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94 Responses to “Lingaa, the rest of the box office”
Action Jackson Has Low First Week
Friday 12 December 2014 11.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Action Jackson grossed around 45 crore nett in its first with average business in single screens but poor business in single screens. The film has an open week this week but is not really going anywhere. It is likely to do less business than the last Prabhu Deva directed film R… Rajkumar.
The best business came in Mumbai which grossed around 16 crore nett with Delhi/UP doing 50% of Mumbai at 8 crore nett. East Punjab grossed around 3.25 crore nett. Both Delhi/UP and East Punjab have done dull business and its these two markets have hit the film hard. The film also grossed decent figures in the singles screens of Rajasthan, CP Berar, CI, Nizam and Bihar.
The last Ajay Devgn starrer Singham Returns had grossed over 75 crore nett in its first weekend and here there is no chance of even a lifetime total like that.
High Hopes For PK – Action Jackson To Lead Again This Week
Thursday 11 December 2014 11.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
There will be no major releases this week which means it will be Action Jackson leading at the box office although the film has not fared too well outside centres dominated by singles sceens. There will be releases like Badlapur Boys, Life Mein Twist Hai and Main Aur Mr. Riight tbut they are unlikely to bring in the audience.
The South will see the release of Lingaa which has phenomenal advance which is best of the year in Bangalore and Chennai for any language film. The film should see a Hindi release but it will be at a latter date.
There are high hopes for PK which is the last release of the year which reunites the 3 Idiots team of Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani so despite the mixed response to the promos and music, these two names will be enough to bring the audience and possibly record opening weekend numbers as far as multiplex business is concerned.
Still no matter what happens with PK it will be turn out to be a poor year with the costs of making and releasing a film going up rapidly over the last 18 months but business going down year on year. Only Kick managed to gross in metros, A, B and C centres, multiplexes and singles screens and P.K may add but that would be just two universal hits in a year which is a poor return. The story of the year has been umpteen major releases failing to even recover their promotion costs from theatrical business and the aim of the promotion was to give higher theatrical return.
@”There are high hopes for PK which is the last release of the year which reunites the 3 Idiots team of Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani….”
Though I am looking forward to this movie, somehow the zing and excitement going for a movie is missing due to a lot of waiting and postponements. I mean D3 itself was pushed around so much while filming but this went a step ahead giving it a feel of some sort of ‘premeditated product’ ….not something natural, spontaneous or unrehearsed. The movie currently is also suffering from too much of a feel good factor and in all likelihood will be judgmental on our society and just hope it is not an extension of SMJ which as a show was excellent but I wont take that as a movie form
Someone was talking about comparing Aamir’s Bhojpuri lingo to Dilip kumar of Ganga Jamuna….. nothing in the promo has suggested if Aamir will be able to justify it the way DK did or score better except for that one line he started off initially which came out authentically. Sometimes I doubt if Aamir has a double role in this movie as I am unable to relate the wide eyed character to the one speaking Bhojpuri. The movie is in such a happy zone/ space that sometime my heart is yearning to for a ranchy item song to rev things up a bit.
At the moment Bollywood is facing extremities and on one side I have complains from a lot of folks for not doing due diligence / homework before presenting the product to us and on the other side you have an extreme of 5 years waiting…. To be fair to Aamir he is not young and has not started out so he has had his innings and is now allowed his time in choosing product carefully as time is running out….but the problem lies with the younger lot who have not done anything substantial for us movie buff to notice or to get hooked to….
On the last point, the only thing the younger lot has mastered is staying in news with a very active PR campaign for each one of them. Daily there are articles strewn around on relocating, flings / affairs and sufficient amount of gossip which is not restricted to internet but all the leading news paper and TV channels. The younger lot esp Ranbir has mastered the art of staying in news just on this front only and has built an aura around him by getting the nation top shots at any given time and currently having the nation’s sexy darling Kat all exclusive to himself with the rest playing musical chairs with partners…… a very sad state of affairs indeed! .
Few randon tidbit from a leading bollywood PR person Dale Bhagwagar –
“For a PR specialist, networking is a daily commitment, not a monthly ritual. There are loads of newspapers, channels, websites and radio stations to cater to. I have a total mailing list of 2,500 journalists across India and abroad, and though it’s probably the largest mailing list amongst my fraternity, I still feel, I will double it soon.
“ The release of information about films and stars is micro-managed now by an entire team, sometimes by multiple agencies, who decide what should be circulated as a rumour and what should be released as confirmed news, when, where and how.”
Hirani has never been judgmental. If anything his portrayals are much too affectionate for him to ever run this danger. If anything I’d say this is where his otherwise fine films become problematic. LRM though is the worst offender in this sense much as the first Munnabhai is still the sharpest. But this is always a bit of a danger with the comedy format (in this social commentary vein). If one is not careful the satire can be numbed by the overall feel-good tone of the work. Even some classics of Hindi cinema, say the work of Hrishikesh Mukherjee (which I adore), is sometimes susceptible to this problem (incidentally this issue is often address in some Malayalam films of the 80s where the political edge is greater and the framing itself is not as ‘bourgeois’ as it might be in Mukherjee.. the canonical Nadodikkattu is an obvious example). Having said that 3I offered a kind of resolution which wasn’t exactly in keeping with the aspirations of contemporary urban India. So you have a sort of pioneer/entrepreneur figure in Aamir who doubles down as this recluse by the end and who isolates himself in this far-from-urban-India environment. It’s almost a kind of spiritual home for him. I wouldn’t want to make too much of this gesture principally because the film doesn’t explore this more but he performs a kind of conscious vanishing. In other words he ‘absconds’ from ‘New India’ to become whatever it is he wishes to be. And again the current film because it has this alien observer also offers the chance for a real bird’s eye view on Indian (human) life. But Hirani from Munnabhai itself has been interested in some kind of a non-bourgeois resting place for his bourgeois satires. The gangster, the failing student-become-man-in-a-cave entrepreneur, the alien. All of this doesn’t really contradict what I started out by saying. Hirani could be a little less gentle but this is not to argue with his considerable accomplishments otherwise (the same applies even moreso for Hrishikesh Mukherjee). On SMJ I actually hope that tone is used a bit more in this film. It would be a benefit to it. And of course Hirani now seems to be returning to Dutt, surely an outsider of kinds.
this is a smart business acumen from Bhatts – I bet the budget of this movie will not be more than 5 cr (both newcomers) – but it will make cool 40-50 cr for bhatts……….
ridley scott’s history says he cannot handle an epic historical (besides Gladiator). 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Kingdom of Heaven, and even Robin Hood all got panned by the critics. I thought Kingdom of Heaven was a good watch and I can still watch it repeatedly. Plus I really enjoyed Ridley Scott’s other movies like American Gangster, Body of Lies, The Counselor, Prometheus, Matchstick Men and Black Hawk Down.
He has earned the benefit of the doubt for me…I also find the subject intriguing…so after all that…I’ll end up watching Top 5 with Chris Rock this weekend. lol. nah…ill probably watch Exodus Saturday night…looks too grand to pass up.
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN was a damn good movie. I am not sure why it got panned by the critics. Amitabh was really stupid to give up the role of SALADDIN. His reasoning was nonsensical – that being a Hindu actor from India and playing a Muslim crusader would somehow offend religious sensibilities in India. He would have rocked in the role of SALADDIN.
I have hardly found any of Ridley’s movies unwatchable. They range from watchable to awesome – but I don’t think there is anything at all UNWATCHABLE.
I think Amitabh would’ve been cool as Salahuddin…and his reasoning for not wanting to do it was very weak especially since he starred in a film called Khuda Gawah and played a character by the name of “Baadshah Khan”!
What a horrible, disgusting atmosphere the whole country is enveloped in. Now even sensible people have to fear taking on such roles out of communal hate by those in power.
In 6 months the whole atmosphere has been poisoned, yet it is considered too short a time for positive signs of development.
Difficult to say whether Amitabh Bachhan is catering to the ‘power’ or genuinely afraid, though.
I thought it was being made now. This means Amitabh bachhan himself harbours these feelings? Disappointing. Doubt if there’d have been any trouble by offended people. There’d have been some who would have been offended surew. The ones set free today.
There is a dolt on this forum who is a combination of sanjay Jha, Nikhil Waghle and Ashtosh……this person’s hate for Modi and Hindus is so great that he/ she will rather see India go down than Modi Government succeed. in taking india to great places…, also even though no one else is commenting on political maters here and there is a general calm on the forum, this person slowly brings up a reason to make sly comments on Modi and Hindus….
shameless, pathetic , master of spin and desperate Puraney Paap……
Make no mistake the mindset of these commies reflected so well by some great people-
@GappistanRadio
1. India me har topic Internet Hindus vs Sickulars ban jata hai.
ISIS propagandist ko bhi uniformly sab condemn nahin kar sakte
2.Aur kuch political parties to terrorist outfits ka naam sunte hi maun ho jaati hai. Waise har issue pe dedh gaj lambi zubaan…
Please buy my book @greatbong
· 15h 15 hours ago
Equivalence of ISIS and mass murder and sex slavery has been made to Hindu right wing social media trolls. #theekhai
Minhaz Merchant @minhazmerchant
· Dec 13
More dangerous than ISIS sympathiser #MehdiBiswas are dolts who make excuses for him
Those who defend uncouth Pak hockey players & ISIS fanboy #MehdiBiswas call themselves liberals? You’ve got to be kidding
Missed seeing this comment earlier & know you mean me.
I am a she. Stop talking like trolls on FB and twitter. How identically you all speak. Hate hindus?!
I hate anyone bent upon this attitude and we saw what happened yesterday with another organisation speaking the same kind of language, across the borders.
So stop your talibanised hindutva comments.
Just because one doesn’t accept hindutva doesn’t mean one hates hindus.
Re.- talibanised hindutva
Wow How identically you all speak !!!!!
another instance of hating Hindus, calling Hindus Talibans !!
Sick !!
anyways please refrain from directly addressing me , I have NO intention of having a Tu- Tu – main Main with Aaaptards , so buzz off !!!!!!!!!!
P.S.- you can continue with your rants, the above will be my first and last redirect !!
I’ve certainly been part of political debates on this forum in the past, and probably will again, but I do like the balance to be firmly in favor of cinema.
On the political front, I offer this great quote by Eqbal Ahmed, the famous left-of-center Pakistani thinker:
“The cult of violence and proliferation of enemies are inherent in ideologies of difference. All express their hate for the Other by organized violence. All legitimize their violence with references to religion and history. In nearly all instances the enemy multiplies.”
Re.-but I do like the balance to be firmly in favor of cinema.
I agree, and usually is my goal as well, on the rest……..chalo chodo- PK baat kartey hain !!LOL
I’m not responding to you but to your words. I don’t know you. Words will always get a response from me whether you like it or not. Taliban has an ideology which is similar to hindutva extremists. Both want to emphasise on their religious bigotry. Both prone to violence.
This is NOT my last word on this to you or to anyone else. Unless Satyam deletes comments or expels me from here.
ction Jackson Day Eight Badlapur Boys Day One
Saturday 13 December 2014 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Badllapur Boys was the best of the new releases but that is not saying much as it grossed around 15-20 lakhs nett on day one. The other release like Kaash Tum Hote, Life Mein Twist Hai and Main Aur Mr. Riight will have hardly grossed 5 lakhs nett.
Action Jackson collections dropped around 80% on its eight day as it grossed around 1.75-2 crore nett. The film was helped by the fact there was no major release otherwise it would have dropped even more. The Gujarat area is doing fair as week one was around 8 crore nett which was nearly 50% of the Mumbai circuit and will Gujarat will easily cross 10 crore nett.
The second weekend should cross 6 crore nett though lifetime business will probably stay below 60 crore nett as third week will hardly collect.
New Releases Dull Lingaa In Tamil Dominates Hindi Markets
Friday 12 December 2014 14.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
The new Hindi releases opened to a dull response of 0-5% with Badlapur Boys being better than Life Main Twist Hai and Main Aur Mr. Riight. which meant it was Lingaa in Tamil which dominated in the Hindi markets
The film has got the widest release ever for a Tamil film in Hindi markets with some multiplexes in Mumbai and Delhi giving it five shaows daily. The film even saw a house full start at theatres like Cinemax Infinity in Mumbai, DT Mega and PVR MGF in Gurgaon. The advance in Tamil Nadu was historic so obviously the opening will be huge. There is a multiplex in Chennai with 60 plus shows daily and it was almost full in advance for the weekend with 90% of the tickets gone.
There was a multiplex in Chennai with 60 plus shows daily and it was almost full in advance for the weekend with 90% of the tickets gone.
Action Jackson has seen a drop of 70% drop in collections at single screens compare to day one and it will be even more at multiplexes due to the reduction of shows.
‘Lingaa’ opens big worldwide
By MOVIEBUZZ
Source : SIFY
Last Updated: Sat, Dec 13, 2014 11:37 hrs
Superstar Rajinikanth’s Lingaa has opened big worldwide, though the film carries mixed report. The film took almost a 95% opening in Chennai city and suburbs, where it started with early past mid-night shows as early as 1am and 4 am. At the TN box-office the film has taken a flying opening.
The tickets for the early morning shows were priced at three to five times the market rate, but still went houseful. Early reports from Rentrak, Hollywood’s tracking agency, revealed that Lingaa had beaten popular franchise Hunger Games 2 at the US box office by grossing $206850 from just 91 screens compared to the $190000 the Jennifer Lawrence film collected from 1583 screens.
It took a monstrous opening at USA. According to the distributors in US, the film grossed $404,556 for its Thursday premiere and broke many top hero films’ all time box office collections.
The premiere collections alone made Lingaa in the all time top seven films with respect to box office figures. Now all eyes are on the weekend report to know if it will break Rajinikanth’s earlier records in US. Remember, Rajinikanth’s Endhiran and Sivaji are the top two highest grosser in US.
Hope CG gets around to reading this. Quite liked some of his responses (and especially his humility), but the one where he says that any film which the audience rejects is a bad film, is a rather poor (though Abhishek also was saying EXACTLY the same thing in the HNY interviews)
Fahadh Faasil’s interview (Hindu)-
” You have turned producer with Iyobinte Pusthakam. What was the motivation?
The idea was to make the film of our dreams and that is just what we stuck to. Iyobinte Pusthakam is big when compared to the standard of the films being made in the Malayalam industry and also in terms of its cost, given the amount of research and preparation that went into it. But the film needed all of it and it could not have been made for anything less than what we made it for. Also, every penny that has gone into it has a reasoning behind it.
Is Malayalam ready to accept a film of this scale?
It was meant to be made in Malayalam only. I belong here and I think in Malayalam. More than the actor, the producer in me wanted to do this one. I want the audience to watch my films and that is what I value more than any awards. “….
…” You have brought a kind of originality to your acting unlike most of your peers. What do you keep in mind while you accept films?
(Smiles) The roles that I am doing can be done in a different or, perhaps, in a more impressive way by other actors. I can’t do an Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha or a Vaanaprastham. All I do is to try and make a difference. It doesn’t matter to me how I look on screen. What matters to me is how I connect with the audience. The process is within me than outside.
But, except for Iyobinte Pusthakam and Bangalore Days that did great business at the box office, the rest of your films this year failed to make much of an impression…
Failure is part and parcel of the process of experimenting with roles and films. 1 By Two had problems with its script, God’s Own Country was a little late in narrating a story of that pattern and the same happened with Money Rathnam. I believe that if my films don’t work at the box office, then they were not up to the standard. ”
Saurabh, thanks for putting this up. Yes, he does sound quite down to earth. Haven’t heard much of how Iyobinte Pusthakam is faring, but for his sake, I hope it does quite well. Saw some stills of his next movie under production Mariyam Mukku and they look quite interesting as well. In any case, it looks like he’s staying in the game in spite of his recent slump, and that’s encouraging….
When Rentrak enters the market the south indian film industry is going to get busted big time !
Bollywood also inflates numbers but compared to the big lies of south its still less. Media made stars like Rajnikanth and Telugu babus are going to be exposed big time in next 2-3 years.
Agree to an extent.
Have always thought BO reporting from South is questionable. Movie buzz report above is total BS as Mockingjay collected 3.8 million and not 190,000 on Fri!!
You really cannot question Rajnikant’s Stardom down south..I don’t think there is any reason for him or his production to manufacture inflated numbers..
But yes, LINGAA’s ticket prices are obscene! 20$ here for 1 ticket!! It is a literal rape of the middle class’s earnings. A family of 4 now shells out around 100$ for this movie.:
The numbers relative to print counts for movies in!South often sound ridiculous, regardless of ent tax argument. Not just Rajini films. I highlighted the bogus reporting in Movie buzz article from Sify.
Lol, won’t say anything on Rajini but if something like Rentrak comes finally people will know how big Telugu market is and how under reporter their stars are in comparison to Tamil stars (regional market wise). Just taking the Lingaa example, its Day 1 number whatever it is, is gross number, where as the highest day 1 from Telugu which is 11 Cr approx, is share. But people hype the bigger number not knowing what is gross and what is share.
LOL at people calling Rajini a “media made star”. I saw this movie in the US and the tickets were $15 for Telugu, $20 for Tamil which was almost double what HNY/D3/Kick cost me. But the theater was almost all filled and the response to Rajni’s entry/song/action scenes was outstanding. I’ve seen Cheers/whistling for only Srk and Salman in the US but this was on a whole new level. Also I do not know a word of Tamil so some of the dialogues were beyond me. The movie was good, however their were very few “Rajini” moments which was disappointing. His entry and subsequent song was excellent as were the action scenes (even though there were only 2 main ones). The songs were pretty good and the 2 actresses had equal length roles and were effective. The theme song is super catchy. Rajini was outstanding. For a 64 year old, his dance moves and overall movement in the movie is inspiring. I’m sure stunt doubles were used for the action however whatever action they showed Rajini doing on his own was great too. Overall I liked it but I’d put Sivaji and Robot higher on the list.
Raj5,
no offence but he is media made star, maybe in america its different because of lot of indians settled there,for instance here in uk where i live its totally opposite,people hated him when his films were released,i am talking in late 80s and 90s ,the reason i know is because i used to run video shop and any of his releases it was no go..i stopped doing videos for last 10 years and in that time i do not know but apart from amitabh,srk and salman khan,no other stars commanded any attraction,srk still rules all uk and europe so thats record-breaking..
Video shops in the UK are a different issue. It sounds to me like you had a Hindi language video store, which stocked movies catering for North Indians.
Some areas of UK cities/towns will have a high South Indian population, and will then have video & DVD stores which stock South Indian films. In these stores, you will not even see SRK. You will see Vijay, Surya, Vikram, Rajni etc.
Likewise, in a North Indian dvd store, you will not see Rajni! Because he is a South star who does movies in South languages.
shashi,
why are video shops in uk are different,pakistani,indian population are massive here,rajnikant films are not popular,his films with amitabh,andha kanoon and geraaftar were sucessfull because amitabh was in it,
shashi, he is a popular figure in the south and thats it,people overseas which was ans is a huge market but rajnikant is a media made star…”simple”
his fans are only based in the south of india,his films might have run for 10 years in one cinema but apart from that state his films on the continent might not appeal to people,flicking cigarette is not known to be an actor…
Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings easily took first place on another quiet Friday at the box office.
Playing at 3,503 locations, Exodus opened to an estimated $8.6 million yesterday. That’s significantly lower than Noah’s $15.2 million debut, though the gap is due in part to the December release (when there’s less of a rush on opening weekend).
The opening is at least on par with past December releases The Golden Compass ($8.7 million) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ($8.3 million). For the weekend, Exodus is poised to earn between $23 and $25 million.
Saluting the real superstar Rajinikanth for his 37th year as a leading star in Tamil film industry. Opening is enough to be declared a hit.
Next year will see 41st year at the top for Kamal Haasan with hattrick of releases. There will be no other duos who would have 40 years at the very top, both doing their bit and crossing barriers in their own ways. Both have beat MGR-Sivaji, with their sustaining power. Special talents and a special generation that Tamil cinema will miss.
Indeed, it is remarkable how durable this duo has been. And, both doing different things in their own way. Would take Kamal over Rajini any day. Still admire Rajini a lot and more so because part of his appeal seems to stem from his off screen persona.
Real superstars never need to shout from the rooftop that they are the badshah or whatever.
Exodus: Gods and Kings missed the mark this weekend, though it still easily ruled over another very quiet weekend at the box office.
Meanwhile, Chris Rock’s Top Five got off to a decent start, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice did big business at a few theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
The Top 12 earned an estimated $77.7 million, which makes this one of the slowest weekends of the year. Business will pick up next weekend, though it does look like this will be one of the worst Decembers in recent memory.
Playing at 3,503 locations, Exodus: Gods and Kings opened to an estimated $24.5 million this weekend. That doesn’t compare favorably to this year’s previous Biblical movies, as its nearly $20 million lower than Noah’s debut and roughly on par with the much-less-expensive Son of God.
That’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison, though, as opening weekends in December are historically muted. Still, Exodus doesn’t look all that impressive against past December releases, either: it was roughly on par with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ($24 million) and The Golden Compass ($25.8 million).
While this is definitely not a good debut, it would be premature to write the movie’s obituary. If Exodus holds up like the third Narnia movie, it will wind up eclipsing Noah’s $101.2 million; that’s a fine result when considering the movie’s international potential.
At the same time, though, there’s reason to believe the movie won’t hold up nearly as well as Narnia. It’s received horrible reviews (27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and word-of-mouth seems mixed (it has a poor “B-” CinemaScore). There’s a chance, then, that Exodus plays like The Golden Compass, which would translate to a total below $70 million. That would be a hugely disappointing result.
It’s likely that Exodus winds up somewhere in between those two. If it follows the pattern of the last two Hobbit movies—which opened on the same weekend over the past two years—Exodus would wrap up in the $85 to $90 million range.
The movie’s audience was 54 percent male and 65 percent over the age of 25. 3D screens accounted for 44 percent of the gross, which is an above-average result for the format.
Here is a link to some discussion among Indian filmmakers with a lot of things which we discuss here on blogs. The initial 15/20 mins is simple chatter but there is some serious talk on the last half where they open up a bit and talk about the so called ‘event films’ and their importance in brand management to their studios, so they are not going anywhere….. Their frustration is visible for films with middling content not doing well. Further it seems the indie filmmakers who had suddenly cropped up and threaten to takeover and were planning to steer Bollywood towards Hollywood are no more a hot property.
Its notable when talks of Bollywood expansion comes, its only Sajid Nadiadwala who mentions reaching out to more Indians rather than international and he is kind of right as even now they say max footfall for a movie is only around 2 cr for a population of 130 cr and there is tremendous potential there itself …..
Wonderful news..another possibly-great film finally releasing on Dec 26th….After HAIDER, PK [fingers crossed], another one possibly in the pantheon of something called ‘quality’..
Can’t wait to watch that outstanding Marathi actor GIRISH KULKARNI in this one..
Release Count Hits 200 For First Time – PK 200th Release Of 2014
Tuesday 16 December 2014 13.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
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PK will be the 200th release of 2014 and it is the first time ever that 200 Hindi films will be released in one year. This averages almost 4 releases this week but only 50 films at the most get noticed let alone succeed meaning that around 150 films have practically no chance of success.
The number of releases was around 100 until 2000 when the release count went higher. The success of a film called Munnibai in 1999 started a parallel industry of B Grade dacait films with an element of sex and there was practically one of these every week. Its another thing that hardly any of them even covered their low costs after the fluke of Munnibai.
The trend of these films died in the mid 2000’s but then came the multiplex film aimed at the urban audience which kept the release flow going and this trend has continued till date though the successes can probably be counted on one hand. The investment in these 200 films will be over 3000 crore with films costing as low as 10-15 lakhs to a 165 crore of Bang Bang. A kick opens on a near 4000 screens while some films just managed to get showcased in just 1 or 2 screens.
Im not against this sort of stuff and IF done properly I do like it unlike some who find this ‘below their class’ or something
I can’t hold back
I was expecting something atleast half decent esp after reading stuff like this posted here on a different thread —
“The Fault In Our Stars
Saw this straight after, on the same flight. Made me cry like a baby pretty much throughout. Liked it a lot.”
Now I don’t wanna rip it apart
But man what a pain in the .. And ….. It was !!
Now I don’t wanna trivialise the sad ‘fate’ of this terminally ill lead pair –don’t get me wrong folks …
But
Crass melodramatic and nakedly aiming for the lacrimal duct
So much so that in a shameful scene the two terminally ill people reach the nadir (or is it climax)
And in a telling moment
Their emotions get the better of em
And then
They make out
It’s as if the problem was not the ‘cancer’
But their virginity ….
PK Advance At Multiplexes Opens Early
Monday 15 December 2014 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
The advance of PK opened early with most of the major multiplex chains releasing their programming schedules over the weekend. There have been films before that have opened advance 6-7 days prior to releases but not at this level as its normally a few theatres or a couple of chains. Normally advance opens at multiplexes opens on Wednesday, in the case of some films its is Thursday by the time programming is ready.
The response was the expected sort with premium multiplexes getting extraordinary response, some like PVR Select City in Delhi getting shows sold out within no time. As the multiplex gets smaller the results get weaker but this is expected as the awareness of an early advance is limited.
The test will be Friday with expectations huge as 3 idiots with the same team of Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani grossed 200 crore nett five years back so PK will be expected to go higher than 3 Idiots by a margin.
The advance is picking up it seems and it is now the film’s prospects seem to be upping. I would take Sachin Tendulkar’s praise with a pinch of salt but most of the noise and confidence about PK seems to be very positive so far. I just hope this “biggie” delivers as quite frankly the “biggie” has disappointed for a long time now. I expect though the Hirani-Aamir combo won’t disappoint and will deliver something with substance and feasibly something as good as 3 Idiots.
The opening looks like it be phenomenal, as phenomenal as a non-holiday opening can be. All records will be possible except probably the first day.
I do like how BOI *expects” this team to go way above 3 Idiots, and the other “stars” are given a freepass to deliver sub 200 crore films and sub par films!!!
I hope you are right jayshah, although I must say the previews have left me decidedly unimpressed. Seems like a film where the preachiness equation might outweigh the fun equation — hope I’m proved wrong, although I’ll have to wait for a few days to catch the movie (I’ll be flying out the night it releases :()…
Jay – to me it is a very safe proposition – practically every theater in India will be playing PK – 5200 screens (compared to 1800 of 3i) – Multiplexes tickets are priced around 150-500 – so first 3 days will be huge – after that the film will trend on its merit – xmas and new year holiday will see solid trending most prob. ……….
Superstar Rajinikanth has stormed the Chennai Box-Office with his Lingaa. The film which released on December 12, the Superstar’s birthday, has netted Rs 2.70 Crore approximately from 45 screens in Chennai city.
Lingaa opening is the best of the year in Chennai city and since it is tax free, it’s a big advantage to the distributors and exhibitors. The film failed to get good reviews and audience opinion was mixed, but Rajinikanth’s charisma and opening has ensured a fabulous opening.
Lingaa is the clear number one and two by a mile as all multiplexes are showing Lingaa in majority of their screens. The early morning shows also added to the box office numbers.
There is no real number three as Lingaa is miles ahead of competition and also 80 % of Chennai city screens screened the film. For the sake of a countdown The Hobbit : The Battle Of The Five Armies is number three.
And in the fourth place is Naaigal Jaagrithai, and in fifth position is Kaththi.
Iyakunar Sigaram K Balachander (85), is reportedly said to be hospitalized at the Kauvery private hospital in Alwarpet, Chennai and reports suggest that he is in a very critical condition.
K Balachander made his directorial debut, way back in 1965 through Neerkumizhi and has gone on to direct superstars like Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Nagesh to name a few.
Superstar Rajinikanth is reportedly rushing to the hospital.
Thinking of the mothers who lost their precious children yesterday
Mere Maasoom Farishte Tu Abhi Kya Jaane
Tujh Ko Kis Kis Ke Gunaahon Ki Sazaa Milni Hai
Din Aur Dharm Ke Maare Hue Insaanon Ki
Jo Nazar Milni Hai Tujh Ko Woh Khafaa Milni Hai
Tere Bachpan Ko Jawani Ki Dua Deti Hoon
Aur Dua Deke Pareshaan Si Ho Jati Hoon
That’s a good poem but somehow poems and twitter campaigns seem inadequate and fake to this tragedy of massacre of 130 kids!
And yes –it’s heart rending infact SHOCKING that ANYBODY can selectively kill kids like this !!!
What’s even more shocking is the MUTED & MILD reaction to this by some here n elsewhere
C’mon this is perhaps one of the WORST crimes in the history of mankind we r talking about !
Btw and this is unrelated to this kid massacre tragedy
But on a related note–
““The Fault In Our Stars
Saw this straight after, on the same flight. Made me cry like a baby pretty much throughout. Liked it a lot”
Can the girl who wrote this raise her hands or speak up?
And if it wasn’t a girl who ‘cried throughout the movie’ one is flabbergasted –not joking !!
Further to my note on the FAULT IN OUR FCUKING GODDAMM STARS Since after seeing this film partly I can vouch that this is perhaps one of the WORST AND MISLEADING review in the history of this blog
there SHOULD be a punishment for such CRAP reviews /comments
🙂
Re: “What’s even more shocking is the MUTED & MILD reaction to this by some here n elsewhere”
This is a pretty cheap shot apex: now you’re going to sit there and judge who has been appropriately outraged over this massacre? (and presumably, those deemed insufficiently outraged will be exposed as X or Y). Give me a break!
Why is it a cheap shot ? I think pretty much everything on social media and social networking/blogging (and most places for that matter) thrives on judgments. If you see someone rating a Transformers very high and calling The tree of life trash- then you’d end up making a judgment about them.
Same thing goes for assessing reaction towards world activities. You’d see tonnes of lines of comments about Haider and how people should understand Kashmiri’s point of view yada yada yada..but when it comes to denouncing Pakistan’s fractured political structure and its rigid stand that only harbours terrorism and does nothing to curb it, then the same people remain silent and choose to abstain from an opinion, then it is completely natural for socially active commentators or silent lurkers to judge them.
Because there are a number of reasons why one chooses to be silent or speak (for instance, can I assume that people who don’t comment on ongoing ethnic cleansing in the Central African republic are somehow condoning it?), ranging from lack of knowledge or insight; to what else is going on in one’s life; and then there is incomplete perspective (how does a Satyamshot reader know what a commenter is doing on other sites, etc.?). It’s a never-ending cycle that is simply used to de-legitimize people, never to legitimize them (so today X is insufficiently active in condemning the Peshawar attack; but X’s critics have themselves not been the most active in condemning ABC incident; and so on and so forth. It’s simply not a constructive approach.
All the reasons you mentioned make the making judgment part even more significant and unavoidable. When someone says Dhoom 3 was trashy as hell on Satyamshot but still goes on boast about its BO collections on another blog (because they may be an Aamir fan), then a reader on this blog(and oblivious to the other blog) will only judge him/her based on what they say or don’t say here.
In a nutshell..social blogging world/social media/etc. is way too hardcore a playground to mind whether people are making judgments or not.
Actually its pretty much same for the real world outside the Web too, the only difference being people tend to be much more careful of expressing their honest opinion and choose to act fake and phoney instead.
I just wish that the respected Q sahib just as he pounced right away on Alex, will take note of a horrendous comment made by a Rana Ayyub like creature equating Hind Right wing with Talibans and call her out. Let’s see!!! (Unlikely though)
This is what Rana, Sagrika Vardrajan, Mihir Sharma . Bachi etc’s goal is…….How the Hell can you compare the two is beyond me but that is the narrative being spread by commies and liberals.
Frustrated souls, election nahee jeet paye toh yeh propaganda !!
At least on this forum they seem to be succeeding .
P.S.- I do admit that certain lonnies on the Right way too over the top- Like Giriraj etc, but they have never Killed anyone …but this creature is bent upon comparing them to Taliban. Kuch toh sharam karo !!! Ghinn aatee hai aisey Aaptards sey !!
Rocky: I refuse to bear the burden of a “fairness” that no-one else in the world bears, on terms forced down my throat. Note that even you aren’t asking me to condemn every atrocity everywhere — but simply to be balanced as between Hindu and Muslim. But why stop there? The world isn’t short on atrocity, and if one went down this route one would become, not “balanced and fair”, but a hideous caricature, always in search of a slogan (in my opinion, I am fair: I don’t judge people based on whether or not they have had anything to say about Buddhist pogroms in Burma; ethnic cleansing in the CAR; the situation in Sri Lanka; ISIS; or whatever).
Stated differently: those who complain about lack of balance aren’t genuinely interested in balance, but in a particular ideology — which is fine, but then those should be the terms of the debate, not a disguised concern with fairness. It’s more constructive to argue about the underlying issue — e.g. Taliban; Hindutva; liberal democracy — than about side issues that attempt to discredit those who talk about issues like Hindutva/Taliban/liberal democracy simply because they haven’t discussed other issues in the same way.
Fair enough, In my defense however my request to you was not for world wide problems , but the specific comments on SS which people like you and me have been part of like forever, and if someone is trying to push a dirty narrative on SS , then I for one will NOT stay quiet. Also SS is the only Online forum that I am part of.
P.S.- In a few days wait and watch these very people like above will be blaming Hindu Extremists for the recent tragedy in Pakistan .
In Pakistan many are already blaming India/usa/Israel — Hafiz Saeed has made such a statement, and i am sure that he will have many takers too (doubtless many will not swallow it as well, to be fair). To be frank it isn’t about staying quiet: there are certain positions that are so bankrupt one cannot really dignify them by entering into any debate. I can express it best in Urdu: baat ki tai tak nahin pahaunch paate hain, haan un ki izzat badh jaatee hai. I cant really engage in a debate with people who are not in Iraq and say they support ISIS or who say that Indian agents murdered kids in Peshawar — there is nothing to debate there, because the language of debates and reasoned argument is foreign to them. (I can debate what it means for a society when these sorts of views become commonly accepted, but that is a separate issue.)
Re.- baat ki tai tak nahin pahaunch paate hain, haan un ki izzat badh jaatee hai
Beautiful and so Gulzar like !! I had once made a photocopy of a Diary which contained hundreds of such gem which belonged to a Union Leader . I somehow lost it when I came to the USA. I often feel bad for misplacing it.
Ok q-u have rightly registered your outrage now
And it’s not directed to anyone in particular
I was forced to comment on this though I stay away usually esp from politics but
There are times when one NEEDS to SPEAK UP
Granted that this is not a film-related news but In a space where political trivialities are dissected and stripped daily
It’s incumbent that Satyam for eg puts this up more prominently
And this is CONDEMNED BY EVERYONE
It’s not even a natural disaster like an earthquake
It’s not even as of kids got killed in crossfire accidentally
Kids were SELECTIVELY TARGETTED & KILLED
I think this has v v few if any precendence
The ENORMITY OF THIS TRAGEDY TRANSENDS ‘stands’ & ‘contexts’
Bravo paapaas -brilliant comment
( Typo -transcends, precedence)
“it is completely natural for socially active commentators or silent lurkers to judge them.”
These are occasions even ‘silent lurkers’ should make their point heard (forget those who otherwise speak on much lesser topics daily!)
It’s basic humanity
PK Has Excellent Advance Booking
Thursday 18 December 2014 11.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
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PK has had an excellent advance at the major metros with block bookings by corporate forming a huge proportion of the bookings. Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore have seen a record breaking advance while multiplexes at other places are also very good but most the corporate world is based in the above mention cities so the block bookings have also come here.
The single screens advance in major centres is less but still good especially for a film like this which is devoid of hit music and action.
The record opening day of Happy New Year will probably be out of reach but it could set new highs in some circuits for the first day. The film will release on around 3700 screens which will be third widest release ever after Kick and Happy New Year.
PK isn’t releasing in G7, Maratha Mandir due to ticket price hike
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, December 18, 2014 – 14:44 hrs IST
#
“PK is not releasing in G7 as well as Maratha Mandir and the reason for that is producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra who wants me to hike up ticket prices which I am not ready to do as aam janta comes in my theatres and I can’t cheat them,” revealed a visibly agitated Manoj Desai, executive director G7 multiplexes.
An industry insider stated, “If PK makers and Aamir Khan would have really cared for the poor and the middle class, they would not have made such a demand.” The ticket prices have been hiked up across all multiplexes and single screen theatres. Vidhu Vinod Chopra on one hand has promised transparency as far as box office numbers are concerned but at the same time such arm twisting is in bad taste. What is shocking is that Aamir Khan on one hand has espoused so many wonderful causes through Satyamev Jayate but at the same time in a quest for breaking records he is becoming part of this race for monetary success.”
Aamir is a hypocrite. On the one hand he says that he doesn’t care about numbers, on the other he give constant interviews about how other actors are lying about their numbers and not to believe them. On the one hand he says that ticket prices won’t be more than HNY/Kick, in reality that is just a lie. Even Rentrak is BS-how are they going to collect SS collections any better than anyone else? What resources do a foreign agency have in the interiors of India? Rentrak just seems like another way of BS-ing collections. Sure the multiplex collections will be 100% but that’s it.
The worst is that all this is absolutely unnecessary for PK. If it was Talaash/Ghajini/D3/even 3 Idiots, I’d understand. But it’s PK! There is no bigger director-actor combo than Aamir-Hirani right now and no other combo who the audience have faith in. Even in the Worst case scenario, PK will trend better than HNY and Kick.
something fishy here! So all of a sudden a movie doesn’t release in three theaters and the reason given is PK makers are forcing exhibitors to raise prices? Lol! Why no such thing happened for HNY/Kick/Chennai Express and so many other supposedly big grossers? Why didnt the mvie release then?
“It all goes side by side or rather say there is a parallel journey throughout. With dialogues by Abhijaat Joshi and Rajkumar Hirani himself the narration becomes more gripping and entertaining particularly with Aamir Khan’s Bhojpuri dialect. We won’t reveal as to how the language is inserted in the flick but we tell you it’s an interesting part to know.
While the narration in the movie is water-tight, the performance of the actors seems to be fantastic. There is no way, a movie is fake and pale, when we have Boman Irani who is hailed in all Hirani’s films or National Award winning Saurabh Shukla”.
Now while its storyline is fascinating, PK has ample surprises which unfold layer by layer remarkably. But one thing, which needs to be made clear is that PK is not a out an out comedy-caper as its trailer and songs have hinted towards yet carrying the same thought-process while stepping into the theatres won’t disappoint you. While there is a serious subject Rajkumar Hirani is dealing with and his ways of presenting the entire issue turns out to be humorous.
It all goes side by side or rather say there is a parallel journey throughout. With dialogues by Abhijaat Joshi and Rajkumar Hirani himself the narration becomes more gripping and entertaining particularly with Aamir Khan’s Bhojpuri dialect. We won’t reveal as to how the language is inserted in the flick but we tell you it’s an interesting part to know http://www.indiatvnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/pk-movie-review-starring-aamir-khan-anushka-sharma-19299.html
Never mind Rocky ek se bhale do…though Satyam can delete my link.
Few Tweets coming in:
Ashoke Pandit @ashokepandit 23m23 minutes ago
Kudos to Raju Hirani – @aamir_khan duo for a brilliant film @PKTheFilm. U once again proved that u r one of the finest Actor-Director Jodis.
Siddharth malhotra @sidpmalhotra 47m47 minutes ago
Pk has been watched @rajuhirani & @aamir_khan are legends .. The charm innocence and gravitas only he can pull off at the same time #PK
MAHIE GILL @MyMahie 1h1 hour ago
Everything about @PKTheFilm works! It’s rare to see a film dat bounces between humour & sentiment so seamlessly. Luv @aamir_khan ♡ [2/3] #PK
Amitabh Bachchan is the king of Twitter: Report
By PTI | 18 Dec, 2014, 12.05PM
KOLKATA: Leaving behind all other actors in the film industry, megastar Amitabh Bachchan has been ranked number one on Twitter, in terms of both popularity and activity.
In an analytics report of the most popular Bollywood stars on the social networking site, Big B with 12 million followers on Twitter topped the popularity list.
Digital services provider ‘TO THE NEW’ rated various Bollywood celebrities on the basis of their popularity and their engagement with fans on Twitter.
The rank is based on an algorithm which combines the scores received for each measure i.e. total number of followers, absolute increase in followers and tweets per day.
72-year-old Bachchan is followed by superstar Shah Rukh Khan (10.4 million followers) at number two and Abhishek Bachchan (5.4 million) at the third position.
Hrithik Roshan (7.7 million), Aamir Khan (10.1 million) and Salman Khan (9.5 million) have also made it to the list of top 10 most popular Bollywood actors.
Actresses in the list include Priyanka Chopra (8 million), Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha.
With an average of 20 tweets, re-tweets and replies per day, Bachchan also came out as the most active one among all.
His son Abhishek came second with an average of ten tweets. Anupam Kher, SRK and Sonakshi are also among the most active ones.
When it came to an increase in the number of followers in 2014, maverick actor Aamir Khan left behind all by registering an increase of more than 45 lakh followers.
Amitabh and SRK also saw a similar increase followed by Salman and Deepika.
The report also analysed 100 tweets for the top 10 celebrities during November and found that most of the conversations were on work promotion, interaction with fans and friends and brand promotion.
For Big B, 88 per cent of his tweets are interactions with fans. He also retweets pictures of his iconic characters and memorable roles that his fans share with him.
He uses a unique style of tweeting, which includes pre-fixing a number code to the tweet – for example ‘T-1375’.
Around 61 per cent of ‘King’ Khan’s tweets are interaction with his fans and friends while 16 per cent of the tweets are about upcoming projects or recently released films.
Aamir, who was not very active on Twitter last year, was seen on twitter mostly while promoting his show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ or his films.
Interestingly, 54 per cent of his tweets were brand endorsements, the report said.
What or who is God? The film revolves around this question and watching the film will force you to think about what we consider holy and beyond understanding, is it real or just a prank played by influential people long time ago and to further twist the fabric of history to suit their needs. Here have been films in the past and the recent past as well like OMG – Oh My God! (2012) that have brushed the topic but they have received more flak than accolades.
The same issue has been presented in a wonderfully different manner by Rajkumar Hirani with a bit of mockery and sarcasm but he has managed not crossed over to blasphemy which angers the deeply pious folk in the world. In an age of predictable plots, the end manages to keep on the edge of your seat and very few, if at all any of us, would have been able to foresee the end. http://us.india.com/showbiz/pk-movie-review-aamir-khan-and-anushka-sharma-share-adorable-chemistry-on-screen-226388/
SATYAMSHOT 
December 12, 2014 at 1:44 AM
Action Jackson Has Low First Week
Friday 12 December 2014 11.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Action Jackson grossed around 45 crore nett in its first with average business in single screens but poor business in single screens. The film has an open week this week but is not really going anywhere. It is likely to do less business than the last Prabhu Deva directed film R… Rajkumar.
The best business came in Mumbai which grossed around 16 crore nett with Delhi/UP doing 50% of Mumbai at 8 crore nett. East Punjab grossed around 3.25 crore nett. Both Delhi/UP and East Punjab have done dull business and its these two markets have hit the film hard. The film also grossed decent figures in the singles screens of Rajasthan, CP Berar, CI, Nizam and Bihar.
The last Ajay Devgn starrer Singham Returns had grossed over 75 crore nett in its first weekend and here there is no chance of even a lifetime total like that.
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December 12, 2014 at 1:44 AM
High Hopes For PK – Action Jackson To Lead Again This Week
Thursday 11 December 2014 11.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
There will be no major releases this week which means it will be Action Jackson leading at the box office although the film has not fared too well outside centres dominated by singles sceens. There will be releases like Badlapur Boys, Life Mein Twist Hai and Main Aur Mr. Riight tbut they are unlikely to bring in the audience.
The South will see the release of Lingaa which has phenomenal advance which is best of the year in Bangalore and Chennai for any language film. The film should see a Hindi release but it will be at a latter date.
There are high hopes for PK which is the last release of the year which reunites the 3 Idiots team of Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani so despite the mixed response to the promos and music, these two names will be enough to bring the audience and possibly record opening weekend numbers as far as multiplex business is concerned.
Still no matter what happens with PK it will be turn out to be a poor year with the costs of making and releasing a film going up rapidly over the last 18 months but business going down year on year. Only Kick managed to gross in metros, A, B and C centres, multiplexes and singles screens and P.K may add but that would be just two universal hits in a year which is a poor return. The story of the year has been umpteen major releases failing to even recover their promotion costs from theatrical business and the aim of the promotion was to give higher theatrical return.
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December 12, 2014 at 9:59 AM
@”There are high hopes for PK which is the last release of the year which reunites the 3 Idiots team of Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani….”
Though I am looking forward to this movie, somehow the zing and excitement going for a movie is missing due to a lot of waiting and postponements. I mean D3 itself was pushed around so much while filming but this went a step ahead giving it a feel of some sort of ‘premeditated product’ ….not something natural, spontaneous or unrehearsed. The movie currently is also suffering from too much of a feel good factor and in all likelihood will be judgmental on our society and just hope it is not an extension of SMJ which as a show was excellent but I wont take that as a movie form
Someone was talking about comparing Aamir’s Bhojpuri lingo to Dilip kumar of Ganga Jamuna….. nothing in the promo has suggested if Aamir will be able to justify it the way DK did or score better except for that one line he started off initially which came out authentically. Sometimes I doubt if Aamir has a double role in this movie as I am unable to relate the wide eyed character to the one speaking Bhojpuri. The movie is in such a happy zone/ space that sometime my heart is yearning to for a ranchy item song to rev things up a bit.
At the moment Bollywood is facing extremities and on one side I have complains from a lot of folks for not doing due diligence / homework before presenting the product to us and on the other side you have an extreme of 5 years waiting…. To be fair to Aamir he is not young and has not started out so he has had his innings and is now allowed his time in choosing product carefully as time is running out….but the problem lies with the younger lot who have not done anything substantial for us movie buff to notice or to get hooked to….
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December 12, 2014 at 10:05 AM
On the last point, the only thing the younger lot has mastered is staying in news with a very active PR campaign for each one of them. Daily there are articles strewn around on relocating, flings / affairs and sufficient amount of gossip which is not restricted to internet but all the leading news paper and TV channels. The younger lot esp Ranbir has mastered the art of staying in news just on this front only and has built an aura around him by getting the nation top shots at any given time and currently having the nation’s sexy darling Kat all exclusive to himself with the rest playing musical chairs with partners…… a very sad state of affairs indeed! .
Few randon tidbit from a leading bollywood PR person Dale Bhagwagar –
“For a PR specialist, networking is a daily commitment, not a monthly ritual. There are loads of newspapers, channels, websites and radio stations to cater to. I have a total mailing list of 2,500 journalists across India and abroad, and though it’s probably the largest mailing list amongst my fraternity, I still feel, I will double it soon.
“ The release of information about films and stars is micro-managed now by an entire team, sometimes by multiple agencies, who decide what should be circulated as a rumour and what should be released as confirmed news, when, where and how.”
http://www.prmoment.in/1578/the-glittering-world-of-bollywood-pr.aspx
http://bollywood-pr.blogspot.com/
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December 12, 2014 at 10:20 AM
Hirani has never been judgmental. If anything his portrayals are much too affectionate for him to ever run this danger. If anything I’d say this is where his otherwise fine films become problematic. LRM though is the worst offender in this sense much as the first Munnabhai is still the sharpest. But this is always a bit of a danger with the comedy format (in this social commentary vein). If one is not careful the satire can be numbed by the overall feel-good tone of the work. Even some classics of Hindi cinema, say the work of Hrishikesh Mukherjee (which I adore), is sometimes susceptible to this problem (incidentally this issue is often address in some Malayalam films of the 80s where the political edge is greater and the framing itself is not as ‘bourgeois’ as it might be in Mukherjee.. the canonical Nadodikkattu is an obvious example). Having said that 3I offered a kind of resolution which wasn’t exactly in keeping with the aspirations of contemporary urban India. So you have a sort of pioneer/entrepreneur figure in Aamir who doubles down as this recluse by the end and who isolates himself in this far-from-urban-India environment. It’s almost a kind of spiritual home for him. I wouldn’t want to make too much of this gesture principally because the film doesn’t explore this more but he performs a kind of conscious vanishing. In other words he ‘absconds’ from ‘New India’ to become whatever it is he wishes to be. And again the current film because it has this alien observer also offers the chance for a real bird’s eye view on Indian (human) life. But Hirani from Munnabhai itself has been interested in some kind of a non-bourgeois resting place for his bourgeois satires. The gangster, the failing student-become-man-in-a-cave entrepreneur, the alien. All of this doesn’t really contradict what I started out by saying. Hirani could be a little less gentle but this is not to argue with his considerable accomplishments otherwise (the same applies even moreso for Hrishikesh Mukherjee). On SMJ I actually hope that tone is used a bit more in this film. It would be a benefit to it. And of course Hirani now seems to be returning to Dutt, surely an outsider of kinds.
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December 12, 2014 at 4:59 AM
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December 12, 2014 at 5:04 AM
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December 12, 2014 at 9:38 AM
this is a smart business acumen from Bhatts – I bet the budget of this movie will not be more than 5 cr (both newcomers) – but it will make cool 40-50 cr for bhatts……….
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December 12, 2014 at 9:07 AM
Rangan on Lingaa:
http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-reviews/lingaa-why-cant-a-rajini-movie-be-a-better-movie/article6686290.ece
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December 12, 2014 at 9:18 AM
http://www.sify.com/movies/lingaa-review-tamil-15058734.html
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December 12, 2014 at 9:14 AM
Exodus is doing 30% on rottentomatoes.. guess I’ll be skipping this after all!
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December 12, 2014 at 3:55 PM
ridley scott’s history says he cannot handle an epic historical (besides Gladiator). 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Kingdom of Heaven, and even Robin Hood all got panned by the critics. I thought Kingdom of Heaven was a good watch and I can still watch it repeatedly. Plus I really enjoyed Ridley Scott’s other movies like American Gangster, Body of Lies, The Counselor, Prometheus, Matchstick Men and Black Hawk Down.
He has earned the benefit of the doubt for me…I also find the subject intriguing…so after all that…I’ll end up watching Top 5 with Chris Rock this weekend. lol. nah…ill probably watch Exodus Saturday night…looks too grand to pass up.
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December 12, 2014 at 4:13 PM
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN was a damn good movie. I am not sure why it got panned by the critics. Amitabh was really stupid to give up the role of SALADDIN. His reasoning was nonsensical – that being a Hindu actor from India and playing a Muslim crusader would somehow offend religious sensibilities in India. He would have rocked in the role of SALADDIN.
I have hardly found any of Ridley’s movies unwatchable. They range from watchable to awesome – but I don’t think there is anything at all UNWATCHABLE.
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December 12, 2014 at 11:31 PM
I think Amitabh would’ve been cool as Salahuddin…and his reasoning for not wanting to do it was very weak especially since he starred in a film called Khuda Gawah and played a character by the name of “Baadshah Khan”!
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December 13, 2014 at 3:16 PM
What a horrible, disgusting atmosphere the whole country is enveloped in. Now even sensible people have to fear taking on such roles out of communal hate by those in power.
In 6 months the whole atmosphere has been poisoned, yet it is considered too short a time for positive signs of development.
Difficult to say whether Amitabh Bachhan is catering to the ‘power’ or genuinely afraid, though.
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December 13, 2014 at 4:02 PM
Shouldn’t be too difficult to realize that Kingdom of Heaven was made about a decade ago, though.
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December 13, 2014 at 4:21 PM
I thought it was being made now. This means Amitabh bachhan himself harbours these feelings? Disappointing. Doubt if there’d have been any trouble by offended people. There’d have been some who would have been offended surew. The ones set free today.
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December 14, 2014 at 3:34 PM
There is a dolt on this forum who is a combination of sanjay Jha, Nikhil Waghle and Ashtosh……this person’s hate for Modi and Hindus is so great that he/ she will rather see India go down than Modi Government succeed. in taking india to great places…, also even though no one else is commenting on political maters here and there is a general calm on the forum, this person slowly brings up a reason to make sly comments on Modi and Hindus….
shameless, pathetic , master of spin and desperate Puraney Paap……
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December 14, 2014 at 3:58 PM
Make no mistake the mindset of these commies reflected so well by some great people-
@GappistanRadio
1. India me har topic Internet Hindus vs Sickulars ban jata hai.
ISIS propagandist ko bhi uniformly sab condemn nahin kar sakte
2.Aur kuch political parties to terrorist outfits ka naam sunte hi maun ho jaati hai. Waise har issue pe dedh gaj lambi zubaan…
Please buy my book @greatbong
· 15h 15 hours ago
Equivalence of ISIS and mass murder and sex slavery has been made to Hindu right wing social media trolls. #theekhai
Minhaz Merchant @minhazmerchant
· Dec 13
More dangerous than ISIS sympathiser #MehdiBiswas are dolts who make excuses for him
Those who defend uncouth Pak hockey players & ISIS fanboy #MehdiBiswas call themselves liberals? You’ve got to be kidding
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December 17, 2014 at 9:48 AM
Missed seeing this comment earlier & know you mean me.
I am a she. Stop talking like trolls on FB and twitter. How identically you all speak. Hate hindus?!
I hate anyone bent upon this attitude and we saw what happened yesterday with another organisation speaking the same kind of language, across the borders.
So stop your talibanised hindutva comments.
Just because one doesn’t accept hindutva doesn’t mean one hates hindus.
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December 17, 2014 at 9:56 AM
Re.- talibanised hindutva
Wow How identically you all speak !!!!!
another instance of hating Hindus, calling Hindus Talibans !!
Sick !!
anyways please refrain from directly addressing me , I have NO intention of having a Tu- Tu – main Main with Aaaptards , so buzz off !!!!!!!!!!
P.S.- you can continue with your rants, the above will be my first and last redirect !!
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December 17, 2014 at 10:51 AM
I’ve certainly been part of political debates on this forum in the past, and probably will again, but I do like the balance to be firmly in favor of cinema.
On the political front, I offer this great quote by Eqbal Ahmed, the famous left-of-center Pakistani thinker:
“The cult of violence and proliferation of enemies are inherent in ideologies of difference. All express their hate for the Other by organized violence. All legitimize their violence with references to religion and history. In nearly all instances the enemy multiplies.”
Quoted in this article from The New Republic.
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December 17, 2014 at 11:11 AM
Re.-but I do like the balance to be firmly in favor of cinema.
I agree, and usually is my goal as well, on the rest……..chalo chodo- PK baat kartey hain !!LOL
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December 17, 2014 at 6:25 PM
I’m not responding to you but to your words. I don’t know you. Words will always get a response from me whether you like it or not. Taliban has an ideology which is similar to hindutva extremists. Both want to emphasise on their religious bigotry. Both prone to violence.
This is NOT my last word on this to you or to anyone else. Unless Satyam deletes comments or expels me from here.
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December 12, 2014 at 12:35 PM
and coincidentally (since this came up yesterday) Rangan on Gone with the Wind:
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December 12, 2014 at 2:05 PM
Going by early reports, it seems Linga is throwing up gargantuan numbers.
Have to salute Rajini.
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December 12, 2014 at 3:46 PM
yes the opening will be massive.
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December 13, 2014 at 7:14 AM
ction Jackson Day Eight Badlapur Boys Day One
Saturday 13 December 2014 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Badllapur Boys was the best of the new releases but that is not saying much as it grossed around 15-20 lakhs nett on day one. The other release like Kaash Tum Hote, Life Mein Twist Hai and Main Aur Mr. Riight will have hardly grossed 5 lakhs nett.
Action Jackson collections dropped around 80% on its eight day as it grossed around 1.75-2 crore nett. The film was helped by the fact there was no major release otherwise it would have dropped even more. The Gujarat area is doing fair as week one was around 8 crore nett which was nearly 50% of the Mumbai circuit and will Gujarat will easily cross 10 crore nett.
The second weekend should cross 6 crore nett though lifetime business will probably stay below 60 crore nett as third week will hardly collect.
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December 13, 2014 at 7:15 AM
New Releases Dull Lingaa In Tamil Dominates Hindi Markets
Friday 12 December 2014 14.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
The new Hindi releases opened to a dull response of 0-5% with Badlapur Boys being better than Life Main Twist Hai and Main Aur Mr. Riight. which meant it was Lingaa in Tamil which dominated in the Hindi markets
The film has got the widest release ever for a Tamil film in Hindi markets with some multiplexes in Mumbai and Delhi giving it five shaows daily. The film even saw a house full start at theatres like Cinemax Infinity in Mumbai, DT Mega and PVR MGF in Gurgaon. The advance in Tamil Nadu was historic so obviously the opening will be huge. There is a multiplex in Chennai with 60 plus shows daily and it was almost full in advance for the weekend with 90% of the tickets gone.
There was a multiplex in Chennai with 60 plus shows daily and it was almost full in advance for the weekend with 90% of the tickets gone.
Action Jackson has seen a drop of 70% drop in collections at single screens compare to day one and it will be even more at multiplexes due to the reduction of shows.
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December 13, 2014 at 7:19 AM
‘Lingaa’ opens big worldwide
By MOVIEBUZZ
Source : SIFY
Last Updated: Sat, Dec 13, 2014 11:37 hrs
Superstar Rajinikanth’s Lingaa has opened big worldwide, though the film carries mixed report. The film took almost a 95% opening in Chennai city and suburbs, where it started with early past mid-night shows as early as 1am and 4 am. At the TN box-office the film has taken a flying opening.
The tickets for the early morning shows were priced at three to five times the market rate, but still went houseful. Early reports from Rentrak, Hollywood’s tracking agency, revealed that Lingaa had beaten popular franchise Hunger Games 2 at the US box office by grossing $206850 from just 91 screens compared to the $190000 the Jennifer Lawrence film collected from 1583 screens.
It took a monstrous opening at USA. According to the distributors in US, the film grossed $404,556 for its Thursday premiere and broke many top hero films’ all time box office collections.
The premiere collections alone made Lingaa in the all time top seven films with respect to box office figures. Now all eyes are on the weekend report to know if it will break Rajinikanth’s earlier records in US. Remember, Rajinikanth’s Endhiran and Sivaji are the top two highest grosser in US.
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December 13, 2014 at 8:48 AM
Hope CG gets around to reading this. Quite liked some of his responses (and especially his humility), but the one where he says that any film which the audience rejects is a bad film, is a rather poor (though Abhishek also was saying EXACTLY the same thing in the HNY interviews)
Fahadh Faasil’s interview (Hindu)-
” You have turned producer with Iyobinte Pusthakam. What was the motivation?
The idea was to make the film of our dreams and that is just what we stuck to. Iyobinte Pusthakam is big when compared to the standard of the films being made in the Malayalam industry and also in terms of its cost, given the amount of research and preparation that went into it. But the film needed all of it and it could not have been made for anything less than what we made it for. Also, every penny that has gone into it has a reasoning behind it.
Is Malayalam ready to accept a film of this scale?
It was meant to be made in Malayalam only. I belong here and I think in Malayalam. More than the actor, the producer in me wanted to do this one. I want the audience to watch my films and that is what I value more than any awards. “….
…” You have brought a kind of originality to your acting unlike most of your peers. What do you keep in mind while you accept films?
(Smiles) The roles that I am doing can be done in a different or, perhaps, in a more impressive way by other actors. I can’t do an Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha or a Vaanaprastham. All I do is to try and make a difference. It doesn’t matter to me how I look on screen. What matters to me is how I connect with the audience. The process is within me than outside.
But, except for Iyobinte Pusthakam and Bangalore Days that did great business at the box office, the rest of your films this year failed to make much of an impression…
Failure is part and parcel of the process of experimenting with roles and films. 1 By Two had problems with its script, God’s Own Country was a little late in narrating a story of that pattern and the same happened with Money Rathnam. I believe that if my films don’t work at the box office, then they were not up to the standard. ”
http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/fahadh-faasil-interview/article6614751.ece
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December 14, 2014 at 1:23 AM
Saurabh, thanks for putting this up. Yes, he does sound quite down to earth. Haven’t heard much of how Iyobinte Pusthakam is faring, but for his sake, I hope it does quite well. Saw some stills of his next movie under production Mariyam Mukku and they look quite interesting as well. In any case, it looks like he’s staying in the game in spite of his recent slump, and that’s encouraging….
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December 13, 2014 at 9:29 AM
When Rentrak enters the market the south indian film industry is going to get busted big time !
Bollywood also inflates numbers but compared to the big lies of south its still less. Media made stars like Rajnikanth and Telugu babus are going to be exposed big time in next 2-3 years.
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December 13, 2014 at 2:17 PM
Agree to an extent.
Have always thought BO reporting from South is questionable. Movie buzz report above is total BS as Mockingjay collected 3.8 million and not 190,000 on Fri!!
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December 13, 2014 at 9:42 PM
You really cannot question Rajnikant’s Stardom down south..I don’t think there is any reason for him or his production to manufacture inflated numbers..
But yes, LINGAA’s ticket prices are obscene! 20$ here for 1 ticket!! It is a literal rape of the middle class’s earnings. A family of 4 now shells out around 100$ for this movie.:
No big deal it is amassing records..
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December 13, 2014 at 11:10 PM
The numbers relative to print counts for movies in!South often sound ridiculous, regardless of ent tax argument. Not just Rajini films. I highlighted the bogus reporting in Movie buzz article from Sify.
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December 14, 2014 at 5:39 AM
Lol, won’t say anything on Rajini but if something like Rentrak comes finally people will know how big Telugu market is and how under reporter their stars are in comparison to Tamil stars (regional market wise). Just taking the Lingaa example, its Day 1 number whatever it is, is gross number, where as the highest day 1 from Telugu which is 11 Cr approx, is share. But people hype the bigger number not knowing what is gross and what is share.
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December 13, 2014 at 10:17 PM
LOL at people calling Rajini a “media made star”. I saw this movie in the US and the tickets were $15 for Telugu, $20 for Tamil which was almost double what HNY/D3/Kick cost me. But the theater was almost all filled and the response to Rajni’s entry/song/action scenes was outstanding. I’ve seen Cheers/whistling for only Srk and Salman in the US but this was on a whole new level. Also I do not know a word of Tamil so some of the dialogues were beyond me. The movie was good, however their were very few “Rajini” moments which was disappointing. His entry and subsequent song was excellent as were the action scenes (even though there were only 2 main ones). The songs were pretty good and the 2 actresses had equal length roles and were effective. The theme song is super catchy. Rajini was outstanding. For a 64 year old, his dance moves and overall movement in the movie is inspiring. I’m sure stunt doubles were used for the action however whatever action they showed Rajini doing on his own was great too. Overall I liked it but I’d put Sivaji and Robot higher on the list.
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December 15, 2014 at 11:36 AM
Raj5,
no offence but he is media made star, maybe in america its different because of lot of indians settled there,for instance here in uk where i live its totally opposite,people hated him when his films were released,i am talking in late 80s and 90s ,the reason i know is because i used to run video shop and any of his releases it was no go..i stopped doing videos for last 10 years and in that time i do not know but apart from amitabh,srk and salman khan,no other stars commanded any attraction,srk still rules all uk and europe so thats record-breaking..
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December 16, 2014 at 7:51 AM
Video shops in the UK are a different issue. It sounds to me like you had a Hindi language video store, which stocked movies catering for North Indians.
Some areas of UK cities/towns will have a high South Indian population, and will then have video & DVD stores which stock South Indian films. In these stores, you will not even see SRK. You will see Vijay, Surya, Vikram, Rajni etc.
Likewise, in a North Indian dvd store, you will not see Rajni! Because he is a South star who does movies in South languages.
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December 16, 2014 at 8:50 AM
shashi,
why are video shops in uk are different,pakistani,indian population are massive here,rajnikant films are not popular,his films with amitabh,andha kanoon and geraaftar were sucessfull because amitabh was in it,
shashi, he is a popular figure in the south and thats it,people overseas which was ans is a huge market but rajnikant is a media made star…”simple”
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December 16, 2014 at 8:54 AM
his fans are only based in the south of india,his films might have run for 10 years in one cinema but apart from that state his films on the continent might not appeal to people,flicking cigarette is not known to be an actor…
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December 14, 2014 at 7:52 AM
riday Report: ‘Exodus’ Rules with $8.6 Million
by Ray Subers
December 13, 2014
Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings easily took first place on another quiet Friday at the box office.
Playing at 3,503 locations, Exodus opened to an estimated $8.6 million yesterday. That’s significantly lower than Noah’s $15.2 million debut, though the gap is due in part to the December release (when there’s less of a rush on opening weekend).
The opening is at least on par with past December releases The Golden Compass ($8.7 million) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ($8.3 million). For the weekend, Exodus is poised to earn between $23 and $25 million.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3976&p=.htm
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December 14, 2014 at 9:27 AM
Saluting the real superstar Rajinikanth for his 37th year as a leading star in Tamil film industry. Opening is enough to be declared a hit.
Next year will see 41st year at the top for Kamal Haasan with hattrick of releases. There will be no other duos who would have 40 years at the very top, both doing their bit and crossing barriers in their own ways. Both have beat MGR-Sivaji, with their sustaining power. Special talents and a special generation that Tamil cinema will miss.
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December 14, 2014 at 12:12 PM
Indeed, it is remarkable how durable this duo has been. And, both doing different things in their own way. Would take Kamal over Rajini any day. Still admire Rajini a lot and more so because part of his appeal seems to stem from his off screen persona.
Real superstars never need to shout from the rooftop that they are the badshah or whatever.
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December 14, 2014 at 2:57 PM
True!
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December 14, 2014 at 12:34 PM
Govinda tribute to Amitabh @ndtv
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/govinda-s-glorious-tribute-to-amitabh-bachchan-at-ndtv-s-cleanathon/348483
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December 15, 2014 at 11:19 AM
Great watch, amazed at Govinda’s stamina , he danced continuously for almost 20 minutes…..nice selection of dialogues and songs too….
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December 14, 2014 at 10:00 PM
Weekend Report: ‘Exodus’ is Weak ‘King’
by Ray Subers
Exodus: Gods and Kings
December 14, 2014
Exodus: Gods and Kings missed the mark this weekend, though it still easily ruled over another very quiet weekend at the box office.
Meanwhile, Chris Rock’s Top Five got off to a decent start, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice did big business at a few theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
The Top 12 earned an estimated $77.7 million, which makes this one of the slowest weekends of the year. Business will pick up next weekend, though it does look like this will be one of the worst Decembers in recent memory.
Playing at 3,503 locations, Exodus: Gods and Kings opened to an estimated $24.5 million this weekend. That doesn’t compare favorably to this year’s previous Biblical movies, as its nearly $20 million lower than Noah’s debut and roughly on par with the much-less-expensive Son of God.
That’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison, though, as opening weekends in December are historically muted. Still, Exodus doesn’t look all that impressive against past December releases, either: it was roughly on par with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ($24 million) and The Golden Compass ($25.8 million).
While this is definitely not a good debut, it would be premature to write the movie’s obituary. If Exodus holds up like the third Narnia movie, it will wind up eclipsing Noah’s $101.2 million; that’s a fine result when considering the movie’s international potential.
At the same time, though, there’s reason to believe the movie won’t hold up nearly as well as Narnia. It’s received horrible reviews (27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and word-of-mouth seems mixed (it has a poor “B-” CinemaScore). There’s a chance, then, that Exodus plays like The Golden Compass, which would translate to a total below $70 million. That would be a hugely disappointing result.
It’s likely that Exodus winds up somewhere in between those two. If it follows the pattern of the last two Hobbit movies—which opened on the same weekend over the past two years—Exodus would wrap up in the $85 to $90 million range.
The movie’s audience was 54 percent male and 65 percent over the age of 25. 3D screens accounted for 44 percent of the gross, which is an above-average result for the format.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3977&p=.htm
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December 15, 2014 at 8:29 AM
Here is a link to some discussion among Indian filmmakers with a lot of things which we discuss here on blogs. The initial 15/20 mins is simple chatter but there is some serious talk on the last half where they open up a bit and talk about the so called ‘event films’ and their importance in brand management to their studios, so they are not going anywhere….. Their frustration is visible for films with middling content not doing well. Further it seems the indie filmmakers who had suddenly cropped up and threaten to takeover and were planning to steer Bollywood towards Hollywood are no more a hot property.
Its notable when talks of Bollywood expansion comes, its only Sajid Nadiadwala who mentions reaching out to more Indians rather than international and he is kind of right as even now they say max footfall for a movie is only around 2 cr for a population of 130 cr and there is tremendous potential there itself …..
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/518144/watch-roundtable-discussion-with-top-bollywood-producers.html
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December 15, 2014 at 8:34 AM
Here is the youtube link to 4 part interview – Watch: Roundtable discussion with top Bollywood producers
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December 15, 2014 at 2:28 PM
Wonderful news..another possibly-great film finally releasing on Dec 26th….After HAIDER, PK [fingers crossed], another one possibly in the pantheon of something called ‘quality’..
Can’t wait to watch that outstanding Marathi actor GIRISH KULKARNI in this one..
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December 16, 2014 at 4:08 AM
Interesting article by BOI:
Release Count Hits 200 For First Time – PK 200th Release Of 2014
Tuesday 16 December 2014 13.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
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PK will be the 200th release of 2014 and it is the first time ever that 200 Hindi films will be released in one year. This averages almost 4 releases this week but only 50 films at the most get noticed let alone succeed meaning that around 150 films have practically no chance of success.
The number of releases was around 100 until 2000 when the release count went higher. The success of a film called Munnibai in 1999 started a parallel industry of B Grade dacait films with an element of sex and there was practically one of these every week. Its another thing that hardly any of them even covered their low costs after the fluke of Munnibai.
The trend of these films died in the mid 2000’s but then came the multiplex film aimed at the urban audience which kept the release flow going and this trend has continued till date though the successes can probably be counted on one hand. The investment in these 200 films will be over 3000 crore with films costing as low as 10-15 lakhs to a 165 crore of Bang Bang. A kick opens on a near 4000 screens while some films just managed to get showcased in just 1 or 2 screens.
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December 16, 2014 at 6:22 AM
After two abortive viewings—
The fault in our stars –&£%#+* wtf
Emotional masturbation crap
The Immigrant–ace star cast messed up
Couldn’t watch these two after a while
But finally met my taste —
In Boyhood ….
More on this later maybe….
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December 16, 2014 at 4:08 PM
Contd from above
The Fault in our stars
Im not against this sort of stuff and IF done properly I do like it unlike some who find this ‘below their class’ or something
I can’t hold back
I was expecting something atleast half decent esp after reading stuff like this posted here on a different thread —
“The Fault In Our Stars
Saw this straight after, on the same flight. Made me cry like a baby pretty much throughout. Liked it a lot.”
Now I don’t wanna rip it apart
But man what a pain in the .. And ….. It was !!
Now I don’t wanna trivialise the sad ‘fate’ of this terminally ill lead pair –don’t get me wrong folks …
But
Crass melodramatic and nakedly aiming for the lacrimal duct
So much so that in a shameful scene the two terminally ill people reach the nadir (or is it climax)
And in a telling moment
Their emotions get the better of em
And then
They make out
It’s as if the problem was not the ‘cancer’
But their virginity ….
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December 17, 2014 at 12:04 AM
PK Advance At Multiplexes Opens Early
Monday 15 December 2014 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
The advance of PK opened early with most of the major multiplex chains releasing their programming schedules over the weekend. There have been films before that have opened advance 6-7 days prior to releases but not at this level as its normally a few theatres or a couple of chains. Normally advance opens at multiplexes opens on Wednesday, in the case of some films its is Thursday by the time programming is ready.
The response was the expected sort with premium multiplexes getting extraordinary response, some like PVR Select City in Delhi getting shows sold out within no time. As the multiplex gets smaller the results get weaker but this is expected as the awareness of an early advance is limited.
The test will be Friday with expectations huge as 3 idiots with the same team of Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani grossed 200 crore nett five years back so PK will be expected to go higher than 3 Idiots by a margin.
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December 17, 2014 at 5:38 AM
The advance is picking up it seems and it is now the film’s prospects seem to be upping. I would take Sachin Tendulkar’s praise with a pinch of salt but most of the noise and confidence about PK seems to be very positive so far. I just hope this “biggie” delivers as quite frankly the “biggie” has disappointed for a long time now. I expect though the Hirani-Aamir combo won’t disappoint and will deliver something with substance and feasibly something as good as 3 Idiots.
The opening looks like it be phenomenal, as phenomenal as a non-holiday opening can be. All records will be possible except probably the first day.
I do like how BOI *expects” this team to go way above 3 Idiots, and the other “stars” are given a freepass to deliver sub 200 crore films and sub par films!!!
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December 17, 2014 at 6:01 AM
I hope you are right jayshah, although I must say the previews have left me decidedly unimpressed. Seems like a film where the preachiness equation might outweigh the fun equation — hope I’m proved wrong, although I’ll have to wait for a few days to catch the movie (I’ll be flying out the night it releases :()…
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December 17, 2014 at 6:23 AM
LOL, on that BOI bit I was thinking the very same thing!
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December 17, 2014 at 8:07 AM
Jay – to me it is a very safe proposition – practically every theater in India will be playing PK – 5200 screens (compared to 1800 of 3i) – Multiplexes tickets are priced around 150-500 – so first 3 days will be huge – after that the film will trend on its merit – xmas and new year holiday will see solid trending most prob. ……….
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December 17, 2014 at 12:05 AM
Chennai Box-Office – Dec 12 to 14
Monday, 15 December , 2014, 12:42
Superstar Rajinikanth has stormed the Chennai Box-Office with his Lingaa. The film which released on December 12, the Superstar’s birthday, has netted Rs 2.70 Crore approximately from 45 screens in Chennai city.
Lingaa opening is the best of the year in Chennai city and since it is tax free, it’s a big advantage to the distributors and exhibitors. The film failed to get good reviews and audience opinion was mixed, but Rajinikanth’s charisma and opening has ensured a fabulous opening.
Lingaa is the clear number one and two by a mile as all multiplexes are showing Lingaa in majority of their screens. The early morning shows also added to the box office numbers.
There is no real number three as Lingaa is miles ahead of competition and also 80 % of Chennai city screens screened the film. For the sake of a countdown The Hobbit : The Battle Of The Five Armies is number three.
And in the fourth place is Naaigal Jaagrithai, and in fifth position is Kaththi.
http://www.sify.com/movies/boxoffice.php?id=15058744&cid=13525926
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December 17, 2014 at 12:07 AM
K Balachander in critical condition
Dec 15, 2014
Iyakunar Sigaram K Balachander (85), is reportedly said to be hospitalized at the Kauvery private hospital in Alwarpet, Chennai and reports suggest that he is in a very critical condition.
K Balachander made his directorial debut, way back in 1965 through Neerkumizhi and has gone on to direct superstars like Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Nagesh to name a few.
Superstar Rajinikanth is reportedly rushing to the hospital.
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December 17, 2014 at 12:08 AM
http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/k-balachander-critical-but-stable/article6697822.ece
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December 17, 2014 at 10:08 AM
Guys – booked my PK ticket for Friday 10 pm show………..
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December 17, 2014 at 10:10 AM
I am shooting for Thursday Night……..
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December 17, 2014 at 10:13 AM
I am trying for Thursday at 8:45
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December 17, 2014 at 10:56 AM
daily 1100+ shows in Mumbai alone!!! http://in.bookmyshow.com/buytickets/pk-mumbai/movie-mumbai-ET00012381-MT/20141219
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December 17, 2014 at 10:59 AM
likes of PVR – Juhu and Andheri – ticket prices start at 450/- !!
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December 17, 2014 at 11:07 AM
Thinking of the mothers who lost their precious children yesterday
Mere Maasoom Farishte Tu Abhi Kya Jaane
Tujh Ko Kis Kis Ke Gunaahon Ki Sazaa Milni Hai
Din Aur Dharm Ke Maare Hue Insaanon Ki
Jo Nazar Milni Hai Tujh Ko Woh Khafaa Milni Hai
Tere Bachpan Ko Jawani Ki Dua Deti Hoon
Aur Dua Deke Pareshaan Si Ho Jati Hoon
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December 17, 2014 at 1:01 PM
That’s a good poem but somehow poems and twitter campaigns seem inadequate and fake to this tragedy of massacre of 130 kids!
And yes –it’s heart rending infact SHOCKING that ANYBODY can selectively kill kids like this !!!
What’s even more shocking is the MUTED & MILD reaction to this by some here n elsewhere
C’mon this is perhaps one of the WORST crimes in the history of mankind we r talking about !
Btw and this is unrelated to this kid massacre tragedy
But on a related note–
““The Fault In Our Stars
Saw this straight after, on the same flight. Made me cry like a baby pretty much throughout. Liked it a lot”
Can the girl who wrote this raise her hands or speak up?
And if it wasn’t a girl who ‘cried throughout the movie’ one is flabbergasted –not joking !!
Further to my note on the FAULT IN OUR FCUKING GODDAMM STARS Since after seeing this film partly I can vouch that this is perhaps one of the WORST AND MISLEADING review in the history of this blog
there SHOULD be a punishment for such CRAP reviews /comments
🙂
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December 17, 2014 at 1:52 PM
Re: “What’s even more shocking is the MUTED & MILD reaction to this by some here n elsewhere”
This is a pretty cheap shot apex: now you’re going to sit there and judge who has been appropriately outraged over this massacre? (and presumably, those deemed insufficiently outraged will be exposed as X or Y). Give me a break!
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December 17, 2014 at 2:29 PM
Why is it a cheap shot ? I think pretty much everything on social media and social networking/blogging (and most places for that matter) thrives on judgments. If you see someone rating a Transformers very high and calling The tree of life trash- then you’d end up making a judgment about them.
Same thing goes for assessing reaction towards world activities. You’d see tonnes of lines of comments about Haider and how people should understand Kashmiri’s point of view yada yada yada..but when it comes to denouncing Pakistan’s fractured political structure and its rigid stand that only harbours terrorism and does nothing to curb it, then the same people remain silent and choose to abstain from an opinion, then it is completely natural for socially active commentators or silent lurkers to judge them.
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December 17, 2014 at 2:37 PM
Because there are a number of reasons why one chooses to be silent or speak (for instance, can I assume that people who don’t comment on ongoing ethnic cleansing in the Central African republic are somehow condoning it?), ranging from lack of knowledge or insight; to what else is going on in one’s life; and then there is incomplete perspective (how does a Satyamshot reader know what a commenter is doing on other sites, etc.?). It’s a never-ending cycle that is simply used to de-legitimize people, never to legitimize them (so today X is insufficiently active in condemning the Peshawar attack; but X’s critics have themselves not been the most active in condemning ABC incident; and so on and so forth. It’s simply not a constructive approach.
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December 17, 2014 at 5:47 PM
All the reasons you mentioned make the making judgment part even more significant and unavoidable. When someone says Dhoom 3 was trashy as hell on Satyamshot but still goes on boast about its BO collections on another blog (because they may be an Aamir fan), then a reader on this blog(and oblivious to the other blog) will only judge him/her based on what they say or don’t say here.
In a nutshell..social blogging world/social media/etc. is way too hardcore a playground to mind whether people are making judgments or not.
Actually its pretty much same for the real world outside the Web too, the only difference being people tend to be much more careful of expressing their honest opinion and choose to act fake and phoney instead.
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December 17, 2014 at 8:38 PM
I just wish that the respected Q sahib just as he pounced right away on Alex, will take note of a horrendous comment made by a Rana Ayyub like creature equating Hind Right wing with Talibans and call her out. Let’s see!!! (Unlikely though)
This is what Rana, Sagrika Vardrajan, Mihir Sharma . Bachi etc’s goal is…….How the Hell can you compare the two is beyond me but that is the narrative being spread by commies and liberals.
Frustrated souls, election nahee jeet paye toh yeh propaganda !!
At least on this forum they seem to be succeeding .
P.S.- I do admit that certain lonnies on the Right way too over the top- Like Giriraj etc, but they have never Killed anyone …but this creature is bent upon comparing them to Taliban. Kuch toh sharam karo !!! Ghinn aatee hai aisey Aaptards sey !!
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December 17, 2014 at 9:48 PM
Rocky: I refuse to bear the burden of a “fairness” that no-one else in the world bears, on terms forced down my throat. Note that even you aren’t asking me to condemn every atrocity everywhere — but simply to be balanced as between Hindu and Muslim. But why stop there? The world isn’t short on atrocity, and if one went down this route one would become, not “balanced and fair”, but a hideous caricature, always in search of a slogan (in my opinion, I am fair: I don’t judge people based on whether or not they have had anything to say about Buddhist pogroms in Burma; ethnic cleansing in the CAR; the situation in Sri Lanka; ISIS; or whatever).
Stated differently: those who complain about lack of balance aren’t genuinely interested in balance, but in a particular ideology — which is fine, but then those should be the terms of the debate, not a disguised concern with fairness. It’s more constructive to argue about the underlying issue — e.g. Taliban; Hindutva; liberal democracy — than about side issues that attempt to discredit those who talk about issues like Hindutva/Taliban/liberal democracy simply because they haven’t discussed other issues in the same way.
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December 18, 2014 at 9:08 AM
Fair enough, In my defense however my request to you was not for world wide problems , but the specific comments on SS which people like you and me have been part of like forever, and if someone is trying to push a dirty narrative on SS , then I for one will NOT stay quiet. Also SS is the only Online forum that I am part of.
P.S.- In a few days wait and watch these very people like above will be blaming Hindu Extremists for the recent tragedy in Pakistan .
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December 18, 2014 at 9:18 AM
In Pakistan many are already blaming India/usa/Israel — Hafiz Saeed has made such a statement, and i am sure that he will have many takers too (doubtless many will not swallow it as well, to be fair). To be frank it isn’t about staying quiet: there are certain positions that are so bankrupt one cannot really dignify them by entering into any debate. I can express it best in Urdu: baat ki tai tak nahin pahaunch paate hain, haan un ki izzat badh jaatee hai. I cant really engage in a debate with people who are not in Iraq and say they support ISIS or who say that Indian agents murdered kids in Peshawar — there is nothing to debate there, because the language of debates and reasoned argument is foreign to them. (I can debate what it means for a society when these sorts of views become commonly accepted, but that is a separate issue.)
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December 18, 2014 at 10:03 AM
Re.- baat ki tai tak nahin pahaunch paate hain, haan un ki izzat badh jaatee hai
Beautiful and so Gulzar like !! I had once made a photocopy of a Diary which contained hundreds of such gem which belonged to a Union Leader . I somehow lost it when I came to the USA. I often feel bad for misplacing it.
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December 17, 2014 at 2:08 PM
Ok q-u have rightly registered your outrage now
And it’s not directed to anyone in particular
I was forced to comment on this though I stay away usually esp from politics but
There are times when one NEEDS to SPEAK UP
Granted that this is not a film-related news but In a space where political trivialities are dissected and stripped daily
It’s incumbent that Satyam for eg puts this up more prominently
And this is CONDEMNED BY EVERYONE
It’s not even a natural disaster like an earthquake
It’s not even as of kids got killed in crossfire accidentally
Kids were SELECTIVELY TARGETTED & KILLED
I think this has v v few if any precendence
The ENORMITY OF THIS TRAGEDY TRANSENDS ‘stands’ & ‘contexts’
Infact this is not less than 9/11 in scale imo
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December 17, 2014 at 2:39 PM
Bravo paapaas -brilliant comment
( Typo -transcends, precedence)
“it is completely natural for socially active commentators or silent lurkers to judge them.”
These are occasions even ‘silent lurkers’ should make their point heard (forget those who otherwise speak on much lesser topics daily!)
It’s basic humanity
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December 18, 2014 at 2:58 AM
PK Has Excellent Advance Booking
Thursday 18 December 2014 11.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
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PK has had an excellent advance at the major metros with block bookings by corporate forming a huge proportion of the bookings. Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore have seen a record breaking advance while multiplexes at other places are also very good but most the corporate world is based in the above mention cities so the block bookings have also come here.
The single screens advance in major centres is less but still good especially for a film like this which is devoid of hit music and action.
The record opening day of Happy New Year will probably be out of reach but it could set new highs in some circuits for the first day. The film will release on around 3700 screens which will be third widest release ever after Kick and Happy New Year.
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December 18, 2014 at 2:59 AM
Not that it matter in the long run, but I’m surprised it has less screens than Kick and HNY.
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December 18, 2014 at 5:50 AM
PK isn’t releasing in G7, Maratha Mandir due to ticket price hike
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, December 18, 2014 – 14:44 hrs IST
#
“PK is not releasing in G7 as well as Maratha Mandir and the reason for that is producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra who wants me to hike up ticket prices which I am not ready to do as aam janta comes in my theatres and I can’t cheat them,” revealed a visibly agitated Manoj Desai, executive director G7 multiplexes.
An industry insider stated, “If PK makers and Aamir Khan would have really cared for the poor and the middle class, they would not have made such a demand.” The ticket prices have been hiked up across all multiplexes and single screen theatres. Vidhu Vinod Chopra on one hand has promised transparency as far as box office numbers are concerned but at the same time such arm twisting is in bad taste. What is shocking is that Aamir Khan on one hand has espoused so many wonderful causes through Satyamev Jayate but at the same time in a quest for breaking records he is becoming part of this race for monetary success.”
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December 18, 2014 at 5:56 AM
Aamir is a hypocrite. On the one hand he says that he doesn’t care about numbers, on the other he give constant interviews about how other actors are lying about their numbers and not to believe them. On the one hand he says that ticket prices won’t be more than HNY/Kick, in reality that is just a lie. Even Rentrak is BS-how are they going to collect SS collections any better than anyone else? What resources do a foreign agency have in the interiors of India? Rentrak just seems like another way of BS-ing collections. Sure the multiplex collections will be 100% but that’s it.
The worst is that all this is absolutely unnecessary for PK. If it was Talaash/Ghajini/D3/even 3 Idiots, I’d understand. But it’s PK! There is no bigger director-actor combo than Aamir-Hirani right now and no other combo who the audience have faith in. Even in the Worst case scenario, PK will trend better than HNY and Kick.
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December 18, 2014 at 10:13 AM
This is a bizarre report – No producer can dictate ticket prices to theater owners – it is the exhibitor who decide the prices..
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December 18, 2014 at 12:23 PM
something fishy here! So all of a sudden a movie doesn’t release in three theaters and the reason given is PK makers are forcing exhibitors to raise prices? Lol! Why no such thing happened for HNY/Kick/Chennai Express and so many other supposedly big grossers? Why didnt the mvie release then?
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December 18, 2014 at 12:34 PM
Normally they are the first so may be genuine one:
http://www.indiatvnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/pk-movie-review-starring-aamir-khan-anushka-sharma-19299.html
“It all goes side by side or rather say there is a parallel journey throughout. With dialogues by Abhijaat Joshi and Rajkumar Hirani himself the narration becomes more gripping and entertaining particularly with Aamir Khan’s Bhojpuri dialect. We won’t reveal as to how the language is inserted in the flick but we tell you it’s an interesting part to know.
While the narration in the movie is water-tight, the performance of the actors seems to be fantastic. There is no way, a movie is fake and pale, when we have Boman Irani who is hailed in all Hirani’s films or National Award winning Saurabh Shukla”.
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December 18, 2014 at 12:51 PM
Now while its storyline is fascinating, PK has ample surprises which unfold layer by layer remarkably. But one thing, which needs to be made clear is that PK is not a out an out comedy-caper as its trailer and songs have hinted towards yet carrying the same thought-process while stepping into the theatres won’t disappoint you. While there is a serious subject Rajkumar Hirani is dealing with and his ways of presenting the entire issue turns out to be humorous.
It all goes side by side or rather say there is a parallel journey throughout. With dialogues by Abhijaat Joshi and Rajkumar Hirani himself the narration becomes more gripping and entertaining particularly with Aamir Khan’s Bhojpuri dialect. We won’t reveal as to how the language is inserted in the flick but we tell you it’s an interesting part to know
http://www.indiatvnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/pk-movie-review-starring-aamir-khan-anushka-sharma-19299.html
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December 18, 2014 at 12:57 PM
oops, duplicate ho gaya !!
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December 18, 2014 at 1:37 PM
Never mind Rocky ek se bhale do…though Satyam can delete my link.
Few Tweets coming in:
Ashoke Pandit @ashokepandit 23m23 minutes ago
Kudos to Raju Hirani – @aamir_khan duo for a brilliant film @PKTheFilm. U once again proved that u r one of the finest Actor-Director Jodis.
Siddharth malhotra @sidpmalhotra 47m47 minutes ago
Pk has been watched @rajuhirani & @aamir_khan are legends .. The charm innocence and gravitas only he can pull off at the same time #PK
MAHIE GILL @MyMahie 1h1 hour ago
Everything about @PKTheFilm works! It’s rare to see a film dat bounces between humour & sentiment so seamlessly. Luv @aamir_khan ♡ [2/3] #PK
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December 18, 2014 at 2:41 PM
Kickass looks of AB 🙂
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December 18, 2014 at 3:40 PM
Amitabh Bachchan is the king of Twitter: Report
By PTI | 18 Dec, 2014, 12.05PM
KOLKATA: Leaving behind all other actors in the film industry, megastar Amitabh Bachchan has been ranked number one on Twitter, in terms of both popularity and activity.
In an analytics report of the most popular Bollywood stars on the social networking site, Big B with 12 million followers on Twitter topped the popularity list.
Digital services provider ‘TO THE NEW’ rated various Bollywood celebrities on the basis of their popularity and their engagement with fans on Twitter.
The rank is based on an algorithm which combines the scores received for each measure i.e. total number of followers, absolute increase in followers and tweets per day.
72-year-old Bachchan is followed by superstar Shah Rukh Khan (10.4 million followers) at number two and Abhishek Bachchan (5.4 million) at the third position.
Hrithik Roshan (7.7 million), Aamir Khan (10.1 million) and Salman Khan (9.5 million) have also made it to the list of top 10 most popular Bollywood actors.
Actresses in the list include Priyanka Chopra (8 million), Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha.
With an average of 20 tweets, re-tweets and replies per day, Bachchan also came out as the most active one among all.
His son Abhishek came second with an average of ten tweets. Anupam Kher, SRK and Sonakshi are also among the most active ones.
When it came to an increase in the number of followers in 2014, maverick actor Aamir Khan left behind all by registering an increase of more than 45 lakh followers.
Amitabh and SRK also saw a similar increase followed by Salman and Deepika.
The report also analysed 100 tweets for the top 10 celebrities during November and found that most of the conversations were on work promotion, interaction with fans and friends and brand promotion.
For Big B, 88 per cent of his tweets are interactions with fans. He also retweets pictures of his iconic characters and memorable roles that his fans share with him.
He uses a unique style of tweeting, which includes pre-fixing a number code to the tweet – for example ‘T-1375’.
Around 61 per cent of ‘King’ Khan’s tweets are interaction with his fans and friends while 16 per cent of the tweets are about upcoming projects or recently released films.
Aamir, who was not very active on Twitter last year, was seen on twitter mostly while promoting his show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ or his films.
Interestingly, 54 per cent of his tweets were brand endorsements, the report said.
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December 18, 2014 at 4:50 PM
What or who is God? The film revolves around this question and watching the film will force you to think about what we consider holy and beyond understanding, is it real or just a prank played by influential people long time ago and to further twist the fabric of history to suit their needs. Here have been films in the past and the recent past as well like OMG – Oh My God! (2012) that have brushed the topic but they have received more flak than accolades.
The same issue has been presented in a wonderfully different manner by Rajkumar Hirani with a bit of mockery and sarcasm but he has managed not crossed over to blasphemy which angers the deeply pious folk in the world. In an age of predictable plots, the end manages to keep on the edge of your seat and very few, if at all any of us, would have been able to foresee the end.
http://us.india.com/showbiz/pk-movie-review-aamir-khan-and-anushka-sharma-share-adorable-chemistry-on-screen-226388/
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