*The poor run of films at the box office continues unabated save for an odd Dangal or a reasonable entertainer in Badrinath Ki Dulhania. Not that any of these films can sustain a multiscreen cinema complex for more than a few weeks
The week saw two new releases, Phillauri and Anaarkali of Aarah, both female-oriented and also off the beaten track. Phillauri saw actor Anushka Sharma turn producer launching her production banner, Clean Slate Films. The sustainability of such a films is grossly limited and they draw footfalls, albeit in limited numbers, barely for a weekend.
A lot of actors are turning to production activities. But, Anushka, rather than take cue from her peers such as Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, and make a commercially viable film, chose an abstract theme, that of superstition and supernatural. The intent seems to be awards rather than rewards; probably for the protagonist, Anushka herself, as well as for some technical aspects like special effects. What good is an award if the people have not taken to your film?
What raises a question, besides the choice of subject, is that what was the logic of making a film almost entirely in Punjabi?
*Phillauri, counting on only Anushka Sharma to draw the crowds could not quite manage that. The film’s opening was not encouraging, with Punjab where the film’s lead actor, Diljit Dusanjh is a big star, faring little better. The film colledted Rs 13.9 crore for its opening weekend
*Anaarkali Of Aarah, though a local story of Bihar, and with rural background, found some appreciation as the film offered some great performances by its main actors, Swara Bhaskar, Sanjai Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi. However, these factors did not reflect on the film’s box office collections as the film remained in the range of a few lakh.
*Director duo Abbas Mustan, who gave many successful films with various actors in their career as directors, failed badly when it came to launching their family scion, Mustafa. A totally outdated story idea and patchy script were not the right recipe to launch an actor. The film managed to collect Rs 3.25 crore in its first week.
*Trapped collected Rs 2.1 crore in its first week.
*Aa Gaya Hero proves to be the swan song for Govinda’s career. Must hurt more because this also happened to be his home production. The film struggled to cross the one crore mark to end its first and last week with the figures of a little over one crore.
*Badrinath Ki Dulhania, made the most of poor crop of new releases. The film collected Rs 26.6 crore in its second week and is still holding steady in its third week. The film has taken its two week total to Rs 99.2 crore.
*Commando 2 added Rs 35 lakh in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 23.95 crore.
*The Ghazi Attack has added Rs 40 lakh in its fifth week taking its five week tally to Rs 19.3 crore.
