WILL VIDYA REPEAT A KAHAANI WITH BOBBY JASOOS?

Even in today’s times, it is difficult for an actress to single-handedly attract viewers in hordes for a film. But Vidya Balan is an exception. She was terrific in The Dirty Picture and it’s success helped her in Kahaani, where she played a pregnant woman and which became one of the biggest hits of 2012. Hence, nobody is questioning the prospects of Bobby Jasoos, which releases tomorrow and which sees Vidya in the lead role. After all, it’s a Vidya Balan film and hence one never knows, it might turn out to be a sleeper hit!

Bobby Jasoos features Vidya as a detective based in Hyderabad. The highlight of the film is that Vidya has 12 disguises and each one is brilliantly done. In fact, the first look of the film showed Vidya dressed as a beggar and it wowed one and all as Vidya looked completely unrecognizable! Besides Vidya, the film stars Ali Fazal, Supriya Pathak, Zarina Wahab, Tanve Azmi, Rajendra Gupta and Kiran Kumar. However, from the promos it is evident that it’s Vidya who is completely the backbone of the film. Also from the trailers, it looks like a fun entertainer. Moreover, it’s a clean film (it has been granted ‘U’ certificate by the Censors) and hence, it is a family entertainer.

Bobby Jasoos sadly has quite a few challenges to face. The buzz is limited and this would surely impact the collections. The songs of the film haven’t worked significantly. Also, one wonders why the film, which has a strong Muslim setting, is releasing during the Holy month of Ramadan when the Muslims don’t normally venture out to see movies. A good word of mouth will help the collections grow but a negative response will prove to be detrimental.

The other release of the week is Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, which marks the directorial debut of Imtiaz Ali’s brother Arif. It is the launch vehicle of Raj Kapoor’s fourth grandson Armaan Jain and South actress Deeksha Seth. The trailer of the film has been appreciated but what has helped the film significantly is its beautiful music composed by A R Rahman. Though Saif Ali Khan has co-produced the film, he hasn’t really come out to talk about the film and has allowed the newcomers to promote. Though for a music concert, Armaan’s cousins – Kareena and Karisma Kapoor – were present. Just like Bobby Jasoos, Lekar Hum Deewana Dil will have a poor opening and a good word of mouth is what can only help the movie.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE BOBBY JASOOS OR LEKAR HUM DEEWANA DIL AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!
------------------------
EK VILLAIN IS A SUCCESS!

The buzz for Ek Villain was high and hence everyone knew that a huge opening was on the cards. But the manner in which Ek Villain opened to full houses from the morning shows itself stumped even the producers of the film. The first day collections of the film came to around 16.50 crore. This is the 11th highest opening figure of all time and higher than the first day collections of Holiday – A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela and Gunday. This is huge for a film that stars Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh – the first two are newcomers and still don’t have that kind of a pull as the Khans while the latter has given hits only in multi-starrers/sex comedies.

However, the real hero of the film was its soulful music. Galliyan turned out to be a huge chartbuster from the day it was launched and the other songs too found acceptance. In fact, the success of Ek Villain and Aashiqui 2 proves that it’s the soulful songs and not necessarily item songs that help in creating excitement for a film. Are producers/music composers listening?

Ek Villain will cross 75 crore mark by the end of its first week. It can cross the 100 crore mark as well, if the second week is strong. Sadly, it might not happen as the response for the film is mixed. Even then, what the team of Ek Villain has achieved is incredible and kudos to them!