Sonali Josji Pitale (MID-DAY; April 9, 2014)

Produced by Karan Raj Kanwar and Anita Kanwar, the film, Lucky Kabootar, was slated to release on December 13 last year. But a few hours before its release, the makers chose to back out and the film did not keep its date with the silver screen. Now it has emerged that the film’s production team blames Ravi Almas of Dhanajay Films for the delay.

A source says, “The distribution team did not plan things properly. Due to this, there was a lot of misunderstanding between the production and the creative teams. After a long argument, the distributor and the production team chose to part ways. This is why the December release was cancelled at the last minute. Later on, the film’s fate was hanging in the balance and no one knew when it would release. We then got word that the issue has been sorted out, but Ravi Almas has been unreachable.”

Karan Raj Kanwar has now joined hands with distributors Amit Jalan, Pritam Jalan and Bharat Shah, and he will be releasing the film next week. Says Anita, “Due to a clash between the presenter and the distributors, we had to cancel the release last year. We have a new set of distributors on board.”

Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network

JACKPOT collected 1 crore nett approx on day one which is a very poor collection especially since it has a release of 1150 screens. The film is unlikely to go anywhere and the weekend will be in the 3-3.50 crore nett range depending on what happens on Saturday and Sunday.

WHAT THE FISH was a washout with all India collections around the 10 lakh mark. The bulk of the collections came from Mumbai circuit.

LUCKY KABOOTAR, meanwhile, was all set to release and even had its show timings ready but was a last minute causality and did not make it to the theatres.

Mehul S Thakkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 14, 2013)

Some reviews are already out but Lucky Kabootar, which was supposed to release this Friday, is not in the theatres yet. And the reason is bizarre. Apparently, the presenter; Dhananjay Films, did not book the theatres because there was no money to release the film. This was conveyed to the producers just an hour before the film was to be premiered.

Mirror had earlier reported that Karan Raj Kanwar, the elder son of writer-producer-director Raj Kanwar, was planning revive his late father’s banner Inderjit Films Combine with Lucky Kabootar—a romantic comedy starring Eijaaz Khan and Kulraj Randhawa. The film is directed by Shammi Chhabra.

When contacted, the wife of late Raj Kanwar, Anita, and the film’s producer, said: “Salman Khan who was the special guest at the premiere was on his way to the theatre when, at around 8pm, we were told that there was a problem and the film was not getting a release. We were aghast!”

She claims they had got good advance booking. “But we could not get the show timings and then we were told that the presenter and the distributors had had a fall-out and the film would not see the light of the day,” sighs Anita, adding that she’s been talking to some well-wishers from the fraternity. “We’re trying to figure out a way to release the film as soon as possible.”

R…RAJKUMAR IS A SUCCESS!

Shahid Kapoor hasn’t had a huge success since quite a few years. Actors who debuted much later went on to become bigger stars. Shahid has a huge fan following on his side but the wrong choice of films proved detrimental. Thankfully, it seems that things will change for the better for Shahid as R…Rajkumar has proved to be a success! What’s more, it has generated an amazing response among single screen audiences which is a good sign for any actor. Moreover, Shahid looked great while playing a typical action hero. In fact, it’s easily one of his best performances and even one of the best performances of the year!

R…Rajkumar will not end up being in the famed 100-crore-club. In fact, commercially, it might not even be a Hit and would at best be an average or above average grosser. Yet, it’s a huge feat for Shahid considering the fate of his previous films. Also, his films have never crossed even the 45-crore mark and R…Rajkumar would be the first film to do so (it is expected to reach till 60-65 crore mark). R…Rajkumar, sadly had a weak second half and was not as good as Prabhu Dheva’s Rowdy Rathore. Otherwise, R…Rajkumar would had been an even bigger success. Here’s hoping Shahid signs some really nice and well-made scripts in future and that his films earn big time at the ticket window. After all, he deserves it totally!

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WILL SUNNY LEONE FACTOR HELP JACKPOT? 

Jism 2 failed but its huge opening had stumped many. This was because it was a rare film that opened well on the strength of its actress’ (Sunny Leone’s) popularity! Now, her second film, Jackpot, is all set to hit theatres tomorrow and has once again caught attention thanks to her sizzling avatar in the film. At the same time, Jackpot seems more of a thriller. It is directed by the Boom and Bombay Boyz guy Kaizad Gustad who has shot the film beautifully in Goa in monsoons. Naseeruddin Shah features in an interesting role that has Sachiin Joshi in the main lead. Trailers seem interesting and the film can work if response is positive.

The other 2 releases are What The Fish and Lucky Kabootar. Promos of both films were interesting but not extraordinary and promotions too failed to do justice to their respective films. Hence, both films will surely have a tough time at the box office though What The Fish can excel if response among moviegoers is positive.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE JACKPOT, WHAT THE FISH OR LUCKY KABOOTAR? DO LET ME KNOW!