The hits and misses of the week.
A Gentleman, Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, Sniff and Qaidi Band saw poor openings at the box office despite the long three-day weekend.
The idea to release films during the Ganpati festival wasn't a good one.
The Dera chief's sentencing and its violent fallout affected business in Punjab and Haryana.
Vinod Mirani gives us his weekly verdict.
A Gentleman
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez, Darshan Kumar, Suniel Shetty
Director: Raj & DK
What works: A couple of jokes.
What doesn't: The material just isn’t right for Raj-DK's low-keyed sensibility, tepid performances, most scenes aren’t thought through.
Number of weeks: New.
Box Office verdict: Poor opening.
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami, Shraddha Das, Divya Dutta
Director: Kushan Nandy
What works: Nawazuddin.
What doesn't: Bad dailogue, story, screenplay, direction.
Number of weeks: New.
Box Office verdict: Poor opening.
Sniff
Cast: Kushmeet Gill
Director: Amole Gupte
What works: The story, and it's simple and gentle narration.
What doesn't: Tough!
Number of weeks: New.
Box Office verdict: Poor opening.
Qaidi Band
Cast: Aadar Jain, Anya Singh, Sachin Pilgaonkar
Director: Habib Faisal
What works: Anya Singh, the music.
What doesn't: Everything else.
Number of weeks: New.
Box Office verdict: Poor opening.
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kriti Sanon, Rajkummar Rao
Director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
What works: Good dialogue, excellent direction, music.
What doesn't: Tough!
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
VIP 2: Lalkar
Cast: Dhanush, Kajol, Amala Paul, Ritu Varma, Samuthirakani, Saranya Ponvannan
Director: Soundarya Rajnikanth
What works: Good performances.
What doesn't: Silly plot, regressive dialogue.
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Divyendu Sharma
Director: Shree Narayan Singh
What works: Akshay Kumar, the film's good intent.
What doesn't: Sloppy direction, too long.
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Semi hit.
Jab Harry Met Sejal
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma
Director: Imtiaz Ali
What works: Beautiful locales.
What doesn't: Sloppy script, unimpressive direction.
Number of weeks: 3.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Gurgaon
Cast: Akshay Oberoi, Pankaj Tripathy, Ragini Khanna, Aamir Bashir, Shalini Vatsa.
Director: Shanker Raman
What works: Well-made thriller, solid performances.
What doesn't: May be too dark for audiences.
Number of weeks: 3.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Mubarakan
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Athiya Shetty, Neha Sharma, Ratan Pathak Shah, Pavan Malhotra, Rahul Dev.
Director: Anees Bazmee
What works: Clean comedy, good entertainer.
What doesn't: Too loud, too long.
Number of weeks: 4.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
