1957 Audio Songs
All songs →Related News
More news →Immortal Titans of World Cinema
It's just out of the question about anyone supervening upon their statuses; Biggies of tinsel town Michael Crichton and Bollywood's B.R. Chopra lasting their breaths. A day before, we had B.R. Chopra, big time producer of Hindi film fraternity passing away. A versatile personality who churned blockbusters of new-dimensioned genres 'Naya Daur', 'Gumrah', 'Humraaz', 'Dhundh', 'Insaaf ka Tarazoo' and 'Nikah'. If young lads and missies aren't aware about his identity, he remained a rigid base for his younger brother Yash Chopra in building Yash Raj Films'. Well, a recipient of Filmfare's lifetime achievement award in 2003, his epical TV series of 'Mahabharatha' are imprinted in the successful pages of Indian Television. So, who's this man, Michael Crichton? A noetic personality in the history of Hollywood and if you're well-versed with the world of cinema, there needn't be any intros about him. A doctor by profession and his insatiable passion on films transcended him into a novelist, screenwriter and eventually an auteur. His well-crafted scripts and novels The Andromeda Strain, Westworld, Jurassic Park and his award-winning series ER is still ruling worldwide audiences (ER is now on its 15th and final episode). If he wasn't there penning the beauteous scintillating thrillers, then Steven Spielberg wouldn't have topped the charts of World Cinema with his Jurassic Park' Some of his best enchanting novel-made-into-pictures were The Great Train Robbery with himself directing it, Disclosure, Twister, The Lost World and more. Everyone loves ennobling him 'Big and beautiful' and how about world losing such a personality. Michael Crichton aged 66, lasted his breath on Tuesday after his terrific struggle with cancer. In a message posted to his official website, voices of Crichton's family members have released a statement and here goes the excerpt' "While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us - and entertained us all while doing so- his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes. He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget." Let us express our heartiest condolences to family and close relatives of these versatile entities that their soul may rest in peace. Nevertheless, their spellbinding pieces of works would make them immortal in ages to come'.
Box office analysis-August 23 , 2007
First weekend performance of latest release After a flurry of entertaining films in weeks gone by, last Friday turned out to be pretty inconsequential last for Bollywood. To get it straight, the opening of MARIGOLD could well be on par with one of Salman's recent dud SHAADI KARKE PHAS GAYA YAAR! And that's one terrible comparison since while SKPGY opened to pathetic numbers due to it's release after being 6 years in the making, MARIGOLD didn't fare well either in spite of being touted as Salman's Hollywood project. What could be the reason behind near to negligible opening collections for the film? A) It's thanda promotion. B) Zero hype about the film's theme C) Below average music. D) Unimpressive publicity material. E) Last but not the least, it's dated feel. There was hardly any attempt by the makers to showcase it as a fresh project. So while these were the factors which contributed to zilch foot falls over the first weekend, an ever ending list of deltas in the basic product itself made sure that there was all around negativity about the film. Result? The film would go down as the biggest disasters ever for Salman. Second release of the week, BUDDHA MAR GAYA, was always a dicey project to begin with. Such projects could go either ways - be a big success, just scrape through or struggle to recover investment. As things stand today, the film is on shaky grounds. Though situation isn't expected to improve with HEYY BABYY, RAM GOPAL VARMA KI AAG, DARLING and DHAMAAL coming in quick succession, makers may be hoping that in smaller centers, the film brings in moolah which could help it break even in a long run. This Rahul Rawail film did bring in laughs but as the first show commenced, the news was out that this was not meant to be a film which could fetch universal acceptance. This was a step back to begin with for this below-the-belt-and-just-staying-there comedy. Also, in subsequent weeks, number of biggies are releasing one after another. For a family which at an average could afford to see one or maximum two movies a month, BUDDHA MAR GAYA was the one to let go! Last week's movies One can't remember any movie coming after RANG DE BASANTI which fetched such unanimous appreciation from all corners. While some sections of media had gone all out to paint a poor picture about the film throughout it's making, the audiences came up with a tight slap of it's own as they praised the film to the skies. By the time the Wednesday holiday of 15th August was through, the writing was clear on the wall. Collecting more than 20 crores in the first week with A, B as well as C centers coming up with heartfelt collections, this offbeat yet thoroughly entertaining film is now en route to be a huge success. The film did tremendous in Mumbai which contributed with more than 5 crores. Delhi was terrific too with 2.5 crores + whereas NCR was tremendous with more than 1.75 crores coming in. Pune was superb with 1.25 crores + while Ahmedabad too came close to 1 crore mark, hence making CHAK DE INDIA an all around success. The way film is being patronized, expect a fall of only around 35% in the second week. Shahrukh Khan did have a money spinner in KANK followed by a designated hit in DON but still certain sections of media preferred to paint an alternate picture. Thankfully with CHAK DE INDIA, there are no justifications for doing otherwise as the audience has come out in full force for the film. YRF too get one of their most 'respected' earners in the recent time while Shimit Amin finds himself to be recognized as a film maker who can direct an underworld film with as much panache as a sports based film. KAAFILA has broken records when it comes to disasters. In it's first week release across 400+ screens, it has earned only around 3 crores, which is 1 crore lesser than Sunny's own TESRI AANKH - THE HIDDEN CAMERA (2006)! The film has failed in totality, at least in India, though the makers are claiming good overseas collections. A complete non starter, it first got a disastrous opening and later suffered from extremely bad word of mouth. While Mumbai was far more respectable with only 35 lakhs coming in, Delhi failed to touch 25 lakhs. This time around even loyal North belt fans of Sunny Deol gave KAAFILA a cold shoulder. While the film was more or less discontinued from majority of theaters after week one, there are not many chances for a third week running. Third release of the week, THE BLUE UMBRELLA couldn't even make it to the Top-5 of the week. With a scant (and disinterested) release, the film was hardly seen by many and the 30 lakhs all India total more than proved the point. Looking at the kind of promotion by UTV and the box office fate, one strongly feels that the film would have served itself better had it seen a direct DVD release. From the past CASH has added on to the list of movies in recent past which have seen a good first week but poor word of mouth to completely crash in the second week. The film has taken more than 80% drop to collect merely 3 crores in the second week. At 20 crores, the film is a flop though good revenue coming from the first week means that the losses would be minimal. The promos too have been pulled off the air for last few days which means a disappointing fate for a film which tried to tell things differently. It was quite clear last week itself that only miracle could have saved GANDHI MY FATHER to be a debacle that it has eventually turned out to be. Somehow producer Anil Kapoor was confident that his film would rope in audience with an extended stay at the theaters but exhibitioners didn't quite mirror his thoughts. There weren't many foot falls from audience as well which resulted in this well made film dropping by more than 70% and bring home mere 65 lakhs. At 3 crores, the film is a box office disaster. NAYA DAUR too met with a similar fate and crashed completely in it's second week. With just 20 lakhs coming in after a 80% fall, the film has wrapped up after crossing 1 crore mark. The only film that survived the CHAK DE INDIA onslaught and stayed on to be audience favorite was PARTNER. Collecting close to 4 crores after seeing a drop of only around 40% in it's 4th week, the film is standing at close to 58.5 crores and is all set to break the 60 crore barrier as the week comes to a close. Mumbai held on excellently with further contribution of 80 lakhs though Delhi fell from 65 lakhs to 30 lakhs. In the future A baby is all set to slaughter a young romantic lead this weekend as HEYY BABYY comes face to face with a small film called KAISE KAHE. HEYY BABYY has created immense hype around itself and is expected to take a very good start (70%-80%) all over. A family film, it would attract audience across all age groups. On the other hand the only hope KAISE KAHE has is a spill over audience, though even that isn't much of a possibility due to a show-an-hour release which HEYY BABYY is enjoying at the multiplexes!
Box office analysis-August 16 , 2007
First weekend performance of latest release: All talks revolved around CHAK DE INDIA in the weekend gone by. And no, for a change (thankfully), there weren't mixed reports that were making the rounds around the town. No one stood up and said that 'maza nahi aaya'! In fact it was heartening to see that both industry as well as audience was unanimous in hailing it as a landmark film for everyone involved. And no, it wasn't just a case of only critics giving it a 4 star rating and audience appreciating it just for an 'effort'. Instead the film has proved to be a wholesome massy entertainer with even commoners accepting it wholeheartedly with feedback ranging from very good to excellent. The film opened to a positive note and by the time Friday dawned, the word of mouth had spread like a wild fire. As the nation woke up on Saturday morning, the SMSs and calls were the order of the day as everyone acknowledged the fact that Shimit Amin and Jaideep Sahni had done which other film makers had mainly tried in the past when it came to making a film for the house of Yash Raj Films. They ensured that a film was made which stayed rooted to it's theme without being trapped in the world of glitz and glamour. A win for Shimit, Jaideep and of course Shahrukh Khan without whom CHAK DE INDIA wouldn't have been what it is today, the film has proved to be a surprise of the season and is poised to be a big hit in the coming weeks. The kind of product KAAFILA is, it wouldn't have met with a different fate even if it came as a sole release of the month, let aside a week. A film that came with a unique theme, it was hampered by substandard execution which proved to be it's undoing. The film's USP, Sunny Deol, was conspicuous by his lack of prominent presence in the film's publicity while his late entry in the film too didn't quite amuse his fans. The result was that a) film took a poor opening and b) it is garnering bad word of mouth that doesn't promise a rosy picture for the film's prospects. While CHAK DE INDIA was talked about for it's high quality and KAAFILA for the lack of it, THE BLUE UMBRELLA wasn't talked about at all. Now this is a scenario of the worst kind since it means that a) audience hadn't even heard about it's release and b) they were just not interested in giving it a dekko. Result? A near to negligible opening for this Vishal Bhardwaj film that could see it coming on home video sooner than expected. Last week's movies: When CASH opened last Friday, many talked about the film as being disaster of the year. It was always a good idea to at least wait for the film's first week and as things stand today, a 17 crore first week total isn't what disasters are made of. While Mumbai saw an excess of 2.5 crores coming in, Delhi was good too at 1.5 crores + with NCR bringing in another 75 lakhs. A high print count coupled with a good opening weekend has ensured that the film scrapes through to being coverage at the least. Sadly, at the moment it seems that 'coverage' is the box office status with which it would have to content itself since CHAK DE INDIA has opened to a tremendous response with all other movies in the running getting impacted in the big way. Anubhav Sinha should now quickly move to his next venture and forget the CASH making experience as a bad dream! Miracle, and only a miracle can save GANDHI MY FATHER from being a box office failure that it may turn out eventually. Opening to a poor response and garnering more of appreciation than good box office prospects, this Anil Kapoor production has just not picked up at the box office. In spite of very good performances, the film's collections were only in the tune of 2.25 crores with Mumbai being foremost at 75 lakhs. Delhi came second with 30 lakhs but that's about it. Even in the second week, there aren't many who are patronizing the film which means that the film would be remembered for it's class but would now have to search for an audience in the home video circuits. Releasing in a 'naya daur', i.e. 21st century, NAYA DAUR failed to entice audience to the theaters and couldn't even touch the 1 crore mark. At 90 lakhs and a slashed print count in it's second week, NAYA DAUR couldn't come remotely close to the kind of box office performance that MUGHAL E AZAM boasted of when re-released two years back. An unexciting promotion is the biggest reason for the film hardly creating a buzz. Also, the film hardly had a grandeur appeal which could have excited the audience to visit this film coming from the 50s. From the past: In spite of being in the running for third week and CASH proving to be a competition, PARTNER boasted of another 7 crores coming in. When compared to the week gone by, it may appear to be a 60% fall but if one looks at yet another great week bringing in the kind of collections that number of films bring in their first week, PARTNER is nothing short of a blockbuster already. While Mumbai enjoyed yet another 1 crore + week, Delhi had 65 lakhs to boast with NCR bringing in 25 lakhs more. At 55 crores and all set to cross the 60 crore mark, PARTNER would go down as one of those films that arrive as a hurricane, make a big mark, create a sensation all over and register themselves firmly in the history books. PARTNER would go down as a surprise blockbuster of the decade so far! The only other film that managed to record some good collections amidst all the competition in the week gone by was APNE. The film has been doing quite steady business even in it's 6th week with 30 lakhs more added to it's total. At 27 crores, the film is now looking at ending it's theatrical run. Still, for weeks to come the film would be seen by audience all over as it's DVDs have been out on the stands for around a fortnight and have been doing wonderfully well. In the future: On any given day, a Salman Khan film would have created more hype than the one starring Rakhi Sawant. Well, this Friday the trend may just change as BUDDHA MAR GAYA clearly seems to be in a much comfortable state than MARIGOLD. While BUDDHAR MAR GAYA has benefited from it's limited but good publicity of just three weeks, MARIGOLD has suffered due to being in the news for so long that it almost seems like a dated product. As of today, the film is carrying near to negligible buzz with hardly the kind of promotion which befits a Salman Khan starrer. Expect a poor box office start for the film. On the other hand BUDDHA MAR GAYA should open decent as the comedy featuring Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal and Om Puri has managed to attract good eyeballs.
Box office analysis-August 09 , 2007
First weekend performance of latest release Expectation of 60-70% opening for CASH was quoted in this very column last week. It was also mentioned that if that happens, it should be a happy scenario for this Anubhav Sinha directed film since the film was arriving at an enormous 700+ prints just in India. The opening for this action caper was exactly on the same lines as the film took a very good opening all over with collections falling under the same bracket as predicted. Though the audience reaction for the film is mixed while ranging from good to bad, the opening weekend promises to take the film past the safety mark. GANDHI MY FATHER was promoted heavily but couldn't get the houseful boards on it's release. It wasn't expected anyways but still a decent start in the vicinity of 50% was expected. Sadly that didn't quite happen as the film has seen a disappointing beginning at the box office. Though the reviews for the film have been fair to very good, audience reaction is yet again mixed. No one hates the film but the serious theme has made many stay away from the theaters and instead wait for August bonanza to bring on more entertainers in the coming weeks. NAYA DAUR is not been patronized at all and has failed to create any buzz around it even after it's release. There was no point expecting repetition of a MUGHAL E AZAM here but a poor opening means that this experimentation of re-coloring the film won't quite pay the expected dividends. Last week's movies There was no notable release in the previous week. From the past CASH postponement by a week meant an additional 'cash' for David Dhawan's PARTNER. The film held on amazingly well in spite of a record print count in the second week for a Bollywood film. In spite of majority of multiplex screens showing PARTNER the film took less than 40% fall in it's second week and went on to collect more than 18 crores. While Mumbai continued to be strongest at 3.5 crores, Delhi was superb too at 2 crores. Both NCR and Ahmedabad held on well at 90 lakhs each. At 48 crores and still counting mega bucks, PARTNER is now a blockbuster and the biggest ever success for everyone associated with the film. It's time now for preparation of NAQAB DVDs to be out on stands as the film took another mighty fall in it's 3rd week in spite of PARTNER being the only competition. With collections dropping by 70% and only 75 lakhs coming in, it's a miserable end for a film which tried to tell a new story. With 15 crores as the current total for the film, the losses may not be huge for it's investors but this is the maximum distance that the film would have traveled now. APNE did quite well to hold on for one more week before the film's DVDs arrived at the stands just recently. After a 65% fall last week, it stabilized to collect 70 lakhs more with only 40% fall in collections. Standing close to 27 crores, it should end up around 27.5 crores in it's overall run and be certified as a semi-hit. The film's DVDs though may as well earn a super-hit tag for themselves since their low price [just around Rs. 50/=] would mean huge sales and further reach to the audience. A smart move! AAP KAA SURROOR also earned 20 lakhs more though it too is now on it's way out after collecting close to 19 crores. A hit for Himesh, it has resulted in announcements of two more biggies from the actor/composer/singer - KARZ remake and AAP KAA SURROOR 2 - AY HIMESH BHAI. Kya baat hai bhai! In the future Two biggies and one small film are going to be different flavors to choose from this weekend. While everyone is but naturally expected to watch CHAK DE INDIA, loyal Sunny fans are expected to ensure that KAAFILA takes a decent start at the least. CHAK DE INDIA is surely expected to rake in big moolah throughout the week, especially due to 15th August holiday falling mid-week but the real surprise could be KAAFILA. It's a kind of film which could turn out to be a dark horse. With Sunny regaining a lot of ground with the success of APNE, he may surprise the audience once again. Between the two biggies, BLUE UMBRELLA comes ready to be sandwiched. The film's promotion was at peak earlier this year but for certain reasons the release was kept on hold. Now when it is eventually being released, it virtually arrives unsung. Sad!
Box office analysis-August 02 , 2007
First weekend performance of latest release There was no notable release in the week gone by with an offbeat BOW BARRACKS FOREVER being the only new film at the theaters. As expected, the film didn't find any takers. Last week's movies The unthinkable has happened. No one, not even David Dhawan would have ever imagined PARTNER to be the kind of success it has become. As a solo release of the week, the film opened to an unbelievable response and stayed on to do excellent business throughout the first week. Result? The film has now joined the league of big budget extravaganzas like DHOOM:2, KANK, KRRISH and DON when it comes to all time high opening week collections. While DHOOM:2 sits at the top with 35 crores, PARTNER has ended up raking 30 crores which is phenomenal to say the least. KANK (28 crores), KRRISH (26.5 crores) and DON (24.5 crores) now follow behind. Tremendous to say the least, the film continues to attract audience due to two major reasons. The film has garnered excellent word of mouth with repeat audience flocking the theaters too. As a result the film collected 6 crores in Mumbai, 2.5 crores in Delhi, and 1.25 crores each in Delhi NCR and Ahmedabad. Excellent! David Dhawan, Govinda and Salman Khan have struck big time, and how. The film is still creating records and it's second week billing is expected to be huge too due to zero release factor. From the past Last week itself, one could sense that 70% fall for NAQAAB was imminent. It has been worse in fact as the film crashed completely by suffering as much as a 80% fall. In line with the kind of disastrous second week response that JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM experienced a few weeks back, NAQAAB is now a certified looser at the box office with just 2.5 crores more coming in second week. While Mumbai crashed from 2 crores to 35 lakhs, Delhi had a horrific fall from 1 crore to just around 10 lakhs. At 14 crores, the film is expected to take a head on fall over next fortnight as well and vanish from the theaters soon. A city film, it hardly has any chances in the B and the C centers where the prints are expected to be in circulation now. While for Abbas Mustan it is indeed a sad situation since their 36 CHINA TOWN also got a lot of flak, Akshaye Khanna can take solace from the fact that he has GANDHI MY FATHER coming this Friday. For Bobby Deol, the film's failure shouldn't matter as he has been getting wholesome appreciation for his recent work while Urvashi Sharma can take heart from the fact that in spite of limited stay at the screen, the film has showcased her talent and got her noticed. PARTNER mania in the week gone by meant that each of the other films in the running was swept over. BOMBAY TO GOA wasn't an exception as it too fell by 80% to register only 10 lakhs more. Still, the film has done it's job and is ending with 2.5 crore + total. Yet another comedy of the season that has paid dividends. APNE saw minimum fall though strictly on a comparative note. It did get 1.25 crore more but still fell by more than 65%. PARTNER wave hit it hard, though in the subsequent weeks it is expected to stabilize relatively. At 26 crores, the film can expect at least 2 more decent weeks at the box office after which it should be time for the film's arrival on DVDs and VCDs. On the other hand both AAP KAA SURROOR and AWARAPAN fell by around 70% to earn 50 lakhs and 20 lakhs more respectively. In the last leg of their theatrical run, AAP KAA SURROOR sits at 18.5 crores whereas AWARAPAN at 8.25 crores is showing signs of folding up. Expect each of the films to fold up soon since August is a movie heavy month with as many as 6 biggies planned for release one after another. In the future Destiny has it's own cruel way of looking at things. At one point of time GANDHI MY FATHER was supposed to be the sole release of 3rd August. In fact the release date was announced by Anil Kapoor weeks back and the film looked all set to explore the market of it's target audience on it's arrival. In the meanwhile CASH imbroglio resulted in number of changes in it's release plans. Finally, the worst has happened as this action/thriller by Anubhav Sinha would be clashing with Feroz Abbas Khan's GANDHI MY FATHER. No brownie points for guessing that CASH would be taking a good (and a much better) start at the box office. Looking at an opening of at least 60-70% (which should be good considering the fact that almost 700 prints are being circulated in India alone), CASH should be the talk of the town over the weekend. On the other hand GANDHI MY FATHER is expected to take a slow though positive start at the box office. If the quality of story telling is good (which pretty much seems to be the case), the film should remain consistent over next few weeks. NAYA DAUR is the third release of the week but this Dilip Kumar classic is not expected to open in the same range as MUGHAL E AZAM did a few years back when released in a colored version. For those thirsting for nostalgia, it may be a good venture but for most CASH followed by GANDHI MY FATHER should be the first two choices of the week.