Showing posts with label The Lady Killer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Lady Killer. Show all posts
I would rather not talk about The Lady Killer-Bhumi Pednekar
9:36 PM
Vinay MR Mishra (BOMBAY TIMES; March 6, 2024)
Bhumi Pednekar began this year with a hard-hitting film that released on OTT. While she likes being a part of socially relevant films, she also enjoys working in quintessential Bollywood movies.
Talking about working in projects from opposite spectrums, she says, “There are many stories that we, as artistes, want to be a part of, and I have always chased those stories. That is what has worked for me, irrespective of its fate. There have been films of mine that have been massive hits, but I don’t know if they will be watched two generations down the line. Then there are films that might not have done well (commercially), but I know generations will watch them. I just want to be able to do every kind of cinema.”
She adds, “No formula has worked for me. It has been my instinct and faith that has worked for me. I want to tap into why I became an actor and why I love this profession. That is the only way I will survive for 20-25 years.”
For Bhumi the last year was quite a “fulfilling year” as a performer, given she had an eclectic mix of movies. However, out of the four releases that Bhumi had last year, the actress had one that she never acknowledged. Ajay Bahl’s The Lady Killer was released incomplete with several editing cuts and voiceovers and turned out to be the biggest box office bombs in Indian cinema.
When asked about the movie, Bhumi says, “I would rather not talk about it, because I have not spoken about it, at all. It is very sensitive for Arjun (Kapoor, co-actor) and I and it is done.”
Experts talk about releasing incomplete films or movies without promotions in theatres
8:20 AM
With a rise in makers dumping incomplete films in theatres, we have trade experts weigh in on the fledgling trend
Navya Kharbanda (HINDUSTAN TIMES; December 7, 2023)
Last month, Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar-starrer The Lady Killer was reported to have hit the theatres as an “unfinished film” within five days of the trailer release. Director Ajay Bahl later clarified that his ‘confirmation’ that the film was released as incomplete was to be taken in jest, and that it was indeed “a complete film”. However, reportedly, only 293 tickets were sold on day one and showed on an appallingly low number of screens.
Shastry Viruddh Shastry and Hukus Bukus, starring Paresh Rawal and Darsheel Safary in the lead, respectively, dropped in theatres last month sans any promotions — meeting a similar fate.
OTT DEALS, BUDGET CONSTRAINTS
The most obvious reason, notes trade analyst Atul Mohan, is that producers lock OTT deals very early on, which forces them to release films in an as-is state. “If they don’t deliver the film on time, the deal would get cancelled. Time se shoot nahin hua hoga aur overbudget ho gaya hoga, so makers might not want to put in more money. Agar usey Rs. 5 milna hai and Rs. 4 kharch ho chuka hai toh promotion vagerah mein nuksaan ho jayega,” says Mohan.
Stating that makers run out of funds and have to abandon projects midway and release them in a half-baked state, film expert Omar Qureshi says: “After the pandemic, a lot of indie makers ran out of funds and the confidence of their financier real fast. It was tragic for Hukus Bukus and Shastry Viruddh Shastry. There should be more support from state governments to incentivize filmmakers with smaller budgets.”
To makers, it might appear lucrative to salvage costs through such rushed releases, but trade analyst and producer Girish Johar alerts that it is a worrying trend. “Everything is getting wasted — the cast, technicians, even producers. Everyone is losing. Producers not taking it seriously and releasing films half-heartedly raises questions about credibility and loss of faith among the audience,” opines Johar.
But exhibitor Akshaye Rathi feels that the trend is “circumstantial”. “Producers run out of finances midway or post production. Only one out of 100 films has a fate like that. It could be the availability or the dates of the star involved or disputes between the producers and directors,” he explains.
Box-office collections
Hukus Bukus - Rs. 4 lakh
The Lady Killer - Rs. 1 lakh
Shastry Viruddh Shastry - Rs. 6 lakh
(Crisp) Movie Review: THE LADY KILLER by FENIL SETA
11:37 PM
The Lady Killer is a dark action thriller which was released today in cinemas. It stars Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar and is directed by Ajay Bahl of BA Pass and Section 375 fame. The plot and setting have a James Headley Chase feel. The setup is neat and this could have turned into a nail-biting film. Sadly, instead of feeling tense, the moviegoers will start feeling frustrated, as they would be wondering what's happening in the film. There are gaps in the narrative and it further ruins the impact. Arjun Kapoor, however, has done a fine job. Bhumi Pednekar plays a challenging part with ease. Priyanka Bose (Gajra) steals the show with her performance and her character's actions. Ekavali Khanna (Madhuri) is likeable. Denzil Smith (Dr Khurana), S M Zaheer (Maharaj) and Deepak Tokas (Inspector Rawat) are okay. All in all, The Lady Killer is disappointing. What's even more disappointing is that a film with such a star cast has been released with zero awareness and very, very limited release (it has been released in 4 theatres in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, all of which are outside Mumbai city limits). It'll find its audience once it releases on Netflix in late December.
My rating - ** out of 5!
My rating - ** out of 5!
Fenil's Bollywood Talk # 802
10:17 AM
12TH FAIL IS A SLEEPER HIT; NEW RELEASES TO FACE A TOUGH TIME
The last week was bittersweet for the industry. Tejas tanked horribly and it’ll be a miracle if it manages to collect around Rs. 8 crores at the box office. Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video was a bigger disaster as it collected just Rs. 7 lakhs on the first day. The film will struggle to reach even Rs. 60 lakhs in its lifetime.
However, 12th Fail has emerged as one of the biggest surprises of 2023. Not much was expected from it but on the first day, it collected Rs. 1 crore. It saw an insane jump as it collected Rs. 2.40 crores on Saturday and Rs. 2.85 crores on Sunday. Monday was better than Friday when the film collected Rs. 1.10 crores. On Tuesday, collections increased to Rs. 1.25 crore instead of dropping. If all goes well, it’ll end up collecting nearly Rs. 25 crores. Pre-Diwali is a very dry period for films and 12th Fail and Vijay’s Tamil film Leo have proved to be good fillers in cinemas before the big festival.
Tomorrow will see the release of Aankh Micholi. It stars Paresh Rawal, Abhimanyu, Mrunal Thakur, Sharman Joshi, Divya Dutta, Vijay Raaz, Abhishek Banerjee, Grusha Kapoor and Darshan Jariwala and is directed by Umesh Shukla of OMG Oh My God and 102 Not Out fame. The shoot of this comic caper was completed in March 2020, just before the lockdown. The film took a long time to release and is one of the most delayed films after Brahmastra and Maidaan. It was going to be released on October 27 but was pushed by a week as the previous Friday was crowded.
Aankh Micholi seems like a fun, old-school entertainer but the awareness is near-zero. Hence, it’ll struggle to open just like last week's films. With just 9 days left for Diwali, the aam junta will be busy with pre-Diwali chores, shopping etc than watching a film. Hence, the lean period coupled with negligible buzz will prove detrimental. However, the film will find takers on television later on.
The other Hindi release of the week is The Lady Killer. It is directed by Ajay Bahl of BA Pass and Section 375 fame and stars Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar. The film will be released in hardly 3-4 theatres in Mumbai and a few more cities. It is a token release since the makers have recovered the amount from the sale of digital and TV rights. But as per the conditions, they need to give it a theatrical release. As a result, it’s a case of releasing it on the big screen for the heck of it. The makers aren’t promoting it at all and have simply uploaded the trailer of the film. Arjun and Bhumi reportedly are upset with such a release and have not posted about the film on their social media handles.
Lastly, Shastry Virudh Shastry will also arrive in cinemas. It has got a better release than The Lady Killer but it won’t matter much.
The last week was bittersweet for the industry. Tejas tanked horribly and it’ll be a miracle if it manages to collect around Rs. 8 crores at the box office. Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video was a bigger disaster as it collected just Rs. 7 lakhs on the first day. The film will struggle to reach even Rs. 60 lakhs in its lifetime.
However, 12th Fail has emerged as one of the biggest surprises of 2023. Not much was expected from it but on the first day, it collected Rs. 1 crore. It saw an insane jump as it collected Rs. 2.40 crores on Saturday and Rs. 2.85 crores on Sunday. Monday was better than Friday when the film collected Rs. 1.10 crores. On Tuesday, collections increased to Rs. 1.25 crore instead of dropping. If all goes well, it’ll end up collecting nearly Rs. 25 crores. Pre-Diwali is a very dry period for films and 12th Fail and Vijay’s Tamil film Leo have proved to be good fillers in cinemas before the big festival.
Tomorrow will see the release of Aankh Micholi. It stars Paresh Rawal, Abhimanyu, Mrunal Thakur, Sharman Joshi, Divya Dutta, Vijay Raaz, Abhishek Banerjee, Grusha Kapoor and Darshan Jariwala and is directed by Umesh Shukla of OMG Oh My God and 102 Not Out fame. The shoot of this comic caper was completed in March 2020, just before the lockdown. The film took a long time to release and is one of the most delayed films after Brahmastra and Maidaan. It was going to be released on October 27 but was pushed by a week as the previous Friday was crowded.
Aankh Micholi seems like a fun, old-school entertainer but the awareness is near-zero. Hence, it’ll struggle to open just like last week's films. With just 9 days left for Diwali, the aam junta will be busy with pre-Diwali chores, shopping etc than watching a film. Hence, the lean period coupled with negligible buzz will prove detrimental. However, the film will find takers on television later on.
The other Hindi release of the week is The Lady Killer. It is directed by Ajay Bahl of BA Pass and Section 375 fame and stars Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar. The film will be released in hardly 3-4 theatres in Mumbai and a few more cities. It is a token release since the makers have recovered the amount from the sale of digital and TV rights. But as per the conditions, they need to give it a theatrical release. As a result, it’s a case of releasing it on the big screen for the heck of it. The makers aren’t promoting it at all and have simply uploaded the trailer of the film. Arjun and Bhumi reportedly are upset with such a release and have not posted about the film on their social media handles.
Lastly, Shastry Virudh Shastry will also arrive in cinemas. It has got a better release than The Lady Killer but it won’t matter much.
All isn’t well with Arjun Kapoor-Bhumi Pednekar’s The LadyKiller?
9:55 AM
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; October 30, 2023)
A poster of The LadyKiller was quietly dropped on October 28, announcing November 3 as the date of release. This rushed release, our sources tell us, hasn’t gone down well with the film’s team, as the announcement came out of nowhere. For this reason, the lead actors, Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar, are also not keen on promoting the film in any manner.
“Arjun and Bhumi had worked hard on the film. They are unhappy with it being treated in this manner. They have expressed their displeasure, and this is the reason they did not even share the release date poster,” says our source.
We are further informed that the original plan was to release the film on October 27. Speaking about the reason for this hush-hush release, the source says, “The film has turned out well, but the makers are only giving it a limited theatrical release. The rights have already been sold to a streaming giant, so the makers are not worried about the collections.”
We reached out to Bahl, producer Shaailesh R Singh, Kapoor and Pednekar, but were met with no response till the time of going to press. Our WhatsApp call to Singh was answered by a person who claimed that “sir is on a flight, so this call has been diverted”, even though it is not possible to divert calls on the app yet.
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