Category - Bollywood

Rock On 2 shoot nears its end, Farhan tweets

The short final shooting schedule of ‘Rock On 2’ is nearing its end. Actor Farhan Akhtar, who plays the lead role, thanked his team. “As the Rock On 2 journey nears its end, the riders step off one by one. Thank you Shashank S Arora .. It’s been a pleasure. Keep shining” Farhan tweeted.

Sanam Re Weekend Box Office Collections

Sanam Re, made on less than half the budget of Fitoor, has emerged as the winner of the clash this week. It isn’t a big winner at the domestic market like Bajirao Mastani or Airlift, but has probably done enough to just about recover costs by the end of its first week. The film opened to a decent response on Friday, picked up by around 10% on Saturday and showed a big jump in business on Valentine’s Day. The drop is more than 50% at most centres today (Monday).

IndicineLBO Update and Trade Notes

IndicineLBO Update and Trade notes: Airlift remains the only big success so far this year. All other films have disappointed. Fitoor has been the biggest disappointment, as it’s unlikely to recover even its marketing expenses. The distributor’s share will struggle to cross the 15 crore mark, the film should finish with lifetime business of around 25 crore. Love Shuddha and Neerja release this week. The Sonam Kapoor film might take a decent opening at the box office, there is interest to watch the film. As for Love Shuddha, not many are even aware of the fact that the film is releasing this weekend. Kapoor and Sons was looking like yet another ‘Shaandaar’ from Dharma, but the theatrical trailer has received a overwhelmingly positive response. All eyes will now be on the music. Chull is a potential chartbuster, the first song promo will be out tomorrow. Kapoor and Sons is now trending above the 50 crore mark on IndicineLBO. The trailer of Ki and Ka was released at 2PM today, the initial response has been positive. We start IndicineFBO (first day prediction) of Ki and Ka at Rs 6.3 crore. Meanwhile, Shah Rukh Khan will begin the promotional campaign of FAN tomorrow. It’ll be the superstar’s first non-festive release after My Name Is Khan (2010) and also the first Khan film to release in the first half of the year after Jai Ho. The 2nd major shooting schedule of Rock On 2 has resumed. Sultan shoot is in progress in Mumbai, Anushka Sharma has begun shooting. The film is on schedule to release during Eid. Akshay Kumar has started shooting for Rustom, he has also allocated around 65 days to shoot for the costliest Indian film of all time Robot 2.0. There are reports that sets used to shoot one action scene, has cost the makers more than the production costs of most other Tamil films. Reports of Raees shoot getting disrupted has been highly exaggerated in the media, the Gujarat government has beefed up the security and police force has ensured that the shoot progressed smoothly. Shah Rukh is shooting about 10 kilometres to the south of Ahmedabad. The Bhuj schedule was wrapped up last week. Hrithik’s injury is said to have delayed the first schedule of Sanjay Gupta’s Kaabil (unconfirmed)

Ki and Ka Trailer

The theatrical trailer of Ki and Ka starring Arjun Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan in the lead is out. The film has been...

Yet another shirtless picture of Salman from Sultan

The director of Sultan, Ali Abbas Zafar, has been posting regular updates on the film on his official Twitter page. The director of ‘Gunday’ has now released yet another shirtless picture of Salman Khan, who plays the role of a wrestler in the film.

AskIndicine: Bollywood QnA

More than 450 questions, so here we go.. Q. Why public response for Fitoor is so disastrous? A. It’s because the appeal of such films is niche. Even metro city audience aren’t too excited about watching arty films in theatre. They wait for critic or social media reviews to find out if it’s worth a watch. Unfortunately for Fitoor and the industry, the response to the film was very poor. It scored 2.3 on our critic review scale, when such films usually need to get better reviews than what Airlift got. Q. What will be the opening day collection of FAN? – Monu A. It would depend on several factors like release size, theatrical trailer, music etc. 20 crore plus opening will be considered excellent for a film like FAN. Our first FBO prediction will be out as soon as the trailer is out, so stay tuned for that. Q. Why the collection of Airlift is just 120 crore, with positive word of mouth, good review and more hype? A. The lifetime collections of Airlift is excellent (which is 125 crore and not 120 crore). It should be compared to other off-beat films like Talaash and not commercial films like Rowdy Rathore or Dilwale. It’s the genre that limited the box office prospects of the film. It has little or no appeal outside 25 odd cities. Q. Which hero till today has delivered the highest number of hits starting way back from Dilip Kumar or even before? A. Such questions need a more detailed analysis, something which we cannot do in live QnA’s. It should be Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar with 35 and Shah Rukh Khan with 32 successful films at the top of the list. SRK has the best success ratio as he has done fewer films than Salman. Akshay has done 100 plus films, compared to Salman’s 70 plus and SRK’s 55 plus. We need to analyse Amitabh Bachchan’s career for a more detailed answer. Q. When will Sultan’s teaser or trailer be released? A. The shoot is still in progress so it’s way too early to discuss the teaser / trailer release. Even the makers wouldn’t know the date as of now. The trailer might come out sometime in May. They might release a teaser earlier. Q. What is the total nett collections of Baahubali in India ? (All versions Hindi+Tamil+Telugu) What is the total Worldwide Collections of Baahubali? A. The domestic collections of Baahubali, according to the makers of the film, crossed the Rs 500 crore figure (gross). The worldwide gross is said to be in the Rs 610 crore range. Q. What do you think about Shahrukh Khan’s career in past 5 years. After My Name Is Khan his movies failed to achieve critical acclaim? – Rishabh A. Critical acclaim is not important. Very few films that are loved by the critics, go on to do well at the box office. What’s important is doing films that the audience like. And today, the audience wants a film that has a good story to tell and also has entertainment value. Q. In terms of fan base who is a bigger star among these.. Salman, SRK, Akshay, Aamir, Hrithik and Ajay? – Satyajit A. Salman and SRK are the top stars, as far as fan-following is concerned. Salman leads in India and SRK edges him out overseas. You can see from the craze that even their Bigg Boss appearance generates, or for that matter the craze around their birthdays both amongst the audience, fans that gather outside their house and the media coverage that it gets. Q. Who will be number one hero in next 5 years. When Khans will be not in contention as their age does not permit to be hero? A. Khans (with all due respect, does not include Zayed, Fardeen and co) have lasted way longer than they themselves would have hoped to. Salman and Aamir are probably at the peak of their popularity and could sustain their stardom for many more years. Rajnikanth is still the top star in the Tamil film industry, romances heroines almost a third his age (Amy Jackson is 24, Rajni is 65). As they get older, it’s all about spacing films out and finding suitable scripts. It’ll be interesting to see if they move on to work with the next generation of top female stars. As for who is the next big star.. it could be anyone. Ranveer are Varun are currently leading the race, but things could change with one or two flops, like it has with Ranbir. Becoming the top star in Bollywood and establishing your following is like running a marathon. It takes time, patience and a lot of hard work. Even Hrithik had to struggle after Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai. Salman has gone through low phases, even Aamir has. Akshay and Ajay didn’t have the following that they now have, back in the 90s. Q. Have no question to ask. Just wanted to compliment you on the excellent work that this site is doing on bollywood reporting. Your box office analysis on various films/stars makes intriguing reading. The high no of questions that get asked on AskIndicine are a testimony to your increasing popularity. If you guys can also get interviews of stars/directors wherein the questions will be asked by you, it would be great.This is certainly one of the best and trusted sites which I often visit to get all the information on movies/box office. Keep up the good work. A. First of all, thank you for visiting and reading. As for interviews, it can be done. But we do not like the whole process of handling egos, waiting for stars. They usually give interviews prior to the release of their films and they do not like talking about box office. Hundreds of sites publish interviews and if you read even some of them, most sentences are repeated. ‘He / she was amazing as a co-star, it was great working with’, ‘signed the movie for its story’, ‘blown away by the script’, ‘the director is a genius’, ‘it’s my co-star’s best performance’.  Hrithik said Katrina’s best performance was in Bang Bang. That says a lot, doesn’t it? Stars can’t be honest and frank in their interviews, so it’s pointless in a way. Having said that, what we would like to do is, take a list of questions from our readers and then get stars to answer them. Q. After blockbuster hit PRDP, are Sooraj Barjatya and Salman Khan teams up again for another project? A. The blockbuster part is not true and so are rumours of them coming together. There is a new website that is writing a lot of rubbish to garner publicity, most of what they are writing is baseless. Q. Who is the main lead in Robot 2.0? A. Same as Robot 1 / Endhiran. But Akshay has a meaty role to play, the makers have said the two characters are equally matched. Q. Why is their difference between Producers figure and Trade figure of a film collection and which one is accurate? A. Both are not 100% accurate. Q. Which is Best Year in SRK’s career according to you – 1993, 1995, 2004, 2007? A. 1995, one all-time blockbuster (DDLJ) and one blockbuster (Karan Arjun). Solo release-wise, 2007 because of Om Shanti Om and Chak De India. It was a great year simply because of the fact that one film was a acclaimed classic and the other became the top grosser of all time. Q. Yesterday, you said that Fitoor needs to collect 70-75 CR just to recover costs only.. My question is why these filmmakers spend so much on a film when they know that there is a very little chance of recovery. In today’s time when we see that every second film is failing, then why spending so much on a movie with no face value?  A. From the makers point of view, Abhishek Kapoor’s first two films were also niche, Rock On and Kai Po Che. But both did fairly well at the box office. When Fitoor was planned, Katrina was the top female star in the industry and Aditya Roy Kapur was coming after a big film like ‘Aashiqui 2’. So they probably thought the interesting pairing might work, along with Abhishek Kapoor as director. A lot also depends on the timing of release, because careers can change any Friday. Anurag Basu and Ranbir decided to produce Jagga Jasoos soon after the success of Barfi, look at where the film is now. It once had everything going for it, now almost nothing. Both the lead stars, who were back then one of the tops stars, are now going through the lowest phase in their respective careers. It’s easy to ridicule the makers with the benefit of hindsight, but no filmmaker, actor or producer sets out to do a film that they believe is certain to fail. Getting the economics right is also difficult, because every director has a certain vision for his films. Tamasha would have probably worked if it was not shot at a exotic foreign location. A film like Badlapur would fail if it was made on a budget of 35-40 crore. At the same time, if there is a compromise made on the budget and the product is not upto expectations scale and setting wise, it might again disappoint the audience and fail at the box office. Q. Why do you think Komal Nahta tweeted that Raees is being postponed? Was it a promotional gimmick ? Please share your thoughts – Aban A. We are not quite sure what happened there. From what we know, Komal and Ritesh are close, Komal does visit Excel office to watch promos, trailers etc and he gives his feedback prior to release and after release. So both the tweet and the denial did come as a surprise. Exact reason we do not know. To be very honest, we think we know the reason for the whole drama, but can’t reveal it on a public platform that’s read by many. Q. Kapoor and Sons Trailer Rating? A. 4 stars, loved it. Not many were eagerly waiting for the film, but after the trailer everything has changed. The film looks very promising now. Q. Why media is always biased towards SRK? – Yuvraj A. That’s like asking why our media is biased towards PM Modi. Anything that SRK says or does, is big news. People like reading about his films, his off-screen persona, everything combined generates extreme reactions. People wait to write him off, even when his films gross a massive 380 crore worldwide. His fans want him to succeed, there is another bunch who want to see him fail. This is not glorying SRK, but the truth. SRK related topics are interesting to read or talk about, whether you like him or not! So when a topic is interesting, media covers it. His PR is good too. Q. Can Robot 2.0 become the first 400 crore movie in India? A. Please do not ask us such questions, it’s impossible to answer. It’s like asking if the world might end in 2020. Who knows? Robot 2.0 might do 400 crore or finish at 200 crore or do 800 crore. All depends on content. Even S.S Rajamouli said, he expected Baahubali to open slow and then slowly gain momentum. But Baahubali was record-smashing opener and record-breaking grosser. Anything can happen. Robot 2 is a massive film under a fantastic director and popular stars. Akshay’s presence will further increase its reach. This is the best answer we can give at this point in time. Q. What us the meaning of term Screenplay? A. Apart from the script, it covers the visual aspects of film making. Like how a particular scene will be shot, where the songs will be included, the shooting locations etc. The Oscars awards are presented to the Best Original Screenplay as it includes the entire process of film making, which explains why you probably may have never heard of an award for Best Script – one of our many Bollywood awards might have one, but credible ones only have Best Original Screenplay. Original is also important, even screeplays that are based on novels or plays don’t win awards in that category. That ends our QnA for today. We received more than 450 questions today, we will answer a few more questions after a couple of days. Hope you enjoyed today’s QnA. Feedback is welcome in the comments section below, we do read all your comments. Thank you.  

Fitoor Box Office Collections

We reported in the morning yesterday that the opening of Abhishek Kapoor’s Fitoor was disastrous. But there was hope that the film would pick up towards the end of the day, like most such films do. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. ‘Fitoor’ has collected Rs 3.61 crore on Day 1, which is lower than both the Hollywood film ‘Deadpool’ and the other Hindi release ‘Sanam Re’.

Sushant Singh Rajput starrer ‘Raabta’ goes on floors

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who will be seen in ‘M.S Dhoni: The Untold Story’ later this year, is excited about his other film ’Raabta’. The actor says, he is obsessed with the storyline of the film. “The story I’m obsessed with. The script that has seduced me for over one year. Let’s start,” Sushant tweeted.

Gaurav Arora signed for ‘Raaz 4’

Even before the release of his debut film ‘Love Games’, Gaurav Arora has been signed for ‘Raaz 4’ starring Emraan Hashmi in the lead. The debutant says he is on cloud nine with a Bhatt film in his kitty.

Sanam Re Reviews by Critics

Sanam Re has also received poor reviews. The average rating is 1.7 stars. [mks_button size=”medium” title=”Average Rating of All ‘ Sanam Re’ Review – 1.6 stars” style=”rounded” bg_color=”#1e73be” txt_color=”#FFFFFF” icon=”” icon_type=””] Sanam Re Review by Indicine Rating: Divya Khosla Kumar does decently in trying to juggle all the plot elements together. Also because the expectations weren’t great even a “not bad” film has ended up feeling entertaining. Sanam Re has few slow portions but the story moves forward briskly. Even though the humour induced by the writers work only on juveniles, we don’t mind it. What we didn’t like, however, was the rampant objectification of women in the film. And Divya being a woman director should have seriously done better. Like Fitoor which also released this week, Sanam Re has also been shot in picturesque locations. It looks very good even though the frames are not as subtle as they are Fitoor. The editing doesn’t hurt the film. The music is probably the USP of Sanam Re, as most of the songs are hummable. T-Series have once again delivered a competent soundtrack. Sanam Re, Ghazab Ka Hai Yeh Din stayed with us the most. Sanam Re Review by Bollywood Hungama Rating: Pulkit Samrat excels in a role that required him to be subtle and emote when he’s not expected to say anything. He’s in great shape and looks every bit the romantic icon on the lines of Salman Khan, Rajesh Khanna etc. Yami Gautam looks deliriously pretty and a perfect girl from the mountains. She surprises with her intensity and intensity. Urvashi Rautela is the surprise packet of the film. She looks beautiful, acts well and adds a solid oomph quotient to the film which is one of the highlight of the film. Rishi Kapoor always surprises with his laid back genius. He’s a delight as the old man who moves you immensely and leaves you with a smile. Sanjeev Datta has written the story and screenplay while Husain Dalal and Sanjeev Datta have written the dialogues. The writing has an old world charm with brilliance of Urdu thrown in. Chandrasekhar Prajapati’s editing is lackluster and the only weak point of the film. The pace could have been slightly quicker. Divya Khosla Kumar displays a lot of maturity in tackling a complex subject with a lot of heart. She’s a director to watch out for. Sanam Re Review by Sreeju Sudhakaran on Bollywood Life Rating: As for the acting, Pulkit still tries to exorcise the ghosts of his mentor’s acting (you know whom I am talking about) and even replicates his spectacled look from Ready (now you definitely know who I am talking about!). But he lacks none of his mentor’s charms. Urvashi’s only job is to look hot (good job at that, girl), wear bikinis and lots of make-up and also pose backless. Yami has to look pretty and cry a lot in the second half. Speaking of the second half, I couldn’t make a hell of what’s happening there. Too many songs, random scenes, disappearing characters, and a WTF climax! I could crib and crib more and more…but I believe u got the gist! Sanam Re Review by Saibal Chatterjee on NDTVMovies Rating: Divya Khosla Kumar’s first film, Yaariyan, was a campus rumpus that got away with its silliness because it was targeted at a segment that has a seen and digested much worse. But Sanam Re is purported to be a more mature romance. Nothing that transpires in the film comes anywhere near living up to that expectation. As for the acting, Pulkit Samrat is fine as long as he is required to go shirtless and flaunt his chiselled body. With Yami Gautam, it is exactly the opposite – she is clearly ill at ease with all the skin show forced upon her by a script that cannot do any better. The curvaceous Urvashi Rautela, on her part, does her bit to push up the oomph quotient. But it is all an utter waste in the end. Sanam Re is a surefire cure for insomnia. Its air of somnolence is so pervasive that a yawn a minute is absolutely guaranteed. Sanam Re Review by Rohit Vats on Hindustan Times Rating: The director has given clear pointers to her actors. Pulkit needs to look a confused guy, Yami should be the innocent mountain beauty. But then, what’ll Urvashi Rautela do in this set-up? Ok, let’s make her gyrate on beaches and bathrooms. Who will enhance the hotness quotient otherwise? Nothing wrong in executing all this, but haven’t we lost that beautiful story we started with in this chaos? Sanam Re Review by Tushar Joshi on DNA India Rating: It’s a bad concept and story idea which suffers more because of poor execution. The scenes with the child stars are just annoying and only procrastinate the inevitable fate of the film. Performances are weak. Pulkit struggles to pull through most scenes without giving the same blank expression. For someone who showed a flair for comic timing in Fukrey, this is just an embarrassment. Yami and Urvashi follow the cues and do what they are asked of – cry a lot and look sexy respectively. It’s hard to believe the choices Akash makes and there is no consistency in terms of building up a solid climax. Comedy sketches with Bharti playing a God women are dull and boring. The dialogues are cringe worthy, “kya tumhare maa ka blouse tumhe fit hoga?”, asks Pulkit as Yami blushes red. Sanam Re Review by Sukanya Verma on Rediff Rating: In this schizophrenic rubbish — for it’s certainly not a script, hardly a synopsis — landscapes change faster than its cast’s wardrobe and characters suddenly appear or mysteriously vanish at the director’s whim. Divya Khosla Kumar even shows up in front of the camera, early on in an item song, vacuously gazing in and out of a medium she’s clearly struck by but just doesn’t get. Review by Jaidev Hemmady on Movietalkies Rating: The only good thing that can be said about the film is that the makers have done a great job of selecting locations and the cinematography simply takes your breath away. If you keep that away, the film has absolutely nothing to appeal to your senses. The music is quite forgettable, the direction is amateurish and the writing is pathetic. The performances are no great shakes either and the pace is sluggish. Review by Rohit Bhatnagar on Deccan Chronicle Rating: Last directed ‘Yaariyaan’, Divya Khosla Kumar needs to brush up her directing skills since her directorial looks like a holiday package for the entire team. The only good thing about ‘Sanam Re’ is that its a 120-minutes movie. And… if you thought this is how a love story is suppose to be, trust us on this one, you wouldn’t want to have one. ‘Sanam Re’ is not a love story to be watched on this Valentine’s Day. Review by Renuka Vyavahare on The Times Of India Rating: Also, frequent slowmo dream sequences drag the film way too long. The story gets predictable as events unfold in a sluggish way. The ambiguousness surrounding Yami’s character is tiresome and unnecessary. Unless you consider Himachal as your Sanam, this heartbreaking tale on sacrifice and unrequited love, loses its plot and purpose somewhere along the way, re. Review by Pooja Pillai on Indian Express Rating: Only the music, which is melodious and ear-wormy, and the locales, which are stunning, make patches of this movie bearable. The protagonists are too shallow and one-dimensional to be likeable, the dialogue is cringeworthy (the divorced Akanksha is compared to a used car) and the twists are too predictable for viewers to be emotionally invested in this film. This is a love story that should have lived and died as an idea. Review by Kriti Tulsiani on IBNLive Rating: Not everything was bad in this film, some was even worse. There wasn’t any striking chemistry either between Pulkit-Yami or Pulkit-Urvashi in this breezy romantic drama. As much as I’m moved to offer you some spoilers, I’ll have to refrain myself and manage it by saying that some scenes defy all logics (scientific, emotional and whatever-al). Review by Shubha Shetty-Saha on Mid-Day India Rating: Pulkit and Yami share a fairly decent chemistry. Only if Pulkit loosened up a bit, one would be able to see his acting talent without his muscles coming in the way. Urvashi has good screen presence and perhaps, a better sketched out role would have worked in her favour. The scenes featuring Rishi Kapoor and the child actor are endearing and the soulful music (by various composers) is a major plus point. Not a classic by any standards, but this emotional drama might catch the fancy of college-goers in search of mush this Valentine weekend. Review by Kunal Guha on Mumbai Mirror Rating: Following her unflattering directorial debut, Yaariyan, the fact that Divya Khosla Kumar gets to helm another, may get many to quip, ‘have producer husband, will direct’. But her benefactors aside, Khosla Kumar attempts a cliched love story that spans across decades and continents and tests your tolerance levels. But to the film’s credit, while the story lacks substance and is overtly simplistic, Sanjeev Datta’s screenplay ensures the sequence of events fall in place to build a tolerable narrative that can keep you mildly entertained through the 120 minutes of its runtime. Review by Sonia Chopra on Sify Rating: Sameer Arya’s cinematography is a huge savior here, although it’s curious love that is portrayed is the sappy love, sacrifice, and organ transplant for a dying character. Review by Manisha Lakhe on Nowrunning Rating: Why anyone would make such a ridiculous film based on 500 step theory and expect today’s audiences to fall in love with it is beyond any reasoning. And even though the music is decent you wish T-Series had invested in a half decent story in the least. Nothing in this film will make you book tickets to the corner seats with your valentine. In fact, you might just get dumped for your taste in movies… Be warned! Review by IANS on Zeenews Rating: The poorly-etched characters fail to connect with the audience, leaving you detached from their lives. The script, written by Sanjeev Datta, is careless and lazily drafted. It is devoid of time and space in the characters’ universe and the plot is amateurish, hence lacking focus. The pace of the film is painfully slow and nothing seemingly happens for the longest time. Average critic ratings of other movies released in 2015 – 2016 Fitoor – 2.3 stars Ghayal Once Again – 2.4 stars Sanam Teri Kasam – 1.6 stars Saala Khadoos – 2.6 stars Mastizaade – 1 stars Airlift – 3.7 stars Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 – 1 stars Wazir – 2.5 stars Dilwale – 2.5 stars Bajirao Mastani – 3.2 stars Hate Story 3 – 1.7 stars Tamasha – 3 stars Prem Ratan Dhan Payo – 2.7 stars Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 – 2.6 stars Jazbaa – 2.6 stars Singh Is Bling – 2.3 stars

Sanam Re Review

Divya Khosla Kumar delivered a hit like Yaariyaan when no one expected her to, backed by the awesome music of that film. Of course, the might of T-Series helped. Now she’s back with another romance backed by superhit songs titled Sanam Re. It’s Valentine’s season and couples need a perfect romantic film to unwind. Will Divya Khosla Kumar be able to deliver that?

Fitoor Reviews by Critics

Abhishek Kapoor’s Fitoor, a film that was expected to get rave reviews by the critics, has scored a poor average of 2.3 stars from the 19 review ratings that we have accumulated so far. The average rating is worse than Sunny Deol’s Ghayal Once Again which released last week. [mks_button size=”medium” title=”Average Rating of All ‘Fitoor’ Review – 2.3 stars” style=”rounded” bg_color=”#1e73be” txt_color=”#FFFFFF” icon=”” icon_type=””] Fitoor Review by Indicine Rating: Abhishek Kapoor clearly has grand ambitions. He tries to adapt a story as complex as Great Expectations into an Indian milieu. He mostly gets it right with how he sets the movie but everything else is a hot mess (with a cold setting). The script meanders, takes far too long to come to the point. The story moves ever too slowly and the subplots take away from the main love story. What could have been a passionate love story has almost no love/romantic scenes. A lot of the tonal inconsistencies arise from the loose adaptation of the great material. Maybe, just maybe, Abhishek Kapoor should stick to adapting Chetan Bhagat’s books for the big screen. Fitoor is gloriously shot. It is one of the best looking films of recent times. This is achieved due to the breathtaking landscapes of Kashmir, the fantastic cinematography, the great looking actors, and the lavishly put together costumes. Sadly, the editing lags and lacks any slickness. The film goes on for far too long. Even the music by Amit Trivedi doesn’t make too much of a difference. Amit needs to reinvent his music soon. And he needs to stop choosing his own voice for so many songs. None of the songs make any mark. Fitoor Review by Bollywood Hungama Rating: FITOOR’s director Abhishek Kapoor (who is best known for his films like KAI PO CHE and ROCK ON), seems extremely confused in his narrative of FITOOR. While the film does have its moments under the sun, FITOOR turns out to be such a BIG disappointment for all those who really had ‘great expectations’ (no pun intended) from the film. The film is nothing but an amalgamation of senseless, confusing and disjointed screenplay (Supratik Sen, Abhishek Kapoor) and poor direction (Abhishek Kapoor). The screenplay is sorely disappointing, thus making the film look like an arthouse cinema featuring popular stars. What adds to the downfall of the film is also the odd pairing of Aditya Roy Kapur and Katrina Kaif, who lack the much needed chemistry to ‘light up’ a movie of this genre. After a point, the film’s proceedings become way too difficult to comprehend. The makers of the film have focused on every minute detail of the visuals in the movie, however one wonders why they didn’t do the same level of detailing in the screenplay. There are many scenes in the film that do no good to the film, but only land up confusing the viewers. Testimonials to this are in the form of Ajay Devgn’s role in the film, and also the scene wherein Aditya reads a news article about a Begam spending a fortune on her heiress’ wedding, whereas, the so-called ‘wedding’ never seems to take place in the movie. Despite all the flaws and shortcomings, one has to admit that the film looks extremely appealing visually. Fitoor Review by Saibal Chatterjee on NDTVMovies Rating: It alternates between the dark and shadowy and the bright and painterly as it captures the many moods of nature in Kashmir. The timeless plot of an orphan who makes it big thanks to a mysterious benefactor is, of course, too well known to deliver surprises. It is the treatment that holds the key. The script (Supratik Sen and Abhishek Kapoor) puts just enough spin on the familiar tale, especially in the second half, to keep the audience guessing. Fitoor Review by Ananya Bhattacharya on India Today Rating: Fitoor, for all its spellbinding beauty, fumbles bad. The story meanders and loses way in between, and there seems a certain urgency in tying all the loose ends. Major revelations in this bildungsroman are condensed into a mere span of a few minutes, and it doesn’t quite achieve the desired effect. On the other hand, several intense sequences are dulled by their prolixity. Fitoor Review by Manjusha Radhakrishnan on Gulfnews Rating: There are moments in Fitoor which are brilliant, but they are few and far between. But what elevates the film greatly is music composer Amit Trivedi’s haunting score. His potent music makes the young lovers’ yearning real and legitimate. Watch this if you want to see a visually stunning piece of filmmaking, but if you are looking for an intense love story, you are barking up the wrong chinar tree. Fitoor Review by Raja Sen on Rediff Rating: Director Abhishek Kapoor might have had a fine idea on paper, given that Dickens’ Great Expectations is almost entirely Bollywood in its narrative — a vintage melodrama about star-crossed lovers, and romance impossible to snuff out — and he does well to make a visually lush film, with opulent production design and cinematographer Anay Goswami conjuring up some enchanting, fable-like visuals. Review by Sweta Kaushal on Hindustan Times Rating: Except for a few scenes, Fitoor comes across as a rather superficial affair and a disappointing adaptation of Charkles Dickens’ Great Expectations. For one, there is over-dramatisation of situations. The screenplay flags and fails to engage the audience despite heart-breaking performances by Aditya and Tabu. Review by Shalini Langer on Indian Express Rating: ‘Inspiration’ Charles Dickens is just the first casualty. Fitoor spares no one, not Kashmir, not Delhi, not London, not Kashmiris, and not even poor Pakistan, which somehow finds its way into this tale essentially about love traversing social divides. Meanwhile, having decided that in a film where all of Aditya Roy Kapoor’s hair is bunched upon his head and all of Katrina’s is plunged in a Chinar-esque red, in the hope perhaps that you don’t notice their blank faces below, Tabu takes it upon herself to act for the entire film. Her overladen, overdressed, overwrought Begum has done a hop, skip and jump (should that even be possible) from Haider and Vishal Bhardwaj to Fitoor and Abhishek Kapoor. Review by Lokesh Dharmani on Masala Rating: Aditya Roy Kapoor has a couple of moments where he shows some interest, if not promise. Katrina Kaif is cast in the movie to play the character of Estella who is curt, indifferent and a tease in Dicken’s Great Expectations, but she even fails to swing that curtness that comes naturally to her. The girl who plays the young Firdaus has acted better. Or wait. Even her painting that Noor makes has better expressions. Begum Hazrat is a badly written and (I am sorry, I love you Tabu) equally badly enacted character. Tabu, however, has a couple of intense moments towards the end of the film and she nails it as she expresses Begum’s insecurities and complexes. The music and cinematography elevate an otherwise dull Fitoor. Review by Manisha Lakhe on Nowrunning Rating: Abhishek Kapoor who brought you Rock On! and Kai Po Che now brings you this lavishly shot Fitoor which desperately pretends to have literary aspirations but ends up being a ridiculous romance where heroine runs to hero in a really flouncy white dress and brown suede boots. And the journey is so tedious you want the rickety bridge where they meet to blow up by a bomb. Review by Jaidev Hemmady on Movietalkies Rating: Aditya has taken his role seriously, but somehow, his angst doesn’t make your heart ache while Katrina, with her Brit accent and haughty demeanor might seem an apt choice to play the Indian version of Estella, but her lack of acting skills prove to be her undoing. The chemistry between the two is negligible and one wishes the makers would have cast actors, who could have convincingly conveyed the pain of doomed love. Aditya and Katrina are totally mismatched and the way he keeps gazing at her with moon eyes, is frankly creepy at worst and irritating at best. Also, the romance between the lead pair has an artificial feel to it-Katrina’s character talks with a British accent, but writes a letter to Noor in pure Urdu. Tabu, who plays Begum Hasrat, is totally in her element as the bitter Begum, who still nurses a broken heart and doesn’t let anyone forget it. The actress simply steals every scene that she is a part of and gives the young ones a run for their money. Ajay Devgn has a cameo appearance and looks quite exhausted and uninterested. Review by Sarita A Tanwar on DNA India Rating: The problem lies in the on-screen chemistry between the lead pair. Individually they play their parts well but when they’re together, they seem more like siblings than lovers. The kisses and the intimate scenes appear almost forced and completely bereft of passion. The cameo by Ajay Devgn is just too contrived. It was a very important part of the story but it has zero impact on screen. The problem with Fitoor is that it’s a love story that is not romantically compelling. The climax seems too rushed – it needed more drama and emotional depth but that’s missing. Review by Tushar P Joshi on Bollywood Life Rating: It’s not just the pace, but the treatment of the subject that plays the spoilsport. Abhishek seems a tad bit confused on where he wants to take his characters. Does he want to take them to a dark place and bring out the worst in them or does he wants them to be beacons of hope ? Unlike the book, his version of the story is haywire and all over the place. Firdaus and Noor’s romance goes from intense, to cold, to nothing. So much that the climax fall flat because the build up to it took so long. Also Begum’s back story comes a little too late in the second half. using Tabu’s voice for Aditi who’s playing the young Begum was a bad idea. Ajay Devgn’s cameo act is not only random but also disconnected from the key plot of the film. Abhishek starts unravelling traits of his characters at such a rapid pace towards the climax that it becomes hard to keep track of their intentions. There is a lot of Urdu and heavy dialoguebaazi that creates a dreamy atmosphere but doesn’t add value to the plot. Review by Srijana Mitra Das on The Times Of India Rating: The film also looks gorgeous – but opulence takes over substance, chinars, minars and lace dominating grip, passion and pace. For a love story, Fitoor lacks heat – you wish there was less hair-styling and more hair-pulling, more rupture and less cheesecake-like smoothness. This is problematic because Dickens’ Great Expectations rises and falls, exploring terrible, tantalising class, social climbing, sharp snobberies, love, hate and shame. Fitoor doesn’t dive beyond the surface though, its story’s shikara paddling along pretty Kashmir, but never tearing its way to its violent, wailing heart like Haider, its art stuck in a banal Mediterranean restaurant-like world, never conveying the lonely powers of love. Review by Ritika Handoo on Zeenews Rating: Aditya has portrayed his ‘Fitoor’ with utmost conviction and shown what it feels like to love in volatile situations. His chemistry with Katrina will not disappoint you—a fresh pair after a long time. Special mention for the brilliant execution of art work and cinematography by Anay Goswami and art direction by Mayur Sharma. There’s Ajay Devgn, Aditi Rao Hydari and ‘Hina’ fame actor Rahul Bhat to keep your excitement level as high as ever while watching this art piece on reel. Review by Kusumita Das on Deccan Chronicle Rating: What shines through the 130 minutes is Anay Goswami’s painterly cinematography and Amit Trivedi’s velvety soundtrack. Fitoor doesn’t lack pace, it lacks the finesse and the depth. And we are left with not much to do except marvel at the white beauty of Kashmir, while the real Pip, Estella and Miss Havisham remain buried under that thick blanket of snow, perhaps occasionally stirring in their graves. Review by Shubha Shetty-Saha on Mid-Day India Rating: ‘Fitoor’ had all the ingredients to make it a grand love story to be remembered. Stunningly beautiful backdrop of Kashmir, a premise for a passionate love story and of course some mesmerising moments. But only if those moments were strung together with a lot more confident execution and little less confusion in the script, this could have been a far better film. Review by Martin D’Souza on Glamsham Rating: Aditya Roy Kapoor and Katrina Kaif do not really light up the fire in their romance. Their chemistry is a little below the halfway mark on a scale of 1-10. It’s more studied, and less spontaneous. If you have watched TAMASHA and seen Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone you will know what Chemistry means! On the other hand, Aditi Rao Hydari, who comes on as Tabu’s past is dynamite in her small role portraying the angst of a forlorn lover. That fire was missing in the two protagonists. Tabu for her part, makes the screen her own whenever she comes on. Vintage performance! The background score is of international standard and the music pleasing. FITOOR packs in a lot visually (DOP – Anay Goswamy) and held out a promise to be Danielle Steel’s The Promise. However, it remains just that, a promise! Review by Sonia Chopra on Sify Rating: If you love Great Expectations, keep no expectations from this one. Else, be prepared to entranced by the visual splendor of the movie, and be disappointed by the lack of emotional connect. Review by Rajeev Masand on IBNLive Rating: The key to remaining invested in Fitoor ultimately comes down to whether the lead pair works for you. As far as I’m concerned, I was pleasantly surprised. Aditya Roy Kapur is unmistakably earnest, and nicely brings out Noor’s wide-eyed sense of wonder and his boyish innocence despite being repeatedly manipulated. The stunning Katrina Kaif, for her part, often singled out as a weak link in movies, is a shrewd choice to play the impenetrable Firdaus. For a character whose motivations and mind are meant to be hard to read, she reflects that mystery convincingly. Her Anglicized accent still jars, but when called upon to throw herself into it – like a scene in which she confronts Begum – Katrina doesn’t disappoint. Kapoor ditches many of the overarching social themes of Great Expectations to focus on what is primarily the story of star-crossed lovers and a complex romance. Fitoor isn’t perfect, but it’s a skillfully made film that’s easy on both the eye and the ear. In these times of fast-paced, hyperactive storytelling, you can appreciate the film’s dreamy, moody pace. Review by Kunal Guha on Mumbai Mirror Rating: Director Abhishek Kapoor, best known for helming films like Rock On and Kai Po Che, seems to be too occupied with visual technique and presentation as this one is little more than a visually stunning bore. Loosely infusing themes of terrorism and cross-border peace, along with this story of one-sided, he is mostly accountable for reducing a classic to a sappy tale that induces sniffles, but only when you check how much you paid for the ticket. Review by Meeta on Wogma Rating: Except for the first half hour, where our protagonists are growing up, the story is fragmented. You don’t know why these people are so madly in love with each other. Love at first sight and puppy love? Sure, I will take that as a given and enjoy the intensity of obsessive love. Despite this acceptance though, the details are sorely missing. Fitoor comes across as an extremely superficial view of the couple’s love for each other – both in longevity and intensity. Similarly, the political angle is touched upon rather perfunctory. It’s like the writers knew, the love story wouldn’t be enough by itself and needed some other meat to hold the viewers’ interest. Fitoor is Vishal Bharadwaj’s eccentrity combined with a Sanjal Leela Bhansali’s visual acumen. And yet that doesn’t end up being a compliment. Maybe a case of too many influences spoil the broth? Review by Subhash K Jha on Bollyspice Rating: There is something unreal even about the dialogues that the characters speak to one another. Every line strains for effect. While Tabu and to a far lesser extent, Lara Dutta, Aditi Rao Hydari and Rahul Bhatt (making an impact bigger than Aditya Kapoor in his brief cameo) and Akshay Oberoi (drawing a character out of a seriously malnourished role) speak their meagre dialogues with conviction, Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapoor struggle with their copiously florid lines trying to make sense of the bombast. Fitoor Review by Indiaglitz Rating: There are cinematic liberties taken as far as the story is concerned. The movie starts on a slow note and keeps moving on a snail pace. There is hardly any moment in terms of screenplay in the first half followed by a boring, confusing, half-baked and pseudo intelligent second half. The whole soul and purpose of the film is missing. The characters looks like beautiful mannequin without any life in them. Aditya Roy Kapur’s character suffers the most due to half-baked script. Rahul Bhatt overacts. Akshay Oberoi, Lara Dutta, Talat Aziz and Ajay Devgn are wasted.Director Abhishek Kapoor fails to do justice to this film like he did in case of ‘Kai Po Che’, which was a brilliant adaptation of a weak novel. Average critic ratings of other movies released in 2015 – 2016 Ghayal Once Again – 2.4 stars Sanam Teri Kasam – 1.6 stars Saala Khadoos – 2.6 stars Mastizaade – 1 stars Airlift – 3.7 stars Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 – 1 stars Wazir – 2.5 stars Dilwale – 2.5 stars Bajirao Mastani – 3.2 stars Hate Story 3 – 1.7 stars Tamasha – 3 stars Prem Ratan Dhan Payo – 2.7 stars Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 – 2.6 stars Jazbaa – 2.6 stars Singh Is Bling – 2.3 stars

Fitoor, Sanam Re, Deadpool Box Office Opening

Both Hindi movies have opened poorly at the box office on Friday. Fitoor is disastrous considering the budget of the film. Sanam Re has taken a better start at places, but the film should have opened better – after all, the film had hit music and sustained promotional campaign by T-Series. The average start for Fitoor is around 10-15%, while Sanam Re is slightly ahead with opening in the range of 15-20%. The Hollywood release of the week has taken a much better start as compared to both Hindi releases. In major cities, the morning show occupancy of Deadpool was around 40-45%.