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Chakravyuh Box Office Prediction

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Direction: Prakash Jha

Producers: Prakash Jha Productions and Eros International

Cast: Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Manoj Bajpayee, Om Puri, Esha Gupta, Anjali Patil

Writers: Prakash Jha, Anjum Rajabali and Sagar Pandya

Music: Salim-Sulaiman, Vijay Verma, Sanjay Shandilya, Shantanu Moitra and Aadesh Shrivastav

Genre: Drama

Release Date: October 24, 2012

Analysis:

Star Value: Although Chakravyuh has a well known, ensemble cast of Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Manoj Bajpayee and Om Puri, none of them are crowd pullers. Hence, the star value for the movie is decent. But it won’t be an overstatement to say that director Prakash Jha’s name also adds to the star value.

Hype: The promos of the movie have managed to create some excitement for the movie. The makers have also promoted the film well. It has also had its share of controversies due to the song ‘Mehangai’. But despite this, there isn’t much hype or excitement for the movie.

Music: The ‘Mehangai’ song has managed to make heads turn due to trouble it faced from the Censor Board. No other song from the movie is known much. One should also mention that music doesn’t have much scope in such movies.

Prediction:

Due to the low hype and excitement, Chakravyuh will at the most only get a decent opening at the box opening, which is surely disappointing considering it’s a hardcore issue based film by Prakash Jha. Due to this, it is very vital for the movie to super impress at the onset. Its advantage is that it has a long weekend to exploit coupled with an appeal for both masses and classes. The bad thing – it will face tough opposition from Rush, which is releasing alongside, and Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year, which will not even be a week old when Chakravyuh releases.

Picture Courtesy – Chakravyuh Facebook page

His message of love shall live forever…

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There comes a time in everyone’s life when he or she is unable to react at something. I am facing that situation ever since I heard the news of the passing away of Shri Yash Chopra, one of the greatest filmmakers and pillars of Indian film industry. The feeling is more profound because deep inside everybody knows there can be no replacement for such a legend! Even those who aren’t much into films are influenced by his films at some point in their lives since the feeling of love is present in all of us.

But I will never label him as ‘King Of Romance’ like most of us. That title doesn’t do justice to his achievement. Looking at his overall career, most of his successful films haven’t been love stories. Examples – Dhool Ka Phool, Dharmputra, Waqt, Daag, Deewar, Trishul, Kala Patthar, Darr, etc.

When I associate him with love, it purely means the love of human association (instead of just the love between the hero and heroine) which he brought alive on screen so successfully. The love between a son and a mother in Deewar and Trishul, the love among a family in Waqt and most importantly, the love that defines humanity to be the only religion in Dhool Ka Phool and Dharmputra.

With his death, the world has not only lost a great filmmaker but also someone who had pulled up his socks to spread love and humanity, something which is the need of the hour.

May his soul Rest In Peace and may his family, friends and we, the well-wishers, garner the strength to overcome this tragedy and be able to continue his mission of spreading love.

Have a look at Yashji’s last interview with Shah Rukh Khan: –

This is the above mentioned scene from Dharmputra: –

Picture Courtesy – Rediff

Making of a Bhojpuri movie

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Even a layman (someone who is not exposed to filmmaking) would know the basic process of making a movie – writing the script, shooting and lastly, post production. But recently when I got a firsthand report on the making of a Bhojpuri movie, I was stunned to say the least. I am eager to share this as I am sure most of you would react in a similar way.

Father of my friend’s friend is a Bhojpuri movie producer. Last year, he co-produced a Bhojpuri film along with Bollywood’s one-time star, who also played the central character in it. Since the son of the producer is a close friend of my friend, the latter got to know about the making of that film. Stunned and bewildered, my friend excitedly narrated their movie-making process to me. It is as follows: –

  • First and foremost, they signed the leading lady and few other actors. Since one of the producers was playing the main lead, there was no need to hunt for a ‘hero’. I also came to know that the actor handled most of the scenes as a ghost director.
  • As strange as it may sound, they started off by shooting more than 10 songs for the film! It was then that I was enlightened that it is a must for every Bhojpuri movie to have more than 10 songs. In most films, songs are a mixture of romance, dance, tragedy and lastly, item numbers.
  • Here comes the most shocking part. It was after finishing off the songs that they started writing the proper script for the movie! Yes, you read it right. Earlier, they just had a rough idea of the subject. While writing the film, they just fitted those songs wherever possible!

There is more surprise in store. This is not the only Bhojpuri movie that was made in such a weird manner. I was then told most of the Bhojpuri films are made likewise! If the film has the same masala elements of action, songs and dance and most importantly, those heroic dialogues, it is liked by all. Needless to say, the film which I am referring to also became a superhit!

Student Of The Year Box Office Prediction

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Direction: Karan Johar

Production: Dharma Productions

Writers: Rensil D’Silva and Niranjan Iyengar

Cast: Siddharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhavan, Rishi Kapoor, Manasi Rach

Music: Vishal-Shekhar

Genre: Romance

Release Date: October 19, 2012

Analysis:

Star Value: There is no star value in Student Of The Year as all three of the main characters are played by debutants. But due to a good marketing strategy, Siddharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhavan are slowly becoming known among the youth.

Hype: The promos of the movie are well received by the youngsters. The makers have succeeded in creating some excitement among the college students, its target audience.

Music: Vishal-Shekhar’s music has helped a lot in promoting the film. ‘Velle’ became a known track instantly. ‘Ishq Wala Love’ and ‘Radha On The Dance Floor’ are not far behind either in terms of popularity.

Prediction:

Student Of The Year will get a decent opening at the box office. If it manages to impress initially, it will fetch good numbers even after the first weekend, since college students like visiting multiplexes on weekdays. However, due to the urban, modern genre, it will appeal more to the urban youth. Hence, it has better chances at the multiplexes of metros. It won’t fetch good collections at the single screens, mostly the ones in the smaller cities and towns.

Picture Courtesy – Indiatoday.in

Aiyyaa Box Office Prediction

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Director: Sachin Kundalkar

Producers: Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and AKFPL Production

Writer: Sachin Kundalkar

Cast: Rani Mukerji, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Sobodh Bhave

Music: Amit Trivedi

Genre: Drama

Release Date: October 12, 2012

Analysis:

Star Value: Rani Mukerji’s star status and fan following is enough to create excitement for Aiyyaa, although she won’t pull huge crowds to the theaters initially. Due to her presence alone, the star value for the movie is quite high.

Hype: The promos of the movie have impressed the audience and managed to create a lot of buzz. Apart from the humour, Rani’s crazy antics have made the audience curious for the movie.

Music: The song ‘Dreamum Wakepum’ has become instantly famous. Other songs like ‘Aga Bai’ and ‘Sava Dollar’ are slowly becoming popular. The music has had a big hand in popularizing the movie.

Prediction:

Aiyyaa will get a good opening at the box office but only in the multiplexes of the metros. After OMG! Oh My God and English Vinglish, this is the third film in three weeks that shouldn’t be judged by its collections of the first weekend. It should earn around Rs 20 crore or more in the first weekend if it manages to impress initially. If that happens, Aiyyaa will continue to do well after the first three days. It will face competition from Sridevi’s highly impressive English Vinglish which is expected do well in its second week as well.

Kismet Love Paisa Dilli (KLPD) Box Office Prediction

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Director: Sanjay Khanduri

Producers: Invincible Entertainment Pvt Ltd

Writers: Sanjay Khanduri

Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Mallika Sherawat, Ashutosh Rana, Anshuman Jha

Music: Amjad Nadeem and Santokh Singh

Genre: Thriller, Comedy

Release Date: October 5, 2012

Analysis:

Star Value: Both Vivek Oberoi and Mallika Sherawat are famous actors but they are no longer crowd pullers. Hence, the star value for Kismet Love Paisa Dilli (KLPD) is just average.

Hype: The promos of the film have failed to create any major buzz or excitement. The makers have promoted the film well but that has not helped much. Hence, there is hardly any hype for KLPD.

Music: The song ‘Dhishkyaon’ is a good peppy number which has become somewhat known. The rest of the songs have hardly succeeded in making a mark.

Prediction:

Kismet Love Paisa Dilli (KLPD) won’t get a good opening at the box office. If it manages to super impress, it will get an average response, mostly in the single screens. Overall, it looks difficult for the film to succeed at the ticket window.

English Vinglish Box Office Prediction

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Director: Gauri Shinde

Producers: Eros International and Hope Productions

Writers: Gauri Shinde

Cast: Sridevi, Mehdi Nebbou, Priya Anand, Sulbha Deshpande, Amitabh Bachchan

Music: Amit Trivedi

Genre: Drama

Release Date: October 5, 2012

Analysis:

Star Value: Sridevi, one of the most loved actresses of Bollywood, is making a comeback after 15 long years. This has created some excitement for the movie although she won’t be a crowd puller by any means.

Hype: The unusual first teaser of the film (where Sridevi reads a censor certificate) made heads turn. The main promos have received a decent response. The overall hype is good although not as high as one would expect from Sridevi’s comeback movie.

Music: Only the title track has become somewhat popular. ‘Navrai Majhi’ is also slowly becoming known.

Prediction:

English Vinglish will get an average to decent opening at the box office. The film will score more at urban multiplexes while it will struggle at single screens and small centers. But like last week’s OMG! Oh My God, this film too relies more on word-of-mouth and it shouldn’t be judged by its’ first weekend collection, especially the first day. It should earn around 15-20 crore in the first weekend. If it impresses initially and gets a strong word-of-mouth, it might surprise us and earn more.

OMG! Oh My God Review

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Director: Umesh Shukla

Producers: Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Ashvini Yardi

Writer: Umesh Shukla (Story, Screenplay and Dialogues)

Cast: Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Govind Namdeo, Poonam Jhaver, Nidhi Subbaiah

Music: Himesh Reshammiya, Anjjan-Meet Bros, Sachin-Jigar

Rating: * * * *

Plot: A complete non-believer, Kanji Mehta (Paresh Rawal) earns great profit by taking advantage of people’s blind religious faith. He sells random idol of Gods and attaches false mythological history with them which obliges people to buy them at a giveaway price. One day, Kanji goes a bit too far by halting a Dahi Handi festival by spreading a rumour.

Just then, his shop is destroyed in an earthquake. Worse, he is unable to recover losses as the insurance company regards earthquake as an ‘act of God’. Hence, Kanji sues God in the court of law. His argument is simple – If there is God, He will appear in court!

Review: In order to please and worship God, a number of religious rituals are followed in India like pouring hundreds of liters of milk on a Shivling, offering many chaadars in a dargah or offering lakhs of candles in churches. However, Umesh Shukla’s OMG! Oh My God rubbishes off all these rituals while stating that all one needs to do is be a good human and help the needy in order to impress Him. It also gives a moral slap to those who carry out business in the name of God. The powerful message presented in an entertaining manner makes sure the film is worth watching more than once.

Like all well made films, OMG! Oh My God has a very meaty and a fast moving script. Umesh Shukla succeeds in narrating the tale at a steady pace, defining characters clearly and at the same time providing some quality humour. The first twist in the story, which comes very early, gives rise to a number of powerful and entertaining scenes. A human lodging a court case against God is never seen before in a Hindi film. Of course, Akshay Kumar’s arrival provides the icing on the cake.

Picture courtesy – OMG Facebook page

Thankfully, unlike a number of Hindi films, OMG maintains momentum in the second half too in terms of story development and the script. It is during this period where there a number of clap-worthy scenes which are enlightening and a real treat! Some further interesting twists ensure a heartwarming as well as an eye-opening climax.

The whole team of OMG deserves applause for daring to give such a bold message in a country where people are obsessed with blindfaith which certainly doesn’t do any good to them or the society.

If one tries to find flipsides, one can include some scenes showing miracles and also the fact that Kanji’s original mission goes off-track in between. But since these points also help in bringing the final outcome, you don’t really mind. However, there are chances of some over-sensitive God worshippers might get offended by some scenes and dialogues.

Talking about the technical departments, the cinematography, background score and editing are fine. Two songs ‘Go Go Go Govinda’ and ‘Mere Nishaan’ suit the situations while ‘Ji Ji Ji’ is superb due to the lyrics.

Paresh Rawal’s performance deserves a standing ovation. He gets into the skin of the character and displays every emotion with ease. This will surely be one of the talked about performances of his career. It is risky to play a character like God but Akshay Kumar manages that easily and gives a lovable act. However, Mithun Chakraborty’s act as a gay swami wasn’t amusing. There was no need to include such feminine mannerisms in the character.

Govind Namdeo is effective as a short tempered priest. Nikhil Ratnaparkhi does very well as Rawal’s loyal friend. Murli Sharma, Lubna Salim, Poonam Jhaver and others are not bad.

Overall, OMG Oh My God shouldn’t be missed for it gives a great message while providing quality entertainment. The film needs word-out-mouth to succeed at the box-office.

Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal Box Office Prediction

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Director: Priyadarshan

Producers: Percept Pictures

Writers: Neeraj Vora (Story, Screenplay and Dialogues)

Cast: Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Shreyas Talpade, Madhurima Banerjee, Asrani, Rajpal Yadav

Music: Sajid-Wajid

Genre: Comedy

Release Date: September 28, 2012

Analysis:

Star Value: Due to the presence of some quality veteran actors like Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal and Om Puri, the star value is quite high, although not as high as is needed to attract large number of audiences.

Hype: Although the promos have received a decent response, the hype is missing. The makers have failed in promoting their film. But this is not the first time that Percept has done such a thing. It is not known why the banner fails regularly to market its films.

Music: None of the songs of the movie have become known.

Prediction:

Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal will at the most only get an average opening at the box office. This is surely disappointing considering it’s another crazy entertainer by Priyadarshan. The reason for this is its low key marketing. It’s only hope is to impress supremely at the onset. Else, it will be very difficult for it to make a mark at the ticket window.

OMG Oh My God Box Office Prediction

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Director: Umesh Shukla

Producers: Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Ashvini Yardi

Writer: Umesh Shukla

Cast: Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Govind Namdeo, Nidhi Subbaiah

Music: Himesh Reshammiya, Anjjan-Meet Bros, Sachin-Jigar

Genre: Drama

Release Date: September 28, 2012

Analysis:

Star Value: Although Paresh Rawal is a character actor, he has succeeded in gaining mass appeal through some fantastic performances over the years. And Akshay Kumar’s presence, despite a second lead, adds more star value for OMG Oh My God!.

Hype: Since OMG Oh My God! is based on superhit plays in Gujarati and Hindi, the film made news since it was announced. The makers’ idea of bringing out a teaser explaining Paresh Rawal’s character should be lauded for it made the film known much before the release. Later on, when the full-fledged promo was released, it helped the film further as it turned out to be very impressive. However, the excitement for the movie is not as high as it should have been.

Music: Prabhudeva and Sonakshi Sinha starrer song ‘Go Go Go Govinda’ became instantly popular. Although the rest of the songs aren’t famous, they will slowly gain acceptance if the film does very well at the box office.

Prediction:

OMG Oh My God! will get a decent opening at the box office. The first weekend collections should be around Rs 20-25 crore. It will be affected by the India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match on Sunday and Ganesh Visarjan in Maharashtra. However, it shouldn’t be judged by its first three days’ profits. This is a type of a film which will slowly climb the ladder at the box office provided it manages to impress initially. Due to its genre, it has a chance at both bigger and smaller centers.