(Crisp) Movie Review: A REAL PAIN by FENIL SETA
12:00 AM
A Real Pain is the story of two American Jewish cousins with opposite personalities on a Nazi Holocaust tour in Poland. The film is just 90 minutes long and packs in a lot. It starts on a funny note but then the emotional and confrontational moments take over. The characters are also well-fleshed out. The major issue with the film is the pre-climax and climax. It is underwhelming and leaves a lot to be desired. Jesse Eisenberg is impressive not just as a director but also as an actor. Kieran Culkin, however, steals the show and is sure to win an Oscar nomination, if not the Academy Award. Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy and Daniel Oreskes lend able support. All in all, A Real Pain is a sweet and heartening film.
My rating - *** ½ out of 5!
My rating - *** ½ out of 5!
(Crisp) Movie Review: AZAAD by FENIL SETA
11:50 PM
Azaad is mainly about the bond between young chap and a horse. It also depicts dacoits and all these elements remind one of the films of the 70s and 80s. But the treatment is not massy. The script is weak and the biggest issue with the film is that there's hardly any romance between the newcomers. The focus is only on Aaman Devgan, Ajay Devgn and the horse and the rest of the characters are relegated to the backseat. The climax is gripping; however, the finale is abrupt and the makers fail to sum up the tale. Aaman Devgan is decent and has worked hard. He dances very beautifully. Rasha Thadani has an arresting screen presence and has a promising career ahead. Sadly, she has limited screen time. Ajay Devgn is dependable as always in a supporting role. Diana Penty is horribly wasted. Piyush Mishra and Mohit Malik are okay as the antagonists. Sandeep Shikhar (Braj) and others are okay. All in all, Azaad doesn't impress.
My rating - ** out of 5!
My rating - ** out of 5!
(Crisp) Movie Review: EMERGENCY by FENIL SETA
11:42 PM
With Emergency, one expects a certain political viewpoint to be propagated. However, it's a film which shows Indira Gandhi in a realistic and humane manner. There are times you are in awe of her, there are times you hate her and there are times when you pity her. The film depicts several episodes of her life but the ones involving Indira and Sanjay Gandhi are very memorable. On the flipside, like Sam Manekshaw, the film also takes a docu-drama approach. Hence, the film jumps from one chapter of her life to another and sometimes, it happens too quickly. Secondly, the biggest blunder of the film is to show characters breaking into songs, in parliament and even while being assaulted in prison. It takes away the realism and one wonders how it got approved. Kangana Ranaut, however, gets back in form and gets into the skin of the character. Vishak Nair is terrific as Sanjay Gandhi and is sure to be noticed. Shreyas Talpade, Anupam Kher, Mahima Chaudhry, the late Satish Kaushik and Darshan Pandya (R K Dhawan; Indira's PA) lend able support. Milind Soman is the only actor to have a whistle worthy entry in the movie and is superb in a cameo. Sanjay M Gurbaxani (Nehru) is okay and his track reeks of bias. All in all, Emergency is a decent attempt.
My rating - *** out of 5!
My rating - *** out of 5!
Fenil's Bollywood Talk # 865
10:34 AM
WILL CINEMA LOVERS DAY OFFER BENEFIT AZAAD, EMERGENCY AND HOLDOVER RELEASES?
Due to the dry period at the box office, the theatres have decided to once again have a Cinema Lovers Day on Friday, January 17. Usually, on this day, all cinemas sell tickets for Rs. 99. But this time, PVR Inox, Maxus and Miraj have priced tickets at Rs. 112 while MovieMax and MovieTime will sell tickets for Rs. 99. Nevertheless, Rs. 112 is also dirt cheap, considering the insane ticket prices nowadays and hence, the move will benefit.
The biggest beneficiary of this offer is usually the new releases. The Hindi films that will be released tomorrow are Emergency and Azaad. Emergency stars Kangana Ranaut and also features her as a director. She plays the role of the ex-Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The film was all set to be released on September 6, 2024. But during the promotions of the film in August last year, Kangana made certain comments that led to controversy. The film was then minutely viewed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and they raised objections to certain scenes. The matter even reached the Court after which the film was cleared but with a few deletions.
The Court case ended around October but the makers decided to release in January as probably there were no other release dates. The film’s awareness levels are high but the excitement levels are not. As a result, the film’s opening will be minimal. The Cinema Lovers Day will hopefully benefit Emergency and it’ll open around Rs. 3-4 crores.
Azaad, meanwhile, marks the debut of Ajay Devgn’s nephew Aaman Devgan and Raveena Tandon’s daughter Rasha Thadani. It is directed by Abhishek Kapoor of Rock On and Kedarnath fame. Ajay Devgn also stars in the film in a dynamic role. The trailer and songs have failed to make a mark although the debutants have gone all out to promote the film. It is expected to open at Rs. 1-2 crores.
Last week’s releases, Game Changer and Fateh, have failed. Game Changer’s first week collections will be around Rs. 27 crores while that of Fateh would be Rs. 8 crores approx. They will get little benefit from the offer, especially Fateh since its tickets were priced at Rs. 99 and it also gave the audience the offer of Buy One Ticket Get One Free. A Gujarati film, Mom Tane Nai Samjay, was released last week and it’s doing huge business. Its shows have been increased and it’ll hugely benefit from this offer, compared to Game Changer and Fateh.
On the other hand, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which continues to be strong, will get considerable footfalls tomorrow. Right now, its ticket prices are around Rs. 149. With ticket rates slashed to Rs. 99 and Rs. 112, there’ll be even more motivation for the audience to turn up. Another re-release this Friday is Satya. The cheaper tickets might help the film emerge as a surprise success.
Two Hollywood films will also be released on January 17 - A Real Pain and Wolf Man. The awareness is limited and if other shows are full on Friday, the audience might buy its tickets.
Lastly, Pushpa 2 - The Rule will be released with an additional 20 minutes. It has done most of its business and it remains to be seen if people turn up to watch the extended cut.
Due to the dry period at the box office, the theatres have decided to once again have a Cinema Lovers Day on Friday, January 17. Usually, on this day, all cinemas sell tickets for Rs. 99. But this time, PVR Inox, Maxus and Miraj have priced tickets at Rs. 112 while MovieMax and MovieTime will sell tickets for Rs. 99. Nevertheless, Rs. 112 is also dirt cheap, considering the insane ticket prices nowadays and hence, the move will benefit.
The biggest beneficiary of this offer is usually the new releases. The Hindi films that will be released tomorrow are Emergency and Azaad. Emergency stars Kangana Ranaut and also features her as a director. She plays the role of the ex-Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The film was all set to be released on September 6, 2024. But during the promotions of the film in August last year, Kangana made certain comments that led to controversy. The film was then minutely viewed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and they raised objections to certain scenes. The matter even reached the Court after which the film was cleared but with a few deletions.
The Court case ended around October but the makers decided to release in January as probably there were no other release dates. The film’s awareness levels are high but the excitement levels are not. As a result, the film’s opening will be minimal. The Cinema Lovers Day will hopefully benefit Emergency and it’ll open around Rs. 3-4 crores.
Azaad, meanwhile, marks the debut of Ajay Devgn’s nephew Aaman Devgan and Raveena Tandon’s daughter Rasha Thadani. It is directed by Abhishek Kapoor of Rock On and Kedarnath fame. Ajay Devgn also stars in the film in a dynamic role. The trailer and songs have failed to make a mark although the debutants have gone all out to promote the film. It is expected to open at Rs. 1-2 crores.
Last week’s releases, Game Changer and Fateh, have failed. Game Changer’s first week collections will be around Rs. 27 crores while that of Fateh would be Rs. 8 crores approx. They will get little benefit from the offer, especially Fateh since its tickets were priced at Rs. 99 and it also gave the audience the offer of Buy One Ticket Get One Free. A Gujarati film, Mom Tane Nai Samjay, was released last week and it’s doing huge business. Its shows have been increased and it’ll hugely benefit from this offer, compared to Game Changer and Fateh.
On the other hand, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which continues to be strong, will get considerable footfalls tomorrow. Right now, its ticket prices are around Rs. 149. With ticket rates slashed to Rs. 99 and Rs. 112, there’ll be even more motivation for the audience to turn up. Another re-release this Friday is Satya. The cheaper tickets might help the film emerge as a surprise success.
Two Hollywood films will also be released on January 17 - A Real Pain and Wolf Man. The awareness is limited and if other shows are full on Friday, the audience might buy its tickets.
Lastly, Pushpa 2 - The Rule will be released with an additional 20 minutes. It has done most of its business and it remains to be seen if people turn up to watch the extended cut.
Game Changer collects 22.65 cr in 4 days in Hindi; Fateh 6.40 cr
9:12 AM
Box Office India Trade Network
GAME CHANGER (Hindi) had a huge fall on Monday which was always coming going by the weekend trend. The film collected 1.75 crore nett which is a huge 75% drop from Friday. These collections are also better than they should be as collections in NCR and East Punjab were held up by holiday for Lohri. The drop in East Punjab was only 50% from Friday due to holiday.
North India gave the film 25-30 lakhs nett extra and the fair value would be hardly 1.50 crore nett taking out the holiday factor. This shows the sort of rejection the film has faced as Monday. The total collections of the film stand at 22.65 crore nett and the week will end at around 27 crore nett with nothing much coming after.
There was a holiday in Nizam/Andhra on Monday and as collections were down at low levels in the circuit, nothing much was going to improve for the Telugu version. The film did not crash further on Monday due to the holiday but it was a goner from day two itself. The Nizam /Andhra numbers were better than Hindi due to the holiday though they were lower on Sunday.
The four day collections of GAME CHANGER (Hindi) are as follows.
Friday - 7,00,00,000 apprx
Saturday - 6,65,00,000 apprx
Sunday - 7,25,00,000 apprx
Monday - 1,75,00,000 apprx
TOTAL - 22,65,00,000 apprx
FATEH dropped further on Monday and looks to be finish its first week with around 8 crore nett and again there will not be much coming after.
The collections of FATEH are as follows.
Fateh - 2,00,00,000 apprx
Saturday - 1,65,00,000 apprx
Sunday - 2,00,00,000 apprx
Monday - 75,00,000 apprx
TOTAL - 6,40,00,000 apprx
Pushpa 2 - The Rule collects 730.50 cr in 40 days
9:07 AM
Box Office India Trade Network
PUSHPA 2 - THE RULE (Hindi) continues to collect well in its sixth week though collections at are much lower levels as to what has gone before in the first five weeks. The film is heading for a sixth week collection of 6 crore nett apprx which will be among the top 7 or 8 sixth weeks ever though well below the 17 crore nett record of STREE 2.
The film has amassed a total of 730.50 crore nett so far and is now looking at a finish in the 735-740 crore nett range. The film will get a boost on Friday due to Cinema Lovers Day but with limited screens, it wont be much of a total. The run outside Hindi is practically over now and that contribution is looking to finish around 400 crore nett. The film will close in the vicinity of 1150 crore nett on all versions which is the highest ever but in terms of gross collections it'll a few crores short of the BAAHUBALI 2: THE CONLCUSION number due to tax changes.
Mumbai circuit now stands at at a huge 265 crore nett with another 2-3 crore nett to come. To put this number into perspective is that STREE 2 collected 159 crore nett and JAWAN collected 140 crore nett. It is a record that no film on the floors or being planned at present can beat. The BAAHUBALI 2: THE CONLCUSION record in Mumbai lasted 7 years and it will be no surprise if this PUSHPA 2 - THE RULE record also lasts that long.
The collections of PUSHPA 2 - THE RULE (Hindi) till date are as follows.
Week One - 3,87,63,00,000
Week Two - 1,78,02,00,000
Week Three - 91,57,00,000
Week Four - 50,79,00,000
Week Five - 18,04,00,000
Friday - 75,00,000 apprx
Saturday - 1,35,00,000
Sunday - 1,75,00,000
Monday - 60,00,000 apprx
Sixth Week - 4,45,00,000 apprx
TOTAL - 7,30,50,00,000 apprx
Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani stars to have cameos in Kartik Aaryan's Tu Meri Main Tera Main Teri Tu Mera?
9:03 AM
A decade after celebrating youth friendships with Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, the cast is likely to join new-age actors Kartik and Sharvari in their next
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 15, 2025)
Karan Johar surely knows how to play his cards right. The producer-filmmaker, who has managed to present narratives in a way that appeases the young generation, has come up with a way to gain the eyeballs of both Gen Z and millennials.
Johar, whose upcoming venture is the Kartik Aaryan-starrer romantic drama Tu Meri Main Tera Main Teri Tu Mera, is apparently toying with the idea of introducing the cast of his 2013 film, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, to this venture. Cast members, including Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Kalki Koechlin, are expected to revive their characters in Sameer Vidwans’s film in what is being seen as Dharma Productions’ initial efforts to explore cinematic crossovers. Sharvari is expected to feature alongside Aaryan.
“Since this film is a rom-com, and is along the lines of YJHD, this move seems like a natural progression. They are contemplating roping in the original stars for special appearances. Even if all of them aren’t available, they will try to get two of them to be part of it. These cameos will be a delightful nod to the beloved film. Apart from the fact that the actors’ dates must match, their introduction into the film needs to be seamless, not forced. That will be addressed during the writing process,” says a source.
Johar may want to capitalize on the demand for Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, which amassed Rs. 10 crore on its re-release weeks ago.
Game Changer's box office numbers a ‘fraud’-Ram Gopal Varma
9:01 AM
HINDUSTAN TIMES (January 15, 2025)
The makers of actor Ram Charan’s latest outing, Game Changer, have filed a police complaint against around 45 persons for allegedly leaking a pirated version of the film online.
The pirates reportedly also demanded money from members of the production team before the release of the film and warned that they would leak the pirated version if their demands were not met.
But as the producers did not give in to the demands, plot points of the film were shared online two days ahead of its release on January 10. Eventually, on the day of the film’s release, an HD pirated print was leaked on various internet platforms, such as Telegram. An investigation is on to ascertain if the accused individuals committed these crimes independently or as a group.
Directed by filmmaker S Shankar, the movie features Charan and actor Kiara Advani in the lead roles. The project, which marks the director’s first Telugu film, sees Charan play dual roles — that of a politician and an IAS officer. HTC
Film’s box office numbers a ‘fraud’: Ram Gopal Varma
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has called into question the reported box office figures of the Ram Charan-starrer. This comes amid controversy over discrepancies in the box office numbers claimed by the producers and those reported by trade sources. While the producers claimed that the film made Rs. 186 crore on the first day, trade sources quoted figures well below Rs. 100 crore.
Taking to X on Monday, Varma wrote sarcastically, “If @ssrajamouli and @SukumarWritings sky rocketed Telugu cinema in real time collections into a fantastically stratospheric heights thereby sending legitimate shock waves into Bollywood, the people behind G C succeeded in proving that the south is much more FANTASTIC in being a FRAUD.”
Wearing the uniform on screen is a matter of pride-Farhan Akhtar
9:00 AM
On Army Day today, actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar shares how donning the uniform instils a sense of responsibility and honour
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; January 15, 2025)
Farhan Akhtar’s connection with the Indian Army is quite special. His directorial, Lakshya (2004), saw actor Hrithik Roshan play an aimless young man who found his calling in life by joining the Army. In Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), Akhtar himself played athlete Milkha Singh, who was drafted into the armed forces. And now, he is shooting for his next, 120 Bahadur, which is a biopic on (late) Major Shaitan Singh Bhati, a Param Vir Chakra awardee who played a key role in the Battle of Rezang La during the Sino-India War (1962).
The 51-year-old says, “I got to learn a lot about the Army when I set out to make Lakshya. I realised that the Army is like a world unto itself, with its discipline, protocols... it’s very admirable to have that within you, that you dedicate your life to a larger cause...”
As for wearing the uniform on screen, Akhtar asserts that one’s body language changes immediately: “Wearing the uniform on screen is a matter of pride, though a part of you obviously knows that it is make-believe. But, wearing the uniform does something to you. There is a sense of responsibility and you feel honoured to wear it. The uniform changes your body language, the way you stand and conduct yourself. It’s incredible.”
However, making a film on the Army isn’t easy. Akhtar reveals, “Not all films on the Army are made with their clearance. However, certain films require the Army’s blessings. Lakshya was that, and now, 120 Bahadur. They ask questions when you reach out to them, and you should have answers. It’s their job to understand why you want to make that film. They should be comfortable.”
"I am used to the attention, Antony Thattil is not," says Keerthy Suresh on life after marriage
8:59 AM
Akash Bhatnagar (HINDUSTAN TIMES; January 15, 2025)
Actor Keerthy Suresh celebrated her first Pongal yesterday, after tying the knot with long-time boyfriend, businessperson Antony Thattil, and she couldn’t be more thrilled. “This year, Pongal was even more special. We celebrated our first Christmas after marriage with his family and for Pongal, we went to my home in Kerala.”
The 32-year-old, who got married in Goa on December 11, 2024, reflects on how life has changed since the big day: “It’s pretty much the same for us, as we have been together for very long; it’s just that there’s more attention and buzz now. While I’m used to it, Antony is not.”
The couple has been relishing their newfound togetherness with their families. The actor, who made her Bollywood debut last month with Baby John, shares, “Marriage is also the coming together of two families. Celebrating each other with our families...we are creating these beautiful memories now.”
Suresh has stepped into 2025 on a high. “Last year was great for me, both personally and professionally. This year, I am back to work already. I’m doing dubbings, signing new films, and hearing narrations for many new films. I am excited to see what’s going to be in my kitty in the next few months,” she ends.
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