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299 Responses to “Airlift, Kya Kool Hain Hum 3, the rest of the box office”
Washington, United States: The eastern United States braced on Thursday for a blizzard that could bury Washington under more snow than it has seen in nearly a century, before moving on to New York.
Washington and neighboring cities including Baltimore could see up to two feet (61 centimeters) of snow accumulate in a short time as a result of the monster storm, which was also expected to generate fierce winds and icy rain in some area, forecasters said.
Heavy snow was expected across at least 15 states, according to the Weather Channel.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a blizzard warning for Washington, which was due to see first snowfall on Friday, and said New York could catch the tail end of the storm as the weekend progresses.
‘Kaun kahta hai aasmaan mein chhed ho nahin sakta Ek paththar to tabiyat se uchhalo yaaron’
To all those who look down upon Bollywood movies and snigger that they can never match up to the best of the West, the wait is over. AIRLIFT is here to make your cinematic spirits fly. Literally. Hats off to Bhushan Kumar of T Series, Nikhil Advani, Vikram Malhotra and Akshay Kumar for backing a film that deserves to be seen by every Indian and yes the world is waiting to salute the biggest and most historic air evacuation in the world history. With baited breath. Some stories should be told. AIRLIFT sheds light on the evacuation of Indians in Kuwait after the invasion by Iraq and it is narrated BRILLIANTLY!
On the whole, AIRLIFT is a classic film based on a real life incident that is told extremely well on screen. It is surely one of the best films to come out this year and will pick up with a strong word of mouth. Just do not miss this one!
Girish Johar @girishjohar 8m8 minutes ago
EXCLUSIVE !! The way its strongly running, very shortly #Natsamrat is poised to be the HIGHEST MARATHI GROSSER EVER !!! @NanaPatekarHere
Lol! Wazir left out from “rest of the boxoffice” so early is amazing. I think the admin seem to be in hurry to get rid of dilapidated donkey to have some peace. Alas! this peaceful time may be a bit short as teen is comming in the May, an another NICHE film😃
3.5/5 – War is never pretty, with civilians being the biggest casualty, and director Raja Krishna Menon puts it across engagingly in Airlift. It’s a tale of 170,000 Indian expatriates caught in the Iraq-Kuwait conflict in 1990 and their struggle to safety.
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar plays the suave and shrewd business tycoon Ranjit Katiyal. He has everything going for him: a beautiful wife (Nimrat Kaur), a lovely daughter, a palatial mansion, well-connected business associates … the works. But his life changes overnight as Iraqi soldiers go on a rampage, killing Kuwaitis and gunning down all those who oppose them. The first few scenes that show the destruction and brutality of the Iraqi soldiers are persuasive and gritty. The scenes filmed in Ras Al Khaimah, the emirate which was dressed up as the war-torn Kuwait, hit home.
Raja Sen
3/5 – Review: Akshay Kumar is impressive in Airlift
Films about genuinely unsung heroes are a fine thing, and Raja Krishna Menon’s Airlift is a sincere effort to celebrate an insanely daunting task.
In 1990, during the first Gulf War, over 170,000 Indians were stranded in Kuwait when it was attacked by Iraq. A few local businessmen and Indian diplomats took on the valiant, significantly uphill task of bringing those people home.
The number itself is staggering — necessitating nearly 500 aeroplanes full of people — and Airlift, for the most part, delivers this action with efficiency and a relative lack of exaggerated drama.
Film review: ‘Airlift’ is flight of fantasy about the Kuwait rescue
The star triumphs over the facts in a sleight of hand that makes for riveting but also fanciful cinema. Black-and-white photographs in the closing credits show several nameless government employees at work, stamping the temporary papers that allow the Indians to re-enter their country and facilitating the relocation of this mass of humanity. This amazing story needs a second movie, perhaps titled The Real Airlift, which is not in thrall to a single and singular man but acknowledges the hundreds who enabled lakhs of Indians to return home safe. Airlift soars on its own merits, but it is ultimately a flight of fantasy.
His last project Saheb Singh even though good suffered due to weak heroine and this too may not be taken seriously due to puny Soha. Perceptions matter a lot with audience these days.
But still looking forward to this as Ghayal is one of my all time great actioner.
“I’ve reached that stage in my career where I want to offer something more” – Akshay KumarBy Bollywood Hungama News Network, Jan 22, 2016 – 10:38 IST
Akshay Kumar had 4 releases last year, and he’s already looking at the first release of 2016. Airlift, a political drama set in Kuwait during Saddam Husain’s invasion is a film Akshay rightly proud of. Most of the other A-list actors of Bollywood today would hesitate in touching something so controversial and …well… non-filmy. Akshay dares to be different, and yet finds space to do what he is most loved for, namely goofy comedies. Subhash K Jha chats with Bollywood’s star-actor with the most chutzpah.
2015 saw the releases of four of your films Baby, Gabbar Is Back, Brothers & Singh Is Bliing, with Airlift round the corner… Your comments on the year that was?
It felt like a really long year, there’s no denying it, but then again releasing four films within 12 months takes its toll on every inch of you (laughs).
So a long holiday from work perhaps?
Never! I still wouldn’t have it any other way!! My range of films in 2015 are what I’ve loved the most about the year, each and every one of my directors has kept me on my toes, be it Neeraj Pandey in Baby where he wanted me to exercise absolute discipline in the big outdoor action scenes or even indoors while manhandling some corrupt elements. Then there was the director Krish in Gabbar Is Back.I loved doing that as much as Baby.
It was a while saw a hero doing the vigilante act?
Krish really brought the vigilante out in me. I felt bigger and bolder than ever. Ha ha. Then the MMA (mixed martial arts) experience of a lifetime created by Karan Malhotra. Let me tell you, my body is still recovering from that one.
Singh Is Bliing saw you do the goofy comic thing again?
I love making people laugh. In Singh is Bliing my director Prabhu Dheva finally let the girls rule the roost while I played with huge Lion! What can I say; it was an eventful and extremely versatile yet physically demanding year. I’m a lucky man to still be living my dream after 25 years!
Which of these films did you enjoy doing the most and which ones gave you maximum satisfaction as an actor, and why?
Enjoy, would have to be Singh Is Bliing of course, purely because it was the most pain-free carefree happy-go-lucky film of the year. But my biggest achievement last year would have to be Brothers.
Why?
This film took everything out of me. I gave so much mentally and physically for this film. I trained bigger and harder than I ever had to in my twenties. I prepared and put my body through things I didn’t know I could achieve at my age.
Why did you go through so much physical strain?
The sheer physical labour to put myself through what I did was to purely inspire the younger generations of India, life doesn’t have to start and end in a text book. Martial arts is an incredible discipline to study as well. The fight sequences in Brothers make me proud. They are something I will carry proudly on my back for many many years to come.
Which has been your most satisfying performance in recent times?
Baby was my Baby!! Neeraj has a knack of reinventing every step you make, even if it’s walking the streets, he will make you perform like you’ve never walked before, and I love that about him.
2016 starts for you with Airlift. The film looks as real and raw as Baby, if not more. Are you again going to balance the real with the escapist films in 2016?
I really do like my nitty gritty films, there’s something so honest about them, they make you feel like you are doing something real and right for a change, rather than just being a money making movie-making jack in the box. With raw cinema it just takes you to another space entirely, you feel a lot more connected to your character than in a commercial film.
So the raw-real are more challenging than the masala films?
No. Don’t get me wrong I still love to do my commercial films. But I’ve reached that stage in my career where I want to offer something more. My films like Baby, Airlift, and Holiday all bring a certain purpose to my days, to my work, to how I feel as an actor. I’m hoping not only 2016 will bring me more such cinema, but also the future.
Airlift is obviously a film close to your heart. Please tell me about your character and the film.
Ranjit Katyal, a man that had it all, a rich successful businessman with a prosperous family, the world at his feet, till one fateful night when nothing is ever the same again. My character is a man of his word, when war struck Kuwait where he resides, he felt it his duty to not only get his family back home safe, but also evacuate all the Indian families that were in the same horrendous situation he was in.
You have always gravitated towards playing idealistic heroes like the one in Dhadkan and Aetraaz?
Yes, what I like about my character in Airlift is that he couldn’t just walk away from the crisis with his family into safety. He had to help himself; thousands were in just as much danger as he was, so he felt it his duty to rescue his own people from the war that had rained down upon them all so suddenly, a rescue that turned into the biggest air evacuation mission of all time. This is a story about a man who didn’t know how to give up.
Why have we never heard of this man?
That’s the thing which attracted me to Ranjit Katyal. He not only saved thousands of lives, he came home and no-one even truly thanked him. Ranjit Katyal should have been a national hero, yet somehow his efforts went unnoticed. This is my honest attempt at bringing respect to the man many families owe their lives to, a man whose name we should all know.
In 2015 you worked with new leading ladies like Amy Jackson and Jacqueline Fernandes. It’s now Nimrat Kaur in Airlift. What was Nimrat like as a co-star?
As a co-star for about 3 days she was a very serious, well-spoken humble. She was on a mission to make a film and make it well. So of course I had to make it my honourable duty to break her defenses.
What do you mean?
I mean I forced her to see another side to making films. She’s a wonderful actress and human being, but she didn’t realize you can enjoy your work even when your work is about bloodshed and heartache. Now I can honestly say, she’s been given my magic touch of humour, the best medicine in even the worst of circumstances and she has taken my medication for fun-shooting like a true lady and embraced a new found filming experience, she has officially been broken in.
On your home front, your wife Twinkle blossomed into an author?
My wife is proving to the World right now just what an extraordinary woman she really is. Tina is an incredible writer and poet in my eyes; she throws words together like I throw a cricket ball, which is powerfully with such ease. I couldn’t be prouder, when the person that’s been holding you together for so many years gets to revel in her own individual; limelight, it’s more than satisfying, it’s inspiring. My wife, the life juggler, wow!
Would you like your children Aarav and Nitara to become actors, if they choose to be?
Personally my children can become whatever they want to be. I’d never be the type of parent who pushes his children in a direction they don’t want to go in. It’s my life-long passion to never lose my children’s love. If I pushed them, I’d only be pushing them away, so instead I just want to hold them closely and follow behind them quietly. Currently my son Aarav is engrossed with writing his own school play and my daughter just wants to fly like Hanumanji. I have no worries about them being driven, but I’ll always be in the background steering them if they ever do get lost in the ocean of opportunities…
Your closing thoughts?
My thoughts are only of gratitude. I can’t ask for more in life. I will mostly definitely strive for more, for my fans and of course for my family, but I ask for nothing. I really do just want to give thanks. I have the greatest support-system to help me help as many as I can, 2016 is going to be another year of giving, in whatever way I can.
Airlift Has Pretty Good Start Especially Big Cities
Friday 22 January 2015 12.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Airlift has opened to pretty good collections of around 30-35% as multiplexes of cities opened well. The opening is better than last year’s Baby which was released in the same week last year and also starred Akshay Kumar. Airlift also had competition from Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 but should easily surpass the figures opening day numbers of Baby.
The opening is best in in the big cities. Both Delhi city and East Punjab should top 1 crore nett especially as evenings should be better as these films have do better on Friday evenings and there is huge multiplex presence in these areas. Mumbai city is decent but smaller cities of Maharashtra opened similar to Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3, some were even lower.
Despite the start there is still a long way to go for the film as it will not be a big number that a big cast film should be doing so it becomes about that weekend growth. If the evening growth comes then it will have good platform to build from on Saturday and Sunday with solid growth.
Also the morning opening is probably enough to have better collections than Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 as the film will do better in the evening. If the film had opened like Baby then a shock would have been on the cards.
Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 Opens Well In Mass Centres
Friday 22 January 2015 12.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Kyaa Kool has opened well in mass centres with a opening of 30-35% despite competition from a big film like Airlift. The film is running neck to neck with the Airlift in mass centres in practically all the circuits. The opening in the big multiplexes of North india is less as a star makes a big difference there and Akshay Kumar has a strong market in the North. As there is huge preference of these multiplexes in North the big gap in collections of both films may come here.
The film will do its best business in Mumbai and CPCI circuits. The last film of this brand Kyaa Super Kool Hain hum had recorded a 6.75 crore nett day one and despite it not being a solo release with a bigger film for competition, the opening numbers suggest it should surpass that film.
It is the opposite of Airlift for Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 as its more about holding the collections rather than growing to pull through. Growth would be a big plus though but it is tough with genre as families on the weekend tend to keep away from these type of films.
Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar said that India is a “tough country” where speaking about personal life can land people behind the bars and he did not want to fight the “governance” by talking of issues like “intolerance”.
“We are in a tough country and to speak about one’s personal life in today’s time can land you in jail,” the director-producer said at the ninth edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival. He was in conversation with author Shobaa De and his biographer Poonam Saxena on his upcoming biography ‘An Unsuitable Boy’.
Johar, who has made films on contentious issues such as homosexuality (‘Dostana’) and relationships outside wedlock (‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’), said as a filmmaker he felt bound at every level. “I feel bound on every level, be it what I put out on the celluloid or what I say in print. I feel like there is always some kind of a legal notice awaiting me everywhere I go.”
He added, “Everywhere I go, I am scared. I am saying something in Jaipur (right now). I don’t know who will file a case when I get home. I’ve become some kind of an FIR king,” Johar said referring to the controversy over the AIB roast, staged in Mumbai last year which involved the western concept of insult comedy.
The Bombay High Court recently asked Mumbai police not to file charge sheet against the filmmaker and others facing a criminal case for allegedly using obscene language on the show.
Johar said he did not want to fight the “governance” by speaking out on “intolerance” like his colleagues in Bollywood industry did last year. “Look what happened as a result of anyone who said anything on it. I make movies, I’m fighting megalomaniac movie stars everyday. Do I need to fight the governance?
“We’re fighting the censor with every film. You write anything, you can’t say anything. How are we democratic then?” he posed. He also added, “Freedom of expression is the biggest joke in the world… Democracy is the second biggest joke I think.”
Talking about section 377 of the Indian penal code, which criminalises same sex relationships, Johar said “It’s a hurdle we need to combat.” He also said he appreciated endeavours made by politicians like Shashi Tharoor who had brought up the bill in the last Parliament session.
“You can change the way the governance works, but how do you change the sensibility of the average man in the house? It doesn’t matter what bill you pass and what dharna you do until the DNA or the mental fabric (of society) changes,” the 43-year-old said.
Johar also said he doesn’t “judge” people who don’t come out about their sexuality.
The director who has made blockbusters such as ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hain’, and ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’, among others shared an anecdote when he tried to pull a prank on a friend who he thought secretly stocked beef.
“We set up two policemen to go and arrest him … And it was a successful prank. That guy was horrified,” said Johar adding that the incident could have turned serious had it not been a joke.
Meanwhile, other topics in the conversation included Johar’s secluded childhood in South Bombay to his family’s hard times, his obsessions with film songs and the importance of following your dreams.
A person here is posting the damn weather reports of the Untied States , and anything remotely anti Govt. ( no matter even if it is untrue, conjecture and shows India in a bad light )…but BC full Sannnatta on Malda and Pune and the arrest of IS guys all over India.
Kamaal hai yaar !!
Pune dalit boy was killed by muslim after he was asked his identity by muslim guys but S.I.L.E.N.C.E in media and here coz they can’t take it as upper caste hindu is not involved but their own … there are no sick, inhuman than Indian seculars and Adarsh liberals.. their food is deceit, lies, hypocrisy and obfuscation .. one can see plenty here…
Terrorism has no religion but mob has religion and its Hindu – Adarsh liberals case in point Dadri .. How they sleep in nights?
Indian seculars- When hate engulfs you so much that you become embodiment of hate yourself.. All indian seculars and media is example but today best example is Mrinalni Sarabhai who went to twitter attacking Modi for not saying words on her Mother’s death.. It shows Love is not most powerful emotion but Hate.. Instead of grieving she decided what she does best – hate. Now she has all the rotten eggs on her face when she will know that Modi has already written letter to late Mrs Sarabhia’s son expressing condolences and grief .. Hate .. Hate … Yaha b bahut hain
would like to add to all the ‘politically incorrect’ stuff y’all are saying. Yaha par logo kaa naam dilip kumar hai par asli naam kuch aur hai..issliye you can see it in their behaviors. 😦
Yaar Bliss- yeh Begairat, Besharam , Beizzat, belagaam – Aaptard ko samjhao- bhai mere galey mat padh..
Not interested in dealing with Filthy people …..How the f@@@ do I explain this to the Aaptard who has been trolling me like forever now. I am at my wits end.
Bhai bakhsh dey mujhey !!
Why should I write about Malda? For that matter I did not even write anything about raging Vemula Rohith controversy or court strictures against cbi in seizing documents or Mrinalini Sarabhai’s daughter’s anguish. I think someone is suffering from serious mental problems and cant take it even the mildest questioning. US weather is attributed to global warming and thats why it interested me.
I wrote about the Kerala man taking the kids to the hotel because it is such a heartwarming story.
People are so selective to pick me up and vent their anger after their holidays in India. That is why Salim was so careful to balance his mild criticism and get praised.
Man gestured the little boy to come in, and he came in with his little sister. He asked them what they’d like to have and the boy pointed at the plate on his table. He ordered another plate.
When the food was served, the little boy couldn’t contain his excitement. Just before he started, his sister held his hand, stopping him. He understood she wants them both to wash their hands before starting.
The kids quietly finished the food ordered for them. Neither did they speak to each other, or smile. When done, they rose, looked at the man, washed their hands and left. The man hadn’t touched his food yet. He felt full.
He finished his meal and called for the bill. When he got back to the table after washing his hands, he saw the bill and it moved him to tears he had been holding back all this while.
The bill had no amount, but a message for him.
It read, “We don’t have a machine that can bill humanity. May good happen to you.”
Airlift review: With great camerawork and greater performances, this is Akshay Kumar’s ‘Chak De India’
by Gayatri Gauri Jan 22, 2016 15:02 IST
Fifteen minutes into Airlift, in a very simple, quiet, slow motion sequence, a defeated looking, bearded Indian man drives past the burning city of Kuwait.
Young Iraqi army men, barely in their teens, are out on the streets, guns in their hands, with the power of Saddam Hussein’s terror in their walk. The torturous sights of a city under siege continue to be seen in the rear view mirror of the car. One of the first thoughts you have as a viewer is that Camerawoman Priya Seth’s story-centric cinematography is deeply compelling in Airlift.
Just the night before, the Indian chauffeur was driving a man along with his wife to a party. The man is now huddled at the steering wheel, sobbing. His name is Ranjit Katyal.
By now, you have forgotten he is Akshay Kumar, the action hero who was last seen performing a rocking bhangra, with a vibrant turban on his head, in Singh is Bling. Kumar is an ordinary looking Katyal, and this itself is a huge achievement for someone of his star stature, thanks primarily to the smoothest direction by Raja Krishna Menon.
There is no unnecessary dramatic build up of any kind of commercial heroism, despite a few seconds of Kumar breaking into both Bollywood dance steps as well as a tiny fight sequence. It’s not just about the way Kumar performs and keeps it subtle and silent. It’s also about the way Menon reveals his character without going overboard. The very tone of Airlift is devoid of any drama, right till the last frame. The music supports the subtext, the camera is unobtrusive and the film simply lets the story flow. Right into your heart and your conscience.
This is Menon’s third film after Bas Yun hi (2003) and Barah Aana (2009). It is also one of the finest films based on a real event, after Shimit Amin’s Chak De India. If the Indian flag in Chak De India arouses tearful emotions of joy, pride and redemption, the same flag seen in Jordan, at a certain point in Airlift, is bound to bring a similar lump to the throat.
And it’s not just the big moments that are poignant. It’s a given that the main story based on the historic incident of rescue evacuation of Indians from Kuwait during Hussein’s attack in 1990, has all the makings of the most inspiring piece of cinema. But the script’s charm lies in the smaller stories within the larger picture.
Small subplots like that of Ibrahim (Purab Kohli) looking for a missing newly wedded wife, is made more touching by simple quiet exchanges with Katyal. Kumud Misra chews this part with the ease of a hungry dog and meaty bone. Other minor characters play the voice of a common man looking out for their selfish needs in moments of crisis. One such person, George, is played brilliantly by Prakash Belawadi. Inaamulhuq plays the loathful Iraqi villain with conviction and relish, his slim frame notwithstanding.
Nimrat Kaur, who won many hearts in The Lunchbox, is more of a distraction in her glamorous look and is the weakest link in the film despite having a long speech moment.
Ultimately, it’s the heartwarming story of achieving the impossible and larger human conscience in Airlift that rules. What do you do when, in the words of Katyal, “Saddam hamare ghar ghus aaya hai?”
Well, as two real life heroes, Matthew and Vedi did — you make calls and more calls for days to the passive Delhi Government office, patiently negotiate with frightful people like Iraqi generals and bravely travel to Baghdad. You use your mind as the only weapon and most importantly, your conscience. Then, all it takes are around 500 airlines, a few good men in the ministry to practically airlift around 1, 70,000 Indians from Kuwait to Mumbai.
Kudos to Menon for giving us Akshay Kumar’s Chak De India.
Indicine.com @indicine 25m25 minutes ago
Akshay Kumar’s Airlift is the most critically acclaimed Hindi film in the last 6 months => http://goo.gl/z8hSx4
Hindi cinema history tells us that mainstream storytellers in Bollywood face many a pitfall when they work with real-life stories.
They frequently succumb to the temptation to inject exaggerated drama into the narrative. In the bargain, they end up tumbling with a thud between two stools.
Neither is it easy for their ilk to handle a tale of heroism aimed at highlighting what “we Indians” can achieve when we all deign to pull in the same direction.
Mumbai filmmakers have all too often turned such accounts into flabby, flag-waving exercises meant only for those who buy into such counterfeit cinematic constructs.
Stay away from Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3, advises Prasanna D Zore.
There are films that rile your bile. Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 will top if such a list is ever made. There is not a single scene in KKHM 3 that does not show skin. If not skin, there are loaded dialogues and porn-y gestures that make you want to throw up.
The review of KKHM 3 can really be summed up like this:
Just finished Dubai show. Airlift is brilliant. Direction top notch. Akshay is in great form. Easily one of the best performances across the industry over the last few years. Claps all over the cinema during climax.
can akki get some love on this forum? He has worked on some great movies in the last few years: OMG, special chabbis, Holiday, baby, Gabbar and now airlift
“@can akki get some love on this forum? He has worked on some great movies in the last few years: OMG, special chabbis, Holiday, baby, Gabbar and now airlift”
Oh I absolutely love Akki in this current lean and mean form and he is now leaving competition behind. For killjoys who say he cannot scale Khans / Hrithik height, I will say he has reached a niche place where even they too cannot emulate and achieve his success ratio and his slot has become unique in its own way.
On an aside, getting sick of these event movies like Sultan and Dangal etc which take forever to conceive and filmed, where after all the hoopla if the supplemental talent like directors, editors are not up to to the mark, the whole project leaves a bad taste.
Akki has a good run up this year with masala blockbuster
Houseful 3 and Rustom where he plays a navy officer with Neeraj Pandey as director. Icing on the cake is his project Robot 2 which will show him in a different light.
Akki also proves a point to people giving too much importance to acting and boasting about being master of their craft etc…….in this age of cheap raw stock, easy shoot / filming / cut / paste/edit it is all the more reason to be surrounded by smart technicians / skilled support cast to give out a superlative end product.
I love akki. I love akki. I love akki. Akki the best. Akki Rocks. There is nothing I don’t like about him, including his wooden acting or so called furniture. He is awesome. Camera loves him. He is everything that one should aspire to be. Akki…keep making good cinema. We love uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
Well, I am glad that it has at least opened better than KKHH3. It would have been heart-breaking to see something like the latter having more audience than the former.
The BO thread is going to be interesting in the next few days. I have noticed Bollywood Hungama is one of the major promotional outlets of Airlift. There was an early positive review of the movie (which was probably deserved) followed by a negative review of KKHH3 (probably deserved as well). BOI, on the hand seem to be rooting for the underdog.
The opening reports from both sites differ like chalk and cheese. The BO reporting is going to be interesting here. My bet is that Airlift’s figures are going to be vastly superior at BH. The reporting of KKHH3 may be interesting. Who knows, maybe for once we will see BOI reporting higher number than BH there.
Bliss- Another Instance of Presstitutes !!!
NDTV and AAP are bilkul same in spreading misinformation !!
কাঞ্চন গুপ্ত
@KanchanGupta
কাঞ্চন গুপ্ত Retweeted NDTV
Not true. He fobs off question. Journo persists. He says “You go fight with him. Why are you after me?”
Re-
NDTV Verified account
@ndtv ‘Go and beat him up, don’t ask me’, says Minister VK Singh on Karan Johar
>NDTV and AAP are bilkul same in spreading misinformation !!
ooops!! Yes, I forgot.
This is, of course, the normal response given – beat him up – or “Deal with the anti national elements” etc etc
All part of a day’s work.
Ha ha, …..agree I too want to avoids it here but when people post misinformation , it has to be rebutted. I know Satyam assumes that I strike first, but I have generally never initiated a political discussion here.But as usual Bhakton ko galat hee assume kiya jaata hai JNU key universe mein !!! LOL
Lucky you , that you get to watch Airlift first day !!
Reviews are good till now…High command ka aadesh hai movie dekhne ka..And there are 3 movie halls near by showing it .
ps – It has been raining since I returned from India. That may stop us from going today 🙂
I have office tomorrow so mushkil hai, did you see our mutual friend in India ??
P.S.- The people in India spend money jaisey moongfali ho, we on the other look for sale, clearance and coupons to buy stuff !!!
Mutual Friend – Varanasi? No..Needed to be in Bangalore whole time. I will go again in March. Wife visited them.
Agree about money. I commented in one of threads on tolerance/intolerance; There is so much poverty that there are people who don’t have money for food, roof. Went to Noida GIP mall and people have so much money.
Karan Johar has every right to voice his opinion (and I agree with him but it has been like this since independence) but it is main headline. There are people dying due to cold and media is not putting onus on Governments to do something (State and Central).
It is okay..I was expecting more based on the positives all over the media and social networks.
I have often complained when people mix tone. The movie was serious then you have regular melodramatic acting/scenes in between.
I am here in spirit😄
Am lifted by the success of Airlift.
If I hadn’t been snowed in, would have watched it for sure. This movie has potential to be a game changer that Baby failed to be. If it ends up north of 140 crores which seems a possibility after the string second weekend, Alshay will get a huge boost.
Awesome, awesome , awesome movie, no words. Clapping in theater during end scenes. Amazing experience.
Watching it again for sure, may be on sunday if i could get ticket else weekdays.
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 22m22 minutes ago
#Airlift has an IMPRESSIVE Day 1. Fri ₹ 12.35 cr. India biz. Exceptional word of mouth. Biz should multiply over the weekend.
During the early years of Independence, national celebrations did not need any security like we are having today. Nowadays, there is always lurking fear before, during and after these events and one can breathe easy after these events are over safely. Only religious festivities have escaped this tension. During those days, we did not have social media and the newspaper editorials shaped up our opinions. Everything changed after Chinese aggression and Pakistani incursions and our own leaders started practising divide and rule policies based on caste, religion, language, sons of the soil theories, inherited from the British.
4.5/5 – Airlift movie review: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur’s spectacular tale of heroism
Rcommended (4.5/5)
Once in a while, Bollywood reminds you why it can never be written off. That no matter how many commercial, trashy films it bombards us all with, there are times it can rise to the occasion. Like its hero Ranjit Katiyal, Airlift helps Bollywood airlift itself out of the mess it normally resides in. Raja Krishna Menon’s Airlift is a tale of heroism, courage, patriotism, and a lot more. And deserves a standing ovation.
aran adarsh
@taran_adarsh
7h
#Airlift has an IMPRESSIVE Day 1. Fri ₹ 12.35 cr. India biz. Exceptional word of mouth. Biz should multiply over the weekend.
Airlift First Day Territorial Breakdown
Saturday 23 January 2015 14.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
3
Airlift grossed 11 crore nett on day one which is a decent collection mainly due to multiplex collections in big cities as mass centres had low collections on day one. The plus for the film is the growth at multiplexes as with morning collections it was looking at sub 10 crore nett total.
The opening day collections are lower than all the Akshay Kumar starrers released last year apart from Baby which did not open at all. The difference here is the trend on day one which suggests that the multiplex audience especially in the cities may take to film especially if the second day can show good growth. For a really big number the key will be big growth in Gujarat, UP, Rajasthan etc on Saturday
The main business has come in Mumbai, Delhi/UP and East Punjab and Mysore should show huge growth on Saturday as that circuit should be higher on day one for a film scoring at multiplexes. The rest of the circuits have seen business which is below the mark
The first day territorial breakdown of Airlift is as follows
I posted above in response to a comment. It basically shows there is difference between BOI and actual ticket counted. The actual ticket counted is not total ticket sold.
I suppose insensitivity is now the politically correct allowed word as against intolerance. The worst comment IMO,came below this Kajol article — some guy writing that people marrying twice and thrice and not caring about brother/ sister and talking of intolerance. What a ….twisted mind. And all those people, eminent names — The RBI governor, the President, writers, directors, all talked about increasing intolerance in a normally tolerant India — all are OK for their statements, but two Muslim actors are to be torched on social media, especially the one who was especially careless/ foolhardy/ honest? Continuously set upon by some BJP wala or other, termed anti-national, threatened that he will be taught a lesson, next film release will be ‘treated’…..what a country we have become. And social media commenters actually cheering along.😐
Srk/Aamir- Why they both made so much noise suddenly? they are tax thieves. They got summoned by ED for investigation. Their corrupt business module cant operate freely so they start maligning whole nation while being Brand Ambassador of Incredible India campaign. They have been running their production houses without opening Tax account and when they are questioned, they start playing muslim victim card. Talk about hypocrisy. http://www.abinet.org/professional-intolerance-aamir-khan-shah-rukh-khan-exposed-professional-tax-thieves/
You bring political discussion here, let me reply.
Srk and Aamir react on selective thing, just couple of days incident happened in pune where one hindu guy is killed by 3 muslim guys. Why no reaction? On the basis of one incident, they say whole country is intolerant.
As for SRK, he retracted from his statement just a day before release of Dilwale, why? If he was right, why to draw his statement back. Because, he has no dignity, its all about money, to gain publicity, he made political statements during promotion, but when he saw it can go against him, he withdrew his statement.
As for SRK, talk less is better. His association with 2G scamster is well evident. SRK openly supports him and says he will never give up Karim morani, why such sympathy for a criminal.
Because, Karim morani is financer in KKR, and associate producers in many srk movies including Dilwale, RaOne.
He manages srk’s shows in dubai and fraud companies. Is srk lacking money? Still he is so greedy and disgusting, he made himself so disgusting, inspite of all adoration he received.
Karim morani was in jail for 2G scam, and that is nothing , he has long criminal history with dubai links.
Srk is most corrupt star, his behavior ,egoist attitude is all evident in his interviews and media appearances.
Columbus Reporting –
KKHH3 – not a single ticket booked for whole day, even 10:15 am show about to start in an hour looks set to be audience free.
Best show was Friday night 7:15 pm, which was 30% full. I think it will be out of theatre today itself, no audience atall.
Airlift – Last night shows were packed, and whole saturday is 90% booked already. Sadly, it has got small capacity screens, Also it is just released in 80 theatres in US. 😦
Yes, but very limited.
Btw, srk can rejoice, it collected 1k on thursday, which was its last day in usa.
BM will end its run with 2mn more than dilwale. BM is already at 6.6 mn
Now, Silent media, Not intolerance debates, no award wapsi, no celebrity tweets and political comments, why ?
Community of Pune boy is not vote bank, congress backed media will ignore it.
‘Congress is not ruling Maharashtra now’
Oh this is your justification? You know where Dadri is ? In UP?
No one ever cared to ask Akhilesh yadav.
Talk about hypocrisy.
Police will listen to whatever party is in power. They will not go out of their way to please congress and incur wrath of their present political masters.
If police really listens to congress, why Tarun Tejpal was incarcerated in the neighbouring state? Just the way congress used to say foreign hand, now they are saying congress hand in everything.
The police has, however, denied any communal angle behind the murder of the boy in Kasba Peth area of Pune last week.
Sawan was hospitalised last Wednesday after sustaining severe burn injuries when three men, suspecting his involvement in stealing vehicle batteries, poured petrol on him and set him on fire on January 13. He died in hospital two days later.
“When my son was admitted to hospital, he told me that he was set on fire by three suspects after they came to know that he was Hindu,” Sawan’s father Dharma claimed.
‘I think it was inhuman to burn a person for whatever reason.’
No one is asking it is inhuman or not, obviously it is. And same for Dadri incident. Every about dadri incident said it is inhuman. Even those who were vouching to ban beef.
Eating beef is not appreciated though it is one’s own choice, but punishing someone taking law in their own hands is crime and condemn-able. That’s why case was registered against those people in dadri.
Now, saying i condemn it saying it is inhuman and avoiding discussion is double standard. Though, i dont want discussion because it just spoils the atmosphere. There were always such incidents here and there, but creating mole out of one incident and ignoring one shows real intolerence and hypocrisy and malicious politically motivated intentions.
Not just in media, congress, congress synthesizers, also on this forum, many have not been able to digest Modi is running government.
By the way NDTV is not silent. The father was on the TV for half an hour or so explaining his take on the matter. Just watched about half an hour back.
Yes, you can expect ndtv trying to give it communal angle to spoil communal harmony. But, they wont find enough patronage from award wapsi gangs, congress and congress sympathizers, as it doesnt not target their vote banks, so their attempt will fail.
This is what ndtv has been doing, and that is my point, why to give it communal angle. I will say same things, what i said during Dadri incident.
“It is law and order problem that people are taking law in their own hands.”
But, Dadri incident was given communal angle, and no one questioned law and order asked UP government and used it as political tool against Central Govt. Now, they should question Maharastra govt to trace culprit soon and take legal course.
The media worked against congress and brought it down. The Anna Hazare movement was covered continuously. It is a fallacy that media works for the congress.
RANCHI: The place British used to execute freedom fighters in pre-independent India now hosts world’s largest tri-colour on tallest flag-post, the 66×99 feet flag, 493 feet above surface on a 293 feet mast at Ranchi’s popular Pahari Mandir. The flag, defence minister Manohar Parrikar hoisted on Saturday, flutters in the breeze soaking the place – that remembers the cruel executions – in patriotism. Many in Ranchi know Pahari Mandir as ‘Fansi Dungri’ (hanging point).
“The country’s largest flag on tallest post is also the most majestic and most beautiful,” Parrikar said after unfurling the 60-kg flag atop Pahari Mandir. The event coincided with Netaji Subash Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary.
The majestic flag drew people at the foot-hills of Pahari Mandir as well as on roof-tops where they struggled to capture the patriotic moment in cameras. Rohan Deo Pathak, a local singer, sang a couple of patriotic numbers for a TV channel dedicating a special coverage to the event. He went on to share a selfie with flag on Facebook. “Feeling patriotic at Pahari Mandir,” he wrote.
Satyam just after watching Dilwale And Bajirao Mastani Trailer –
“I might catch Dilwale, looks interesting enough. But, nothing can convinced me to watch Bajirao Mastaani.”
Wasnt that your comment ?
And you kept your promise by avoiding BM inspite of such strong feedback. Wow what a ignorance and prejudiced personality. And same prejudice you spread all over in your political discussion.
Satyam on Political Debates –
I don’t want to involve in Political discussion, but i will just say one thing.
And then One Long essay…………..
…………………..
……………..1000 more lines……….
……………
more political discussion….
just one more point….and then one more long essay….and so on….
And when on back foot-
Let’s stop political discussion guys. This is not political forum.
Actually you are still celebrating some 70s movies, so what if others enjoy contemporary cinema. Leave aside me, you have no right to have sarcasm on most crazy fans .
actually I wasn’t being sarcastic at all. On the rest I find it hard to get motivated by Hindi films these days unless it’s an actor or director I really like. And Bollywood these days is for the most part ‘cinema’ the way my bathroom singing is ‘music’. of course many bathroom singers are successful in contemporary Bollywood, no disrespect to them.
As for some of the ‘fans’ their commitments in terms of their favorite films and stars are only slightly less tasteless than their political ones!
Do want to watch Airlift incidentally.
finally and in terms of many of your comments I’d at least like to be polite and say you’re providing some humor. Unfortunately I have standards even here..
‘actually I wasn’t being sarcastic at all’
LOL
such impacts happen, and some factors bring more audience. In nutshell, these excuses are suitable only for fans.
Airlift Set To Emerge A Winner- Excellent Growth On Day Two
Saturday 23 January 2015 23.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Airlift looks set to emerge a winner as it had good collections on its second day of around 14.50 crore nett. The first day collections were fair but the second day is good. More importantly the trend is excellent with growth going near 35%. Although it does not mean much with only a dud like Wazir released so far, Airlift may possibly emerge the first hit of the year.
The growth is solid across all big city multiplexes. This is as important as some films get huge growth on strength of high ends. The mass pockets are not great but good growth in the likes of Surat and Lucknow which are important A centres, it can get away with it as it dos not need to go towards 200 crore to be a winner.
The two day business will be around 25.50 crore nett and will easily go over 40 crore nett depending on the Sunday growth. If mass can go to high levels on Sunday it will be a huge bonus and then the film could even go for a big number.
Airlift all set for HUGE blockbuster. Airlift to Akshay is what Three Idiots was to Aamir , CDI to SRK and BB to Salman. Akshay is in different league now .. after OMG, S26, Baby and Holiday .. Airlift is another milestone.
Aamir Khan who has been shooting for his film ‘Dangal’ in New Delhi for the past few days had a special visitor on the set.
Unit hands were surprised to see former cricketer Virender Sehwag pay Aamir a visit. He was spotted carrying a box of laddoos specially made by his mom, Krishna, for Aamir.
The actress, who is a big fan of Sanghi, had not recognised him at their first meeting. “My mom introduced me to his writing. When I read Chanakya’s Chants I kept wondering why he didn’t use his name in the first book,” she quipped, adding that if given a chance, she would “love to play Chanakya”.
Confessing that she is not a fan of complicated and depressing books, she said, “It’s important for me that a book is easy reading. I’ve read many award-winning authors and found their books boring.”
“I don’t get it, Karan. Here is the whole LGBT community fighting it tooth and nail for over three decades. Did you not hear about or read the papers when sexual minorities all over India mobilised, held workshops, meetings, halla-bol public hearings, met up with members of parliament and political honchos to muster support to get Section 377 removed? Or were you so in your Sleeping Beauty phase…”
I must say… Among the 90s actor (SRK, Aamir, Salman, Ajay and Akshay) it is the Akshay Kumar who progressed most as an actor and choices of films in last 5 yers or after 2010. Patiala House, Oh my god, SPL 26, Baby, Holiday, Airlift, Gabbar is back..Impressive list. Mind you He doesn’t have So called A-List Director.
Addition in above comment. Akki is my fitness idol too. still i don’t agree with Yakuza’s enthusiasm. Akshay’s film has an upper limit, though Bajirom-Mastani showed you can break th glass cieling of upper limit. Let hope for better 4 Airlift.
‘Akshay’s film has an upper limit, though Bajirom-Mastani showed you can break th glass cieling of upper limit. Let hope for better 4 Airlift.’
In First 3 months business is limited for any movie. It is exam time and holidays are not there. Either movies dont open big or dont trend very well.
Jodha akbar could have done 80 cr in those times, but limited to 58 cr due to release in Jan.
MNIK with all hype could have opened better or trend better, but did just 72 cr (same as housefull). it could have done 100 cr if release after May.
It think upper limit for a genre like Airlift is 180 cr(+/-20 cr) if released in Jan with Salman/Aamir. With Akshay in it, it can do 130 max(+/- 10 cr).
It has just 10 days to collect, then film business falls drastically for all bollywood films. It will start picking up in April.
Same for Jai ho, however bad it was, Salman movie could have easily collect as much as bodyguard.
Agneepath would have done 150 cr if not released in first quarter. Even guru should have done 60-65 cr the way it was liked.
Baby could have done as much holiday, but didnt trend that well inspite of much appreciation while OMG was able to trend supremely well.
Overall, summary is films released in first quarter do 1/3 business less than they could have done otherwise.
Bajirao mastaani was lucky and got the best release time of the year. And that’s why its maker were certain and not ready to move its release date. 18 Dec to 3 Jan was full of holiday and festivities. Here, it is matter of just 10 days and it can easily collect 100 cr in 10 days, but nothing much after that.
On that upper limit note would like to add a ‘vanity’ comment and its time Akki seriously considers cosmetic dentistry and get those incisors removed. On that lean face, those ‘tusks’ protrude out a bit much now and give unsanitary / insalubrious look.
When Sooraj Pancholi was given the Best Debutant – Male trophy at a popular awards function recently, it reopened the debate about awards functions being a big farce with near-zero credibility. Many felt that Masaan actor Vicky Kaushal deserved it much more than the star kid.
Award galas always make us wonder about the real definition of excellence and are dubbed as an ego-massaging exercise. Last month, Kangana Ranaut, who packed a punch in ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’, told hitlist that she wouldn’t attend any of those “commercial events” even if it meant going without an award for another year. And she didn’t get the Best Actress trophy in any of the functions although her double role act was award-worthy. Many other laudable performances and films were ignored too. Here’s our list of disappointing misses in the just-concluded awards season:
Kajol regrets choosing Dilwale over Sujoy Ghosh’s next.
Shah Rukh Khan is disappointed with the manner in which ‘Dilwale’ has fared at the box-office and he didn’t have any qualms accepting the fact, as it was. However, apparently Kajol isn’t too happy with SRK’s reaction of taking digs at his own film. According to the report, Kajol believes in whatever she does irrespective of the film’s outcome. However, as stated in the report, Kajol thinks that she made a huge mistake when she chose Rohit Shetty’s comedy over Sujoy Ghosh’s next, which is slated to be feature a strong female protagonist.
raghav.. come on man, don’t try to force your lies on others here. This film is the second worldwide grosser of 2015 after BB. In India it is a semi hit whereas, in overseas it’s all time blockbuster and is still running. My Kajol can’t deliver duds like your Bachchan is used to.Dilwale is an old story now, just tell something about Wazir and don’t try to malign image of Kajol. However, you are free to thrash Srk😃
In india it is flop. Distributors loss are in excess of 25 cr as confirmed by komal nahta. see here-
In Overseas, its collections in major markets us and australia are below expectations. It earned around 200k from 17 countries each, thats how big figures came in. But, No one ever talked about release expenses.
Raghav you are repeating the YouTube link even though it says the same on Baby and many others releases last year. Komal even goes to the extent of belittling the Indian distributors for paying these enormous sums.
Watched Airlift but may be due to humongous expectations, it fell short for me and turned out to be an average fare. No this no CDI or a 3 Idiots. Bajrangi B was on repeat telecast on TV yesterday and it comes under all time great’s’ category so lets leave that classic there.
Akshay is on top of the game not due to some kind of super stardom but by sheer volume and consistency in release and full marks to him again for coming up with regular releases where the youngsters can’t even put together a project in a year.
cdi, 3i were commercial entertainers. Airlift is a document drama and that’s make its success even more applause worthy.
BB was ordinary in content, more of emotional melodrama, and it was received critically decent only, though that is an achievement for salman otherwise crap movie star.
Airlift had good growth on Sunday with collections set to be around 16.75 crore nett. The 15-20% growth may not be huge but for this type of film but it is good as a huge chunk of business is coming from city multiplexes and these are weak on Sunday morning and evening so there is a limit to how far they can grow on Sunday. The mass markets have done better on Sunday and are at decent levels after two days of low collections.
The weekend will be 42 crore nett plus which is a good weekend for the film and more importantly it has got there for a 11 crore start with very strong uptrend on Saturday.
The trend is good and Monday will be further boosted by evening collections at city multiplexes as next day is a holiday and its city multiplexes where the bulk of the business is so the film is almost certain to have two days of good collections. The film has chances to challenge Akshay Kumar’s highest first week collection which was Rowdy Rathore (75 crore) but it will be Wednesday that is crucial for that.
Sanjana there is some truth in that article posted and it is an opinion. Though I feel it is harmless and brings in a much needed sense of pride in our own nation. From time to time we do accept these chest thumping American uni-dimensional fictional stories so a bit of ‘tashan’ is required for national pride.
Airlift did well in its first weekend grossing 42.50 crore apprx. The film had a decent start but picked very well in the evening followed by huge growth on Saturday. As bulk of the business is from big cities, huge Sunday growth was always going to be difficult but it still managed to show a nice jump.
The first day business was 11 crore nett, second day was 14.50 crore nett and third day 17 crore nett. The best business is in Mumbai, Delhi / UP and East Punjab while Mysore showed a huge jump on Saturday.
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar and CI have not grossed even as much as some of the under performing Akshay Kumar films but should manage fair business in the long run,
Airlift has beaten the figures of Rowdy Rathore Worldwide. The film is behind Brothers and Singh Is Bling in terms of Worldwide collections but both these films had major holiday in the first three days in India. The Worldwide gross is 73 crore. The top five Akshay Kumar opening weekends Worldwide are as follows.
1. Brothers – 81 crore
2. Singh Is Bling – 77.50 crore
3. Airlift – 73 crore apprx
4. Rowdy Rathore – 71 crore
5. Housefull 2 – 70 crore
The 100 crore weekend is still missing but maybe Housefull 3 will correct that. Airlift had fair business Overseas with Gulf and North America doing $1.5 million apprx between them. The Overseas business should come in the $2.25 million range so basically similar to Brothers and Singh Is Bling.
A lot has been said and done lately regarding the issue of ‘intolerance’ and one prominent statement concerning the same was made by Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan in one of his interviews, where he said his wife Kiran Rao was worried about their children’s safety and if they should leave India.
Aamir’s statement enraged the nation and attracted a lot of negative comments and much criticism. He was also replaced as the ambassador of the Incredible India campaign.
Today at the celebration of the completion of 10 years of Rang De Basanti, when Aamir was asked in the press conference about his previous statement on intolerance, he said, “People were misled on my comment that I said I wanted to leave India. I would blame media for this to a certain extent. Wrong information was disseminated for me.”
He further added, “It is understandable. If somebody says he wants to leave the country, I will also feel hurt. I am a patriotic person. It is not that I want to leave the country. I can’t even stay outside the country for more than 2 weeks.”
When asked about his wife Kiran’s reaction about his controversial ststement, he said, “I shouldn’t have quoted what she told me in private.”
Nice poetry there Saket (Jab aa gaya balma (Modi) tou bhaa gaya Padma!) Original hai ya twitter se cut and paste kiya. Why do you come up to make political comments here? I thought you didn’t care and didn’t like the political comments others make here and were into music only. tomara sathe ki hola? I think when people speak about how bad award-rewards are they are generally talking about filmfare and those types of awards. National awards still have little bit of respect.
Secondly I am not a bhakt. I am employer and I hired Modi to do his job. If he doesn’t do it,…then next please. So take a chill pill for now.
Rahi baat takluji ki, then don’t go below belt ok? He lost his hair, at least he is not wearing bad wig like bigb.
I’m not into political debates. Don’t like them as a rule, but this forum currently discusses politics first and cinema second.
And as a general rule, I don’t mind debates on cinema getting ugly. But ugly political debates reveal hidden aspects of people that are difficult to digest.
Anupam Kher Verified account
@AnupamPkher Sunn raha hoon hai aaj bazaar mein Burnol bahut zoro shoro se bik raha hai.
sunil sikand (Pran sahab’s son)
@ttunni @AnupamPkher You deserve it as much as Dad did. Our Country is far bigger than some fools. Enjoy the honour.
Saurabh Kulkarni @SaurabhKools · 5h5 hours ago
@AnupamPkher now some liberal says @superstarrajini is bhakt #PadmaAward4Bhakts . @AnupamPkher Sometimes Ignorance is bliss .
Vande Mataram @UnSubtleDesi · 4h4 hours ago
Congrats sir @AnupamPkher on ur well deserved, long overdue Padma Bhushan. Ignore the hateful noise. Hathi chale bazaar, kutte bhauke hazaar
Keh Ke Peheno @coolfunnytshirt · 4h4 hours ago
Meanwhile, AAPtards are pissed off with Anupam Kher for getting Padma Bhushan. They say, their lord Kejriwal is a better actor than him
People who can’t construct two proper sentences of their own…who have to rely on others to tweet before they can even do a cut/paste job, talk about ‘mirchi’…oh the irony!
But then what else can be expected from a bhakt? By definition they are followers; will always be a part of a herd; the sheep with no brains, forever waiting to be guided by the shepherd…in this case, the shit-for-brains twitter warriors paid for by… everyone knows who!
You are right. It’s not the way I’d normally behave. I apologize if I’ve offended you.
In my defence, I’d like to say that this isn’t just a random outburst. For months now, I’ve observed the kind of comments that have been posted here. The hypocrisy, the open disdain for ethics, the blind partisanship on display…it’s been enough for me to want to stay away!
And I’ll say one more thing that’s been on my mind: this place, the forum that we all loved to frequent since many years now, is slowly dying…and some of the nasty discussions going on here are to blame!
It’s no longer the place it was 5 or 6 years ago! And surprisingly enough, the people who made this place worth visiting at one point of time are the ones who’ve made it worse. I wish I wouldn’t be saying this, but it’s absolutely true…
All these Padma awards have become irrelevant. Only army personnel must get those param awards on republic day followed by kids who show bravery. And sports persons like Saina Nehwal and Sania Mirza should get awards under sports category than Padmas. And filmstars get awards during those award functions and thats more than enough for their contribution.
As for chief guests, let chief ministers become the chief guests for a while instead of foreigners who require tremendous security. Let us honour our own first and foremost.
Aside- this is so typical – first instigate and write something offensive which is totally unnecessary and irrelevant, and when called out and questioned-, first throw personal insults, then Play victim, question the falling standards and generally blame everyone else.
Matlab kamaal hai yaar !!!
first instigate and write something offensive which is totally unnecessary and irrelevant, and when called out and questioned-,
Which part of my first post was personally offensive? Like really blood-boiling, fit-inducing offensive to you?
Maybe it was totally unnecessary and irrelevant, in which case, there shouldn’t have been a response from you. And I gather you’ve never made such totally unnecessary and irrelevant jibes, like ever!
And calling someone ‘Aaptard’ is questioning him/her? That’s totally not throwing insults someone’s way. Right, got that.
There was a time Rocky Bhai, you were quite fun to engage with. That time has long gone and you may not give it a thought, but I lament the passage of time that brought about this radical change in you!
The offensive and irrelevant part was -Become a Modi Bhakt…
and the personal insult part was- People who can’t construct two proper sentences of their own.
after which I used the term “Aaptard” for you.
I do agree that even engaging with you was fun and really liked your long comments on Bachchan.
I too wish that this place remains strictly about films. I personally never bring up politics on my own, but just can not refrain myself from countering the lies.
Moreover, I used the term Modi Bhakt for Anupam Kher. Not you or anyone else. In any case, I’d struggle to call the term offensive. My response later was offensive, I agree.
I personally never bring up politics on my own, but just can not refrain myself from countering the lies.
Since this is between friends, or so I’d assume anyway, the problem wouldn’t be there if you were just countering lies. I say this with no malice in my heart: you only defend the BJP and its ideology. At any cost; without any regards to the ethics of debate. It’s blind partisanship at work and this is the bit that’s surprising. What’s worse is that this countering of lies process is often accompanied by derogatory remarks. You are free to discard this piece of feedback; it’s entirely up to you. But the forum suffers the brunt of this constant negativity.
It’s ironic that you bring up Bachchan because he’d be the first one to differ from BJP’s ideology. In everything he has ever done, he has displayed a persona that’s completely at odds with what the BJP stands for. He may not say it in as many words, but it’s obvious where his loyalties lie.
Read again, I personally refereed to you as an Aaptard only AFTER the personal attack.
also Note well- Bachchan is just way too classy to stoop to Kejriwal’s levels and the gutter language that he and his supporters use. Also note well that BJP and I are not at all anti minority, we are just anti Tushtikaran of Minority.
As for being partisan I also hope that you too would comment on Keju’s silence on Malda, Pune and so on.and like a fucking Vulture he ran to Hyderabad..really pathetic. , Also never seen you comment on how vicious that repulsive character called “Poorana Peetal” gets here.
Chalo- time to go home !!! Have a great rest of the evening !!
So I was personally called Aaptard after my response. Before that Aaptard was used to describe someone else! Phew, that’s a relief…the sanctity of the forum wasn’t violated then.
Not that it’s important, but since you’d never understand what a neutral position is, I’ll point out two things (off the top of my head) that I find wrong with Kejriwal:
1) He shared the stage with Lalu Prasad Yadav.
2) AAP’s refusal to implement FDI in retail. It’s the stance that every single political party has adopted, but still, I’d expect them to at least rise above petty politics and rent-seeking activities.
Moreover, my support for Kejriwal isn’t set in stone. I support him and AAP because the alternatives are Congress and BJP. Having seen both parties in action, I’d abstain from voting rather than vote for either one!
Regarding Malda or Dalda, I couldn’t care less. If you wish to cry over Hindu deaths please be my guest. If Muslims wish to cry over muslim deaths only, they can also do as they wish. I wouldn’t give a toss either way. People who kill each other in the name of religion don’t deserve a single shred of sympathy. Not mine anyway.
But all this is besides the point. I’m calling you out for flooding this forum with your ideology. And unfortunately, as it stands, Satyam is complicit in allowing this to fester.
Here’s an example:
Kejriwal’s levels and the gutter language that he and his supporters use
And then…
and like a fucking Vulture he ran to Hyderabad
Perhaps Satyam should make his stance clear as to what’s par for the course here. Just how much is he willing to sacrifice in the name of friendship, I’d like to know.
This much is certain: if Rocky had not been a regular here, his comments would have been trashed right away. All the nonsensical rants would have been confined to the bin. I know because I see what goes in the trash here.
Likewise, if I’m not welcome, please let me know. Perhaps this place has changed for good and I’m the odd one out. In either case, I’d like Satyam to give an answer!
Hi Saket: As a frequent visitor ( reader and not much as contributor) at this blog, I would like you to stay..Our ideologies may be different, but still can all function here ..There is so much to understand, learn and get other view points through each other. Some comments do hurt our sentiments, But it does not change our beliefs and ideology….After all everyone have come for their interest/love for movies and the political debate is a ‘entertainment tax’ here 🙂
This is a good watch-
1. liked Akhshay recounting how he took the Tape recorder in lieu of unpaid fees from the producer’s house.
2.Ranveer Singh ogling at Raveena Tandon during a Rain song shoot for Keemat and Raveena requesting the studio to throw him out.
Airlift has a clocked a huge Monday at around 10.25 crore nett as per early estimates. It is the first time that an Akshay Kumar starrer has hit the 10 crore nett mark on a Monday as Rowdy Rathore had grossed 9.25 crore nett on its first Monday. The film had ticket rates held at weekend rates due to the holiday on Tuesday at many multiplexes which has helped business on Monday by 10-15% but even allowing for that its a huge Monday.
The film has now grossed close to 53 crore nett and Delhi NCR and East Punjab seem to be on a huge run as many multiplexes top first day numbers although test will be Wednesday as to how strongly it is going to sustain in the long run.
There would normally be 50-60% growth on the national holiday on Tuesday but as the film has put up a fantastic Monday that may be difficult but even with more modest growth, an 80 crore nett first week is there for the taking.
This guy is CM or film critic? He/Ashutosh/Manish sisodia keeps posting film reviews on twitter. 2 weeks back he wrote review for Wazir, he watched movie with Farhan Akhtar.
I just started noticing now, but he has been reviewing and watching movie with failm stars for last one year, he and his team should change profession to film critic.
Jungle Raaj of Bihar starts again.
‘Hundreds of engineers have complained that they are being threatened by criminals for allotment of contracts and extortion.’ M I Khan reports from Patna.
The fear of rangdari or protection money rackets conducted by local gangsters and state-based Maoists has returned to haunt businessmen, traders, doctors, contractors and construction companies engaged in infrastructure development projects in Bihar.
Sensing the fear among the entrepreneurial community in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav have provided assurances that the state government will provide security to individuals and projects and not spare or shield any criminals and law breakers.
The extortion threats pose a major challenge for the two-month-young government of the grand alliance of the Janata Dal-United, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress party led by Nitish Kumar, who has repeatedly stated that that the ‘rule of law’ prevails in Bihar.
The reality on the ground is very different.
In the last one-and-a-half months, newspaper reports indicate a spurt in extortion-related crimes, particularly the demand for protection money and murder upon refusal.
Dozens of cases of extortion threats went unnoticed in Bihar till the killing of two engineers employed at a road construction company in Darbhanga district on December 26 hit the headlines.
Then jeweller Ravikant Prasad was killed in Patna, the state capital, on Saturday, January 16.
It’s ironic that you bring up Bachchan because he’d be the first one to differ from BJP’s ideology. In everything he has ever done, he has displayed a persona that’s completely at odds with what the BJP stands for. He may not say it in as many words, but it’s obvious where his loyalties lie.
It is ironic that his loyalties lies with anyone whoever is in power. Weather it is “UP main dum hai kyonki Jurm yaha kam hai or Kuch din to gujariye Gujrat main”
” loyalties were not with the Congress and the Gandhi family”?!?!
Ahem.. He was a hardcore loyalist Congressi who contested and beat the behemoth Bahuguna in Allahabad. It was Bofors that undid his political career, otherwise he would’ve had a nice run at it. After all those Bofors brickbats, he realized that he just wasn’t fit for politics.
Btw, he was the only one allowed to stand by the funeral pyre of Rajiv Gandhi, so close was he to the Gandhi family. Rahul hugged him tight through that funeral. It was only later when he ran into financial difficulties, and Amar Singh bailed him out, that the Congress distanced themselves from him. Surely, there must’ve been many other unwritten misunderstandings between him and the Gandhis to cause this much separation.
Yes, I’m aware of the history involved. What I was trying to stress was his strained relationship with the Gandhis during the UPA regime, which lasted a good 10 years. He certainly was very close to Amar Singh and Samajwadi Party during those days (an association that I still think was cringeworthy)
Danny DeVito Gets Honest About The Oscars Race Issue: ‘We’re A Bunch Of Racists’
” “We do live in a racist country. We have to evolve and have to realize that truth and reconciliation is here, too—it’s not only in South Africa or Cambodia. Young people have to learn what happened in our history, and we need people to know that we’re walking on the boards of genocide.”
He pauses. “This is a place where people settled in and they came to be called Native Americans. Now all of a sudden these big ships appear out of the blue like demons in the daylight, and everything changed. Genocide happened and we’re all in it. But we can’t lean on that xenophobia. We need to understand what happened and realize that we’re all human beings who are cut from the same cloth.”
“Listen to Noam Chomsky, get the Howard Zinn, and try to elevate your children, brothers, and sisters…”
Video of press conference at RDB 10th anniversary celebrations; 37 minutes long, but worth watching for many reasons. The director talks about the film and its journey, the lyricist Prasoon Joshi talks about the very rooted language of the film’s iconic songs– and of course Aamir gets asked about the intolerance controversy. Aamir was in fact repeatedly asked questions about the controversy more than the film — and he gave effective replies that should hopefully shut up his critics( but won’t).
“Funny how his loyalties were not with the Congress and the Gandhi family when they happened to be in power”
There is nothing funny about it. Bachchan’s got benifit form Congress or dare i say from Nehru-Gandhis. Even Harivansh Rai Bachchan go many favours from Nehru and Indira. I admit he was a great poet but so as many. Amitabh switched his loyalties only after Gandhi’s refused to bail him out after finencial mess. Here Amar singh and Subrot Roy Sahara bailed him out but in the time of thier (Sahara and Amar) crisis Bachcha family left them and went with Mulayam and Rajya sabha seat. Amitabh has amazing knack to cease the opportunity with Powerful people or who are in power.
Amitabh has amazing knack to cease the opportunity with Powerful people or who are in power.
The opposite is also true. People in power need Amitabh Bachchan to legitimize themselves or their government. I don’t believe for a second it’s a one-way street of altruism that flows towards Bachchan.
Anyhow, my point was this: Bachchan’s mother was a Sikh; his wife’s Bengali; his father made himself caste-less by renouncing his surname — a practice that he followed…there’s enough evidence to suggest that he wouldn’t be the first in line to carry a trident as a Hindu Mahabha rep. Political exigency is a different matter…
After putting on weight for Dangal, the next big challenge for superstar Aamir Khan is to shed those extra kilos and get into shape like wrestler Sushil Kumar, to shoot some parts of the film.
In the Nitesh Tiwari-helmed sports drama, Aamir portrays the role of a Haryana-based wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who taught wrestling to his daughters, Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat.
“I have put on weight for Dangal and have to reduce now. I had to put on 25 kg, and now that weight has to be shed, and I have to make my physique like Sushil Kumar’s — muscular,” Aamir told reporters at the press conference for the 10-year celebration of the film Rang De Basanti.
“The phase of being overweight and elderly is about to get over. The process has started and I have started losing weight. The biggest challenge is to come back into shape like how my body was in Ghajini or Dhoom 3,” he said.
The 50-year-old actor said the shooting for Dangal is almost 90 per cent over.
The upcoming biographical sports drama is scheduled to release on December 23.
Everyone should take it easy on the politics. specially if one can’t control one’s emotions.
Saket, I actually don’t have the chance these days to go through most of the political comments. If something jumps out or if a fight breaks out (!) I am then forced to take a look. Needless to say you should stay and not go anywhere! It’s not about friendship. In some of these cases I might know to a greater degree where someone is coming from and even if I disagree completely with their views (as is quite often the case). But even where I’ve found certain kinds of comments detestable (in many cases aimed at me) I’ve generally tried not to take let’s say ‘unusual’ steps. The problem is that either one doesn’t allow any political comment whatsoever (this is certainly a possible solution) or one ignores a great deal of stuff that isn’t completely personal. Because unfortunately the moment you get into political discussions many folks are simply incapable of ‘cool-headed’ discussions. One can still be a fierce critic of something or someone. The social media world that everyone increasingly inhabits also makes certain kinds of lingo par for the course. People think that by indulging in certain names they have made their case.
In any case to repeat something differently I might have made more allowances for ‘enemies’ than ‘friends’. Ha! I suppose I have a thicker skin in these matters. But yes stopping all political discussions altogether remains an option. In the meantime I certainly hope you won’t be going anywhere. I consider you a friend as well!
Not leaving and don’t intend to leave…I hardly post that regularly anyways. But I do like to read this blog every now and then.
I’ve probably said all that I had to say. I don’t mind political debates but I do wish people remain civil while putting forth their opinions.
I’ve had quite a few discussions with people who have contrary opinions (NyKavi, for instance) that never denigrated into name-calling and ad hominem attacks.
I guess that was the spirit behind this blog’s inception! I believe it used to be this way a few years ago…
I’m not that sensitive — call me a full-on retard, why just AAPtard — things don’t bother me that much, but there is a recurring pattern at work here.
Post someone else’s tweets; call out a few liberals and make fun of their ‘silence’ on topics of extreme importance to radicals on your side; rinse, repeat. In the process, feel good about one’s own deshbhakti, religious identity or whatever! This has been going on for quite a while now.
Call it cyber bullying or online intimidation or just pure banter (!), the end result is an environment of constant negativity…
Those are my 2 cents. I believe I’m not the only one who feels this way.
How are they all fair points Satyam ?
So you can abuse Kher but not The Vulture ?
religious identity- what was the fake church attacks, the Bloated Dadri…when that failed then divide the hidus on caste lines now …about ?? The eleader went running Na ??
Yeh kahan ka fair hua ??
I think the point isn’t about having opinions on politics, even strong ones, but engaging constantly in a kind of political hysteria. Increasingly this has become the norm for people on all sides because of course they get their news and opinions on the same social media. The rest of the media isn’t too far behind either. For instance 99% of the political debates here are about what someone said about someone else on twitter. I’ve said this before as well but one easy way to avoid responsibility is to always shoot down the other side’s messenger. this never gets to the heart of the matter. On a wide variety of issues. You used the Kher example. The very Padma words that he dissed when the UPA was around he embraces when he gets it with a different government. He’s made such a 180 on this that he was laughing stock on the same social media. But ‘his’ side never really accepts this. And vice versa on others for the other side. And to keep repeating the same point for me, and not just on the question of politics, the test of credibility is whether one says the same things irrespective of who is in power. In fact it’s even more important to be harsher on one’s own side. Because when one supports something the responsibility on one is greater. To use a film analogy I cannot be against stupid comedies when Akshay does them and all for them when Abhishek does the same. If someone then attacks the latter for doing so I can keep changing the subject and make it about the other person but there should be a point where I accept the obvious. Otherwise one can energetically keep playing this game all day and those on the other side will as well. But has one made oneself more credible along the way? The final point I’d yet again repeat is that whatever one’s political commitments these ought not to be greater than one’s ethical ones. I don’t wish to recount the history of the last 18 months or more but precisely those who had all kinds of issues with previous dispensations ought to have the very same with the present government. Minimally this and in fact more on some other issues. Again these debates never come up. No matter who’s in power the same folks say the very same things and follow the very same (hysterical) line. And related to this is of course the whole question of mythology and make-believe stuff that people love peddling as ‘facts’. and what are really facts are converted into mythology. This is the far deeper problem and unfortunately social media and the like encourages all this quite a bit. One can keep living in the echo chamber.
I do not wish to prolong this and it’s really getting tiring to keep countering the lies now., but the following is just so full of crap that I had to respond-
” Post someone else’s tweets; call out a few liberals and make fun of their ‘silence’ on topics of extreme importance to radicals on your side; rinse, repeat. In the process, feel good about one’s own deshbhakti, religious identity or whatever! This has been going on for quite a while now. ”
Re.-I believe I’m not the only one who feels this way.
I can believe that, and likewise I am sure there are others who are repulsed by the duplicity of the so called liberals. They just don’t say it here. But I will keep saying till Satyam bans me from SS.
Satyam: you should have a continuous “misc” thread where people can hang out and dry out their political frustrations. Modi bhakt and the aptly named aaptards duke it out. That way the intellectuals who don’t want to dirty their fingers can avoid going to that thread.
Re.- but precisely those who had all kinds of issues with previous dispensations ought to have the very same with the present government
Please see from 2.00 to 3.00 ( I wish they had the later scene where he explains the reason to Rakhi as well )…..LOL
when people with no malicious agenda like Arun Shourie, Shatrughan Sinha, Yashwant Sinha, Kirti Azad, Soli Sohorab jee,Tavleen Singh, even Shekhar Gupta, say something- people generally listen to them and take notice.
But when Aaptards peddle lies ( just like a fake video of General V.K. Singh), then- “Sataaaak”….lol
Watched Airlift on big screen. Good movie and sure shot success. For major part of the movie, its done well except some cliches here and there. Akshay is very good overall but I felt he didn’t get enough scope for performance and was just going with the flow in 2nd half. The 2nd half of the movie was bit underwhelming and doesn’t end on a very high note but overall this is one of the better Akshay movies and along the lines of Baby, Special 26, Holiday, etc. Its not a repeat watch movie but with positive WOM, it can get good audience and overall will be Akshay’s 1st 150 crores+ movie!
Also, watched Wazir couple of weeks back on its release. It was good but very slow at places. The overall script idea is good which VVC wanted to debut with Hollywood but the idea was made too simplified and convoluted and lost its strength. Amitabh was great as usual but didn’t like his look(hair, glasses etc) whereas Farhan was earnest but nothing to talk about. Some of the sequences were pretty slow between Farhan and Aditi but if you observe carefully, the small dialogues are different your average Hindi film. Overall, good 1 time watch but could have been easily better with a better director and little tighter script.
I also saw Wazir this weekend. I wasn’t too impressed, to be honest. It’s decent by Bollywood standards and that’s about it.
Bachchan’s fab in some scenes but ultimately he’s miscast here. Bachchan’s history, his signature comes in the way of Bachchan, the actor. It’s hard to reconcile him playing the role of a cripple who’s only capable of mental legwork (no pun intended!).
Bachchan can try to play a common man and the audience would still see him as superman. That’s the baggage he has to carry and that’s also the reason why a complete re-invention of his looks is necessary to even attempt such a venture. That didn’t happen here either; his looks served as a constant reminder of Bachchan, the superstar.
Still, it’s probably worth watching just to hear his dialogbaazi.
On the rest, was disappointed to see this bland film coming from Bejoy Nambiar. His first attempt — Shaitaan — was wonderful and had raised my hopes. Would have been better off watching Shaitaan again.
Master for whatever reasons you found it underwhelming, AIRLIFT is extraordinary for the same reason.
It is better than Rang De, Chak De and Bajrangi, etc.
“Master for whatever reasons you found it underwhelming, AIRLIFT is extraordinary for the same reason.
It is better than Rang De, Chak De and Bajrangi, etc.”
Looks like you forgot Lagaan in the list; maybe Mother India as well 🙂
Lagaan, Sarfarosh…I mean how dare we compare mega actor Akshay Kumar with a mere average one like Aamir. I mean look at Airlift’s historical never before seen one week collection of….85 CR.
I remember Naveen’s comment when Robot 2 was announced with Akshay and Rajni. ‘India’s first 1000 CR movie’?? LOL really made me chuckle. So If that will be India’s first 1000 CR then Rajni will have to bring 920 CR because Akshay will only bring his customary 80 (barring a Rowdy here or Airlift there)
I hadn’t heard too many people talk about it. But there was no way I was going to miss it. It was written by Aoron Sarkin and directed by Danny Boyle. And Steve Jobs and Apple have been the entrepreneurial inspiration when we started our advertising agency – the ‘1984’ commercial for Macintosh being the creative benchmark one aspired to in one’s work.
So boy, was I surprised! What an energetic, inventive and engaging biopic Sorkin-Boyle combo has confected! ‘Social Network’ was refreshing in its approach. This took it a few steps further, thanks in no small measure due to two rivetting performances – Miachael Fassbender as Jobs and Kate Winslet as Joanna, his s near-constant companion, a marketing executive who describes herself at one point as Jobs’s “work wife.”
Sau choohey khaa kar, ab billi ko pooraney din yaad aa rahe hain.
First without any provocation insult an accomplished actor called Anupam Kher , call him Takla, call him a Modi bhakt….. basically reducing all of Kher’s acting skills to zero,
when called out – arrey bhai why so much negativity here ….
kya dramabazi hai yeh yaar !!
The leader (the Fu### Vulture) is the king of negativity, he has done NOTHING for Delhi except negativity. Kabhee Dadri, Kabhi Hyderabad, Kabhee well done Karan, kabhee I am proud of you Attornry Bharti. That is it.
thoda shaant ho jaiye. Modi hi rule kar rahe hai naa bhai abhi toh. Let them do whatever. Sonia called him worst names maut ka whatever and satyam too (pograms and analogies to his favorite dictators). Par chalo accha kam ho raha hai.
Imtiaz Ali has kinda grown on me. I wasn’t too keen on his Rockstar…absolutely hated Love AajKal but I remember liking Jab We Met quite a lot. In Tamasha he almost gets it right. I say almost because I think it’s impossible for him, at this stage in his career, to make a coherent film that also works on multiple levels. And that’s because he’s just too ambitious for his own good. The good news is his craft seems to be coping well with his ambition, even if it’s largely restricted to finer points of filmmaking.
There are things that he gets absolutely right in Tamasha: the surreal nature of a child’s imagination; the constant shifting of narrative from a dream-like meta-state to reality (the brilliant Wat Wat song picturization, for example) and the heart-breaking sadness associated with Ved’s (an on/off Ranbik Kapoor) internalization of beliefs…thrust upon him by society at large.
In the most poignant scene in the film, Ved tries to reason with Tara (Deepika, surprisingly impressive) that he was only ‘acting’ in Corsica and that what she sees right now, four years later, is the ‘real’ him. He actually believes in his heart that his bland, robotic existence defines him as a person… and appears to be guilt-ridden about his colourful childhood. This is the same devastating sadness that engulfs Kareena Kapoor in Jab We Met after her dreams tend to get crushed by reality.
In essence, Imtiaz Ali is repeating himself in Tamasha. There’s even a repeat of Jordan’s (Rockstar) self-destructive behaviour in Ved’s internal conflict, played out mostly for laughs. Come to think of it, even in a more upbeat Jab We Met Shahid Kapoor displays suicidal tendencies, so it’s a recurring theme of sorts.
Then there’s the love story. Imtiaz Ali isn’t just interested in a boy-girl relationship; he’s always charting a journey that spans at least a good few years. In Tamasha the journey lasts for about 7-8 years, although you wouldn’t be able to tell the time if you relied on the lead character’s physiognomy. That little annoying detail apart, Tamasha’s voyage is a good one.
In a reversal of roles, the relationship trip in Tamasha is a bit fake but Ved’s journey of self-realization is quite interesting to watch. There’s no single eureka moment that characterizes this but a series of events, mostly bizarre and funny, that lead to the final denouement. We see Ved being confused, angry, downright nasty, openly defiant one second, apologetic in the other, and given the confusion, even willing (begging) to ask a raconteur how his story would finally end. He eventually comes to terms with his inner self but not before going through a herculean struggle.
We don’t see the same agonising process at work in Jab We Met or Rockstar even though it’s roughly the same journey that’s traversed in the two films. What’s glossed over in his previous films is given due detail in Tamasha. Perhaps this is the primary reason why it feels more complete and fulfilling to watch.
Tamasha is by no means a perfect film though. The initial portion of the film, where Ved and Tara get to know each other, needs to be endured. Put in a different way, Imtiaz Ali’s vision, and in turn, his story is more compelling to watch when things go wrong…and not when they chug along nicely.
Then there’s also the subject of acting. I might be in a minority of one but Ranbir Kapoor’s performance in Tamasha has to be the most overrated in recent memory. He isn’t bad in the film; just inconsistent – good when he’s asked to portray the carefree Ved…but when the time comes to play key scenes depicting his inner conflict, the effort is clearly visible.
I’m reminded of two similar roles depicting inner conflict – Shahid Kapoor in Haider and Ranveer Singh in Lootera. Both these performances are vastly superior in terms of impact and this is where I believe Ranbir Kapoor needs to focus his energy in the future. He can survive on his natural charm, and that’s probably enough for now, but if he wishes to be taken seriously as an actor, he needs to do the heavy lifting without showing much effort.
Overall, Tamasha’s message may be reminiscent of 3 Idiots or Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan but the framing is quite novel. I liked the constant back and forth between dreams and reality in the film; the mature portrayal of Ved’s journey and especially scenes depicting Ved’s childhood in a picturesque Shimla. There are a few rough edges in the film and the boy-meets-girl story isn’t exactly the most original per se, but that’s par for the course in an Imtiaz Ali film.
What I’ve learnt is that these are not his primary concerns anyway; he’s mainly interested in giving form to small successes in people’s lives, which result in a deeper understanding of life – for them. That he doesn’t turn those moments into a grand celebration of human spirit – a la Bhansali – is also a plus. He’s the polar opposite of Bhansali in this sense; too matter of fact and apparently a fan of time travel (too many intersecting timelines in his stories). There is a nervous energy about Imtiaz Ali’s filmmaking that I think I’m beginning to get…and right now, I quite like it.
Airlift Looking To Go To Sunday Levels Again
Wednesday 27 January 2016 01.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Airlift looks set to go back to its Sunday levels on the holiday for Republic Day on Tuesday. The collections will be around 17 crore nett. The collections in mass circuits are at the same level and even a little higher at some centres and if this is repeated in the big city multiplexes then the total will be similar to Sunday. If the 17 crore nett materializes than it will be a huge 70% growth on the holiday,
This will take the business of the film close to 70 crore nett ensuring the highest first week collections for an Akshay Kumar starrer which at the moment is the 75 crore of Rowdy Rathore. The ticket rates will come down on Wednesday so it is actually more like a Monday for the film.
But with nearly 70 crore nett on the board already the film has chances to beat the first week total of Jai Ho (83.50 crore nett) which is the highest total recorded in Republic day week. Basically Airlift on course to beat last years Republic holiday release Baby (82 crore) in one week.
Tanqeed made a complete halt from posting BO post on their site after first weekend of Dilwale release, and never talked about BM.
None on SS posts Airlift bo report.
This is called SRK bug…. 😉
Quite surprised at its success. Seems to have somehow struck an audience nerve. Even though the story is fake, ie there was not just 1 guy calling the shots, and in fact IK Gujral (with full backing of GOI) majorly contributed towards Saddam granting safe passage immunity to all Indians there. Even with a crawling screenplay at times, some sort of patriotic fervor seems to have caught on.
In a way it doesn’t really matter whether the film is historically accurate to a great degree or not. Because it’s really about yet another moment in contemporary India’s (or more precisely ‘New India’s’) ‘superpower envy’. This is the Hollywoodized equivalent of a great power conducting a successful rescue operation (or what have you) in an ‘ex-colonized’ part of the world. This is the film’s true ideological referent. Now it might be gripping in narrative terms but films don’t strike a chord just on that basis. In any case this complex I’d call ‘superpower envy’ and which is reflected everywhere in the culture these days (or at least those avenues of culture that correspond to the same classes from movies to media.. for instance a number of important figures appear on news channels and say ‘I consider India a great power’.. this might or might not be true but if you have to assert it there’s minimally some doubt about it!). The ultimate analogy here can be drawn with Russia, a country that still hasn’t gotten over the loss of its superpower status. Putin promises to restore that ‘greatness’ and his actions no matter how impractical if not insane at points can be understood through that prism and his core audience feeds of this even if his popularity too is in some ways greatly exaggerated (that’s a different debate). Of course China is even closer to home! Getting back to India this in fact is the narrative of the present (not particularly new inasmuch as this formula can be applied with minimal changes to other countries and histories that have had right of center moments to one degree or the other) — a great civilization and culture that is ‘always already’ a superpower but that is constantly thwarted from actually becoming so in the present by a conspiracy of left-oriented parties, minorities etc who keep derailing that great national destiny. Such narratives also involve elements of purity and about ‘beginning of time’ claims (‘we’re the oldest culture’, ‘we taught everything to everyone else’, ‘we have nothing to learn from anyone’ etc), they are attempts to shake of questions of influence and colonization at the very moment that they’re most colonized or most influenced. And I’d repeat this — it is a formula. From Germany to Latin America to East Asia and so on I could keep offering examples that satisfy that same formula with few changes. Of course the consequences are different depending on all kinds of contexts but the theory of the case is quite similar. And so films like Airlift become possible in this scenario. Again it might be a very engaging narrative and so forth but that’s not really why it pleases so many people (much like Baby.. here you have the Indian agent operating on foreign soil with a certain impunity.. notice how many times Arnab Goswami raises the fantasy of an Indian operation on Pakistani soil, akin to the US Osama raid). The SRK moment of the 90s was about looking away from the ‘Old India’, ignoring or repressing that which didn’t suit this narrative. But some of the cultural chauvinism that has come to the fore since is already encoded in those films (something I and some others here have argued about for years.. the absence of all kinds of identities and classes in those worlds, the ‘Bollywood’ global assertion, a certain kind of Indian as global citizen which is to say completely in sync with the consumption economies of globalization.. in alliance with the diaspora everywhere, itself imagining an Indian culture in much more uniform ways.. a false nostalgia then totally connected with the aspirations of that New India.. certainly part of that same globalization continuum… this 90s cinema is not the very same thing but it it a worldview that lends itself very easily to the same.. not surprisingly the very same audience or the very same classes have consumed both equally eagerly..). We have just reached the next stage of that same dynamic. Now a certain nativism and militant politics comes to the forefront. From Bajirao to Airlift, the same narrative in different manifestations. And so I don’t find it surprising at all that Airlift has been received so well. As an aside the foreign policy initiatives of the present are also very much aligned with the present. From Modi’s numerous trips to the heavyweights who show up for Republic Day we have our own ‘strongman’ constantly photographed with the elite leaders of the world. Again all of these examples could be multiplied.
I would respectfully but fundamentally and vehemently disagree with the analysis laid forth by Satyam; in the sense, I would HATE to be a part of an age-old, inelastic spout engaged in by the self-anointed liberals. [Not that Satyam fits the bill; for I consider him to be quite capable of flexibility and BEYOND the text-book peddling of the encroachment of liberals versus the ‘right-wingers’ space.]
So if AIRLIFT – which is supposed to go on to become a ‘massive’ hit – is a product and its ‘success’ a multiplied indicator of the fact that one has a ‘masochistic’ and ‘militaristic’ Hindutva-pumped up blow-up-doll version of ‘history’ at the center, pray, WHAT does one attribute the success of ‘AMERICAN SNIPER’ to under the rule of Gandhi-incarnate – sorry, Nehru-incarnate—Obama? Now that movie, in which, Cooper’s character is COMPLETELY besotted [or brain-washed] to the extent of calling the Iraqis ‘savages’ – remember how the Natives were called ‘savages’— turned out to be one of the stunning box-office achievements of 2015 is quite unexplained when the center of power in Capitol Hill is Democratic! This is quite a conundrum isn’t it?
Or, how does one explain the massive success of GADAR – which obviously has its heart in the right place when it comes to cinematic liberties but is conveniently jingoistic in its tone—or SARFAROSH {when Aamir shared the stage with Vajpayee during the Kargil invasion!} during the days of Vajpayee [who according to the leftists, is an anti-thesis to Modi and a ‘true’ successor in spirit to the Nehruvian ideology.]
The point is, to attribute the success of AIRLIFT to a fertile assumption that the atmosphere is quite conducive to the success of ANY Hindutva-militaristic or chauvinistic, masochistic ideologies just because a party that is ‘attributed’— [conveniently or strategically ignoring the fact that the present PM doesn’t toe the line of previous ‘secular’ governments including the foot-note of saying, ‘Muslims’];– to be an embodiment of majority ‘aspirations’ is nothing but a text-book codification to indicate a hidden sinister agenda. [Never mind the fact that the present PM successfully repealed the bait of including the classification of ‘Muslims’ when asked by the likes of Rajat Kapoor whether ‘SAB KA SAATH’ included Muslims—aka ‘puppies’— also??}.
By the way, going by the analysis laid out, shouldn’t PHANTOM have been a super-duper hit? I mean, is there ANY film that puts into cinematic reality the ‘Hindu’ wet-dream who sends a Muslim to annihilate that country’s nefarious ‘foot-soldiers’ that laid siege to our country’s liver, Bombay? That’s a freaking wet-dream that any RSS or BJP ideologue or its off-shoots would have their masochism subscribed to! Whatever happened there? And that too during the 56” inch chest rule? Begs some answers doesn’t it?
Whether it’s the liberals or the right-wingers or north or south wingers, one needs to get off those TEXT-BOOK shenanigans printed during Hitler’s time and weigh in what modern democracies—their checks and balances—have to offer? Nussbaum and her ilk or Pankaj Mishra and his NYT or Washington Post’s articles are all quite good to peruse: But do they, in TODAY’S times and according to rapidly evolving dynamics, MAINTAIN HONESTY – and most importantly, ACCEPT and ADAPT— or continue to spout text-book regurgitated, award-baiting paragraphs of yore to stay in ‘touch’ is the question. Hopefully somebody will answer truthfully.
Anyway, I am still detoxing with the great Aamir Khan’s INTOLERANCE statement. I have made a resolve that I won’t be indulging in politics on this blog. And i intend to do so. But sometimes, some things have to be countered. I do resolve that this will be my last.
I did not use the word Hindtuva anywhere in my comment though. I could have, I often have in the past, but I did not in this context. Also I used the example of SRK’s films. Whatever else one may say about Johar or Aditya Chopra it’s unlikely that they’re Hindutva followers in any sense! I was referring to a larger and somewhat looser sense of cultural ‘values’ if you will, that too of a certain class of people that can be conveniently identified with New India. A line that runs from KKHH to Modi (and this is a point that will probably upset partisans of both!) is not a Hindutva axis but a larger cultural and ideological mindset that is in love with the idea of a much more assertive nation-state that is finally being ‘allowed’ to take its place among the great nations of the world. I have defined some of its other features so I won’t repeat all that here.
I also did not say that those films become hits for ideological reasons. Of course a film has to be entertaining and narratively compelling at some elementary level. I’ve often made this point in very many contexts. For instance (and this too I’ve said before) even those bourgeois classes that were ideologically offended by the Salim-Javed scripts to any degree still liked the films at some level because they found them absorbing in other ways. The iconic films of any age are always in sync with the ideological leanings of that age. This is not necessarily one thing though. In other words you can have different features that sometimes overlap or with a common thread running through them. This is also an age where PK or YJHD or CE did very well. Obviously these aren’t films like Airlift or Bajirao. So there isn’t only one audience at any given point or more precisely the ideological concerns can be a more complicated set. For instance you could be socially liberal and hawkish on national security issues and be in the BJP camp for that reason, you could be a proper Hindutva ideologue and be part of the same group with little interest in many New Indian concerns, domestically or internationally, you could simply be with them for the promise of technocratic solutions. There could then be films speaking to some or all of these concerns. One doesn’t have to agree with everything in a film, one simply has to be comfortable in its basic universe. I’ve similarly made the point several times about the masala of the present age which ideologically is worlds removed from that of the 70s even if it reveals that genealogy. Why? because there are no real stakes in this masala. It is very superficial on that score. And there could not be because the multiplex (again New Indian) classes are not animated by those ideological battles of the 70s anymore. In this sense Airlift and the average Salman Khan masala success still refer to the same world. All of this is true for any age.
Since you mentioned Obama there have been scores of pieces on TV shows and other aspects of culture that have made reference to the ‘age of Obama’. Or certain kinds of entertainment that make more sense because they are symptoms of the ‘age of Obama’. This doesn’t mean of course that you cannot have nationalistic jingoistic films but even those films more often than not tend to be calibrated a bit differently. At least if they have any hope of becoming truly monster successes, absolutely or relative to genre. But even where there is a film like american Sniper, isn’t that sort of resistance also symptomatic of the same Obama age? We have seen how that resistance has played itself out in other avenues. Trump is of course the classic symbol of this resistance. In other words even the more nationalistic or jingoistic effort might be so somewhat differently in this age. Much as in India an otherwise humanistic subject like Bajrangi is completely in keeping with the temper of the age. Exactly the same subject would have been handled very differently in the 70s. To start with its understanding of various identities would have been configured in radically different ways.
And finally (this gets to the Phantom point) any film or TV show or what have you still has to be entertaining at some basic level. It also has to be plausible in the same sense. Saif is just not convincing doing films like Phantom in the way Akshay is. Beyond this Phantom is obviously not as absorbing as Baby or Airlift (haven’t seen it yet but this is not too hard to believe). whatever your ideological concerns you’re still out there to enjoy the film! So there’s really no contradiction in also asserting this most basic of claims.
One more thing about my original point. I don’t see ‘superpower envy’ as I define it as something commendable. It’s one thing for a nation to be aspirational but the thing I’m describing always has an element of fantasy about it. And I worry when entire classes of people subscribe to such fantasies because the results over the long run are often unfortunate. Even in the country like the US, still of course a superpower, notice how so many debates are about restoring the past greatness of the country. Which more or less means a certain post WWII order. The problem is: that world ain’t coming back! The US is by any stretch a great power but just not and dominant at as many levels as it used to be. Because the world is just different now. If people vote for leaders who give them this more complicated version of the present the country can move in one direction. However if they keep buying this fantasy of America being the way it used to be in the 50s then lots of political decisions are taken based on that same fantasy and which then lead to again unfortunate consequences. Hubris is the problem of great or even very significant nations, not inconsequential ones. India is of course a consequential nation but in the present it is nowhere close to the commanding heights it has enjoyed as a political power and as a civilization and certain other points of its history. It can get there once more but not by simply leapfrogging over inconvenient realities. nor can it get there by being the worst reader of its own history. In the age of globalization people often don’t have much time for history or the lessons one can learn from the same. But I know of no nation, none whatsoever, anywhere at any point in the historical record, that became great by simply engaging in fantasy or that became so by denying important historical realities relating to its own past. Yes every nation is built on mythology to one degree or another but certain kinds are more enabling than others. I’m just expanding on the point. I don’t mean to suggest that Airlift is about all of this stuff! I was just trying to identify a certain ether in which Airlift becomes possible. But not only this film.
By the way I’m quite pleased with the success of Airlift. That’s a different discussion!
I think playing with contemporary history wil have repercussions as there is recorded history unlike something 600 years back or more. One loses credibility. It is the director who should take the flak than the actor. I am waiting for Neerja how much fiction they have included? Mercifully it is a one woman mission. And the recent example is Gulabi Gang of Madhuri Dixit.
Superb comment AnJo.. maza aa gaya.
A film needs much more than just one ingredient to be accepted.
It’s a very simplistic exercise to attribute / reduce a success or failure of a film to one point.
Fortunately I didn’t reduce it to that simplistic exercise! I’m also not saying anything different than I have for years for all sorts of films in the present and from the past. In fact one of my principal interests has always been to try and understand a film as symptom of a wider culture or wider socio-political configuration. Not that folks on the other side don’t do this. Why did Haider cause such heartburn?! Whether one agrees or disagrees with the politics of the film it is clearly indexed to a certain history. Similarly Airlift or Bajirao also deal with historical archives. Of course the ideological examination of films can hardly be limited to such explicit exercises but it’s useful to accept that people are all for ideological readings when it’s about issues they care about. Why was there an attempt to reduce Haider merely to its politics? What happened to all the other ingredients then?! I know of course you (Rocky) didn’t mind the film after watching it (this too makes my point from those two larger comments) but making a larger statement.
I’ve got nothing against Rocky or anyone else. Don’t wish to sound like a mahatma or anything but it’s one specific behavior I’ve highlighted that needs to be addressed.
Other than that, it’s a place to discuss movies! Can’t take ourselves too seriously when the subject is discussing cinema, can we?!
“I’m reminded of two similar roles depicting inner conflict – Shahid Kapoor in Haider and Ranveer Singh in Lootera”
Atleast there is someone who shares my thought is these 3 actors. Though i still rate Ranveer (Lootera) over Shahid (Haider) because in Haider Shahid sometime goes over the top but in Lootera Ranveer imotes through expressions. No dilouges, No Drametic music. As far as Ranbir is concerned for me Rocket singh-Sales men of the year is still his best for me.
Too much of political discussion on a filmy blog, guess, politics spoils everything.
Coming to movies, I have not seen Airlift bit is planning to seeing its glowing reviews. In between, I have seen BM in 800 MB quality, so, couldn’t quite enjoy lavish sets. Historical movies are not my cup of tea, but, BM kept me hooked through out the length and that’s where it succeed. All three main leads were quite good in their roles but I find Tanvi Azmi better than those in her negative role. Milind Soman and Aditya Panholi were wasted. Overall, a good enjoyable movie.
I’m not a fan of historicals myself but this is certainly a good film. Though I wouldn’t put it above Tamasha. Beyond the grand spectacle and Ranveer Singh’s performance, don’t think there’s much to admire.
I’d easily swap Tamasha with Bajirao when it comes to lead performances though.
Hi Saket, I also think that movie has not much to offer in terms of story telling but, for me, if I can sit through a film without getting bored, that film is good for me.
Airlift had huge growth of 70% on Tuesday due to the holiday for Republic day. The film had its best day at many centres though centres where it had a strong weekend were a little less than the Sunday. The first five day business is as follows.
Friday – 11,00,00,000
Saturday – 14,50,00,000
Sunday – 17,00,00,000
Monday – 10,00,00,000
Tuesday – 17,00,00,000
TOTAL – 69,25,00,000
The film will easily cross 80 crore nett for the week with a likely total of 82-84 crore nett depending on where the Wednesday total comes in.
Aamir Khan and the end of politically-aware Bollywood
My Name is Khan and India is so tolerant: Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan retracted their statements in the face of a tsunami of protests.
Ask us what we are wearing at the next award function. Question us about how we made those six-pack abs, or eight-packs as the case may be. We will even answer why Bollywood films don’t make to Oscars.
But don’t, just please don’t, ask us about intolerance, or eating beef in India, or anything which is even remotely political. For that makes us issue statements which are true reflection of our personal beliefs.
Our statements are then linked to approaching polls, or polls that just went by. They then take our posters and give them a good thrashing in the streets. They sometimes blacken our faces on the posters, or both. The more inventive ones order our effigies and set them afire.
They hold protests which may attract five people but will get the attention of millions when broadcast on national television. Fringe political leaders start offering us one-way tickets to countries which regularly make to world’s top 10 least travelled countries.
Read: My comments on intolerance affected Dilwale collections, says Shah Rukh Khan
Do they wait to consider that we are as much of Indians as they are? The fact is as important to them as written and bound scripts in Bollywood.
Telling them My name is Khan and I am an Indian will hardly cut any ice. We take a deep breath and sing under our breath, ‘Haters gonna hate’.
But then they start hitting us where it hurts the most. They picket our films and attack the theatres showing them. They attack brands we endorse and they take our face away from campaigns for we are not incredible enough anymore.
We can take criticism; we cannot take box office losses. We may be the stars of the film but it is a team effort of everyone from director, scriptwriter, cameraman, crew, extras… everyone. When a film is affected, it hits everybody.
The tag of being anti-national is even harder to digest.
They also remind us that any country which made PK and My Name is Khan superhits cannot be intolerant. That makes us wonder about the cases filed against the film or the protests; you think that was the doing of aliens?
And by aliens we mean nude men and little green beings. We don’t mean people from across the border – either legal or illegal — we have no views on them.
In the meanwhile, Dilwale is taking bigger losses than its weak script and terrible direction will justify. After all, this is the country that made Happy New Year and Bodyguard superhits.
All this makes us tie ourselves in knots. We start by saying that India is intolerant and we follow it up with an explainer of why we said what we said. Then we say we never said it.
Since the vitriol is still flowing, we blame it all on media – everybody’s favourite flogging horse (very shrewd move that, a lot like politicians. We are learning all the time). We also say that we respect the people and every single gaali that they gave us (social media is very judgmental; you got to keep social media happy).
It has got so convoluted by this time that Baba Ramdev would have trouble to get into this position. Even we are not sure what we said, why we said it and do we still mean it.
At that point, we start talking about our films, and films alone. Unfortunately, that’s what the judge and jury on Twitter is doing too – they are calling it #BoycottDangal.
So, here it is one more time: I am 50, I am a well respected star of my country with millions of followers but I will only talk about my work, my diet, my clothes, my next item number, my next 20-year-old heroine, my house, my car…
And political issues, you ask? Let us leave that to the politicians, they are doing such a good job of it in #IndiaSoTolerant.
At a recent press conference, superstar Aamir Khan surprised everyone with an announcement he made. The ‘PK’ star indicated that a sequel to his blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’ is likely to be made. “Raju (Rajkumar Hirani) some time ago mentioned that he has found a story for ‘3 Idiots’ (sequel), so maybe we will reunite soon. Don’t make it as a breaking news,” Aamir told reporters here at a press conference on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of ‘Rang De Basanti’. The Rajkumar Hirani-directed movie of 2009 also starred Sharman Joshi, R Madhavan and Kareena Kapoor.
Ranjit Katyal did not Airlift me from Kuwait
Viju Cherian, Hindustan Times | Updated: Jan 26, 2016 20:35 IST
I was airlifted from Kuwait by the Indian government after the Saddam Hussein invasion in 1990, and my recollection of an eventful six weeks is nothing like the portrayal in the Akshay Kumar-starrer Airlift currently playing to full houses.
The movie shows the Indian government as callous and incompetent. In my experience, nothing could be further from the truth; in fact, India won the everlasting gratitude of an impressionable kid by facilitating the evacuation, pulling strings with Saddam. To that extent, the patriotic chest-beating the film inspires on Gantantra Diwas is understandable; the problem is that the protagonist, businessman Ranjit Katyal, gets all the credit.
I went to see Airlift expecting to relive an important and exciting incident in my life. After all, when then Iraq President Saddam Hussein decided to flex his muscles, I was a school-going kid in Kuwait. For weeks after the invasion my family and I lived in a country that didn’t have a functioning government and where Iraqi teenagers in army fatigues roamed the streets with machine guns.
We were packed into buses that snaked through desert roads and stayed in refugee camps in a ‘No-Man’s Land’ – a stretch of desert between Iraq and Jordan. In Airlift, I hoped to relate to such scenes and say ‘Yes, I remember this incident’ or ‘This is what we went through’. But, now, after surviving the movie, I understand the importance of the disclaimer: ‘All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental’.
Kumar plays Katyal, who, after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait purportedly helps the safe passage about 1.70 lakh Indians (plus a Kuwaiti and her daughter) from Kuwait to Mumbai (then Bombay) via Iraq and Jordan. Kumar’s character, the filmmakers acknowledge, is inspired by the lives of two Indian businessmen (Sunny Mathews and HS Vedi) who played an instrumental role in the evacuation.
Director Raja Krishna Menon’s depiction of Katyal being this Moses-like figure leading all Indians through the desert in 10 buses and 15 cars is just one of the many liberties he has taken with facts. There is no way 1.70 lakh Indians could have been pulled out of Kuwait at one go. The evacuation took place over weeks and I remember friends leaving before and after I left Kuwait. Going by some estimates the figure of 1.70 lakh Indians is also exaggerated — reports peg the number at around 1.20 lakh.
Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. It was a Thursday and a school holiday – we didn’t know it then, but that was effectively the end of the school year. We could no longer cycle through the empty parking lots and souks, nor play football in the ground adjacent to our apartment. We also stopped going to the beach – news had spread that Saddam’s boys had mined the beaches. But life for the elders in the family was as usual: They drove cars and went to work. Thanks to good India-Iraq ties, cars driven by Indians were not stopped – unless it was a top-end one with serious bling on it that caught the fancy of an Iraqi child soldier. There was a shortage of food, but here again, Indians were allowed to travel and buy food from wherever they could find it.
On September 19 or 20 we left Kuwait on a bus to Basrah in Iraq, where we halted for a few hours at night. From there we went to Baghdad where we changed buses. Our next halt was for a night in a camp in the middle of the desert. A sandstorm hit the camp that night, covering everything in its path, including tents and buses, under layers of sand. The following morning we went to the ‘No-Man’s Land’ and for the next 10 days, tent number A-87 was home. The United Nations provided us sheets and blankets (nights in the desert can get very cold). The UN also distributed food from trucks and the Red Cross/Red Crescent set up medical tents. From there we left for Amman and it was after spending a day in the queue that we got tickets for Mumbai.
The trouble I have with Airlift is not so much that the evacuation story it has told is different from mine, but that in its bending of facts, it is recreating an incident to its convenience. In other words, the filmmakers are ‘creating history’. In its dramatisation of events to suit the grammar of a screenplay certain incidents have been magnified and New Delhi has been unjustly vilified.
Airlift cunningly taps into the general resentment towards Indian politicians and bureaucrats. It is dismissive of New Delhi’s efforts to ensure the safe passage of Indians from Kuwait. But the fact remains that the then foreign minister IK Gujral met Saddam himself to negotiate the rescue, even if he was broadly panned for his pains – a photograph showing the two in an embrace quickly became infamous.
A film like Airlift is an example of what happens when governments fail to communicate their achievements and leave filmmakers to be the sole shapers of public opinion around a dramatic historic event.
However, in a nation where it is increasingly becoming necessary to wear your patriotism on your sleeve, Airlift has the right dose of desbhakti-inducing scenes and flag waving to excite you. It’s a pity about the details.
saw Airlift and i liked it to be a decent watch. However, the government was shown as inept and doing nothing is somewhat baffling and then i researched it a bit more about IK Gujral’s role working with the Iraqis to get the Indians out. Not sure why they didnt show it and just brought it all upon one man.
I recently watched Chak De India, and feel slightly embarrassed about going overboard with my praise at that point. Of course, I still find it an enjoyable film, but its politics is problematic as I felt this time.
In the light of the Modi govt, and its hegemonic approach towards states; attempting to erase cultural diversity and assert a single stamp of Hindutva, CDI’s constant refrain about ‘being Indian first’ and a dismissal of ethnic/regional identity seemed deeply worrying to me. Perhaps the politics of the film belong to a complacent time, when no one worried about states getting bullied and disregarded. But in its current context, with the BJP at the helm, strong states and strong state identities seem not just a need, but essential for the country’s survival.
Airlift continued its good run on Thursday as it grossed around 5.75 crore nett. Although it is a big drop from the previous day which was a big national day but this can always happen with a film having a huge ratio of business from multiplexes. The film had weekday ticket rates at multiplexes for the first time after five days so its likely to tell in collections especially for a multiplex film. The drop is still less than 50% from day one despite it being a Wednesday so the total is still very good.
The film has now grossed around 75 crore nett in six days will finish the week with an excellent 80 crore nett plus total.
The film will face competition from Mastizaade on Friday which could take an opening but if the film does not have what its audiences is expecting from it, the collections will fall fast and that will leave Airlift as main film again over the weekend
Aditya Chowksey @AChowksey 4h4 hours ago
#Airlift CINEPLUS JAGDALPUR : WED : 28750/-, OCCUPANCY 85%
A SUPERB NUMBER CONSIDEREING THAT TUESDAY WAS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
Can Airlift Be A Record Grosser For Akshay Kumar And Beat The Lifetime Total Of Rowdy Rathore?
Thursday 28 January 2015 11.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Q. There are so many small films releasing in February when early April is free, can’t the industry space releases out so some of these films get noticed?
Ans. It has nothing to do with the industry, its up to each producer or studio. Each chooses date which they think is best but you are right a film with some chance in long run like Tere Bin Laden which has some brand value and decent trailer would be better off in early April as can a week or two’s run if the content works. In crowded period it may get its full share of the audience.
G. Banerji
Q.Can Airlift be a record grosser for Akshay Kumar and beat the lifetime total of Rowdy Rathore?
Ans. Chances are there but won’t be easy and if it does it will just about go past.
A. Sharma
Q. Is Airlift a bigger hit than Bajrangi Bhaijaan on return on investment and even Tanu Weds Manu Returns which was highest ROI last year as it should do 150 crore and is just 30 crore budget as Akshay Kumar did not take pay as he is producer?
Ans. Salman Khan was also producer of Bajrangi Bhaijaan as was Shahrukh Khan in Dilwale and like that these films budget also becomes much less. The budget is lower than a Brothers but not that low. Its Akshay Kumar’s biggest hit since Rowdy Rathore. Not comparable with Bajrangi Bhaijaan but yes similar to Tanu weds Manu Returns if it does a similar number.
M. Brar
Q. You have a film like Dishoom in top five for 2016 but not Shivaay which is Diwali release and content film rather than normal commercial film?
Ans. The list is based on real value opening so not based on holiday release as that is advantage. It list has nothing do with content as that is known only after release not before.
Hitesh S.
Rishi Kapoor is one of the few fearless Bollywood celebs who speak their heart out on social networking sites without batting an eyelid. The actor recently mocked Parineeti Chopra who won a Style Icon Of The Year award. During an interview, Rishi expressed his disbelief on Parineeti Chopra being awarded for her weight loss, reported DNA. He even asked, “Can someone please give me an award for gaining weight?”. Criticising the popular awards, the unstoppable actor said that he uses award trophies as doorstops in his home, as film awards have become truly tragic and shameless.
It is easy to say that the military action could have. been avoided. However, nobody really knows if any other option would have worked. Such decisions are always taken based on the conditions prevailing at that time. The situation in Punjab was abnormal. Urgent action was needed to put an end to the indiscriminate killings, the misuse of religious sites for terrorist activities and all efforts to break up the Indian union. Intelligence officials and the army both expressed confidence that they would be able to neutralize the militants in the Golden Temple complex without much difficulty. No one anticipated the protracted resistance.
While the Punjab situation was an aberration and a crisis of this nature is unlikely to recur, the lesson for future generations is that fissiparous tendencies have to be resisted at any cost. The Punjab crisis provided external elements an opportunity to take advantage of the disunity within India and sow the seeds of anarchy. Its wounds took a long time to heal and, even today, residual incidents do occur from time to time.
On 3 June, the Indian army entered the Golden Temple in a military operation codenamed Operation Blue Star.
Some believe that this course of action could have been avoided. But the reality that confronted the government at that time was that Bhindranwale and his followers had occupied and taken control of the Golden Temple, disregarding its sanctity. Extremists had turned it into a fortress and a base for operations aimed at the separation of Punjab from India. While some of us were worried about the. reaction of the Sikh community and whether drastic action would be counterproductive, leading to a flaring-up of the communal tension, a final decision to storm the Golden Temple was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA). Its members at that time were the Prime Minister, Home Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, R Venkatraman (having taken over as Defence Minister), Energy Minister P. Shiv Shankar and I. That day, no officials were present at the CCPA meet.
I still vividly recall Mrs Gandhi telling me, ‘Pranab, I know of the consequences.’ She understood the situation well and was clear that there was no other option. Aware that her own life was at risk, she took a conscious decision to go ahead in the best interest of the nation.
i thought i will miss this year animation short and live action movies. But wow to my surprise, just like everyyear i will be able to watch 2016 Oscar Nominated Shorts – Animated, Nominated Shorts – Live Action, Documentary Shorts. All of these are released.
Also,foreign category nominated theeb and Mustang are aslo released.
Covering all of these movies this saturday 🙂
New Delhi: Akshay Kumar’s film “Airlift” – based on the record evacuation of Indians after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq – has left diplomats seething over their portrayal.
While a section of officials posted at the embassies in Kuwait and Baghdad at the time believe they have been projected as villains, KP Fabian, then joint secretary MEA in charge of Gulf, however, told NDTV the Government of India “could have done a lot better”.
The film, written and directed by Raja Menon, shows diplomats posted in Kuwait leaving at the first sign of trouble. As the embassy shut down, it fell upon a band of local businessmen, including Akshay Kumar, to organise a refugee camp, negotiate with the Iraqis and return home in the biggest civilian evacuation in aviation history involving 1.7 lakh Indians.
Recalling on NDTV’s show Agenda how an Indian delegation to Kuwait reached 12 days later, when the Indian community was very angry, Mr Fabian said then foreign minister IK Gujral, who had led the delegation, was advised by the Ambassador not to speak to the locals.
He also recalled that he had to tell Mr Gujral that the selection of those to be evacuated had to be fair and they could not be all from the minister’s home state, Punjab.
A still from Airlift, based on the evacuation of Indians after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup, however, tweeted saying Airlift was “great entertainment but rather short on facts”. “We in MEA consider protection of Indians abroad of foremost importance. This film has also taken artistic liberties in the depiction of the events that happened,” he said.
I don’t get the kind of offers that I should because I am a very limited actor. And I can’t accept every offer that comes my way.
What do you mean by limited actor?
I can’t dance. I can’t entertain people like Hrithik Roshan.
For me, my realism has stood me over 15 years, so the kind of films that I have done has garnered enough respect for me to be able to survive the industry.
What are you doing next?
I have no offers. I didn’t have the time to read or commit to any other project.
SATYAMSHOT 
January 21, 2016 at 9:36 PM
And ghayal once again…coming soon
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January 21, 2016 at 9:51 PM
http://www.ndtv.com/mumbai-news/speeding-mercedes-hits-people-sleeping-on-mumbai-pavement-5-injured-1268666?pfrom=home-lateststories
And it will take 15 years to make this driver free. Police simply can stop the drama of filing a case and start harass couples endlessly.
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January 21, 2016 at 9:53 PM
Washington, United States: The eastern United States braced on Thursday for a blizzard that could bury Washington under more snow than it has seen in nearly a century, before moving on to New York.
Washington and neighboring cities including Baltimore could see up to two feet (61 centimeters) of snow accumulate in a short time as a result of the monster storm, which was also expected to generate fierce winds and icy rain in some area, forecasters said.
Heavy snow was expected across at least 15 states, according to the Weather Channel.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a blizzard warning for Washington, which was due to see first snowfall on Friday, and said New York could catch the tail end of the storm as the weekend progresses.
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/millions-brace-for-massive-us-snow-storm-1268657?pfrom=home-lateststories
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January 21, 2016 at 10:27 PM
Airlift By Bollywood Hungama
Rating: 4.5/5
‘Kaun kahta hai aasmaan mein chhed ho nahin sakta Ek paththar to tabiyat se uchhalo yaaron’
To all those who look down upon Bollywood movies and snigger that they can never match up to the best of the West, the wait is over. AIRLIFT is here to make your cinematic spirits fly. Literally. Hats off to Bhushan Kumar of T Series, Nikhil Advani, Vikram Malhotra and Akshay Kumar for backing a film that deserves to be seen by every Indian and yes the world is waiting to salute the biggest and most historic air evacuation in the world history. With baited breath. Some stories should be told. AIRLIFT sheds light on the evacuation of Indians in Kuwait after the invasion by Iraq and it is narrated BRILLIANTLY!
On the whole, AIRLIFT is a classic film based on a real life incident that is told extremely well on screen. It is surely one of the best films to come out this year and will pick up with a strong word of mouth. Just do not miss this one!
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/criticreview/id/749492
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January 21, 2016 at 10:29 PM
Satyam, if you can move this to my thread that would be great 🙂
added to post
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January 21, 2016 at 11:12 PM
Girish Johar @girishjohar 8m8 minutes ago
EXCLUSIVE !! The way its strongly running, very shortly #Natsamrat is poised to be the HIGHEST MARATHI GROSSER EVER !!! @NanaPatekarHere
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January 21, 2016 at 11:29 PM
Lol! Wazir left out from “rest of the boxoffice” so early is amazing. I think the admin seem to be in hurry to get rid of dilapidated donkey to have some peace. Alas! this peaceful time may be a bit short as teen is comming in the May, an another NICHE film😃
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January 22, 2016 at 11:44 AM
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January 21, 2016 at 11:28 PM
3.5/5 – War is never pretty, with civilians being the biggest casualty, and director Raja Krishna Menon puts it across engagingly in Airlift. It’s a tale of 170,000 Indian expatriates caught in the Iraq-Kuwait conflict in 1990 and their struggle to safety.
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar plays the suave and shrewd business tycoon Ranjit Katiyal. He has everything going for him: a beautiful wife (Nimrat Kaur), a lovely daughter, a palatial mansion, well-connected business associates … the works. But his life changes overnight as Iraqi soldiers go on a rampage, killing Kuwaitis and gunning down all those who oppose them. The first few scenes that show the destruction and brutality of the Iraqi soldiers are persuasive and gritty. The scenes filmed in Ras Al Khaimah, the emirate which was dressed up as the war-torn Kuwait, hit home.
http://gulfnews.com/leisure/movies/reviews/movie-review-airlift-is-raw-and-real-1.1657539
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January 21, 2016 at 11:43 PM
Raja Sen
3/5 – Review: Akshay Kumar is impressive in Airlift
Films about genuinely unsung heroes are a fine thing, and Raja Krishna Menon’s Airlift is a sincere effort to celebrate an insanely daunting task.
In 1990, during the first Gulf War, over 170,000 Indians were stranded in Kuwait when it was attacked by Iraq. A few local businessmen and Indian diplomats took on the valiant, significantly uphill task of bringing those people home.
The number itself is staggering — necessitating nearly 500 aeroplanes full of people — and Airlift, for the most part, delivers this action with efficiency and a relative lack of exaggerated drama.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/review-akshay-kumar-is-impressive-in-airlift/20160122.htm
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January 21, 2016 at 11:44 PM
This coming from Raja sen means 5/5
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January 21, 2016 at 11:55 PM
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/aamir-khan-feels-the-chill-in-delhi/16885157
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January 22, 2016 at 12:06 AM
Film review: ‘Airlift’ is flight of fantasy about the Kuwait rescue
The star triumphs over the facts in a sleight of hand that makes for riveting but also fanciful cinema. Black-and-white photographs in the closing credits show several nameless government employees at work, stamping the temporary papers that allow the Indians to re-enter their country and facilitating the relocation of this mass of humanity. This amazing story needs a second movie, perhaps titled The Real Airlift, which is not in thrall to a single and singular man but acknowledges the hundreds who enabled lakhs of Indians to return home safe. Airlift soars on its own merits, but it is ultimately a flight of fantasy.
http://scroll.in/article/802247/film-review-airlift-is-flight-of-fantasy-about-the-kuwait-rescue
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January 22, 2016 at 2:15 AM
Ghayal Once Again- Theatrical trailer:
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January 22, 2016 at 12:15 PM
Awesome Promo … Looks like will prove comeback of Sunny Deol.
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January 22, 2016 at 12:25 PM
His last project Saheb Singh even though good suffered due to weak heroine and this too may not be taken seriously due to puny Soha. Perceptions matter a lot with audience these days.
But still looking forward to this as Ghayal is one of my all time great actioner.
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January 22, 2016 at 2:29 AM
“I’ve reached that stage in my career where I want to offer something more” – Akshay KumarBy Bollywood Hungama News Network, Jan 22, 2016 – 10:38 IST
Akshay Kumar had 4 releases last year, and he’s already looking at the first release of 2016. Airlift, a political drama set in Kuwait during Saddam Husain’s invasion is a film Akshay rightly proud of. Most of the other A-list actors of Bollywood today would hesitate in touching something so controversial and …well… non-filmy. Akshay dares to be different, and yet finds space to do what he is most loved for, namely goofy comedies. Subhash K Jha chats with Bollywood’s star-actor with the most chutzpah.
2015 saw the releases of four of your films Baby, Gabbar Is Back, Brothers & Singh Is Bliing, with Airlift round the corner… Your comments on the year that was?
It felt like a really long year, there’s no denying it, but then again releasing four films within 12 months takes its toll on every inch of you (laughs).
So a long holiday from work perhaps?
Never! I still wouldn’t have it any other way!! My range of films in 2015 are what I’ve loved the most about the year, each and every one of my directors has kept me on my toes, be it Neeraj Pandey in Baby where he wanted me to exercise absolute discipline in the big outdoor action scenes or even indoors while manhandling some corrupt elements. Then there was the director Krish in Gabbar Is Back.I loved doing that as much as Baby.
It was a while saw a hero doing the vigilante act?
Krish really brought the vigilante out in me. I felt bigger and bolder than ever. Ha ha. Then the MMA (mixed martial arts) experience of a lifetime created by Karan Malhotra. Let me tell you, my body is still recovering from that one.
Singh Is Bliing saw you do the goofy comic thing again?
I love making people laugh. In Singh is Bliing my director Prabhu Dheva finally let the girls rule the roost while I played with huge Lion! What can I say; it was an eventful and extremely versatile yet physically demanding year. I’m a lucky man to still be living my dream after 25 years!
Which of these films did you enjoy doing the most and which ones gave you maximum satisfaction as an actor, and why?
Enjoy, would have to be Singh Is Bliing of course, purely because it was the most pain-free carefree happy-go-lucky film of the year. But my biggest achievement last year would have to be Brothers.
Why?
This film took everything out of me. I gave so much mentally and physically for this film. I trained bigger and harder than I ever had to in my twenties. I prepared and put my body through things I didn’t know I could achieve at my age.
Why did you go through so much physical strain?
The sheer physical labour to put myself through what I did was to purely inspire the younger generations of India, life doesn’t have to start and end in a text book. Martial arts is an incredible discipline to study as well. The fight sequences in Brothers make me proud. They are something I will carry proudly on my back for many many years to come.
Which has been your most satisfying performance in recent times?
Baby was my Baby!! Neeraj has a knack of reinventing every step you make, even if it’s walking the streets, he will make you perform like you’ve never walked before, and I love that about him.
2016 starts for you with Airlift. The film looks as real and raw as Baby, if not more. Are you again going to balance the real with the escapist films in 2016?
I really do like my nitty gritty films, there’s something so honest about them, they make you feel like you are doing something real and right for a change, rather than just being a money making movie-making jack in the box. With raw cinema it just takes you to another space entirely, you feel a lot more connected to your character than in a commercial film.
So the raw-real are more challenging than the masala films?
No. Don’t get me wrong I still love to do my commercial films. But I’ve reached that stage in my career where I want to offer something more. My films like Baby, Airlift, and Holiday all bring a certain purpose to my days, to my work, to how I feel as an actor. I’m hoping not only 2016 will bring me more such cinema, but also the future.
Airlift is obviously a film close to your heart. Please tell me about your character and the film.
Ranjit Katyal, a man that had it all, a rich successful businessman with a prosperous family, the world at his feet, till one fateful night when nothing is ever the same again. My character is a man of his word, when war struck Kuwait where he resides, he felt it his duty to not only get his family back home safe, but also evacuate all the Indian families that were in the same horrendous situation he was in.
You have always gravitated towards playing idealistic heroes like the one in Dhadkan and Aetraaz?
Yes, what I like about my character in Airlift is that he couldn’t just walk away from the crisis with his family into safety. He had to help himself; thousands were in just as much danger as he was, so he felt it his duty to rescue his own people from the war that had rained down upon them all so suddenly, a rescue that turned into the biggest air evacuation mission of all time. This is a story about a man who didn’t know how to give up.
Why have we never heard of this man?
That’s the thing which attracted me to Ranjit Katyal. He not only saved thousands of lives, he came home and no-one even truly thanked him. Ranjit Katyal should have been a national hero, yet somehow his efforts went unnoticed. This is my honest attempt at bringing respect to the man many families owe their lives to, a man whose name we should all know.
In 2015 you worked with new leading ladies like Amy Jackson and Jacqueline Fernandes. It’s now Nimrat Kaur in Airlift. What was Nimrat like as a co-star?
As a co-star for about 3 days she was a very serious, well-spoken humble. She was on a mission to make a film and make it well. So of course I had to make it my honourable duty to break her defenses.
What do you mean?
I mean I forced her to see another side to making films. She’s a wonderful actress and human being, but she didn’t realize you can enjoy your work even when your work is about bloodshed and heartache. Now I can honestly say, she’s been given my magic touch of humour, the best medicine in even the worst of circumstances and she has taken my medication for fun-shooting like a true lady and embraced a new found filming experience, she has officially been broken in.
On your home front, your wife Twinkle blossomed into an author?
My wife is proving to the World right now just what an extraordinary woman she really is. Tina is an incredible writer and poet in my eyes; she throws words together like I throw a cricket ball, which is powerfully with such ease. I couldn’t be prouder, when the person that’s been holding you together for so many years gets to revel in her own individual; limelight, it’s more than satisfying, it’s inspiring. My wife, the life juggler, wow!
Would you like your children Aarav and Nitara to become actors, if they choose to be?
Personally my children can become whatever they want to be. I’d never be the type of parent who pushes his children in a direction they don’t want to go in. It’s my life-long passion to never lose my children’s love. If I pushed them, I’d only be pushing them away, so instead I just want to hold them closely and follow behind them quietly. Currently my son Aarav is engrossed with writing his own school play and my daughter just wants to fly like Hanumanji. I have no worries about them being driven, but I’ll always be in the background steering them if they ever do get lost in the ocean of opportunities…
Your closing thoughts?
My thoughts are only of gratitude. I can’t ask for more in life. I will mostly definitely strive for more, for my fans and of course for my family, but I ask for nothing. I really do just want to give thanks. I have the greatest support-system to help me help as many as I can, 2016 is going to be another year of giving, in whatever way I can.
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/features/type/view/id/9596
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January 22, 2016 at 2:53 AM
Airlift Has Pretty Good Start Especially Big Cities
Friday 22 January 2015 12.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Airlift has opened to pretty good collections of around 30-35% as multiplexes of cities opened well. The opening is better than last year’s Baby which was released in the same week last year and also starred Akshay Kumar. Airlift also had competition from Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 but should easily surpass the figures opening day numbers of Baby.
The opening is best in in the big cities. Both Delhi city and East Punjab should top 1 crore nett especially as evenings should be better as these films have do better on Friday evenings and there is huge multiplex presence in these areas. Mumbai city is decent but smaller cities of Maharashtra opened similar to Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3, some were even lower.
Despite the start there is still a long way to go for the film as it will not be a big number that a big cast film should be doing so it becomes about that weekend growth. If the evening growth comes then it will have good platform to build from on Saturday and Sunday with solid growth.
Also the morning opening is probably enough to have better collections than Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 as the film will do better in the evening. If the film had opened like Baby then a shock would have been on the cards.
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January 22, 2016 at 2:54 AM
Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 Opens Well In Mass Centres
Friday 22 January 2015 12.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Kyaa Kool has opened well in mass centres with a opening of 30-35% despite competition from a big film like Airlift. The film is running neck to neck with the Airlift in mass centres in practically all the circuits. The opening in the big multiplexes of North india is less as a star makes a big difference there and Akshay Kumar has a strong market in the North. As there is huge preference of these multiplexes in North the big gap in collections of both films may come here.
The film will do its best business in Mumbai and CPCI circuits. The last film of this brand Kyaa Super Kool Hain hum had recorded a 6.75 crore nett day one and despite it not being a solo release with a bigger film for competition, the opening numbers suggest it should surpass that film.
It is the opposite of Airlift for Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 as its more about holding the collections rather than growing to pull through. Growth would be a big plus though but it is tough with genre as families on the weekend tend to keep away from these type of films.
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January 22, 2016 at 4:23 AM
Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar said that India is a “tough country” where speaking about personal life can land people behind the bars and he did not want to fight the “governance” by talking of issues like “intolerance”.
“We are in a tough country and to speak about one’s personal life in today’s time can land you in jail,” the director-producer said at the ninth edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival. He was in conversation with author Shobaa De and his biographer Poonam Saxena on his upcoming biography ‘An Unsuitable Boy’.
Johar, who has made films on contentious issues such as homosexuality (‘Dostana’) and relationships outside wedlock (‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’), said as a filmmaker he felt bound at every level. “I feel bound on every level, be it what I put out on the celluloid or what I say in print. I feel like there is always some kind of a legal notice awaiting me everywhere I go.”
He added, “Everywhere I go, I am scared. I am saying something in Jaipur (right now). I don’t know who will file a case when I get home. I’ve become some kind of an FIR king,” Johar said referring to the controversy over the AIB roast, staged in Mumbai last year which involved the western concept of insult comedy.
The Bombay High Court recently asked Mumbai police not to file charge sheet against the filmmaker and others facing a criminal case for allegedly using obscene language on the show.
Johar said he did not want to fight the “governance” by speaking out on “intolerance” like his colleagues in Bollywood industry did last year. “Look what happened as a result of anyone who said anything on it. I make movies, I’m fighting megalomaniac movie stars everyday. Do I need to fight the governance?
“We’re fighting the censor with every film. You write anything, you can’t say anything. How are we democratic then?” he posed. He also added, “Freedom of expression is the biggest joke in the world… Democracy is the second biggest joke I think.”
Talking about section 377 of the Indian penal code, which criminalises same sex relationships, Johar said “It’s a hurdle we need to combat.” He also said he appreciated endeavours made by politicians like Shashi Tharoor who had brought up the bill in the last Parliament session.
“You can change the way the governance works, but how do you change the sensibility of the average man in the house? It doesn’t matter what bill you pass and what dharna you do until the DNA or the mental fabric (of society) changes,” the 43-year-old said.
Johar also said he doesn’t “judge” people who don’t come out about their sexuality.
The director who has made blockbusters such as ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hain’, and ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’, among others shared an anecdote when he tried to pull a prank on a friend who he thought secretly stocked beef.
“We set up two policemen to go and arrest him … And it was a successful prank. That guy was horrified,” said Johar adding that the incident could have turned serious had it not been a joke.
Meanwhile, other topics in the conversation included Johar’s secluded childhood in South Bombay to his family’s hard times, his obsessions with film songs and the importance of following your dreams.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Karan-Johar-Freedom-of-expression-is-the-biggest-joke/articleshow/50680428.cms
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January 22, 2016 at 4:42 AM
Brand India ambassador Priyanka Chopra: ‘This is not the country I grew up in’
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/brand-indias-priyanka-chopra-this-is-not-the-country-i-grew-up-in/20160121.htm
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January 22, 2016 at 4:58 AM
Karan Johar, Chopra will escape because of their names and surnames.
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January 22, 2016 at 5:25 AM
I wish Kamlesh Tiwari could escape too. 😦
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January 22, 2016 at 10:15 AM
LOL…..
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January 22, 2016 at 11:57 AM
Sau soonar ki ek lohar ki 🙂
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January 22, 2016 at 12:39 PM
A person here is posting the damn weather reports of the Untied States , and anything remotely anti Govt. ( no matter even if it is untrue, conjecture and shows India in a bad light )…but BC full Sannnatta on Malda and Pune and the arrest of IS guys all over India.
Kamaal hai yaar !!
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January 22, 2016 at 12:41 PM
Yeh Maara !!
Ashok Malik
@MalikAshok Easy for a south Bombay princeling to snigger to a bunch of PLUs that “Democracy is a joke”. Wonder if he even bothers voting
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January 22, 2016 at 12:53 PM
@Rocky:
Pune dalit boy was killed by muslim after he was asked his identity by muslim guys but S.I.L.E.N.C.E in media and here coz they can’t take it as upper caste hindu is not involved but their own … there are no sick, inhuman than Indian seculars and Adarsh liberals.. their food is deceit, lies, hypocrisy and obfuscation .. one can see plenty here…
Terrorism has no religion but mob has religion and its Hindu – Adarsh liberals case in point Dadri .. How they sleep in nights?
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January 22, 2016 at 1:05 PM
Indian seculars- When hate engulfs you so much that you become embodiment of hate yourself.. All indian seculars and media is example but today best example is Mrinalni Sarabhai who went to twitter attacking Modi for not saying words on her Mother’s death.. It shows Love is not most powerful emotion but Hate.. Instead of grieving she decided what she does best – hate. Now she has all the rotten eggs on her face when she will know that Modi has already written letter to late Mrs Sarabhia’s son expressing condolences and grief .. Hate .. Hate … Yaha b bahut hain
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January 22, 2016 at 1:44 PM
Aaaj bade mood mein ho Bliss…
Yeh mausam yaaa toh Sharabi Badhayega , Yaaa Aabaadi Badhayega !!!!!
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January 22, 2016 at 4:00 PM
would like to add to all the ‘politically incorrect’ stuff y’all are saying. Yaha par logo kaa naam dilip kumar hai par asli naam kuch aur hai..issliye you can see it in their behaviors. 😦
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January 22, 2016 at 4:01 PM
bliss blizzard se unaffected hai..iss liye…
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January 22, 2016 at 4:53 PM
Yaar Bliss- yeh Begairat, Besharam , Beizzat, belagaam – Aaptard ko samjhao- bhai mere galey mat padh..
Not interested in dealing with Filthy people …..How the f@@@ do I explain this to the Aaptard who has been trolling me like forever now. I am at my wits end.
Bhai bakhsh dey mujhey !!
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January 22, 2016 at 1:47 PM
Not really.
Tolerant BJP will always say – Chal Bhaag – to the intolerants.
So here’s BJP’s VK Singh saying – go and beat him up!
https://twitter.com/ndtv/status/690596946612846592
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January 22, 2016 at 4:45 PM
Why should I write about Malda? For that matter I did not even write anything about raging Vemula Rohith controversy or court strictures against cbi in seizing documents or Mrinalini Sarabhai’s daughter’s anguish. I think someone is suffering from serious mental problems and cant take it even the mildest questioning. US weather is attributed to global warming and thats why it interested me.
I wrote about the Kerala man taking the kids to the hotel because it is such a heartwarming story.
People are so selective to pick me up and vent their anger after their holidays in India. That is why Salim was so careful to balance his mild criticism and get praised.
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January 22, 2016 at 4:49 PM
arrey aap toh gussa ho gaye, koi nahee …lage raho Bharat kee leney mein !!
BTW – aaj Chicago ka kya weather hai ?
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January 22, 2016 at 6:09 PM
wah bhai wah…you pinch the baby and rock the cradle…wah-wah. Yeh adhikar toh keval bhagvan ka hota hai 😉
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January 22, 2016 at 11:20 PM
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January 22, 2016 at 11:35 PM
nice one JC. lololz
Maa: chotta bhai padri gaya hai
Beta: kam se kam dadri toh nahi gaya.
😉 🙂
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January 22, 2016 at 5:05 AM
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kerala-man-feeds-hungry-street-kids-in-a-restaurant-gets-surprised-by-the-bill/1/575791.html
A little ragpicker.
Man gestured the little boy to come in, and he came in with his little sister. He asked them what they’d like to have and the boy pointed at the plate on his table. He ordered another plate.
When the food was served, the little boy couldn’t contain his excitement. Just before he started, his sister held his hand, stopping him. He understood she wants them both to wash their hands before starting.
The kids quietly finished the food ordered for them. Neither did they speak to each other, or smile. When done, they rose, looked at the man, washed their hands and left. The man hadn’t touched his food yet. He felt full.
He finished his meal and called for the bill. When he got back to the table after washing his hands, he saw the bill and it moved him to tears he had been holding back all this while.
The bill had no amount, but a message for him.
It read, “We don’t have a machine that can bill humanity. May good happen to you.”
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January 22, 2016 at 5:49 AM
Airlift review: With great camerawork and greater performances, this is Akshay Kumar’s ‘Chak De India’
by Gayatri Gauri Jan 22, 2016 15:02 IST
Fifteen minutes into Airlift, in a very simple, quiet, slow motion sequence, a defeated looking, bearded Indian man drives past the burning city of Kuwait.
Young Iraqi army men, barely in their teens, are out on the streets, guns in their hands, with the power of Saddam Hussein’s terror in their walk. The torturous sights of a city under siege continue to be seen in the rear view mirror of the car. One of the first thoughts you have as a viewer is that Camerawoman Priya Seth’s story-centric cinematography is deeply compelling in Airlift.
Just the night before, the Indian chauffeur was driving a man along with his wife to a party. The man is now huddled at the steering wheel, sobbing. His name is Ranjit Katyal.
By now, you have forgotten he is Akshay Kumar, the action hero who was last seen performing a rocking bhangra, with a vibrant turban on his head, in Singh is Bling. Kumar is an ordinary looking Katyal, and this itself is a huge achievement for someone of his star stature, thanks primarily to the smoothest direction by Raja Krishna Menon.
There is no unnecessary dramatic build up of any kind of commercial heroism, despite a few seconds of Kumar breaking into both Bollywood dance steps as well as a tiny fight sequence. It’s not just about the way Kumar performs and keeps it subtle and silent. It’s also about the way Menon reveals his character without going overboard. The very tone of Airlift is devoid of any drama, right till the last frame. The music supports the subtext, the camera is unobtrusive and the film simply lets the story flow. Right into your heart and your conscience.
This is Menon’s third film after Bas Yun hi (2003) and Barah Aana (2009). It is also one of the finest films based on a real event, after Shimit Amin’s Chak De India. If the Indian flag in Chak De India arouses tearful emotions of joy, pride and redemption, the same flag seen in Jordan, at a certain point in Airlift, is bound to bring a similar lump to the throat.
And it’s not just the big moments that are poignant. It’s a given that the main story based on the historic incident of rescue evacuation of Indians from Kuwait during Hussein’s attack in 1990, has all the makings of the most inspiring piece of cinema. But the script’s charm lies in the smaller stories within the larger picture.
Small subplots like that of Ibrahim (Purab Kohli) looking for a missing newly wedded wife, is made more touching by simple quiet exchanges with Katyal. Kumud Misra chews this part with the ease of a hungry dog and meaty bone. Other minor characters play the voice of a common man looking out for their selfish needs in moments of crisis. One such person, George, is played brilliantly by Prakash Belawadi. Inaamulhuq plays the loathful Iraqi villain with conviction and relish, his slim frame notwithstanding.
Nimrat Kaur, who won many hearts in The Lunchbox, is more of a distraction in her glamorous look and is the weakest link in the film despite having a long speech moment.
Ultimately, it’s the heartwarming story of achieving the impossible and larger human conscience in Airlift that rules. What do you do when, in the words of Katyal, “Saddam hamare ghar ghus aaya hai?”
Well, as two real life heroes, Matthew and Vedi did — you make calls and more calls for days to the passive Delhi Government office, patiently negotiate with frightful people like Iraqi generals and bravely travel to Baghdad. You use your mind as the only weapon and most importantly, your conscience. Then, all it takes are around 500 airlines, a few good men in the ministry to practically airlift around 1, 70,000 Indians from Kuwait to Mumbai.
Kudos to Menon for giving us Akshay Kumar’s Chak De India.
http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/airlift-review-with-great-camerawork-and-greater-performances-this-is-akshay-kumars-chak-de-india-2594790.html
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January 22, 2016 at 5:51 AM
Indicine.com @indicine 25m25 minutes ago
Akshay Kumar’s Airlift is the most critically acclaimed Hindi film in the last 6 months => http://goo.gl/z8hSx4
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January 22, 2016 at 6:07 AM
4/5- Airlift Movie Review
By Saibal Chatterjee
Hindi cinema history tells us that mainstream storytellers in Bollywood face many a pitfall when they work with real-life stories.
They frequently succumb to the temptation to inject exaggerated drama into the narrative. In the bargain, they end up tumbling with a thud between two stools.
Neither is it easy for their ilk to handle a tale of heroism aimed at highlighting what “we Indians” can achieve when we all deign to pull in the same direction.
Mumbai filmmakers have all too often turned such accounts into flabby, flag-waving exercises meant only for those who buy into such counterfeit cinematic constructs.
http://movies.ndtv.com/movie-reviews/airlift-movie-review-1226?pfrom=home-rightnow
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January 22, 2016 at 6:13 AM
Review: Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 is disgusting!
No Rating
Stay away from Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3, advises Prasanna D Zore.
There are films that rile your bile. Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 will top if such a list is ever made. There is not a single scene in KKHM 3 that does not show skin. If not skin, there are loaded dialogues and porn-y gestures that make you want to throw up.
The review of KKHM 3 can really be summed up like this:
Film: Kya Kool Hai Hum 3
Actors: Busts, bums, advertisements.
Story: Busts, bums, advertisements.
Dialogue: Busts, bums, advertisements.
Watch KKHM 3 if you love disgusting films.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/review-kyaa-kool-hain-hum-3-is-disgusting/20160122.htm
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January 22, 2016 at 6:17 AM
Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 movie review, zero stars
All those limp jokes don’t add up to a comedy, either. False pretences. Can I please call it a falsie? I know, groan again. Given the previous two flicks, did we really think this would be a bag of laughs? More fool hain hum.
– See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/kya-kool-hain-hum-3-movie-review-tusshar-kapoor-aftab-shivdasani/#sthash.oqW0SuuK.dpuf
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January 22, 2016 at 7:30 AM
looks like akki is real winner here
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January 22, 2016 at 9:15 AM
Just finished Dubai show. Airlift is brilliant. Direction top notch. Akshay is in great form. Easily one of the best performances across the industry over the last few years. Claps all over the cinema during climax.
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January 22, 2016 at 10:12 AM
good to know.
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January 22, 2016 at 10:17 AM
can akki get some love on this forum? He has worked on some great movies in the last few years: OMG, special chabbis, Holiday, baby, Gabbar and now airlift
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January 22, 2016 at 12:21 PM
“@can akki get some love on this forum? He has worked on some great movies in the last few years: OMG, special chabbis, Holiday, baby, Gabbar and now airlift”
Oh I absolutely love Akki in this current lean and mean form and he is now leaving competition behind. For killjoys who say he cannot scale Khans / Hrithik height, I will say he has reached a niche place where even they too cannot emulate and achieve his success ratio and his slot has become unique in its own way.
On an aside, getting sick of these event movies like Sultan and Dangal etc which take forever to conceive and filmed, where after all the hoopla if the supplemental talent like directors, editors are not up to to the mark, the whole project leaves a bad taste.
Akki has a good run up this year with masala blockbuster
Houseful 3 and Rustom where he plays a navy officer with Neeraj Pandey as director. Icing on the cake is his project Robot 2 which will show him in a different light.
Prestige and ‘maal’ both in the bank !
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January 25, 2016 at 12:52 AM
Neeraj is the producer. Debut director – Tinu Desai.
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January 25, 2016 at 1:08 AM
Sarcast os Rustam-
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZiiPE-XEAApMFp.jpg:large
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January 22, 2016 at 1:15 PM
Akki also proves a point to people giving too much importance to acting and boasting about being master of their craft etc…….in this age of cheap raw stock, easy shoot / filming / cut / paste/edit it is all the more reason to be surrounded by smart technicians / skilled support cast to give out a superlative end product.
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January 22, 2016 at 6:01 PM
I love akki. I love akki. I love akki. Akki the best. Akki Rocks. There is nothing I don’t like about him, including his wooden acting or so called furniture. He is awesome. Camera loves him. He is everything that one should aspire to be. Akki…keep making good cinema. We love uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
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January 25, 2016 at 12:51 AM
@Di : wooden acting? seems like you’ve been living under a rock all these years.
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January 23, 2016 at 8:06 PM
Watched Special 26 last week. Will be watching Baby this week. A sort of precursor film fest of Akshay Kumar, prior to watching Airlift!
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January 22, 2016 at 11:11 AM
Well, I am glad that it has at least opened better than KKHH3. It would have been heart-breaking to see something like the latter having more audience than the former.
The BO thread is going to be interesting in the next few days. I have noticed Bollywood Hungama is one of the major promotional outlets of Airlift. There was an early positive review of the movie (which was probably deserved) followed by a negative review of KKHH3 (probably deserved as well). BOI, on the hand seem to be rooting for the underdog.
The opening reports from both sites differ like chalk and cheese. The BO reporting is going to be interesting here. My bet is that Airlift’s figures are going to be vastly superior at BH. The reporting of KKHH3 may be interesting. Who knows, maybe for once we will see BOI reporting higher number than BH there.
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January 22, 2016 at 3:21 PM
Bliss- Another Instance of Presstitutes !!!
NDTV and AAP are bilkul same in spreading misinformation !!
কাঞ্চন গুপ্ত
@KanchanGupta
কাঞ্চন গুপ্ত Retweeted NDTV
Not true. He fobs off question. Journo persists. He says “You go fight with him. Why are you after me?”
Re-
NDTV Verified account
@ndtv ‘Go and beat him up, don’t ask me’, says Minister VK Singh on Karan Johar
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January 22, 2016 at 3:21 PM
https://twitter.com/ndtv/status/690596946612846592
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January 22, 2016 at 4:23 PM
>NDTV and AAP are bilkul same in spreading misinformation !!
ooops!! Yes, I forgot.
This is, of course, the normal response given – beat him up – or “Deal with the anti national elements” etc etc
All part of a day’s work.
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January 22, 2016 at 4:30 PM
And quoting Kanchan Gupta! LOL
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January 22, 2016 at 4:48 PM
ok guys, let’s all take it easy on the politics.. and equally the chat session!
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January 22, 2016 at 4:54 PM
Agree, am tired of responding to nonsense !!
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January 22, 2016 at 4:55 PM
Who asked you to respond?
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January 22, 2016 at 4:57 PM
galtee sey mistake ho gaya Sanjana jee….
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January 22, 2016 at 5:04 PM
Chalo maaf kiya.
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January 22, 2016 at 4:57 PM
Satyam- why is SS so silent ? where are Munna, Rajen, AnJo, Jay Shah, Rajesh , Abzee, and above all Q??
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January 22, 2016 at 5:12 PM
Mei yahin hoon…
The political discourse is toxic :)..
Airlift shayad aaj dekhne jaaoun…
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 22, 2016 at 5:16 PM
Ha ha, …..agree I too want to avoids it here but when people post misinformation , it has to be rebutted. I know Satyam assumes that I strike first, but I have generally never initiated a political discussion here.But as usual Bhakton ko galat hee assume kiya jaata hai JNU key universe mein !!! LOL
Lucky you , that you get to watch Airlift first day !!
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January 22, 2016 at 5:23 PM
Reviews are good till now…High command ka aadesh hai movie dekhne ka..And there are 3 movie halls near by showing it .
ps – It has been raining since I returned from India. That may stop us from going today 🙂
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January 22, 2016 at 5:27 PM
Conspiracy by rain gods against an Akshay Kumar starrer reports our favourite site!
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January 22, 2016 at 5:35 PM
I have office tomorrow so mushkil hai, did you see our mutual friend in India ??
P.S.- The people in India spend money jaisey moongfali ho, we on the other look for sale, clearance and coupons to buy stuff !!!
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January 22, 2016 at 6:47 PM
Tax season?
Mutual Friend – Varanasi? No..Needed to be in Bangalore whole time. I will go again in March. Wife visited them.
Agree about money. I commented in one of threads on tolerance/intolerance; There is so much poverty that there are people who don’t have money for food, roof. Went to Noida GIP mall and people have so much money.
Karan Johar has every right to voice his opinion (and I agree with him but it has been like this since independence) but it is main headline. There are people dying due to cold and media is not putting onus on Governments to do something (State and Central).
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January 23, 2016 at 12:08 PM
Yup, Tax season…so how was the movie?? I might go tomorrow.
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January 23, 2016 at 5:25 PM
It is okay..I was expecting more based on the positives all over the media and social networks.
I have often complained when people mix tone. The movie was serious then you have regular melodramatic acting/scenes in between.
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January 25, 2016 at 4:51 PM
I am so happy for Akhshay …. Dum hai Bande meun !!
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January 22, 2016 at 9:39 PM
It has become more pronounced during the last 15 years.
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January 22, 2016 at 6:06 PM
Good to know that you are missing ann jo 😉
Munna: what you really meant to say “mai hun naa”
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January 22, 2016 at 6:51 PM
🙂 I am pretty sure many more people are in passive mode. We need a movie by SRK and everyone will come out 😉
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January 23, 2016 at 5:25 PM
I am here in spirit😄
Am lifted by the success of Airlift.
If I hadn’t been snowed in, would have watched it for sure. This movie has potential to be a game changer that Baby failed to be. If it ends up north of 140 crores which seems a possibility after the string second weekend, Alshay will get a huge boost.
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January 23, 2016 at 5:28 PM
BTW, nothing or no one is more nauseating than Aaptards. I feel there is a chemical lochs in their brains that prevents them from seeing the truth.
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January 23, 2016 at 9:10 AM
@satyam
I hope you’ve noticed that I always respond to any comment in an already ongoing political discussion.
PLUS
I always give links to Newspapers and TV channels and NOT any individual or “chat” – its the hallmark of ‘others’ LOL
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January 22, 2016 at 4:59 PM
In Hindi …..
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January 22, 2016 at 5:12 PM
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January 22, 2016 at 11:27 PM
@omrocky-bliss: lo kar lo baat.
She takes it back so she can return it again in similar outrage in future. re-award-wapsi
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/nayantara-sahgal-agrees-to-accept-awards-she-returned/story-AHUL335ylkNPYEB7VEMeVN.html#pq=2iLtBh
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January 22, 2016 at 11:31 PM
Awesome, awesome , awesome movie, no words. Clapping in theater during end scenes. Amazing experience.
Watching it again for sure, may be on sunday if i could get ticket else weekdays.
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January 22, 2016 at 11:38 PM
Akshay Kumar’s Airlift is the most critically acclaimed Hindi film in the last 6 months.
Average critic ratings of other movies released in 2015 – 2016. Airlift, so far, is the best rated film in the last few months.
Airlift – 3.7 stars
Wazir – 2.7 stars
Dilwale – 2.5 stars
Bajirao Mastani – 3.2 stars
Hate Story 3 – 1.7 stars
Tamasha – 3 stars
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo – 2.7 stars
Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 – 2.6 stars
Jazbaa – 2.6 stars
Singh Is Bling – 2.3 stars
Shaandaar – 2.2 stars
Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon – 2.17 stars
http://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/airlift-reviews-by-critics/
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January 22, 2016 at 11:45 PM
Airlift 2.5 to 4 times of KKHH3
Girish Johar @girishjohar 4m4 minutes ago
Friday Gurgaon #Airlift 30.41lacs #KKHH3 7.77lacs aproxs
Girish Johar @girishjohar 12m12 minutes ago
Friday Kanpur #Airlift 9.08lacs #KKHH3 4.05lacs aproxs
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January 23, 2016 at 1:13 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh 22m22 minutes ago
#Airlift has an IMPRESSIVE Day 1. Fri ₹ 12.35 cr. India biz. Exceptional word of mouth. Biz should multiply over the weekend.
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January 22, 2016 at 11:51 PM
Adele Breaks Psy’s Record for Fastest Video to Hit 1 Billion on YouTube
Its an instant classic with such a heartbreaking tune ,has one overwhelmed with emotions !
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January 24, 2016 at 11:07 PM
yea, its a brilliant song, wanted to go for an adele concert when she comes to the area later this year but all 6 show were sold within hours
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January 23, 2016 at 1:12 AM
Indicine.com @indicine 20m20 minutes ago
#Airlift Saturday: Off to a better start today compared to yesterday. Word of mouth excellent!
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January 23, 2016 at 1:50 AM
During the early years of Independence, national celebrations did not need any security like we are having today. Nowadays, there is always lurking fear before, during and after these events and one can breathe easy after these events are over safely. Only religious festivities have escaped this tension. During those days, we did not have social media and the newspaper editorials shaped up our opinions. Everything changed after Chinese aggression and Pakistani incursions and our own leaders started practising divide and rule policies based on caste, religion, language, sons of the soil theories, inherited from the British.
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January 23, 2016 at 2:51 AM
4.5/5 – Airlift movie review: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur’s spectacular tale of heroism
Rcommended (4.5/5)
Once in a while, Bollywood reminds you why it can never be written off. That no matter how many commercial, trashy films it bombards us all with, there are times it can rise to the occasion. Like its hero Ranjit Katiyal, Airlift helps Bollywood airlift itself out of the mess it normally resides in. Raja Krishna Menon’s Airlift is a tale of heroism, courage, patriotism, and a lot more. And deserves a standing ovation.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/airlift-movie-review-akshay-kumar-nimrat-kaurs-spectacular-tale-of-heroism/1/576925.html
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January 23, 2016 at 7:55 AM
aran adarsh
@taran_adarsh
7h
#Airlift has an IMPRESSIVE Day 1. Fri ₹ 12.35 cr. India biz. Exceptional word of mouth. Biz should multiply over the weekend.
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January 23, 2016 at 7:58 AM
Airlift First Day Territorial Breakdown
Saturday 23 January 2015 14.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
3
Airlift grossed 11 crore nett on day one which is a decent collection mainly due to multiplex collections in big cities as mass centres had low collections on day one. The plus for the film is the growth at multiplexes as with morning collections it was looking at sub 10 crore nett total.
The opening day collections are lower than all the Akshay Kumar starrers released last year apart from Baby which did not open at all. The difference here is the trend on day one which suggests that the multiplex audience especially in the cities may take to film especially if the second day can show good growth. For a really big number the key will be big growth in Gujarat, UP, Rajasthan etc on Saturday
The main business has come in Mumbai, Delhi/UP and East Punjab and Mysore should show huge growth on Saturday as that circuit should be higher on day one for a film scoring at multiplexes. The rest of the circuits have seen business which is below the mark
The first day territorial breakdown of Airlift is as follows
http://boxofficeindia.com/art_detail.php?articalid=1758#.VqN4d0uwjoA
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January 23, 2016 at 7:55 AM
taran adarsh
@taran_adarsh
6h
#KyaaKoolHainHum3 Fri ₹ 8.15 cr. India biz.
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January 23, 2016 at 7:57 AM
taran adarsh
@taran_adarsh
Jan 22
#Wazir [Week 2] Fri 1.69 cr, Sat 2.14 cr, Sun 2.45 cr, Mon 92 L, Tue 78 L, Wed 70 L, Thu 65 L. Total: ₹ 39.39 cr. Source: @RentrakIndia.
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January 23, 2016 at 7:58 AM
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/17249121/Rentrak-tracks-Vidhu-Vinod-Chopra's-production-Wazir
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January 23, 2016 at 3:45 PM
I posted above in response to a comment. It basically shows there is difference between BOI and actual ticket counted. The actual ticket counted is not total ticket sold.
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January 23, 2016 at 8:10 AM
Kajol: There’s certain insensitivity in India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Kajol-Theres-certain-insensitivity-in-India/articleshow/50695487.cms
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January 23, 2016 at 6:53 PM
I suppose insensitivity is now the politically correct allowed word as against intolerance. The worst comment IMO,came below this Kajol article — some guy writing that people marrying twice and thrice and not caring about brother/ sister and talking of intolerance. What a ….twisted mind. And all those people, eminent names — The RBI governor, the President, writers, directors, all talked about increasing intolerance in a normally tolerant India — all are OK for their statements, but two Muslim actors are to be torched on social media, especially the one who was especially careless/ foolhardy/ honest? Continuously set upon by some BJP wala or other, termed anti-national, threatened that he will be taught a lesson, next film release will be ‘treated’…..what a country we have become. And social media commenters actually cheering along.😐
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January 23, 2016 at 7:05 PM
Srk/Aamir- Why they both made so much noise suddenly? they are tax thieves. They got summoned by ED for investigation. Their corrupt business module cant operate freely so they start maligning whole nation while being Brand Ambassador of Incredible India campaign. They have been running their production houses without opening Tax account and when they are questioned, they start playing muslim victim card. Talk about hypocrisy.
http://www.abinet.org/professional-intolerance-aamir-khan-shah-rukh-khan-exposed-professional-tax-thieves/
You bring political discussion here, let me reply.
Srk and Aamir react on selective thing, just couple of days incident happened in pune where one hindu guy is killed by 3 muslim guys. Why no reaction? On the basis of one incident, they say whole country is intolerant.
As for SRK, he retracted from his statement just a day before release of Dilwale, why? If he was right, why to draw his statement back. Because, he has no dignity, its all about money, to gain publicity, he made political statements during promotion, but when he saw it can go against him, he withdrew his statement.
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January 23, 2016 at 7:12 PM
As for SRK, talk less is better. His association with 2G scamster is well evident. SRK openly supports him and says he will never give up Karim morani, why such sympathy for a criminal.
Because, Karim morani is financer in KKR, and associate producers in many srk movies including Dilwale, RaOne.
He manages srk’s shows in dubai and fraud companies. Is srk lacking money? Still he is so greedy and disgusting, he made himself so disgusting, inspite of all adoration he received.
Karim morani was in jail for 2G scam, and that is nothing , he has long criminal history with dubai links.
Srk is most corrupt star, his behavior ,egoist attitude is all evident in his interviews and media appearances.
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January 23, 2016 at 8:13 AM
Kajol regrets choosing ‘Dilwale’ over ‘Durga Rani Singh’?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/Kajol-regrets-choosing-Dilwale-over-Durga-Rani-Singh/photostory/50695748.cms
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January 23, 2016 at 9:16 AM
Columbus Reporting –
KKHH3 – not a single ticket booked for whole day, even 10:15 am show about to start in an hour looks set to be audience free.
Best show was Friday night 7:15 pm, which was 30% full. I think it will be out of theatre today itself, no audience atall.
Airlift – Last night shows were packed, and whole saturday is 90% booked already. Sadly, it has got small capacity screens, Also it is just released in 80 theatres in US. 😦
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January 23, 2016 at 9:21 AM
Is BM still in the running?
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January 23, 2016 at 9:28 AM
Yes, but very limited.
Btw, srk can rejoice, it collected 1k on thursday, which was its last day in usa.
BM will end its run with 2mn more than dilwale. BM is already at 6.6 mn
DILWALE
UTV Communications
-72.7% / $76
$4,870,263 / 35 $1,000
+9.9% / $83
$4,871,263 / 36
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January 23, 2016 at 9:39 AM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/computing/What-happens-when-a-computer-program-writes-an-episode-of-Friends/articleshow/50695578.cms
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January 23, 2016 at 10:36 AM
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January 23, 2016 at 10:37 AM
‘My Son Was Burnt Alive Because He Was Hindu’, Alleges Pune Teen’s Father
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/my-son-was-burnt-alive-because-he-was-hindu-alleges-pune-teens-father-1269001?utm_source=ndtv&utm_medium=top-stories-widget&utm_campaign=story-7-http%3a%2f%2fwww.ndtv.com%2findia-news%2fmy-son-was-burnt-alive-because-he-was-hindu-alleges-pune-teens-father-1269001
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January 23, 2016 at 10:40 AM
Now, Silent media, Not intolerance debates, no award wapsi, no celebrity tweets and political comments, why ?
Community of Pune boy is not vote bank, congress backed media will ignore it.
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January 23, 2016 at 10:50 AM
But police did not buy his story. Their version is different. And Congress is not ruling Maharashtra now.
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January 23, 2016 at 10:56 AM
‘Congress is not ruling Maharashtra now’
Oh this is your justification? You know where Dadri is ? In UP?
No one ever cared to ask Akhilesh yadav.
Talk about hypocrisy.
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January 23, 2016 at 11:00 AM
Police will listen to whatever party is in power. They will not go out of their way to please congress and incur wrath of their present political masters.
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January 23, 2016 at 11:04 AM
If police really listens to congress, why Tarun Tejpal was incarcerated in the neighbouring state? Just the way congress used to say foreign hand, now they are saying congress hand in everything.
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January 23, 2016 at 10:52 AM
The police has, however, denied any communal angle behind the murder of the boy in Kasba Peth area of Pune last week.
Sawan was hospitalised last Wednesday after sustaining severe burn injuries when three men, suspecting his involvement in stealing vehicle batteries, poured petrol on him and set him on fire on January 13. He died in hospital two days later.
“When my son was admitted to hospital, he told me that he was set on fire by three suspects after they came to know that he was Hindu,” Sawan’s father Dharma claimed.
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January 23, 2016 at 10:55 AM
I think it was inhuman to burn a person for whatever reason. The culprits should get death sentence.
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January 23, 2016 at 11:15 AM
‘I think it was inhuman to burn a person for whatever reason.’
No one is asking it is inhuman or not, obviously it is. And same for Dadri incident. Every about dadri incident said it is inhuman. Even those who were vouching to ban beef.
Eating beef is not appreciated though it is one’s own choice, but punishing someone taking law in their own hands is crime and condemn-able. That’s why case was registered against those people in dadri.
Now, saying i condemn it saying it is inhuman and avoiding discussion is double standard. Though, i dont want discussion because it just spoils the atmosphere. There were always such incidents here and there, but creating mole out of one incident and ignoring one shows real intolerence and hypocrisy and malicious politically motivated intentions.
Not just in media, congress, congress synthesizers, also on this forum, many have not been able to digest Modi is running government.
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January 23, 2016 at 11:18 AM
Ultimately good governance matters whichever party is in power.
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January 23, 2016 at 1:02 PM
By the way NDTV is not silent. The father was on the TV for half an hour or so explaining his take on the matter. Just watched about half an hour back.
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January 23, 2016 at 1:34 PM
Yes, you can expect ndtv trying to give it communal angle to spoil communal harmony. But, they wont find enough patronage from award wapsi gangs, congress and congress sympathizers, as it doesnt not target their vote banks, so their attempt will fail.
This is what ndtv has been doing, and that is my point, why to give it communal angle. I will say same things, what i said during Dadri incident.
“It is law and order problem that people are taking law in their own hands.”
But, Dadri incident was given communal angle, and no one questioned law and order asked UP government and used it as political tool against Central Govt. Now, they should question Maharastra govt to trace culprit soon and take legal course.
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January 23, 2016 at 10:58 AM
The media worked against congress and brought it down. The Anna Hazare movement was covered continuously. It is a fallacy that media works for the congress.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 23, 2016 at 11:17 AM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Worlds-tallest-largest-tri-colour-hoisted-at-British-era-hanging-point-in-Ranchi/articleshow/50699030.cms
RANCHI: The place British used to execute freedom fighters in pre-independent India now hosts world’s largest tri-colour on tallest flag-post, the 66×99 feet flag, 493 feet above surface on a 293 feet mast at Ranchi’s popular Pahari Mandir. The flag, defence minister Manohar Parrikar hoisted on Saturday, flutters in the breeze soaking the place – that remembers the cruel executions – in patriotism. Many in Ranchi know Pahari Mandir as ‘Fansi Dungri’ (hanging point).
“The country’s largest flag on tallest post is also the most majestic and most beautiful,” Parrikar said after unfurling the 60-kg flag atop Pahari Mandir. The event coincided with Netaji Subash Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary.
The majestic flag drew people at the foot-hills of Pahari Mandir as well as on roof-tops where they struggled to capture the patriotic moment in cameras. Rohan Deo Pathak, a local singer, sang a couple of patriotic numbers for a TV channel dedicating a special coverage to the event. He went on to share a selfie with flag on Facebook. “Feeling patriotic at Pahari Mandir,” he wrote.
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January 23, 2016 at 12:13 PM
Great news. 3 More shows for today in columbus on high demand for Airlift.
https://www.google.com/#q=airlift&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPgVeLWz9U3MDQqNy4sKtzEJMPFFRqs75pYXJJalKfExSuQo-AkKmS07JAWU2kxAPIlPxEuAAAA
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January 23, 2016 at 12:19 PM
unfortunately because of the big storm in the East Airlift’s numbers will get hit this weekend.
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January 23, 2016 at 12:25 PM
Such excuses suit for Srkians, Dilwale suffered due to blah blah.
Btw, you can celbrate Dilwale earned $1000 on last thursday
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January 23, 2016 at 12:33 PM
Satyam just after watching Dilwale And Bajirao Mastani Trailer –
“I might catch Dilwale, looks interesting enough. But, nothing can convinced me to watch Bajirao Mastaani.”
Wasnt that your comment ?
And you kept your promise by avoiding BM inspite of such strong feedback. Wow what a ignorance and prejudiced personality. And same prejudice you spread all over in your political discussion.
Satyam on Political Debates –
I don’t want to involve in Political discussion, but i will just say one thing.
And then One Long essay…………..
…………………..
……………..1000 more lines……….
……………
more political discussion….
just one more point….and then one more long essay….and so on….
And when on back foot-
Let’s stop political discussion guys. This is not political forum.
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January 23, 2016 at 12:37 PM
Actually you are still celebrating some 70s movies, so what if others enjoy contemporary cinema. Leave aside me, you have no right to have sarcasm on most crazy fans .
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January 23, 2016 at 1:29 PM
actually I wasn’t being sarcastic at all. On the rest I find it hard to get motivated by Hindi films these days unless it’s an actor or director I really like. And Bollywood these days is for the most part ‘cinema’ the way my bathroom singing is ‘music’. of course many bathroom singers are successful in contemporary Bollywood, no disrespect to them.
As for some of the ‘fans’ their commitments in terms of their favorite films and stars are only slightly less tasteless than their political ones!
Do want to watch Airlift incidentally.
finally and in terms of many of your comments I’d at least like to be polite and say you’re providing some humor. Unfortunately I have standards even here..
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January 23, 2016 at 1:38 PM
‘actually I wasn’t being sarcastic at all’
LOL
such impacts happen, and some factors bring more audience. In nutshell, these excuses are suitable only for fans.
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January 23, 2016 at 12:38 PM
Actually in Salmanians, Aamirians and Akkinas world, you have no right to even live on this planet. 🙂
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January 23, 2016 at 1:40 PM
Airlift Set To Emerge A Winner- Excellent Growth On Day Two
Saturday 23 January 2015 23.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Airlift looks set to emerge a winner as it had good collections on its second day of around 14.50 crore nett. The first day collections were fair but the second day is good. More importantly the trend is excellent with growth going near 35%. Although it does not mean much with only a dud like Wazir released so far, Airlift may possibly emerge the first hit of the year.
The growth is solid across all big city multiplexes. This is as important as some films get huge growth on strength of high ends. The mass pockets are not great but good growth in the likes of Surat and Lucknow which are important A centres, it can get away with it as it dos not need to go towards 200 crore to be a winner.
The two day business will be around 25.50 crore nett and will easily go over 40 crore nett depending on the Sunday growth. If mass can go to high levels on Sunday it will be a huge bonus and then the film could even go for a big number.
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/art_detail.php?articalid=1759#.VqPH7SorLIU
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January 23, 2016 at 3:06 PM
IMBD 9.7/10 with 6312 votes….
Doesn’t have 10/10 due to HNY, SIK, Kick, Dhoom3 fans 😦
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January 23, 2016 at 3:36 PM
Girish Johar @girishjohar 53m53 minutes ago
So very early trends suggest a 30% to 40% jump from Friday BO for Saturday #Airlift @akshaykumar … SUPERB
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January 23, 2016 at 3:36 PM
Indicine.com @indicine 8m8 minutes ago
Airlift was huge on Saturday. Excellent growth all over. Set to record a total of around 15-16 crore on Day 2.
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January 23, 2016 at 5:44 PM
Such an innocent and adorable reviewer.
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January 23, 2016 at 5:49 PM
Amazing BO knowledge and bang on prediction at such young age and all based on bookmyshow tracking.
Amazing Man.
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January 23, 2016 at 9:51 PM
Airlift jumps by 50%, KKHH3 crashed by 40% on Saturday in Gurgaon.
Girish Johar @girishjohar 5m5 minutes ago
Saturday Gurgaon #Airlift 44.96lacs ….👍👏 #KKHH3 5.83lacs aproxs
Girish Johar @girishjohar 22h22 hours ago
Friday Gurgaon #Airlift 30.41lacs #KKHH3 7.77lacs aproxs
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January 23, 2016 at 11:42 PM
Airlift all set for HUGE blockbuster. Airlift to Akshay is what Three Idiots was to Aamir , CDI to SRK and BB to Salman. Akshay is in different league now .. after OMG, S26, Baby and Holiday .. Airlift is another milestone.
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January 24, 2016 at 12:47 AM
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/virender-sehwags-sweet-gesture-for-aamir-khan-on-dangal-sets/16891196
Aamir Khan who has been shooting for his film ‘Dangal’ in New Delhi for the past few days had a special visitor on the set.
Unit hands were surprised to see former cricketer Virender Sehwag pay Aamir a visit. He was spotted carrying a box of laddoos specially made by his mom, Krishna, for Aamir.
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January 24, 2016 at 12:51 AM
The actress, who is a big fan of Sanghi, had not recognised him at their first meeting. “My mom introduced me to his writing. When I read Chanakya’s Chants I kept wondering why he didn’t use his name in the first book,” she quipped, adding that if given a chance, she would “love to play Chanakya”.
Confessing that she is not a fan of complicated and depressing books, she said, “It’s important for me that a book is easy reading. I’ve read many award-winning authors and found their books boring.”
Kajol also braved questions about tolerance and women’s empowerment. “It’s very important for public personalities to speak up and be aware of what we are saying,” she said. “The film industry is very accepting of people from all backgrounds, caste, religion or status.”
– See more at: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mid-day-at-jlf-kajol-doesnt-read-depressing-books/16891197#sthash.rYFuLf4l.dpuf
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January 24, 2016 at 1:25 AM
http://www.firstpost.com/india/where-were-you-karan-johar-when-the-entire-lgbt-community-was-battling-section-377-2596660.html
“I don’t get it, Karan. Here is the whole LGBT community fighting it tooth and nail for over three decades. Did you not hear about or read the papers when sexual minorities all over India mobilised, held workshops, meetings, halla-bol public hearings, met up with members of parliament and political honchos to muster support to get Section 377 removed? Or were you so in your Sleeping Beauty phase…”
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January 24, 2016 at 10:40 PM
I must say… Among the 90s actor (SRK, Aamir, Salman, Ajay and Akshay) it is the Akshay Kumar who progressed most as an actor and choices of films in last 5 yers or after 2010. Patiala House, Oh my god, SPL 26, Baby, Holiday, Airlift, Gabbar is back..Impressive list. Mind you He doesn’t have So called A-List Director.
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January 24, 2016 at 11:05 PM
Addition in above comment. Akki is my fitness idol too. still i don’t agree with Yakuza’s enthusiasm. Akshay’s film has an upper limit, though Bajirom-Mastani showed you can break th glass cieling of upper limit. Let hope for better 4 Airlift.
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January 25, 2016 at 12:08 AM
‘Akshay’s film has an upper limit, though Bajirom-Mastani showed you can break th glass cieling of upper limit. Let hope for better 4 Airlift.’
In First 3 months business is limited for any movie. It is exam time and holidays are not there. Either movies dont open big or dont trend very well.
Jodha akbar could have done 80 cr in those times, but limited to 58 cr due to release in Jan.
MNIK with all hype could have opened better or trend better, but did just 72 cr (same as housefull). it could have done 100 cr if release after May.
It think upper limit for a genre like Airlift is 180 cr(+/-20 cr) if released in Jan with Salman/Aamir. With Akshay in it, it can do 130 max(+/- 10 cr).
It has just 10 days to collect, then film business falls drastically for all bollywood films. It will start picking up in April.
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January 25, 2016 at 12:24 AM
Same for Jai ho, however bad it was, Salman movie could have easily collect as much as bodyguard.
Agneepath would have done 150 cr if not released in first quarter. Even guru should have done 60-65 cr the way it was liked.
Baby could have done as much holiday, but didnt trend that well inspite of much appreciation while OMG was able to trend supremely well.
Overall, summary is films released in first quarter do 1/3 business less than they could have done otherwise.
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January 25, 2016 at 12:13 AM
Bajirao mastaani was lucky and got the best release time of the year. And that’s why its maker were certain and not ready to move its release date. 18 Dec to 3 Jan was full of holiday and festivities. Here, it is matter of just 10 days and it can easily collect 100 cr in 10 days, but nothing much after that.
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January 25, 2016 at 10:24 AM
On that upper limit note would like to add a ‘vanity’ comment and its time Akki seriously considers cosmetic dentistry and get those incisors removed. On that lean face, those ‘tusks’ protrude out a bit much now and give unsanitary / insalubrious look.
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January 25, 2016 at 1:04 AM
Aditya Chowksey @AChowksey 58m58 minutes ago Indore, Madhya Pradesh
#Airlift Punjab, actuals, Fri. 1.24 Cr, Sat. 1.65.. sun 2.00 Cr.
super growth.
Aditya Chowksey @AChowksey 3h3 hours ago
C.I. FRI. #Airlift : 37 LAC, SAT : 44 LAC, SUN : 63.50 LAC
Aditya Chowksey @AChowksey 3h3 hours ago
#Airlift AT SAMDAREEYA REWA
FRI : 47187.11
SAT : 51230.76
SUN: 98332.87
BUSINESS MORE THAN DOUBLE 4M DAY 1
Aditya Chowksey @AChowksey 3h3 hours ago
#Airlift AT SAMDAREEYA REWA
FRI : 47187.11
SAT : 51230.76
SUN: 98332.87
BUSINESS MORE THAN DOUBLE 4M DAY 1
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January 25, 2016 at 1:17 AM
When Sooraj Pancholi was given the Best Debutant – Male trophy at a popular awards function recently, it reopened the debate about awards functions being a big farce with near-zero credibility. Many felt that Masaan actor Vicky Kaushal deserved it much more than the star kid.
Award galas always make us wonder about the real definition of excellence and are dubbed as an ego-massaging exercise. Last month, Kangana Ranaut, who packed a punch in ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’, told hitlist that she wouldn’t attend any of those “commercial events” even if it meant going without an award for another year. And she didn’t get the Best Actress trophy in any of the functions although her double role act was award-worthy. Many other laudable performances and films were ignored too. Here’s our list of disappointing misses in the just-concluded awards season:
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/bollywood-awards-season-deserving-stars-and-films-that-were-ignored/16894173
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January 25, 2016 at 1:20 AM
Kajol regrets choosing Dilwale over Sujoy Ghosh’s next.
Shah Rukh Khan is disappointed with the manner in which ‘Dilwale’ has fared at the box-office and he didn’t have any qualms accepting the fact, as it was. However, apparently Kajol isn’t too happy with SRK’s reaction of taking digs at his own film. According to the report, Kajol believes in whatever she does irrespective of the film’s outcome. However, as stated in the report, Kajol thinks that she made a huge mistake when she chose Rohit Shetty’s comedy over Sujoy Ghosh’s next, which is slated to be feature a strong female protagonist.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/Kajol-regrets-choosing-Dilwale/photostory/50703627.cms?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=TOIEntertain1
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January 25, 2016 at 1:21 AM
Srk-Kajol’s Dilwale flop, Ajay Devgn’s dilwale from 90s was SuperHit
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January 25, 2016 at 3:33 AM
raghav.. come on man, don’t try to force your lies on others here. This film is the second worldwide grosser of 2015 after BB. In India it is a semi hit whereas, in overseas it’s all time blockbuster and is still running. My Kajol can’t deliver duds like your Bachchan is used to.Dilwale is an old story now, just tell something about Wazir and don’t try to malign image of Kajol. However, you are free to thrash Srk😃
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January 25, 2016 at 3:36 AM
Overall Dilwale is a worldwide blockbuster. In overseas it has recently crossed 3idiots.
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January 25, 2016 at 6:03 AM
Crossed 3I overseas?? Despite being $6M behind 3I in just North America alone?
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January 25, 2016 at 7:58 AM
In india it is flop. Distributors loss are in excess of 25 cr as confirmed by komal nahta. see here-
In Overseas, its collections in major markets us and australia are below expectations. It earned around 200k from 17 countries each, thats how big figures came in. But, No one ever talked about release expenses.
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January 25, 2016 at 9:41 AM
Raghav you are repeating the YouTube link even though it says the same on Baby and many others releases last year. Komal even goes to the extent of belittling the Indian distributors for paying these enormous sums.
Watched Airlift but may be due to humongous expectations, it fell short for me and turned out to be an average fare. No this no CDI or a 3 Idiots. Bajrangi B was on repeat telecast on TV yesterday and it comes under all time great’s’ category so lets leave that classic there.
Akshay is on top of the game not due to some kind of super stardom but by sheer volume and consistency in release and full marks to him again for coming up with regular releases where the youngsters can’t even put together a project in a year.
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January 25, 2016 at 7:59 PM
cdi, 3i were commercial entertainers. Airlift is a document drama and that’s make its success even more applause worthy.
BB was ordinary in content, more of emotional melodrama, and it was received critically decent only, though that is an achievement for salman otherwise crap movie star.
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January 25, 2016 at 1:31 AM
Airlift had good growth on Sunday with collections set to be around 16.75 crore nett. The 15-20% growth may not be huge but for this type of film but it is good as a huge chunk of business is coming from city multiplexes and these are weak on Sunday morning and evening so there is a limit to how far they can grow on Sunday. The mass markets have done better on Sunday and are at decent levels after two days of low collections.
The weekend will be 42 crore nett plus which is a good weekend for the film and more importantly it has got there for a 11 crore start with very strong uptrend on Saturday.
The trend is good and Monday will be further boosted by evening collections at city multiplexes as next day is a holiday and its city multiplexes where the bulk of the business is so the film is almost certain to have two days of good collections. The film has chances to challenge Akshay Kumar’s highest first week collection which was Rowdy Rathore (75 crore) but it will be Wednesday that is crucial for that.
Boxofficeindia
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January 25, 2016 at 1:47 AM
http://www.india-forums.com/bollywood/south-india/60848-popular-malayalam-actress-kalpana-dies-at-50.htm
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January 25, 2016 at 2:27 AM
http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/dear-akshay-kumar-airlift-is-pure-gas-jingoistic-chest-thumping-could-be-riveting-cinema-but-it-isnt-authentic-history-2597104.html
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January 25, 2016 at 2:32 AM
Instead of bashing AK, the author could have simply given it as the real story of operation Kuwait.
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January 25, 2016 at 9:52 AM
Sanjana there is some truth in that article posted and it is an opinion. Though I feel it is harmless and brings in a much needed sense of pride in our own nation. From time to time we do accept these chest thumping American uni-dimensional fictional stories so a bit of ‘tashan’ is required for national pride.
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January 25, 2016 at 5:50 AM
Airlift did well in its first weekend grossing 42.50 crore apprx. The film had a decent start but picked very well in the evening followed by huge growth on Saturday. As bulk of the business is from big cities, huge Sunday growth was always going to be difficult but it still managed to show a nice jump.
The first day business was 11 crore nett, second day was 14.50 crore nett and third day 17 crore nett. The best business is in Mumbai, Delhi / UP and East Punjab while Mysore showed a huge jump on Saturday.
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar and CI have not grossed even as much as some of the under performing Akshay Kumar films but should manage fair business in the long run,
Boxofficeindia
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January 25, 2016 at 5:50 AM
Airlift has beaten the figures of Rowdy Rathore Worldwide. The film is behind Brothers and Singh Is Bling in terms of Worldwide collections but both these films had major holiday in the first three days in India. The Worldwide gross is 73 crore. The top five Akshay Kumar opening weekends Worldwide are as follows.
1. Brothers – 81 crore
2. Singh Is Bling – 77.50 crore
3. Airlift – 73 crore apprx
4. Rowdy Rathore – 71 crore
5. Housefull 2 – 70 crore
The 100 crore weekend is still missing but maybe Housefull 3 will correct that. Airlift had fair business Overseas with Gulf and North America doing $1.5 million apprx between them. The Overseas business should come in the $2.25 million range so basically similar to Brothers and Singh Is Bling.
Boxofficeindia
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January 25, 2016 at 12:14 PM
A lot has been said and done lately regarding the issue of ‘intolerance’ and one prominent statement concerning the same was made by Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan in one of his interviews, where he said his wife Kiran Rao was worried about their children’s safety and if they should leave India.
Aamir’s statement enraged the nation and attracted a lot of negative comments and much criticism. He was also replaced as the ambassador of the Incredible India campaign.
Today at the celebration of the completion of 10 years of Rang De Basanti, when Aamir was asked in the press conference about his previous statement on intolerance, he said, “People were misled on my comment that I said I wanted to leave India. I would blame media for this to a certain extent. Wrong information was disseminated for me.”
He further added, “It is understandable. If somebody says he wants to leave the country, I will also feel hurt. I am a patriotic person. It is not that I want to leave the country. I can’t even stay outside the country for more than 2 weeks.”
When asked about his wife Kiran’s reaction about his controversial ststement, he said, “I shouldn’t have quoted what she told me in private.”
http://www.india-forums.com/bollywood/hot-n-happening/60895-aamir-blames-media-for-exaggerating-his-comment-on-intolerance.htm
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January 25, 2016 at 3:03 PM
behold…the intolerance stopper is here!! lol
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January 25, 2016 at 12:27 PM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/I-wont-leave-India-I-was-born-here-will-die-here-Aamir-Khan-on-intolerance/articleshow/50721995.cms
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January 25, 2016 at 12:36 PM
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/watch-video-deepika-padukone-sweats-it-out-for-her-hollywood-debut/16894162
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January 25, 2016 at 12:48 PM
Hope this Republic Day ensures roti Kapda aur Makaan for everyone and provide jobs and opportunities.
Wish you all a great Republic Day.
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January 25, 2016 at 4:02 PM
Become a Modi Bhakt…this will ensure you get Roti, Kapda, Makaan, Pakwaan and also Inaam. Ask Mr. Anupam Kher!
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January 25, 2016 at 5:02 PM
And this is Anupam Kher’s tweet from 2010:
AWARDS in our country have become a mockery of our system.There is NO authenticity left in any one of them.B it films, National or now PADMA
Jab aa gaya balma (Modi) tou bhaa gaya Padma!
Wah re Takluji!
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January 25, 2016 at 5:42 PM
Nice poetry there Saket (Jab aa gaya balma (Modi) tou bhaa gaya Padma!) Original hai ya twitter se cut and paste kiya. Why do you come up to make political comments here? I thought you didn’t care and didn’t like the political comments others make here and were into music only. tomara sathe ki hola? I think when people speak about how bad award-rewards are they are generally talking about filmfare and those types of awards. National awards still have little bit of respect.
Secondly I am not a bhakt. I am employer and I hired Modi to do his job. If he doesn’t do it,…then next please. So take a chill pill for now.
Rahi baat takluji ki, then don’t go below belt ok? He lost his hair, at least he is not wearing bad wig like bigb.
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January 25, 2016 at 7:58 PM
Original hai ya twitter se cut and paste kiya.
There’s google for checking that!
I’m not into political debates. Don’t like them as a rule, but this forum currently discusses politics first and cinema second.
And as a general rule, I don’t mind debates on cinema getting ugly. But ugly political debates reveal hidden aspects of people that are difficult to digest.
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January 25, 2016 at 4:46 PM
Anupam Kher Verified account
@AnupamPkher Sunn raha hoon hai aaj bazaar mein Burnol bahut zoro shoro se bik raha hai.
sunil sikand (Pran sahab’s son)
@ttunni @AnupamPkher You deserve it as much as Dad did. Our Country is far bigger than some fools. Enjoy the honour.
Saurabh Kulkarni @SaurabhKools · 5h5 hours ago
@AnupamPkher now some liberal says @superstarrajini is bhakt #PadmaAward4Bhakts . @AnupamPkher Sometimes Ignorance is bliss .
Vande Mataram @UnSubtleDesi · 4h4 hours ago
Congrats sir @AnupamPkher on ur well deserved, long overdue Padma Bhushan. Ignore the hateful noise. Hathi chale bazaar, kutte bhauke hazaar
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January 25, 2016 at 5:11 PM
Keh Ke Peheno @coolfunnytshirt · 4h4 hours ago
Meanwhile, AAPtards are pissed off with Anupam Kher for getting Padma Bhushan. They say, their lord Kejriwal is a better actor than him
Aaptards ko mirchi lagee toh mein kya karoon !!!
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January 25, 2016 at 5:22 PM
People who can’t construct two proper sentences of their own…who have to rely on others to tweet before they can even do a cut/paste job, talk about ‘mirchi’…oh the irony!
But then what else can be expected from a bhakt? By definition they are followers; will always be a part of a herd; the sheep with no brains, forever waiting to be guided by the shepherd…in this case, the shit-for-brains twitter warriors paid for by… everyone knows who!
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January 25, 2016 at 5:33 PM
Kya solid mirchee lageee..
Asoootoss key bhakts talking about constructing sentences …oh the irony…
But as a rule I do NOT engage with Aaptards……
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January 25, 2016 at 6:02 PM
Saket, I like your comments, analysis on various topics here, but friend this was lil too rash.
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January 25, 2016 at 6:11 PM
Raju bhai- the Leader swore on his children and did an U-turn, and they are quoting Kher’s earlier tweets …Oh Oh Oh the irony!!
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January 25, 2016 at 6:30 PM
You are right. It’s not the way I’d normally behave. I apologize if I’ve offended you.
In my defence, I’d like to say that this isn’t just a random outburst. For months now, I’ve observed the kind of comments that have been posted here. The hypocrisy, the open disdain for ethics, the blind partisanship on display…it’s been enough for me to want to stay away!
And I’ll say one more thing that’s been on my mind: this place, the forum that we all loved to frequent since many years now, is slowly dying…and some of the nasty discussions going on here are to blame!
It’s no longer the place it was 5 or 6 years ago! And surprisingly enough, the people who made this place worth visiting at one point of time are the ones who’ve made it worse. I wish I wouldn’t be saying this, but it’s absolutely true…
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January 25, 2016 at 5:32 PM
All these Padma awards have become irrelevant. Only army personnel must get those param awards on republic day followed by kids who show bravery. And sports persons like Saina Nehwal and Sania Mirza should get awards under sports category than Padmas. And filmstars get awards during those award functions and thats more than enough for their contribution.
As for chief guests, let chief ministers become the chief guests for a while instead of foreigners who require tremendous security. Let us honour our own first and foremost.
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January 25, 2016 at 5:35 PM
I agree Sanjana, even I think that an award for Madhur is highly undeserving…but Aaptards ridiculing Anupam Kher are just like their lord Keju baba ….
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January 25, 2016 at 5:43 PM
wah…rules of engagement have changed 😉
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January 25, 2016 at 7:19 PM
LOL….. Sanjana is a sweetheart !!
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January 25, 2016 at 6:44 PM
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January 25, 2016 at 6:50 PM
Aside- this is so typical – first instigate and write something offensive which is totally unnecessary and irrelevant, and when called out and questioned-, first throw personal insults, then Play victim, question the falling standards and generally blame everyone else.
Matlab kamaal hai yaar !!!
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January 25, 2016 at 7:04 PM
first instigate and write something offensive which is totally unnecessary and irrelevant, and when called out and questioned-,
Which part of my first post was personally offensive? Like really blood-boiling, fit-inducing offensive to you?
Maybe it was totally unnecessary and irrelevant, in which case, there shouldn’t have been a response from you. And I gather you’ve never made such totally unnecessary and irrelevant jibes, like ever!
And calling someone ‘Aaptard’ is questioning him/her? That’s totally not throwing insults someone’s way. Right, got that.
There was a time Rocky Bhai, you were quite fun to engage with. That time has long gone and you may not give it a thought, but I lament the passage of time that brought about this radical change in you!
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January 25, 2016 at 7:18 PM
The offensive and irrelevant part was -Become a Modi Bhakt…
and the personal insult part was- People who can’t construct two proper sentences of their own.
after which I used the term “Aaptard” for you.
I do agree that even engaging with you was fun and really liked your long comments on Bachchan.
I too wish that this place remains strictly about films. I personally never bring up politics on my own, but just can not refrain myself from countering the lies.
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January 25, 2016 at 7:48 PM
You’ve got your timelines mixed. This came first:
omrocky786 Says:
January 25, 2016 at 5:11 PM
Aaptards ko mirchi lagee toh mein kya karoon !!!
My response came 11 minutes later…
Moreover, I used the term Modi Bhakt for Anupam Kher. Not you or anyone else. In any case, I’d struggle to call the term offensive. My response later was offensive, I agree.
I personally never bring up politics on my own, but just can not refrain myself from countering the lies.
Since this is between friends, or so I’d assume anyway, the problem wouldn’t be there if you were just countering lies. I say this with no malice in my heart: you only defend the BJP and its ideology. At any cost; without any regards to the ethics of debate. It’s blind partisanship at work and this is the bit that’s surprising. What’s worse is that this countering of lies process is often accompanied by derogatory remarks. You are free to discard this piece of feedback; it’s entirely up to you. But the forum suffers the brunt of this constant negativity.
It’s ironic that you bring up Bachchan because he’d be the first one to differ from BJP’s ideology. In everything he has ever done, he has displayed a persona that’s completely at odds with what the BJP stands for. He may not say it in as many words, but it’s obvious where his loyalties lie.
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January 25, 2016 at 8:25 PM
Read again, I personally refereed to you as an Aaptard only AFTER the personal attack.
also Note well- Bachchan is just way too classy to stoop to Kejriwal’s levels and the gutter language that he and his supporters use. Also note well that BJP and I are not at all anti minority, we are just anti Tushtikaran of Minority.
As for being partisan I also hope that you too would comment on Keju’s silence on Malda, Pune and so on.and like a fucking Vulture he ran to Hyderabad..really pathetic. , Also never seen you comment on how vicious that repulsive character called “Poorana Peetal” gets here.
Chalo- time to go home !!! Have a great rest of the evening !!
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January 25, 2016 at 9:51 PM
So I was personally called Aaptard after my response. Before that Aaptard was used to describe someone else! Phew, that’s a relief…the sanctity of the forum wasn’t violated then.
Not that it’s important, but since you’d never understand what a neutral position is, I’ll point out two things (off the top of my head) that I find wrong with Kejriwal:
1) He shared the stage with Lalu Prasad Yadav.
2) AAP’s refusal to implement FDI in retail. It’s the stance that every single political party has adopted, but still, I’d expect them to at least rise above petty politics and rent-seeking activities.
Moreover, my support for Kejriwal isn’t set in stone. I support him and AAP because the alternatives are Congress and BJP. Having seen both parties in action, I’d abstain from voting rather than vote for either one!
Regarding Malda or Dalda, I couldn’t care less. If you wish to cry over Hindu deaths please be my guest. If Muslims wish to cry over muslim deaths only, they can also do as they wish. I wouldn’t give a toss either way. People who kill each other in the name of religion don’t deserve a single shred of sympathy. Not mine anyway.
But all this is besides the point. I’m calling you out for flooding this forum with your ideology. And unfortunately, as it stands, Satyam is complicit in allowing this to fester.
Here’s an example:
Kejriwal’s levels and the gutter language that he and his supporters use
And then…
and like a fucking Vulture he ran to Hyderabad
Perhaps Satyam should make his stance clear as to what’s par for the course here. Just how much is he willing to sacrifice in the name of friendship, I’d like to know.
This much is certain: if Rocky had not been a regular here, his comments would have been trashed right away. All the nonsensical rants would have been confined to the bin. I know because I see what goes in the trash here.
Likewise, if I’m not welcome, please let me know. Perhaps this place has changed for good and I’m the odd one out. In either case, I’d like Satyam to give an answer!
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January 26, 2016 at 3:37 AM
Hi Saket: As a frequent visitor ( reader and not much as contributor) at this blog, I would like you to stay..Our ideologies may be different, but still can all function here ..There is so much to understand, learn and get other view points through each other. Some comments do hurt our sentiments, But it does not change our beliefs and ideology….After all everyone have come for their interest/love for movies and the political debate is a ‘entertainment tax’ here 🙂
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January 26, 2016 at 10:22 AM
Re,-but since you’d never understand what a neutral position is.
Speak for yourself buddy, that is all I can say !!!
As for the language- A sitting CM ( The Leader )calls The Prime Minister of the Country a Psychopath and Liar …and Aaptards applaud him!! says a lot .
This is my final comment on this matter !
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January 25, 2016 at 7:01 PM
This seems like a good webs
English translations of Hindi songs –
http://bollyustaad.com/song.php?id=178
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January 25, 2016 at 7:23 PM
This is a good watch-
1. liked Akhshay recounting how he took the Tape recorder in lieu of unpaid fees from the producer’s house.
2.Ranveer Singh ogling at Raveena Tandon during a Rain song shoot for Keemat and Raveena requesting the studio to throw him out.
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January 25, 2016 at 7:55 PM
Airlift Clocks Over 10 Crore On Monday
Box Office India Trade Network
Airlift has a clocked a huge Monday at around 10.25 crore nett as per early estimates. It is the first time that an Akshay Kumar starrer has hit the 10 crore nett mark on a Monday as Rowdy Rathore had grossed 9.25 crore nett on its first Monday. The film had ticket rates held at weekend rates due to the holiday on Tuesday at many multiplexes which has helped business on Monday by 10-15% but even allowing for that its a huge Monday.
The film has now grossed close to 53 crore nett and Delhi NCR and East Punjab seem to be on a huge run as many multiplexes top first day numbers although test will be Wednesday as to how strongly it is going to sustain in the long run.
There would normally be 50-60% growth on the national holiday on Tuesday but as the film has put up a fantastic Monday that may be difficult but even with more modest growth, an 80 crore nett first week is there for the taking.
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/art_detail.php?articalid=1766#.VqbD4CorLIU
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January 25, 2016 at 8:00 PM
Akshay deserves national award for Airlift.
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January 25, 2016 at 8:01 PM
Crowd chant “Modi-Modi” when CM Kejriwal reaches to watch ‘Airlift’
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January 25, 2016 at 8:04 PM
This guy is CM or film critic? He/Ashutosh/Manish sisodia keeps posting film reviews on twitter. 2 weeks back he wrote review for Wazir, he watched movie with Farhan Akhtar.
I just started noticing now, but he has been reviewing and watching movie with failm stars for last one year, he and his team should change profession to film critic.
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January 25, 2016 at 8:32 PM
Jungle Raaj of Bihar starts again.
‘Hundreds of engineers have complained that they are being threatened by criminals for allotment of contracts and extortion.’ M I Khan reports from Patna.
The fear of rangdari or protection money rackets conducted by local gangsters and state-based Maoists has returned to haunt businessmen, traders, doctors, contractors and construction companies engaged in infrastructure development projects in Bihar.
Sensing the fear among the entrepreneurial community in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav have provided assurances that the state government will provide security to individuals and projects and not spare or shield any criminals and law breakers.
The extortion threats pose a major challenge for the two-month-young government of the grand alliance of the Janata Dal-United, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress party led by Nitish Kumar, who has repeatedly stated that that the ‘rule of law’ prevails in Bihar.
The reality on the ground is very different.
In the last one-and-a-half months, newspaper reports indicate a spurt in extortion-related crimes, particularly the demand for protection money and murder upon refusal.
Dozens of cases of extortion threats went unnoticed in Bihar till the killing of two engineers employed at a road construction company in Darbhanga district on December 26 hit the headlines.
Then jeweller Ravikant Prasad was killed in Patna, the state capital, on Saturday, January 16.
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/the-fear-of-extortion-haunts-bihar-again/20160122.htm
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January 25, 2016 at 8:56 PM
@Satyam
First look of Aligarh, directed by hansal mehta
This deserves a separate post.
[post created]
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January 25, 2016 at 9:19 PM
It’s ironic that you bring up Bachchan because he’d be the first one to differ from BJP’s ideology. In everything he has ever done, he has displayed a persona that’s completely at odds with what the BJP stands for. He may not say it in as many words, but it’s obvious where his loyalties lie.
It is ironic that his loyalties lies with anyone whoever is in power. Weather it is “UP main dum hai kyonki Jurm yaha kam hai or Kuch din to gujariye Gujrat main”
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January 25, 2016 at 10:09 PM
Funny how his loyalties were not with the Congress and the Gandhi family when they happened to be in power…
This despite the fact that he was Rajiv Gandhi’s close friend.
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January 25, 2016 at 10:37 PM
I think its because of Amar Singh.
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January 25, 2016 at 11:21 PM
” loyalties were not with the Congress and the Gandhi family”?!?!
Ahem.. He was a hardcore loyalist Congressi who contested and beat the behemoth Bahuguna in Allahabad. It was Bofors that undid his political career, otherwise he would’ve had a nice run at it. After all those Bofors brickbats, he realized that he just wasn’t fit for politics.
Btw, he was the only one allowed to stand by the funeral pyre of Rajiv Gandhi, so close was he to the Gandhi family. Rahul hugged him tight through that funeral. It was only later when he ran into financial difficulties, and Amar Singh bailed him out, that the Congress distanced themselves from him. Surely, there must’ve been many other unwritten misunderstandings between him and the Gandhis to cause this much separation.
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January 26, 2016 at 12:54 PM
Yes, I’m aware of the history involved. What I was trying to stress was his strained relationship with the Gandhis during the UPA regime, which lasted a good 10 years. He certainly was very close to Amar Singh and Samajwadi Party during those days (an association that I still think was cringeworthy)
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January 25, 2016 at 10:26 PM
Danny DeVito Gets Honest About The Oscars Race Issue: ‘We’re A Bunch Of Racists’
” “We do live in a racist country. We have to evolve and have to realize that truth and reconciliation is here, too—it’s not only in South Africa or Cambodia. Young people have to learn what happened in our history, and we need people to know that we’re walking on the boards of genocide.”
He pauses. “This is a place where people settled in and they came to be called Native Americans. Now all of a sudden these big ships appear out of the blue like demons in the daylight, and everything changed. Genocide happened and we’re all in it. But we can’t lean on that xenophobia. We need to understand what happened and realize that we’re all human beings who are cut from the same cloth.”
“Listen to Noam Chomsky, get the Howard Zinn, and try to elevate your children, brothers, and sisters…”
http://uproxx.com/movies/danny-devito-oscars-racists/2/
kick this loon out of the country…or not!
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January 25, 2016 at 11:07 PM
Video of press conference at RDB 10th anniversary celebrations; 37 minutes long, but worth watching for many reasons. The director talks about the film and its journey, the lyricist Prasoon Joshi talks about the very rooted language of the film’s iconic songs– and of course Aamir gets asked about the intolerance controversy. Aamir was in fact repeatedly asked questions about the controversy more than the film — and he gave effective replies that should hopefully shut up his critics( but won’t).
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January 26, 2016 at 12:24 AM
“Funny how his loyalties were not with the Congress and the Gandhi family when they happened to be in power”
There is nothing funny about it. Bachchan’s got benifit form Congress or dare i say from Nehru-Gandhis. Even Harivansh Rai Bachchan go many favours from Nehru and Indira. I admit he was a great poet but so as many. Amitabh switched his loyalties only after Gandhi’s refused to bail him out after finencial mess. Here Amar singh and Subrot Roy Sahara bailed him out but in the time of thier (Sahara and Amar) crisis Bachcha family left them and went with Mulayam and Rajya sabha seat. Amitabh has amazing knack to cease the opportunity with Powerful people or who are in power.
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January 26, 2016 at 12:45 PM
Amitabh has amazing knack to cease the opportunity with Powerful people or who are in power.
The opposite is also true. People in power need Amitabh Bachchan to legitimize themselves or their government. I don’t believe for a second it’s a one-way street of altruism that flows towards Bachchan.
Anyhow, my point was this: Bachchan’s mother was a Sikh; his wife’s Bengali; his father made himself caste-less by renouncing his surname — a practice that he followed…there’s enough evidence to suggest that he wouldn’t be the first in line to carry a trident as a Hindu Mahabha rep. Political exigency is a different matter…
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January 26, 2016 at 1:41 AM
Happy Republic Day SS
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January 26, 2016 at 9:33 AM
thanks.. same to you..
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January 26, 2016 at 10:39 AM
Happy Republic Day everyone at SS.
Thank you Raghav .
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January 26, 2016 at 11:03 AM
Got this on Whatsapp group chat today which makes a lot of sense –
A huge board in the Jaipur cantonment reads:
” WANT TO DO SOMETHING FOR A SOLDIER, BE AN INDIAN WHO IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR.”
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January 26, 2016 at 6:09 AM
After putting on weight for Dangal, the next big challenge for superstar Aamir Khan is to shed those extra kilos and get into shape like wrestler Sushil Kumar, to shoot some parts of the film.
In the Nitesh Tiwari-helmed sports drama, Aamir portrays the role of a Haryana-based wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who taught wrestling to his daughters, Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat.
“I have put on weight for Dangal and have to reduce now. I had to put on 25 kg, and now that weight has to be shed, and I have to make my physique like Sushil Kumar’s — muscular,” Aamir told reporters at the press conference for the 10-year celebration of the film Rang De Basanti.
“The phase of being overweight and elderly is about to get over. The process has started and I have started losing weight. The biggest challenge is to come back into shape like how my body was in Ghajini or Dhoom 3,” he said.
The 50-year-old actor said the shooting for Dangal is almost 90 per cent over.
The upcoming biographical sports drama is scheduled to release on December 23.
http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/aamir-khan-to-shed-extra-kilos-for-dangal/article8154747.ece?homepage=true
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January 26, 2016 at 6:50 AM
Everyone should take it easy on the politics. specially if one can’t control one’s emotions.
Saket, I actually don’t have the chance these days to go through most of the political comments. If something jumps out or if a fight breaks out (!) I am then forced to take a look. Needless to say you should stay and not go anywhere! It’s not about friendship. In some of these cases I might know to a greater degree where someone is coming from and even if I disagree completely with their views (as is quite often the case). But even where I’ve found certain kinds of comments detestable (in many cases aimed at me) I’ve generally tried not to take let’s say ‘unusual’ steps. The problem is that either one doesn’t allow any political comment whatsoever (this is certainly a possible solution) or one ignores a great deal of stuff that isn’t completely personal. Because unfortunately the moment you get into political discussions many folks are simply incapable of ‘cool-headed’ discussions. One can still be a fierce critic of something or someone. The social media world that everyone increasingly inhabits also makes certain kinds of lingo par for the course. People think that by indulging in certain names they have made their case.
In any case to repeat something differently I might have made more allowances for ‘enemies’ than ‘friends’. Ha! I suppose I have a thicker skin in these matters. But yes stopping all political discussions altogether remains an option. In the meantime I certainly hope you won’t be going anywhere. I consider you a friend as well!
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January 26, 2016 at 12:26 PM
Not leaving and don’t intend to leave…I hardly post that regularly anyways. But I do like to read this blog every now and then.
I’ve probably said all that I had to say. I don’t mind political debates but I do wish people remain civil while putting forth their opinions.
I’ve had quite a few discussions with people who have contrary opinions (NyKavi, for instance) that never denigrated into name-calling and ad hominem attacks.
I guess that was the spirit behind this blog’s inception! I believe it used to be this way a few years ago…
I’m not that sensitive — call me a full-on retard, why just AAPtard — things don’t bother me that much, but there is a recurring pattern at work here.
Post someone else’s tweets; call out a few liberals and make fun of their ‘silence’ on topics of extreme importance to radicals on your side; rinse, repeat. In the process, feel good about one’s own deshbhakti, religious identity or whatever! This has been going on for quite a while now.
Call it cyber bullying or online intimidation or just pure banter (!), the end result is an environment of constant negativity…
Those are my 2 cents. I believe I’m not the only one who feels this way.
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January 26, 2016 at 1:32 PM
These are all fair points Saket..
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January 26, 2016 at 2:26 PM
How are they all fair points Satyam ?
So you can abuse Kher but not The Vulture ?
religious identity- what was the fake church attacks, the Bloated Dadri…when that failed then divide the hidus on caste lines now …about ?? The eleader went running Na ??
Yeh kahan ka fair hua ??
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January 26, 2016 at 5:12 PM
I think the point isn’t about having opinions on politics, even strong ones, but engaging constantly in a kind of political hysteria. Increasingly this has become the norm for people on all sides because of course they get their news and opinions on the same social media. The rest of the media isn’t too far behind either. For instance 99% of the political debates here are about what someone said about someone else on twitter. I’ve said this before as well but one easy way to avoid responsibility is to always shoot down the other side’s messenger. this never gets to the heart of the matter. On a wide variety of issues. You used the Kher example. The very Padma words that he dissed when the UPA was around he embraces when he gets it with a different government. He’s made such a 180 on this that he was laughing stock on the same social media. But ‘his’ side never really accepts this. And vice versa on others for the other side. And to keep repeating the same point for me, and not just on the question of politics, the test of credibility is whether one says the same things irrespective of who is in power. In fact it’s even more important to be harsher on one’s own side. Because when one supports something the responsibility on one is greater. To use a film analogy I cannot be against stupid comedies when Akshay does them and all for them when Abhishek does the same. If someone then attacks the latter for doing so I can keep changing the subject and make it about the other person but there should be a point where I accept the obvious. Otherwise one can energetically keep playing this game all day and those on the other side will as well. But has one made oneself more credible along the way? The final point I’d yet again repeat is that whatever one’s political commitments these ought not to be greater than one’s ethical ones. I don’t wish to recount the history of the last 18 months or more but precisely those who had all kinds of issues with previous dispensations ought to have the very same with the present government. Minimally this and in fact more on some other issues. Again these debates never come up. No matter who’s in power the same folks say the very same things and follow the very same (hysterical) line. And related to this is of course the whole question of mythology and make-believe stuff that people love peddling as ‘facts’. and what are really facts are converted into mythology. This is the far deeper problem and unfortunately social media and the like encourages all this quite a bit. One can keep living in the echo chamber.
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January 26, 2016 at 2:30 PM
I do not wish to prolong this and it’s really getting tiring to keep countering the lies now., but the following is just so full of crap that I had to respond-
” Post someone else’s tweets; call out a few liberals and make fun of their ‘silence’ on topics of extreme importance to radicals on your side; rinse, repeat. In the process, feel good about one’s own deshbhakti, religious identity or whatever! This has been going on for quite a while now. ”
Re.-I believe I’m not the only one who feels this way.
I can believe that, and likewise I am sure there are others who are repulsed by the duplicity of the so called liberals. They just don’t say it here. But I will keep saying till Satyam bans me from SS.
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January 26, 2016 at 4:04 PM
Satyam: you should have a continuous “misc” thread where people can hang out and dry out their political frustrations. Modi bhakt and the aptly named aaptards duke it out. That way the intellectuals who don’t want to dirty their fingers can avoid going to that thread.
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January 26, 2016 at 4:21 PM
Di – Your email keeps changing. SO your comments end up in moderation.
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January 26, 2016 at 5:53 PM
Re.- but precisely those who had all kinds of issues with previous dispensations ought to have the very same with the present government
Please see from 2.00 to 3.00 ( I wish they had the later scene where he explains the reason to Rakhi as well )…..LOL
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January 26, 2016 at 5:58 PM
when people with no malicious agenda like Arun Shourie, Shatrughan Sinha, Yashwant Sinha, Kirti Azad, Soli Sohorab jee,Tavleen Singh, even Shekhar Gupta, say something- people generally listen to them and take notice.
But when Aaptards peddle lies ( just like a fake video of General V.K. Singh), then- “Sataaaak”….lol
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January 26, 2016 at 11:21 AM
Watched Airlift on big screen. Good movie and sure shot success. For major part of the movie, its done well except some cliches here and there. Akshay is very good overall but I felt he didn’t get enough scope for performance and was just going with the flow in 2nd half. The 2nd half of the movie was bit underwhelming and doesn’t end on a very high note but overall this is one of the better Akshay movies and along the lines of Baby, Special 26, Holiday, etc. Its not a repeat watch movie but with positive WOM, it can get good audience and overall will be Akshay’s 1st 150 crores+ movie!
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January 26, 2016 at 11:26 AM
Also, watched Wazir couple of weeks back on its release. It was good but very slow at places. The overall script idea is good which VVC wanted to debut with Hollywood but the idea was made too simplified and convoluted and lost its strength. Amitabh was great as usual but didn’t like his look(hair, glasses etc) whereas Farhan was earnest but nothing to talk about. Some of the sequences were pretty slow between Farhan and Aditi but if you observe carefully, the small dialogues are different your average Hindi film. Overall, good 1 time watch but could have been easily better with a better director and little tighter script.
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January 26, 2016 at 11:27 AM
and before anyone ask.. No, I’m not planning to watch Kya Kool Hai Hum 3 and don’t expect its review from me! 😀
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January 26, 2016 at 1:20 PM
I also saw Wazir this weekend. I wasn’t too impressed, to be honest. It’s decent by Bollywood standards and that’s about it.
Bachchan’s fab in some scenes but ultimately he’s miscast here. Bachchan’s history, his signature comes in the way of Bachchan, the actor. It’s hard to reconcile him playing the role of a cripple who’s only capable of mental legwork (no pun intended!).
Bachchan can try to play a common man and the audience would still see him as superman. That’s the baggage he has to carry and that’s also the reason why a complete re-invention of his looks is necessary to even attempt such a venture. That didn’t happen here either; his looks served as a constant reminder of Bachchan, the superstar.
Still, it’s probably worth watching just to hear his dialogbaazi.
On the rest, was disappointed to see this bland film coming from Bejoy Nambiar. His first attempt — Shaitaan — was wonderful and had raised my hopes. Would have been better off watching Shaitaan again.
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January 26, 2016 at 4:24 PM
Aptly said “it’s decent by Bollywood standards and that’s about it.”
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January 26, 2016 at 2:16 PM
Master for whatever reasons you found it underwhelming, AIRLIFT is extraordinary for the same reason.
It is better than Rang De, Chak De and Bajrangi, etc.
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January 26, 2016 at 4:24 PM
I liked Airlift but was not impressed. I prefer Baby over this. Even S26 was better made.
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January 26, 2016 at 4:39 PM
“I liked Airlift but was not impressed. I prefer Baby over this. Even S26 was better made.”
Same for me as well. Baby > Airlift but Airlift will do more business.
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January 26, 2016 at 4:40 PM
“Master for whatever reasons you found it underwhelming, AIRLIFT is extraordinary for the same reason.
It is better than Rang De, Chak De and Bajrangi, etc.”
Looks like you forgot Lagaan in the list; maybe Mother India as well 🙂
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January 27, 2016 at 4:10 PM
Lagaan, Sarfarosh…I mean how dare we compare mega actor Akshay Kumar with a mere average one like Aamir. I mean look at Airlift’s historical never before seen one week collection of….85 CR.
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January 27, 2016 at 4:13 PM
I remember Naveen’s comment when Robot 2 was announced with Akshay and Rajni. ‘India’s first 1000 CR movie’?? LOL really made me chuckle. So If that will be India’s first 1000 CR then Rajni will have to bring 920 CR because Akshay will only bring his customary 80 (barring a Rowdy here or Airlift there)
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January 26, 2016 at 11:34 AM
MY REVIEW OF STEVE JOBS
Steve Jobs’ surprised me.
I hadn’t heard too many people talk about it. But there was no way I was going to miss it. It was written by Aoron Sarkin and directed by Danny Boyle. And Steve Jobs and Apple have been the entrepreneurial inspiration when we started our advertising agency – the ‘1984’ commercial for Macintosh being the creative benchmark one aspired to in one’s work.
So boy, was I surprised! What an energetic, inventive and engaging biopic Sorkin-Boyle combo has confected! ‘Social Network’ was refreshing in its approach. This took it a few steps further, thanks in no small measure due to two rivetting performances – Miachael Fassbender as Jobs and Kate Winslet as Joanna, his s near-constant companion, a marketing executive who describes herself at one point as Jobs’s “work wife.”
Read the rest at:http://utkaleidoscope.com/steve-jobs/
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January 26, 2016 at 2:14 PM
Backwaas movie hai Maamu.
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January 27, 2016 at 4:15 PM
Bakwaas movie….but had Akshay played Jobs then it would have gone from Bakwas to Kickass!
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January 26, 2016 at 2:22 PM
Sau choohey khaa kar, ab billi ko pooraney din yaad aa rahe hain.
First without any provocation insult an accomplished actor called Anupam Kher , call him Takla, call him a Modi bhakt….. basically reducing all of Kher’s acting skills to zero,
when called out – arrey bhai why so much negativity here ….
kya dramabazi hai yeh yaar !!
The leader (the Fu### Vulture) is the king of negativity, he has done NOTHING for Delhi except negativity. Kabhee Dadri, Kabhi Hyderabad, Kabhee well done Karan, kabhee I am proud of you Attornry Bharti. That is it.
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January 26, 2016 at 4:02 PM
thoda shaant ho jaiye. Modi hi rule kar rahe hai naa bhai abhi toh. Let them do whatever. Sonia called him worst names maut ka whatever and satyam too (pograms and analogies to his favorite dictators). Par chalo accha kam ho raha hai.
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January 26, 2016 at 2:42 PM
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January 26, 2016 at 6:15 PM
My thoughts on Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha:
*******************************************************
Imtiaz Ali has kinda grown on me. I wasn’t too keen on his Rockstar…absolutely hated Love AajKal but I remember liking Jab We Met quite a lot. In Tamasha he almost gets it right. I say almost because I think it’s impossible for him, at this stage in his career, to make a coherent film that also works on multiple levels. And that’s because he’s just too ambitious for his own good. The good news is his craft seems to be coping well with his ambition, even if it’s largely restricted to finer points of filmmaking.
There are things that he gets absolutely right in Tamasha: the surreal nature of a child’s imagination; the constant shifting of narrative from a dream-like meta-state to reality (the brilliant Wat Wat song picturization, for example) and the heart-breaking sadness associated with Ved’s (an on/off Ranbik Kapoor) internalization of beliefs…thrust upon him by society at large.
In the most poignant scene in the film, Ved tries to reason with Tara (Deepika, surprisingly impressive) that he was only ‘acting’ in Corsica and that what she sees right now, four years later, is the ‘real’ him. He actually believes in his heart that his bland, robotic existence defines him as a person… and appears to be guilt-ridden about his colourful childhood. This is the same devastating sadness that engulfs Kareena Kapoor in Jab We Met after her dreams tend to get crushed by reality.
In essence, Imtiaz Ali is repeating himself in Tamasha. There’s even a repeat of Jordan’s (Rockstar) self-destructive behaviour in Ved’s internal conflict, played out mostly for laughs. Come to think of it, even in a more upbeat Jab We Met Shahid Kapoor displays suicidal tendencies, so it’s a recurring theme of sorts.
Then there’s the love story. Imtiaz Ali isn’t just interested in a boy-girl relationship; he’s always charting a journey that spans at least a good few years. In Tamasha the journey lasts for about 7-8 years, although you wouldn’t be able to tell the time if you relied on the lead character’s physiognomy. That little annoying detail apart, Tamasha’s voyage is a good one.
In a reversal of roles, the relationship trip in Tamasha is a bit fake but Ved’s journey of self-realization is quite interesting to watch. There’s no single eureka moment that characterizes this but a series of events, mostly bizarre and funny, that lead to the final denouement. We see Ved being confused, angry, downright nasty, openly defiant one second, apologetic in the other, and given the confusion, even willing (begging) to ask a raconteur how his story would finally end. He eventually comes to terms with his inner self but not before going through a herculean struggle.
We don’t see the same agonising process at work in Jab We Met or Rockstar even though it’s roughly the same journey that’s traversed in the two films. What’s glossed over in his previous films is given due detail in Tamasha. Perhaps this is the primary reason why it feels more complete and fulfilling to watch.
Tamasha is by no means a perfect film though. The initial portion of the film, where Ved and Tara get to know each other, needs to be endured. Put in a different way, Imtiaz Ali’s vision, and in turn, his story is more compelling to watch when things go wrong…and not when they chug along nicely.
Then there’s also the subject of acting. I might be in a minority of one but Ranbir Kapoor’s performance in Tamasha has to be the most overrated in recent memory. He isn’t bad in the film; just inconsistent – good when he’s asked to portray the carefree Ved…but when the time comes to play key scenes depicting his inner conflict, the effort is clearly visible.
I’m reminded of two similar roles depicting inner conflict – Shahid Kapoor in Haider and Ranveer Singh in Lootera. Both these performances are vastly superior in terms of impact and this is where I believe Ranbir Kapoor needs to focus his energy in the future. He can survive on his natural charm, and that’s probably enough for now, but if he wishes to be taken seriously as an actor, he needs to do the heavy lifting without showing much effort.
Overall, Tamasha’s message may be reminiscent of 3 Idiots or Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan but the framing is quite novel. I liked the constant back and forth between dreams and reality in the film; the mature portrayal of Ved’s journey and especially scenes depicting Ved’s childhood in a picturesque Shimla. There are a few rough edges in the film and the boy-meets-girl story isn’t exactly the most original per se, but that’s par for the course in an Imtiaz Ali film.
What I’ve learnt is that these are not his primary concerns anyway; he’s mainly interested in giving form to small successes in people’s lives, which result in a deeper understanding of life – for them. That he doesn’t turn those moments into a grand celebration of human spirit – a la Bhansali – is also a plus. He’s the polar opposite of Bhansali in this sense; too matter of fact and apparently a fan of time travel (too many intersecting timelines in his stories). There is a nervous energy about Imtiaz Ali’s filmmaking that I think I’m beginning to get…and right now, I quite like it.
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January 26, 2016 at 7:58 PM
Airlift Looking To Go To Sunday Levels Again
Wednesday 27 January 2016 01.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Airlift looks set to go back to its Sunday levels on the holiday for Republic Day on Tuesday. The collections will be around 17 crore nett. The collections in mass circuits are at the same level and even a little higher at some centres and if this is repeated in the big city multiplexes then the total will be similar to Sunday. If the 17 crore nett materializes than it will be a huge 70% growth on the holiday,
This will take the business of the film close to 70 crore nett ensuring the highest first week collections for an Akshay Kumar starrer which at the moment is the 75 crore of Rowdy Rathore. The ticket rates will come down on Wednesday so it is actually more like a Monday for the film.
But with nearly 70 crore nett on the board already the film has chances to beat the first week total of Jai Ho (83.50 crore nett) which is the highest total recorded in Republic day week. Basically Airlift on course to beat last years Republic holiday release Baby (82 crore) in one week.
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/art_detail.php?articalid=1769#.VqgWHyorLIV
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January 26, 2016 at 8:02 PM
Tanqeed made a complete halt from posting BO post on their site after first weekend of Dilwale release, and never talked about BM.
None on SS posts Airlift bo report.
This is called SRK bug…. 😉
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January 27, 2016 at 2:59 AM
Quite surprised at its success. Seems to have somehow struck an audience nerve. Even though the story is fake, ie there was not just 1 guy calling the shots, and in fact IK Gujral (with full backing of GOI) majorly contributed towards Saddam granting safe passage immunity to all Indians there. Even with a crawling screenplay at times, some sort of patriotic fervor seems to have caught on.
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January 27, 2016 at 1:49 PM
In a way it doesn’t really matter whether the film is historically accurate to a great degree or not. Because it’s really about yet another moment in contemporary India’s (or more precisely ‘New India’s’) ‘superpower envy’. This is the Hollywoodized equivalent of a great power conducting a successful rescue operation (or what have you) in an ‘ex-colonized’ part of the world. This is the film’s true ideological referent. Now it might be gripping in narrative terms but films don’t strike a chord just on that basis. In any case this complex I’d call ‘superpower envy’ and which is reflected everywhere in the culture these days (or at least those avenues of culture that correspond to the same classes from movies to media.. for instance a number of important figures appear on news channels and say ‘I consider India a great power’.. this might or might not be true but if you have to assert it there’s minimally some doubt about it!). The ultimate analogy here can be drawn with Russia, a country that still hasn’t gotten over the loss of its superpower status. Putin promises to restore that ‘greatness’ and his actions no matter how impractical if not insane at points can be understood through that prism and his core audience feeds of this even if his popularity too is in some ways greatly exaggerated (that’s a different debate). Of course China is even closer to home! Getting back to India this in fact is the narrative of the present (not particularly new inasmuch as this formula can be applied with minimal changes to other countries and histories that have had right of center moments to one degree or the other) — a great civilization and culture that is ‘always already’ a superpower but that is constantly thwarted from actually becoming so in the present by a conspiracy of left-oriented parties, minorities etc who keep derailing that great national destiny. Such narratives also involve elements of purity and about ‘beginning of time’ claims (‘we’re the oldest culture’, ‘we taught everything to everyone else’, ‘we have nothing to learn from anyone’ etc), they are attempts to shake of questions of influence and colonization at the very moment that they’re most colonized or most influenced. And I’d repeat this — it is a formula. From Germany to Latin America to East Asia and so on I could keep offering examples that satisfy that same formula with few changes. Of course the consequences are different depending on all kinds of contexts but the theory of the case is quite similar. And so films like Airlift become possible in this scenario. Again it might be a very engaging narrative and so forth but that’s not really why it pleases so many people (much like Baby.. here you have the Indian agent operating on foreign soil with a certain impunity.. notice how many times Arnab Goswami raises the fantasy of an Indian operation on Pakistani soil, akin to the US Osama raid). The SRK moment of the 90s was about looking away from the ‘Old India’, ignoring or repressing that which didn’t suit this narrative. But some of the cultural chauvinism that has come to the fore since is already encoded in those films (something I and some others here have argued about for years.. the absence of all kinds of identities and classes in those worlds, the ‘Bollywood’ global assertion, a certain kind of Indian as global citizen which is to say completely in sync with the consumption economies of globalization.. in alliance with the diaspora everywhere, itself imagining an Indian culture in much more uniform ways.. a false nostalgia then totally connected with the aspirations of that New India.. certainly part of that same globalization continuum… this 90s cinema is not the very same thing but it it a worldview that lends itself very easily to the same.. not surprisingly the very same audience or the very same classes have consumed both equally eagerly..). We have just reached the next stage of that same dynamic. Now a certain nativism and militant politics comes to the forefront. From Bajirao to Airlift, the same narrative in different manifestations. And so I don’t find it surprising at all that Airlift has been received so well. As an aside the foreign policy initiatives of the present are also very much aligned with the present. From Modi’s numerous trips to the heavyweights who show up for Republic Day we have our own ‘strongman’ constantly photographed with the elite leaders of the world. Again all of these examples could be multiplied.
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January 28, 2016 at 12:05 AM
I would respectfully but fundamentally and vehemently disagree with the analysis laid forth by Satyam; in the sense, I would HATE to be a part of an age-old, inelastic spout engaged in by the self-anointed liberals. [Not that Satyam fits the bill; for I consider him to be quite capable of flexibility and BEYOND the text-book peddling of the encroachment of liberals versus the ‘right-wingers’ space.]
So if AIRLIFT – which is supposed to go on to become a ‘massive’ hit – is a product and its ‘success’ a multiplied indicator of the fact that one has a ‘masochistic’ and ‘militaristic’ Hindutva-pumped up blow-up-doll version of ‘history’ at the center, pray, WHAT does one attribute the success of ‘AMERICAN SNIPER’ to under the rule of Gandhi-incarnate – sorry, Nehru-incarnate—Obama? Now that movie, in which, Cooper’s character is COMPLETELY besotted [or brain-washed] to the extent of calling the Iraqis ‘savages’ – remember how the Natives were called ‘savages’— turned out to be one of the stunning box-office achievements of 2015 is quite unexplained when the center of power in Capitol Hill is Democratic! This is quite a conundrum isn’t it?
Or, how does one explain the massive success of GADAR – which obviously has its heart in the right place when it comes to cinematic liberties but is conveniently jingoistic in its tone—or SARFAROSH {when Aamir shared the stage with Vajpayee during the Kargil invasion!} during the days of Vajpayee [who according to the leftists, is an anti-thesis to Modi and a ‘true’ successor in spirit to the Nehruvian ideology.]
The point is, to attribute the success of AIRLIFT to a fertile assumption that the atmosphere is quite conducive to the success of ANY Hindutva-militaristic or chauvinistic, masochistic ideologies just because a party that is ‘attributed’— [conveniently or strategically ignoring the fact that the present PM doesn’t toe the line of previous ‘secular’ governments including the foot-note of saying, ‘Muslims’];– to be an embodiment of majority ‘aspirations’ is nothing but a text-book codification to indicate a hidden sinister agenda. [Never mind the fact that the present PM successfully repealed the bait of including the classification of ‘Muslims’ when asked by the likes of Rajat Kapoor whether ‘SAB KA SAATH’ included Muslims—aka ‘puppies’— also??}.
By the way, going by the analysis laid out, shouldn’t PHANTOM have been a super-duper hit? I mean, is there ANY film that puts into cinematic reality the ‘Hindu’ wet-dream who sends a Muslim to annihilate that country’s nefarious ‘foot-soldiers’ that laid siege to our country’s liver, Bombay? That’s a freaking wet-dream that any RSS or BJP ideologue or its off-shoots would have their masochism subscribed to! Whatever happened there? And that too during the 56” inch chest rule? Begs some answers doesn’t it?
Whether it’s the liberals or the right-wingers or north or south wingers, one needs to get off those TEXT-BOOK shenanigans printed during Hitler’s time and weigh in what modern democracies—their checks and balances—have to offer? Nussbaum and her ilk or Pankaj Mishra and his NYT or Washington Post’s articles are all quite good to peruse: But do they, in TODAY’S times and according to rapidly evolving dynamics, MAINTAIN HONESTY – and most importantly, ACCEPT and ADAPT— or continue to spout text-book regurgitated, award-baiting paragraphs of yore to stay in ‘touch’ is the question. Hopefully somebody will answer truthfully.
Anyway, I am still detoxing with the great Aamir Khan’s INTOLERANCE statement. I have made a resolve that I won’t be indulging in politics on this blog. And i intend to do so. But sometimes, some things have to be countered. I do resolve that this will be my last.
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January 28, 2016 at 2:01 AM
I did not use the word Hindtuva anywhere in my comment though. I could have, I often have in the past, but I did not in this context. Also I used the example of SRK’s films. Whatever else one may say about Johar or Aditya Chopra it’s unlikely that they’re Hindutva followers in any sense! I was referring to a larger and somewhat looser sense of cultural ‘values’ if you will, that too of a certain class of people that can be conveniently identified with New India. A line that runs from KKHH to Modi (and this is a point that will probably upset partisans of both!) is not a Hindutva axis but a larger cultural and ideological mindset that is in love with the idea of a much more assertive nation-state that is finally being ‘allowed’ to take its place among the great nations of the world. I have defined some of its other features so I won’t repeat all that here.
I also did not say that those films become hits for ideological reasons. Of course a film has to be entertaining and narratively compelling at some elementary level. I’ve often made this point in very many contexts. For instance (and this too I’ve said before) even those bourgeois classes that were ideologically offended by the Salim-Javed scripts to any degree still liked the films at some level because they found them absorbing in other ways. The iconic films of any age are always in sync with the ideological leanings of that age. This is not necessarily one thing though. In other words you can have different features that sometimes overlap or with a common thread running through them. This is also an age where PK or YJHD or CE did very well. Obviously these aren’t films like Airlift or Bajirao. So there isn’t only one audience at any given point or more precisely the ideological concerns can be a more complicated set. For instance you could be socially liberal and hawkish on national security issues and be in the BJP camp for that reason, you could be a proper Hindutva ideologue and be part of the same group with little interest in many New Indian concerns, domestically or internationally, you could simply be with them for the promise of technocratic solutions. There could then be films speaking to some or all of these concerns. One doesn’t have to agree with everything in a film, one simply has to be comfortable in its basic universe. I’ve similarly made the point several times about the masala of the present age which ideologically is worlds removed from that of the 70s even if it reveals that genealogy. Why? because there are no real stakes in this masala. It is very superficial on that score. And there could not be because the multiplex (again New Indian) classes are not animated by those ideological battles of the 70s anymore. In this sense Airlift and the average Salman Khan masala success still refer to the same world. All of this is true for any age.
Since you mentioned Obama there have been scores of pieces on TV shows and other aspects of culture that have made reference to the ‘age of Obama’. Or certain kinds of entertainment that make more sense because they are symptoms of the ‘age of Obama’. This doesn’t mean of course that you cannot have nationalistic jingoistic films but even those films more often than not tend to be calibrated a bit differently. At least if they have any hope of becoming truly monster successes, absolutely or relative to genre. But even where there is a film like american Sniper, isn’t that sort of resistance also symptomatic of the same Obama age? We have seen how that resistance has played itself out in other avenues. Trump is of course the classic symbol of this resistance. In other words even the more nationalistic or jingoistic effort might be so somewhat differently in this age. Much as in India an otherwise humanistic subject like Bajrangi is completely in keeping with the temper of the age. Exactly the same subject would have been handled very differently in the 70s. To start with its understanding of various identities would have been configured in radically different ways.
And finally (this gets to the Phantom point) any film or TV show or what have you still has to be entertaining at some basic level. It also has to be plausible in the same sense. Saif is just not convincing doing films like Phantom in the way Akshay is. Beyond this Phantom is obviously not as absorbing as Baby or Airlift (haven’t seen it yet but this is not too hard to believe). whatever your ideological concerns you’re still out there to enjoy the film! So there’s really no contradiction in also asserting this most basic of claims.
One more thing about my original point. I don’t see ‘superpower envy’ as I define it as something commendable. It’s one thing for a nation to be aspirational but the thing I’m describing always has an element of fantasy about it. And I worry when entire classes of people subscribe to such fantasies because the results over the long run are often unfortunate. Even in the country like the US, still of course a superpower, notice how so many debates are about restoring the past greatness of the country. Which more or less means a certain post WWII order. The problem is: that world ain’t coming back! The US is by any stretch a great power but just not and dominant at as many levels as it used to be. Because the world is just different now. If people vote for leaders who give them this more complicated version of the present the country can move in one direction. However if they keep buying this fantasy of America being the way it used to be in the 50s then lots of political decisions are taken based on that same fantasy and which then lead to again unfortunate consequences. Hubris is the problem of great or even very significant nations, not inconsequential ones. India is of course a consequential nation but in the present it is nowhere close to the commanding heights it has enjoyed as a political power and as a civilization and certain other points of its history. It can get there once more but not by simply leapfrogging over inconvenient realities. nor can it get there by being the worst reader of its own history. In the age of globalization people often don’t have much time for history or the lessons one can learn from the same. But I know of no nation, none whatsoever, anywhere at any point in the historical record, that became great by simply engaging in fantasy or that became so by denying important historical realities relating to its own past. Yes every nation is built on mythology to one degree or another but certain kinds are more enabling than others. I’m just expanding on the point. I don’t mean to suggest that Airlift is about all of this stuff! I was just trying to identify a certain ether in which Airlift becomes possible. But not only this film.
By the way I’m quite pleased with the success of Airlift. That’s a different discussion!
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January 28, 2016 at 2:37 AM
I think playing with contemporary history wil have repercussions as there is recorded history unlike something 600 years back or more. One loses credibility. It is the director who should take the flak than the actor. I am waiting for Neerja how much fiction they have included? Mercifully it is a one woman mission. And the recent example is Gulabi Gang of Madhuri Dixit.
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January 28, 2016 at 2:38 AM
Gnadhi was acclaimed universally because it stuck to facts and also somewhat entertaining.
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January 28, 2016 at 10:58 AM
Superb comment AnJo.. maza aa gaya.
A film needs much more than just one ingredient to be accepted.
It’s a very simplistic exercise to attribute / reduce a success or failure of a film to one point.
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January 28, 2016 at 12:46 PM
Fortunately I didn’t reduce it to that simplistic exercise! I’m also not saying anything different than I have for years for all sorts of films in the present and from the past. In fact one of my principal interests has always been to try and understand a film as symptom of a wider culture or wider socio-political configuration. Not that folks on the other side don’t do this. Why did Haider cause such heartburn?! Whether one agrees or disagrees with the politics of the film it is clearly indexed to a certain history. Similarly Airlift or Bajirao also deal with historical archives. Of course the ideological examination of films can hardly be limited to such explicit exercises but it’s useful to accept that people are all for ideological readings when it’s about issues they care about. Why was there an attempt to reduce Haider merely to its politics? What happened to all the other ingredients then?! I know of course you (Rocky) didn’t mind the film after watching it (this too makes my point from those two larger comments) but making a larger statement.
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January 28, 2016 at 1:06 PM
Here is what actually happened @ Airlift
Click to access ORAL%20HISTORY.pdf
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January 28, 2016 at 1:07 PM
Vikas Swarup Verified account
@MEAIndia .@AirliftFilm: Great entertainment but rather short on facts 🙂 Here’s our take
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January 26, 2016 at 10:01 PM
Not good to see two of my fav’s fighting (Saket and Rocky Bhai).
U guys r both bigger than this, please let it go.
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January 27, 2016 at 12:29 PM
Ravi! It’s been a long time…hope you are well!
I’ve got nothing against Rocky or anyone else. Don’t wish to sound like a mahatma or anything but it’s one specific behavior I’ve highlighted that needs to be addressed.
Other than that, it’s a place to discuss movies! Can’t take ourselves too seriously when the subject is discussing cinema, can we?!
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January 28, 2016 at 10:35 AM
Ravi Bhai. long time….Chalo let it go kar diya !! Your command is way bigger.
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January 26, 2016 at 11:21 PM
“I’m reminded of two similar roles depicting inner conflict – Shahid Kapoor in Haider and Ranveer Singh in Lootera”
Atleast there is someone who shares my thought is these 3 actors. Though i still rate Ranveer (Lootera) over Shahid (Haider) because in Haider Shahid sometime goes over the top but in Lootera Ranveer imotes through expressions. No dilouges, No Drametic music. As far as Ranbir is concerned for me Rocket singh-Sales men of the year is still his best for me.
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January 26, 2016 at 11:27 PM
Too much of political discussion on a filmy blog, guess, politics spoils everything.
Coming to movies, I have not seen Airlift bit is planning to seeing its glowing reviews. In between, I have seen BM in 800 MB quality, so, couldn’t quite enjoy lavish sets. Historical movies are not my cup of tea, but, BM kept me hooked through out the length and that’s where it succeed. All three main leads were quite good in their roles but I find Tanvi Azmi better than those in her negative role. Milind Soman and Aditya Panholi were wasted. Overall, a good enjoyable movie.
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January 27, 2016 at 1:58 AM
might as well not watch BM if you are watching on a camrip..thats like putting a photocopy of mona lisa painting in your drawing room.
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January 27, 2016 at 12:35 PM
Hi Rajesh, I kinda agree with you on Bajirao…
I’m not a fan of historicals myself but this is certainly a good film. Though I wouldn’t put it above Tamasha. Beyond the grand spectacle and Ranveer Singh’s performance, don’t think there’s much to admire.
I’d easily swap Tamasha with Bajirao when it comes to lead performances though.
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January 28, 2016 at 4:51 AM
Hi Saket, I also think that movie has not much to offer in terms of story telling but, for me, if I can sit through a film without getting bored, that film is good for me.
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January 26, 2016 at 11:28 PM
http://www.mid-day.com/photos/oops-have-you-noticed-these-bloopers-in-bollywood-films/9731/106603
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January 27, 2016 at 12:36 AM
http://www.india-forums.com/bollywood/hot-n-happening/60918-patriotism-ki-log-sirf-baat-karte-hai-akshay-kumar.htm
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January 27, 2016 at 1:03 AM
http://www.firstpost.com/india/gaali-for-taali-many-contradictions-of-the-life-and-tolerant-times-of-padma-bhushan-anupam-kher-2599068.html
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January 27, 2016 at 2:59 AM
Airlift had huge growth of 70% on Tuesday due to the holiday for Republic day. The film had its best day at many centres though centres where it had a strong weekend were a little less than the Sunday. The first five day business is as follows.
Friday – 11,00,00,000
Saturday – 14,50,00,000
Sunday – 17,00,00,000
Monday – 10,00,00,000
Tuesday – 17,00,00,000
TOTAL – 69,25,00,000
The film will easily cross 80 crore nett for the week with a likely total of 82-84 crore nett depending on where the Wednesday total comes in.
Boxofficeindia
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January 27, 2016 at 10:35 PM
wow
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January 27, 2016 at 3:15 AM
Aamir Khan and the end of politically-aware Bollywood
My Name is Khan and India is so tolerant: Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan retracted their statements in the face of a tsunami of protests.
Ask us what we are wearing at the next award function. Question us about how we made those six-pack abs, or eight-packs as the case may be. We will even answer why Bollywood films don’t make to Oscars.
But don’t, just please don’t, ask us about intolerance, or eating beef in India, or anything which is even remotely political. For that makes us issue statements which are true reflection of our personal beliefs.
Our statements are then linked to approaching polls, or polls that just went by. They then take our posters and give them a good thrashing in the streets. They sometimes blacken our faces on the posters, or both. The more inventive ones order our effigies and set them afire.
They hold protests which may attract five people but will get the attention of millions when broadcast on national television. Fringe political leaders start offering us one-way tickets to countries which regularly make to world’s top 10 least travelled countries.
Read: My comments on intolerance affected Dilwale collections, says Shah Rukh Khan
Do they wait to consider that we are as much of Indians as they are? The fact is as important to them as written and bound scripts in Bollywood.
Telling them My name is Khan and I am an Indian will hardly cut any ice. We take a deep breath and sing under our breath, ‘Haters gonna hate’.
But then they start hitting us where it hurts the most. They picket our films and attack the theatres showing them. They attack brands we endorse and they take our face away from campaigns for we are not incredible enough anymore.
We can take criticism; we cannot take box office losses. We may be the stars of the film but it is a team effort of everyone from director, scriptwriter, cameraman, crew, extras… everyone. When a film is affected, it hits everybody.
The tag of being anti-national is even harder to digest.
They also remind us that any country which made PK and My Name is Khan superhits cannot be intolerant. That makes us wonder about the cases filed against the film or the protests; you think that was the doing of aliens?
And by aliens we mean nude men and little green beings. We don’t mean people from across the border – either legal or illegal — we have no views on them.
In the meanwhile, Dilwale is taking bigger losses than its weak script and terrible direction will justify. After all, this is the country that made Happy New Year and Bodyguard superhits.
All this makes us tie ourselves in knots. We start by saying that India is intolerant and we follow it up with an explainer of why we said what we said. Then we say we never said it.
Since the vitriol is still flowing, we blame it all on media – everybody’s favourite flogging horse (very shrewd move that, a lot like politicians. We are learning all the time). We also say that we respect the people and every single gaali that they gave us (social media is very judgmental; you got to keep social media happy).
It has got so convoluted by this time that Baba Ramdev would have trouble to get into this position. Even we are not sure what we said, why we said it and do we still mean it.
At that point, we start talking about our films, and films alone. Unfortunately, that’s what the judge and jury on Twitter is doing too – they are calling it #BoycottDangal.
So, here it is one more time: I am 50, I am a well respected star of my country with millions of followers but I will only talk about my work, my diet, my clothes, my next item number, my next 20-year-old heroine, my house, my car…
And political issues, you ask? Let us leave that to the politicians, they are doing such a good job of it in #IndiaSoTolerant.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/aamir-khan-and-the-end-of-politically-aware-bollywood/story-nEkMmjCh5uWjdZkZQEz33N.html
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January 27, 2016 at 3:16 AM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/aamir-khan-and-the-end-of-politically-aware-bollywood/story-nEkMmjCh5uWjdZkZQEz33N.html
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January 27, 2016 at 4:21 AM
9th Dec- release date
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January 27, 2016 at 5:11 AM
At a recent press conference, superstar Aamir Khan surprised everyone with an announcement he made. The ‘PK’ star indicated that a sequel to his blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’ is likely to be made. “Raju (Rajkumar Hirani) some time ago mentioned that he has found a story for ‘3 Idiots’ (sequel), so maybe we will reunite soon. Don’t make it as a breaking news,” Aamir told reporters here at a press conference on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of ‘Rang De Basanti’. The Rajkumar Hirani-directed movie of 2009 also starred Sharman Joshi, R Madhavan and Kareena Kapoor.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/3-Idiots-sequel-on-the-cards/photostory/50737186.cms
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January 27, 2016 at 5:31 AM
Ranjit Katyal did not Airlift me from Kuwait
Viju Cherian, Hindustan Times | Updated: Jan 26, 2016 20:35 IST
I was airlifted from Kuwait by the Indian government after the Saddam Hussein invasion in 1990, and my recollection of an eventful six weeks is nothing like the portrayal in the Akshay Kumar-starrer Airlift currently playing to full houses.
The movie shows the Indian government as callous and incompetent. In my experience, nothing could be further from the truth; in fact, India won the everlasting gratitude of an impressionable kid by facilitating the evacuation, pulling strings with Saddam. To that extent, the patriotic chest-beating the film inspires on Gantantra Diwas is understandable; the problem is that the protagonist, businessman Ranjit Katyal, gets all the credit.
I went to see Airlift expecting to relive an important and exciting incident in my life. After all, when then Iraq President Saddam Hussein decided to flex his muscles, I was a school-going kid in Kuwait. For weeks after the invasion my family and I lived in a country that didn’t have a functioning government and where Iraqi teenagers in army fatigues roamed the streets with machine guns.
We were packed into buses that snaked through desert roads and stayed in refugee camps in a ‘No-Man’s Land’ – a stretch of desert between Iraq and Jordan. In Airlift, I hoped to relate to such scenes and say ‘Yes, I remember this incident’ or ‘This is what we went through’. But, now, after surviving the movie, I understand the importance of the disclaimer: ‘All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental’.
Kumar plays Katyal, who, after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait purportedly helps the safe passage about 1.70 lakh Indians (plus a Kuwaiti and her daughter) from Kuwait to Mumbai (then Bombay) via Iraq and Jordan. Kumar’s character, the filmmakers acknowledge, is inspired by the lives of two Indian businessmen (Sunny Mathews and HS Vedi) who played an instrumental role in the evacuation.
Director Raja Krishna Menon’s depiction of Katyal being this Moses-like figure leading all Indians through the desert in 10 buses and 15 cars is just one of the many liberties he has taken with facts. There is no way 1.70 lakh Indians could have been pulled out of Kuwait at one go. The evacuation took place over weeks and I remember friends leaving before and after I left Kuwait. Going by some estimates the figure of 1.70 lakh Indians is also exaggerated — reports peg the number at around 1.20 lakh.
Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. It was a Thursday and a school holiday – we didn’t know it then, but that was effectively the end of the school year. We could no longer cycle through the empty parking lots and souks, nor play football in the ground adjacent to our apartment. We also stopped going to the beach – news had spread that Saddam’s boys had mined the beaches. But life for the elders in the family was as usual: They drove cars and went to work. Thanks to good India-Iraq ties, cars driven by Indians were not stopped – unless it was a top-end one with serious bling on it that caught the fancy of an Iraqi child soldier. There was a shortage of food, but here again, Indians were allowed to travel and buy food from wherever they could find it.
On September 19 or 20 we left Kuwait on a bus to Basrah in Iraq, where we halted for a few hours at night. From there we went to Baghdad where we changed buses. Our next halt was for a night in a camp in the middle of the desert. A sandstorm hit the camp that night, covering everything in its path, including tents and buses, under layers of sand. The following morning we went to the ‘No-Man’s Land’ and for the next 10 days, tent number A-87 was home. The United Nations provided us sheets and blankets (nights in the desert can get very cold). The UN also distributed food from trucks and the Red Cross/Red Crescent set up medical tents. From there we left for Amman and it was after spending a day in the queue that we got tickets for Mumbai.
The trouble I have with Airlift is not so much that the evacuation story it has told is different from mine, but that in its bending of facts, it is recreating an incident to its convenience. In other words, the filmmakers are ‘creating history’. In its dramatisation of events to suit the grammar of a screenplay certain incidents have been magnified and New Delhi has been unjustly vilified.
Airlift cunningly taps into the general resentment towards Indian politicians and bureaucrats. It is dismissive of New Delhi’s efforts to ensure the safe passage of Indians from Kuwait. But the fact remains that the then foreign minister IK Gujral met Saddam himself to negotiate the rescue, even if he was broadly panned for his pains – a photograph showing the two in an embrace quickly became infamous.
A film like Airlift is an example of what happens when governments fail to communicate their achievements and leave filmmakers to be the sole shapers of public opinion around a dramatic historic event.
However, in a nation where it is increasingly becoming necessary to wear your patriotism on your sleeve, Airlift has the right dose of desbhakti-inducing scenes and flag waving to excite you. It’s a pity about the details.
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January 27, 2016 at 5:36 AM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/ranjit-katyal-did-not-airlift-me-from-kuwait/story-nUSJZio8HVjjVLbG6XW16O.html?utm_source=LI&utm_medium=also-read
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January 27, 2016 at 7:39 AM
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January 27, 2016 at 7:44 AM
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/crazy-coincidence-is-the-cast-of-zindagi-na-milegi-dobara-jinxed/16900162
Crazy Coincidence! Is the cast of ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ jinxed?
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January 27, 2016 at 2:51 PM
saw Airlift and i liked it to be a decent watch. However, the government was shown as inept and doing nothing is somewhat baffling and then i researched it a bit more about IK Gujral’s role working with the Iraqis to get the Indians out. Not sure why they didnt show it and just brought it all upon one man.
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January 27, 2016 at 4:08 PM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/1985-Air-India-Kanishka-airliner-bombing-convict-Inderjit-Singh-Reyat-released-from-Canadian-prison/articleshow/50748846.cms
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January 27, 2016 at 9:09 PM
I recently watched Chak De India, and feel slightly embarrassed about going overboard with my praise at that point. Of course, I still find it an enjoyable film, but its politics is problematic as I felt this time.
In the light of the Modi govt, and its hegemonic approach towards states; attempting to erase cultural diversity and assert a single stamp of Hindutva, CDI’s constant refrain about ‘being Indian first’ and a dismissal of ethnic/regional identity seemed deeply worrying to me. Perhaps the politics of the film belong to a complacent time, when no one worried about states getting bullied and disregarded. But in its current context, with the BJP at the helm, strong states and strong state identities seem not just a need, but essential for the country’s survival.
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January 28, 2016 at 5:07 AM
Sandy – any thoughts on OSO? I remember you loved that on first viewing too 🙂
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January 28, 2016 at 12:06 PM
WOW,
Coming soon – Modi and the rising patriotic feelings amongst Indians are to be to blamed for the Katrina- Ranbir split !!!
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January 28, 2016 at 1:34 AM
Airlift continued its good run on Thursday as it grossed around 5.75 crore nett. Although it is a big drop from the previous day which was a big national day but this can always happen with a film having a huge ratio of business from multiplexes. The film had weekday ticket rates at multiplexes for the first time after five days so its likely to tell in collections especially for a multiplex film. The drop is still less than 50% from day one despite it being a Wednesday so the total is still very good.
The film has now grossed around 75 crore nett in six days will finish the week with an excellent 80 crore nett plus total.
The film will face competition from Mastizaade on Friday which could take an opening but if the film does not have what its audiences is expecting from it, the collections will fall fast and that will leave Airlift as main film again over the weekend
Boxofficeindia
Is it Thursday figures or Wednesdfay figures?
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January 28, 2016 at 1:43 AM
Thursday figures will come tomorrow after taking all the shows into consideration.
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January 28, 2016 at 7:56 AM
I think I changed my stance on oso quickly enough. If it is possible for some films to grow on you then the opposite holds true as well.
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January 28, 2016 at 5:16 AM
Aditya Chowksey @AChowksey 4h4 hours ago
#Airlift CINEPLUS JAGDALPUR : WED : 28750/-, OCCUPANCY 85%
A SUPERB NUMBER CONSIDEREING THAT TUESDAY WAS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
Aditya Chowksey @AChowksey 5h5 hours ago
#Airlift C.I. WED INOX 1 : 117243, INOX 2 : 178622, VELOCITY : 54968, INOX 3 : 116014, CARNIVAL : 1174611, M. BIG : 75238
Aditya Chowksey @AChowksey 5h5 hours ago
#Airlift C.I. WED : 19 LAC APPROX.
#KyaaKoolHainHum3 C.I. WED : 7 LAC APPROX.
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January 28, 2016 at 2:51 AM
Kohli’s Pakistani fan faces 10-year jail for hoisting tri-colour.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/off-the-field/Kohlis-Pakistani-fan-faces-10-year-jail-for-hoisting-tri-colour/articleshow/50752334.cms
All cant be as lucky as Adnan Sami.
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January 28, 2016 at 6:35 AM
Can Airlift Be A Record Grosser For Akshay Kumar And Beat The Lifetime Total Of Rowdy Rathore?
Thursday 28 January 2015 11.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Q. There are so many small films releasing in February when early April is free, can’t the industry space releases out so some of these films get noticed?
Ans. It has nothing to do with the industry, its up to each producer or studio. Each chooses date which they think is best but you are right a film with some chance in long run like Tere Bin Laden which has some brand value and decent trailer would be better off in early April as can a week or two’s run if the content works. In crowded period it may get its full share of the audience.
G. Banerji
Q.Can Airlift be a record grosser for Akshay Kumar and beat the lifetime total of Rowdy Rathore?
Ans. Chances are there but won’t be easy and if it does it will just about go past.
A. Sharma
Q. Is Airlift a bigger hit than Bajrangi Bhaijaan on return on investment and even Tanu Weds Manu Returns which was highest ROI last year as it should do 150 crore and is just 30 crore budget as Akshay Kumar did not take pay as he is producer?
Ans. Salman Khan was also producer of Bajrangi Bhaijaan as was Shahrukh Khan in Dilwale and like that these films budget also becomes much less. The budget is lower than a Brothers but not that low. Its Akshay Kumar’s biggest hit since Rowdy Rathore. Not comparable with Bajrangi Bhaijaan but yes similar to Tanu weds Manu Returns if it does a similar number.
M. Brar
Q. You have a film like Dishoom in top five for 2016 but not Shivaay which is Diwali release and content film rather than normal commercial film?
Ans. The list is based on real value opening so not based on holiday release as that is advantage. It list has nothing do with content as that is known only after release not before.
Hitesh S.
http://boxofficeindia.com/art_detail.php?articalid=1772#.Vqn8Y3N96hd
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January 28, 2016 at 6:56 AM
Rishi Kapoor is one of the few fearless Bollywood celebs who speak their heart out on social networking sites without batting an eyelid. The actor recently mocked Parineeti Chopra who won a Style Icon Of The Year award. During an interview, Rishi expressed his disbelief on Parineeti Chopra being awarded for her weight loss, reported DNA. He even asked, “Can someone please give me an award for gaining weight?”. Criticising the popular awards, the unstoppable actor said that he uses award trophies as doorstops in his home, as film awards have become truly tragic and shameless.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/Rishi-Kapoor-mocks-Parineeti-Chopra-on-her-award-win/photostory/50757176.cms
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January 28, 2016 at 8:03 AM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/pranab-i-know-of-the-consequences-indira-on-storming-golden-temple/story-FqXs5hEtNAFuhCQWH5fg6I.html
Excerpts
It is easy to say that the military action could have. been avoided. However, nobody really knows if any other option would have worked. Such decisions are always taken based on the conditions prevailing at that time. The situation in Punjab was abnormal. Urgent action was needed to put an end to the indiscriminate killings, the misuse of religious sites for terrorist activities and all efforts to break up the Indian union. Intelligence officials and the army both expressed confidence that they would be able to neutralize the militants in the Golden Temple complex without much difficulty. No one anticipated the protracted resistance.
While the Punjab situation was an aberration and a crisis of this nature is unlikely to recur, the lesson for future generations is that fissiparous tendencies have to be resisted at any cost. The Punjab crisis provided external elements an opportunity to take advantage of the disunity within India and sow the seeds of anarchy. Its wounds took a long time to heal and, even today, residual incidents do occur from time to time.
On 3 June, the Indian army entered the Golden Temple in a military operation codenamed Operation Blue Star.
Some believe that this course of action could have been avoided. But the reality that confronted the government at that time was that Bhindranwale and his followers had occupied and taken control of the Golden Temple, disregarding its sanctity. Extremists had turned it into a fortress and a base for operations aimed at the separation of Punjab from India. While some of us were worried about the. reaction of the Sikh community and whether drastic action would be counterproductive, leading to a flaring-up of the communal tension, a final decision to storm the Golden Temple was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA). Its members at that time were the Prime Minister, Home Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, R Venkatraman (having taken over as Defence Minister), Energy Minister P. Shiv Shankar and I. That day, no officials were present at the CCPA meet.
I still vividly recall Mrs Gandhi telling me, ‘Pranab, I know of the consequences.’ She understood the situation well and was clear that there was no other option. Aware that her own life was at risk, she took a conscious decision to go ahead in the best interest of the nation.
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January 28, 2016 at 8:44 AM
Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Ritika Singh at Saala Khadoos screening in Delhi – See more at: http://indianexpress.com/photos/entertainment-gallery/aamir-khan-madhavan-ritika-singh-saala-khadoos-screening-delhi/4/#sthash.flMTASDh.dpuf
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January 28, 2016 at 2:43 PM
OT,
Nice story
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January 28, 2016 at 8:53 PM
i thought i will miss this year animation short and live action movies. But wow to my surprise, just like everyyear i will be able to watch 2016 Oscar Nominated Shorts – Animated, Nominated Shorts – Live Action, Documentary Shorts. All of these are released.
Also,foreign category nominated theeb and Mustang are aslo released.
Covering all of these movies this saturday 🙂
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January 28, 2016 at 10:12 PM
New Delhi: Akshay Kumar’s film “Airlift” – based on the record evacuation of Indians after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq – has left diplomats seething over their portrayal.
While a section of officials posted at the embassies in Kuwait and Baghdad at the time believe they have been projected as villains, KP Fabian, then joint secretary MEA in charge of Gulf, however, told NDTV the Government of India “could have done a lot better”.
The film, written and directed by Raja Menon, shows diplomats posted in Kuwait leaving at the first sign of trouble. As the embassy shut down, it fell upon a band of local businessmen, including Akshay Kumar, to organise a refugee camp, negotiate with the Iraqis and return home in the biggest civilian evacuation in aviation history involving 1.7 lakh Indians.
Recalling on NDTV’s show Agenda how an Indian delegation to Kuwait reached 12 days later, when the Indian community was very angry, Mr Fabian said then foreign minister IK Gujral, who had led the delegation, was advised by the Ambassador not to speak to the locals.
He also recalled that he had to tell Mr Gujral that the selection of those to be evacuated had to be fair and they could not be all from the minister’s home state, Punjab.
A still from Airlift, based on the evacuation of Indians after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup, however, tweeted saying Airlift was “great entertainment but rather short on facts”. “We in MEA consider protection of Indians abroad of foremost importance. This film has also taken artistic liberties in the depiction of the events that happened,” he said.
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/why-diplomats-officials-hate-akshay-kumars-airlift-1270942?utm_source=ndtv&utm_medium=top-stories-widget&utm_campaign=story-2-http%3a%2f%2fwww.ndtv.com%2findia-news%2fwhy-diplomats-officials-hate-akshay-kumars-airlift-1270942
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January 29, 2016 at 2:10 AM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hema-Malini-given-2000-square-metre-plot-in-Oshiwara-in-Andheri-for-just-Rs-70000/articleshow/50767914.cms
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January 29, 2016 at 2:13 AM
[edited]
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January 29, 2016 at 2:16 AM
[edited]
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January 29, 2016 at 2:40 AM
http://www.rediff.com/movies/interview/i-cant-entertain-people-like-hrithik-roshan/20160129.htm
Excerpts
Why don’t you do more Hindi movies?
I don’t get the kind of offers that I should because I am a very limited actor. And I can’t accept every offer that comes my way.
What do you mean by limited actor?
I can’t dance. I can’t entertain people like Hrithik Roshan.
For me, my realism has stood me over 15 years, so the kind of films that I have done has garnered enough respect for me to be able to survive the industry.
What are you doing next?
I have no offers. I didn’t have the time to read or commit to any other project.
Is there any film you wished you had done?
Baahubali.
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