly suggest, Hrithik might have been lauded in similar terms as Ranbir if it weren’t for the fact that he just doesn’t have the acting chops. Not even a little. And one can see how the push for Hrithik has changed in a post-Ranbir scenario from comparing the responses to his work in KMG and Guzaarish. I remember being flabbergasted with the reviews for his performance in KMG, you could practically feel the burden of effort on the part of the people who pushed this at the time like it was My Left Foot. With Guzaarish you saw the usual banal, flat compliments towards the central performance, but the fade out was faster both because the film wasn’t successful but also and more importantly because the time had passed when Hrithik could convincingly be sold as some kind of great actor, especially in light of Ranbir’s emergence.
This whole discussion has been a fascinating read btw.
Thanx for this interesting discussion Satyam & q-read bits..
Incidentally, revisited bits of wus yesterday…whilst I enjoyed YJHD more (unsurprisingly!), wus was ‘truer’,’raw’ & technically a more ‘honest’ film (for this genre)
Yjhd seems essentially the same film template with upgraded elements slightly ahead in time–same friends, dad mother, and ofcourse the ‘coming of age’..
I suggest an ayan-ranbir (the new kjo-srk!) franchise—
‘Wont grow up Sid’ –parts 1&2 are already out
Every couple of years, a new installment can come out–the cental theme should stay the same–EXCEPT that this ‘growing up, should NOT happen– to pave the way for another installment..
My curiosity in Yjhd remains that what if ranbir had the guts and balls to resist deepikas ‘charms’ & continue his shenanigans…
Let’s see where it leads him (& the viewer)
Into part3,4,5…
Somewhere we will see ‘darker themes’, (newer) ‘perversions’ and ‘mad men-like’ scenarios … 🙂
LOL,Munna,Q
“like Deepika Padukone (who is forever playing some juvenile male’s fantasy of the carefree woman”
😀
Would also include some middle aged men and some middle aged men with a juvenile mindset, desperately pretending to be young!!!
I find her a welcome presence on screen but yes, this carefree bit is getting old and stale rather fast and furiosuly!
Note to Satyam:
Dont hold your breath for a Deewar. There is no Salim-Javed on horizon and there is never going to be another Vijay.
So, those kind of aobsolutely,completely satisfying film experiences are certainly a thing of past.
And, agree Ranbir is a threat to Hrithik- a big threat. Still like HR quite a bit but he has to do stuff other than K3. I liked him quite a bit in ZNMD and there is still hope for him.
Sadly you’re right. That era was a once in a lifetime deal.
On the rest I didn’t really mean that Ranbir is a threat to Hrithik in any literal sense. Hrithik’s box office standing is fine. It’s just that if you lose the buzz narrative to a younger star it’s that much harder to get into that ‘absolute’ position. It’s a different thing that I’ve felt Hrithik lost out on this chance a long time back for a variety of reasons. If you’re relying on the box office you need to keep doing the Krrish or Dhoom kind of deal. And he was capable of this. If you’re doing different however you need a true blue signature moment which he never got. He’s fallen a bit in between these two options. He sometimes veers more to one side, sometimes more to the other and at other times he’s just had long breaks. Admittedly the different is always a bit harder for him to be too convincing in because the audience doesn’t essentially watch his movies to discover an actor in him but to see him ‘look good’ and basically do everything competently. To overcome what one might uncharitably call the ‘pretty boy’ problem one has to do a Redford or a DiCaprio or stay away completely from roles that might reawaken that stereotype. very few stars have the nerve to do this or trade in obvious box office rewards for this kind of reinvention. Then again even for this to work the star must be minimally considered an actor in some authentic sense.
“why Saif is gesturing to her to put her leg down; an inauthentic moment if there ever was one, as anyone who has ever known a woman from just about any country will vouch — the lack of authenticity is, of course, in her surprise. It helps that the carefree attitude is lubricated by copious amounts of alcohol: ”
Haaha ROFLOL–that’s an ace comment qalander
ESP the ‘lubrication’ one–it’s more than metaphorical…
Also this element of ‘(pseudo)surprise’ on the part of deepika is interesting…
There’s a certain dichotomy on deepika–
In her vernacular diction, the ease and comfort with which she slips into shorts and mini skirts at the drop of a hat on (& off) screen, her numerous serial-flings (in real life) whilst continuing to maintain this allure of ‘distance’ & seriousness..
Full marx to deepika though to carry this off v well.
Career wise she has a certain (katrina-like) poise and focus now that in both cases, have circumvented any misgivings in terms of (lack of) acting talent..
Ps: deepikas performance in Yjhd was quite good but imo technically not as good as in cocktail.
It’s surprising though that the same deepika fan Amy who loved her in Yjhd didn’t find her appealing in cocktail?
Is it because she didn’t ‘get the guy’ in cocktail? C’mon …
On that topic, nowhere was the ‘carefree modern girl’ character more of a farce than in YDHJ, where Ranbir indulges in all manners of ‘debauchery’, in contrast to Deepika, whose newly liberated avatar is demonstrated primarily through her acquiring a sexier wardrobe. And of course her ‘transformation’ was catalysed by a life-changing holi party! The whole thing was quite hilariously puerile!
This, in a nutshell, is Bollywood’s interpretation of ‘modernity’ and ‘liberation’: discover that the true meaning of life is wearing shorter shorts whilst playing holi /!discover that life is not lived to fullest unless one quits ones job to go diving whilst playing tomatina in Spain… who needs Nietzsche or Sartre when you experience your existentialist epiphanies in the infinitely less painful and more glamorous Bollywood style? 😛
Wow Amy– spot on!!
As they say— first i look at your ‘deep’ comment and then at you!!
Btw Amy –since I sort of share your deepika liking, why do u think deepikas Yjhd performance was better than in cocktail… Just curious …
Bcos if we assume and agree she was good in Yjhd, she should be excellent in cocktail imo …
Amy– to add–overall i agree with u about deepika but still don’t get your ‘cocktail’ negativity vis a vis deepika…
Don’t wanna ‘pin u down’ or ‘win an argument’–do skim through certain random thoughts on this, I had jotted here-
If u don’t wanna agree to me or even to our ‘philosopher n guide’ utkal uncle–plz do scroll down in that writeup where ive quoted the Canadian ‘dolce and namaks’ link which I agree a lot to
–u may find that interesting -(though u won’t admit it) 🙂
Masterpraz: Yes, I did read the Accidental Apprentice. The premise was good. But the execution sis formulaic and this business of taking newspaper headlines and melodramtiisng them becomes very predictable and tiresome..especially because Swarup does not bring much of creative imagination to the table. A big drop from Q& A in standards.
Saw ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’ last night. Was relieved to find that almost all the reviewers except for Baradwaj Rangan had got it wrong. It is NOT a film in the Aditya Chpra – Karan Johar mould, in fact miles away from it. In fact iot is completely in the Wake Up Sid territory, trying to explore the nuances of contemporary relationship rather than a melodramatic story. In fact some would say, it has no ‘ story’. And to me that’s such a blessed relief.
First, the form of the film. Ayan Mukherjee is a very sincere filmmaker who wants to capture the lives of contemporary urban youth ( yes, lives of urban youth, because that’s what he knows firsthand.) and its subtle nooks and corners. This includes romance but is not limited to it. It also covers friendship, career and relationship with ones parents. ( In both his films it is the boy’s relationship with his father that is the focus and it quite clearly borrow from Ayan’s own relationship with his father.) His films therefore are not just about romantic passion and his heart is not in stories with a lot of twists and dramatic endings seen in Aditya Chopra –Karan Johar films like DDLJ, KKHH, K3J, Rab Ne Banadi Jodi or even recent films like Band Baja Baraat, Tanu Weds Manu, Jaane To Ya Jaane Na. He is more into exploring the dynamics of relationships rather than creating a crisp and crackling narrative. In that sense his films are closer in spirit to the films of Linklater’s ‘ Sunset’-‘Sunrise’ films than Hollywood romcoms like RYnaway Bride or Noting Hill. His hero and heroine talk and talk a lot like in films of Eric Rohmer and Woody Allen ( my pet weaknesses).
So his story is not about boy meets girl falls in love at first sight and how they overcome external opposition or internal misunderstanding. No. In Ayan’s films love stirs up slowly. And even the boy and the girl are aware of their feelings they don’t let themselves be swept away by them. Kabir in the film goes off to pursue his education and career in the West. Naina continues to work in her profession. And in Ayan’s films things like career, self-actualization, behaviourial traits matter in a relationship. ( All these elements are spotlessly absent in romances like Jab Tak Hai Jaan). Kabir and Naina ponder over reconciling their love, with their professional and personal aspirations and he practical difficulties of keeping a passion alive over long distance. Naina says, “ I am a simple girl. I cannot adjust to your jet-setting intercontinental lifestyle’. But unlike in the usual Hindi film, she talks sensibly, making practical suggestions. She says that he can go to Paris but come to India every two months and maybe after a year come back to India for good. Contrray to what some critics have pointed out Kabir’s decision too is not made in a jiffy. Yes, he is an extrovert. Yes he has globetrotting dreams. But like so many of us with those traits there is also a part of us that wants to drop anchor and be rooted . Kabir’s relationship with his father also reflects the same conflicting feelings. Heir relationship is prickly, but also fool of love and concern..as demonstrated by the mango in the freeze and the little money the father wants to give his on when he is venturing abroad. Having missed his father’s last rites because if his new-age no-mobile adventurous trip to some remote place would have brought home the trade of he was making and whether it was worth it. This is the calculation any Youngman or woman pursuing a high-flying career abroad today makes at some point time. This is brought out quite well when Kabir talks about the thrill of meeting new people and getting to know their lives. And Niana talks about the joy about talking with old friends and going over the same old memories or anecdotes for the nth time. It is really two different worldviews. And two different ways of living one’s lives. I often think about wandering sadhus who don’t stay in one place for more than a week or so and someone like Raman Maharishi who never ventured out of Arunachalam in Thiruvanammalai. Did Raman Mahatishi lose out on anything?
As I said at the start Ayan does not bother about constructing ‘ story’. His focus is exploring the trajectory of this relationship. After all Kabir’s desire to drop anchor could not have happened earlier. Naina has come to accept her limits and where she is coming from. After the short exposure to the world of freedom and adventure she realizes what kind of a girl she is. Kabir is doing well and she could opt for a jet-setting lifestyle with him. But no, she knows what she is at the heart of her hearts. Again, unlike what many critics think, it is not as if Kabir is taking a 180 dgree turn in his thinking. As he says, “ I am still thinking of the same dreams. But now with two tickets.” In other words , he wants Niana to be a fellow-traveller in his adventures. But he knows how far can Nina go along with him in the journey and he is willing to compromise. That is what a relationship is about. Where you change a bit for the other . ( Quite unlike in the films of Aditya Chopra where the hero of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi wont do a simple thing like shaving his moustache to match his girl’s taste or some aggressive feminist film where the woman does not want to budge an inch from her chosen lifestyle.) That is the kind of maturity Ayan brings to the table.
He stages many conversations, which don’t take the story forward in any way, but just throw some light on the relationship. Kabir’s conversation with his stepmother or with his chain-drinking gambler friend about what constitutes friendship, or Ayan and Naina ‘s listing of exotic pleasures like chocolate mousse contrasted with a simple everyday dish like gajar ka halwa are examples of that. Some people have complained of slowness during the second half. ( For me it is the second half which is the real film.) But to Ayans’ credit he never curs a conversation short until the subject under discussion has been covered. Ayan has guts. The only ruse he uses is breaking the fall with abit of humour. ( For example, after along talk that Kabir gives expounding his philosophy of life, he tells Nian, “ Itna bada speech diya, kumse kum taali to bajao.” And the audience claps.)
The acting is first rate throughout. After long Kalki as Aditi has got a role that shows her off to full advantage. Aditya Roy Kapoor as Avi is totally believable as the one who wants to wallow in the warm world of collegian camaraderie, unwilling to take the burden of adult responsibility while Aditi is strong and sensible enough to try and move on. Ranbir is Kabir..bringing out the arc of his character development clearly and convincingly. But the film rally belongs to Deepika. She really owns the film. As chasmish Naina, she defines the new template for Bollywood attractiveness. And when her eyes well up with tears, I can imagine even the hardest-hearted man in the audience feeling the urge to take her in his protective arms and smother her with kisses. ( It’s such a well-written character. Her feet always on the ground even though her heart yearns for a little adventure now and then. Her mind teeming with practical questions like , ‘ What is one wants to have a child?’.
Anything that I did not like? The Madhuri dance for one. It was a total damp squib. At 49or whatever she does not have the oomph. Actually it is not about the age. Rekha at her age can manage to smoluder in her cabaret singing act in Parineeta. It is just that the song is so badly conceptualized and executed. In fact I did not care much for the song and dance numbers. I mean I loved watching them on TV. But in the film I enjoyed the other numbers more. ( Ilahi, Kabir and Subhanallah) Nnice lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya in these as well as the bouncy numbers like Delhiwali Girlfriend and Blam Pichkari and Pritam has tuned al the songs well.
IN conclusion, I am so glad that all the compromises Ayan and Karan have made to make the film more saleable at the superficial level. Let’s list what are thehese: The title for one – a typical Hindi film title like Yeh Jawani Hai Dewani in place of a more meaningful Wake Up Sid. Introduction f the song and dance numbers . All those sexy outfits for Naina in the second half. But mercifully when it comes to the actual film, Ayan has steadfastly stuck to his vision and his mode of storytelling ( for example, can you believe it, for a Ranbir-Deepika film, there is not a single love duet, or even a love song.) And it so happens that here is one more director whose next film I will await with a whole lot of expectations
I am probably the biggest Ranbir fan here but find it hard to buy into Utkal saar’s effusive praise. May be it is the Cocktail effect. I loled Cocktail more than I thought I would and more than I care to admit but it wasnt half the film that Utkal accuses of it being!
@ utkal uncle– thanx for that take on YJHD–saw it yesterday and was about to jot something now but after reading your take, have nothing much to say/add really. Inspite of objections from many, I still call u ‘uncle’ since I truly ‘learn’ from your posts, besides the ‘age gap’ u bring in a rare insight & experience.
I found YHJD quite enjoyable though wus was more raw, nuanced. After wus, both ayan and ranbir seem to be keen to address the box office as well ( in a bigger way) & those ‘tweaks’ are seen accentuated by the KJO effect–nothing wrong with that.
The ‘lack of storyline’ does take in quite a few ‘old school’ film viewers. As u mentioned, the character graph and relationship /conversational dynamics occupies Ayans attentions more.
But the biggest plus is that being from the same generation, ayan understands the gen-x v well (@ least those of a certain socioeconomic profile).
Agree with most of what u said and u haven’t left anything much unsaid,,,
The only point I slightly differ with u (and Amy ) is that this is deepikas film all the way. Deepika is undoubtedly v good here, but let’s not take the credit form ranbir as well eh…
And what I really liked about this film and Ayans films in general, I can’t articulate it better than this–“No. In Ayan’s films love stirs up slowly. And even the boy and the girl are aware of their feelings they don’t let themselves be swept away by them. Kabir in the film goes off to pursue his education and career in the West. Naina continues to work in her profession. And in Ayan’s films things like career, self-actualization, behaviourial traits matter in a relationship.”
And Amy –just read this will ya—“As chashmish Naina, she defines the new template for Bollywood attractiveness. And when her eyes well up with tears, I can imagine even the hardest-hearted man in the audience feeling the urge to take her in his protective arms and smother her with kisses”
utkal uncle, I should now start calling u utkal SIR 😉
Ps: sanju- good one-liner about the ‘special Olympics’
Ps2: talkin of the bespectacled ‘simple’ medical student /doctor deepika with the dog –besides Amy, there would have been another suitable casting as well –anu hahah
Anyhow, Amy did a great job…
There was one scene where deepika couldn’t use her hands and asked ranbir to take out her cell phone from her pocket–man, what was she wearing? And whatta a waist hahahah
Must add–that all actors were uniformly good led by ranbir and deepika. Even farouque shekh in a scene towards the end was endearing. Surprisingly, kalki delivers a special performance here like in ZNMD –she’s like a ‘real person’ I know as well.. Her motivations and decision making were well captured.
Found the ‘taran /engineer’ guy hilarious –reminds me of someone lol
Btw will want Amy’s views on deepika ‘look’/wardrobe…
Now she’s a ‘simple/shy’ medical student with a dog who spends her days/nights with curriculum books. Yet on the drop of a hat, and at the slightest pretext, dons a short skirt or Shorts. Perhaps the latest trends in India have ‘moved on’ bit found that a bit much. Forgt about that, on a ‘trekking expedition’, instead of trekking gear, she goes for a (half sleeves) jacket with check this one–a short skirt!!! Not that I’m complaining but doesn’t go with the ‘character graph’
Having said that, I think deepika carries short dresses best in Bollywood -without discomfiture, with grace n élan..
And she probably knows it and has started using her pins to max impact 🙂
Btw even ‘Lara’ was good –who will be ranbirs costar in besharam-Evelyn sharma –yup I’ve done some ‘research’ hehe
In some scenes, I felt–com deeps– what’s the pretence with these shorts/mini skirts/low cut blouses and lower helmed gaghras & figure hugging leotards–
C’mon give folks like Satyam what they’ve been ogling for —
A bikini!! 🙂
But as they say imagination is better–one can sense Satyam ‘nodding ‘ his ‘head’ in agreement hahaha
On a slightly more analytical note–“Contrray to what some critics have pointed out Kabir’s decision too is not made in a jiffy”— yeah ranbirs ‘dilemmas’ were brought on well.
On a lighter note-
Some lines I’ve written on this (& I believe in them!)
Badtameezee ek bimari hai
Ek aisi bimari
Jo dheere dheere waqt ke saath
Budhaape mein badal jaati hai
Main kehta hoon jab tak budhaapa nahi aata
Thodi badtameezee hi kar lete hain
“one more director whose next film I will await with a whole lot of expectations”— yeah– I suggest a part 3– wherein the Kabir/Sid REFUSES to ‘give in’ to deepikas ‘charms’ and knowingly & obstinately refuses to ‘grow up’ —
-this is a territory few films have gone into, needs exploring and will be interesting to watch (in part 3) 🙂
titled—“WON’T grow up Sid”
Saurabh, Was it shown on TV or you brought a DVD of it?Actually,i also want to wach this movie.So,please tell me if there is any DVD of it available in the market.
Ranbir Kapoor is in full form since last couple of years.His fan base is increasing day by day and if he can continue with this sort of pace,then he surely is the future superstar.
Seems Ranbir Deepika, the new SRK Kajol. Atlast SRK got an inheritor. Kapoor over Khan. This year is not that bad for films. The second half will be more interesting with CE in the offing. Will Ranbir mania sustain? Seems so. Atlast BOI earth shattering sounds believable. Will be interesting how the reigning superstars are going to cope with this Kapoor tornado? Kal kisne dekha. Cricket is in a crisis. Narayanmurthy has to return to Infosys to get that lost glory.
ranbir is doing an aamir here – slowly delivering diversified BO hits – barfi / rockstar / Yjhd…he has got KK biopic in pie and recently he has signed a spy film! the man is going to be a real superstar
Aamir’s way of working and thinking is quite different though there maybe some similarities. Apart from being a star, he takes stand on many issues whether right or wrong. Ranbir is just like another Kapoor enjoying himself and not thinking too much! Thinking too much is injurious to health. To the health of others too.
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 5h
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani Sunday trends: Seems bigger and better than Friday and Saturday!
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 5h
Looking at Sun trends, a 60 cr + weekend is on the cards for #YehJawaaniHaiDeewani. Week 1 may close at 80 cr+, if the momentum continues!
JUNE 2, 2013, 12:58 PM
Will Smith and ‘After Earth’ Have Dismal Opening
By BROOKS BARNES
A box office era ended over the weekend, as Will Smith, once Hollywood’s most dependable summer performer, imploded in spectacular fashion at North American theaters. Mr. Smith’s “After Earth,” a Sony Pictures Entertainment movie that cost $135 million to produce and roughly $100 million to market worldwide, took in an estimated $27 million from Friday to Sunday — or 18 percent less than the lowest of prerelease expectations.
The total for “After Earth,” a Scientology-tinged adventure, by far represents Mr. Smith’s worst summer-movie debut; “Wild Wild West,” which took in $38.7 million in 1999, after adjusting for inflation, was his previous low. What happened? Fingers will point to M. Night Shyamalan, who directed and co-wrote the movie, which received disastrous reviews. Sony, which recently came under shareholder pressure over profitability, picked a very competitive release window for the film.
But most of the blame belongs to Mr. Smith: “After Earth,” which also starred his teenage son, Jaden, was a vanity project conceived by Mr. Smith and produced by him, his wife and his brother-in-law. In a statement Sony said, “While we were expecting more domestically, we believe the film will perform strongly when we open overseas over the next few weeks.”
For the weekend, “Fast & Furious 6” (Universal) was No. 1, taking in about $34.5 million, for a two-week total of $170.4 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data. A new ensemble thriller, “Now You See Me” (Lionsgate) was second, selling a stronger-than-expected $28.1 million in tickets; the film cost $75 million to make and received an A-minus score from moviegoers in exit polls. “After Earth” was third.
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 53m
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani has a superb Sunday. Much better than Fri and Sat. Data pouring in, but trends indicate 23 or 24 cr. Wait-n-watch!
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 51m
Oh yes, it’s a 60 cr+ opening weekend for #YehJawaaniHaiDeewani. Data being compiled…
Atlast we are moving from chiselled classical beauties to ugly rat faced heroines. And also gross ones. The other day I was watching jhalak on Colors and observed how beautiful Madhuri looks with or without the help of botox or whatever.
However, one wonders if the high turnover has something to do with the hiked ticket prices across multiplexes in big cities across the country.
According to trade figures, the Ranbir-Deepika Padukone starrer had released across 3,100 screens in India. And most multiplexes and some of the single screen theatres seem to have raised their ticket rates by a comparatively large margin.
Distributor Suniel Wadhwa says, “The tickets prices have been increased by an average of 10-20 per cent compared to the regular rates. Of course it depends upon the locations and properties across the country except where the government controls ticket pricing — in states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.”
A trade source on condition of anonymity also says that the higher number of evening shows allotted to the film have also contributed to the economics at the ticket windows.
The source explains, “People visit the theatres more often during the evenings. There is a sharp rise in the prices of evening and night shows at theatres compared to the pricing of the morning and afternoon shows. YJHD also seems to have gained from the fact that it is this week’s solo Hindi release.”
Honestly nobody, even die hard Ranbir fans would have dreamed this to be the biggest ever opener…lol
Add to that the movie looked generic except the rocking chemistry of Ranbir and Deepika in trailers. I don’t think we should use Ranbir “will” be future superstar infact Ranbir “is” superstar now. Would have loved this kind of result for Rockstar 😦
I think Ranbir should try some intense roles…action/thriller with very serious character or negative role to gauge how he comes up in such roles.
Monday 3rd June 2013 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has smashed the initial weekend box office record by collecting around the 62-63 crore nett mark. It is the first time that a film has collected over 60 crore nett in three days. The film has had the highest collections ever for a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The previous best was the 58.50 crore nett approx total of Dabangg 2
It is noteworthy that such a huge amount has come without an holiday. The film has shown unbelievable trending with growth on Saturday and Sunday from such a huge figure on Friday which means the sky is the limit for the film.
The film did phenomenal business in all circuits with the biggest circuits seeing all weekend records smashed.
All India First Weekend: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani v Dabangg 2
Monday 3rd June 2013 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani set a new weekend by nearly 4 crore nett . Below is a comparison of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Dabangg 2 (the previous record holder) over the first weekend.
Monday 3rd June 2013 14.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has maintained superb figures on Monday morning and afternoon and is heading for a huge Monday total. The way the film is collecting so far on Monday a 9 crore nett looks assured and the collections could even go over 10 crore nett depending on what happens in the rest of the day.
There have been only three films in the history of Hindi cinema that have collected 10 crore or more on Monday and they are Dabangg 2, Dabangg and Three idiots.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani may join this list and even if it does not make get to 10 crore nett it will be very close.
Going to be a 100 crore first week or close…not the 80 crore most were predicting. Nothing to snnoze at now as this should be 150 crore + total now…quite massive considering its multiplex.
yes a stunning number given the kind of film it is and by the way shows once again how some of those huge mass hits were nonetheless underperforming. So Dabanng doing just as much on a holiday week, sequel and all was an underperformance. Let alone some of the other mass films that put up big numbers which ought to have been bigger. With just the 100 crore mass ‘hits’ we are looking at even worse.
jay – i may sound too wishful but the audience reviews are amazing – there is definately a repeat audience for this one – 200 cr might well be on the way………
I’d be surprised with 200. But I wouldn’t be so with something bigger than 150 or so though I do agree with Jay in this being the most likely outcome. Films hardly ever double their initial these days given a big enough start. But sure if YJHD did I’d be quite pleased.
Can’t see 200 crores. 160 crores tops. 2nd weekend will be weakened by YPD2.
Basically it would need to go north of 50 crores in 2nd week and no film has ever done that except 3 Idiots. Still even at 150 crores+, its way ahead of anyone’s estimations.
Think the YJHD seems to be really doing well. Thought this will be a weekend euphoria but as Satyam has posted, even Monday seems tobe showing no signs of decline…
The writings on the wall! Hahaha
Yaiy Satyam– another of our spoofs doing well–eh
@ sanju– where’s my coffee…
“Atlast we are moving from chiselled classical beauties to ugly rat faced heroines. ”
Oops sanju–who are u pointing by the ‘rat faced heroines’ lol
Hope it’s not deepika–Can already see Amy coming to attack u– 🙂
As Satyam points out–the box off is verdict is undisputedly positive.-plus time to initiate a Yjhd spoof celebration..this week
And sanjana has expressed her displeasure at the trend of ‘rat faced heroines’ n Bollywood currently (aka deepika!)
Nice sunshine this morning… Time for this track to be refilmed on
Sanjana !!
we will give a brief rest to Amy-she’s worked v hard-plus ive asked her to count all the moolah we’ve made lol
Btw sanju-note at 0.13 mark, there’s this obscene inappropriate ‘b..b grab’ manoeuvre–we won’t do that…
It will be a full-on ‘making out scene’ 🙂
Haha joking-enjoy…
U may plz remove the duplicate video link
Satyam will be aditya Roy kapoor…in this song
@ sanju-If u /Amy are deepika, who will be ‘kalki’–it’s your take-enjoy 🙂
Btw sanju & Amy– thanx for insisting on retaining the ‘original steps’ at the 0.13 mark–as u pointed out, it surely maintains ‘authenticity’ of the spoof 🙂
A Double-Standing Ovation for Al Pacino as he Thrills Audience with European Premiere of ‘An Evening with Pacino’
Abhishek Bachchan Attends the Iconic Event in London
Hollywood screen legend Al Pacino lit up the London Palladium stage as he thrilled a captivated audience with his critically acclaimed one-man show ‘An Evening With Pacino’ on the 2nd June 2013.
The Oscar-winning actor brought his celebrated show for its European premiere to the iconic world-famous London Palladium. The one-off performance provided a special opportunity for fans of the silver screen legend to see and interact with their hero up close.
‘An Evening with Pacino’ explored the myriad highlights of one of the most celebrated careers in acting history, from his time off-Broadway in the 1960s right up to the present day, with the actor himself in intimate theatre surroundings. The evening included an on-stage interview projected on a state-of-the-art large screen, bringing the action closer to the audience. The show also gave the public a rare chance to speak directly to Al Pacino in a Question & Answer session.
Speaking about the event, Al Pacino said: “I love being on the stage, it’s a big passion of mine. It was a privilege to perform in London at the Palladium after so many years. I loved the live element of the event and being so close to my fans in the UK. The last time I was here was for the docu-drama ‘Wilde Salome’. It’s always great to be back.”
The sell-out show was organised by Sterling 2 Ent, a multi-entertainment and film investment and production vehicle founded by Teji Singh and managed by CEO and MD Natasha Mudhar. The event’s title sponsor was DVK, a global private equity and commodity trading company founded by Deepak Kuntawala.
Amid a star-studded auditorium including Bollywood superstar Abhishek Bachchan, Al Pacino, the force behind such cinematic classics as The Godfather, Scent Of A Woman and Carlito’s Way, took to the stage to reminisce about his illustrious career and to re-enact scenes from his most famous works.
One of the very few actors to have won the Triple Crown in acting (Oscar, Emmy and Tony Awards), winning his first Tony in 1969 for Does A Tiger Wear A Necktie, Al Pacino won worldwide acclaim for his role as Michael Corleone in The Godfather, which also gave him the first of his eight Academy Award nominations. An enduring and highly regarded acting career has followed, with standout performances in Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Scarface, Sea of Love, Glengarry Glen Ross, Heat, Donnie Brasco, and Scent Of A Woman, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the 1992 Oscars.
An Evening with Pacino marked a fitting accolade to showcase the incredible life and career of one of the world’s most respected, talented and loved film and theatre actors.
Not sure if this is true but shocking–
MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Jiah Khan committed suicide at her Juhu residence on Monday night.
The 25-year-old actor is learnt to have hung herself inside the house.
Jiah was brought up in England and had shifted to Mumbai with her mother Rabiya recently.
“She had been depressed for some time due to personal issues, but was keen on returning to acting soon. She was also meeting filmmakers regarding projects,” sources close to the actress said.
Also known by the name Nafisa Khan, the actress made her Hindi film debut in 2007 opposite Amitabh Bachchan in the controversial Nishabd. She also acted opposite Aamir Khan
Tuesday 4th June 2013 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani continued its fantastic run on Monday with collections likely to come in the 11-12 crore nett region. The film saw fantastic collections all over on Monday.
The highest non holiday Monday figure is the 11.50 crore nett of Dabangg 2 and Yeh Hai Jawaani Hai Deewani will be in the same range beating Monday figures of films like Dabangg and Three idiots.
The film has already collected around 73-74 crore nett in four days and is looking to gross around 100 crore nett in the first week. This will be a first for a film to have such high first week collections without the help of a holiday.
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 11h
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani is super-strong on Monday. Early trends indicate 9.5 cr to 11 cr, taking 4-day total to 70 cr+. Wait-n-watch!
Top Monday Collections: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Second
Tuesday 4th June 2013 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has the second highest Monday collection ever only second to Ek Tha Tiger which had a Monday on Eid. The top five collections on a Monday ever are as follows.
Monday numbers look even more impressive than weekend. May be the wom isn’t that bad and general audience are liking it and this won’t collapse afterall.
Was sure it will work because it is a crowd pleasing movie intact ddlj written all over again with elements of dch and znmd andits ironical to see kjo doing same
Ddlj itself was a big risk because before ddlj srk was doing common mans role or intense role and never did romance and see the irony how he got streotyped
.
A guy who was easily the better of 3 khans as actor remember Salman refused bajigar and aamir dar and rest is history and the guy has no background
No powerful salim of salim javed fame even Salman was pathetic in his first movie and was groomed for Maine pyar kiya and aamir belonged to a powerful family of directors and scripwriter
Ranbir narrative as actor is hollow….there are no serious and intense stuff…no dark tale followed and even no fulll scale comedy …most of these movies are safe crowd pleasing movie and even In rajneeti the guy was safely hidden behind ajay and manoj its just the press is eager to crown him and he with his choices and management of press hasn’t disappointed them
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 8h
At the rate it is faring, don’t be surprised if #YehJawaaniHaiDeewani touches 100 cr mark in Week 1 itself. BLOCKBUSTER.
and here I thought that it may go the Yaaden way, was talking to couple of friends and we agreed that the India we have in our mind is no longer the India today…..aajkal yahee sab chalta hai.
P.S.- My father in law who was here just last month and went to Vegas, took a flight to Bombay two day back-
his words-
Sahab, itnee badtameezee toh Laas Veegaas mein bhee nahe dekhi, do ladkiya aisey kapde pehne hue meri ssath wali seat par baith gayee, kee mujhe hee sharam sey doosri taraf moohn kar key rehna padha !! LOL!!
Clarification-
1. I was talking in reference to Khule aam besharm Flirting by Ranbir in th ename of cool dude and chotey chotey kapdey by Deepika to look Hot.
2. The flight that my FIL took was from Delhi to Bombay and two desi girls boarded the flight from delhi…wearing mini shorts and Banyaan with nothing left for imagination !!
Kuch bhi story bana dete hain..Movie is decent to watch but there is nothing beneath the surface.
ps – If I talked with my dad that way, right or wrong I would have got good slaps. There are only two relationship with dad (atleast for me): One of fear before you get out of the house. When you start earning, you respect him because you are earning (or whatever you are) because of those slaps 🙂 . If a teenager says that he or she knows what they want in life. I normally have a good laugh. The chance of success is almost ZERO.
Sanjana – Fear is not bad. We fear god and do things right. We fear laws of land and abide by them. As a kid, I don’t think you can appreciate/gauge “respect” which I think is an adult thing. As a kid we are more of a fan if we like someone.
But that’s the point…. I think that there is a middle ground between living in fear of your parents and treating them like dirt. I’m certainly not endorsing the Amrish Puri type of draconian patriarch of yore, but it’s equally distasteful to go to the other extreme and celebrate a character who misses his father funeral as somebody who was mere living his life to the fullest!
It’s a good thing that filmmakers today are rebelling against the oppressively collectivist culture of the past, but celebrating selfishness in its most extreme form is not the way to go about doing it!
But this onscreen transition to modernity and individualism is also deceptive in the sense that it allows us to pretend that we’ve shaken of all of our oppressive cultural shackles as a society, just because the characters in our films have (seemingly) done so.
When Ek Deewana Tha released for instance, most of the reviews criticised the film as being too regressive since it dealt with the theme of parental opposition because the boy was Hindu and the girl was Christian. Are these reviewers actually living in the India of today, where matrimonial columns in the newspapers are still dominated by caste and sub-caste specifications and honour killings because of caste differences still happen even in the biggest cities? When difference of caste itself is still such a hurdle, how can religion not be? Despite what the films say, parental approval is still an important consideration in India today, and parental approval for inter-caste, inter-faith and inter-racial marriages are not always given freely.
Gud morning –nice thoughts there amy and sanju…
Sanju–we should include Amy in our ‘coffee club’–she brings in interesting thoughts.. Make the coffee lite for her-she can’t cope with strong coffee lol
“This is for Munna. I desisted from addressing you as Munna as i feel you are no longer munna!”—ROFLOL @ ‘munna’ 🙂
Abhishek Bachchan got an opportunity to spend some time with Hollywood actor Al Pacino in London on June 2. BollywoodLife told you first about how Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek were slated to meet the veteran at the European premiere of An Evening with Pacino at the London Palladium.
While Ash decided to skip the event – maybe because she was too busy tending to baby Aaradhya Bachchan – Abhi made sure not to miss the chance of interacting with The Godfather actor. The Bollywood couple earlier attended another do in London – Gucci’s Chime for Change concert.
Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani To CROSS 100 Crore In One Week
Wednesday 5th June 2012 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is sure to cross 100 crore nett in its first week after its Tuesday business. The Tuesday collections look set to come in at the 11.50 crore nett plus region meaning the film has already grossed around 86.50 crore nett in four days and the way the film has trended on Monday and Tuesday it should close the week at 105 crore nett or maybe even a little more.
The business is outstanding in practically every circuit with Delhi/UP being the standout with collections which are simply out of this world.
The second week will determine its lifetime business but 150 crore nett is assured and the target becomes the next benchmark of 175 crore which looks very much possible at the moment.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ strikes like a hurricane!
By Taran Adarsh, June 5, 2013 – 08:18 ISTWhat an eventful and exciting week it has been. YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, the second project by the WAKE UP SID team of Karan Johar, UTV, Ranbir Kapoor and Ayan Mukherji, has run amok, shattering every record in sight at the domestic BO. East, West, North, South… every centre, every circuit has recorded fantabulous collections. All of a sudden, the mood in the industry is buoyant.
Of course, YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI was expected to start with gusto, but no one expected the keenly-anticipated film to cross the Rs 60 cr mark in its first three days. I am sure, even KJo must’ve been surprised by the record business the film has done [and continues to do on weekdays]. What does one attribute the humungous start to? Last week, I did pinpoint a couple of reasons: “Ranbir’s tremendous popularity, the pairing of Ranbir-Deepika, the popularity of Aditya Roy Kapur after the super success of AASHIQUI 2, Ayan Mukerji’s credibility after WAKE UP SID, the trendy soundtrack, the right marketing and KJo’s brand value…” Now add two more reasons: Luck. Also, love stories that touch your heart, generally, find huge acceptance.
A successful film benefits everyone associated with it. KJo must be rejoicing for obvious reasons; Dharma Productions adds one more solid hit to its repertoire. Ayan, with this film, has consolidated his status as a bankable director. Ranbir has delivered yet another hit after BARFI! Ditto for Deepika, who’s enjoying a glorious run, with COCKTAIL, RACE 2 and YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI hitting the bull’s eye. Aditya too stands to benefit tremendously with two back-to-back hits — AASHIQUI 2 and YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI.
First AASHIQUI 2 and now YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, romance is back and how! PS: There’s something about this week. On 4 June 2010, RAAJNEETI emerged a big grosser… On 3 June 2011, READY took the box-office by storm… On 1 June 2012, ROWDY RATHORE set new records at the ticket window… This year, on 31 May 2013, YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI is rewriting the rules of the game… Here’s yet another week the producers can eye while planning the release of their film/s. Think about it!
And it is good news for CE another romantic comedy with the king of romance with the same padukone. The game is to increase ticket prices and claim that it is the biggest grosser. Surely CE makers will also increase ticket prices to score over YJHD. Next will be Mental, Krish 3, D 3 in the queue. So the next benchmark will be 150 crores or even 200 crores!
Don’t think so because here was a younger star at helm and robot shettys shelf life has to catch up much like sajid khan
Srk era was over in 2007 itself and its just about catching up with others and nri audiences who still like cheesy romance and fantacy atleast Indian dispora and a brand build first and for one decade
Pretty sad to see his deterioration as actor and he should go for reinvention
Sympathy factor for hash Chopra and his good will and srk and hash Chopra coming together still didn’t had impact ….writing is on wall
barfi a movie on half screen and much lesser budget did as much and so do other outgrossing with much more pathetic stuff….
Though ce caters to single screen and has bigger base than yjhd but it is sold astronomically and its action more than romance
His time have been dying out from last few years and actors like Akshay/Ajay are matching him on bo. After JTHJ/SOS this is another bad decision to clash with another biggie on same day. Similar results might come out with both CE and OUTIM2 grossing around 100crr mark.
This review beautifully encapsulates my misgivings with the film. I feel like most of these ‘new-age’ ‘coming-of-age’ Bollywood movies are fantasy-fulfilment tales about a certain kind of young men who are still living off their parents as adults (but treating them awfully anyway!), doing absolutely nothing with their lives and generally conducting themselves in the manner of callous, ill-mannered imbeciles but are magically rewarded with glamorous, high-flying careers that require little in the way of real work, and of course beautiful, intelligent wives who themselves are so pure that they have never been kissed before, regardless of how sleazy and desperate the man is.
In Hollywood you see films about sulky young people who live like slackers and treat their long-suffering parents with angsty teenage sarcasm…but these are usually 13-16 year old high schools students who eventually realise that they are being unnecessarily bratty. When you have the same scenario playing out with thirty- forty year old ‘youngsters’ whose selfishness is instead cleebrated as ‘living-life-to-the-fullest’, it’s more than a little pathetic.
Here is a newsflash to Ayan Mukherjee, Zoya Akhtar, Homi Adajania and all the other ‘cool’ filmmakers of Bollywood: you can have fun, travel the world and go sky-diving and mountain climbing without being a selfish jerk who misses your father’s funeral because of your ‘very glamorous and important’ job as a cameraman for a small-time travel tv show!
I feel like these films are meant to be a reaction to the overly-collectivist ethos of previous movies (K3G, DDLJ) where it was all about putting society and family before individual happiness…except now the pendulum has swung all the way to the other extreme and creating this Frankenstein-like ‘modern young man’ character! It’s interesting to note that the reviewer I have linked to is an American, from that most individualistic of societies, and even she feels like the film celebrates puerile self-involvement more than any ‘living-life-to-the-fullest’ individualism.
Haha read only bits Amy -thanx seems an entertaining read.
And it has pot-shots @ certain ‘young males’ hehe
Actually agree with parts of it…yeah some people refuse to ‘grow up’–have heard that b4 to tell u the truth 🙂
Btw who has written this-nice blog
Will get back to this later when have time–if possible can u plz tweet/post my cocktail ‘thesis’ to her underlining the thoughts by dolce and namak –Kate may find it interesting haha
LOL! I didn’t intend to take pot-shots at any young men, what I was criticising was a certain male character archetype that has become very popular in Bollywood cinema in recent years; I’m not suggesting that such men have actually become more common in India these days.
Missing father’s funeral. It looks terrible but it happens especially when the kids are far away. One father and mother decided not to break the news of their respective deaths in case they happen, to their offspring. Just to reduce the shock and trauma! To break it in some other way by visiting after a while and giving moral support.We Indians are rather emotional on these things. When mothers visit US for attending daughters and daughter in laws’ deliveries, or to attend someone who is sick,they are told before not to state it as reason for visiting the country. They are expected to say it is a pleasure trip.
Sanjana, have you seen the film? (If yes, what did you think of it? 🙂 ) Kabir’s dysfunctional relationship with his father is presented as purely a result of his selfishness, it has very little to do with any superstition or anything…
Actually, Yjhd was def more enjoyable but wus was more ‘honest’ & ‘raw’
Recently skimmed thru bits–and realised –konkona is such a brilliant actress.. I thought she is even better than vidya balan–
Ps: on a side note–I thought Kalki in Yjhd was excellent –her role was ‘real’ –as in ZNMD she brought it out well…
what dya think Amy and sanju…about konkona and Kalki
I forgot that Konkona is also not pretty in the conventional sense. though a fabulous actress like Vidya. While Vidya has very good features. Almost classical.
I didn’t think much of Kalki in ZNMD (but that had more to do with her characterisation than her performance), however she did an excellent job of humanising the ‘junglee’ character in YJHD, and making Aditi come across as vulnerable and sweet, despite being a ‘wild child’. I also really liked how she opted for an arranged marraige with a socially awkward engineer , despite being this cool party girl, and how she remained true to her eccentric self throughout the film, and didn’t suddenly turn into a blushing, demure bride at the altar; I thought that hers was the most believably witten character in the entire movie.
And Konkana’s performance in Mr and Mrs Iyer is the gold standard for any contemporary Indian actress.
Agree with u there amy –will try to see mr & mrs Iyar but konkona in WUS was silken smooth (no pun intended)–as an actress…
Btw Amy —lol @ the ‘bmw driving engineer’
gimme a high 5 @ the “lap-dog” (jokes apart found the por guy quite cute)–reminds me of ….
ROFLOL
To add a clarification– by that ‘engineer’, I didn’t mean anybody here(yet)…. Just someone I know otherwise…
Btw Amy & sanju–some gossip from the H–don’t tell anyone..
Anu/oldgold have been looking for an ‘engineer’ (as in Yjhd) -s
Anu likes her pet dog–so now a ‘lap-dog’— errr…. 🙂
Anyways, will be a good choice.
Ps: they doesn’t post regularly, so we are safe in this gossip lol
Na , abhee nahee ek bhee nahee dekhi …
not in a mood right now to see movies like Udaan…
am really excited that Ashiqi-2 is coming out on DVD tomorrow…lol
Top Wednesday Collections: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani TOPS
Wednesday 5th June 2013 12.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has the highest Wednesday collection ever when the Wednesday did not fall on the first day or second day of release. The top five approx collections on a Wednesday (after weekend completed) ever are as follows.
1. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 10.50 crore
2. Ek Tha Tiger – 9.75 crore
3. Three Idiots – 9.00 crore
4. Dabangg 2 – 8.00 crore
5. Rowdy Rathore – 7.25 crore
Note – When a film had a Wednesday as the first or second day it is not included.
Far exceeding my weekday performance. I thought it would hit 100 crore, but it will smash it with half a day to spare. At this pace, if it sustains with the competition, it could be close to 150 crore at the end of week 2!
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Will be Second Highest First Week Ever
Thursday 5th June 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani will emerge the second highest first week ever collecting around 106 crore nett. It will be only behind Ek Tha Tiger while edging out Bodyguard and Dabangg 2 The approx top first week (first seven days) collections of all time are as follows.
YJHD/spoof–the box office :ORGASM’ !
and the Reconfiguration….
whats happening with YJHD is nothing less than a box office ‘orgasm’. Seeing only the first look sneak peak, had commented that this will be the biggest hits in the careers of the director, deepika and even ranbir…
Had even prompted me to go for a ‘spoof’ lol
The box office has repsonded and how!!
This is also a LESSON to the minute analyses, statistical mumbo jombo, and other minutiae.
The PAYING public doesnt go into all that (beyond a point).
at the very basics—they repsond instictively and wiht the heart.
Nothing else can explain whats happening on the box office right now…
and this has also brought us to the interesting (& much awaited) RECONFIGURATION at the top…
SRK isnt the same after ra1 and the ohter two khans are going well and these three will continue for half a decade…to the max
but the REAL showdown will now be between the two stars i likea lot—nobody else will be affected as much by ranbirs now proven superstardom than Hritik…
Thiugh ranbirs no doubt a better actor, HR is still ahead on star quotient. As for acting, the ONLY performance, where ranbir was cpnclusively better than hritik would have been are Rockstar & barfi….(though hiritk as rockstar would have ‘rocked’ more…)
But this is evened out if one realises–.
As for kmg, krish, dhoom etc, one cant even imagine ranbir inplace of Hiritik…
so we have a new real rivalry now–(and this is accentuated because both are ‘different’ stars with different appeals/target segments)–
Hritik roshan vs ranbir kapoor…
I think Hrithik never cared to be in the rat race or numbers game. In that way he is rather cool. Hrithik will always be there giving some big hits randomly with his father’s help and efforts. While ranbir seems to be highly ambitious and will be giving more hitss than Hrithik and may burn out too in the process.
hmm sanju–gimme my coffeee– btw other than ranbir, deepika, ayan, the contribution of kjo cannot be under estimated.
Kjo adds some subtle ‘value additions’
for eg this one dialogue must have jacked up the box office by atleast 10-20% !!!
Saw the movie… did not like it much…. very slow paced and laughs were far in between and sometimes movie was stuck in one place without anything happening.. Not at all got touched or felt for any of the characters. Only Kalki acting looked like she did l justice to her role as she only looked to have true to her character till the end.
Much hype and hoopla but not up to it. Big outcry little outcome.
Will Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani dent Yamla Pagla Deewana 2’s business?By Subhash K. Jha, Jun 6, 2013 – 12:51 IST
No one expected Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD) to become the biggest blockbuster of the year so far. And now the biggest casualty of past Friday’s windfall would be this Friday’s big-ticket release for the Deol parivar’s collective effort Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (YPD2) . Both the Deol brothers Sunny and Bobby desperately need a success, and papa Dharmendra has gone out of his way to promote the film.
Says a source very close to Dharamji, “Left to himself, Dharamji wouldn’t have done this much promotion for the film. But YPD2 is critical to Sunny and Bobby’s careers. Neither has seen a success in years. Dharamji has been seen doing things he has never done for his own career, like doing a jig at a press conference. But what to do? Anything for the sons.”
Adding to the 70-plus superstar’s woes is the unexpectedly aggravated success quotient of YJHD – on Wednesday, the film had collected 4 million dollars in the overseas market and the all-India collections till Wednesday were Rs. 87 crores. The staggering collections of YJHD are expected to have a snowballing effect on YPD2.
Apparently, many of the multiplexes that were committed to screen the Deols’ parivaarik project would prefer to continue screening YJHD.
Suman Sinha a major exhibitor in Patna says, “I am aware of how much of a stronghold the Deols have on the North Indian box office. But YJHD is a much bigger success than we expected. All my shows are going houseful. I will continue with YJHD.”
Trade analyst Komal Nahata admits, YPD2 might not get the number of screens and screenings that were expecting. “YPD2 might get lesser shows in multiplexes than it would have got, had YJHD nor become the huge hit that it is. But the Deols’ film has a lot of single-screen strength. Also, both films are very different from one another. There is room for two films to do well simultaneously. Remember Lagaan and Gadar? While YJHD will continue to shine in the 2nd week, the other ‘Y’ film YPD2 could also rock. Don’t ask ‘Y’!”
Adds distributor-exhibitor Anil Thadani, “A good film doesn’t get affected. Last year in July, there was a successful release every Friday.”
However, another trade analyst Amod Mehra thinks YPD2 has reason for concern. “Though the two films are in different genres, the collections (for YPD2) would get affected by 30 percent.”
i think if it indeed gets made, it should be a good one and infact may even given bachchcan another mni-kbc moment –which at this (late) stage is even more creditable
hav heard that this may have elements of the sopranos with satyamev jayate sprinkled in…with kashyaps inputs garnished in.
Im not in favor of bachchan doing telly at all but if he HAS to do something at all, this should be better than rerunning the fatigued kbc..
also note how in the above ‘deadline’ london reporter link, the ‘credentials’ of bachchan ands kashyap are playing on now. This is what happens with gow, ugly and gatsby (even a minimal role)
Kashyap anyhow is quite known in the french circles
and he never misses to ‘show off’ his ‘french’ wife 🙂
i think the time has come for bachchan to ‘whore himself” (borrowing anus term!!) to Anu rag kashyap now (after rgv) 🙂
Atleast the ‘progenies’ that will come out of this ‘illicit relation’ will be edgy and interesting to watch..
ps–its bachchan himself who is producing this one and so he will take it seriously…deserves support from your side, satyam!
lol..Even I see some..including Jhalak (and some dance reality shows), Comedy Circus, Master Chef and little bit of some soaps wife watches (mostly when I am working..and occasional comment from me about illogicality brings quick rebuke).
I feel sad that snobbery plays a part in deriding Indian television and its shows. While most of our films are third rate trash not even worth a review! Hollywood looks down bollywood, bollywood looks down south and this snobbery goes on and on.
Actually it would be in bad taste not to be snobbish about Indian TV! I enjoy a number of music shows by the way. But the other programming in terms of serials, drama and so on is frighteningly bad! As for the cinema we talk about its shortfalls endlessly over here though at least over the past decade it’s way better. Some things are looked down upon, some deservedly!
Incidentally the last Saregama season was outstanding.
I’ve seen bits of the music shows. I’m not one to weigh in on this kind of thing because it doesn’t appeal to me at baseline. But I will say that from the little I’ve seen, for the most part the approach to production with these shows emulates the Western originals (for which I also have little to no interest) reasonably well. At least on the level of format and production value. But the scripted shows are just flat-out awful.
And I’m not saying success necessarily means one must emulate the Western model in any sense. Just saying those dance and music shows are at least accomplishing what the international counterparts are doing. Scripted shows don’t even come close.
Sample this : “Bade Achhe Lagte Hain”. The lead is pregnant. The husband has some heart issue. So husband is not taking her phone calls to hide his heart issue so that she is not stressed during pregnancy. On top of that he is spending time with other women (known to everybody) while not taking calls.
actually Indian television is not that bad. Bachchan rediscovered himself as a television icon and superstar because of KBC. Satyamev Jayate got Aamir Khan recognition on another level Not to forget Madhuri who is ruling Jhalak scene for the last 2 seasons. Antakshari and Saregamapa reality shows gave bollywood singers like Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal.
Apart every filmstar comes on all soaps to promote his or her film thus disturbing the flow of those soaps!
The soaps themselves are not that bad atleast during the first 3 months. then they go haywire! Sony lost the soap battle long back. Now Starplus is ruling with Colors and Zee close behind.
Television, its newschannels are another source of entertainment than news itself!
TV is big business now and we get to see new films within a span of 2 months.
Not to mention those aren’t narrative works. The soaps and crime shows being produced in India (and this applies to what I’ve seen in the South as well) are some of the worst pieces of TV I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if I’ve missed any event show in Indian television (of everything I’ve seen I probably have the greatest soft spot for Malgudi Days) but what I’ve seen doesn’t bolster much confidence.
The ’80s and ’90s Hindi TV–especially Doordarshan–will remain the GOLDEN period. Writing was of high importance; nothing was gimmicky; actors were superior – you had the likes of Hrishikesh Mukherjee venturing into TV; what do you expect but quality?
NUKKAD, SRIKANTH, BYOMKESH BAKSHI, TALAASH, MALGUDI DAYS (the BEST ever series in India based on an Indian book), KARAMCHAND, BARRISTER VINOD, MAHABHARAT, BHARAT EK KHOJ, EK KAHAANI (based on short stories from R. K. Narayan to Oscar Wilde), DEKH BHAI DEKH,…& the list goes on.
Look at the quality now..horrendous!! Except for TMKOC (& this is interesting only because of some quirky characters and some hilarious acting), the laughter shows (not the groupie Rohit Shetty/Archana ones – the one where individuals show their mimicry and comic timing) and CRIME PATROL, everything sucks!! Shivaji Satam in CID contorts his face as though he is forever crapping away to glory on the sets! The saas-bahu s!@# shown on TV is hardly anything more than advertisements for KALA NIKETAN sarees and ZAVERI BAZAAR gold. Ekta Kapoor and her ilk have filled the drawing room with so much of filth that to the Indian audience, it is smelling like Arabic perfume to them.
Bang the scenes with music, after every dialogue, span focus of the damn camera on EVERY character present in the room so that EVERY character’s stupid reaction is captured (& in the process 5 minutes out of 20 minutes of the serial is satiated)..& keep dragging on without anything concrete happening either in the audience’s life or the character’s life on TV..
It is as interesting and dynamic as my writing a ‘HELLO WORLD, WELCOME TO SHIT TV’ and putting it in a for loop in Java to be seen every morning..
And the English media is a big joke..perhaps India is the only country in the world where NEWS requires background music!! With their red circles and repeated showings of people falling over a pedestal or a road, it is as juvenile as..well..I don’t have words anymore
lol at the loop analogy…yes we are light years behind America as far as must-see tv shows go (lost/westwing/etc) but our soap and western soaps are about the same? Bade Acche lagtey hai, Saraswatichandra aren’t that bad (if someone forced me to watch it I would) but there are others that positively were nightmare and I couldn’t believe that my relative (visiting from india and I had to show her all the missed episodes of the 3 serials she watched back home and thats how I became familiar to indian serials)..someone would have to have me at knife point/gun point to watch those insipid-stupid shows.
Need to look & evaluate with out of the box attitude and that gives this development as very important,bold and positive step to bring a change in regressive satellite TV scene.
An epic fiction show, an ingenious original script, great production values, AK as creative director and AB’s known desire to do something new in this field..perhaps give some hope.
Can’t resist from saying “follow AK’s model(proclaim victim to beneficiary) to come close to AB”.
^good points sanjana about the all-pervasive ‘snobbery’–we all are guilty (though some ‘intelligentsia’ is more guilty than other ordinary folks)
To me–there are only TWO type of films–good/gripping & the crap…
Anyhow–After tackling
the Great Gatsby
YJHD
It gives me pleasure to complete a sort of TRILOGY(though differently styled) —
going to a special screening shortly–
of MUD
SATYAMSHOT 
May 30, 2013 at 12:32 AM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Set For Historic Start At Multiplexes
Wednesday 29th May 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yej Jawaani Hai Deewani is set for historic opening at multiplexes. The film had a fantastic advance at multiplexes which started advance on Monday and the same is expected today when advance opens at large. A multiplex like E – Square UR in Pune saw the first show sold out practically in minutes.
The film is looking to beat the multiplex collections of Dabangg 2 which collected the highest figures for a non holiday. A chain like PVR collected 2 crore nett for Dabanng 2 on its first day and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani should beat that figure. It is likely to be the same story at all the major chains with the possible exception of Big cinemas due to there big presence in smaller centres.
The single screens are not likely to be anywhere near the figures of Dabangg 2 and that is what will probably hold the film back from taking the biggest non holiday opening day ever.
It will be an interesting weekend to see how high multiplex collections can go on a non holiday.
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May 30, 2013 at 9:19 AM
Genuine praise or conflict of interest???? Go figure..
#####################################################
Anurag Kashyap, who attended the special screening of Ranbir Kapoor-Deepika Padukone starrer Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani last night in Mumbai, is all praise for the film and its director Ayan Mukerji.
‘I love “wake up Sid” so much and I never thought I would say this but I am saying this, I love “Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani” so much more.. I expected why the F&@£ Ayan has done this, I thought I am going to sleep but wow.. He really twisted every cliche and kicked a,’ the 40-year-old filmmaker tweeted.
‘I do not watch films for who is in it. but who has made it.. its always the director.. From DB(Shanghai) to Zoya(ZNMD), Imtiaz , Ayan, Vishal B are people i have been consistent about since the Days of PFC,’ he continued.
‘Only difference between then and now is, I do not talk about films i don’t like anymore. kind of pointless,’ he added.
He didn’t stop there. He added: ‘i love good acting like anyone but i make my choice on the basis of who is directing. And the tweet was a response to all the mainstream films (Shanghai,ZNMD, Rockstar and YJHD) that i have praised on twitter.’
Incidentally, Anurag’s wife Kalki Koechlin has a pivotal role in the film.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-anurag-kashyap-praises-yeh-jawani-hai-deewani/20130529.htm
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May 30, 2013 at 9:27 AM
[added to post]
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May 30, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Boring…
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May 30, 2013 at 10:01 AM
Quite frankly this does inspire much confidence even though I might be jumping the gun as it looks nothing more than a rough cut. And no dialogue of AB in the teaser! Jha also seems to have committed the mistake of over-correction (after their fight over Rajneeti) since Devgn looks to have gotten the top-billing here.
Anyway, got around to watching Bachchan and Shatru starrer Yaar Meri ZIndagi last night- it is not bad but the most disappointing thing is that some other actor has enacted Bachchan’s scenes in the climax (they have taken all those climax shots from the rear so the actor’s face is never visible). Also Bachchan’s voice seems to be dubbed by someone else at places. Will try and write more if possible later
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June 6, 2013 at 6:08 AM
What is boring?
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June 6, 2013 at 8:38 AM
Haha sanju–
Btw bachchan -kashyap team up for telly show –rumoured to be like the sopranos
http://m.deadline.com/2013/06/amitabh-bachchan-anurag-kashyap-team-for-indian-drama-series-from-endemol-sony/
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June 6, 2013 at 8:46 AM
yes Bachchan talked about it on his blog yesterday. I was initially horrified when I heard stories about a possible TV show for him. But if this is more of an HBO-like deal or something I wouldn’t mind it. Still not expecting great things from it but at least it will be a serious attempt.
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June 6, 2013 at 10:19 AM
Very sad news. There is no need to venture into this now. Hindi satellite television is at its REGRESSIVE worst in proportion to its entire period of existence. It is so disgusting that TEXAS can replace its lethal injection death sentence with one week of forceful watch of Hindi ‘soaps.’ Job will be done. Unless AK has serious inputs into this, this will bomb and will tar AB’s name. By bomb I don’t mean TRPs but that it will be a blot on AB’s succesful TV stint.
I hope Satyam and the regular writers on his blog (Efam he calls I think..) who call the shots veto this attempt on his blog and saner sense prevails..
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June 6, 2013 at 11:12 AM
Man if it’s anything less than the polar opposite of what Indian TV currently has going on, he should run from this like the plague.
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June 6, 2013 at 11:54 AM
he mentioned on his blog that the production values and so on would be very different and that Kashyap would be the creative guy on it etc. So I’m hoping this is truly something serious. Otherwise it would indeed be a disastrous decision.
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June 6, 2013 at 12:51 PM
It’s a rock and a hard place. Because if this turns out to be something serious the problem then becomes it probably won’t find an audience. Bachchan being on it could help but I just don’t see a TV culture as poor as this one shouldering a serious attempt. At least not unless there’s a transitional phase that leads up to the truly worthwhile kind of shows. Of course this might be exactly that sort of transitional effort, but then if that’s the case, it’s probably not worth someone of Bachchan’s stature.
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June 6, 2013 at 12:59 PM
My comments are stuck somewhere than where it should have been.
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June 6, 2013 at 2:01 PM
Probably agree on all counts..
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June 6, 2013 at 2:06 PM
fixed the problem Sanjana..
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May 30, 2013 at 10:05 AM
Yjhd spoof update
It’s an instinctive hunch of which film/songs to spoof–as they say, the ‘ball’ is now in the court of the public & hit/flop etc status are all acceptable. Since we had a ball (Amy had more than a ball!!)
@ Amy-Thanx for being such a v comfortable co-star–obviously she’s bound by contract &can do only my banner/spoofs now lol–I will ‘use’ her talent whenever needed…
Anyhow -a couple of tracks still left to film …
Amy –since your hindi is not as good as mine (!!)-u need to work on
this for lipsync (& if u don’t understand, do ask me!)
Ek din kabhi jo khud ko taraashe
Meri nazar se tu zara, haaye re
Aankhon se teri kya kya chhupa hai
Tujhko dikhaaun main zara, haaye re
Ik ankahi si daastaan daastaan
Kehne lagega aaina
Subhanallah… 🙂
Also thanx to the ‘dilliwaali girlfriend’ –go figure haha
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May 31, 2013 at 3:16 AM
OT,
19 Tweets From The Audubon Society/Barack Obama Twitter Feud
http://www.theonion.com/articles/19-tweets-from-the-audubon-societybarack-obama-twi,32625/?ref=auto
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May 31, 2013 at 6:19 AM
Xhobdo:
Here’s the first look poster of Issaq ~ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLlCZNsCIAEWQIk.jpg
Issaq | Official Theatrical Trailer | Prateik, Amyra Dastur http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bzaPqbHwNY&sns=tw
Thanks
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May 31, 2013 at 6:21 AM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Has Bumper Opening
Friday 31st May 2013 11.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has taken a bumper opening across India at multiplexes. The opening at multiplexes can be compared with Ek Tha Tiger which was a holiday release. It is practically opened 90-100% across the board and multiplexes which tend to start slow have also started strongly.
It is not a holiday release so the film will slow in the late afternoon as this sort of pace is normally only kept when it is holiday. The film was always expected to open huge in the metros but the multiplexes in Rajasthan, CP Berar and CI have also opened to excellent collections.
The single screen opening is also likely to be very good though not like the multiplexes. The opening is sure to be the second highest non holiday opening of all time (beating films like Ra.One, Don 2, Rowdy Rathore etc) and the record non holiday 19.50 crore nett figure of Dabangg 2 is also not safe but that will depend on the range of contribution from single screens.
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May 31, 2013 at 6:21 AM
B.O. update: ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ takes mindboggling start!
By Taran Adarsh, May 31, 2013 – 13:09 IST
The first major release after IPL, YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, fetched a 95% to 100% start in the morning shows. With a screen count stretching to more than 3,000 screens in India alone, the much-talked-about movie is expected to fetch fabulous numbers on Day 1 as well as in its opening weekend.
Like I pointed out in the Biz Talk two days ago, “Ranbir Kapoor enjoys tremendous popularity amongst the paying public thanks to his choice of films. In addition, the pairing of Ranbir-Deepika, the popularity of Aditya Roy Kapur soon after the super success of AASHIQUI 2, Ayan Mukerji’s credibility after WAKE UP SID, the trendy soundtrack, the right marketing and KJo’s brand value… all these factors combined together will ensure a fantabulous start for YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI in India and Overseas.”
Of course, it remains to be seen how YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI performs at smaller centres/single screens, but the multiplex business will be so huge that UTV should collect a big fat total eventually.
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May 31, 2013 at 7:35 AM
By the way check out A Common Man in the ‘current viewing’ section today. This is an official remake of A Wednesday.
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May 31, 2013 at 8:01 AM
How is this?
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May 31, 2013 at 8:06 AM
Quite poor. They could have a done a lot more with the Sri Lanka setting. Even otherwise there’s not much here.
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May 31, 2013 at 7:43 AM
Poor M Night Shyamalayan cannot buy a review these days. His current film (After Earth) is doing 13% on rottentomatoes. It’s been quite a fall for him. From being the hottest director around after Sixth Sense and cementing things after Signs to the Raavan-like response to the Village (at least among audiences and to a great extent among critics) and the continuous slide since.
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May 31, 2013 at 8:05 AM
It’s difficult to believe it’s as bad as some of the reviews have suggested. But my impression in any case is that Smith’s son (besides being the opposite of the kind of charming star his father is or was!) is far too green to shoulder a movie of this scale and carrying these kinds of expectations…
In any case unless the box office paints a wildly different picture, (which given the intensely negative reviews seems like a long shot) this looks pretty bleak for Shyamalan.
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May 31, 2013 at 8:10 AM
I’ve felt this about the one he made right after Village. I forget the name. The one with Paul Giamatti. Or maybe it was the second one after the Village. But yeah if he makes an average film (for the genre) he gets mauled like crazy. I do the find the Village excellent. Think it’s one of his best. Probably like it more than the Sixth Sense. And despite its imperfection still have the greatest weakness for Unbreakable within his work. In fact this and Village are the only two films I have revisited. The Sixth Sense is definitely well put together but has never done too much for me. Preferred Amenabar’s the Others in this sense.
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May 31, 2013 at 9:20 AM
Shyamlan’s problem is he seems like a one trick pony!
Has to try and do something different.
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May 31, 2013 at 2:25 PM
Completely agree on The Others. My favourite of his films is Unbreakable, by far.
This is his fourth critically panned movie after Lady in the Water, The Happening and The Last Airbender. The box office is really what will make the difference because if he can’t open with Will Smith on this blatantly summer-movie terrain, it’s news. That said, he’s proving his nine lives, and he’s probably enough of an insider that he’s not going anywhere soon. If nothing else he’s turning into a studio hand for reliably middling scripts.
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May 31, 2013 at 2:34 PM
Will smith and his son where part of persuit of happiness which is a movie which till day is remarkable to many
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May 31, 2013 at 2:41 PM
yes Lady in the Water was the one I was thinking about.
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May 31, 2013 at 3:05 PM
Box Office Guru is predicting a 33 million opening weekend. Like most movies like this, a lot will depend on overseas. An 80-100 crore domestic total can be sizeably bolstered by additional 300 million from overseas. Any ways, his days of blockbusters seem to be behind him and is a shame for a guy who was touted as the next Speilberg. One of his interviews after
Signs he was quoted as saying he has box office all figured out and I thought then- this guy is in for a rude awakening!
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May 31, 2013 at 12:02 PM
But this guy seems sort of unfazed by his recent filmy debacles. He ends up making his next movie just the way he wants to, unscathed by the failures. TLA received a solid bashing from both critics as well as audiences but here he is now, with AE that seems to be a film drawn on a larger scale. None of his films are ’empty’ , visually extremely well thought out and paced. Don’t think S can ever become a down and out director.
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May 31, 2013 at 9:19 AM
Whatever the merits of the film, Ranbir seems to have pushed most big stars aside.He is possibly the biggest draw today after Salman and might overtake him soon. SRK era is now well and truly over ( has been over for a while now but his ‘slow’ fans have had a hard time accepting it).
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May 31, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Rajen, I wouldn’t go that far. He’s certainly not a bigger draw than Hrithik or Aamir or even comparable. This film is getting a huge opening but Johar knows how to push the right buttons as well. So he’s playing on the Ranbir-Deepika thing, he has Madhuri for an item song, WUS has a cult following, so on and so forth. Ranbir is obviously doing very well for himself but this isn’t the truest measure of his draw just as Agneepath wasn’t the truest measure of Hrithik’s draw. Of course it is true that all his films are the ‘right’ ones and have been for a while and he’s certainly going from strength to strength as a star. And there’s a cumulative factor to these things as well. But Rockstar didn’t get this kind of initial (though it was pretty good) and I doubt it would get it today either. What I will give you is that Ranbir, rightly or wrongly (and I of course have an opinion on this), is drawing the buzz at the moment the way most other stars aren’t. I think Ranbir is in a zone which Hrithik never occupied despite his attempts at the different. But on the other hand he’s been a huge box office force throughout his career, this isn’t something stars easily achieve. Getting back to Ranbir he’s certainly on a roll or has been over the past couple of years or so. But because he does different genres the cumulative factor doesn’t kick in in the same way. it’s true for every star. Now he could be on the Aamir track where eventually the credibility becomes so high that everything opens big, at least relative to the genre.
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May 31, 2013 at 2:16 PM
Ya last 2 years have been massive to ranbir and for now he is fresh So he is enjoying the buzz and this opening will benifit besharm more as it will be less audience friendly
Hrithik will be targetting 3 idiots record with krrish 3 and it will be huge and so will be dhoom3 ….well that’s totally different league
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May 31, 2013 at 2:47 PM
Am sure Krrish 3 will be big but am not confident it will be that huge. A 140-150 crore deal for sure.
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May 31, 2013 at 3:13 PM
Hrithik should open very big in a strength genre. Admittedly it’s been much water under the bridge since 2006 when the last Krrish released but leaving aside trending (which of course depends on the film) it should open huge. D3 will probably still have the biggest initial around. On Krrish again the films are cheesy for a multiplex audience but people like seeing hrithik do his thing so much that they can overlook the cheese! And of course the single/double screens are kept happy! Having said they are feeling the pressure of all these other big openers and they might try to do too much. The key is keeping things simple which was true for both older films in the franchise. In some sense though just going for the biggest initials misses the point. Because rightly or wrongly, corrupt or not, the media-trade says exaggerated things about every other big opener. Soon it stops making a difference. Even if it’s a truly historic opener what does this mean when records are broken every few months and even if they aren’t when the language is so exhausted because of constant hyperbole? And so for instance YJHD has opened hugely well. The gap between this opening and something like Krrish or D3 or whatever cannot be covered by language because all the superlatives have already been used up for YJHD! And this happens all the time. The only thing that then matters is obviously to have the success but to also have films with a shelf-life in this age of disposable 100 crore films. Simply trying to outgross everybody isn’t a model that works anymore unless you’re in the Salman position. So it’s either this option or the Aamir one. And the Salman one still has a relatively temporary shelf life. Ranbir is clear following the Aamir model but he’s also learnt enough from Abhishek (according to him his best model) not to go too far in terms of taking on risk. And so he’s mixing it up with different multiplex-pleasing fare on one side and regular multiplex-pleasing types on the other! Now he’s doing a film with Kashyap who himself is enjoying his hottest multiplex phase! Even when the films don’t work (Anjaana Anjaani) his image isn’t hurt. Nothing wrong with it of course specially when the media is wildly cheering all the way! On Krrish finally yes it should do 150 even if it disappoints somewhat.
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May 31, 2013 at 4:46 PM
Agree with that Satyam. Hritik is (still) a different ball-game. Whilst ranbir is already more evolved as the ‘actor’, as far as the ‘star’, hritik is still ahead. and on a comparative basis, right from his first film to alll films that ‘clicked’, the bar for HR has been to cream ALL competition (including all the khans!)
Yeah- he lags in the pure ‘acting’ deptt but he isn’t lagging in a big way anyways and always has been more than effective in the very least.
The question is not how much krish3 ultimately ends up making–
It’s how much people are predicting for his solo starrer in a fatigued cheesy franchise in a genre that doesn’t work traditionally in Bollywood– and I’m not talkng about Hritiks fans-it’s his detractors who are quoting 150cr plus figures….anyhow will come to krish3 soon…
Was never really impressed with ranbir inspite of good performances esp in rocket Singh and eventually barfi. People who are ‘ranbir supporters’ would have been so even with/without those films actually.
The ‘game changer’ for ranbir (as far as I’m concerned) and the one which brought in some unexpected supporters/fans has been only one film –rockstar –wherein he shares credit with ar Rahman, Imtiaz Ali (& nargis fakhri)…
It’s to his credit though that he has seized the initiative and strung together a momentum& chosen wisely.
As mentioned earlier– in the post khan bunch–there have been only two authentic stars in Bollywood– hritik and ranbir ( more so the former!)
The rest are ..well..
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June 2, 2013 at 6:54 AM
rajen1, one should be realistic to visualise things.Ranbir is just ten films old and with that much background at present,he can’t over take big stars particularly Khans.Plus Srk is still there,his films might not have performed that well in domestic market in recent times but in overseas he still is a big force and unmatchable.If you don’t like any star that is ok but don’t make your personal opinion,a general rule and force others to follow that.
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June 2, 2013 at 7:05 AM
Satyam,I request you to look into such matters in future.As per your statement,there is no place for those who try to spread negativity unnecessarily here on this blog.So please take care of it as fans of other star get agitated by such unwanted comments and then they directly start ridiculing Bachchan.Then things turn more worst as a result of fan wars plus for me as a fan, it is very painful to read anti Bachchan comments here on this site and i hope you also must not be enjoying the said situation,whenever it arises.And above all rule should be same for all..
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June 2, 2013 at 8:24 AM
Michael, I don’t believe there’s anything odd about Rajen’s comment. One can disagree with it. He’s just making a claim about Ranbir. There’s no reason for anyone else to take offense. He’s not ridiculing anyone else here. Now does this sort of comment nonetheless invite some extreme reactions? Sure! But hey that’s the nature of the beast. All kinds and all sorts are attracted to these discussions. I’d say even to you not to be so pained about the anti-Bachchan stuff. These things happen all the time on blogs. I’ve often talked about how I consider Abhishek a superior actor to most of the competition and so on and lots of other things as well. People used to attack me for comparing him with others. Some people just don’t like to hear certain things and are not especially bothered by the nature of the discussion. Now we all go over the line from time to time. But this particular Rajen comment is not objectionable in the least. I think no one should have problems with any comment and any view as long as the language is kept civil. This doesn’t mean one cannot argue and even vociferously. I do it all the time.
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June 2, 2013 at 9:36 AM
Satyam,okay i may agree with you for the sake of comment here on Rajen’s part but if it is like that, then on what grounds prince was attacked yesterday?Hadn’t he also made a claim on same grounds i.e on Satyagrah teaser?I have seen Rajen in past also making such comments about a particular star whether that thread was related with that subject or not.So,isn’t this also a troll?Anyway,you being administrator of this blog,may be knowing better how to run it.I can just suggest or even request anything.Plus,i have no problem with it but i am concerned when people start attacking senoir Bachchan, only because their favourite star was attacked by any bachchan fan.I just want to put things rest in the said matter.Rest is your wish.
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June 2, 2013 at 10:37 AM
Not at all. And I made this clear yesterday. Here’s that comment again:
[Opposition is not the problem. Trolls are. Some people just come once in a blue moon to provoke or say something ridiculous and then disappear. This is a problem. Still I hardly stop anyone even on these grounds but sometimes things get out of hand. How? Because these folks then get into ‘debates’ with others who might not be familiar with them and negativity is unnecessarily created. Since I have never been big on Satygraha myself, since I’ve voiced the greatest doubts about it on Bachchan’s blog, some anti-Satyagraha talk would hardly bother me if it were a normal discussion.]
You don’t get the same privileges if you just come here to create trouble. You can be infrequent, that’s not a problem, but you can’t only show up to provoke. There is no comparison with Rajen here in any sense who is one of the most regular people here, I’ve known him for much longer than this blog’s history, and he’s ‘essential’ here. By the way Prince isn’t the only one. There are others too who resort to these tactics. Nonetheless I try and tolerate it until things start getting out of hand and they do eventually because many people are not aware of all the contexts and get provoked and say stuff in turn.
I’d finally make this larger point yet again. It is all about contexts for me. It is not only about what is said but where it’s coming from. We have to make sense of what people say here within those larger contexts. Much as we do everywhere in life. Certain people can say things to us that other people cannot. Even in public situations. The rules are the same for everyone here including myself. We all step over the line from time to time, that’s fine. I never said the blog would be Singapore where one could be fined hundreds of dollars for spitting gum! Some feistiness is fine. Occasionally it gets too much, things have to be controlled. But contexts once more intervene. This is not unfairness. It is in fact more fair to take the most comprehensive view possible. It’s not granting anyone special privileges.
And once again if people attack a star (bachchan or otherwise) because they think their favorite is being attacked that’s just too bad. One can’t police juvenilia! Or stop saying stuff because others react this way. I just put up a long comment on Ranbir or two actually. In the first I talked about his amazing numbers in YJHD and his larger trajectory and so on. I was very complimentary. This was followed up by a darker comment on his media reception. Now people can read all kinds of things into it based on their ability to read (!) but I can’t censor myself just because some people won’t take it the right way. If others don’t grow up I cannot retard myself to keep up (or down)!
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May 31, 2013 at 10:12 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 6h
As per trends, #YehJawaaniHaiDeewani should be Ranbir Kapoor’s biggest opener – Day 1, opening weekend and Week 1.
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May 31, 2013 at 11:10 PM
Just back from YJHD…not a patch on WUS….this may go the Yaaden way !! Ayan Mukharjee ko KJo ney barbaad kar diya..
some really good moments but over all it was more like KKKG
the best part- deepiks asks Ranbir ” ab mere Bole Choodiya” wala dance kaun dekeheg? Ranbir replies-“Karan Johar”..and the subtitles show it as ” Uncles” !!!! LMAO
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May 31, 2013 at 11:15 PM
Ranbir, Deepika, Aditya have all acted really well….kalki ko kyon role deta hai koi ??
Madhuri looks really old and the whole sequence looks so fake and forced..
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June 1, 2013 at 7:45 PM
Rajeev Masand’s review is bang on and sys all that I wanted to say –
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/yeh-jawaani-hai-deewani-review-if-lighthearted-mush-is-what-youre-seeking-youre-looking-in-the-right-place/395372-47-84.html
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May 31, 2013 at 10:12 AM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Is HISTORIC In Delhi City
Thursday 31st May 2013 13.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is likely to create history in Delhi city as the film has started with just unbelievable collections. The collections will easily beat Dabangg 2 which collected around 1.50 crore nett in Delhi city and will even surpass films like Bodyguard and Agneepath in Delhi city which were major holiday releases.
The craze is such for the film in the capital that it is likely to cross 2 crore nett in Delhi city which so far only Ek Tha Tiger has managed but that was on Independence Day Holiday.
In major North India cities like Delhi city, Gurgaon and Chandigarh the film is sure to smash the non holiday opening day records of Dabangg 2 and will be second only to Ek Tha Tiger and that also due to the holiday factor.
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May 31, 2013 at 11:39 AM
lol..
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May 31, 2013 at 2:23 PM
funny indeed though some of it is in bad taste. the Kalki stuff for example.
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June 1, 2013 at 1:11 PM
yeah..around 3:20 he mispronounces her name very badly.
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May 31, 2013 at 12:16 PM
Taran Adarsh
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani *initial trends* suggest 18 cr Friday. Humungous opening!
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May 31, 2013 at 12:25 PM
Massive! Film was well timed and Ranbir finally has the “BIG” opener…think all his previous openers were good but nothing in the big star range.
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May 31, 2013 at 12:49 PM
that “Badtamiz Dil” is so damn catchy that evenif the film were not so good – it wud have run to 100 cr – my sis and her hubby and daughter went for it today and they were totally bowled over by the film…..
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May 31, 2013 at 2:18 PM
this looks to be the biggest multiplex opener ever in the sense of being a film only catering to multiplex audiences.
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May 31, 2013 at 1:49 PM
Spoof bulletin-
Contd-Hey Amy– have only skimmed thru the reports but they seem ok eh…let’s sit bak n watch the public verdict….
Credit goes to Amy for inspiring this spoof. I cast apt actors for apt roles-I told u in JTHJ that your role will come lol-u weren’t ‘ready’ then.. As for me, im ‘mouldable’ lol
Ok some lyrics for u to lipsync n enjoy 😉
Kal nahi thi jo aaj lagti hoon
Taareef meri hai khaamakha
Tohfa hai tera meri adaa
Ps: stop blushing…
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May 31, 2013 at 5:45 PM
“Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Is HISTORIC In Delhi City”– Amy– we should give credit to the ‘dilliwaali girlfriend’ 🙂
C’mon let’s film some ‘key scenes now’….
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June 1, 2013 at 1:37 AM
Top ALLTIME Opening Days: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Fourth
Saturday 1st June 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has taken the fourth biggest opening of all time and the highest non holiday opening as Ek tha Tiger, Agneepath and Bodyguard all opened on major holidays. The top ten opening days of all time are as follows.
1. Ek Tha Tiger – 30.72 crore
2. Agneepath – 21.72 crore
3. Bodyguard – 20.66 crore
4. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 20 crore approx
5. Dabangg 2 – 19.34 crore
6. Ra.One – 14.76 crore
7. Don 2 – 14.63 crore
8. Dabangg – 14.45 crore
9. Rowdy Rathore -14.39 crore
10. Race 2 – 14.36 crore
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June 1, 2013 at 7:19 AM
the interesting thing here is that if YJHD is at 20 was Agneepath so extraordinary as 21 or even bG at its number? Some time has passed but not that much! Specially with Agneepath. Or even Dabanng 2. And some of these are holiday films. My point is that YJHD is still a multiplex deal, those other films were supposed to be huge everywhere. But these numbers are more or less the same. The same superlatives were exhausted for all those older films too.
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June 1, 2013 at 7:47 AM
In any case Ranbir certainly has one of the biggest openings around (all things considered) with this film.
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June 1, 2013 at 7:21 AM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani First Day Territorial Breakdown
Saturday 1st June 2012 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh jawaani Hai Deewani collected 19.75-20 crore nett approx on its first day. The first day territorial breakdown is as follows.
Mumbai – 6.90 crore
Delhi/UP – 4.15 crore
East Punjab – 1.79 crore
West Bengal – 88 lakhs
Bihar – 35 lakhs
CP Berar – 92 lakhs
CI – 79 lakhs
Rajasthan – 1.28 crore
Nizam – 90 lakhs
Mysore – 95 lakhs
Others – 90 lakhs
TOTAL – 19.81 crore
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June 1, 2013 at 7:23 AM
A rare occasion when Taran actually has the same number as BOI. Usually the latter have a lower number.
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June 1, 2013 at 7:22 AM
B.O. update: ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ takes mindboggling start!
By Taran Adarsh, May 31, 2013 – 13:09 ISTThe first major release after IPL, YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, fetched a 95% to 100% start in the morning shows. With a screen count stretching to more than 3,000 screens in India alone, the much-talked-about movie is expected to fetch fabulous numbers on Day 1 as well as in its opening weekend.
Like I pointed out in the Biz Talk two days ago, “Ranbir Kapoor enjoys tremendous popularity amongst the paying public thanks to his choice of films. In addition, the pairing of Ranbir-Deepika, the popularity of Aditya Roy Kapur soon after the super success of AASHIQUI 2, Ayan Mukerji’s credibility after WAKE UP SID, the trendy soundtrack, the right marketing and KJo’s brand value… all these factors combined together will ensure a fantabulous start for YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI in India and Overseas.”
Of course, it remains to be seen how YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI performs at smaller centres/single screens, but the multiplex business will be so huge that UTV should collect a big fat total eventually.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani opened huge on Friday collecting Rs. 19.45 cr
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June 1, 2013 at 2:13 AM
Right after Rockstar I knew Ranbir was special. Ranbir is the only actor who makes me watch every moment he is on screen, right from his first film..After Dilip Kumar he is the only actor who makes me do it.
And I had announced from the rooftop that after Cocktail Deepika had evolved into a different creature and had entered a different league.
The Ranbir era began with Rockstar..and is now well reach iis peak with YJHD, Besharam and Bombay Velvet.
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June 1, 2013 at 9:46 AM
It is the easiest and safest thing to worship the rising sun. How can you compare him to DK? At the best he is like Shammi Kapoor in his heyday. As for YJYD success, remove that song and dance, you have another tepid film which is being churned out day in and day out. And you are forgetting actors like AB, Rishi Kapoor himself, aamir and others.
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June 1, 2013 at 11:17 PM
I said it when SAAWARIYA came out….Ranbir Kapoor will be a HUGE superstar….he has a universal appeal. His character is well played in YJHD. Most enjoyable K-jo film in ages alongside AGNEEPATH
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June 1, 2013 at 7:01 AM
I watched YJHD today, and even though the trailers prepared me for glossy inanity, I was astonished at exactly soulless and superficial this managed to be. However, the one redeeming aspect was the likeable and charming cast of friends, all four of whom were more than competent. But make no mistake, this film belonged to Deepika. She shone despite being riddled with a highly unconvincing and puerile character arc, and has grown into such a confident and charismatic star; she’s probably never going to be even half the actor that Ranbir is, but this film required stardust and screen presence not thesping talent, and she managed to outshine him. I’m happy to see that many critics (as diverse as Raja Sen and Anupama Chopra) have acknowledged this, and have not fallen prey to the temptation of classifying this as another stepping stone in Ranbir’s path to superstardom. He may well go onto become a new age superstar, but that will have little to do with YJHD’s success, since this is Deepika’s film all the way. As a Deepika fan, I am happy that I watched the film, despite how cringeworthy and cliched it was.
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June 1, 2013 at 7:50 AM
Thanx for the early review & thoughts Amy –“But make no mistake, this film belonged to Deepika”– as mentioned earlier and as utkal uncle mentions above, ‘cocktail’ made her find her ‘inner self’ & she is a different actress now—no wonder, I gave u this role hahah–enjoy
Btw couldn’t check it –no Bollywood viewers around me currently. There’s one Kareena-seque ultra snobbish person-but hear this–she insists on watching great gatsby again & doesn’t want to seen watching Yjhd like deals –what double-standards!!
Will have to find some bakras/bakris …
Anyhow Amy-enjoy the suxess of your role 🙂
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June 1, 2013 at 12:16 PM
@ sanjana–nice to see u back. Btw thought that poor anu isn’t posting due to certain harsh comments against her earlier by some here, but now it seems the problem is different… Hmm.and I think I know it ….Hope she is safe since she already was on the ‘edge’ lol
Btw have got two murgis for yhjd who not only don’t know Bollywood/hindi but are eminently dumb…watching Yjhd shortly to see how Amy has performed 🙂
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June 3, 2013 at 12:27 PM
Ami,
Havent seen the film.So cannot comment on whose film it is or who outshone whom. But, regardless this already is a huge step for Ranbir and is already being acknowledged as such. Deepika, too might benefit from the film and may be deservedly so. But, make no mistake- there is no comparision as far as star wattage goes. Deepika’s presence in the film mgiht be a big reason for the success, may be even more so than Ranbir but cannot be because she ‘has stardust and screen presence’ !
Ranbir is going to benefit far,far more here and is perceived to have far more starpower and presence than Deepika Padukone who is good looking,mildly talented and a welcome presence at best! Most males who are her fans are presicley so because of what Q pointed out. She seems to fulfill some juvenile male fantasy with here carefree bit.
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June 3, 2013 at 12:37 PM
Let’s not spoil the day of deepika fans like Amy
These days (& nights) are few n far between anyways…
Amy– don’t worry—the film is a hit only due to deepika–
Happy? 🙂
Ps: having said that, deepika truly deserves credit for not allowing ranbir to hog the limelight totally and did ‘evolve’ as the film progressed
For eg deepika ‘evolved’ from sawaar kameez (when studying alone at home!!!!) and mini skirts while skiing(!!) to a designer Saree-seque thing with a skimpy ‘blouse’ and so on….
So yeah –there WAS progresssion
Joking Amy–irrespective of attempts to ‘discredit’ her, deepika DID a good job and deserves equal credit–peace … Hahah
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June 3, 2013 at 2:18 PM
yes agreed, even if Deepika is more of a presence here (as many are suggesting) the way these things work the male star is still benefited the most. Not without reason because audiences just don’t show up for films in comparable fashion for female leads.
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June 1, 2013 at 8:10 AM
Rangan:
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June 1, 2013 at 10:10 AM
Sanjana: Shammi Kapoor? Has he done anything like Rajneeti in his life? Or rocket Singh? Or Rockstar? Or Barfi? Waht is inetresting about Ranbir is that he is so watchable even when he is doing so little. Like in Rajneeti. Like DK.In Mughal-e-Azam. Smouldering hot intensity. Without doing almost anything.
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June 1, 2013 at 8:57 PM
Shammi Kapoor’s acting had layers behind all that baffonery. Brhmachari for example. He was typecast somewhat. Ranbir still looks somewhat too enthusiastic and he may reach more maturity as an actor after he ages a little.
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June 2, 2013 at 4:46 PM
This might be even news to Shammi Kapoor were he alive. I loved his movies , God bless him but ‘layers’!
Only layers I can think of are those caused by folds of adipose tissue! There probably was a decent director inside him though that never really got a decent chance!
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June 1, 2013 at 2:16 PM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 14h
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani takes not just India, but Overseas markets by storm. Is all set to beat #Barfi and #Rockstar by a big margin!
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June 1, 2013 at 8:56 PM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Heads For Record Weekend
Saturday 1st June 2013 22.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is heading towards record collections over the first weekend. The film has seen a huge for a Saturday and will have the highest ever collections for a Saturday as business again is likely to be in the 19-20 crore nett region.
The collections coming in for Saturday are in the same range as Friday and it could show a small gain or small drop but the range will be similar to Friday.
The film will have collected 38.50-39.50 crore nett in two days and is chasing a 58 crore nett weekend of Dabangg 2 while Ek Tha Tiger collected 56 crore nett.
It is looking like that Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani may be the first film in history of Hindi cinema to collect over 60 crore nett in three days.
http://boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5715&nCat=
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June 1, 2013 at 11:02 PM
Sensational numbers!
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June 1, 2013 at 11:16 PM
Saw this last night….turned out to be a lot better than anticipated. Ranbirs character is well etched out….deserves to be a big hit….turning out to be a lot bigger hit than I thought.
Same with FAST & FURIOUS 6 and THE HANGOVER 3…looking fwd to THE GREAT GATSBY and THE INTERNSHIP
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June 1, 2013 at 11:27 PM
yes it’s putting up these incredible numbers. It’s the biggest multiplex grosser by far (i.e. a multiplex only kind of deal) but it’s also sprung a big surprise in that no one was expecting it to challenge Dabanng 2 and ETT! And again I’ll repeat an older point. The likes of BOI and Taran were as ‘breathless’ over Dabanng 2. But with national holidays and so on the comparable numbers of the latter (and similar films) were still obviously great but ‘weaker’ than they might have been because those films also had full single/double screen participation. Now to be completely fair about it a multiplex audience that gets hugely excited about a film like YJHD is not likely to be excited by a Salman Khan film in the same way! And the target multiplex demographic is either the younger one (roughly 16-30) that favors such films or a somewhat older one that favors ‘family’ films. However since the peak periods of Yashraj and Johar in those formats there haven’t been films for the latter group. Consequently there haven’t been such massive numbers for a multiplex film. On the other hand a multiplex film catering to the youth-only demographic also hasn’t been a massive runaway success (the next best is ZNMD which had a relatively moderate start though it remained stable). This one has really bust the bank. And Ranbir really has a huge moment here in absolute terms. Also very significant because he’s doing a certain kind of mix where this success is repeatable. So he will have such a film again sooner or later. But equally the initials for his other films, which too tend to appeal to the same multiplex audiences one way or the other, will also get jacked up. And he’s had success with these anyway. So Ranbir doesn’t really need to tinker with his formula at this point. Even the Kashyap (Anurag) film is happening at a point when Kashyap is hottest in the multiplexes and without doubt Bombay Velvet will be a much more accessible film than GoW! In the meantime Besharam with Abhinav Kashyap also seems to belong to the kind of genre where huge numbers are possible.
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June 2, 2013 at 9:03 AM
but having said all this the connected point about the ‘selling of Ranbir’ is equally important. It’s not that he has fostered it in any active sense. He has merely been its beneficiary but it has been there all the same. Ranbir has in a way been ‘smart’ about things , he’s followed certain safer options (nothing wrong with this of course) at any end of the spectrum and sure enough the initials kept getting better or stronger. However it is also the case that there was a parallel media narrative which was pushed from day 1 about Ranbir being a ‘great’ actor, even before a single film released, and then the moment he had some success, it was exaggerated even when it was only at WUS level, or the failures were not talked about much when these happened, then in a bigger success like Rajneeti he got favorable media attention when clearly there were other important parts and performances around, when it was a Rockstar that didn’t do all that well, it was the performance of the century.. on and on. So not to deny the obvious but the most favorable media reception has greeted him at every turn. He’s certainly in the zone now but the importance of pushing a certain narrative throughout a star’s young career cannot be underestimated. And so whether it’s being a great thespian or a superstar he is so before the event. Now I might find both characterizations absurd but the point is that there is a certain structure in place that wasn’t there for just about anyone else. Even Hrithik had to get that kind of success instantly.
I could use a political shorthand here. The narrative surrounding Ranbir is not completely legible without also taking into account the relative hostility Abhishek has received at most points. The Bachchan name is not just about legendary success but also a seminal politics. It is this that must be repressed. The Bachchan starson has to be repressed and the Kapoor one celebrated. Precisely because the Kapoor name is pure genealogy without the political charge (at least no one since Raj Kapoor has ever had it! being Shashi or Shammi or Rishi Kapoor has no significant meaning in this sense). So someone like Ranbir can have the genealogy benefits without the burden of it and of course the name ‘Bachchan’ confers some very special burdens! Ranbir by way of his choices and his physicality and the kind of actor he is is in any case fine for the multiplex moment but set against the Bachchan contrast the narrative starts becoming something more. Part of it is as always that folks play this double game of first excoriating Abhishek for being a perfect representative of industry nepotism and so on and then having accounted for their guilt (which is that they ‘consume’ every starson and daughter that comes their way!) they pretend they are celebrating Ranbir or whoever for the pure merits of the case! And of course because Abhishek’s choices, certainly in the past have made them uniquely uncomfortable, it is easier to package the resistance in some sort of absurd nepotism discourse. There’s a difference between failing in Anjaana Anjaani and doing so in D6. In one case the star’s essential image is not hurt, the audience still recognized the genre, is still on board with the politics but sees the particular film as a bad mix. With D6 on the other hand it’s the opposite. The politics gets uncomfortable, the star is not as recognizable and so forth. Note how despite the hostility every time Abhishek does something sanctioned by the same multiplex-media apparatus he gets kind (I’d argue sometimes too kind) attention. And so we saw this with Dostana but even moreso with BB recently which is after a Rohit Shetty deal. As long as you’re with the program the hostility can be kept at bay. I won’t repeat everything I’ve said here about a longer Bachchan trajectory (father and son) and the reception politics surrounding each.
But nor is it my aim to take anything away from Ranbir’s sensational moment here in YJHD. Or the longer arc he’s developed for himself. Even if I am completely unable to spot the actor or indeed star (in the descriptive sense and not the box office one) that many in the media and elsewhere routinely spot I have nothing against him. Quite like his off screen persona anyway. And of course I’m not suggesting that he’s fostering this narrative. But it is there and its effects cannot be underestimated. When a star is constantly sold as a craze among the youth before he becomes such a craze, when he’s sold as a thespian before he becomes one, when he’s sold as superstar before becoming one. Assuming the latter to be somehow true in every case the groundwork is prepared long before and this creates a body of opinion that cancels out any potential negativity for the star. The greatest hyperbole at every turn. I of course do not believe there’s a Pacino in the making here to warrant this kind of response (!) but even if it were Pacino this kind of reception would still be ‘false’ before the event. When such overwhelming opinion in one direction is ‘manufactured’, when Ranbir is offered as the ‘true’ and ‘deserving’ starson (versus who? Ha!) to a public constantly soaking in the 24/7 media blitz certain consequences follow. Ranbir has of course done his best not to be on the wrong side of these very same audiences. But it creates a perfect confluences of factors. He isn’t to blame but he is nonetheless the recipient of a narrative which is falsely framed in the ways I’ve pointed out.
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June 3, 2013 at 10:06 AM
Re: “The narrative surrounding Ranbir is not completely legible without also taking into account the relative hostility Abhishek has received at most points. The Bachchan name is not just about legendary success but also a seminal politics. It is this that must be repressed. The Bachchan starson has to be repressed and the Kapoor one celebrated. Precisely because the Kapoor name is pure genealogy without the political charge (at least no one since Raj Kapoor has ever had it! being Shashi or Shammi or Rishi Kapoor has no significant meaning in this sense). So someone like Ranbir can have the genealogy benefits without the burden of it and of course the name ‘Bachchan’ confers some very special burdens!”
But in a sense this “emptiness” — the dynasty that means nothing except some vague sense of “family”, “privilege”, and “history”; heck the dynasty that isn’t really a dynasty and hence doesn’t threaten the bourgeoisie’s sense of itself as citizens of a republic, even as it is often bereft of any commitment to equality in a liberal sense, let alone any sense more radical — is perhaps the most germane to the new India (where it’s about merit — except that it’s constantly about “good families” and who you know). Only RGV treated the Bachchans as purely about nothing except themselves, but in retrospect, that was a bridge too far: despite (and it pains me to write this) the Great One’s best efforts over the last two decades, he hasn’t been able to completely empty the Bachchan signature (partly because his destructive work has been undone by Abhishek’s cussed insistence — perhaps now worn out, but we’ll have to see what the post-Bol Bachchan career brings — on standing for something!)…
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June 3, 2013 at 10:13 AM
Outstanding comment and I agree with everything and especially on the larger critique implicit here of the ‘new Indian’ mindset.
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June 3, 2013 at 10:27 AM
On a related note it’s interesting how Aditya Chopra wanted to make Mohabbatein first but (and by his own admission) did DDLJ first to get more experience. In a way he just had this one idea in him! Because after Mohabbatein paralysis more or less hit him and DDLJ though a classic came about ‘unintentionally’. Meanwhile Johar himself has always had Kabhi Kabhie on the mind (quite often the films he has a hand in have something to do with the passage of time and relationships developing), his dream film was clearly K3G, again he started out with KKHH as a safe ‘spinoff’ to DDLJ. And once again after K3G he too didn’t quite know what to do. While he has forever tried to get an Aamir moment for SRK (KANK, MNIK) even prior to this he didn’t direct KHNH. He too has been rudderless as a director for quite sometime. Once again like Aditya Chopra he’s trying to make up the deficit on the production side.
Why do I get into these two examples in such detail? Because, and as I’ve said before, the Bachchan ghost has stalked even the 90s. The question for these iconic directors who delivered these important age-defining films was still: what shall we do with Amitabh Bachchan? They came of age in a world where Bachchan was still completely supreme and hence quite naturally wanted to work with him. But even later there was a sense in which they had to incorporate him into their ‘system’. Whatever choices Bachchan was making on his own, rightly or wrongly, they couldn’t do without being associated with his sign. And as I’ve argued before we are still in a post-Bachchan age where his peak period is of course behind us but for all the often dramatic new Indian changes since (in cinema) ‘Bollywood’ still isn’t a space which can do without his transcendence or some trace of his sign. This is often not measurable in box office terms for all sorts of reasons but it is assuredly so in a larger cultural sense. bachchan continues to suck up the oxygen at so many levels. But also in the decisions many of these filmmakers make. And once again Aditya Chopra and Johar are key. The SRK age has long been eclipsed but the Bachchan sign has not dimmed. Which is to say it hasn’t grown weaker than where it was a decade ago, more or less. And then of course there is the Abhishek story once more. The resistance to him even today, irrespective of his box office fortunes (except when he does what is plainly acceptable to everyone.. otherwise the excuses change.. most infamously Taran and Nahata saying a blockbuster like BnB which would have been absolutely massive in today’s money was doing well only in Bombay and Delhi! Or some of the other ridiculous theories) indicates the strength of even a diminished (which is to say post-peak and post-post-peak) Bachchan charge. Specially when Abhishek was not willing to be ‘Joharised’ or ‘Yashrajized’ despite getting success after a long struggle.
But the Ranbir reception by the media establishment and beyond is in a way even more depressing than the SRK one. Because while I don’t have anything against Ranbir at all he represents precisely the emptiness you’re referring to. And this has nothing to do with his acting or anything. SRK’s films could at least be read as a reaction to the 80s or an age of action or as the expression of new Indian/diaspora desire. One could be severe critic of what he represented in these films (as I have been) but there was a ‘stance’ to them. On the other hand Ranbir doesn’t even represent even this kind of message. It is simply the film. Or if one wants to push it further he’s taking the role Hrithik did in the first part of Lakshya and making it his own. So from WUS to Rockstar and evidently the current film (and elsewhere too in some ways) he’s the Bandra slacker type who eventually does ‘something’! This is the limit of the ‘politics’ associated with him. Nothing more here. I’d take Ranbir over many others and this is not meant to be a personal knock on him but it is certainly one on his audience and once more the larger mindset you’ve been referring to.
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June 3, 2013 at 10:54 AM
Re: “But the Ranbir reception by the media establishment and beyond is in a way even more depressing than the SRK one. Because while I don’t have anything against Ranbir at all he represents precisely the emptiness you’re referring to. And this has nothing to do with his acting or anything. SRK’s films could at least be read as a reaction to the 80s or an age of action or as the expression of new Indian/diaspora desire. One could be severe critic of what he represented in these films (as I have been) but there was a ‘stance’ to them. On the other hand Ranbir doesn’t even represent even this kind of message. It is simply the film. Or if one wants to push it further he’s taking the role Hrithik did in the first part of Lakshya and making it his own. So from WUS to Rockstar and evidently the current film (and elsewhere too in some ways) he’s the Bandra slacker type who eventually does ‘something’! This is the limit of the ‘politics’ associated with him. Nothing more here. I’d take Ranbir over many others and this is not meant to be a personal knock on him but it is certainly one on his audience and once more the larger mindset you’ve been referring to.”
Somewhat off the main topic, but I can relate to your last paragraph: for me too, the problem with SRK was him, and, secondarily, his audience; whereas the problem with Ranbir is his audience.
He does need to be careful, though: like Deepika Padukone (who is forever playing some juvenile male’s fantasy of the carefree woman (who won’t, of course, end up too carefree: just carefree enough to titillate an uncle in “Cocktail” with a bare leg rested on a sofa, carefree enough to be puzzled why Saif is gesturing to her to put her leg down; an inauthentic moment if there ever was one, as anyone who has ever known a woman from just about any country will vouch — the lack of authenticity is, of course, in her surprise. It helps that the carefree attitude is lubricated by copious amounts of alcohol: it makes transformations by film’s end seem that much more plausible — “hey, we stopped the drinking scenes pre-interval!”)), Ranbir is getting trapped in the sort of role you mention, typically overlaid with a kind of smug privileged air that the multiplex faithful might relate to or aspire to, but that does not help forge a connection across places and demographics (Hrithik, although I like him far less than Ranbir, did not have this — he’s inert, and one is relatively free to project; like Hrithik, Ranbir can seem unhinged when he tries to play something out of his skin — not the rockstar in “Rockstar”, but the Hindu College-boy in the film’s first few reels). It’s a pity, because he didn’t have this issue in “Saawariya” (nor, to be fair, in “Barfi!”), but in the Johar films he seems to be (eagerly) trapped. In fact, Ranbir offers the SRK model on steroids — as in Karan’s telling comment years ago: “he has the looks; he has the dancing ability; most importantly, he has the genes”.
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June 3, 2013 at 11:07 AM
On the Johar ‘genes’ comment perhaps one should take it more seriously than he does in a different direction. Abhishek betrays Johar’s hopes precisely by staying true to his genes. Actually he betrays the hopes of many of his and his father’s fans too who naively assume that with just more testosterone in one’s gesturality it would be 1980 all over again! Ranbir meanwhile is in a perverse sense true to Rishi Kapoor because the father too in the 70s and for all his many gifts as a fluid actor and so forth once again couldn’t mean anything in the age of Bachchan. So while even Dharam was very secondary to Bachchan he had his own iconic brand-name. Rishi starred in some iconic films but could never be more than this. Given that he was easily the most talented Kapoor offspring (after Raj Kapoor and I’d say this holds even now) he always lacked this greater sign. Yes he wasn’t cut out for masala, he would have been disadvantaged in any case but he also didn’t stand for anything. Not saying that every star represents something specific. Just that Ranbir isn’t betraying his genes in this sense. Which is why there is sometimes this desperation on the part of his directors to portray him in Raj Kapoor’s shadow. An absurd exercise if ever there was one. Could there be anything farther from Raj Kapoor’s concerns and his Chaplinesque image than the consumption obsessions of new India?! If at all Raj Kapoor inhabited this world he’d be safely on the other side of the tracks in a manner of speaking!
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June 3, 2013 at 10:37 AM
finally and in terms of genre the smart move these days is to take the multiplex romantic-comedy and marry it to certain Rock On-like themes of disillusionment or ‘growing up’. ZNMD though it didn’t open anything like YJHD was extremely stable. The purely nothing romantic comedies aren’t doing as much even with stars. You can get a weekend bang at the box office and come up with respectable numbers but not much more. Now it remains to be seen how far YJHD goes but nonetheless the response here has completely exceeded even the most optimistic expectations here so clearly something here has struck a chord, at least in some limited sense. Ironically Akhtar already had this disappointment/growing up undercurrent in DCH but it’s take the rest a while to catch up.
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June 3, 2013 at 11:38 AM
Interesting reading! Do not agree entirely but have a few things to add. There is no parallel between Abhishek and Ranbir other than being star sons. Abhishek came with a burden of gargantuan expectations and did not have the chocolate good looks or the physique.He was a little careless in choosing the initial films and his career wasnt thought out. He found his way and chose a different path. And, full marks to him for that. He has stuck to his guns inspite of setbacks and seems to be finding a balance. Love and admire him dearly and not just because of his father.
Ranbir had a lesser burden in terms of expectations. He is OBVIOSULY talented (inspite of somequestioning it ), has the looks and physical attributes. Is sincere and atleast so far has been more careful in his choices.
Media has obviously played a role but there is no parallel with SRK. His off screen persona is much more likeable. IT would be foolish t9o suggest that he owes his success largely to the media support and narrative. He has connected somehow and not just with the youth. I find the suggestion that his success is not deserved inappropriate. And,certainly wouldnt blame his audience. Here is a likeable,talented star making good movies and (except for the philandering) behaving in a dignified manner. How can one blame the audience?
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June 3, 2013 at 11:53 AM
Speaking for myself Rajen I am not disagreeing with anything you’ve said on Ranbir. I might accent things differently or not go as far as you have on certain points but those aren’t essential differences (except perhaps on the looks bit.. I often find him gawky and in terms of his physique obviously he isn’t Abhishek but he isn’t in the Hrithik-John ‘stud’ camp either.. he’s doing no more nor less than just about every other star in this sense, barring Abhishek who even when he works out doesn’t exactly conform to the gym model.. and to be honest this is a plus for me.. whatever I might think of his physicality Ranbir still looks normal.. and yes I’d agree he’s a likable, sincere performer too). And I’m not blaming the audience for liking Ranbir. I am blaming them for having a certain mindset which then makes a certain kind of cinema and star most appropriate for their ‘desires’. And this isn’t just about Ranbir but about many other stars as well who either belong loosely to this group or become this. Abhishek even if he wished to couldn’t become this, even on terrain like Dostana’s. Because a certain charge resonates through him, often consciously, and he can never appear ’empty’ which is the requirement of much of today’s cinema. As we have seen this is true largely for the masala films that are made today as well. And so to the extent Ranbir succeeds doing this sort of stuff it’s just another reminder. If Abhishek did mostly the Dostana kind of film to succeed I’d find that unfortunate too even with all the caveats I’ve added. I don’t even think that much about his more commercial choices along masala lines. I prefer them to the alternatives perhaps but my problem here too is the fact that these films are mostly empty. This still doesn’t mean I mind Ranbir’s extraordinary moment here. In fact I’d rather it happen to him than most other stars. And perhaps just my liking for his father is enough for me to celebrate this, leaving aside Ranbir for a moment. But it is still a reminder of a completely consumption industry. In this sense I am even wrong to criticize Abhishek for some of his current choices or have held hopes in the past for some of his other films. Because if YJHD or Race or ETT is the norm a Deewar isn’t going to suddenly pop up! Once in a while this audience will reward something different as long as it is still fairly entertaining (Guru or Barfi or whatever). Cinema as ‘experience’ is a thing of the past. The Aamir compromise is the best one possible these days and Ranbir might get there with time.
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June 3, 2013 at 12:07 PM
by the way, and responding to your Fri comment, and though I didn’t agree with it I will say this — given the way Ranbir is being projected by the media he is bad news not just for SRK (he was in any case losing out on a number of fronts to other stars) but perhaps more importantly Hrithik. The latter despite being one of the biggest openers since his debut never quite graduated to the ‘absolute star’ stage and forever seemed to be waiting in the wings. He either had commercial hits that confirmed what we already knew or different films that didn’t do much for him even when these worked at some level. Put differently he was never given the write-ups Ranbir is now getting, at least not since KNPH. Partly because the ‘actor’ romance as I’ve said for years is still alive even in this otherwise bankrupt industry. And so in Ranbir can be presented as the completely package he steals a march on everyone. Abhishek (despite the media and online politics on all this) is far less affected. Not surprisingly his path has always involved getting successful on his terms. Because he has never followed the reigning genre model completely. But it is true that both he and Hrithik have been transitional figures so far. There is still something ‘unsettled’ about Abhishek’s career (it’s not completely clear where he’s going, which could be good or bad, and I don’t just mean box office success) and Hrithik meanwhile has stagnated at his own level. Abhishek would need not just the box office but something more buzz-oriented to get back into the game in the true sense whereas with Hrithik it’s oddly more tricky. So he had ZNMD and Agneepath fairly close together. But the world didn’t really change for him. He’s still ‘back to the future’ with Krrish. Ranbir is clearly the blue-eyed boy of the moment.
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June 3, 2013 at 2:01 PM
“the way Ranbir is being projected by the media he is bad news not just for SRK (he was in any case losing out on a number of fronts to other stars) but perhaps more importantly Hrithik.”
Agree completely with this. In some ways Ranbir has been the correction to Hrithik Roshan, at least for those who saw Hrithik as the exemplary star/actor of his time, but who also could not completely sell him successfully as such. As you rightly suggest, Hrithik might have been lauded in similar terms as Ranbir if it weren’t for the fact that he just doesn’t have the acting chops. Not even a little. And one can see how the push for Hrithik has changed in a post-Ranbir scenario from comparing the responses to his work in KMG and Guzaarish. I remember being flabbergasted with the reviews for his performance in KMG, you could practically feel the burden of effort on the part of the people who pushed this at the time like it was My Left Foot. With Guzaarish you saw the usual banal, flat compliments towards the central performance, but the fade out was faster both because the film wasn’t successful but also and more importantly because the time had passed when Hrithik could convincingly be sold as some kind of great actor, especially in light of Ranbir’s emergence.
This whole discussion has been a fascinating read btw.
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June 3, 2013 at 11:49 AM
“like Deepika Padukone (who is forever playing some juvenile male’s fantasy of the carefree woman”
😀
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June 3, 2013 at 12:02 PM
Thanx for this interesting discussion Satyam & q-read bits..
Incidentally, revisited bits of wus yesterday…whilst I enjoyed YJHD more (unsurprisingly!), wus was ‘truer’,’raw’ & technically a more ‘honest’ film (for this genre)
Yjhd seems essentially the same film template with upgraded elements slightly ahead in time–same friends, dad mother, and ofcourse the ‘coming of age’..
I suggest an ayan-ranbir (the new kjo-srk!) franchise—
‘Wont grow up Sid’ –parts 1&2 are already out
Every couple of years, a new installment can come out–the cental theme should stay the same–EXCEPT that this ‘growing up, should NOT happen– to pave the way for another installment..
My curiosity in Yjhd remains that what if ranbir had the guts and balls to resist deepikas ‘charms’ & continue his shenanigans…
Let’s see where it leads him (& the viewer)
Into part3,4,5…
Somewhere we will see ‘darker themes’, (newer) ‘perversions’ and ‘mad men-like’ scenarios … 🙂
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June 3, 2013 at 12:08 PM
LOL,Munna,Q
“like Deepika Padukone (who is forever playing some juvenile male’s fantasy of the carefree woman”
😀
Would also include some middle aged men and some middle aged men with a juvenile mindset, desperately pretending to be young!!!
I find her a welcome presence on screen but yes, this carefree bit is getting old and stale rather fast and furiosuly!
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June 3, 2013 at 12:17 PM
Note to Satyam:
Dont hold your breath for a Deewar. There is no Salim-Javed on horizon and there is never going to be another Vijay.
So, those kind of aobsolutely,completely satisfying film experiences are certainly a thing of past.
And, agree Ranbir is a threat to Hrithik- a big threat. Still like HR quite a bit but he has to do stuff other than K3. I liked him quite a bit in ZNMD and there is still hope for him.
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June 3, 2013 at 2:16 PM
Sadly you’re right. That era was a once in a lifetime deal.
On the rest I didn’t really mean that Ranbir is a threat to Hrithik in any literal sense. Hrithik’s box office standing is fine. It’s just that if you lose the buzz narrative to a younger star it’s that much harder to get into that ‘absolute’ position. It’s a different thing that I’ve felt Hrithik lost out on this chance a long time back for a variety of reasons. If you’re relying on the box office you need to keep doing the Krrish or Dhoom kind of deal. And he was capable of this. If you’re doing different however you need a true blue signature moment which he never got. He’s fallen a bit in between these two options. He sometimes veers more to one side, sometimes more to the other and at other times he’s just had long breaks. Admittedly the different is always a bit harder for him to be too convincing in because the audience doesn’t essentially watch his movies to discover an actor in him but to see him ‘look good’ and basically do everything competently. To overcome what one might uncharitably call the ‘pretty boy’ problem one has to do a Redford or a DiCaprio or stay away completely from roles that might reawaken that stereotype. very few stars have the nerve to do this or trade in obvious box office rewards for this kind of reinvention. Then again even for this to work the star must be minimally considered an actor in some authentic sense.
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June 3, 2013 at 12:19 PM
“why Saif is gesturing to her to put her leg down; an inauthentic moment if there ever was one, as anyone who has ever known a woman from just about any country will vouch — the lack of authenticity is, of course, in her surprise. It helps that the carefree attitude is lubricated by copious amounts of alcohol: ”
Haaha ROFLOL–that’s an ace comment qalander
ESP the ‘lubrication’ one–it’s more than metaphorical…
Also this element of ‘(pseudo)surprise’ on the part of deepika is interesting…
There’s a certain dichotomy on deepika–
In her vernacular diction, the ease and comfort with which she slips into shorts and mini skirts at the drop of a hat on (& off) screen, her numerous serial-flings (in real life) whilst continuing to maintain this allure of ‘distance’ & seriousness..
Full marx to deepika though to carry this off v well.
Career wise she has a certain (katrina-like) poise and focus now that in both cases, have circumvented any misgivings in terms of (lack of) acting talent..
Ps: deepikas performance in Yjhd was quite good but imo technically not as good as in cocktail.
It’s surprising though that the same deepika fan Amy who loved her in Yjhd didn’t find her appealing in cocktail?
Is it because she didn’t ‘get the guy’ in cocktail? C’mon …
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June 3, 2013 at 12:38 PM
On that topic, nowhere was the ‘carefree modern girl’ character more of a farce than in YDHJ, where Ranbir indulges in all manners of ‘debauchery’, in contrast to Deepika, whose newly liberated avatar is demonstrated primarily through her acquiring a sexier wardrobe. And of course her ‘transformation’ was catalysed by a life-changing holi party! The whole thing was quite hilariously puerile!
This, in a nutshell, is Bollywood’s interpretation of ‘modernity’ and ‘liberation’: discover that the true meaning of life is wearing shorter shorts whilst playing holi /!discover that life is not lived to fullest unless one quits ones job to go diving whilst playing tomatina in Spain… who needs Nietzsche or Sartre when you experience your existentialist epiphanies in the infinitely less painful and more glamorous Bollywood style? 😛
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June 3, 2013 at 12:44 PM
But sadly that is what consumeristic society thinks…
So Mallika’s comment entirely wrong is not far from general mindset..
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June 3, 2013 at 12:41 PM
LOL,Ami. Agree with the spirit of the comment tho havent seem the film and hence cant comment on her role in YJHD.
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June 3, 2013 at 12:41 PM
Wow Amy– spot on!!
As they say— first i look at your ‘deep’ comment and then at you!!
Btw Amy –since I sort of share your deepika liking, why do u think deepikas Yjhd performance was better than in cocktail… Just curious …
Bcos if we assume and agree she was good in Yjhd, she should be excellent in cocktail imo …
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June 3, 2013 at 12:54 PM
Amy– to add–overall i agree with u about deepika but still don’t get your ‘cocktail’ negativity vis a vis deepika…
Don’t wanna ‘pin u down’ or ‘win an argument’–do skim through certain random thoughts on this, I had jotted here-
If u don’t wanna agree to me or even to our ‘philosopher n guide’ utkal uncle–plz do scroll down in that writeup where ive quoted the Canadian ‘dolce and namaks’ link which I agree a lot to
–u may find that interesting -(though u won’t admit it) 🙂
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June 1, 2013 at 11:18 PM
Anyone read Vikas SWarups THE ACCIDENTIAL APPRENTICE?
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June 2, 2013 at 1:03 AM
Masterpraz: Yes, I did read the Accidental Apprentice. The premise was good. But the execution sis formulaic and this business of taking newspaper headlines and melodramtiisng them becomes very predictable and tiresome..especially because Swarup does not bring much of creative imagination to the table. A big drop from Q& A in standards.
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June 2, 2013 at 5:54 AM
Saw ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’ last night. Was relieved to find that almost all the reviewers except for Baradwaj Rangan had got it wrong. It is NOT a film in the Aditya Chpra – Karan Johar mould, in fact miles away from it. In fact iot is completely in the Wake Up Sid territory, trying to explore the nuances of contemporary relationship rather than a melodramatic story. In fact some would say, it has no ‘ story’. And to me that’s such a blessed relief.
First, the form of the film. Ayan Mukherjee is a very sincere filmmaker who wants to capture the lives of contemporary urban youth ( yes, lives of urban youth, because that’s what he knows firsthand.) and its subtle nooks and corners. This includes romance but is not limited to it. It also covers friendship, career and relationship with ones parents. ( In both his films it is the boy’s relationship with his father that is the focus and it quite clearly borrow from Ayan’s own relationship with his father.) His films therefore are not just about romantic passion and his heart is not in stories with a lot of twists and dramatic endings seen in Aditya Chopra –Karan Johar films like DDLJ, KKHH, K3J, Rab Ne Banadi Jodi or even recent films like Band Baja Baraat, Tanu Weds Manu, Jaane To Ya Jaane Na. He is more into exploring the dynamics of relationships rather than creating a crisp and crackling narrative. In that sense his films are closer in spirit to the films of Linklater’s ‘ Sunset’-‘Sunrise’ films than Hollywood romcoms like RYnaway Bride or Noting Hill. His hero and heroine talk and talk a lot like in films of Eric Rohmer and Woody Allen ( my pet weaknesses).
So his story is not about boy meets girl falls in love at first sight and how they overcome external opposition or internal misunderstanding. No. In Ayan’s films love stirs up slowly. And even the boy and the girl are aware of their feelings they don’t let themselves be swept away by them. Kabir in the film goes off to pursue his education and career in the West. Naina continues to work in her profession. And in Ayan’s films things like career, self-actualization, behaviourial traits matter in a relationship. ( All these elements are spotlessly absent in romances like Jab Tak Hai Jaan). Kabir and Naina ponder over reconciling their love, with their professional and personal aspirations and he practical difficulties of keeping a passion alive over long distance. Naina says, “ I am a simple girl. I cannot adjust to your jet-setting intercontinental lifestyle’. But unlike in the usual Hindi film, she talks sensibly, making practical suggestions. She says that he can go to Paris but come to India every two months and maybe after a year come back to India for good. Contrray to what some critics have pointed out Kabir’s decision too is not made in a jiffy. Yes, he is an extrovert. Yes he has globetrotting dreams. But like so many of us with those traits there is also a part of us that wants to drop anchor and be rooted . Kabir’s relationship with his father also reflects the same conflicting feelings. Heir relationship is prickly, but also fool of love and concern..as demonstrated by the mango in the freeze and the little money the father wants to give his on when he is venturing abroad. Having missed his father’s last rites because if his new-age no-mobile adventurous trip to some remote place would have brought home the trade of he was making and whether it was worth it. This is the calculation any Youngman or woman pursuing a high-flying career abroad today makes at some point time. This is brought out quite well when Kabir talks about the thrill of meeting new people and getting to know their lives. And Niana talks about the joy about talking with old friends and going over the same old memories or anecdotes for the nth time. It is really two different worldviews. And two different ways of living one’s lives. I often think about wandering sadhus who don’t stay in one place for more than a week or so and someone like Raman Maharishi who never ventured out of Arunachalam in Thiruvanammalai. Did Raman Mahatishi lose out on anything?
As I said at the start Ayan does not bother about constructing ‘ story’. His focus is exploring the trajectory of this relationship. After all Kabir’s desire to drop anchor could not have happened earlier. Naina has come to accept her limits and where she is coming from. After the short exposure to the world of freedom and adventure she realizes what kind of a girl she is. Kabir is doing well and she could opt for a jet-setting lifestyle with him. But no, she knows what she is at the heart of her hearts. Again, unlike what many critics think, it is not as if Kabir is taking a 180 dgree turn in his thinking. As he says, “ I am still thinking of the same dreams. But now with two tickets.” In other words , he wants Niana to be a fellow-traveller in his adventures. But he knows how far can Nina go along with him in the journey and he is willing to compromise. That is what a relationship is about. Where you change a bit for the other . ( Quite unlike in the films of Aditya Chopra where the hero of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi wont do a simple thing like shaving his moustache to match his girl’s taste or some aggressive feminist film where the woman does not want to budge an inch from her chosen lifestyle.) That is the kind of maturity Ayan brings to the table.
He stages many conversations, which don’t take the story forward in any way, but just throw some light on the relationship. Kabir’s conversation with his stepmother or with his chain-drinking gambler friend about what constitutes friendship, or Ayan and Naina ‘s listing of exotic pleasures like chocolate mousse contrasted with a simple everyday dish like gajar ka halwa are examples of that. Some people have complained of slowness during the second half. ( For me it is the second half which is the real film.) But to Ayans’ credit he never curs a conversation short until the subject under discussion has been covered. Ayan has guts. The only ruse he uses is breaking the fall with abit of humour. ( For example, after along talk that Kabir gives expounding his philosophy of life, he tells Nian, “ Itna bada speech diya, kumse kum taali to bajao.” And the audience claps.)
The acting is first rate throughout. After long Kalki as Aditi has got a role that shows her off to full advantage. Aditya Roy Kapoor as Avi is totally believable as the one who wants to wallow in the warm world of collegian camaraderie, unwilling to take the burden of adult responsibility while Aditi is strong and sensible enough to try and move on. Ranbir is Kabir..bringing out the arc of his character development clearly and convincingly. But the film rally belongs to Deepika. She really owns the film. As chasmish Naina, she defines the new template for Bollywood attractiveness. And when her eyes well up with tears, I can imagine even the hardest-hearted man in the audience feeling the urge to take her in his protective arms and smother her with kisses. ( It’s such a well-written character. Her feet always on the ground even though her heart yearns for a little adventure now and then. Her mind teeming with practical questions like , ‘ What is one wants to have a child?’.
Anything that I did not like? The Madhuri dance for one. It was a total damp squib. At 49or whatever she does not have the oomph. Actually it is not about the age. Rekha at her age can manage to smoluder in her cabaret singing act in Parineeta. It is just that the song is so badly conceptualized and executed. In fact I did not care much for the song and dance numbers. I mean I loved watching them on TV. But in the film I enjoyed the other numbers more. ( Ilahi, Kabir and Subhanallah) Nnice lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya in these as well as the bouncy numbers like Delhiwali Girlfriend and Blam Pichkari and Pritam has tuned al the songs well.
IN conclusion, I am so glad that all the compromises Ayan and Karan have made to make the film more saleable at the superficial level. Let’s list what are thehese: The title for one – a typical Hindi film title like Yeh Jawani Hai Dewani in place of a more meaningful Wake Up Sid. Introduction f the song and dance numbers . All those sexy outfits for Naina in the second half. But mercifully when it comes to the actual film, Ayan has steadfastly stuck to his vision and his mode of storytelling ( for example, can you believe it, for a Ranbir-Deepika film, there is not a single love duet, or even a love song.) And it so happens that here is one more director whose next film I will await with a whole lot of expectations
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June 2, 2013 at 5:08 PM
I am probably the biggest Ranbir fan here but find it hard to buy into Utkal saar’s effusive praise. May be it is the Cocktail effect. I loled Cocktail more than I thought I would and more than I care to admit but it wasnt half the film that Utkal accuses of it being!
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June 2, 2013 at 6:51 AM
Fighting Online is like running in the special olympics, even if you win…you’re still a retard.
I found this interesting line in Indiaforums.
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June 2, 2013 at 7:39 AM
@ utkal uncle– thanx for that take on YJHD–saw it yesterday and was about to jot something now but after reading your take, have nothing much to say/add really. Inspite of objections from many, I still call u ‘uncle’ since I truly ‘learn’ from your posts, besides the ‘age gap’ u bring in a rare insight & experience.
I found YHJD quite enjoyable though wus was more raw, nuanced. After wus, both ayan and ranbir seem to be keen to address the box office as well ( in a bigger way) & those ‘tweaks’ are seen accentuated by the KJO effect–nothing wrong with that.
The ‘lack of storyline’ does take in quite a few ‘old school’ film viewers. As u mentioned, the character graph and relationship /conversational dynamics occupies Ayans attentions more.
But the biggest plus is that being from the same generation, ayan understands the gen-x v well (@ least those of a certain socioeconomic profile).
Agree with most of what u said and u haven’t left anything much unsaid,,,
The only point I slightly differ with u (and Amy ) is that this is deepikas film all the way. Deepika is undoubtedly v good here, but let’s not take the credit form ranbir as well eh…
And what I really liked about this film and Ayans films in general, I can’t articulate it better than this–“No. In Ayan’s films love stirs up slowly. And even the boy and the girl are aware of their feelings they don’t let themselves be swept away by them. Kabir in the film goes off to pursue his education and career in the West. Naina continues to work in her profession. And in Ayan’s films things like career, self-actualization, behaviourial traits matter in a relationship.”
And Amy –just read this will ya—“As chashmish Naina, she defines the new template for Bollywood attractiveness. And when her eyes well up with tears, I can imagine even the hardest-hearted man in the audience feeling the urge to take her in his protective arms and smother her with kisses”
utkal uncle, I should now start calling u utkal SIR 😉
Ps: sanju- good one-liner about the ‘special Olympics’
Ps2: talkin of the bespectacled ‘simple’ medical student /doctor deepika with the dog –besides Amy, there would have been another suitable casting as well –anu hahah
Anyhow, Amy did a great job…
There was one scene where deepika couldn’t use her hands and asked ranbir to take out her cell phone from her pocket–man, what was she wearing? And whatta a waist hahahah
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June 2, 2013 at 8:44 AM
Must add–that all actors were uniformly good led by ranbir and deepika. Even farouque shekh in a scene towards the end was endearing. Surprisingly, kalki delivers a special performance here like in ZNMD –she’s like a ‘real person’ I know as well.. Her motivations and decision making were well captured.
Found the ‘taran /engineer’ guy hilarious –reminds me of someone lol
Btw will want Amy’s views on deepika ‘look’/wardrobe…
Now she’s a ‘simple/shy’ medical student with a dog who spends her days/nights with curriculum books. Yet on the drop of a hat, and at the slightest pretext, dons a short skirt or Shorts. Perhaps the latest trends in India have ‘moved on’ bit found that a bit much. Forgt about that, on a ‘trekking expedition’, instead of trekking gear, she goes for a (half sleeves) jacket with check this one–a short skirt!!! Not that I’m complaining but doesn’t go with the ‘character graph’
Having said that, I think deepika carries short dresses best in Bollywood -without discomfiture, with grace n élan..
And she probably knows it and has started using her pins to max impact 🙂
Btw even ‘Lara’ was good –who will be ranbirs costar in besharam-Evelyn sharma –yup I’ve done some ‘research’ hehe
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June 2, 2013 at 8:47 AM
In some scenes, I felt–com deeps– what’s the pretence with these shorts/mini skirts/low cut blouses and lower helmed gaghras & figure hugging leotards–
C’mon give folks like Satyam what they’ve been ogling for —
A bikini!! 🙂
But as they say imagination is better–one can sense Satyam ‘nodding ‘ his ‘head’ in agreement hahaha
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June 2, 2013 at 9:21 AM
On a slightly more analytical note–“Contrray to what some critics have pointed out Kabir’s decision too is not made in a jiffy”— yeah ranbirs ‘dilemmas’ were brought on well.
On a lighter note-
Some lines I’ve written on this (& I believe in them!)
Badtameezee ek bimari hai
Ek aisi bimari
Jo dheere dheere waqt ke saath
Budhaape mein badal jaati hai
Main kehta hoon jab tak budhaapa nahi aata
Thodi badtameezee hi kar lete hain
“one more director whose next film I will await with a whole lot of expectations”— yeah– I suggest a part 3– wherein the Kabir/Sid REFUSES to ‘give in’ to deepikas ‘charms’ and knowingly & obstinately refuses to ‘grow up’ —
-this is a territory few films have gone into, needs exploring and will be interesting to watch (in part 3) 🙂
titled—“WON’T grow up Sid”
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June 2, 2013 at 8:29 AM
Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan at Sound of Change concert
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June 2, 2013 at 9:48 AM
Saurabh, Was it shown on TV or you brought a DVD of it?Actually,i also want to wach this movie.So,please tell me if there is any DVD of it available in the market.
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June 2, 2013 at 9:52 AM
Ranbir Kapoor is in full form since last couple of years.His fan base is increasing day by day and if he can continue with this sort of pace,then he surely is the future superstar.
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June 2, 2013 at 10:01 AM
Seems Ranbir Deepika, the new SRK Kajol. Atlast SRK got an inheritor. Kapoor over Khan. This year is not that bad for films. The second half will be more interesting with CE in the offing. Will Ranbir mania sustain? Seems so. Atlast BOI earth shattering sounds believable. Will be interesting how the reigning superstars are going to cope with this Kapoor tornado? Kal kisne dekha. Cricket is in a crisis. Narayanmurthy has to return to Infosys to get that lost glory.
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June 3, 2013 at 4:17 AM
ranbir is doing an aamir here – slowly delivering diversified BO hits – barfi / rockstar / Yjhd…he has got KK biopic in pie and recently he has signed a spy film! the man is going to be a real superstar
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June 3, 2013 at 4:27 AM
Aamir’s way of working and thinking is quite different though there maybe some similarities. Apart from being a star, he takes stand on many issues whether right or wrong. Ranbir is just like another Kapoor enjoying himself and not thinking too much! Thinking too much is injurious to health. To the health of others too.
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June 2, 2013 at 10:44 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 5h
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani Sunday trends: Seems bigger and better than Friday and Saturday!
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 5h
Looking at Sun trends, a 60 cr + weekend is on the cards for #YehJawaaniHaiDeewani. Week 1 may close at 80 cr+, if the momentum continues!
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June 2, 2013 at 10:45 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 4h
#YJHD crosses $ 1 million mark in USA. Sat $ 607,000. Total: $ 1.07 million. Debuts at No 9 at USA BO. OUTSTANDING!
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June 2, 2013 at 4:38 PM
It is actually 1.7 million in USA and not 1.07!
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June 2, 2013 at 4:40 PM
that was through Sat..
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June 2, 2013 at 4:49 PM
A very strong debut. It opened at 162 locations which is the number that is really surprising. It seems Bollywood releases are getting wider!
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June 2, 2013 at 1:57 PM
JUNE 2, 2013, 12:58 PM
Will Smith and ‘After Earth’ Have Dismal Opening
By BROOKS BARNES
A box office era ended over the weekend, as Will Smith, once Hollywood’s most dependable summer performer, imploded in spectacular fashion at North American theaters. Mr. Smith’s “After Earth,” a Sony Pictures Entertainment movie that cost $135 million to produce and roughly $100 million to market worldwide, took in an estimated $27 million from Friday to Sunday — or 18 percent less than the lowest of prerelease expectations.
The total for “After Earth,” a Scientology-tinged adventure, by far represents Mr. Smith’s worst summer-movie debut; “Wild Wild West,” which took in $38.7 million in 1999, after adjusting for inflation, was his previous low. What happened? Fingers will point to M. Night Shyamalan, who directed and co-wrote the movie, which received disastrous reviews. Sony, which recently came under shareholder pressure over profitability, picked a very competitive release window for the film.
But most of the blame belongs to Mr. Smith: “After Earth,” which also starred his teenage son, Jaden, was a vanity project conceived by Mr. Smith and produced by him, his wife and his brother-in-law. In a statement Sony said, “While we were expecting more domestically, we believe the film will perform strongly when we open overseas over the next few weeks.”
For the weekend, “Fast & Furious 6” (Universal) was No. 1, taking in about $34.5 million, for a two-week total of $170.4 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data. A new ensemble thriller, “Now You See Me” (Lionsgate) was second, selling a stronger-than-expected $28.1 million in tickets; the film cost $75 million to make and received an A-minus score from moviegoers in exit polls. “After Earth” was third.
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June 2, 2013 at 4:41 PM
Gatsby has gone on to 128m. Will probably end up closer to 140.
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June 2, 2013 at 11:19 PM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 53m
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani has a superb Sunday. Much better than Fri and Sat. Data pouring in, but trends indicate 23 or 24 cr. Wait-n-watch!
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 51m
Oh yes, it’s a 60 cr+ opening weekend for #YehJawaaniHaiDeewani. Data being compiled…
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June 3, 2013 at 12:44 AM
Atlast we are moving from chiselled classical beauties to ugly rat faced heroines. And also gross ones. The other day I was watching jhalak on Colors and observed how beautiful Madhuri looks with or without the help of botox or whatever.
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June 3, 2013 at 12:59 AM
However, one wonders if the high turnover has something to do with the hiked ticket prices across multiplexes in big cities across the country.
According to trade figures, the Ranbir-Deepika Padukone starrer had released across 3,100 screens in India. And most multiplexes and some of the single screen theatres seem to have raised their ticket rates by a comparatively large margin.
Distributor Suniel Wadhwa says, “The tickets prices have been increased by an average of 10-20 per cent compared to the regular rates. Of course it depends upon the locations and properties across the country except where the government controls ticket pricing — in states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.”
A trade source on condition of anonymity also says that the higher number of evening shows allotted to the film have also contributed to the economics at the ticket windows.
The source explains, “People visit the theatres more often during the evenings. There is a sharp rise in the prices of evening and night shows at theatres compared to the pricing of the morning and afternoon shows. YJHD also seems to have gained from the fact that it is this week’s solo Hindi release.”
http://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/2013/jun/030613-ranbir-deepika-starrers-ticket-to-success.htm
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June 3, 2013 at 4:54 AM
This is simply stunning opening.
Honestly nobody, even die hard Ranbir fans would have dreamed this to be the biggest ever opener…lol
Add to that the movie looked generic except the rocking chemistry of Ranbir and Deepika in trailers. I don’t think we should use Ranbir “will” be future superstar infact Ranbir “is” superstar now. Would have loved this kind of result for Rockstar 😦
I think Ranbir should try some intense roles…action/thriller with very serious character or negative role to gauge how he comes up in such roles.
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June 3, 2013 at 5:18 AM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Has RECORD Weekend
Monday 3rd June 2013 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has smashed the initial weekend box office record by collecting around the 62-63 crore nett mark. It is the first time that a film has collected over 60 crore nett in three days. The film has had the highest collections ever for a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The previous best was the 58.50 crore nett approx total of Dabangg 2
It is noteworthy that such a huge amount has come without an holiday. The film has shown unbelievable trending with growth on Saturday and Sunday from such a huge figure on Friday which means the sky is the limit for the film.
The film did phenomenal business in all circuits with the biggest circuits seeing all weekend records smashed.
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June 3, 2013 at 5:19 AM
All India First Weekend: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani v Dabangg 2
Monday 3rd June 2013 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani set a new weekend by nearly 4 crore nett . Below is a comparison of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Dabangg 2 (the previous record holder) over the first weekend.
Friday
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 19.50 crore approx
Dabangg 2 – 19.34 crore
Saturday
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 20 crore approx
Dabangg 2 – 16.82 crore
Sunday
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 22.50 crore approx
Dabangg 2 – 22.07 crore
TOTAL
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 62 crore approx
Dabangg 2 – 58.23 crore
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June 3, 2013 at 5:19 AM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Super Strong On Monday
Monday 3rd June 2013 14.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has maintained superb figures on Monday morning and afternoon and is heading for a huge Monday total. The way the film is collecting so far on Monday a 9 crore nett looks assured and the collections could even go over 10 crore nett depending on what happens in the rest of the day.
There have been only three films in the history of Hindi cinema that have collected 10 crore or more on Monday and they are Dabangg 2, Dabangg and Three idiots.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani may join this list and even if it does not make get to 10 crore nett it will be very close.
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June 3, 2013 at 6:07 AM
Going to be a 100 crore first week or close…not the 80 crore most were predicting. Nothing to snnoze at now as this should be 150 crore + total now…quite massive considering its multiplex.
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June 3, 2013 at 6:19 AM
yes a stunning number given the kind of film it is and by the way shows once again how some of those huge mass hits were nonetheless underperforming. So Dabanng doing just as much on a holiday week, sequel and all was an underperformance. Let alone some of the other mass films that put up big numbers which ought to have been bigger. With just the 100 crore mass ‘hits’ we are looking at even worse.
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June 3, 2013 at 11:52 AM
jay – i may sound too wishful but the audience reviews are amazing – there is definately a repeat audience for this one – 200 cr might well be on the way………
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June 3, 2013 at 12:00 PM
I’d be surprised with 200. But I wouldn’t be so with something bigger than 150 or so though I do agree with Jay in this being the most likely outcome. Films hardly ever double their initial these days given a big enough start. But sure if YJHD did I’d be quite pleased.
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June 3, 2013 at 12:08 PM
Can’t see 200 crores. 160 crores tops. 2nd weekend will be weakened by YPD2.
Basically it would need to go north of 50 crores in 2nd week and no film has ever done that except 3 Idiots. Still even at 150 crores+, its way ahead of anyone’s estimations.
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June 3, 2013 at 2:10 PM
didn’t know YPD2 was releasing this week.
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June 3, 2013 at 5:21 AM
Midweek: ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ creates history!
tartan still puts it behind dabanng 2
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June 3, 2013 at 5:47 AM
Think the YJHD seems to be really doing well. Thought this will be a weekend euphoria but as Satyam has posted, even Monday seems tobe showing no signs of decline…
The writings on the wall! Hahaha
Yaiy Satyam– another of our spoofs doing well–eh
@ sanju– where’s my coffee…
“Atlast we are moving from chiselled classical beauties to ugly rat faced heroines. ”
Oops sanju–who are u pointing by the ‘rat faced heroines’ lol
Hope it’s not deepika–Can already see Amy coming to attack u– 🙂
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June 3, 2013 at 6:36 AM
As Satyam points out–the box off is verdict is undisputedly positive.-plus time to initiate a Yjhd spoof celebration..this week
And sanjana has expressed her displeasure at the trend of ‘rat faced heroines’ n Bollywood currently (aka deepika!)
Nice sunshine this morning… Time for this track to be refilmed on
Sanjana !!
we will give a brief rest to Amy-she’s worked v hard-plus ive asked her to count all the moolah we’ve made lol
Btw sanju-note at 0.13 mark, there’s this obscene inappropriate ‘b..b grab’ manoeuvre–we won’t do that…
It will be a full-on ‘making out scene’ 🙂
Haha joking-enjoy…
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June 3, 2013 at 6:40 AM
U may plz remove the duplicate video link
Satyam will be aditya Roy kapoor…in this song
@ sanju-If u /Amy are deepika, who will be ‘kalki’–it’s your take-enjoy 🙂
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June 5, 2013 at 6:10 AM
Btw sanju & Amy– thanx for insisting on retaining the ‘original steps’ at the 0.13 mark–as u pointed out, it surely maintains ‘authenticity’ of the spoof 🙂
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June 3, 2013 at 2:32 PM
A Double-Standing Ovation for Al Pacino as he Thrills Audience with European Premiere of ‘An Evening with Pacino’
Abhishek Bachchan Attends the Iconic Event in London
Hollywood screen legend Al Pacino lit up the London Palladium stage as he thrilled a captivated audience with his critically acclaimed one-man show ‘An Evening With Pacino’ on the 2nd June 2013.
The Oscar-winning actor brought his celebrated show for its European premiere to the iconic world-famous London Palladium. The one-off performance provided a special opportunity for fans of the silver screen legend to see and interact with their hero up close.
‘An Evening with Pacino’ explored the myriad highlights of one of the most celebrated careers in acting history, from his time off-Broadway in the 1960s right up to the present day, with the actor himself in intimate theatre surroundings. The evening included an on-stage interview projected on a state-of-the-art large screen, bringing the action closer to the audience. The show also gave the public a rare chance to speak directly to Al Pacino in a Question & Answer session.
Speaking about the event, Al Pacino said: “I love being on the stage, it’s a big passion of mine. It was a privilege to perform in London at the Palladium after so many years. I loved the live element of the event and being so close to my fans in the UK. The last time I was here was for the docu-drama ‘Wilde Salome’. It’s always great to be back.”
The sell-out show was organised by Sterling 2 Ent, a multi-entertainment and film investment and production vehicle founded by Teji Singh and managed by CEO and MD Natasha Mudhar. The event’s title sponsor was DVK, a global private equity and commodity trading company founded by Deepak Kuntawala.
Amid a star-studded auditorium including Bollywood superstar Abhishek Bachchan, Al Pacino, the force behind such cinematic classics as The Godfather, Scent Of A Woman and Carlito’s Way, took to the stage to reminisce about his illustrious career and to re-enact scenes from his most famous works.
One of the very few actors to have won the Triple Crown in acting (Oscar, Emmy and Tony Awards), winning his first Tony in 1969 for Does A Tiger Wear A Necktie, Al Pacino won worldwide acclaim for his role as Michael Corleone in The Godfather, which also gave him the first of his eight Academy Award nominations. An enduring and highly regarded acting career has followed, with standout performances in Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Scarface, Sea of Love, Glengarry Glen Ross, Heat, Donnie Brasco, and Scent Of A Woman, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the 1992 Oscars.
An Evening with Pacino marked a fitting accolade to showcase the incredible life and career of one of the world’s most respected, talented and loved film and theatre actors.
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June 3, 2013 at 2:32 PM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/david-gritten/10095336/An-eccentric-evening-with-Al-Pacino.html
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June 3, 2013 at 2:34 PM
An evening with Pacino:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/david-gritten/10095336/An-eccentric-evening-with-Al-Pacino.html
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June 3, 2013 at 2:37 PM
Abhishek and Aishwarya were supposed to attend this but then pulled out.
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June 3, 2013 at 5:34 PM
Not sure if this is true but shocking–
MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Jiah Khan committed suicide at her Juhu residence on Monday night.
The 25-year-old actor is learnt to have hung herself inside the house.
Jiah was brought up in England and had shifted to Mumbai with her mother Rabiya recently.
“She had been depressed for some time due to personal issues, but was keen on returning to acting soon. She was also meeting filmmakers regarding projects,” sources close to the actress said.
Also known by the name Nafisa Khan, the actress made her Hindi film debut in 2007 opposite Amitabh Bachchan in the controversial Nishabd. She also acted opposite Aamir Khan
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June 3, 2013 at 6:00 PM
Very,very sad! RIP
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June 3, 2013 at 6:11 PM
shocking and extremely sad! Will put up a post..
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June 4, 2013 at 12:30 AM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Has 11-12 Crore Monday
Tuesday 4th June 2013 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani continued its fantastic run on Monday with collections likely to come in the 11-12 crore nett region. The film saw fantastic collections all over on Monday.
The highest non holiday Monday figure is the 11.50 crore nett of Dabangg 2 and Yeh Hai Jawaani Hai Deewani will be in the same range beating Monday figures of films like Dabangg and Three idiots.
The film has already collected around 73-74 crore nett in four days and is looking to gross around 100 crore nett in the first week. This will be a first for a film to have such high first week collections without the help of a holiday.
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June 4, 2013 at 12:31 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 11h
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani is super-strong on Monday. Early trends indicate 9.5 cr to 11 cr, taking 4-day total to 70 cr+. Wait-n-watch!
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June 4, 2013 at 4:20 AM
Top Monday Collections: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Second
Tuesday 4th June 2013 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has the second highest Monday collection ever only second to Ek Tha Tiger which had a Monday on Eid. The top five collections on a Monday ever are as follows.
1. Ek Tha Tiger – 19 crore (Eid Holiday)
2. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 12.75 crore
3. Dabangg 2 – 11.50 crore
4. Dabangg – 10.75 crore
5. Three Idiots – 10.50 crore
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June 4, 2013 at 4:21 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani passes Monday test with distinction marks. Fri 19.45 cr, Sat 20.16 cr, Sun 22.5 cr, Mon 13 cr. Total: 75.11 cr.
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June 4, 2013 at 4:23 AM
Monday numbers look even more impressive than weekend. May be the wom isn’t that bad and general audience are liking it and this won’t collapse afterall.
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June 4, 2013 at 9:56 AM
Inexplicable comment!
Who said WOM was bad??????
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June 5, 2013 at 2:22 AM
Was sure it will work because it is a crowd pleasing movie intact ddlj written all over again with elements of dch and znmd andits ironical to see kjo doing same
Ddlj itself was a big risk because before ddlj srk was doing common mans role or intense role and never did romance and see the irony how he got streotyped
.
A guy who was easily the better of 3 khans as actor remember Salman refused bajigar and aamir dar and rest is history and the guy has no background
No powerful salim of salim javed fame even Salman was pathetic in his first movie and was groomed for Maine pyar kiya and aamir belonged to a powerful family of directors and scripwriter
Ranbir narrative as actor is hollow….there are no serious and intense stuff…no dark tale followed and even no fulll scale comedy …most of these movies are safe crowd pleasing movie and even In rajneeti the guy was safely hidden behind ajay and manoj its just the press is eager to crown him and he with his choices and management of press hasn’t disappointed them
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June 4, 2013 at 9:23 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 8h
At the rate it is faring, don’t be surprised if #YehJawaaniHaiDeewani touches 100 cr mark in Week 1 itself. BLOCKBUSTER.
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June 4, 2013 at 9:35 AM
and here I thought that it may go the Yaaden way, was talking to couple of friends and we agreed that the India we have in our mind is no longer the India today…..aajkal yahee sab chalta hai.
P.S.- My father in law who was here just last month and went to Vegas, took a flight to Bombay two day back-
his words-
Sahab, itnee badtameezee toh Laas Veegaas mein bhee nahe dekhi, do ladkiya aisey kapde pehne hue meri ssath wali seat par baith gayee, kee mujhe hee sharam sey doosri taraf moohn kar key rehna padha !! LOL!!
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June 4, 2013 at 12:02 PM
Clarification-
1. I was talking in reference to Khule aam besharm Flirting by Ranbir in th ename of cool dude and chotey chotey kapdey by Deepika to look Hot.
2. The flight that my FIL took was from Delhi to Bombay and two desi girls boarded the flight from delhi…wearing mini shorts and Banyaan with nothing left for imagination !!
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June 4, 2013 at 12:04 PM
I thought that was good if MIL is not with him 🙂
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June 4, 2013 at 12:07 PM
ha ha…. I would thinking the same thing….
P.S.- my 13 year old after watchinh YJHD- mom , padhai is not everything in life !!!
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June 5, 2013 at 4:10 AM
Kuch bhi story bana dete hain..Movie is decent to watch but there is nothing beneath the surface.
ps – If I talked with my dad that way, right or wrong I would have got good slaps. There are only two relationship with dad (atleast for me): One of fear before you get out of the house. When you start earning, you respect him because you are earning (or whatever you are) because of those slaps 🙂 . If a teenager says that he or she knows what they want in life. I normally have a good laugh. The chance of success is almost ZERO.
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June 5, 2013 at 11:43 AM
Sanjana – Fear is not bad. We fear god and do things right. We fear laws of land and abide by them. As a kid, I don’t think you can appreciate/gauge “respect” which I think is an adult thing. As a kid we are more of a fan if we like someone.
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June 5, 2013 at 4:20 AM
Hope you are a different father to your kids. I think your kids dont fear you that much. That is in case you are married and have kids!
This is for Munna. I desisted from addressing you as Munna as i feel you are no longer munna!
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June 5, 2013 at 5:30 AM
But that’s the point…. I think that there is a middle ground between living in fear of your parents and treating them like dirt. I’m certainly not endorsing the Amrish Puri type of draconian patriarch of yore, but it’s equally distasteful to go to the other extreme and celebrate a character who misses his father funeral as somebody who was mere living his life to the fullest!
It’s a good thing that filmmakers today are rebelling against the oppressively collectivist culture of the past, but celebrating selfishness in its most extreme form is not the way to go about doing it!
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June 5, 2013 at 5:37 AM
But this onscreen transition to modernity and individualism is also deceptive in the sense that it allows us to pretend that we’ve shaken of all of our oppressive cultural shackles as a society, just because the characters in our films have (seemingly) done so.
When Ek Deewana Tha released for instance, most of the reviews criticised the film as being too regressive since it dealt with the theme of parental opposition because the boy was Hindu and the girl was Christian. Are these reviewers actually living in the India of today, where matrimonial columns in the newspapers are still dominated by caste and sub-caste specifications and honour killings because of caste differences still happen even in the biggest cities? When difference of caste itself is still such a hurdle, how can religion not be? Despite what the films say, parental approval is still an important consideration in India today, and parental approval for inter-caste, inter-faith and inter-racial marriages are not always given freely.
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June 5, 2013 at 6:00 AM
Gud morning –nice thoughts there amy and sanju…
Sanju–we should include Amy in our ‘coffee club’–she brings in interesting thoughts.. Make the coffee lite for her-she can’t cope with strong coffee lol
“This is for Munna. I desisted from addressing you as Munna as i feel you are no longer munna!”—ROFLOL @ ‘munna’ 🙂
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June 5, 2013 at 8:12 AM
Munna great points…and agree the movie itself is good time pass to watch, but the message is totally wrong !!
kind of like Mohabbtein !!
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June 4, 2013 at 8:28 AM
Massive Monday…looks likely that 150 crore is a given now…
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June 4, 2013 at 2:55 PM
Abhishek Bachchan got an opportunity to spend some time with Hollywood actor Al Pacino in London on June 2. BollywoodLife told you first about how Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek were slated to meet the veteran at the European premiere of An Evening with Pacino at the London Palladium.
While Ash decided to skip the event – maybe because she was too busy tending to baby Aaradhya Bachchan – Abhi made sure not to miss the chance of interacting with The Godfather actor. The Bollywood couple earlier attended another do in London – Gucci’s Chime for Change concert.
An Evening with Pacino is the Oscar-winning actor’s show. At the Palladium, it provided fans, journalists and celebrity guests a golden opportunity to have a live interaction with the dapper Pacino. Any idea what Abhishek must’ve asked him?
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/abhishek-bachchan-meets-al-pacino-in-london-view-pic/
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June 4, 2013 at 2:56 PM
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June 4, 2013 at 6:29 PM
Sweet!
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June 4, 2013 at 6:35 PM
I’d honestly have loved to have seen a meeting between his father and Pacino, though. For all sorts of reasons.
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June 4, 2013 at 7:14 PM
true!
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June 5, 2013 at 12:08 AM
Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani To CROSS 100 Crore In One Week
Wednesday 5th June 2012 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is sure to cross 100 crore nett in its first week after its Tuesday business. The Tuesday collections look set to come in at the 11.50 crore nett plus region meaning the film has already grossed around 86.50 crore nett in four days and the way the film has trended on Monday and Tuesday it should close the week at 105 crore nett or maybe even a little more.
The business is outstanding in practically every circuit with Delhi/UP being the standout with collections which are simply out of this world.
The second week will determine its lifetime business but 150 crore nett is assured and the target becomes the next benchmark of 175 crore which looks very much possible at the moment.
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June 5, 2013 at 12:09 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 20m
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani Tuesday trends indicate 11.5 cr. Humungous. Wait-n-watch!
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June 5, 2013 at 12:18 AM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ strikes like a hurricane!
By Taran Adarsh, June 5, 2013 – 08:18 ISTWhat an eventful and exciting week it has been. YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, the second project by the WAKE UP SID team of Karan Johar, UTV, Ranbir Kapoor and Ayan Mukherji, has run amok, shattering every record in sight at the domestic BO. East, West, North, South… every centre, every circuit has recorded fantabulous collections. All of a sudden, the mood in the industry is buoyant.
Of course, YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI was expected to start with gusto, but no one expected the keenly-anticipated film to cross the Rs 60 cr mark in its first three days. I am sure, even KJo must’ve been surprised by the record business the film has done [and continues to do on weekdays]. What does one attribute the humungous start to? Last week, I did pinpoint a couple of reasons: “Ranbir’s tremendous popularity, the pairing of Ranbir-Deepika, the popularity of Aditya Roy Kapur after the super success of AASHIQUI 2, Ayan Mukerji’s credibility after WAKE UP SID, the trendy soundtrack, the right marketing and KJo’s brand value…” Now add two more reasons: Luck. Also, love stories that touch your heart, generally, find huge acceptance.
A successful film benefits everyone associated with it. KJo must be rejoicing for obvious reasons; Dharma Productions adds one more solid hit to its repertoire. Ayan, with this film, has consolidated his status as a bankable director. Ranbir has delivered yet another hit after BARFI! Ditto for Deepika, who’s enjoying a glorious run, with COCKTAIL, RACE 2 and YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI hitting the bull’s eye. Aditya too stands to benefit tremendously with two back-to-back hits — AASHIQUI 2 and YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI.
First AASHIQUI 2 and now YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, romance is back and how! PS: There’s something about this week. On 4 June 2010, RAAJNEETI emerged a big grosser… On 3 June 2011, READY took the box-office by storm… On 1 June 2012, ROWDY RATHORE set new records at the ticket window… This year, on 31 May 2013, YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI is rewriting the rules of the game… Here’s yet another week the producers can eye while planning the release of their film/s. Think about it!
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June 5, 2013 at 3:00 AM
And it is good news for CE another romantic comedy with the king of romance with the same padukone. The game is to increase ticket prices and claim that it is the biggest grosser. Surely CE makers will also increase ticket prices to score over YJHD. Next will be Mental, Krish 3, D 3 in the queue. So the next benchmark will be 150 crores or even 200 crores!
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June 5, 2013 at 3:15 AM
Don’t think so because here was a younger star at helm and robot shettys shelf life has to catch up much like sajid khan
Srk era was over in 2007 itself and its just about catching up with others and nri audiences who still like cheesy romance and fantacy atleast Indian dispora and a brand build first and for one decade
Pretty sad to see his deterioration as actor and he should go for reinvention
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June 5, 2013 at 3:19 AM
I will not underestimate SRK. If a pathetic film like JTHJ did well inspite of a strong SOS, CE has more chances if it is really good.
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June 5, 2013 at 3:31 AM
Sympathy factor for hash Chopra and his good will and srk and hash Chopra coming together still didn’t had impact ….writing is on wall
barfi a movie on half screen and much lesser budget did as much and so do other outgrossing with much more pathetic stuff….
Though ce caters to single screen and has bigger base than yjhd but it is sold astronomically and its action more than romance
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June 5, 2013 at 4:08 AM
His time have been dying out from last few years and actors like Akshay/Ajay are matching him on bo. After JTHJ/SOS this is another bad decision to clash with another biggie on same day. Similar results might come out with both CE and OUTIM2 grossing around 100crr mark.
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June 5, 2013 at 5:03 AM
http://accessbollywood.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/movie-review-yeh-jawaani-hai-deewani-2013/
This review beautifully encapsulates my misgivings with the film. I feel like most of these ‘new-age’ ‘coming-of-age’ Bollywood movies are fantasy-fulfilment tales about a certain kind of young men who are still living off their parents as adults (but treating them awfully anyway!), doing absolutely nothing with their lives and generally conducting themselves in the manner of callous, ill-mannered imbeciles but are magically rewarded with glamorous, high-flying careers that require little in the way of real work, and of course beautiful, intelligent wives who themselves are so pure that they have never been kissed before, regardless of how sleazy and desperate the man is.
In Hollywood you see films about sulky young people who live like slackers and treat their long-suffering parents with angsty teenage sarcasm…but these are usually 13-16 year old high schools students who eventually realise that they are being unnecessarily bratty. When you have the same scenario playing out with thirty- forty year old ‘youngsters’ whose selfishness is instead cleebrated as ‘living-life-to-the-fullest’, it’s more than a little pathetic.
Here is a newsflash to Ayan Mukherjee, Zoya Akhtar, Homi Adajania and all the other ‘cool’ filmmakers of Bollywood: you can have fun, travel the world and go sky-diving and mountain climbing without being a selfish jerk who misses your father’s funeral because of your ‘very glamorous and important’ job as a cameraman for a small-time travel tv show!
I feel like these films are meant to be a reaction to the overly-collectivist ethos of previous movies (K3G, DDLJ) where it was all about putting society and family before individual happiness…except now the pendulum has swung all the way to the other extreme and creating this Frankenstein-like ‘modern young man’ character! It’s interesting to note that the reviewer I have linked to is an American, from that most individualistic of societies, and even she feels like the film celebrates puerile self-involvement more than any ‘living-life-to-the-fullest’ individualism.
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June 5, 2013 at 6:03 AM
Haha read only bits Amy -thanx seems an entertaining read.
And it has pot-shots @ certain ‘young males’ hehe
Actually agree with parts of it…yeah some people refuse to ‘grow up’–have heard that b4 to tell u the truth 🙂
Btw who has written this-nice blog
Will get back to this later when have time–if possible can u plz tweet/post my cocktail ‘thesis’ to her underlining the thoughts by dolce and namak –Kate may find it interesting haha
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June 5, 2013 at 6:57 AM
LOL! I didn’t intend to take pot-shots at any young men, what I was criticising was a certain male character archetype that has become very popular in Bollywood cinema in recent years; I’m not suggesting that such men have actually become more common in India these days.
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June 5, 2013 at 7:00 AM
Missing father’s funeral. It looks terrible but it happens especially when the kids are far away. One father and mother decided not to break the news of their respective deaths in case they happen, to their offspring. Just to reduce the shock and trauma! To break it in some other way by visiting after a while and giving moral support.We Indians are rather emotional on these things. When mothers visit US for attending daughters and daughter in laws’ deliveries, or to attend someone who is sick,they are told before not to state it as reason for visiting the country. They are expected to say it is a pleasure trip.
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June 5, 2013 at 7:07 AM
Sanjana, have you seen the film? (If yes, what did you think of it? 🙂 ) Kabir’s dysfunctional relationship with his father is presented as purely a result of his selfishness, it has very little to do with any superstition or anything…
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June 5, 2013 at 7:10 AM
I have yet to see the film. I am just writing generally. Not regarding this film.
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June 5, 2013 at 7:09 AM
Actually, Yjhd was def more enjoyable but wus was more ‘honest’ & ‘raw’
Recently skimmed thru bits–and realised –konkona is such a brilliant actress.. I thought she is even better than vidya balan–
Ps: on a side note–I thought Kalki in Yjhd was excellent –her role was ‘real’ –as in ZNMD she brought it out well…
what dya think Amy and sanju…about konkona and Kalki
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June 5, 2013 at 7:12 AM
I forgot that Konkona is also not pretty in the conventional sense. though a fabulous actress like Vidya. While Vidya has very good features. Almost classical.
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June 5, 2013 at 7:18 AM
For once, I agree with your observations! 🙂
I didn’t think much of Kalki in ZNMD (but that had more to do with her characterisation than her performance), however she did an excellent job of humanising the ‘junglee’ character in YJHD, and making Aditi come across as vulnerable and sweet, despite being a ‘wild child’. I also really liked how she opted for an arranged marraige with a socially awkward engineer , despite being this cool party girl, and how she remained true to her eccentric self throughout the film, and didn’t suddenly turn into a blushing, demure bride at the altar; I thought that hers was the most believably witten character in the entire movie.
And Konkana’s performance in Mr and Mrs Iyer is the gold standard for any contemporary Indian actress.
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June 5, 2013 at 7:21 AM
Agree with u there amy –will try to see mr & mrs Iyar but konkona in WUS was silken smooth (no pun intended)–as an actress…
Btw Amy —lol @ the ‘bmw driving engineer’
gimme a high 5 @ the “lap-dog” (jokes apart found the por guy quite cute)–reminds me of ….
ROFLOL
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June 5, 2013 at 7:32 AM
To add a clarification– by that ‘engineer’, I didn’t mean anybody here(yet)…. Just someone I know otherwise…
Btw Amy & sanju–some gossip from the H–don’t tell anyone..
Anu/oldgold have been looking for an ‘engineer’ (as in Yjhd) -s
Anu likes her pet dog–so now a ‘lap-dog’— errr…. 🙂
Anyways, will be a good choice.
Ps: they doesn’t post regularly, so we are safe in this gossip lol
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June 5, 2013 at 7:53 AM
😛
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June 5, 2013 at 7:55 AM
ha! Even this briefest of meetings unnerved some!
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June 6, 2013 at 2:11 PM
sujoy ghosh @sujoy_g 5 Jun
@juniorbachchan you can’t ever wash your right shoulder now!
Neil Nitin Mukesh @NeilNMukesh 5 Jun
@juniorbachchan WOW!!!! EPIC!!!!!
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June 6, 2013 at 2:16 PM
if getting touched by al pacino worked, acting wouldve been so easy…
All the women Al slept with–would have each got an oscar (one per act!!)
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June 6, 2013 at 2:32 PM
that’s just humor biting you on the nose. In case you missed it!
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June 6, 2013 at 2:37 PM
even the ‘one oscar per act’ was also (similar) humour–incase abhishrek starts gettting ideas of how to get an easy oscar—cheers 🙂
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June 5, 2013 at 7:57 AM
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June 5, 2013 at 8:24 AM
vigil idiot….
http://mumbaiboss.com/2013/06/04/the-vigil-idiot-yeh-jawaani-hai-deewani/
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June 5, 2013 at 3:12 PM
by gawd..hilarious…kaha sey utha latey ho. lolz
Did you watch those short movies BTW? Did you like any one in particular 😉
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June 5, 2013 at 9:09 PM
Na , abhee nahee ek bhee nahee dekhi …
not in a mood right now to see movies like Udaan…
am really excited that Ashiqi-2 is coming out on DVD tomorrow…lol
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June 5, 2013 at 9:21 AM
The great gatsby box office as of Jun 3
Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $129,315,576 51.9%
+ Foreign: $120,000,000 48.1%
= Worldwide: $249,315,576
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June 5, 2013 at 2:49 PM
Bliss:
Shah Rukh Khan to act with Big B again?
http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/shah-rukh-khan-to-act-with-big-b-again-845847.html
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June 5, 2013 at 2:52 PM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 13h
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani Fri 19.45 cr, Sat 20.16 cr, Sun 22.5 cr, Mon 13 cr, Tue 12 cr. Total: 87.11 cr. MONSTROUS HIT!
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 10h
At the rate it is faring, #YehJawaaniHaiDeewani should touch 100 cr mark by Thu noon. Before Week 1 comes to a close!
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June 6, 2013 at 2:06 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 43m
#YehJawaaniHaiDeewani Fri 19.45 cr, Sat 20.16 cr, Sun 22.5 cr, Mon 13 cr, Tue 12 cr, Wed *est* 11 cr. Total: 98.11 cr. Nears 100 cr mark!
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June 6, 2013 at 2:07 AM
Monumental numbers and it refuses to slow down. The final gross now seems to depend on how much YPD2 is going to affect.
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June 6, 2013 at 2:11 AM
Top Wednesday Collections: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani TOPS
Wednesday 5th June 2013 12.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has the highest Wednesday collection ever when the Wednesday did not fall on the first day or second day of release. The top five approx collections on a Wednesday (after weekend completed) ever are as follows.
1. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 10.50 crore
2. Ek Tha Tiger – 9.75 crore
3. Three Idiots – 9.00 crore
4. Dabangg 2 – 8.00 crore
5. Rowdy Rathore – 7.25 crore
Note – When a film had a Wednesday as the first or second day it is not included.
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June 6, 2013 at 5:29 AM
Far exceeding my weekday performance. I thought it would hit 100 crore, but it will smash it with half a day to spare. At this pace, if it sustains with the competition, it could be close to 150 crore at the end of week 2!
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June 6, 2013 at 6:33 AM
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Will be Second Highest First Week Ever
Thursday 5th June 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani will emerge the second highest first week ever collecting around 106 crore nett. It will be only behind Ek Tha Tiger while edging out Bodyguard and Dabangg 2 The approx top first week (first seven days) collections of all time are as follows.
1. Ek Tha Tiger – 128 crore
2. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 106 crore (expected)
3. Bodyguard – 101 crore
4. Dabangg 2 – 99 crore
5. Ra.One – 91 crore
6. Agneepath – 82 crore
7. Dabangg -81 crore
8. Three Idiots – 76 crore
9. Rowdy Rathore – 76 crore
10. Jab Tak Hai Jaan – 73 crore
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June 6, 2013 at 7:33 AM
YJHD/spoof–the box office :ORGASM’ !
and the Reconfiguration….
whats happening with YJHD is nothing less than a box office ‘orgasm’. Seeing only the first look sneak peak, had commented that this will be the biggest hits in the careers of the director, deepika and even ranbir…
Had even prompted me to go for a ‘spoof’ lol
The box office has repsonded and how!!
This is also a LESSON to the minute analyses, statistical mumbo jombo, and other minutiae.
The PAYING public doesnt go into all that (beyond a point).
at the very basics—they repsond instictively and wiht the heart.
Nothing else can explain whats happening on the box office right now…
and this has also brought us to the interesting (& much awaited) RECONFIGURATION at the top…
SRK isnt the same after ra1 and the ohter two khans are going well and these three will continue for half a decade…to the max
but the REAL showdown will now be between the two stars i likea lot—nobody else will be affected as much by ranbirs now proven superstardom than Hritik…
Thiugh ranbirs no doubt a better actor, HR is still ahead on star quotient. As for acting, the ONLY performance, where ranbir was cpnclusively better than hritik would have been are Rockstar & barfi….(though hiritk as rockstar would have ‘rocked’ more…)
But this is evened out if one realises–.
As for kmg, krish, dhoom etc, one cant even imagine ranbir inplace of Hiritik…
so we have a new real rivalry now–(and this is accentuated because both are ‘different’ stars with different appeals/target segments)–
Hritik roshan vs ranbir kapoor…
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June 6, 2013 at 8:00 AM
I think Hrithik never cared to be in the rat race or numbers game. In that way he is rather cool. Hrithik will always be there giving some big hits randomly with his father’s help and efforts. While ranbir seems to be highly ambitious and will be giving more hitss than Hrithik and may burn out too in the process.
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June 6, 2013 at 8:09 AM
hmm sanju–gimme my coffeee– btw other than ranbir, deepika, ayan, the contribution of kjo cannot be under estimated.
Kjo adds some subtle ‘value additions’
for eg this one dialogue must have jacked up the box office by atleast 10-20% !!!
ps–good performance by amy 🙂
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June 6, 2013 at 9:31 AM
@sanju–u dont sulk now…
even u were v good in ‘balam pichkaari’ spoof–esp around the 0.13 mark (better than amy) 🙂
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June 6, 2013 at 5:56 AM
Saw the movie… did not like it much…. very slow paced and laughs were far in between and sometimes movie was stuck in one place without anything happening.. Not at all got touched or felt for any of the characters. Only Kalki acting looked like she did l justice to her role as she only looked to have true to her character till the end.
Much hype and hoopla but not up to it. Big outcry little outcome.
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June 6, 2013 at 6:58 AM
Will Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani dent Yamla Pagla Deewana 2’s business?By Subhash K. Jha, Jun 6, 2013 – 12:51 IST
No one expected Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD) to become the biggest blockbuster of the year so far. And now the biggest casualty of past Friday’s windfall would be this Friday’s big-ticket release for the Deol parivar’s collective effort Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (YPD2) . Both the Deol brothers Sunny and Bobby desperately need a success, and papa Dharmendra has gone out of his way to promote the film.
Says a source very close to Dharamji, “Left to himself, Dharamji wouldn’t have done this much promotion for the film. But YPD2 is critical to Sunny and Bobby’s careers. Neither has seen a success in years. Dharamji has been seen doing things he has never done for his own career, like doing a jig at a press conference. But what to do? Anything for the sons.”
Adding to the 70-plus superstar’s woes is the unexpectedly aggravated success quotient of YJHD – on Wednesday, the film had collected 4 million dollars in the overseas market and the all-India collections till Wednesday were Rs. 87 crores. The staggering collections of YJHD are expected to have a snowballing effect on YPD2.
Apparently, many of the multiplexes that were committed to screen the Deols’ parivaarik project would prefer to continue screening YJHD.
Suman Sinha a major exhibitor in Patna says, “I am aware of how much of a stronghold the Deols have on the North Indian box office. But YJHD is a much bigger success than we expected. All my shows are going houseful. I will continue with YJHD.”
Trade analyst Komal Nahata admits, YPD2 might not get the number of screens and screenings that were expecting. “YPD2 might get lesser shows in multiplexes than it would have got, had YJHD nor become the huge hit that it is. But the Deols’ film has a lot of single-screen strength. Also, both films are very different from one another. There is room for two films to do well simultaneously. Remember Lagaan and Gadar? While YJHD will continue to shine in the 2nd week, the other ‘Y’ film YPD2 could also rock. Don’t ask ‘Y’!”
Adds distributor-exhibitor Anil Thadani, “A good film doesn’t get affected. Last year in July, there was a successful release every Friday.”
However, another trade analyst Amod Mehra thinks YPD2 has reason for concern. “Though the two films are in different genres, the collections (for YPD2) would get affected by 30 percent.”
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June 6, 2013 at 9:14 AM
i think if it indeed gets made, it should be a good one and infact may even given bachchcan another mni-kbc moment –which at this (late) stage is even more creditable
hav heard that this may have elements of the sopranos with satyamev jayate sprinkled in…with kashyaps inputs garnished in.
Im not in favor of bachchan doing telly at all but if he HAS to do something at all, this should be better than rerunning the fatigued kbc..
also note how in the above ‘deadline’ london reporter link, the ‘credentials’ of bachchan ands kashyap are playing on now. This is what happens with gow, ugly and gatsby (even a minimal role)
Kashyap anyhow is quite known in the french circles
and he never misses to ‘show off’ his ‘french’ wife 🙂
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June 6, 2013 at 9:17 AM
i think the time has come for bachchan to ‘whore himself” (borrowing anus term!!) to Anu rag kashyap now (after rgv) 🙂
Atleast the ‘progenies’ that will come out of this ‘illicit relation’ will be edgy and interesting to watch..
ps–its bachchan himself who is producing this one and so he will take it seriously…deserves support from your side, satyam!
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June 6, 2013 at 11:20 AM
Dont underestimate or criticise Indian television soaps or programs. They are my timepass and staple diet!
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June 6, 2013 at 1:01 PM
lol..Even I see some..including Jhalak (and some dance reality shows), Comedy Circus, Master Chef and little bit of some soaps wife watches (mostly when I am working..and occasional comment from me about illogicality brings quick rebuke).
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June 6, 2013 at 1:07 PM
I feel sad that snobbery plays a part in deriding Indian television and its shows. While most of our films are third rate trash not even worth a review! Hollywood looks down bollywood, bollywood looks down south and this snobbery goes on and on.
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June 6, 2013 at 2:29 PM
Actually it would be in bad taste not to be snobbish about Indian TV! I enjoy a number of music shows by the way. But the other programming in terms of serials, drama and so on is frighteningly bad! As for the cinema we talk about its shortfalls endlessly over here though at least over the past decade it’s way better. Some things are looked down upon, some deservedly!
Incidentally the last Saregama season was outstanding.
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June 6, 2013 at 2:59 PM
I’ve seen bits of the music shows. I’m not one to weigh in on this kind of thing because it doesn’t appeal to me at baseline. But I will say that from the little I’ve seen, for the most part the approach to production with these shows emulates the Western originals (for which I also have little to no interest) reasonably well. At least on the level of format and production value. But the scripted shows are just flat-out awful.
And I’m not saying success necessarily means one must emulate the Western model in any sense. Just saying those dance and music shows are at least accomplishing what the international counterparts are doing. Scripted shows don’t even come close.
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June 6, 2013 at 3:35 PM
Sample this : “Bade Achhe Lagte Hain”. The lead is pregnant. The husband has some heart issue. So husband is not taking her phone calls to hide his heart issue so that she is not stressed during pregnancy. On top of that he is spending time with other women (known to everybody) while not taking calls.
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June 6, 2013 at 12:55 PM
actually Indian television is not that bad. Bachchan rediscovered himself as a television icon and superstar because of KBC. Satyamev Jayate got Aamir Khan recognition on another level Not to forget Madhuri who is ruling Jhalak scene for the last 2 seasons. Antakshari and Saregamapa reality shows gave bollywood singers like Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal.
Apart every filmstar comes on all soaps to promote his or her film thus disturbing the flow of those soaps!
The soaps themselves are not that bad atleast during the first 3 months. then they go haywire! Sony lost the soap battle long back. Now Starplus is ruling with Colors and Zee close behind.
Television, its newschannels are another source of entertainment than news itself!
TV is big business now and we get to see new films within a span of 2 months.
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June 6, 2013 at 2:30 PM
KBC isn’t a typical show. Nor is Satyamev Jayate. These are exceptions to the rule.
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June 6, 2013 at 2:51 PM
Not to mention those aren’t narrative works. The soaps and crime shows being produced in India (and this applies to what I’ve seen in the South as well) are some of the worst pieces of TV I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if I’ve missed any event show in Indian television (of everything I’ve seen I probably have the greatest soft spot for Malgudi Days) but what I’ve seen doesn’t bolster much confidence.
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June 6, 2013 at 3:56 PM
The ’80s and ’90s Hindi TV–especially Doordarshan–will remain the GOLDEN period. Writing was of high importance; nothing was gimmicky; actors were superior – you had the likes of Hrishikesh Mukherjee venturing into TV; what do you expect but quality?
NUKKAD, SRIKANTH, BYOMKESH BAKSHI, TALAASH, MALGUDI DAYS (the BEST ever series in India based on an Indian book), KARAMCHAND, BARRISTER VINOD, MAHABHARAT, BHARAT EK KHOJ, EK KAHAANI (based on short stories from R. K. Narayan to Oscar Wilde), DEKH BHAI DEKH,…& the list goes on.
Look at the quality now..horrendous!! Except for TMKOC (& this is interesting only because of some quirky characters and some hilarious acting), the laughter shows (not the groupie Rohit Shetty/Archana ones – the one where individuals show their mimicry and comic timing) and CRIME PATROL, everything sucks!! Shivaji Satam in CID contorts his face as though he is forever crapping away to glory on the sets! The saas-bahu s!@# shown on TV is hardly anything more than advertisements for KALA NIKETAN sarees and ZAVERI BAZAAR gold. Ekta Kapoor and her ilk have filled the drawing room with so much of filth that to the Indian audience, it is smelling like Arabic perfume to them.
Bang the scenes with music, after every dialogue, span focus of the damn camera on EVERY character present in the room so that EVERY character’s stupid reaction is captured (& in the process 5 minutes out of 20 minutes of the serial is satiated)..& keep dragging on without anything concrete happening either in the audience’s life or the character’s life on TV..
It is as interesting and dynamic as my writing a ‘HELLO WORLD, WELCOME TO SHIT TV’ and putting it in a for loop in Java to be seen every morning..
And the English media is a big joke..perhaps India is the only country in the world where NEWS requires background music!! With their red circles and repeated showings of people falling over a pedestal or a road, it is as juvenile as..well..I don’t have words anymore
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June 6, 2013 at 4:50 PM
lol at the loop analogy…yes we are light years behind America as far as must-see tv shows go (lost/westwing/etc) but our soap and western soaps are about the same? Bade Acche lagtey hai, Saraswatichandra aren’t that bad (if someone forced me to watch it I would) but there are others that positively were nightmare and I couldn’t believe that my relative (visiting from india and I had to show her all the missed episodes of the 3 serials she watched back home and thats how I became familiar to indian serials)..someone would have to have me at knife point/gun point to watch those insipid-stupid shows.
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June 6, 2013 at 4:31 PM
yeah I too like Malgudi Days though some of the writer’s quieter strengths don’t necessarily translate well in this format.
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June 6, 2013 at 4:41 PM
Yeah that’s true. If I had to pick a single greatest narrative work in Indian television it’d probably be Tamas.
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June 6, 2013 at 5:01 PM
still haven’t seen this though I’ve meant to for a long time. Have read the book.
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June 6, 2013 at 1:11 PM
Need to look & evaluate with out of the box attitude and that gives this development as very important,bold and positive step to bring a change in regressive satellite TV scene.
An epic fiction show, an ingenious original script, great production values, AK as creative director and AB’s known desire to do something new in this field..perhaps give some hope.
Can’t resist from saying “follow AK’s model(proclaim victim to beneficiary) to come close to AB”.
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June 6, 2013 at 2:14 PM
its an easy viewing (or not!!) decision when it comes to “after earth”!
So prohibitively bad is the discourse–but i will blame will smiths insistence to provide a career to his whole family(!!) rather than the poor Manoj N Shyamalan..
recently read some negativity on poor MN Shyamalan here as well…
My lazy views are like-
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2013/06/05/why-sony-was-wrong-to-hide-m-night-shyamalan-while-marketing-after-earth/
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June 6, 2013 at 2:36 PM
I don’t agree with writer’s hypothesis, which if correct, is good for Manoj Night…arr..maybe time to do a name change and re-market oneself 🙂
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June 6, 2013 at 2:25 PM
^good points sanjana about the all-pervasive ‘snobbery’–we all are guilty (though some ‘intelligentsia’ is more guilty than other ordinary folks)
To me–there are only TWO type of films–good/gripping & the crap…
Anyhow–After tackling
the Great Gatsby
YJHD
It gives me pleasure to complete a sort of TRILOGY(though differently styled) —
going to a special screening shortly–
of MUD
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June 6, 2013 at 2:31 PM
this is an outstanding film.
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June 6, 2013 at 2:34 PM
hmm– some of my co-viewers are also ‘outstanding’–style quotient et al………
time 4 me to move a bit as welll….n change gears…….cya shortly.
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