The last three weeks have been great for the film industry. It all started with Sitaare Zameen Par working at the box office. The following week, F1: The Movie emerged as a surprise hit. Maa underperformed but did pull in a significant audience. Last week's Jurassic World: Rebirth, as expected, scored a sixer. Metro...In Dino had a slow opening but the way it has held on weekdays has been a pleasant surprise.

This week, three major films are up for release, with Superman being the biggest of them. It's not as big a series in India but nevertheless, the character is popular and known among the Indian population. Also, the Western reviews have been very positive. The bookings in India have been encouraging. It'll open less than Jurassic World: Rebirth and more than F1: The Movie. In other words, an opening of Rs. 7-8 crores is expected. If the word of mouth is strong, it can have a weekend of Rs. 25 crores.

Maalik stars Rajkummar Rao in a never-before-seen action avatar. His look has been appreciated but the film has not been able to generate excitement. However, since it's in the massy zone, it'll get a lot of theatres in B and C centres. The makers have provided a discount of Rs. 100 and that should attract more people than expected. It should open at Rs. 2.50-3 crores.

Lastly, Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan stars Vikrant Massey and marks the debut of Shanaya Kapoor. The film looks like a clean love story and rests on an interesting idea. However, though the awareness is there, the buzz is very limited. It is also facing show-sharing issues since there are so many exciting releases around. Even Maalik has gone through this issue.

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan will open at around Rs. 1-2 crores and will have to have a great word of mouth to jump big time.

WILL METRO...IN DINO AND JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH CONTINUE THE MOMENTUM AT THE BOX OFFICE?

The last two weeks have been favourable for the box office. Sitaare Zameen Par sprang a surprise and is rock steady at the box office. The Aamir Khan-starrer is expected to collect around Rs. 132 crores in 2 weeks. Maa, meanwhile, hasn’t had the best of collections and will emerge as an average grosser. It is poised to collect Rs. 26.50 crores in Week 1.

F1: The Movie, however, can go anywhere. It was superb on the weekends. Usually, such multiplex films don’t see a good jump on Sunday. But this film performed beyond expectations on its third day. If all goes well, its first week earnings will be around Rs. 34-35 crores. A lifetime of Rs. 50 crores is on the cards.

This week will see the release of two major films. Metro...In Dino is the second part to Life In A Metro and is directed by Anurag Basu. It stars Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Ali Fazal and Fatima Sana Shaikh. The trailer was okay but the songs got noticed. The feedback is that the tracks are melodious and yet they haven’t become chartbusters. Moreover, it’s a film targeted at multiplexes.

The advance booking opened late and is decent. If the word of mouth reaches the audience faster, it can see a rise in collections from Friday evening. The film will have an opening of around Rs. 4.50-5 crores. A good jump on Saturday is possible, looking at the thumbs up from the critics.

Lastly, Jurassic World: Rebirth will be released. It’s a series that has always worked in India. The last part, Jurassic World: Dominion, opened at Rs. 8.22 crores. Looking at the hype and advance booking, the new installment will earn around Rs. 9.75-10 crores. It will have a good chance to score in the single screens as well.

Maa is not a horror or horror comedy. It is a one-of-a-kind mythological horror flick. The film begins on a chilling note and keeps viewers invested in the proceedings. A crucial scene in the middle of the second half rocks big time and is easily the best part of the film. However, the film suffers due to faulty screenplay in some scenes, due to which there might be unintentional laughter in cinemas. The VFX is fine in some scenes and not so fine in many other places. The mythological and flashback bits can get confusing and a scene in the climax was avoidable. One wonders how it got approved. Kajol, as expected, delivers a fantastic performance. Ronit Roy is the surprise of the film. Kherin Sharma and Rupkatha Chakraborty (Deepika) leave a huge mark. Indraneil Sengupta is lovable in a supporting role. Jitin Gulati (Shekhar) does well but is let down by the writing. Gopal Singh (Bikash), Dibyendu Bhattacharya (Bimal) and Surajasikha Das (Nandini) do very well in supporting roles. Aashit Chatterjee (Shuvankar's father), Vibha Rani (Purohita; old) and Yaaneaa Bharadwaj (Purohita; young) are memorable. All in all, Maa works due to the genre and concept but suffers on account of the writing and VFX. An average fare.

My rating - ** ½ out of 5!

SITAARE ZAMEEN PAR IS A HIT; WILL MAA, KANNAPPA, F1: THE MOVIE FOLLOW SUIT?

The industry is celebrating as Sitaare Zameen Par has emerged as a big hit. The mood of the industry was sombre on Friday morning as the advance wasn’t satisfactory. The distributors didn’t have any show before 11:00 am as they feared that the morning shows might get cancelled. However, the word of mouth from the press was positive. By evening, it picked up.

As per expectations, it collected Rs. 10.50 crores on Friday. On Saturday, it saw a nearly 100% jump as it earned Rs. 20 crores. This is rare in the post-pandemic era. Also, if a film sees such a dramatic jump on Day 2, the Day 3 jump is minimal. But Sitaare Zameen Par went on and collected Rs. 26.25 crores on Sunday. Thus, it earned Rs. 56.75 crores in 3 days.

On Monday, it dropped to Rs. 8.50 crores which was normal. On Tuesday, it collected the same amount which is another sign that the film is set for a long run. The first week collections will be in the range of Rs. 85-90 crores. It’ll surely jump in the second week and will also surely cross the Rs. 150 crore mark.

Meanwhile, the big release of the week is Maa, starring Kajol in the lead. It is a horror film and there’s a hint that it is connected to the Shaitaan universe. It grabbed attention but the excitement is minimal. Like Sitaare Zameen Par, there seems to be a wait-and-watch strategy for it as well. Unfortunately, the success of Sitaare Zameen Par can affect Maa to some degree. But if Maa’s reports are strong, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Maa will open at Rs. 3-4 crores and then it depends on the weekend jump and strong Monday to help the film achieve success.

As for Kannappa, it stars Akshay Kumar, Prabhas, Mohanlal and others in cameos while the lead role is played by Vishnu Manchu. The subject is enticing but the excitement in Hindi is very limited. It has even got very few shows in the North market. If public reports are positive, it’ll see an increase in shows as it happened with Karthikeya 2, Marco etc.

F1: The Movie, on the other hand, will appeal to the elite audience. There’s a demand to view the film on the big screen, especially IMAX. The reports are strong and hence, it can open at Rs. 3-4 crores, just like Maa.

Divya Dutta is the only person from the shoot of her upcoming film to return home just before the shutdown
Ankita Chaurasia (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 25, 2020)

Divya Dutta was shooting for her upcoming film, Maa, in Punjab, till the film bodies called for a complete shutdown on production work for March 19-31 in light of the Coronavirus outbreak. The actress admits there was a lot of confusion in the days leading up to the decision. “Initially, we thought the outbreak was too distant to impact our lives, but when it became more real by the day, we took all precautions, including masks, hand sanitisers, washing hands and cutting down on the number of people on the unit. We even changed a location, from outside a hospital to a school,” she informs.

The National Award-winning actress is the only one from the team to have returned home. “I was travelling with my pet dog, Sakhi, in the train and reached Mumbai just before everything shut down,” she recounts, adding that the rest of the cast and crew, all mostly from Vancouver, are stuck in Punjab now. Since the film is only half complete, the makers won’t be able to release the Mother India-inspired story on Mother’s Day as per plan.

Meanwhile, Divya is making the most of the unexpected break, singing with her doctor-brother, Rahul, and working on her book. “I am on a deadline,” she shares, adding that she is also painting and cooking a little. “Most of my time in the kitchen is spent on building up my immunity. I am going back to the basics, beginning my day with a concoction made out of boiling turmeric, ginger and cloves in water. I keep having warm water with lemon throughout the day and also some haldi doodh,” she shares.

Ask her how she’s coping with home confinement and Divya points out that our grandmothers have been preaching safe practices long before the outbreak. “As a child, I would crib about visiting our ancestral home in Punjab, as the loo was located outside the house. Suddenly it makes perfect sense. Removing footwear outside the house, washing hands before eating, all this is a part of our culture,” she asserts, adding that now is the perfect time to reconnect with it.


Divya Dutta and her pet dog Sakhi returning to Mumbai by train

Hindi cinema has not seen real elephants since the ’60s and ’70s.As Junglee fills that jumbo-sized gap, those that remember the thrill of watching elephants in theatres relive the era
Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; March 18, 2019)

”When the elephant cried, I cried too”, “I wanted an elephant friend whom I could call by name”, “petting an elephant was my only dream” — these were just some responses we got from the generation that still remembers the magic of watching elephants ‘act’ on the big screen, when a handful of elephant movies were made in the ’60s and ’70s. Since then, it’s only been CGI elephants or animated characters, leaving later generations with only the imagination of what it would have been like watching real elephants in action in theatres.

In fact, Haathi Mere Saathi (1971) was such a huge hit that moviegoers stood in never-ending queues to get tickets. Those associated with these films of yore say that they gave the elephant characters their most human characteristics, and that the ’60s and ’70s were a defining period for elephants in Hindi cinema.

More than four-and-a-half decades later, that magic is set to be revived with Junglee, which stars Vidyut Jammwal and Bhola, the mighty elephant. With Bhola and his jumbo friends ready to take over the screens on March 29, kids finally have a chance to watch the story of a real elephant.


WE USED TO WAIT FOR HOURS TO GET ONE SHOT WITH ELEPHANTS: DHARMENDRA
Dharmendra, who shot with elephants in films like Maa (1976) and Shola Aur Shabnam (1961), says that the shooting was challenging, but “one of the best experiences” an actor can have. He tells us, “In my career, I’ve got quite a few opportunities to shoot with animals, including elephants and tigers. One of the prominent ones was Maa, which was all about a mother elephant’s love for her little one and how she fights a man (played by Dharmendra) trying to trap the baby elephant. It was a beautiful film that conveyed an important message through a touching story. The film was loved not just in India, but was a huge hit in Russia as well. I really enjoyed shooting it. We were shooting in Mudumalai in Karnataka and it was interesting, but very challenging, too. Those elephants and other animals we were shooting with were trained, but you need a lot of patience while shooting with them. We used to wait for hours just to get one perfect shot. It was a lot of hard work for everyone but I enjoyed every bit of it. I also got a chance to shoot with elephants in my second film, Shola Aur Shabnam. We shot that in Karnataka as well.”

WE SHOT IN A FOREST WITH TRAINED AND WILD ELEPHANTS: KALA PARVAT DIRECTOR
M S Sathyu, best known for directing Garm Hawa (1974), also directed Kala Parvat (1972), an India and Soviet Union co-production. The film was jointly directed by M S Sathyu and Alexander Zagurdi. Sathyu says, “We shot the film in a forest with 80-90 real elephants, with a Russian group. Shooting this film was difficult because we had different types of elephants — trained ones, wild elephants and baby elephants. But we had the expertise of a Russian crew, who advised us on how to deal with animals, and forest officials helped as well. It was indeed a mammoth task, but children loved the film, and even now it is screened for kids.”

He adds, “Of course, a film shot with real elephants will work even in today’s time; children will especially love it. We don’t make films with real elephants anymore. Now, everything is animated.”


‘HAATHI MERE SAATHI WAS A MASSIVE SUCCESS BECAUSE IT WAS RAJESH KHANNA’S FIRST FILM TO CONNECT WITH KIDS’
Gautam Chintamani, who has written Rajesh Khanna’s biography, had come across a number of anecdotes about Haathi Mere Saathi during his research. He tells us, “When I was talking to Salim Khan (who wrote the screenplay with Javed Akhtar), he told me that one of the major reasons behind the massive success of Haathi Mere Saathi was that it was Rajesh Khanna’s first film that connected with children. A number of scenes with elephants were included just to entertain kids. Other than its success at the box office, the film had a message for animal rights, too.”

Chintamani adds, “For me, another film which is memorable is Safed Haathi. As a kid, I related to this film so well because it was full of adventure. I also found Maa very exciting as a kid because of the animals. Those films had such a huge impact that you’d want to have an animal friend whom you could name and pet.”

CHILDREN LOVE ELEPHANT MOVIES, BUT DIRECTORS DON’T MAKE THEM: CHILDREN’S FILM SOCIETY OF INDIA
The Children’s Film Society of India’s (CFSI) catalogue lists only a few films on elephants, like Kala Parvat and Haathi Ka Anda (which doesn’t have any elephant). Nagraj Kulkarni, a CFSI official, says, “We have films like Kala Parvat, and a few other regional films on elephants, but most of those are old. Nowadays, there are very few films on elephants. One reason could be that shooting permission is difficult to get.”

Dharmendra agrees, “In the ‘70s, it was easier to shoot with elephants and other animals, but now, the law is very strict and therefore we don’t see many films on elephants. I’m glad to hear that after so many years, there is this film called Junglee that’s coming soon. I hope this film wins hearts and that it’s a big hit, and more and more people go to watch it. There are very few films now where we see elephants as part of the main story.”

‘WANT TO SEE HOW THE ELEPHANTS IN JUNGLEE ACT AND REACT’
As Junglee has been shot with real elephants, those who have seen elephant movies in theatres are quite excited about the movie. Jaisingh Rajput, Assistant Officer in Production at CFSI, says, “As a kid, I’ve seen all the movies with elephants — be it Haathi Mere Saathi or Kala Parvat — and I’m a huge fan of them. There are a few films with real elephants in them, and where the elephant is not just an animal, but a character. I’m looking forward to watch the film to understand how they have dealt with the animal, check if he is also acting in the film and how he responds in the scenes.”

— With inputs from Divya Kaushik

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 7, 2014)