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153 Responses to “Boss, the rest of the box office”
Wednesday 16th October 2013 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss had decent start of around 50-60% on average which is decent if looked at standalone but for a holiday the start is not impressive. The collections at multiplexes were average overall with some areas being good while others were poor.
The single screens which opened early were better and noon shows at single screens across the country should give a better response but even here they are unlikely to be 90% plus as they should be on a holiday.
Basically the first day should come with a good to decent number which if it does materialise will be mainly due to the holiday factor and then the key being how big will be the day two fall and does the film go up again on Saturday and Sunday.
The few important things which this film’s opening tells us are that-
1) People have a developed a fatigue for these narrative-less new bastardised-masala films.
2) As of now, no one does these hollow-masala better than Prabhudeva in Bollywood. Leave side having a Desai or Mehra, we don’t even a Gunasekhar to give us something like an Okkadu. What it means is that the directors today are just not the right practitioners of Masala.
3) Also Masala, as of today represents a dead-end of sorts. The only way you can make a worthwhile film in the genre is either adding that cutting-edge element to the genre- it can be a sci-fi element like in Robot, smartly include a ‘classy’ Hollywood trope like in Ghajini or upgrade an already present element of the genre (reincarnation) by going the sfx way. But doing is that is defeating the very purpose of masala- the minute you think of ‘upgrading’ it or making it ‘high-brow’, you are missing the point.
4) Khakee was an exception and a rarity. So we should all be happy even if we get 1 Ghajini/DMD like film every year.
I think multiplexes will not accept this movie in the long run and only single screens will carry it.Akshay has damaged himself by doing too many movies.He should really think about it now.
Gorilla, i think it the time that you should feel sorry for what you said in respinse of my comment as Boss has collected 11.50cr on day one.BOI has saiid exactly what i said in my my above comment and B.O.I is the most trusted site in comparision to others sites related to boxoffice.Looking at the size of release and holiday factor these numbers are pathetic.
Does day1 figures define your long run?
Multiplexes will not be great like single screens, but will be good. Weekend pickup is expected all over in multiple sets and come close to the celebrations happening in single screens.
I still stand to what I said. I would rather say things upfront rather than in hindsight. The original is trash and I will be surprised if this film doesnt tank. The reports I am getting indicates single screen might take to this and nothing more. So I still dont see going beyond 70 crs.
Boss has some fun moments as per promos (though of the lowest denomination type!)
Kjo-ayan-abhishrek join ranbir -Kat holiday !!
Ha seems ayan has taken over kjos place in ranbirs life–he’s there to arrange room bookings and ‘clean up’ the mess
And ensure there are no photographers around to film the dodgy stuff
And how can kjo be far behind–love these guys
Know kjo v well–
Kjo is already thinking of a ranbir, abhishrek (with their respective dads) AND possibly with ash
AND ? Katrina/deepika/? Project
That’s what u call a ‘brain’ 🙂
Seems to be working very strong — at least on the single screens and Gandhi Class at least..BTW does this class even exist anymore in India? The Gandhi class?? The last time I sat in Gandhi class was when I bunked classes in std 10 to PU and coughed up ‘aashirwad’ money from relatives at the theaters..
Interesting article that I haven’t read- but the opening paragraph grabbed my attention…
“In a dream that came to her about four decades ago, filmmaker James Cameron’s mother saw a 12 feet tall blue humanoid. In 1976 Cameron inserted this into his first screenplay, a science fiction spread across several planets. In 2009 we saw it on screen in his epic Avatar. “There’s a connection to the Hindu deities, which I like conceptually,” added Cameron, about why he decided that the Na’vi, a humanoid species indigenous to a fictional planet aptly titled ‘Pandora’, a more ‘primitive’ species in some ways—who, with just bows and arrows, fought the humans (equipped with powerful missiles) who wanted to displace them to plunder their land for a mineral—would be blue-skinned.”
Something for Satyam & those from chennai (like amy)
“Having found my process the shoot was not difficult. The photo-stall owners were too busy soliciting and photographing their customers to bother with me. And my subjects were getting themselves clicked either way— so they didn’t mind an additional photographer on the spot.
But it took two and a half years, during which I kept returning to the beach, before I was satisfied that I had captured enough moments to be able to curate this essay. Then to choose the pictures that would comprise the essay I sifted through the lot, seeking out those that, to my mind, made for interesting moments and compositions. This, so far, has been my only photo-feature which is related to the ‘entertainment’ or TV and film industry, so to speak.
At one level this is a simple story of how people are fond of their favourite film stars, and how eager they are to be photographed with them. Yet, at another level, it also reminds you of what’s behind an actor’s stardom— the camera. The camera, controlled by the director and cinematographer, is what grants an actor his or her ‘limelight’. And maybe pieces of that limelight are what all those people getting photographs clicked with cardboard cutouts at Marina Beach are looking for too.”
“At one level this is a simple story of how people are fond of their favourite film stars, and how eager they are to be photographed with them. Yet, at another level, it also reminds you of what’s behind an actor’s stardom— the camera. The camera, controlled by the director and cinematographer, is what grants an actor his or her ‘limelight’. And maybe pieces of that limelight are what all those people getting photographs clicked with cardboard cutouts at Marina Beach are looking for too”
Ps: think this ‘cutout’ business is unique– doubt anybody has heard of this stuff elsewhere in the world? (Not talking about ‘wax statues’ here or the ‘walk of glory’)
Thursday 17th October 2013 10.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss grossed around 11.50 crore nett on its first day as per early estimates. The figure is decent for a normal day but not for a holiday. The film collected very well at single screens across the country but multiplex business was a total let down from North to South.
The film had to collect 15 crore nett or more as it was a holiday and with a 11.50 crore nett first day number it makes the mid week release a mistake as the film has not really benefited and now will see two days with low collections.
The film performed best in Rajasthan followed by CI and Bihar. Collections in big cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore were bad with Delhi somewhat better. The film may do decent business at single screens until the release of Krrish and that is probably the only hope for the film.
BOSS Poised To Break Akshay’s Opening Record
by Soumita Sengupta (October 16, 2013)
Akshay Kumar’s BOSS opened with impressive numbers today and, as predicted, every circuit saw an increase in the number of footfalls. The film is expected to break Kumar’s previous first-day collections record. Distributors believe BOSS will grow with word-of-mouth publicity and enjoy a lucrative five-day weekend at the box office. Over to them:
Rajesh Thadani, Multimedia Combines, Mumbai
BOSS will do business of Rs 12 crore on day one, all-India, and in Mumbai the film will reel in around Rs 4 crore. From the afternoon shows, there has been a huge increase in occupancy. The reports of the film are also very good so the movie should enjoy a good run over the weekend.
Brijesh Tandon, H K Tandon and Company, Delhi-UP
In Delhi-UP, the film has been running house full in single-screens as well as in multiplexes. It’s a masala entertainer and the story line is very strong. The audience likes every character and the music of the film is also very good. On day one today, the film will surely clock over Rs 2 crore.
Jaspal Dhingra, Nanaskar Enterprise, East Punjab
BOSS is seeing extremely good business at the box office, and it will reel in Rs 80 lakh today. But across the week, business will increase without a doubt. This film might turn out to be Kumar’s best film to date.
Debashish Dey, Aum Moviez, West Bengal
The report of the film is very good and the evening shows are house full. The film will do business of around Rs 35 lakh.
Sarang Chandak, Shri Rang Films, CP
Since it is a holiday today, BOSS has witnessed good business at the box office counters. Even the reports of the film are good. After all, it’s a massy entertainer from Akshay Kumar; and the dialogue is already becoming very popular. So on day one in CP, BOSS will earn around Rs 70 lakh.
Ravi Machhar, Sahyog Films, Nizam
BOSS opened with 65-70 per cent occupancy in Nizam, which is a huge number. Across the day, there was huge growth in occupancy as today was a holiday. The film will earn close to Rs 80 lakh.
This film is exactly behaving like wanted. Very good at ss and bad at multiplexes. And when a film follows that trajectory you will see a disconnect in numbers between trade people as not everyone has the reach to a b and c city in India. The first day looks to be around 11 to 14 which is bad for a holiday. But the movie is quite a low cost venture considering the directors previous movie. This one wil be in plus for the makers even if makes around 60 crores.
Truth be told, ask hay has lost the multiplex audience in the last 3 years with the number of craps that he has done. So the reaction is no surprise. Looks like another 60 to 70 cr grosser to me. I didn’t expect this to do any better after seeing the original in any case
Akki is doing HOliday which is remake of Thupakki. This one wil gross 100 cr for sure as I have seen Thupakki multiple times and have loved it in every sitting. And murugadoss knows how to make a film.
B.O. update: ‘Boss’ strong at s. screens, but dull at plexes
By Taran Adarsh, October 17, 2013 – 11:25 IST
BOSS, which had a midweek release [Wednesday, 16 October], has fared exceptionally well at single screens of most circuits. However, the multiplexes are a cause for concern, since the business refused to multiply *manifold* despite a positive/strong word of mouth. In fact, even though the biz at multiplexes did witness an escalation from 4 pm/5 pm onwards, the jump in the business was clearly missing. An interesting cricket match played spoilsport here, hitting the business hard in several circuits.
Also, unlike 2 October, which was a *major* holiday, 16 October wasn’t, since some schools and offices in private sector were functioning like any working day. The business, expectedly, is likely to take a dip on Thursday [till Friday noon/evening], which is normal in any case. However, the business should grow over the weekend [Friday evening to Sunday], since the word of mouth is in favor of the film.
In terms of economics, the film should easily rank in the ‘Plus’ category, but the weekend business as well at the film’s BO performance on weekdays should be the deciding factor.
Thursday 17th October 2013 13.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss continued its excellent run at single screens on day two in the heartland of India be it UP, MP, Rajasthan, Haryana or Bihar. The business in the noon shows at single screens on day two is not down by much compared to day one.
The business at single screens ensures the film will not go the Besharam way (in terms of collections going down non stop) as the single screen audience in certain circuits is coming out for the film while Besharam faced rejection across the board.
But the low multiplex business and disappointing day one will curtail the business of the film. The multiplex numbers starting point is so low for a holiday that even if they sustain well for a couple weeks the contribution from multiplexes will not be what it should be.
The last film to score big on just the strength of single screens with multiplexes being dull was Wanted released in 2009 and to be a real success Boss will have to repeat the feat of that film.
how multiplex audience will come that to in one of the sequences akshay is kumar is singing honey singh’s “ga…nd main dum hai”(after offensive after lungi dance that to in this age) and doing all sort of badtamizzi with namesake big boss that to is famous for that only in silver screen
the thing which appeal these is young crowd and it looks a bit dry but may watch this one because of the fitttest and most orginal action guy of bollywood returning to action…it will be good
the second hero in this movie(the directors brother) looks good has personality …a better version of ali zafar as he looks the same but would love to see young vidyut and akshshay together in action..best two and original one of bollywood
No one, and I repeat no one, can fight like this guy in Bollywood. And I would easily take something like Commando over the masala crap we are getting these days. At least the action is fun to watch.
one has to admire akki for tenaticy though… multiple films at this age and all cumulatively in box office outgrosses any star when at this age they are reluctant to have multiple release to get bigger initials and total but again quality will always suffer
With multiple release strategy, Akshay is owning crazy fan base which is biggest in Hindi film industry. His fans are loyal to him and stck with him even if he delivers flops.
In contrast, fan base so Sallu, SRK, Hrithik keeps fluctuating when theor star’s fortunes changes.
Quality may suffer as out of 10 projects, only 1 can be great and others good to average. But by doing films regularly, you are making one section of fans happy, and other section hungry for more.
Lol Gorilla! you are providing good dose of entertainment here though by default.Akshay having biggest fan base is the joke of the decade.Akshay can’t even open a movie properly now and you are talking about biggest fan base.By doing 4 to 5 films a year Akshay has lost all good will and if he goes with same pace in future then things may turn more worse for him.He should do some selected movies now so that he may have some sort of happy ending.
The ‘Boss’ trailers have zing and liked them. It’s actually showing nearby and may check it out.
Also boss will be akshays biggest hit after rowdy rathore and if liked, may match houseful/hf2 interms of the box office.
I feel that some drastic changes are in the air as far as masala fare is concerned.
I head a big team in the IT world and whenever the discussions during a team event tends to be about movies, you get a good idea of the general mood of the multiplex going public (some kind of a sample based analysis).
Over the last few months i have felt that the days of the mindless masala are definitely over. I feel that CE was the big bang & the tipping point. From now on the masala fare will not go this big. And the best metric would be the upcoming Salman movies, imo his coming movies will be nowhere as big as CE and that will be a sure shot signal to the film industry that the tide is changing.
Take the case of BOSS, half the team doesn’t care about the movie & the other half doesn’t even know that such a movie exists. Now the folks in the team are between 20 – 30 yrs and i would say these are the people who tend to watch movies in a MPlex quite regularly.
The movies that everyone is looking forward to is K3 & D3. And everyone expects the movies to have out of the world special effects and super fine production values.
Hopefully if these movies live upto the high and expectations we might see a new wave of high tech movies taking over in Bollywood.
Few responses, if i am permitted-
[1] CE was a good masala movie – Point taken, though i will like it to call it a family entertainer more than a masala entertainer. But CR did try to become massy in few parts thanks to its director…so will not debate much on it.
[2] BOSS was not talked about by your team members…it is possible. It is a single screen masala movie, making a small time gunda a BOSS. So when their BOSS (you) are with them…how can they talk about another BOSS? 🙂
I think the talking point of nation is very important…right now, no one is even talking about K3 and D3. Mood of the nation is with Sachin retiring, India losing/winning and Modi/Rahul/Kejriwal/politics.
So not sure why do you think that K3 and D3 are being spoken about. Infact compared to Krish or D2, there is very little buzz for these movies.
[3] BOSS will rock…the movie will go “wanted” way. 100 Cr to rakha hai.
[4] Masala movie had never ceased to exist. They were always running and will always run.
[5] Job dila do na BOSS!
Apne ko bas paani nikaalan aata hai!!! I think i can do well in IT.
😛
1. CE was a pure masala, calling it anything else will not be right.
2. Single Screens are on the decline and their prominence will constantly reduce. Look at the condition of most single screens and you would realize that either the owners don’t make money or have already decided that they would close soon (otherwise they would surely invest some amount into the dilapidated structures).
3. I would be surprised if BOSS could do 100 Cr on the strength of Single Screens only.
4. Sachin has always been the talk of the nation, for many reasons and rightly so.But apart from the days when the legend played like only he can. there has never been an impact on the love for movies.
And as far as politics go, it has & will never interfere with the affection for movies.
3. Masala movies will surely exist in perpetuity, but their ability to make big moolah would dwindle for sometime to come.
As I said if K3 & D3 are able to showcase top notch CG and neat production values, we might potentially see a new era of Si-Fi / Hi Tech movies coming out of the bolly stable.
& Will surely consider the job application, but as of now the hiring is on hold 😛 😀
–The movies that everyone is looking forward to is K3 & D3. And everyone expects the movies to have out of the world special effects and super fine production values.–
Butler saab:
I for one would love to meet up with your team; the girls mainly since I fathom I have a VERY strong chance of ending up with at least one date thought obviously am too old for them. But hey if K3 and D3 are epitomes of technological prowess for them, I truly stand a chance since the satisfaction-quotient seems to be damn low!! And this coming from an IT team. I hope it is not Bangalore since I find it a bit hard to fathom that IT teams from Blore that frequently work on VFX for Hollywood films (I worked on Iron Man 3 through Oracle) would find K3’s effects good!!!
I never said that we would outdo hollywood in vfx. What i am trying to convey is the fact that people are fed up of the regular fare. And if K3 & D3 can comeup with some good stuff, that will be the way forward.
Now as you mentioned that a lot of vfx work is already done from here, so why is it not possible to come up with good effects for our own movies ? Hopefully one of these movies is a move in the right direction. And no im not expecting a gravity here. Just a leap forward. & considerng that vfx can be an expensive deal, the 2 movies have probably the best chance to engage the right resources.
Friday 18th October 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Besharam grossed around 3.75 crore nett in week two taking its two week total to a little over 55 crore nett. The film is out of most theatres possibly adding just another 25 lakhs nett or so from here on.
The second week numbers were similar to small budget duds like Nautanki Saala and Go Goa Gone which says it all.
After a near 20 crore nett first day, 55 crore should have been a worst case scenario for its extended weekend but it shows how fast a hyped film can come down if rejected especially if it manages to get a good opening
Besharam is simply one of the most remarkable stories of this year. I was surprised by how much YJDH did, similarly so with CE but this is a simply stunning result. It is easily one of the most extraordinary failures over the last 20 years or so. A film that was released on a CE-like print count, that even in the worst case scenario should easily have cleared a 100 or more was barely able to more than half that. To put it in perspective this is a tank far worse than JBJ or Raavan or TMK and so on. There are tanks and there are big tanks and then there are the truly spectacular ones. For a film to do 20 on day one and then fold up around 55 (or a bit more if you take Taran’s numbers) is breath-taking. It;s not odd to find films that do nothing even on day 1 (KHJJS or something) but to have one that actually has a big start but is completely rejected and to the point where any number of junk films still do 100 or more (depending on the initial) and this is nowhere close to it is hard to comprehend. This isn’t about disliked films being rejected. It’s about the scale of the rejection, specially after YJHD when Ranbir was at his hottest. Normally such films still do enough for a 3-5 day period if not more and cement the initial. This film really didn’t have anything beyond the first day. And so from my perspective it becomes an interesting case study into ‘why’ precisely this happened. The banal explanations (‘this is the worst film’, ‘bad script’ etc) simply don’t work.
But beyond this I’d also add this, and continuing an older point. While everyone has been calling it a flop and BOI perhaps a bit more eagerly underlining every extent of the failure, the fact remains that given the scale of the failure the media has still overall treated it with kid gloves. When JBJ failed there was a far worse reaction, when Raavan failed it was as if the world had ended! The former did 28-30 or so, the latter 30-35 (depending on who you believe). When MP released the media again treated it like a very big deal exaggerating things. The film did 27-30 crores in 2005! This after a 17 crore week 1 (biggest at the time, it also broke the Sarkar 3 crore plus Bombay record at that point, did 3.62 or something). Just on trending that’s way better than what most 100 crore grossers put up today. So there is a politics when it comes to how these hits or flops are judged and talked about, it’s never just about the actual facts. Yes Besharam got very negative reviews (though note how Ranbir was still praised in many of them), yes the trade instantly called it a flop (there was no room even for the slightest spin here, because it clearly wasn’t going to get to even a 100), but beyond this there has been no added layer of commentary as there has been in some of those other cases (for that matter even when Dil Se flopped the anti-Ratnam Bombay media made huge deal out of it, as if it was some sort of historic flop, meanwhile plenty of other high profile SRK failures or at least under-performers were treated with great generosity).
So again there is this politics but leaving all this aside the scale of the Besharam failure relative to any big film that opened at a minimal level is quite singular.
The 2 factors that majorly contributed to the debacle IMO were the offensive content which turned off Ranbir’s fan base and the ladies who usually come for his movies and the release strategy. If the movie had released on a normal Friday it would have done well for 3 days and then tanked. This one released on a holiday and there were 2 working days following it. By the time the weekend came WOM was so bad that nothing happened over the weekend. It makes sense for a movie to release on a holiday only if the Holiday falls on a Monday or a Thursday. A bad product can be murdered in the working days that come between a holiday and the weekend. I think Abhinav has to take the bulk of the flak here and rightly so. He had everything going for him after YJHD and even a mediocre movie would have got him a hit. And he came up with this….
Although DB did well with the ‘offensive’ stuff. Admittedly this was marketed differently but clearly Besharam didn’t make a dent even with this demographic. I agree though that Kashyap completely deconstructed himself here after Dabanng. he might still have a chance if he returns to the Dabanng terrain. His excuse could then be that Besharam wasn’t his kind of scene. But even with masala it’s getting harder to get huge numbers without the right elements in place.
fair point on the release schedule. But the corollary must also be stressed here. Films that are considered just about passable or those that are going to flop but that have enough of a core audience interested in the initial run can put up good numbers over the extended weekend even with ‘weakness’ in the reception. By the time the dust truly clears it is impossible for the film not to do 100 crores or whatever. So a lot of big grosses can get exaggerated this way. Or when some of these films completely fizzle out after a 5-7 day period or something it’s because the WOM has never been strong enough and the numbers have been ‘relatively’ weak even in that initial round (though not weak enough to not add to the total in significant ways). But even so Besharam remains a singular case. If it hadn’t been completely rejected even weak numbers would have been enhanced somewhat by the weekend gross. The rejection was so total that nothing could make a difference. And when it’s this bad the release schedule though a factor cannot be the decisive one. Had it released on a normal weekend you would have seen a similar number for Fri or probably a bit less, the same on Sat if not less, perhaps somewhat stronger on Sun (or not even this given the reception) and then a completely collapse on Mon. Such a scenario might have given the film a bit more than what it currently has but again wouldn’t have made a huge difference. Because again if a film does not even have support with minority segments it cannot do well in any scenario. D6 didn’t have competition for weeks and still couldn’t do much. The extended week I think matters assuming the film has a minimally decent WOM. Or else it’s a fantasy film like Ra One where you might get a very young demographic to show up in the initial rounds (by the way this is a huge advantage that Krrish has, despite whatever other negative vibes it might be giving off).
On a related note this is where flops are not seriously analyzed in India (like so much else). A film can fail with 20% of the audience liking it or at least not minding it while another kind might fail with almost no one liking it. Since the gross is also dependent on the kind of film, the level of stars involved, music, so on and so forth it’s hard to make these distinctions in a more precise sense.
Yes, the crash is almost surreal, and it also makes you thing how fallible even the biggest stars are these days. No one is safe which imo is a good thing.
Friday 18th October 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss grossed around 7.25-7.50 crore nett as per early estimates on day two which is decent as the drop is a reasonable 35% coming of a holiday though the holiday may not have been too beneficial for the film. The two day business of the film is 19.50 crore nett approx
The film was best in UP in day two with some centres hardly showing a drop at single screens. The second day trend gives the film a chance to have a decent run as long as there is an good upward trend on Saturday and Sunday.
The business at multiplexes on day two was low but the trend was not bad with premium multiplexes (where the film struggled on day one) falling 40-45% so they should stabilise today and rise tomorrow with the key being how much do they rise.
The five day weekend could go to around 45 crore nett if the film gains some momentum on Saturday and Sunday.
45 crore is where i thought the weekend will go. First week at most 65 crore. It’s still unclear what kind of word of mouth it has fro multiplexes and I agree with R.Butler, it needs the support of multiplexes to go big.
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 6h
Despite a working day after a holiday, #Boss is rock-steady on Day 2. Early trends suggest ₹ 7.50 cr+ on Thu. Biz should accelerate today.
I cant be more happy to see the rejection of such masala movies. There is a limit to the number of south Indian movies remake one can take. I hope Rambo Rakjumar goes the same route if it is bad. I dont have a problem if an entertaining movie like Thupakki (Holiday) does well but one should not take the audience for granted and start adapting every South movie which does well.
I see where you’re coming from but I often detect this specially hostility towards masala. If it’s about mindless repetition one should be opposed to any such genre whether it’s a Southern remake or not. So tons of multiplex romantic comedies make me quite queasy (!) and there is mindless repetition here in exactly the same way. If it’s about all genres then masala does not need to be highlighted! I think this asterisk comes about because there is always a problem with masala that is ‘historic’ in some sense. Yes masala ought to be entertaining. Johar should be so as well! And while a movie like Boss (or Wanted) simply cannot gross as much as a multiplex film if both have the same levels of acceptance within their target audience this is a box office argument, not one about the respective quality of each film. Boss clearly has an audience within certain cross-sections, whether it can do a Wanted remains to be seen. So people do find it entertaining enough. Akshay might be a bit out of favor with multiplex audiences but his Rowdy Rathore did quite well. I liked the latter a lot and I don’t every masala remake out there. Nor do I disagree that this is often very lowbrow entertainment. But the difference is that I don’t consider this multiplex rom-coms sophisticated cinema either! I find them to be films for juveniles 99% of the time. The kind of stuff that would be targeted at teens within an American or Western context.
‘Entertainment’ in any case remains a fuzzy concept. And I am always suspicious when it is used in the context of masala too much. Because it then defines a ‘limit’ for the genre. In other words the only thing one can expect from masala is entertainment and hence if there isn’t even this the film is utterly pointless. Conversations about other genres are never quite framed this way. Because historically masala engages in a kind of representation that certain classes are either hostile to or are unnerved by. The same thing happens at a political level. Those who think that leaders like lower caste leaders in the North are simply jokes and have no substance to them. The politics of masala cinema then becomes either ‘politics for idiots in the masses’ or else ‘a dangerous kind that threatens to destroy Indian values’. In the contemporary age it is redefined as ‘the bull that prevented liberalization for so long’!
I’m not incidentally suggesting you meant to imply any of this. Just that certain seemingly neutral phrases have a history and set of associations and I’ve been trying here to tease them out. I don’t at all disagree at the ‘stupid’ nature of such Southern (actually Telugu) masala. I have myself brought this up many times in the past. But this cannot be the only genre held up to certain standards. All else being equal I’d rather have Boss than Cocktail. I mean this very seriously. For reasons of ‘entertainment’ as well as those of ‘politics’.
I think as someone pointed out this will follow the Wanted model.So, I would expect the final figure smilar to Wanted adjusted for the fact that it is few years later. A final total between 80-90 crores is likely. Not a flop but not a major grosser either. Which is par for the course. A msaala movie with little buzz that isnt multiplex friendly
akshay is there only for a short duration in 1st half in a movie sold on his name but simply rocked 2nd half in a mediocre movie and saves it and ya his action sequences in 2nd half makes up for it
“Akshay might be a bit out of favor with multiplex audiences but his Rowdy Rathore did quite well.”
don’t think this argument hold anyay as the movie is more rooted and offers nothing to multiplex sensibilities with no heroine and a lead who is pretty much not there in 1st half
akki is always around:
this year he had a multiplex hit in small movies like special 26 and last year with omg both with miniscule budget but trended infact boss is opposite infact with a terrible second hero (who even got worst review in outaimd ) he made even that film reach respectability …
Too bad, in bwood they become mothers as soon as they cross 35! Amitabh played lover to Nutan/Waheeda in the beginning of his career, and played their son less than 10 yrs later!
The reason why Besharam did so badly is very simple: There was NOTHING good in it to attract any audience. It is not just that it was a very bad film, which it was. But there are a few elements even in a bad film that attract some audiences for a few days. Some have good, much loved songs ( Dil Se, Ravan, JBJ, Delhi 6 had them. Beshram had none. Even in the week of its release it did not have a single song in the Top 5)). These films had nicely choreographed song sequences. The dances in Besharam were unimaginative, stale and boring. Some have a charming / beautiful/sexy heroine that draws young male viewers. ( Manisha, Ash, Priety, Sonam were there in the above films. Pallavi Shraddha must be the most uncared for heroine in recent times. Even when heroines cant act or make their mark in a film ( like Amy Jackson in Ekk Deewana Tha), they at least get covers of magazines lik GQ or Maxim and fashion spreads. Not Pallavi. Some have a gimmick element like Kareena in bikini in Tashan, or an item song like Shiela ki Jawani in TMK, underwater sequence in Blue. Besharam had none. Some have hero and heroine in god contemporary clothes, attracting the youth again ( Anjana, Anjaani). Some are so harmless and bland, people say, let’s take a look since we have nothing better to do. This was downright offensive, without being entertaining.
Simple. It had nothing, NOTHING to draw the audience in. And plenty to keep them out.
I thought from your line of comment that you have seen it. I saw it and didn’t find it that bad. Actually I can safely say, that it is if not better, it probably is similar in content to many bigger earners.
“LOL, I too thought based on your rather specific comment that you had seen it!”
Exactly Satyam!!
It’s one thing to hate a film after seeing it or. It liking its trailers and not seeing it and Another thing to simply hate it and pour vitriol without even seeing it!
It’s as if utkal uncle had put money on it and had gone bankrupt–only then this level of anger can come in
This is an interesting response
Also feel something is got to do with the ‘leaked ranbir Kat in bikini pics’ –This is NOT the main reason since the film was bad but seems Many guys just got jealous and took it out on this poor film
🙂
Well it’s not that one cannot make an educated guess about certain films. For instance it’s not hard to figure out what kind of film Boss is going to be. 95% of the time films in commercial genres are what we expect them to be whether they’re more or less entertaining at some superficial level. But as I see it either Besharam is one of the worst commercial films ever made or else there is something else going on here which independent of anything else ‘upset’ people. And I think it’s the latter. Given the kinds of films that are lionized in every genre it’s just hard to believe that differences in ‘script’ and whatever account for this failure! And everything that Utkal has been referring to from the music to the item numbers to whatever explain why a film might have a bigger initial, not why it sustained better than another. presumably people don’t think films are terrible but nonetheless watchable because of the music. Had that been the case JBJ or D6 and in fact many others would have done a lot better. And the day 1 initial wasn’t a problem for Besharam in any case. Whatever the reasons here (Ranbir’s post-YJHD status or what have you) these should have helped sustain the film a bit better. Sometimes there are just terrible commercial films that get rejected but in my experience only certain kinds of commercial films get even worse responses. So for instance TMK wa s a poor film, Tashan was extremely uneven, preferred the latter vastly to the former but didn’t really like either film. However the ‘spoof’ elements in each case probably account for the total rejection more than anything else. Same with JBJ. Raavan was a different cup of tea altogether. Here I believe it was the film’s political charge. D6 wasn’t hated anyway. So I haven’t seen Besharam yet but I am more inclined to believe it’s about these sorts of factors rather than purely obvious ones. The latter do contribute, I’m not saying Utkal doesn’t have a partial point, but i don’t think this is the entire story.
It has decent music but they haven’t been placed right (but many hindi movies are guilty of that). I think screenplay is not good. After some point the emphasis on Besharam irritates you (like TMK). The humor is too loud for most most people.
lol..some things are left vague for your comments 🙂
ps – In my place there are two RJs on FM and they do their double meaning talks in morning. They are talking about Frieda Pinto this morning and one of them said she is “maal hain”..there was pause then other said “bolein to kamaal ki hain”
ps1 – You may download their Radio Zindagi App on your smartphone.
PS: I know the polite form would use ‘hain’ for singular, like ‘aap hain’, but ‘since ‘maal’ is hardly an attempt at being polite ‘maal hai’ would be more correct.
Oldgold – I am not contesting your position but suggesting when you write हैं in English, you need to write like that. That “bindi” /dot on top needs to be taken into consideration.
LOL Munna. You are *clearing* things by giving me yahoo answers when I’ve provided you with a good hindi use of the ‘hai’ and ‘hain’.
Moreover the answer there is incomplete. Only deals with ‘address’, and exactly what I mentioned in my comment. It doesn’t add anything new.
But don’t take it personal. This is widespread outside India. Maybe also in India in the non hindi areas. In films and some good hindi laguage mythology and historical serials this isn’t a problem.
Oldgold – Nothing to get offended. When you do transliteration, you tend to write same word in different ways. I understood your point, I would write the way I said to be clear.
One can argue that should we write:
(in your way)
“Maal hai” as a tense
“Maal hain” for addressing.
“Did you see it? Where is your review?”
Haha munna–that was an ace question 🙂
Now this is a perfect illustration of what’s called default negativity which this film faced a lot of !!
Even before the first show went into interval–people were tweeting extreme negative reviews –perhaps even before it started some were ‘geared’ into bringing this down…
“There was NOTHING good in it to attract any audience.”
Then why the 20 crores plus first day ?? How many films get that ?
The film had a nice premise, and dared to take the edgy different route even in the conventional box-office race but took that too far…
Also abhinav failed big time in his execution and there wasn’t enough of a plot !!
For eg why could pallavi not claim her car insurance ?
And so on
BUT the way people are pouring vitriol without even seeing the film reeks of negativity !!
Some because of being khan fans, some Salman fans, and some truly because the film wasn’t good enough
And some even won’t out seeing the film!!
As for pallavi sharda, she was good but didn’t have a ‘meaty enough’ role. Kashyap bit more than he could chew and fell short in the execution…
But there are bigger sins –@least he didn’t take the easy route out
This ‘debacle’ will certainly help ranbir in the long run
Finally, to me, the film was a let down but
With my love for the title song
Sau khoon maaf 🙂
Sad Summary of Heroines in Indian films by utkal uncle …
“Some have a charming / beautiful/sexy heroine that draws young male viewers. ( Manisha, Ash, Priety, Sonam were there in the above films. Pallavi Shraddha must be the most uncared for heroine in recent times. Even when heroines cant act or make their mark in a film ( like Amy Jackson in Ekk Deewana Tha), they at least get covers of magazines lik GQ or Maxim and fashion spreads. Not Pallavi. Some have a gimmick element like Kareena in bikini in Tashan, or an item song like Shiela ki Jawani in TMK, underwater sequence in Blue. Besharam had none. ”
This is reducing the heroine (or rather the female!!) to an ‘object’, an ‘item’, a ‘tool’ and that too a highly disposable one..!!
somewhat ‘disturbing’ thoughts there by utkal uncle !
Apex: The first day 20 cr was purely based on Ranbir’s stradom, major holiday and people giving it a benefit of doubt, since no one from the paying public had ACTUALLY seen it. That got settled once people had seen it and given their feedback.
Things that look so ‘stale’ don’t even get that much benefit of doubt to take them to 20 crores plus!!
There’s no denying that the film had major flaws and the toilet humour and ‘obscenity’ didn’t help at all.
But the ‘not even giving it a chance!!’ flavour was v much there in the air!
If I had hated the film AFTER seeing the film, one would have understood this STRONG negativity but not without it…
As for Pallavi, my views are unchanged
Apex: “But the ‘not even giving it a chance!!’ flavour was v much there in the air!” Then how did it do those 20cr. Obviously, a lot of people gave that chance. And it is the feedback from the first show ( it travels wide in quick time these day) that started affecting the film second show onward. I dont think there is even 1% in the audience who saw the first show had ANYTHING nice to say about it.
“I dont think there is even 1% in the audience who saw the first show had ANYTHING nice to say about it.”
Thats stretching it a bit. If the film was so goddamn hated, it wudve seen a crash of epic proportions, wud’ve barely doubled the first day collections. Since it made close to 60crs, clearly some people did not mind the toilet humor and screenplay faults.
This was INDEED a crash of epic proportions and the film was rejected. Heck, even I didn’t like it beyond a point
But the criticism is excessive. There WERE good elements
Btw folks –check out this track —
Maybe those like utkal uncle won’t find ‘item girls’ or ‘semi nude models’ here but try out the ‘old school’ melody reminiscent of the 80s 90s vibe…
It’s ok to enjoy ‘dilliwaali girlfriend’ (I enjoy that more than others!) but doesn’t mean u trash good genuine melody
On the one hand you’re making absolutist statements like ‘no spin, no excuses’, not for the first time (!). On the other hand you proceed to offer excuses (‘hey it isn’t as bad as everyone’s making it out to be’). Which is it?!
Munna for instance says it’s as good or bad as many other hits. I find this to be an eminently reasonable position. Just because a film fails doesn’t mean one can’t have different opinions about it or analyze its box office fate in various ways. There is not some great metaphysical or religious truth that lies on the side of the box office. These are just human beings who have a certain opinion as a majority at a given point in time. So what? Majorities do a lot in politics that’s atrocious and appalling, they have very questionable choices in other areas of life too. It all depends. There’s no absolute truth that comes out of a box office failure or hit!
Satyam: JBJ, Tashan, TMK, Delhi 6, Raavan… ( I haven’t seen the first three, ) were this bad. As I said , each of these have plenty of pleasures to offer. For example I would have no problem watching Delhi 6 or Raavan just for the music. And there was MUCH more than that in both. But the fact also is, none of them crashed this badly. In fact, except for JBJ, I think the rest managed fare earnings. Come on, none of them failed in tripling their opening day earnings!
Interestingly D6 at the time made more as less as much as BeH. Of course the expectations were much greater here but with this one I always had the sense that there was a small audience for this. The film was not a ‘commercial’ film and it was just produced and marketed all wrong. But yeah if you’re going by opening day D6 and Raavan both 5-6 times that number depending on who you believe. No one considered the business ‘fair’ though. They were dismissed as flops. I do believe that the magnitude of the failure was exaggerated in each case (for instance months later Nahata said Raavan hadn’t been the worst flop around) but one certainly couldn’t call them ‘fair’ by any stretch. what one could say that these weren’t the disasters of the century the media/trade made them out to be. JBJ though is in the very same range in every sense. Of course there was even less excuse here because it was a totally commercial genre. Tashan is a bit tricky because there was a multiplex release problem here for a number of days. TMK too did better than Besharam all things considered. Of course it’s amusing again that you claim the first three were equally bad and yet you haven’t seen them! Quite bizarre in fact! In any case I started out by saying precisely what you just have — that all those flops did better than Besharam. But where I disagree and not just on this film is with your larger idea that films work or not in proportion to how good or bad they are. Once again terms like good, bad, entertaining etc are highly subjective ones if not part of a totally circular logic. So how do we know that a film was good or that it entertained? Because it worked at the box office! And even when certain films are called bad in this worldview (let’s say the average Akshay Kumar comedy) those too are held up as standards of some measure of entertainment when there are complete flops on the other side. And so you for example didn’t think there was anything valuable in Raavan and yet confronted with Besharam (a film which you haven’t seen!) you suddenly discover a great deal that’s worthwhile in the former. Again you continue to believe that with any film released today or in 1950 ultimately the worthwhile must find some measurable correlate in either the box office response or the critical one or both and the opposite must hold for the terrible film. The problem is things are simply not as ‘scientifically rational’ with a medium of entertainment that is also about aspiration and dream and desire and catharsis and so on. So people watch what might be considered poor films using most measurable estimates or reject good films in the same sense. This is because the ‘bad’ might fulfill a different ‘use-value’ (to get all Marxist about this). People might go to a film only to spend some time not expecting anything more than the merely passable from it. People might go expecting something else altogether. So on and so forth. Terms like ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘entertaining’ acquire very different meanings depending on the aim of the viewer. For instance I can watch a certain kind of film on DVD and be entertained by it in ways that I could never absorb the same work in a theater. In a different context if I completely dislike the message of a film I will ‘refuse’ to be entertained by it. Or the same if I don’t have enough exposure to certain kinds of non-commercial cinema where different aesthetic and narrative formats might disable any enjoyment on my part. So on and so forth. This whole question could be complicated a hundred different ways. In each case those adjectives would change meaning. films say much more about their social or political contexts or the societies they’re embedded in than anything else. They are not ‘factual’ statements about anything. yes there are important registers that one can measure here as with any art/entertainment form but these are not the only definitions of what constitutes a worthwhile film. A quick example would go like this… Lata has sung many bad songs but in singing them she still displays an ability that is beyond that of most others in her profession. So even with such a bad song Lata could hardly be compared with inferiors (perhaps even when they sing good songs). So Lata would still be in her own stratosphere but the song in question wouldn’t be worthwhile. This is much like the Raavan argument I tried to get across to you at the time. Even if you think Raavan a complete failure you ought to be able to distinguish that in the film which could only come about from a director of the caliber of Ratnam. Or Amitabh Bachchan has weak performances by his own standards, not by those of most others around him!
And so to finally get back to Besharam I am once again not defending the film (not least because I haven’t seen it). But this idea that this is the ultimate ‘bad’ film makes me more than a little skeptical. Specially because I’ve heard the very same terms before in other contexts. If tomorrow there were a worse tank than Besharam you would be finding redeeming value in this very film!
Utkal uncle–to heck with your ‘tripling your first day earnings’—it’s a FACT that this flick did v badly commercially
But without even seeing it, dissing it so emphatically shows some hidden ‘angst’ lol
“This is indeed a beautiful song. Is it from besharam?”–
Now THIS is called ‘good taste’ og..
Those having imaginary ‘bikinis’ dancing infront of their eyes won’t sense this 🙂
Basically utkal uncle –here u be lost your touch–u are making the same error that many others made with reference to cocktail (though besharam is a more flawed product)!!
Anyhow ‘lust’ blinds …
Satyam: I never said Raavan had no redeeming elements. I maintained and still maintain , it is a bad film. But my whole point in the Besharam discourse is that bad films can have elements that appeal to different audiences..I have mentioned songs, item numbers, pretty heroines, great looking leads, .. and there could be more. And the appeal of these films could vary for different persons. I can watch Yuvraj just for its songs ( and I did). Much earlier, I watched many of Sridevi’s fils just for her. Ditto for Amitabh. That does not mean those were not bad films. My point was that Beshram was a very bad film. Now there might have been films that were as bad, but they had some attractive elements,; Beshram had next to none. ( AS to not seeing JBJ, Tashan, TMK..and seeing Delhi 6 and Raavan – i will certainly see a Mani Ratnam or Rakesh Mehra in spite of the bad reports just to check things out myself. It’s like Lata Mangeskar you mentioned. I mean Rahman or Beatles might have a bad album ( There haven’t been one as per me.) , but that doesn’t mean I wont buy anything they bring out. And incidentally, I don’t think Delhi ^ was bad. Juts that it wasn’t good enough.
Saturday 19th October 2013 10.30 IST
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Boss dropped on its third day as business in single screens came down from there good levels on day one and day two. The film grossed around 5.50-5.75 crore nett as per early estimates on Friday taking the three day business to around 25 crore nett.
A 25 crore nett total is a below the mark for the first three days but there is Saturday and Sunday to come which can take the film to a more respectable 40 crore nett over five days if the expected weekend growth comes. A 45 crore nett total looked possible after day two but the Friday business came down.
The business on Friday held up better at multiplexes but that was more too do with the low levels on the first two days.
Captain Phillips -“Look into my eyes–I’m your Captain now!!
Checked out Paul Greengrass’s taut new true-life thriller, its lead character, as played by Tom Hanks, based on the book written by Capt phillips himself! But a more appropriate title might have been “The Captain” or even “The Captains”, plural. The hero is Rich Phillips, the veteran captain of an American cargo ship which was raided by a band of Somali pirates in 2009. But the film pays almost enough screen time and detailing to Muse (Barkhad Abdi), the shrewd teenaged pirate who declares himself to be “the captain” when he boards Phillips’s vessel. The relationship between the two, the ironical similarities and shared desperation of the two forms the crux of this movie.
Both men have ‘bosses’ and are following the only economic choice(s) they have. What’s interesting is that Greengrass dwells on the pirates’ perspective as well. The narrative is edge of the seats ‘battle of wits’. Greengrass is adept at mixing a ‘documentary-like’ naturalism with crisp editing and agile camerawork. He has an able buddy in the cinematographer who keeps the ‘pressure’ quotient up. Herein lies the similarity with my recent viewing of ‘Rush’ wherein a similar director -cinematographer combo dealt with relationship dynamics between two men albeit in a totally different setting/genre.
In a way, the film also underlines the new reality of ‘globalisation’ and it’s sequelae. Not only in the theme but have a look at the films team. It puts the combined Brit talents of Greengrass -Akroyd with the new Somali crew headed by Muse, obviously topped off by the ‘Everyman’ of Hollywood and perhaps one of the best actors alive (in my opinion) Tom Hanks.
Greengrass shows talent in balancing our obvious support towards Hanks with a tinge of sympathy for the Somali pirate Muse and even admiration & even pity for their ‘daredevilry’ in what’s ultimately a David vs Goliath scenario!! I did feel that perhaps he has used ‘true events’ as a backdrop and twisted them where needed, somewhat like ‘Argo’. I’m not aware of the intricacies of the book or the ‘true event’ but the total absence of ‘security’ on the cargo ship was a surprise (to me!)
This is another movie, where I’m expecting the ‘know-alls’ raising their approving hand to nod in approval (since it ticks the ‘intellectual’ leanings and the snug ‘cool’ vibe in a serious tone). I can already hear ‘Oscars’ somewhere esp for Hanks. But that’s where I politely disagree.
To explain that, I will have to come to what drew me to the movie! Tom Hanks!
He is truly a ‘captivating’ actor who commands the camera attention. In such a film, one always gets the feeling ‘what next’ (as in the events!). But with Hanks on the screen, I always get a similar feeling about the little smirk, gleam in the eye and the odd mannerism he may thrown in effortlessly. Ironically, here I personally liked Hanks the best in the intiial few minutes before the ‘pirate attack’ where the camera captures Hanks ‘daily mundane life’ and buildup to the trip! That’s a strange thing to say given what unfolds eventually that most will find more interesting (!) but there you go-that’s my taste!
The ‘problem’ to me seems that both Hanks and Muse have presented without any background, character development arc. !”To sum it, I always have sky high expectations from Hanks when he comes on screen and they ‘tagline’ on billboards–“Hanks best role ever!” Is the culprit! Sorry folks, the Hanks I know (& love) is capable of much more …
Towards the ‘dramatic final moments’, it seemed that the director and the team thought “c’mon , we’ve got the most emotionally explosive actor at our disposal–we haven’t got enough out of him!”. And what will be hailed as the ‘comeback of Hanks’ and probably get him an oscar nomination nod here (other than numerous praiseworthy blogposts from ‘intelligentsia’), I saw as little more than the crass ‘exploitation of talent’ of the superlative Mr Tom Hanks!!
While looking into my eyes–make no mistake..
Hanks expectedly delivers a fine perfomance here–perhaps my criticism also shows my ‘respect’ at his capabilities.
It’s just that his eventual ’emotional melt downs’ here seemed an afterthought add-on to ‘exploit’ his talent rather than a natural calibrated sequence as in something like ‘castaway’.
Having said that the damage isn’t done. Because many ‘voices’ make up how they will react (publically) to a film even when they hear the cast/director/banner and sometimes the promos
Not saying it is the ‘correct reaction’ but With someone like me, u never know what reaction will be !! 🙂
I thought Hanks disoriented and disheveled act was superbly done. I don’t have issue except that they didn’t have any security on such a large ship except flares and water hoses.
Cast:Raj Kumar Yadav, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Tigmanshu Dhulia
SPOILERS AHEAD
Gritty, gutsy, bold and brave are words that are sometimes bandied about in the context of films. But rare is the Indian film that actually measures up to those adjectives. Hansal Mehta’s Shahid does.
It is a plucky film. Angry but remarkably even-handed, it articulates uncomfortable truths about contemporary India, its media, its judiciary and, of course, its people.
Its barbs are aimed particularly at those that are quick to jump to conclusions and believe the worst about suspected terrorists.
The most arresting aspect of Shahid is that it does not adopt an accusatory tone to narrate the tale of a man who paid the price for daring to stand up for the persecuted at grave risk to his own life.
The film details the facts of the amazing and tragic life of the intrepid TADA detainee-turned-human rights lawyer Shahid Azmi, who was killed in cold blood in early 2010 for defending a 26/11 accused (who, incidentally, was acquitted two and a half years later).
Mehta seeks empathy for his remarkable protagonist without resorting to the conventional narrative means.
Shahid, be it the film or the man, does not reduce the conflict to a simplistic majority versus minority affair.
It narrates a story of humanity under siege, of people who live in a democracy but constantly have all hopes of justice repeatedly dashed.
Minimalistic and unfussy in approach, the film directs our attention to a general and dangerously insidious societal malaise through the details of one particular story that has universal resonance.
The young man whose story Shahid tells never sought to hide his past, which included a short-lived stint in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and many years of incarceration in Tihar Jail on charges of ‘plotting against the state’.
The flimsy allegations were never proved and Shahid Azmi walked free and touched many lives in the remaining years of his life.
Having been at the receiving end of a grave miscarriage of justice, Azmi acquired a law degree and, in a brief but spectacular career, took up legal cudgels on behalf of many innocents accused of acts of terror without sufficient evidence of involvement.
In the seven years that he practiced until he was gunned down in his office, Azmi secured as many as 17 acquittals, a feat that any lawyer would not only have been proud of but also rather worried about.
Why is it that so many young men of a particular community get hauled up every time a terror attack takes place and why is it that the media and its consumers so easily presume guilt on the basis of half-baked charges and insinuations?
Has the violence that surrounds us numbed our collective sense of justice to such an extent that we have qualms in looking for convenient scapegoats among people who are already isolated and driven to a corner?
Shahid seeks answers to these and other related questions but without getting into an unseemly flap.
Mehta’s impressive and utterly fearless film focuses on only two of the many cases that Azmi fought. One can see that the man is up against heavy odds, but he never abandons his faith in the judiciary and keeps chipping away at the ignorance and prejudice he finds all around him.
The film takes forward the principal burden of Azmi’s defining argument against the law enforcement and judicial system’s callous tendency to brand every single accused as a terrorist but does so without taking recourse to any kind of emotional manipulation.
Shahid draws much of its strength from Raj Kumar Yadav’s pitch-perfect pivotal performance.
Yadav is an actor in the Irrfan Khan mould, capable of conveying anguish and inner turmoil through the slightest physical effort or facial twitch.
The character of Shahid Azmi needed a performer with the self-belief to immerse himself completely in the milieu and let go off his own personality. Yadav does just that.
Mehta, on his part, wouldn’t have been perfectly aware of the risks inherent in telling the world who Shahid Azmi and what exactly he was trying to achieve as a lawyer.
That he chose to make this film nonetheless is proof that genuine derring-do, always a rare commodity, isn’t dead in the Mumbai movie industry.
Shahid deserves more than just a standing ovation. It deserves accolades for standing up to be counted and narrating the kind of story that is usually buried under mainstream media cacophony.
The fact that Shahid has got to a multiplex near you should also be applauded and made the most of. Go and watch the film – it is one of the most important films to come out of Mumbai in a long, long time.
The film itself is brave and unflinching, and oozes the kind of sincerity that you long for in most Hindi films. I’m going with four out of five for Hansal Mehta’s ‘Shahid’. Well made, and gripping till the very end.
Sunday 20th October 2013 13.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss failed to show much growth on Saturday. The Wednesday release has not benefited the film as the weekend (Fri-Sun) collection will be below expectations. On Saturday all the smaller circuits droppped while likes of Mumbai and North were up slightly. The first four day figures of Boss are as follows.
These 80’s style baap, bhai, bahan ka badla types will not work any more …. And this is all coming because of dabangg .. While wanted and singham had some authentic masala moments, dabangg was bad 80’s movie and irs success bring in dozens of clones .. Obviously bad clones
Boss has another open week ahead before Krrish releases but then it does look it is going to struggle. It’s not the best of years for Akshay Kumar. Only Special Chabbis seems to have worked. OUATD was a disaster and now Boss seems to be struggling. Holiday seems to be the best bet for glory in his line-up.
It’s a pity the masala movies aren’t really working. Since more than a decade we were being bombarded with the Yash Chopra-Karan Johar Band Baaja Baaraat meets Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham kind of movies. The only alternative were the sleezy stuffs coming from the Bhatt camp or then downright B-Grade vulgar stuffs coming from lesser known banners.
Masala movies were a welcome change. Unfortunately, lack of vision and creativity from film makers haven’t helped this genre.
The next wave of movies from the genre will probably determine the fate of masala movies for the future. From now on, it will be especially interesting to see how these notable movies from the genre perform: R. Rajkumar, Bullet Raja, Singh Saab the Great, Holiday, Gabbar (Ramana hindi remake), Singham 2, the Prabhu Devaa-Devgan’s next and Jai Ho.
SRK says, “I think there is a little too much box-office information out there today, and too many numbers floating around. Due to this constant talk of collections, sometimes the truly deserving films, do not get their due credit”.
Monday 21st October 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss had mediocre collections over irs five day extended weekend. The business it has done over five days it should have done in three days. The singls screen business was very good for two days probably due to the holiday affect but came down from Friday onwards. The first five day figures of Boss are as follows.
agree amy–watched initial bits. Even I was impressed by kangnas forthright honesty and nonjudgmental maturity.
She hasn’t been lucky but is v talented and given a half decent lead roe can really fire (performance wise).
When she talked about that ‘overcompensating’ bit, one really feels for her..
Ps: hope she has a good role on krish3!
Khuda Gawah had excellent first 1 hour .. and last 20 minutes. Movies was disappointing in between where Nagarjuna and young Shree were introduced .. This could have been Legendary movie if concentrated on love story of Badshah Khan and Benazir .. the track of Naga/Shree backfired.
Just when I’m increasingly isolated in my affinity to some parts(not all) of ‘besharam’, came across an ex-srk fan who is now part of a ranbir kapoor fan club Peru…lol
Apparently some Spanish folks liked it!
Anyhow, don’t think anybody else(!) noticed this unknown /under rated song in tese times of ‘munni’ and ‘Sheila'(& utkal uncles lol!)
This ones for oldgold who found it good–whew atleast somebody liked it!! -also do check it out amy.. 🙂
With Spanish subtitles
Khuda Gawah wasn’t the biggest of hits from Amitabh but neither was it a dud. Taran gave it a semi hit tag back then. It’s first week Mumbai collections were at around 94%, which was pretty decent.
One thing that hurt the movie was Sanju’s withdrawal. Dutt had signed the movie and then halfway through the shooting schedules, Saajan and Sadak released and suddenly Dutt found himself projected into stardom. He then refused to play a supporting role and opted out of the movie. It created some huge controversies and the makers had to go for a panic replacement. In the end, Nagarjuna was signed to replace Sanjay Dutt.
I do think that the first hour of Khuda Gawah is really excellent stuff for a movie of its time.
Khuda Gawah had a huge opening and it was absolutely safe after this. But I agree with everyone that after the first 45 min to an hour it really becomes a drag.
Tuesday 22nd October 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss had low collections on Monday as it collected 2.75 crore nett taking its total to 40.75 crore nett. The film will collect around 43 crore nett in seven days and around 47 crore nett in its extended first week. Despite getting a good price for TV and being sold for fair prices wherever sold it will still struggle for recovery for both the makers and distributors. The first six day figures of Boss are as follows.
One of the things that probably kept the multiplexes audience away here was the similarity of the Boss trailer with the trailer of Khiladi 786. When the theatrical trailer of Boss was out, I saw a number of people asking “Is this some kind of sequel of Khiladi 786?” I think a lot of people felt that this is going to be some kind of repetive stuff. And Khiladi 786 is the furthest thing from a masterpiece!
Boss will probably aim for recovery at best and it will be lucky to finish with the kind business Khiladi 786 did. Special Chabbis apart, this is looking like a poor year for Akshay Kumar.
The only positive thing for Akshay Kumar is that with the volume of films he does, he will have another release lined up in a couple of months. And having watched Thupakki, I think that the hindi version probably has good prospects. It’s Akshay Kumar’s safest bet to come up with something big. Akshay then has Sajid-Farhad’s It’s Entertainment and the Ramana remake.
The next really interesting project in his line-up after Thupakki is the Neeraj Pandey one (both of them confirmed last month that they are coming together again). I think Neeraj Pandey is one of the best young directors around. A wednesday and Special Chabbis were very good films.
Audience is just getting tired (and thankfully so) of all these terrible films that give masala a bad name. I was just watching Ghai’s Saudagar the other day, and realized what a good masala film that was compared to the crap we get now.
absolutely henry,I was watching the same thing and what a great film it was,dilip and raj kumar were awesome…just too good compare the rubbish we have now.
And amazing thing is “Saudagar” itself was underwhelming movie of its time .. Still in comparison to current cop of masala crap, it looks so great. I recommend u to revisit Karma again .. which IMO is best movie of Ghai and one of top 5 of 80’s ..
Thanx Amy –your kangana link was quite good
Infact hers was one of the best interviews I’ve seen from any Indian film personality…
Recommended folks –I think it deserves a separate thread
But this inspirational link is not opening at my end
Amy –plz open it for me (meant the link!) …
Wednesday 23rd October 2013 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
The year is set to have less 100 crore grossers than last year unless a few films releasing in November and December surprise. Last year (2012) saw eight films grossing 100 crore nett or more and so far this year there have been only three in the form of Chennai Express, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani an Bhaag Milha Bhaag.
Krrish 3 and Dhoom 3 should easily make it which would mean five films and it would be a huge surprise if another 3 or 4 films made it especially as none of the films apart from R.. Rajkumar have a good window for a 2-3 week run. Actually if even one more film makes to 100 it would be a bonus
The 100 crore mark is not even a benchmark now as it was 2-3 years back but still less films will make it this year. The plus is that IF Krrish 3 and Dhoom 3 perform there will be more bigger grossers with the potential of four releases being above 175 crore nett while last year only Ek Tha Tiger crossed 175 crore nett.
Basically the top five grossers will see a better performance than the top five grossers last year but the performance of numbers 6-15 will be weaker than last year unless films like Ram Leela, Singh Sahab The Great, Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, Bullet Raja and R… Rajkumar put up some big numbers.
LOL, true! They suddenly seem to have realized yesterday that a lot of films were doing 100 crores! now they have a 175 crore mark. Not 150 or 200 but precisely 175!
SATYAMSHOT 
October 16, 2013 at 5:59 AM
Boss Has Decent Opening
Wednesday 16th October 2013 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss had decent start of around 50-60% on average which is decent if looked at standalone but for a holiday the start is not impressive. The collections at multiplexes were average overall with some areas being good while others were poor.
The single screens which opened early were better and noon shows at single screens across the country should give a better response but even here they are unlikely to be 90% plus as they should be on a holiday.
Basically the first day should come with a good to decent number which if it does materialise will be mainly due to the holiday factor and then the key being how big will be the day two fall and does the film go up again on Saturday and Sunday.
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October 16, 2013 at 10:16 AM
The few important things which this film’s opening tells us are that-
1) People have a developed a fatigue for these narrative-less new bastardised-masala films.
2) As of now, no one does these hollow-masala better than Prabhudeva in Bollywood. Leave side having a Desai or Mehra, we don’t even a Gunasekhar to give us something like an Okkadu. What it means is that the directors today are just not the right practitioners of Masala.
3) Also Masala, as of today represents a dead-end of sorts. The only way you can make a worthwhile film in the genre is either adding that cutting-edge element to the genre- it can be a sci-fi element like in Robot, smartly include a ‘classy’ Hollywood trope like in Ghajini or upgrade an already present element of the genre (reincarnation) by going the sfx way. But doing is that is defeating the very purpose of masala- the minute you think of ‘upgrading’ it or making it ‘high-brow’, you are missing the point.
4) Khakee was an exception and a rarity. So we should all be happy even if we get 1 Ghajini/DMD like film every year.
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October 16, 2013 at 10:50 AM
Boss is superb movie, masala at its best… Saurabh – u and Salman will be proved wrong. Akshay has rocked…wait for whole day nett to come. 🙂
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October 16, 2013 at 9:03 AM
I think multiplexes will not accept this movie in the long run and only single screens will carry it.Akshay has damaged himself by doing too many movies.He should really think about it now.
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October 16, 2013 at 10:52 AM
Samar, pls remember what you said…tomorrow you will feel sorry for this statement…Boss is getting extraordinary WOM.
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October 17, 2013 at 2:08 AM
Gorilla, i think it the time that you should feel sorry for what you said in respinse of my comment as Boss has collected 11.50cr on day one.BOI has saiid exactly what i said in my my above comment and B.O.I is the most trusted site in comparision to others sites related to boxoffice.Looking at the size of release and holiday factor these numbers are pathetic.
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October 17, 2013 at 9:38 PM
Does day1 figures define your long run?
Multiplexes will not be great like single screens, but will be good. Weekend pickup is expected all over in multiple sets and come close to the celebrations happening in single screens.
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October 16, 2013 at 9:12 AM
The original is pathetic here but I must say I am surprised by the ‘decent’ opening and ‘ decent’ reviews. The first day looks like 15 crores
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October 16, 2013 at 10:53 AM
Krish…be ready to be more surprised. Akshay has rocked the nation here…this is his comeback to the top.
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October 16, 2013 at 12:17 PM
I still stand to what I said. I would rather say things upfront rather than in hindsight. The original is trash and I will be surprised if this film doesnt tank. The reports I am getting indicates single screen might take to this and nothing more. So I still dont see going beyond 70 crs.
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October 16, 2013 at 9:48 AM
Boss has some fun moments as per promos (though of the lowest denomination type!)
Kjo-ayan-abhishrek join ranbir -Kat holiday !!
Ha seems ayan has taken over kjos place in ranbirs life–he’s there to arrange room bookings and ‘clean up’ the mess
And ensure there are no photographers around to film the dodgy stuff
And how can kjo be far behind–love these guys
Know kjo v well–
Kjo is already thinking of a ranbir, abhishrek (with their respective dads) AND possibly with ash
AND ? Katrina/deepika/? Project
That’s what u call a ‘brain’ 🙂
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October 16, 2013 at 10:06 AM
this is receiving very strong reviews:
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October 16, 2013 at 10:55 AM
Yeah, do want to see this. Between this and Gravity it’s a good year for survival cinema.
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October 16, 2013 at 10:17 AM
Seems to be working very strong — at least on the single screens and Gandhi Class at least..BTW does this class even exist anymore in India? The Gandhi class?? The last time I sat in Gandhi class was when I bunked classes in std 10 to PU and coughed up ‘aashirwad’ money from relatives at the theaters..
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/more/videos/view/id/2182635
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October 16, 2013 at 1:20 PM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 11h
Morning shows of #Boss commence with a bang…
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 5h
Update: #Boss is superb at single screens. Has picked up at multiplexes, where it started slow, from noon shows.
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October 16, 2013 at 1:20 PM
Taran has incidentally given it 4 stars.
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October 17, 2013 at 5:30 AM
And “incidently” he is supporting its box office start even though on paper it looks pretty weak!
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October 17, 2013 at 6:58 AM
agreed..
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October 16, 2013 at 6:11 PM
http://thebigindianpicture.com/2013/10/planet-of-the-natives/
Interesting article that I haven’t read- but the opening paragraph grabbed my attention…
“In a dream that came to her about four decades ago, filmmaker James Cameron’s mother saw a 12 feet tall blue humanoid. In 1976 Cameron inserted this into his first screenplay, a science fiction spread across several planets. In 2009 we saw it on screen in his epic Avatar. “There’s a connection to the Hindu deities, which I like conceptually,” added Cameron, about why he decided that the Na’vi, a humanoid species indigenous to a fictional planet aptly titled ‘Pandora’, a more ‘primitive’ species in some ways—who, with just bows and arrows, fought the humans (equipped with powerful missiles) who wanted to displace them to plunder their land for a mineral—would be blue-skinned.”
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October 16, 2013 at 6:24 PM
Something for Satyam & those from chennai (like amy)
“Having found my process the shoot was not difficult. The photo-stall owners were too busy soliciting and photographing their customers to bother with me. And my subjects were getting themselves clicked either way— so they didn’t mind an additional photographer on the spot.
But it took two and a half years, during which I kept returning to the beach, before I was satisfied that I had captured enough moments to be able to curate this essay. Then to choose the pictures that would comprise the essay I sifted through the lot, seeking out those that, to my mind, made for interesting moments and compositions. This, so far, has been my only photo-feature which is related to the ‘entertainment’ or TV and film industry, so to speak.
At one level this is a simple story of how people are fond of their favourite film stars, and how eager they are to be photographed with them. Yet, at another level, it also reminds you of what’s behind an actor’s stardom— the camera. The camera, controlled by the director and cinematographer, is what grants an actor his or her ‘limelight’. And maybe pieces of that limelight are what all those people getting photographs clicked with cardboard cutouts at Marina Beach are looking for too.”
http://thebigindianpicture.com/2013/09/footprints-on-sand/
Ps: lol @ the fool he is happily carrying Kareenas cutout home!! 🙂
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October 16, 2013 at 6:54 PM
Wow liked that paragraph !!
“At one level this is a simple story of how people are fond of their favourite film stars, and how eager they are to be photographed with them. Yet, at another level, it also reminds you of what’s behind an actor’s stardom— the camera. The camera, controlled by the director and cinematographer, is what grants an actor his or her ‘limelight’. And maybe pieces of that limelight are what all those people getting photographs clicked with cardboard cutouts at Marina Beach are looking for too”
Ps: think this ‘cutout’ business is unique– doubt anybody has heard of this stuff elsewhere in the world? (Not talking about ‘wax statues’ here or the ‘walk of glory’)
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October 17, 2013 at 1:54 AM
Boss First Day Business
Thursday 17th October 2013 10.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss grossed around 11.50 crore nett on its first day as per early estimates. The figure is decent for a normal day but not for a holiday. The film collected very well at single screens across the country but multiplex business was a total let down from North to South.
The film had to collect 15 crore nett or more as it was a holiday and with a 11.50 crore nett first day number it makes the mid week release a mistake as the film has not really benefited and now will see two days with low collections.
The film performed best in Rajasthan followed by CI and Bihar. Collections in big cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore were bad with Delhi somewhat better. The film may do decent business at single screens until the release of Krrish and that is probably the only hope for the film.
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October 17, 2013 at 2:15 AM
BOSS Poised To Break Akshay’s Opening Record
by Soumita Sengupta (October 16, 2013)
Akshay Kumar’s BOSS opened with impressive numbers today and, as predicted, every circuit saw an increase in the number of footfalls. The film is expected to break Kumar’s previous first-day collections record. Distributors believe BOSS will grow with word-of-mouth publicity and enjoy a lucrative five-day weekend at the box office. Over to them:
Rajesh Thadani, Multimedia Combines, Mumbai
BOSS will do business of Rs 12 crore on day one, all-India, and in Mumbai the film will reel in around Rs 4 crore. From the afternoon shows, there has been a huge increase in occupancy. The reports of the film are also very good so the movie should enjoy a good run over the weekend.
Brijesh Tandon, H K Tandon and Company, Delhi-UP
In Delhi-UP, the film has been running house full in single-screens as well as in multiplexes. It’s a masala entertainer and the story line is very strong. The audience likes every character and the music of the film is also very good. On day one today, the film will surely clock over Rs 2 crore.
Jaspal Dhingra, Nanaskar Enterprise, East Punjab
BOSS is seeing extremely good business at the box office, and it will reel in Rs 80 lakh today. But across the week, business will increase without a doubt. This film might turn out to be Kumar’s best film to date.
Debashish Dey, Aum Moviez, West Bengal
The report of the film is very good and the evening shows are house full. The film will do business of around Rs 35 lakh.
Sarang Chandak, Shri Rang Films, CP
Since it is a holiday today, BOSS has witnessed good business at the box office counters. Even the reports of the film are good. After all, it’s a massy entertainer from Akshay Kumar; and the dialogue is already becoming very popular. So on day one in CP, BOSS will earn around Rs 70 lakh.
Ravi Machhar, Sahyog Films, Nizam
BOSS opened with 65-70 per cent occupancy in Nizam, which is a huge number. Across the day, there was huge growth in occupancy as today was a holiday. The film will earn close to Rs 80 lakh.
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October 17, 2013 at 7:31 AM
This film is exactly behaving like wanted. Very good at ss and bad at multiplexes. And when a film follows that trajectory you will see a disconnect in numbers between trade people as not everyone has the reach to a b and c city in India. The first day looks to be around 11 to 14 which is bad for a holiday. But the movie is quite a low cost venture considering the directors previous movie. This one wil be in plus for the makers even if makes around 60 crores.
Truth be told, ask hay has lost the multiplex audience in the last 3 years with the number of craps that he has done. So the reaction is no surprise. Looks like another 60 to 70 cr grosser to me. I didn’t expect this to do any better after seeing the original in any case
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October 17, 2013 at 7:39 AM
Akki is doing HOliday which is remake of Thupakki. This one wil gross 100 cr for sure as I have seen Thupakki multiple times and have loved it in every sitting. And murugadoss knows how to make a film.
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October 17, 2013 at 2:18 AM
B.O. update: ‘Boss’ strong at s. screens, but dull at plexes
By Taran Adarsh, October 17, 2013 – 11:25 IST
BOSS, which had a midweek release [Wednesday, 16 October], has fared exceptionally well at single screens of most circuits. However, the multiplexes are a cause for concern, since the business refused to multiply *manifold* despite a positive/strong word of mouth. In fact, even though the biz at multiplexes did witness an escalation from 4 pm/5 pm onwards, the jump in the business was clearly missing. An interesting cricket match played spoilsport here, hitting the business hard in several circuits.
Also, unlike 2 October, which was a *major* holiday, 16 October wasn’t, since some schools and offices in private sector were functioning like any working day. The business, expectedly, is likely to take a dip on Thursday [till Friday noon/evening], which is normal in any case. However, the business should grow over the weekend [Friday evening to Sunday], since the word of mouth is in favor of the film.
In terms of economics, the film should easily rank in the ‘Plus’ category, but the weekend business as well at the film’s BO performance on weekdays should be the deciding factor.
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October 17, 2013 at 7:06 AM
Boss Marches On At Single Screens On Day Two
Thursday 17th October 2013 13.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss continued its excellent run at single screens on day two in the heartland of India be it UP, MP, Rajasthan, Haryana or Bihar. The business in the noon shows at single screens on day two is not down by much compared to day one.
The business at single screens ensures the film will not go the Besharam way (in terms of collections going down non stop) as the single screen audience in certain circuits is coming out for the film while Besharam faced rejection across the board.
But the low multiplex business and disappointing day one will curtail the business of the film. The multiplex numbers starting point is so low for a holiday that even if they sustain well for a couple weeks the contribution from multiplexes will not be what it should be.
The last film to score big on just the strength of single screens with multiplexes being dull was Wanted released in 2009 and to be a real success Boss will have to repeat the feat of that film.
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October 17, 2013 at 8:47 AM
how multiplex audience will come that to in one of the sequences akshay is kumar is singing honey singh’s “ga…nd main dum hai”(after offensive after lungi dance that to in this age) and doing all sort of badtamizzi with namesake big boss that to is famous for that only in silver screen
the thing which appeal these is young crowd and it looks a bit dry but may watch this one because of the fitttest and most orginal action guy of bollywood returning to action…it will be good
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October 17, 2013 at 8:51 AM
the second hero in this movie(the directors brother) looks good has personality …a better version of ali zafar as he looks the same but would love to see young vidyut and akshshay together in action..best two and original one of bollywood
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October 17, 2013 at 10:27 AM
No one, and I repeat no one, can fight like this guy in Bollywood. And I would easily take something like Commando over the masala crap we are getting these days. At least the action is fun to watch.
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October 17, 2013 at 8:57 AM
one has to admire akki for tenaticy though… multiple films at this age and all cumulatively in box office outgrosses any star when at this age they are reluctant to have multiple release to get bigger initials and total but again quality will always suffer
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October 17, 2013 at 9:44 PM
With multiple release strategy, Akshay is owning crazy fan base which is biggest in Hindi film industry. His fans are loyal to him and stck with him even if he delivers flops.
In contrast, fan base so Sallu, SRK, Hrithik keeps fluctuating when theor star’s fortunes changes.
Quality may suffer as out of 10 projects, only 1 can be great and others good to average. But by doing films regularly, you are making one section of fans happy, and other section hungry for more.
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October 19, 2013 at 8:22 PM
Lol Gorilla! you are providing good dose of entertainment here though by default.Akshay having biggest fan base is the joke of the decade.Akshay can’t even open a movie properly now and you are talking about biggest fan base.By doing 4 to 5 films a year Akshay has lost all good will and if he goes with same pace in future then things may turn more worse for him.He should do some selected movies now so that he may have some sort of happy ending.
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October 17, 2013 at 9:03 AM
Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai to co-host fund raising event with Sharon Stone
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/abhishek-bachchan-aishwarya-rai-to-cohost-fund-raising-event-with-sharon-stone/1183815/
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October 17, 2013 at 3:47 PM
The ‘Boss’ trailers have zing and liked them. It’s actually showing nearby and may check it out.
Also boss will be akshays biggest hit after rowdy rathore and if liked, may match houseful/hf2 interms of the box office.
Btw krish3 also releasing in Tamil/Telugu
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Krrish-3-set-for-simultaneous-release-in-Tamil-and-Telugu/articleshow/24292024.cms?
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October 17, 2013 at 3:52 PM
yes the last one also had dubbed versions that did well.
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October 17, 2013 at 3:56 PM
Satyam: The comments section under ‘Babel’ is not showing at my end. Is there a problem?
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October 17, 2013 at 5:57 PM
a wordpress glitch where if you’re not signed in you can’t see them. They say they’re working on it.
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October 18, 2013 at 3:05 AM
I feel that some drastic changes are in the air as far as masala fare is concerned.
I head a big team in the IT world and whenever the discussions during a team event tends to be about movies, you get a good idea of the general mood of the multiplex going public (some kind of a sample based analysis).
Over the last few months i have felt that the days of the mindless masala are definitely over. I feel that CE was the big bang & the tipping point. From now on the masala fare will not go this big. And the best metric would be the upcoming Salman movies, imo his coming movies will be nowhere as big as CE and that will be a sure shot signal to the film industry that the tide is changing.
Take the case of BOSS, half the team doesn’t care about the movie & the other half doesn’t even know that such a movie exists. Now the folks in the team are between 20 – 30 yrs and i would say these are the people who tend to watch movies in a MPlex quite regularly.
The movies that everyone is looking forward to is K3 & D3. And everyone expects the movies to have out of the world special effects and super fine production values.
Hopefully if these movies live upto the high and expectations we might see a new wave of high tech movies taking over in Bollywood.
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October 18, 2013 at 4:23 AM
Few responses, if i am permitted-
[1] CE was a good masala movie – Point taken, though i will like it to call it a family entertainer more than a masala entertainer. But CR did try to become massy in few parts thanks to its director…so will not debate much on it.
[2] BOSS was not talked about by your team members…it is possible. It is a single screen masala movie, making a small time gunda a BOSS. So when their BOSS (you) are with them…how can they talk about another BOSS? 🙂
I think the talking point of nation is very important…right now, no one is even talking about K3 and D3. Mood of the nation is with Sachin retiring, India losing/winning and Modi/Rahul/Kejriwal/politics.
So not sure why do you think that K3 and D3 are being spoken about. Infact compared to Krish or D2, there is very little buzz for these movies.
[3] BOSS will rock…the movie will go “wanted” way. 100 Cr to rakha hai.
[4] Masala movie had never ceased to exist. They were always running and will always run.
[5] Job dila do na BOSS!
Apne ko bas paani nikaalan aata hai!!! I think i can do well in IT.
😛
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October 18, 2013 at 5:44 AM
1. CE was a pure masala, calling it anything else will not be right.
2. Single Screens are on the decline and their prominence will constantly reduce. Look at the condition of most single screens and you would realize that either the owners don’t make money or have already decided that they would close soon (otherwise they would surely invest some amount into the dilapidated structures).
3. I would be surprised if BOSS could do 100 Cr on the strength of Single Screens only.
4. Sachin has always been the talk of the nation, for many reasons and rightly so.But apart from the days when the legend played like only he can. there has never been an impact on the love for movies.
And as far as politics go, it has & will never interfere with the affection for movies.
3. Masala movies will surely exist in perpetuity, but their ability to make big moolah would dwindle for sometime to come.
As I said if K3 & D3 are able to showcase top notch CG and neat production values, we might potentially see a new era of Si-Fi / Hi Tech movies coming out of the bolly stable.
& Will surely consider the job application, but as of now the hiring is on hold 😛 😀
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October 20, 2013 at 12:41 AM
–The movies that everyone is looking forward to is K3 & D3. And everyone expects the movies to have out of the world special effects and super fine production values.–
Butler saab:
I for one would love to meet up with your team; the girls mainly since I fathom I have a VERY strong chance of ending up with at least one date thought obviously am too old for them. But hey if K3 and D3 are epitomes of technological prowess for them, I truly stand a chance since the satisfaction-quotient seems to be damn low!! And this coming from an IT team. I hope it is not Bangalore since I find it a bit hard to fathom that IT teams from Blore that frequently work on VFX for Hollywood films (I worked on Iron Man 3 through Oracle) would find K3’s effects good!!!
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October 20, 2013 at 8:40 AM
I never said that we would outdo hollywood in vfx. What i am trying to convey is the fact that people are fed up of the regular fare. And if K3 & D3 can comeup with some good stuff, that will be the way forward.
Now as you mentioned that a lot of vfx work is already done from here, so why is it not possible to come up with good effects for our own movies ? Hopefully one of these movies is a move in the right direction. And no im not expecting a gravity here. Just a leap forward. & considerng that vfx can be an expensive deal, the 2 movies have probably the best chance to engage the right resources.
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October 18, 2013 at 6:10 AM
Besharam At 55 Crore In Two Weeks
Friday 18th October 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Besharam grossed around 3.75 crore nett in week two taking its two week total to a little over 55 crore nett. The film is out of most theatres possibly adding just another 25 lakhs nett or so from here on.
The second week numbers were similar to small budget duds like Nautanki Saala and Go Goa Gone which says it all.
After a near 20 crore nett first day, 55 crore should have been a worst case scenario for its extended weekend but it shows how fast a hyped film can come down if rejected especially if it manages to get a good opening
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October 18, 2013 at 11:08 AM
Besharam is simply one of the most remarkable stories of this year. I was surprised by how much YJDH did, similarly so with CE but this is a simply stunning result. It is easily one of the most extraordinary failures over the last 20 years or so. A film that was released on a CE-like print count, that even in the worst case scenario should easily have cleared a 100 or more was barely able to more than half that. To put it in perspective this is a tank far worse than JBJ or Raavan or TMK and so on. There are tanks and there are big tanks and then there are the truly spectacular ones. For a film to do 20 on day one and then fold up around 55 (or a bit more if you take Taran’s numbers) is breath-taking. It;s not odd to find films that do nothing even on day 1 (KHJJS or something) but to have one that actually has a big start but is completely rejected and to the point where any number of junk films still do 100 or more (depending on the initial) and this is nowhere close to it is hard to comprehend. This isn’t about disliked films being rejected. It’s about the scale of the rejection, specially after YJHD when Ranbir was at his hottest. Normally such films still do enough for a 3-5 day period if not more and cement the initial. This film really didn’t have anything beyond the first day. And so from my perspective it becomes an interesting case study into ‘why’ precisely this happened. The banal explanations (‘this is the worst film’, ‘bad script’ etc) simply don’t work.
But beyond this I’d also add this, and continuing an older point. While everyone has been calling it a flop and BOI perhaps a bit more eagerly underlining every extent of the failure, the fact remains that given the scale of the failure the media has still overall treated it with kid gloves. When JBJ failed there was a far worse reaction, when Raavan failed it was as if the world had ended! The former did 28-30 or so, the latter 30-35 (depending on who you believe). When MP released the media again treated it like a very big deal exaggerating things. The film did 27-30 crores in 2005! This after a 17 crore week 1 (biggest at the time, it also broke the Sarkar 3 crore plus Bombay record at that point, did 3.62 or something). Just on trending that’s way better than what most 100 crore grossers put up today. So there is a politics when it comes to how these hits or flops are judged and talked about, it’s never just about the actual facts. Yes Besharam got very negative reviews (though note how Ranbir was still praised in many of them), yes the trade instantly called it a flop (there was no room even for the slightest spin here, because it clearly wasn’t going to get to even a 100), but beyond this there has been no added layer of commentary as there has been in some of those other cases (for that matter even when Dil Se flopped the anti-Ratnam Bombay media made huge deal out of it, as if it was some sort of historic flop, meanwhile plenty of other high profile SRK failures or at least under-performers were treated with great generosity).
So again there is this politics but leaving all this aside the scale of the Besharam failure relative to any big film that opened at a minimal level is quite singular.
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October 18, 2013 at 11:51 AM
The 2 factors that majorly contributed to the debacle IMO were the offensive content which turned off Ranbir’s fan base and the ladies who usually come for his movies and the release strategy. If the movie had released on a normal Friday it would have done well for 3 days and then tanked. This one released on a holiday and there were 2 working days following it. By the time the weekend came WOM was so bad that nothing happened over the weekend. It makes sense for a movie to release on a holiday only if the Holiday falls on a Monday or a Thursday. A bad product can be murdered in the working days that come between a holiday and the weekend. I think Abhinav has to take the bulk of the flak here and rightly so. He had everything going for him after YJHD and even a mediocre movie would have got him a hit. And he came up with this….
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October 18, 2013 at 12:08 PM
Agree with Bad WOM and two working days part.
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October 18, 2013 at 12:37 PM
Although DB did well with the ‘offensive’ stuff. Admittedly this was marketed differently but clearly Besharam didn’t make a dent even with this demographic. I agree though that Kashyap completely deconstructed himself here after Dabanng. he might still have a chance if he returns to the Dabanng terrain. His excuse could then be that Besharam wasn’t his kind of scene. But even with masala it’s getting harder to get huge numbers without the right elements in place.
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October 18, 2013 at 12:51 PM
fair point on the release schedule. But the corollary must also be stressed here. Films that are considered just about passable or those that are going to flop but that have enough of a core audience interested in the initial run can put up good numbers over the extended weekend even with ‘weakness’ in the reception. By the time the dust truly clears it is impossible for the film not to do 100 crores or whatever. So a lot of big grosses can get exaggerated this way. Or when some of these films completely fizzle out after a 5-7 day period or something it’s because the WOM has never been strong enough and the numbers have been ‘relatively’ weak even in that initial round (though not weak enough to not add to the total in significant ways). But even so Besharam remains a singular case. If it hadn’t been completely rejected even weak numbers would have been enhanced somewhat by the weekend gross. The rejection was so total that nothing could make a difference. And when it’s this bad the release schedule though a factor cannot be the decisive one. Had it released on a normal weekend you would have seen a similar number for Fri or probably a bit less, the same on Sat if not less, perhaps somewhat stronger on Sun (or not even this given the reception) and then a completely collapse on Mon. Such a scenario might have given the film a bit more than what it currently has but again wouldn’t have made a huge difference. Because again if a film does not even have support with minority segments it cannot do well in any scenario. D6 didn’t have competition for weeks and still couldn’t do much. The extended week I think matters assuming the film has a minimally decent WOM. Or else it’s a fantasy film like Ra One where you might get a very young demographic to show up in the initial rounds (by the way this is a huge advantage that Krrish has, despite whatever other negative vibes it might be giving off).
On a related note this is where flops are not seriously analyzed in India (like so much else). A film can fail with 20% of the audience liking it or at least not minding it while another kind might fail with almost no one liking it. Since the gross is also dependent on the kind of film, the level of stars involved, music, so on and so forth it’s hard to make these distinctions in a more precise sense.
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October 20, 2013 at 10:55 AM
“On a related note this is where flops are not seriously analyzed in India (like so much else)”
Totally agree.
The social media and other online platforms make even the biggest of movies very vulnerable to bad feedback.
Butt what was surprising in Besharam’s case was the fall in single screens. The masses seem to not have liked Ranbir in the masala avatar.
And at the same time this might also work against r.. Rajkumar.
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October 20, 2013 at 9:31 AM
Yes, the crash is almost surreal, and it also makes you thing how fallible even the biggest stars are these days. No one is safe which imo is a good thing.
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October 18, 2013 at 6:11 AM
Boss Second Day Business
Friday 18th October 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss grossed around 7.25-7.50 crore nett as per early estimates on day two which is decent as the drop is a reasonable 35% coming of a holiday though the holiday may not have been too beneficial for the film. The two day business of the film is 19.50 crore nett approx
The film was best in UP in day two with some centres hardly showing a drop at single screens. The second day trend gives the film a chance to have a decent run as long as there is an good upward trend on Saturday and Sunday.
The business at multiplexes on day two was low but the trend was not bad with premium multiplexes (where the film struggled on day one) falling 40-45% so they should stabilise today and rise tomorrow with the key being how much do they rise.
The five day weekend could go to around 45 crore nett if the film gains some momentum on Saturday and Sunday.
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October 18, 2013 at 6:20 AM
45 crore is where i thought the weekend will go. First week at most 65 crore. It’s still unclear what kind of word of mouth it has fro multiplexes and I agree with R.Butler, it needs the support of multiplexes to go big.
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October 18, 2013 at 8:36 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 6h
Despite a working day after a holiday, #Boss is rock-steady on Day 2. Early trends suggest ₹ 7.50 cr+ on Thu. Biz should accelerate today.
Taran’s keeping up the show!
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October 18, 2013 at 8:38 AM
Rock steady? Old tricks still being used.
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October 18, 2013 at 11:54 AM
I cant be more happy to see the rejection of such masala movies. There is a limit to the number of south Indian movies remake one can take. I hope Rambo Rakjumar goes the same route if it is bad. I dont have a problem if an entertaining movie like Thupakki (Holiday) does well but one should not take the audience for granted and start adapting every South movie which does well.
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October 18, 2013 at 1:05 PM
I see where you’re coming from but I often detect this specially hostility towards masala. If it’s about mindless repetition one should be opposed to any such genre whether it’s a Southern remake or not. So tons of multiplex romantic comedies make me quite queasy (!) and there is mindless repetition here in exactly the same way. If it’s about all genres then masala does not need to be highlighted! I think this asterisk comes about because there is always a problem with masala that is ‘historic’ in some sense. Yes masala ought to be entertaining. Johar should be so as well! And while a movie like Boss (or Wanted) simply cannot gross as much as a multiplex film if both have the same levels of acceptance within their target audience this is a box office argument, not one about the respective quality of each film. Boss clearly has an audience within certain cross-sections, whether it can do a Wanted remains to be seen. So people do find it entertaining enough. Akshay might be a bit out of favor with multiplex audiences but his Rowdy Rathore did quite well. I liked the latter a lot and I don’t every masala remake out there. Nor do I disagree that this is often very lowbrow entertainment. But the difference is that I don’t consider this multiplex rom-coms sophisticated cinema either! I find them to be films for juveniles 99% of the time. The kind of stuff that would be targeted at teens within an American or Western context.
‘Entertainment’ in any case remains a fuzzy concept. And I am always suspicious when it is used in the context of masala too much. Because it then defines a ‘limit’ for the genre. In other words the only thing one can expect from masala is entertainment and hence if there isn’t even this the film is utterly pointless. Conversations about other genres are never quite framed this way. Because historically masala engages in a kind of representation that certain classes are either hostile to or are unnerved by. The same thing happens at a political level. Those who think that leaders like lower caste leaders in the North are simply jokes and have no substance to them. The politics of masala cinema then becomes either ‘politics for idiots in the masses’ or else ‘a dangerous kind that threatens to destroy Indian values’. In the contemporary age it is redefined as ‘the bull that prevented liberalization for so long’!
I’m not incidentally suggesting you meant to imply any of this. Just that certain seemingly neutral phrases have a history and set of associations and I’ve been trying here to tease them out. I don’t at all disagree at the ‘stupid’ nature of such Southern (actually Telugu) masala. I have myself brought this up many times in the past. But this cannot be the only genre held up to certain standards. All else being equal I’d rather have Boss than Cocktail. I mean this very seriously. For reasons of ‘entertainment’ as well as those of ‘politics’.
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October 18, 2013 at 12:06 PM
I think as someone pointed out this will follow the Wanted model.So, I would expect the final figure smilar to Wanted adjusted for the fact that it is few years later. A final total between 80-90 crores is likely. Not a flop but not a major grosser either. Which is par for the course. A msaala movie with little buzz that isnt multiplex friendly
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October 18, 2013 at 3:01 PM
akshay is there only for a short duration in 1st half in a movie sold on his name but simply rocked 2nd half in a mediocre movie and saves it and ya his action sequences in 2nd half makes up for it
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October 18, 2013 at 3:11 PM
“Akshay might be a bit out of favor with multiplex audiences but his Rowdy Rathore did quite well.”
don’t think this argument hold anyay as the movie is more rooted and offers nothing to multiplex sensibilities with no heroine and a lead who is pretty much not there in 1st half
akki is always around:
this year he had a multiplex hit in small movies like special 26 and last year with omg both with miniscule budget but trended infact boss is opposite infact with a terrible second hero (who even got worst review in outaimd ) he made even that film reach respectability …
i
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October 18, 2013 at 9:25 AM
http://gma.yahoo.com/role-reversal-actresses-over-40-top-hollywood-101950453–abc-news-celebrities.html
Too bad, in bwood they become mothers as soon as they cross 35! Amitabh played lover to Nutan/Waheeda in the beginning of his career, and played their son less than 10 yrs later!
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October 18, 2013 at 11:50 AM
The reason why Besharam did so badly is very simple: There was NOTHING good in it to attract any audience. It is not just that it was a very bad film, which it was. But there are a few elements even in a bad film that attract some audiences for a few days. Some have good, much loved songs ( Dil Se, Ravan, JBJ, Delhi 6 had them. Beshram had none. Even in the week of its release it did not have a single song in the Top 5)). These films had nicely choreographed song sequences. The dances in Besharam were unimaginative, stale and boring. Some have a charming / beautiful/sexy heroine that draws young male viewers. ( Manisha, Ash, Priety, Sonam were there in the above films. Pallavi Shraddha must be the most uncared for heroine in recent times. Even when heroines cant act or make their mark in a film ( like Amy Jackson in Ekk Deewana Tha), they at least get covers of magazines lik GQ or Maxim and fashion spreads. Not Pallavi. Some have a gimmick element like Kareena in bikini in Tashan, or an item song like Shiela ki Jawani in TMK, underwater sequence in Blue. Besharam had none. Some have hero and heroine in god contemporary clothes, attracting the youth again ( Anjana, Anjaani). Some are so harmless and bland, people say, let’s take a look since we have nothing better to do. This was downright offensive, without being entertaining.
Simple. It had nothing, NOTHING to draw the audience in. And plenty to keep them out.
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October 18, 2013 at 12:08 PM
Did you see it? Where is your review?
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October 18, 2013 at 12:21 PM
Munna: Of course I did not see it. Life is too short to waste on such unmitigated trash. you don’t try food that looks stale and stinks.
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October 18, 2013 at 1:05 PM
I thought from your line of comment that you have seen it. I saw it and didn’t find it that bad. Actually I can safely say, that it is if not better, it probably is similar in content to many bigger earners.
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October 18, 2013 at 1:06 PM
LOL, I too thought based on your rather specific comment that you had seen it!
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October 18, 2013 at 1:14 PM
“LOL, I too thought based on your rather specific comment that you had seen it!”
Exactly Satyam!!
It’s one thing to hate a film after seeing it or. It liking its trailers and not seeing it and Another thing to simply hate it and pour vitriol without even seeing it!
It’s as if utkal uncle had put money on it and had gone bankrupt–only then this level of anger can come in
This is an interesting response
Also feel something is got to do with the ‘leaked ranbir Kat in bikini pics’ –This is NOT the main reason since the film was bad but seems Many guys just got jealous and took it out on this poor film
🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 1:28 PM
Well it’s not that one cannot make an educated guess about certain films. For instance it’s not hard to figure out what kind of film Boss is going to be. 95% of the time films in commercial genres are what we expect them to be whether they’re more or less entertaining at some superficial level. But as I see it either Besharam is one of the worst commercial films ever made or else there is something else going on here which independent of anything else ‘upset’ people. And I think it’s the latter. Given the kinds of films that are lionized in every genre it’s just hard to believe that differences in ‘script’ and whatever account for this failure! And everything that Utkal has been referring to from the music to the item numbers to whatever explain why a film might have a bigger initial, not why it sustained better than another. presumably people don’t think films are terrible but nonetheless watchable because of the music. Had that been the case JBJ or D6 and in fact many others would have done a lot better. And the day 1 initial wasn’t a problem for Besharam in any case. Whatever the reasons here (Ranbir’s post-YJHD status or what have you) these should have helped sustain the film a bit better. Sometimes there are just terrible commercial films that get rejected but in my experience only certain kinds of commercial films get even worse responses. So for instance TMK wa s a poor film, Tashan was extremely uneven, preferred the latter vastly to the former but didn’t really like either film. However the ‘spoof’ elements in each case probably account for the total rejection more than anything else. Same with JBJ. Raavan was a different cup of tea altogether. Here I believe it was the film’s political charge. D6 wasn’t hated anyway. So I haven’t seen Besharam yet but I am more inclined to believe it’s about these sorts of factors rather than purely obvious ones. The latter do contribute, I’m not saying Utkal doesn’t have a partial point, but i don’t think this is the entire story.
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October 18, 2013 at 1:38 PM
It has decent music but they haven’t been placed right (but many hindi movies are guilty of that). I think screenplay is not good. After some point the emphasis on Besharam irritates you (like TMK). The humor is too loud for most most people.
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October 18, 2013 at 1:12 PM
BTW Utkal and Apex – Have you guys seen BA Pass? A small movie but much better handling.
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October 18, 2013 at 1:15 PM
‘Better handling’ of what ? 🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 1:23 PM
lol..some things are left vague for your comments 🙂
ps – In my place there are two RJs on FM and they do their double meaning talks in morning. They are talking about Frieda Pinto this morning and one of them said she is “maal hain”..there was pause then other said “bolein to kamaal ki hain”
ps1 – You may download their Radio Zindagi App on your smartphone.
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October 18, 2013 at 1:51 PM
Why do NRIs say ‘hain’ for ‘hai’.
Last I heard, ‘hain’ was for plural and ‘hai’ for singular.
So it should be ‘maal hai’.
Other examples;
sab yahan ‘hain’
woh yahan ‘hai’.
I’ve heard this so often on the net that I’m beginning to doubt my knowledge.
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October 18, 2013 at 1:53 PM
PS: I know the polite form would use ‘hain’ for singular, like ‘aap hain’, but ‘since ‘maal’ is hardly an attempt at being polite ‘maal hai’ would be more correct.
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October 18, 2013 at 2:42 PM
Aap sahi hain 🙂
IMO Hai is rustic. If you want to sound formal ..there is very small “n” in sound
http://dict.hinkhoj.com/words/meaning-of-KYA%20HAL%20HAIN-in-hindi.html
http://translate.google.com/#en/hi/hain
http://translate.google.com/#en/hi/hai
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October 18, 2013 at 3:12 PM
I wouldn’t trust the net, Munna 🙂
I hope you can trust Munshi Premchand’s good hindi.
You’ll find a ‘hai’ in the very first sentence, and the third sentence. Two ‘hain’s in the second sentence.
Are the ‘natives’ speech being considered ‘rustic’ by NRIs 😉
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October 18, 2013 at 3:14 PM
correction:
*is* not ‘are’ – after all we are talking about singular and plural.
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October 18, 2013 at 3:51 PM
“‘maal’ is hardly an attempt at being polite”
og– what’s the meaning of ‘maal’ ? 🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 4:08 PM
Oldgold – I am not contesting your position but suggesting when you write हैं in English, you need to write like that. That “bindi” /dot on top needs to be taken into consideration.
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October 18, 2013 at 4:20 PM
> That “bindi” /dot on top needs to be taken into consideration.
The discussion was about when ‘not’ to use the dot , and when one must.
Never mind.
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October 18, 2013 at 4:28 PM
This should clear things 🙂
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090517083200AATuMI2
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October 18, 2013 at 4:33 PM
“for example, how’d i say “aap dubli…..” or “aap moti….”
Haha hope u got it og 🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 5:30 PM
LOL Munna. You are *clearing* things by giving me yahoo answers when I’ve provided you with a good hindi use of the ‘hai’ and ‘hain’.
Moreover the answer there is incomplete. Only deals with ‘address’, and exactly what I mentioned in my comment. It doesn’t add anything new.
But don’t take it personal. This is widespread outside India. Maybe also in India in the non hindi areas. In films and some good hindi laguage mythology and historical serials this isn’t a problem.
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October 18, 2013 at 6:29 PM
Talking of Freida’s Pinto beans, she has finally made her Papa proud..by realizing the ultimate American dream of becoming a stripper..
kya maal hain..aap
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October 18, 2013 at 6:37 PM
Oldgold – Nothing to get offended. When you do transliteration, you tend to write same word in different ways. I understood your point, I would write the way I said to be clear.
One can argue that should we write:
(in your way)
“Maal hai” as a tense
“Maal hain” for addressing.
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October 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM
“Did you see it? Where is your review?”
Haha munna–that was an ace question 🙂
Now this is a perfect illustration of what’s called default negativity which this film faced a lot of !!
Even before the first show went into interval–people were tweeting extreme negative reviews –perhaps even before it started some were ‘geared’ into bringing this down…
“There was NOTHING good in it to attract any audience.”
Then why the 20 crores plus first day ?? How many films get that ?
The film had a nice premise, and dared to take the edgy different route even in the conventional box-office race but took that too far…
Also abhinav failed big time in his execution and there wasn’t enough of a plot !!
For eg why could pallavi not claim her car insurance ?
And so on
BUT the way people are pouring vitriol without even seeing the film reeks of negativity !!
Some because of being khan fans, some Salman fans, and some truly because the film wasn’t good enough
And some even won’t out seeing the film!!
As for pallavi sharda, she was good but didn’t have a ‘meaty enough’ role. Kashyap bit more than he could chew and fell short in the execution…
But there are bigger sins –@least he didn’t take the easy route out
This ‘debacle’ will certainly help ranbir in the long run
Finally, to me, the film was a let down but
With my love for the title song
Sau khoon maaf 🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 12:54 PM
Sad Summary of Heroines in Indian films by utkal uncle …
“Some have a charming / beautiful/sexy heroine that draws young male viewers. ( Manisha, Ash, Priety, Sonam were there in the above films. Pallavi Shraddha must be the most uncared for heroine in recent times. Even when heroines cant act or make their mark in a film ( like Amy Jackson in Ekk Deewana Tha), they at least get covers of magazines lik GQ or Maxim and fashion spreads. Not Pallavi. Some have a gimmick element like Kareena in bikini in Tashan, or an item song like Shiela ki Jawani in TMK, underwater sequence in Blue. Besharam had none. ”
Where’s the anti-objectification brigade Amy ? 🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 12:58 PM
This is reducing the heroine (or rather the female!!) to an ‘object’, an ‘item’, a ‘tool’ and that too a highly disposable one..!!
somewhat ‘disturbing’ thoughts there by utkal uncle !
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October 18, 2013 at 1:03 PM
Apex: The first day 20 cr was purely based on Ranbir’s stradom, major holiday and people giving it a benefit of doubt, since no one from the paying public had ACTUALLY seen it. That got settled once people had seen it and given their feedback.
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October 18, 2013 at 1:08 PM
Things that look so ‘stale’ don’t even get that much benefit of doubt to take them to 20 crores plus!!
There’s no denying that the film had major flaws and the toilet humour and ‘obscenity’ didn’t help at all.
But the ‘not even giving it a chance!!’ flavour was v much there in the air!
If I had hated the film AFTER seeing the film, one would have understood this STRONG negativity but not without it…
As for Pallavi, my views are unchanged
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October 18, 2013 at 1:17 PM
Apex: “But the ‘not even giving it a chance!!’ flavour was v much there in the air!” Then how did it do those 20cr. Obviously, a lot of people gave that chance. And it is the feedback from the first show ( it travels wide in quick time these day) that started affecting the film second show onward. I dont think there is even 1% in the audience who saw the first show had ANYTHING nice to say about it.
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October 18, 2013 at 2:27 PM
“I dont think there is even 1% in the audience who saw the first show had ANYTHING nice to say about it.”
Thats stretching it a bit. If the film was so goddamn hated, it wudve seen a crash of epic proportions, wud’ve barely doubled the first day collections. Since it made close to 60crs, clearly some people did not mind the toilet humor and screenplay faults.
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October 18, 2013 at 2:52 PM
NyKavi: It is a crash of epic proportion. Show me a film, any film that has not tripled its first day collection.
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October 18, 2013 at 3:56 PM
In my world, there’s no spin no excuses
This was INDEED a crash of epic proportions and the film was rejected. Heck, even I didn’t like it beyond a point
But the criticism is excessive. There WERE good elements
Btw folks –check out this track —
Maybe those like utkal uncle won’t find ‘item girls’ or ‘semi nude models’ here but try out the ‘old school’ melody reminiscent of the 80s 90s vibe…
It’s ok to enjoy ‘dilliwaali girlfriend’ (I enjoy that more than others!) but doesn’t mean u trash good genuine melody
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October 18, 2013 at 4:05 PM
This is indeed a beautiful song.
Is it from Besharam?
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October 18, 2013 at 4:11 PM
Another one
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October 18, 2013 at 4:41 PM
On the one hand you’re making absolutist statements like ‘no spin, no excuses’, not for the first time (!). On the other hand you proceed to offer excuses (‘hey it isn’t as bad as everyone’s making it out to be’). Which is it?!
Munna for instance says it’s as good or bad as many other hits. I find this to be an eminently reasonable position. Just because a film fails doesn’t mean one can’t have different opinions about it or analyze its box office fate in various ways. There is not some great metaphysical or religious truth that lies on the side of the box office. These are just human beings who have a certain opinion as a majority at a given point in time. So what? Majorities do a lot in politics that’s atrocious and appalling, they have very questionable choices in other areas of life too. It all depends. There’s no absolute truth that comes out of a box office failure or hit!
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October 18, 2013 at 4:02 PM
Satyam: JBJ, Tashan, TMK, Delhi 6, Raavan… ( I haven’t seen the first three, ) were this bad. As I said , each of these have plenty of pleasures to offer. For example I would have no problem watching Delhi 6 or Raavan just for the music. And there was MUCH more than that in both. But the fact also is, none of them crashed this badly. In fact, except for JBJ, I think the rest managed fare earnings. Come on, none of them failed in tripling their opening day earnings!
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October 18, 2013 at 4:37 PM
Interestingly D6 at the time made more as less as much as BeH. Of course the expectations were much greater here but with this one I always had the sense that there was a small audience for this. The film was not a ‘commercial’ film and it was just produced and marketed all wrong. But yeah if you’re going by opening day D6 and Raavan both 5-6 times that number depending on who you believe. No one considered the business ‘fair’ though. They were dismissed as flops. I do believe that the magnitude of the failure was exaggerated in each case (for instance months later Nahata said Raavan hadn’t been the worst flop around) but one certainly couldn’t call them ‘fair’ by any stretch. what one could say that these weren’t the disasters of the century the media/trade made them out to be. JBJ though is in the very same range in every sense. Of course there was even less excuse here because it was a totally commercial genre. Tashan is a bit tricky because there was a multiplex release problem here for a number of days. TMK too did better than Besharam all things considered. Of course it’s amusing again that you claim the first three were equally bad and yet you haven’t seen them! Quite bizarre in fact! In any case I started out by saying precisely what you just have — that all those flops did better than Besharam. But where I disagree and not just on this film is with your larger idea that films work or not in proportion to how good or bad they are. Once again terms like good, bad, entertaining etc are highly subjective ones if not part of a totally circular logic. So how do we know that a film was good or that it entertained? Because it worked at the box office! And even when certain films are called bad in this worldview (let’s say the average Akshay Kumar comedy) those too are held up as standards of some measure of entertainment when there are complete flops on the other side. And so you for example didn’t think there was anything valuable in Raavan and yet confronted with Besharam (a film which you haven’t seen!) you suddenly discover a great deal that’s worthwhile in the former. Again you continue to believe that with any film released today or in 1950 ultimately the worthwhile must find some measurable correlate in either the box office response or the critical one or both and the opposite must hold for the terrible film. The problem is things are simply not as ‘scientifically rational’ with a medium of entertainment that is also about aspiration and dream and desire and catharsis and so on. So people watch what might be considered poor films using most measurable estimates or reject good films in the same sense. This is because the ‘bad’ might fulfill a different ‘use-value’ (to get all Marxist about this). People might go to a film only to spend some time not expecting anything more than the merely passable from it. People might go expecting something else altogether. So on and so forth. Terms like ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘entertaining’ acquire very different meanings depending on the aim of the viewer. For instance I can watch a certain kind of film on DVD and be entertained by it in ways that I could never absorb the same work in a theater. In a different context if I completely dislike the message of a film I will ‘refuse’ to be entertained by it. Or the same if I don’t have enough exposure to certain kinds of non-commercial cinema where different aesthetic and narrative formats might disable any enjoyment on my part. So on and so forth. This whole question could be complicated a hundred different ways. In each case those adjectives would change meaning. films say much more about their social or political contexts or the societies they’re embedded in than anything else. They are not ‘factual’ statements about anything. yes there are important registers that one can measure here as with any art/entertainment form but these are not the only definitions of what constitutes a worthwhile film. A quick example would go like this… Lata has sung many bad songs but in singing them she still displays an ability that is beyond that of most others in her profession. So even with such a bad song Lata could hardly be compared with inferiors (perhaps even when they sing good songs). So Lata would still be in her own stratosphere but the song in question wouldn’t be worthwhile. This is much like the Raavan argument I tried to get across to you at the time. Even if you think Raavan a complete failure you ought to be able to distinguish that in the film which could only come about from a director of the caliber of Ratnam. Or Amitabh Bachchan has weak performances by his own standards, not by those of most others around him!
And so to finally get back to Besharam I am once again not defending the film (not least because I haven’t seen it). But this idea that this is the ultimate ‘bad’ film makes me more than a little skeptical. Specially because I’ve heard the very same terms before in other contexts. If tomorrow there were a worse tank than Besharam you would be finding redeeming value in this very film!
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October 18, 2013 at 4:15 PM
Utkal uncle–to heck with your ‘tripling your first day earnings’—it’s a FACT that this flick did v badly commercially
But without even seeing it, dissing it so emphatically shows some hidden ‘angst’ lol
“This is indeed a beautiful song. Is it from besharam?”–
Now THIS is called ‘good taste’ og..
Those having imaginary ‘bikinis’ dancing infront of their eyes won’t sense this 🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 4:30 PM
Basically utkal uncle –here u be lost your touch–u are making the same error that many others made with reference to cocktail (though besharam is a more flawed product)!!
Anyhow ‘lust’ blinds …
Ps:checkin out capton Philips shortly …
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October 18, 2013 at 10:43 PM
Satyam: I never said Raavan had no redeeming elements. I maintained and still maintain , it is a bad film. But my whole point in the Besharam discourse is that bad films can have elements that appeal to different audiences..I have mentioned songs, item numbers, pretty heroines, great looking leads, .. and there could be more. And the appeal of these films could vary for different persons. I can watch Yuvraj just for its songs ( and I did). Much earlier, I watched many of Sridevi’s fils just for her. Ditto for Amitabh. That does not mean those were not bad films. My point was that Beshram was a very bad film. Now there might have been films that were as bad, but they had some attractive elements,; Beshram had next to none. ( AS to not seeing JBJ, Tashan, TMK..and seeing Delhi 6 and Raavan – i will certainly see a Mani Ratnam or Rakesh Mehra in spite of the bad reports just to check things out myself. It’s like Lata Mangeskar you mentioned. I mean Rahman or Beatles might have a bad album ( There haven’t been one as per me.) , but that doesn’t mean I wont buy anything they bring out. And incidentally, I don’t think Delhi ^ was bad. Juts that it wasn’t good enough.
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October 19, 2013 at 7:11 AM
Boss Third Day Business
Saturday 19th October 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss dropped on its third day as business in single screens came down from there good levels on day one and day two. The film grossed around 5.50-5.75 crore nett as per early estimates on Friday taking the three day business to around 25 crore nett.
A 25 crore nett total is a below the mark for the first three days but there is Saturday and Sunday to come which can take the film to a more respectable 40 crore nett over five days if the expected weekend growth comes. A 45 crore nett total looked possible after day two but the Friday business came down.
The business on Friday held up better at multiplexes but that was more too do with the low levels on the first two days.
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October 19, 2013 at 8:47 AM
Captain Phillips -“Look into my eyes–I’m your Captain now!!
Checked out Paul Greengrass’s taut new true-life thriller, its lead character, as played by Tom Hanks, based on the book written by Capt phillips himself! But a more appropriate title might have been “The Captain” or even “The Captains”, plural. The hero is Rich Phillips, the veteran captain of an American cargo ship which was raided by a band of Somali pirates in 2009. But the film pays almost enough screen time and detailing to Muse (Barkhad Abdi), the shrewd teenaged pirate who declares himself to be “the captain” when he boards Phillips’s vessel. The relationship between the two, the ironical similarities and shared desperation of the two forms the crux of this movie.
Both men have ‘bosses’ and are following the only economic choice(s) they have. What’s interesting is that Greengrass dwells on the pirates’ perspective as well. The narrative is edge of the seats ‘battle of wits’. Greengrass is adept at mixing a ‘documentary-like’ naturalism with crisp editing and agile camerawork. He has an able buddy in the cinematographer who keeps the ‘pressure’ quotient up. Herein lies the similarity with my recent viewing of ‘Rush’ wherein a similar director -cinematographer combo dealt with relationship dynamics between two men albeit in a totally different setting/genre.
In a way, the film also underlines the new reality of ‘globalisation’ and it’s sequelae. Not only in the theme but have a look at the films team. It puts the combined Brit talents of Greengrass -Akroyd with the new Somali crew headed by Muse, obviously topped off by the ‘Everyman’ of Hollywood and perhaps one of the best actors alive (in my opinion) Tom Hanks.
Greengrass shows talent in balancing our obvious support towards Hanks with a tinge of sympathy for the Somali pirate Muse and even admiration & even pity for their ‘daredevilry’ in what’s ultimately a David vs Goliath scenario!! I did feel that perhaps he has used ‘true events’ as a backdrop and twisted them where needed, somewhat like ‘Argo’. I’m not aware of the intricacies of the book or the ‘true event’ but the total absence of ‘security’ on the cargo ship was a surprise (to me!)
This is another movie, where I’m expecting the ‘know-alls’ raising their approving hand to nod in approval (since it ticks the ‘intellectual’ leanings and the snug ‘cool’ vibe in a serious tone). I can already hear ‘Oscars’ somewhere esp for Hanks. But that’s where I politely disagree.
To explain that, I will have to come to what drew me to the movie! Tom Hanks!
He is truly a ‘captivating’ actor who commands the camera attention. In such a film, one always gets the feeling ‘what next’ (as in the events!). But with Hanks on the screen, I always get a similar feeling about the little smirk, gleam in the eye and the odd mannerism he may thrown in effortlessly. Ironically, here I personally liked Hanks the best in the intiial few minutes before the ‘pirate attack’ where the camera captures Hanks ‘daily mundane life’ and buildup to the trip! That’s a strange thing to say given what unfolds eventually that most will find more interesting (!) but there you go-that’s my taste!
The ‘problem’ to me seems that both Hanks and Muse have presented without any background, character development arc. !”To sum it, I always have sky high expectations from Hanks when he comes on screen and they ‘tagline’ on billboards–“Hanks best role ever!” Is the culprit! Sorry folks, the Hanks I know (& love) is capable of much more …
Towards the ‘dramatic final moments’, it seemed that the director and the team thought “c’mon , we’ve got the most emotionally explosive actor at our disposal–we haven’t got enough out of him!”. And what will be hailed as the ‘comeback of Hanks’ and probably get him an oscar nomination nod here (other than numerous praiseworthy blogposts from ‘intelligentsia’), I saw as little more than the crass ‘exploitation of talent’ of the superlative Mr Tom Hanks!!
AA
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October 19, 2013 at 10:06 AM
“Look into my Eyes–I’m your Captain!!”—contd
While looking into my eyes–make no mistake..
Hanks expectedly delivers a fine perfomance here–perhaps my criticism also shows my ‘respect’ at his capabilities.
It’s just that his eventual ’emotional melt downs’ here seemed an afterthought add-on to ‘exploit’ his talent rather than a natural calibrated sequence as in something like ‘castaway’.
Having said that the damage isn’t done. Because many ‘voices’ make up how they will react (publically) to a film even when they hear the cast/director/banner and sometimes the promos
Not saying it is the ‘correct reaction’ but With someone like me, u never know what reaction will be !! 🙂
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October 21, 2013 at 6:22 PM
I thought Hanks disoriented and disheveled act was superbly done. I don’t have issue except that they didn’t have any security on such a large ship except flares and water hoses.
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October 21, 2013 at 6:53 PM
yes I was impressed with his performance. And I’m otherwise not a big fan or anything. This is more or less based on a true story.
Saurabh recently recommended the Danish film, A Hijacking, and it forms an interesting contrast with this one.
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October 21, 2013 at 9:17 PM
Other quibble: Rescue dragged somewhat. One green..two red..and unusual focus on Navy ship captain..
ps – I wanted better half to go to Gravity so that I could see it again. But she insisted on Captain Phillips!
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October 21, 2013 at 10:33 PM
yes I agree, it was a bit stretched out at points.
Captain Phillips over Gravity? That’s interesting. But all is forgiven to the BM fan!
On a related note Redford’s All is Lost is supposed to be very good too though it has very little dialog. Currently doing limited release.
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October 19, 2013 at 2:38 PM
Reboot of jack Ryan! ( They are going to release this is memory of Tom Clancy! )
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October 19, 2013 at 2:48 PM
One of my most awaited movies!
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October 19, 2013 at 4:57 PM
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October 19, 2013 at 2:50 PM
Hercules
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October 19, 2013 at 3:46 PM
Combo of 300 + Gladiator + Spartacus (the series on Showtime) + Immortals + Troy, etc etc. All in all, this is the Krissh of Hollywood.
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October 19, 2013 at 5:37 PM
SHAHID – overwhelmingly powerful film..
Cast:Raj Kumar Yadav, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Tigmanshu Dhulia
SPOILERS AHEAD
Gritty, gutsy, bold and brave are words that are sometimes bandied about in the context of films. But rare is the Indian film that actually measures up to those adjectives. Hansal Mehta’s Shahid does.
It is a plucky film. Angry but remarkably even-handed, it articulates uncomfortable truths about contemporary India, its media, its judiciary and, of course, its people.
Its barbs are aimed particularly at those that are quick to jump to conclusions and believe the worst about suspected terrorists.
The most arresting aspect of Shahid is that it does not adopt an accusatory tone to narrate the tale of a man who paid the price for daring to stand up for the persecuted at grave risk to his own life.
The film details the facts of the amazing and tragic life of the intrepid TADA detainee-turned-human rights lawyer Shahid Azmi, who was killed in cold blood in early 2010 for defending a 26/11 accused (who, incidentally, was acquitted two and a half years later).
Mehta seeks empathy for his remarkable protagonist without resorting to the conventional narrative means.
Shahid, be it the film or the man, does not reduce the conflict to a simplistic majority versus minority affair.
It narrates a story of humanity under siege, of people who live in a democracy but constantly have all hopes of justice repeatedly dashed.
Minimalistic and unfussy in approach, the film directs our attention to a general and dangerously insidious societal malaise through the details of one particular story that has universal resonance.
The young man whose story Shahid tells never sought to hide his past, which included a short-lived stint in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and many years of incarceration in Tihar Jail on charges of ‘plotting against the state’.
The flimsy allegations were never proved and Shahid Azmi walked free and touched many lives in the remaining years of his life.
Having been at the receiving end of a grave miscarriage of justice, Azmi acquired a law degree and, in a brief but spectacular career, took up legal cudgels on behalf of many innocents accused of acts of terror without sufficient evidence of involvement.
In the seven years that he practiced until he was gunned down in his office, Azmi secured as many as 17 acquittals, a feat that any lawyer would not only have been proud of but also rather worried about.
Why is it that so many young men of a particular community get hauled up every time a terror attack takes place and why is it that the media and its consumers so easily presume guilt on the basis of half-baked charges and insinuations?
Has the violence that surrounds us numbed our collective sense of justice to such an extent that we have qualms in looking for convenient scapegoats among people who are already isolated and driven to a corner?
Shahid seeks answers to these and other related questions but without getting into an unseemly flap.
Mehta’s impressive and utterly fearless film focuses on only two of the many cases that Azmi fought. One can see that the man is up against heavy odds, but he never abandons his faith in the judiciary and keeps chipping away at the ignorance and prejudice he finds all around him.
The film takes forward the principal burden of Azmi’s defining argument against the law enforcement and judicial system’s callous tendency to brand every single accused as a terrorist but does so without taking recourse to any kind of emotional manipulation.
Shahid draws much of its strength from Raj Kumar Yadav’s pitch-perfect pivotal performance.
Yadav is an actor in the Irrfan Khan mould, capable of conveying anguish and inner turmoil through the slightest physical effort or facial twitch.
The character of Shahid Azmi needed a performer with the self-belief to immerse himself completely in the milieu and let go off his own personality. Yadav does just that.
Mehta, on his part, wouldn’t have been perfectly aware of the risks inherent in telling the world who Shahid Azmi and what exactly he was trying to achieve as a lawyer.
That he chose to make this film nonetheless is proof that genuine derring-do, always a rare commodity, isn’t dead in the Mumbai movie industry.
Shahid deserves more than just a standing ovation. It deserves accolades for standing up to be counted and narrating the kind of story that is usually buried under mainstream media cacophony.
The fact that Shahid has got to a multiplex near you should also be applauded and made the most of. Go and watch the film – it is one of the most important films to come out of Mumbai in a long, long time.
— SAIBAL CHATTERJEE
===================================================
‘Shahid’ review: A brave, unflinching and one of the strongest films
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/shahid-review-a-brave-unflinching-and-one-of-the-strongest-films/429164-47-84.html
The film itself is brave and unflinching, and oozes the kind of sincerity that you long for in most Hindi films. I’m going with four out of five for Hansal Mehta’s ‘Shahid’. Well made, and gripping till the very end.
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October 20, 2013 at 7:39 AM
Boss Is Flat On Saturday
Sunday 20th October 2013 13.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss failed to show much growth on Saturday. The Wednesday release has not benefited the film as the weekend (Fri-Sun) collection will be below expectations. On Saturday all the smaller circuits droppped while likes of Mumbai and North were up slightly. The first four day figures of Boss are as follows.
Wednesay – 12,00,00,000
Thursday – 7,40,00,000
Friday – 5,60,00,000
Saturday – 5,75,00,000
TOTAL – 30,75,00,000
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October 20, 2013 at 8:27 AM
These 80’s style baap, bhai, bahan ka badla types will not work any more …. And this is all coming because of dabangg .. While wanted and singham had some authentic masala moments, dabangg was bad 80’s movie and irs success bring in dozens of clones .. Obviously bad clones
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October 21, 2013 at 1:56 AM
Boss has another open week ahead before Krrish releases but then it does look it is going to struggle. It’s not the best of years for Akshay Kumar. Only Special Chabbis seems to have worked. OUATD was a disaster and now Boss seems to be struggling. Holiday seems to be the best bet for glory in his line-up.
It’s a pity the masala movies aren’t really working. Since more than a decade we were being bombarded with the Yash Chopra-Karan Johar Band Baaja Baaraat meets Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham kind of movies. The only alternative were the sleezy stuffs coming from the Bhatt camp or then downright B-Grade vulgar stuffs coming from lesser known banners.
Masala movies were a welcome change. Unfortunately, lack of vision and creativity from film makers haven’t helped this genre.
The next wave of movies from the genre will probably determine the fate of masala movies for the future. From now on, it will be especially interesting to see how these notable movies from the genre perform: R. Rajkumar, Bullet Raja, Singh Saab the Great, Holiday, Gabbar (Ramana hindi remake), Singham 2, the Prabhu Devaa-Devgan’s next and Jai Ho.
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October 21, 2013 at 3:53 AM
SRK says, “I think there is a little too much box-office information out there today, and too many numbers floating around. Due to this constant talk of collections, sometimes the truly deserving films, do not get their due credit”.
http://www.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/shahrukh-khan-speed-has-changed-but-joy-of-success-remains-same-107739-2.html
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October 21, 2013 at 6:56 AM
There is more than a little irony (and downright hypocrisy) in SRK saying this!
will add that CE poster to the relevant post, like it a lot.
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October 21, 2013 at 7:06 AM
Boss Five Day Weekend Business
Monday 21st October 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss had mediocre collections over irs five day extended weekend. The business it has done over five days it should have done in three days. The singls screen business was very good for two days probably due to the holiday affect but came down from Friday onwards. The first five day figures of Boss are as follows.
Wednesay – 12,00,00,000
Thursday – 7,40,00,000
Friday – 5,60,00,000
Saturday – 5,75,00,000
Sunday – 7,25,00,000
TOTAL – 38,00,00,000
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October 21, 2013 at 7:08 AM
Midweek: ‘Boss’ is below the mark!
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/box-office/top5-hindi-movies/id/1010/date/2013-10-21
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October 21, 2013 at 8:07 AM
well done for waking up taran…albeit 5 days later
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October 21, 2013 at 8:38 AM
yeah he pushed it as long as he could..
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October 21, 2013 at 10:14 AM
has to come movie had a b grade feel attached to it
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October 21, 2013 at 9:20 AM
What a wonderfully mature, candid interview:
http://www.scoopwhoop.com/story.aspx?menuid=2&contentid=64#sthash.ignBPhVz.sIivjjLP.dpbs
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October 21, 2013 at 1:48 PM
agree amy–watched initial bits. Even I was impressed by kangnas forthright honesty and nonjudgmental maturity.
She hasn’t been lucky but is v talented and given a half decent lead roe can really fire (performance wise).
When she talked about that ‘overcompensating’ bit, one really feels for her..
Ps: hope she has a good role on krish3!
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October 21, 2013 at 1:53 PM
Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi might come together for Khuda Gawah sequel
now I do not see the logic of this sequel,th film was huge dissapointment so why the hec waste money & time..
http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-amitabh-bachchan-sridevi-might-come-together-for-khuda-gawah-sequel-1906643
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October 21, 2013 at 2:43 PM
Khuda Gawah had excellent first 1 hour .. and last 20 minutes. Movies was disappointing in between where Nagarjuna and young Shree were introduced .. This could have been Legendary movie if concentrated on love story of Badshah Khan and Benazir .. the track of Naga/Shree backfired.
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October 21, 2013 at 3:28 PM
fully agree. The love-story was haunting and could have been stretched. Sri and Big B rocked big timehere
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October 21, 2013 at 1:56 PM
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October 21, 2013 at 2:39 PM
WOW !! Some very nostalgic moments here !!
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October 21, 2013 at 2:01 PM
Just when I’m increasingly isolated in my affinity to some parts(not all) of ‘besharam’, came across an ex-srk fan who is now part of a ranbir kapoor fan club Peru…lol
Apparently some Spanish folks liked it!
Anyhow, don’t think anybody else(!) noticed this unknown /under rated song in tese times of ‘munni’ and ‘Sheila'(& utkal uncles lol!)
This ones for oldgold who found it good–whew atleast somebody liked it!! -also do check it out amy.. 🙂
With Spanish subtitles
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October 21, 2013 at 3:44 PM
Khuda Gawah wasn’t the biggest of hits from Amitabh but neither was it a dud. Taran gave it a semi hit tag back then. It’s first week Mumbai collections were at around 94%, which was pretty decent.
One thing that hurt the movie was Sanju’s withdrawal. Dutt had signed the movie and then halfway through the shooting schedules, Saajan and Sadak released and suddenly Dutt found himself projected into stardom. He then refused to play a supporting role and opted out of the movie. It created some huge controversies and the makers had to go for a panic replacement. In the end, Nagarjuna was signed to replace Sanjay Dutt.
I do think that the first hour of Khuda Gawah is really excellent stuff for a movie of its time.
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October 21, 2013 at 4:04 PM
Khuda Gawah had a huge opening and it was absolutely safe after this. But I agree with everyone that after the first 45 min to an hour it really becomes a drag.
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October 22, 2013 at 6:56 AM
Boss Monday Business
Tuesday 22nd October 2013 10.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Boss had low collections on Monday as it collected 2.75 crore nett taking its total to 40.75 crore nett. The film will collect around 43 crore nett in seven days and around 47 crore nett in its extended first week. Despite getting a good price for TV and being sold for fair prices wherever sold it will still struggle for recovery for both the makers and distributors. The first six day figures of Boss are as follows.
Wednesay – 12,00,00,000
Thursday – 7,40,00,000
Friday – 5,60,00,000
Saturday – 5,75,00,000
Sunday – 7,25,00,000
Monday – 2,75,00,000
TOTAL – 40,75,00,000
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October 22, 2013 at 7:36 AM
One of the things that probably kept the multiplexes audience away here was the similarity of the Boss trailer with the trailer of Khiladi 786. When the theatrical trailer of Boss was out, I saw a number of people asking “Is this some kind of sequel of Khiladi 786?” I think a lot of people felt that this is going to be some kind of repetive stuff. And Khiladi 786 is the furthest thing from a masterpiece!
Boss will probably aim for recovery at best and it will be lucky to finish with the kind business Khiladi 786 did. Special Chabbis apart, this is looking like a poor year for Akshay Kumar.
The only positive thing for Akshay Kumar is that with the volume of films he does, he will have another release lined up in a couple of months. And having watched Thupakki, I think that the hindi version probably has good prospects. It’s Akshay Kumar’s safest bet to come up with something big. Akshay then has Sajid-Farhad’s It’s Entertainment and the Ramana remake.
The next really interesting project in his line-up after Thupakki is the Neeraj Pandey one (both of them confirmed last month that they are coming together again). I think Neeraj Pandey is one of the best young directors around. A wednesday and Special Chabbis were very good films.
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October 22, 2013 at 11:10 AM
Audience is just getting tired (and thankfully so) of all these terrible films that give masala a bad name. I was just watching Ghai’s Saudagar the other day, and realized what a good masala film that was compared to the crap we get now.
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October 22, 2013 at 1:06 PM
absolutely henry,I was watching the same thing and what a great film it was,dilip and raj kumar were awesome…just too good compare the rubbish we have now.
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October 22, 2013 at 3:34 PM
And amazing thing is “Saudagar” itself was underwhelming movie of its time .. Still in comparison to current cop of masala crap, it looks so great. I recommend u to revisit Karma again .. which IMO is best movie of Ghai and one of top 5 of 80’s ..
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October 22, 2013 at 4:00 PM
Saudagar, Karma, Khalnayak are all still very watchable films.
Heck I even enjoy Raaaaaam Lakhan massively….lol.
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October 22, 2013 at 9:50 AM
What an inspirational and heart-warming documentary!
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October 22, 2013 at 4:29 PM
Thanx Amy –your kangana link was quite good
Infact hers was one of the best interviews I’ve seen from any Indian film personality…
Recommended folks –I think it deserves a separate thread
But this inspirational link is not opening at my end
Amy –plz open it for me (meant the link!) …
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October 22, 2013 at 5:08 PM
Ok Amy-will u let me open it 😉
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October 23, 2013 at 5:44 AM
Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate to return in January 2014?
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2186139/Aamir-Khan%27s-Satyamev-Jayate-to-return-in-January-2014%3F
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October 23, 2013 at 5:46 AM
2013 Set To Have Less 100 Crore Films Than 2012
Wednesday 23rd October 2013 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
The year is set to have less 100 crore grossers than last year unless a few films releasing in November and December surprise. Last year (2012) saw eight films grossing 100 crore nett or more and so far this year there have been only three in the form of Chennai Express, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani an Bhaag Milha Bhaag.
Krrish 3 and Dhoom 3 should easily make it which would mean five films and it would be a huge surprise if another 3 or 4 films made it especially as none of the films apart from R.. Rajkumar have a good window for a 2-3 week run. Actually if even one more film makes to 100 it would be a bonus
The 100 crore mark is not even a benchmark now as it was 2-3 years back but still less films will make it this year. The plus is that IF Krrish 3 and Dhoom 3 perform there will be more bigger grossers with the potential of four releases being above 175 crore nett while last year only Ek Tha Tiger crossed 175 crore nett.
Basically the top five grossers will see a better performance than the top five grossers last year but the performance of numbers 6-15 will be weaker than last year unless films like Ram Leela, Singh Sahab The Great, Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, Bullet Raja and R… Rajkumar put up some big numbers.
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October 23, 2013 at 5:53 AM
“The 100 crore mark is not even a benchmark now as it was 2-3 years back but still less films will make it this year”
I guess it means the article is pointless
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October 23, 2013 at 6:04 AM
LOL, true! They suddenly seem to have realized yesterday that a lot of films were doing 100 crores! now they have a 175 crore mark. Not 150 or 200 but precisely 175!
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October 23, 2013 at 4:08 PM
ROFL! I just saw the current-viewing and the poster instantly reminded me of the one from upcoming Vikram Bhatt helmed Bips starrer Creature.
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October 24, 2013 at 8:15 AM
Xhobdo:
Few New posters from upcoming films via Taran Adarsh
‘Ishq De Maare’. Stars Dharmendra, Sunny, Bobby Deol. Directed by Neeraj Pathak. Here’s the poster:
‘Sarabjit’. Directed by Ishwar Singh Muchhal and written by Rajesh Beri. Here’s the poster:
‘Idiot Nalayak Useless’. Directed by Ken Ghosh and written by Sumit Roy. Here’s the poster:
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October 24, 2013 at 12:37 PM
Is Neeraj Pandey actually making THIS film. I am more than surprised!
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October 24, 2013 at 12:39 PM
Pathak not Pandey.
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October 24, 2013 at 1:19 PM
You are right! I did enjoy Pathak’s Right Yaa Wrong though
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