The hits and misses of the week.
Three films released last week. Two of them got good reviews. But all three failed the box office test.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Randeep Hooda's Sarbjit, which released the week before last, also did not set the box office on fire.
Trade analyst Vinod Mirani gives us the weekly box office verdict.
Waiting
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Kalki Koechlin, Rajat Kapoor, Arjun Mathur, Suhasini Maniratnam
Director: Anu Menon
What works: The human drama; Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki's performances.
What doesn't: Lengthy and stagnant second half.
Number of weeks: New
BO verdict: Poor
Phobia
Cast: Radhika Apte
Director: Pawan Kripalani
What works: Engaging narrative and Radhika Apte's performance.
What doesn't: Predictable second half.
Number of weeks: New
BO verdict: Poor
Veerapan
Cast: Sandeep Bharadwaj, Sachiin J Joshi, Usha Jadhav, Lisa Ray
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
What works: Cinematography, visuals.
What doesn't: Bad writing, plotting, dialogues, bad performance by Sachiin Joshi, Lisa Ray.
Number of weeks: New
BO verdict: Poor
Sarbjit
Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Randeep Hooda, Richa Chhada
Director: Omung Kumar
What works: The story idea.
What doesn't: Weak script and direction.
Number of weeks: 1
BO verdict: Average
Read the review here: Raja Sen / Sukanya Verma
Azhar
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Nargis Fakhri, Prachi Desai, Kunal Roy Kapur, Lara Dutta
Director: Tony D'Souza
What works: Emraan Hashmi.
What doesn't: Bad direction, poor storytelling.
Number of weeks: 2
BO verdict: Poor
Read the review here: Prem Panicker /Raja Sen
Dear Dad
Cast: Arvind Swamy, Himanshu Sharma
Director: Tanuj Bhramar
What works: Performances by Arvind Swamy, Himanshu Sharma.
What doesn't: We don't see much of Arvind Swamy.
Number of weeks: 2
BO verdict: Flop
Buddha in a Traffic Jam
Cast: Anupam Kher, Arunoday Singh, Mahie Gill, Anchal Dwivedi, Pallavi Joshi.
Director: Vivek Agnihotri
What works: Nothing!
What doesn't: Preposterous plot, bad performances and direction.
Number of weeks: 2
BO verdict: Flop
One Night Stand
Cast: Sunny Leone, Tanuj Virwani, Nyra Banerjee
Director: Jasmine D'souza
What works: The story idea.
What doesn't: Clunky writing, bad performances.
Number of weeks: 3
BO verdict: Flop
Traffic
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Sachin Khedekar, Amol Parashar, Vishal Singh, Divya Dutta
Director: Rajesh Pillai
What works: Kitu Gidwani and Divya Dutta's performances.
What doesn't: Monotonous acting and hackneyed characterisations.
Number of weeks: 3
BO verdict: Poor
1920 London
Cast: Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra, Vishal Karwal
Director: Tinu Suresh Desai
What works: The music.
What doesn't: The story is predictable and the film is not scary.
Number of weeks: 3
BO verdict: Fair
