Bollywood ka King Kaun? - 15 weeks to go 38 releases! Part 2

THE DIRTY PICTURE  Vidya Balan,Emraan Hashmi,Tushaar Kapoor,Naseerudin Shah

Pluses          Directed by Milan Lutharia,this one is based on south film industry's sex siren Silk Smita's real life,plot is fresh and has potential,Vidya is bound to deliever a massive performance after 'NOKJ' and 'Ishqiya',Emraan looks dashing too in an impressive role,right combination of sex and sensational plot is set to fire at box office

Minuses        Hardly any except music is not chartbuster

BO Nos.       Film's budget is 20 crore and this is a sure winner with potential of 45 crore nett

ROCKSTAR   Ranbir Kapoor,Nargis Fakiri

Pluses              Rahman's music is high point of this flick,Ranbir's big release after a gap of almost a year and half,new face Nargis has craze among younsters,Imtiaz's next venture after double success of 'Jab We Met' and 'Love Aaj Kal'

Minuses          First promo looked quite long and tepid

BO Nos.        This 60 crore venture likely to run in losses as more than 55 crore nett looks tough





DESI BOYZ  Akshay Kumar,John Abraham,Deepika Padukone,Chitraganda Singh

Pluses         David Dhawan's son's dbut venture as director looks good as a package(Good locales and good music)

Minuses        Akshay does not look in his elements,plot looks stale

BO Nos.   This 40 crore flick looks to earn at least 60 crore at box office,average hit






LADIES Vs. RICKY BAHL  Ranveer Singh,Anushka Sharma,Parineeti Chopra

Pluses        Team of 'Band Baaja Baraat' is back-director Manish Sharma,lead pair and writer Habib Faisal,plot is fresh,cast looks rocking too

Minuses         Only problem is fear of being repetetive
BO Nos.        20 crore rom com looks super hit already,at least business of 50 crore is guaranteed

RASCALS    Sanjay Dutt,Ajay Devgn,Kangana Ranaut,Lisa Hayden

Pluses        David Dhawan directed this comedy will be releasing on dusshera and that too without much competition,Ajay is in good form at box office lately and this may help this film

Minuses        Promo looks jaded and plot looks stale plus music is boring

BO Nos.        30 crore film looks bleak but good release date will take it around 50 crore nett

WEEKLY MOVIE GUIDE (what to watch and what to miss in Cinema)

SPEEDY SINGH

Genre                    Sports/Drama

Release Date         23rd September

Director                Robert Lieberman

Duration                95 minutes

Cast                      Vinay Virmani,Camilla Belle,Anupam Kher,Russell Peters

Pluses                   Decent concept

Minuses                Everything else is bad and cliche

Verdict                 0.5/5 (watch it if you still think that Akshay Kumar has left with any sense)

Box Office Prediction       5 crore nett will be tough!

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN

Genre                    Comedy

Release Date         23rd September

Director                Oliver Parker

Duration                101 minutes

Cast                      Rowan Atkinson,Gillian Anderson,Rosamund Pike,Dominic West,Daniel Kaluuya

Pluses                   Hilarious concept,better than prequel,good laughs at places

Minuses                Nothing new in terms of treatment,performances are letdown

Verdict                 1.5/5 (watch it if you love James Bond films-it really makes good fun out of those flicks)

Box Office Prediction       It should collect 10 crore nett

ZOOKEEPER

Genre                    Comedy

Release Date         23rd September

Director                Frank Coraci

Duration                102 minutes

Cast                      Kevin James,Rosario Dawson,Leslie Bibb,Voiceover-Sylvester Stallone,Adam Sandler

Pluses                   Nothing

Minuses                Idiotic concept,pathetic treatment,awful performances

Verdict                 0./5 (watch it if you got too many 'Anacin' to consume)

Box Office Prediction       Around 2 crore nett 

MAUSAM

Genre                    Romance/Drama

Release Date         23rd September

Director                Pankaj Kapur

Duration                150 minutes

Cast                      Shahid Kapoor,SonamKapoor,Anupam Kher

Pluses                   Beautiful locales shot well,Shahid is good and Sonam tries her best but looks out of place in 2nd half,music is apt

Minuses                Pathetic climax,big loopholes in script,too long(at least 30 minutes),lack originality

Verdict                 2/5 (watch it if you love old style typical romance on screen)

Box Office Prediction       It should collect 50 crore nett lifetime

Bollywood ka King Kaun? - 15 weeks to go 38 releases!

15 weeks to go before 2011 ends and 38 film releases to go. There are 10 biggies out of these 38 that accumulate to Rs. 5000 million budget. It is not the money alone that makes this scenario big and crucial but the kind of tussle we are going to witness makes it more interesting.

In the last 24 months or so, Aamir,Salman and even Ajay Devgan had delivered one blockbuster after another and Shah Rukh is feeling the heat. SRK has to prove his mettle again at box office with 'Ra.One' and 'Don 2'. Younger brigade would also try to earn few brownie points i.e. Shahid with 'Mausam', Ranbir with 'Rockstar', and Ranveer with 'Ladies Vs. Ricky Bahel' plus usual B grade stars would desperately try to break into A grade with potential blockbuster in their hands i.e. Saif's 'Agent Vinod', John's 'Force' and 'Desi Boyz', Ajay and Sanjay with 'Rascals' and Akshay Kumar with 'Desi Boyz'.

So lets try to predict the box office fortune of 10 biggies releasing in next 15 weeks -

Ra.One    Shah Rukh Khan,Kareena Kapoor,Arjun Rampal,Sanjay Dutt,Priyanka Chopra,Rajnikanth

Pluses  World class special effects,music is chartbuster,high decibel marketing,satellite rights already sold for highest ever 40 crores!,hot lead pair,3D release,action packed story line which is good as per recent box office trend and above all Diwali release without any significant competition

Minuses   Budget is whooping140 crores and too much expected out of it

BO Nos.   140 crore budget,Collections will be minimum 140 crore nett from domestic market and overseas should add 100 crore nett (highest ever)

DON 2      Shah Rukh Khan,Priyanka Chopra,Lara Dutta,Boman Irani,Om Puri,Kunal Kapoor

Pluses       Farhan returns as director after 4 years,SRK as anti hero cum villain is always a treat to watch,pulsating action,more stylish than prequel,first look already generated a lot of buzz,if 'Ra.One' does well at box office then this will take a record opening for sure plus solo Christmas release

Minuses   At this point nothing except may be too early to release SRK biggie with the gap of only 2 months after 'Ra.One' (first time for SRK after 1997)

BO Nos.   Budget is 70 crore,Collection will be 155 crore nett from India and 90 crore nett from overseas looks probable

AGENT VINOD      Saif Ali Khan,Kareena Kapoor

Pluses       Saif is coming back on screen as solo hero after gap of almost 2 years plus paired with Kareena, espionage thiller,international look,coming of age action

Minuses   There are rumours that it might release early next year which is already crowded with potential blockbusters line up every week in Jan and Feb 2012

BO Nos.   It can be first 100 crore nett flick for Saif, Budget is 60 crore

MAUSAM Shahid Kapoor,Sonam Kapoor

Pluses       Directorial debut of acting legend Pankaj Kapoor,melodious music,lead pair looks fresh,no major release for 2 weeks

Minuses     Concept is a bit old fashioned

BO Nos.     60 crore nett looks good against the budget of 40 crore

FORCE      John Abraham,Genelia,Vidyut

Pluses      Directed by Nishikant who won accolades with his directorial debut 'Mumbai Meri Jaan',remake of south hit,promos look promising,John in action role after long

Minuses     Music is not chart buster

BO Nos.     45 crore nett minimum will make it a hit as budget is only 20 crore

(Note - 2nd part of this article will be posted next Tuesday)

WEEKLY MOVIE GUIDE (what to watch and what to miss in Cinema)

RIVAAZ

Genre                    Drama

Release Date         16th September

Director                Ashok Nanda

Duration                110 minutes

Cast                      Deepti Naval,Meghna Naidu,Reema Lagoo,Rajendra Gupta,Ritishaa,Vijay Raaz,Yashpal Sharma

Pluses                   Different plot

Minuses                Lack of depth in storytelling,climax is below par,uninspiring performances

Verdict                 1.5/5 (watch it if you are compulsive audience of irritating films)

Box Office Prediction       It will fail to collect even 1 crore nett as there is no publicity plus plot is devoid of any entertainment

JAANA PEHCHANA

Genre                    Romance/Drama

Release Date         9th September

Director                Sachin

Duration               140 minutes

Cast                      Sachin,Ranjita,Jr. Mehmood,Birbal

Pluses                   Nothing

Minuses                Everything (believe me!)

Verdict                 0/5 (watch it if you missed flop films from 80's and try to figure out why are you watching this,can you believe that it is a sequel to 1978 hit "Ankhiyon Ke Jharokon Se' starring same lead pair!)

Box Office Prediction       Collections will be around 1 crore nett,a certain flop

CRAZY STUPID LOVE

Genre                    Romance/Comedy/Drama

Release Date         16th September

Director                Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Duration                140 minutes

Cast                      Steve Carell,Ryan Gosling,Julianne Moore,Emma Stone

Pluses                   Few really hilarious moments,Steve is awesome

Minuses                nothing new in plot,15 minutes too long

Verdict                 2.5/5 (watch it if you like run of the mill Hollywood romantic comedies)

Box Office Prediction       It will collect around 2 to 3 crore nett in India as there is no major release this weekend

WEEKLY MOVIE GUIDE (what to watch and what to miss in Cinema)

MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN

Genre                    Romance/Comedy/Drama

Release Date         9th September

Director                Ali Abbas Zafar

Duration                140 minutes

Cast                      Katrina Kaif,Imran Khan,Ali Zafar,Parikshit Sahani,Kanwaljit,John Abraham(Cameo)

Pluses                   Lead pair chemistry is sparkling,Katrina looks good (Only looks good again!),Imran is honest performer,Music is chart buster,climax is good too

Minuses                Needs at least 20 minutes of editing,too many songs in first half,plot is photocopied from 'Pardes'

Verdict                 2.5/5 (watch it if you like feel good cinema Yash Raj style)

Box Office Prediction       It will collect big numbers at ticket window as lead pair is hot and treatment is fresh but release of 'Mausam' will restrict its business in 2nd week,65 crore nett looks probable

CONTAGION

Genre                    Drama

Release Date         9th September

Director                Steven Soderbergh

Duration                105 minutes

Cast                      Jude Law,Kate Winselet,Matt Damon,Gywneth Paltrow

Pluses                   Extraordinary plot,classy treatment,award winning performances,awesome product

Minuses                Nothing except takes time to settle after initial 15 minutes

Verdict                 4/5 (watch it if you want to experience what's the magic of cinema,a must watch)

Box Office Prediction       It will collect in the range of 10-12 crore nett as it is a selected release

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

Genre                    Romance

Release Date         9th September

Director                Will Gluck

Duration                109 minutes

Cast                      Justin Timberlake,Mila Kunis,Patricia Clarkson

Pluses                   Lead pair performs well,climax is good

Minuses                Predictable plot,story drags after first hour,comic scenes do not evoke laughs

Verdict                 1.5/5 (watch it if you want to see one more routine hollywod rom-com)

Box Office Prediction       It will collect between 5-7 crore nett