The hits and misses of the week.
Total Dhamaal got lousy reviews, but it had an excellent opening weekend.
The film needs to hold steady through the week to cover its high production cost which looks unlikely.
Vinod Mirani gives us his weekly verdict.
Total Dhamaal
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Javed Jaferi, Anil Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Mishra, Johnny Lever.
Director: Indra Kumar.
What works: Mdhuri and Anil Kapoor.
What doesn't: Bad performances by the rest of the cast, lack of story and jokes, clumsy VFX .
Number of weeks: New.
Box Office verdict: Excellent opening.
Gully Boy
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturved, Vijay Raaz, Amruta Subhash, Vijay Maurya.
Director: Zoya Akhtar.
What works: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt Vijay Raaj, Siddhant Chaturvedi.
What doesn't: Abrupt ending.
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Hit.
- The Rediff Reviews: Sukanya Verma and Aseem Chhabra
Hum Chaar
Cast: Prit Kamani Simran Sharma Anshuman Malhotra Tushar Pandey.
Director: Abhishek Dixit.
What works: Okay performance by the three male actors.
What doesn't: Repetitive drama and super slow film.
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Amavas
Cast: Sachin Joshi, Nargis Fakhri.
Director: Bhushan Patel.
What works: Tough!
What doesn't: Not a single scary moment or thrill in the film!
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
The Fakir Of Venice
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Annu Kapoor.
Director: Anand Surapur.
What works: The lead cast.
What doesn't: Film is too dated.
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Akshay Oberoi, Regina Cassandra, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla.
Director: Shelly Chopra Dhar.
What works: Novel story, good performances.
What doesn't: Too meek in its assertion of same sex romance.
Number of weeks: 3.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub, Atul Kulkarni, Danny Denzongpa.
Director: Krish, Kangana Ranaut.
What works: Kangana does well.
What doesn't: Significant historical characters are sidelined.
Number of weeks: 4.
Box Office verdict: Above average.
- The Rediff Reviews: Sukanya Verma and A Ganesh Nadar
Thackeray
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita Rao.
Director: Abhijit Panse.
What works: Captures Thackeray honestly, without sugarcoating his views.
What doesn't: Tries to pack in too much information on Thackeray's life.
Number of weeks: 4.
Box Office verdict: Average.
Why Cheat India
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Snighdadeep Chatterjee.
Director: Soumik Sen.
What works: The film isn't boring.
What doesn't: A cynical look at the education system; scenes don't mesh into a whole; only Emraan Hashmi's character has a personality.
Number of weeks: 5.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
- The Rediff Reviews: Sukanya Verma and Sreehari Nair
Bombairiya
Cast: Radhika Apte, Akshay Oberoi, Siddhanth, Kapoor, Adil Hussain, Shilpa Shukla, Ravi Kishen.
Director: Pia Sukanya.
What works: Good performances, the film's main theme is engaging.
What doesn't: Too many subplots.
Number of weeks: 5.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
