Despite NEW YORK, disasters continue to dominate

Ok, so NEW YORK has been a huge success while coming weeks promise jumbo size entertainment as well, what with KAMBAKKTH ISHQ, SHORTKUT - THE CON IS ON, SANKAT CITY, JASHNN, LUCK, LOVE AAJ KAL, AGYAAT and KAMINEY arriving in quick succession. However, it would still be too early to forget some of the recent disasters that Bollywood has faced during the fortnight gone by.

First and foremost let's talk about RUNWAY, the film which released alongside NEW YORK. The film has been kicked and buried deep down with not many being even aware about this Amarjeet Shukla and Tulip Joshi starrer. Despite some melodious music, the film would be most remember for it's shoddy direction and downmarket treatment.

Films that released a week earlier have been 'red' as well for their investors. PAYING GUESTS, for all the claims by it's makers to be a success, has bitten the dust and is hardly in the reckoning in it's second week. The film is a flop, what with just 6 crores coming from it's first week in spite of a big release of 500 cinemas. A comedy, it has just not excited the audiences and should soon be finding a release on home video. The only person who has come out unscathed is Shreyas Talpade who has done well once again in a comic outing after GOLMAAL RETURNS. However, it would be a surprise if PAYING GUESTS would ever 'return' despite producer Subhash Ghai and director Paritossh Painter being gung-ho about coming up with a sequel.

The other three films that released alongside PAYING GUESTS have been all disasters, as indicated by less than 10 lakhs that they all have earned between them. Yes, you read it right - sum total of collections of LET'S DANCE, HUM PHIRR MILEINGE and RAFTAAR hasn't even crossed 10 lakhs. While Gayatri Patel's debut flick LET'S DANCE, which was centred on dance, was the best reviewed of the lot, it's 4 lakhs total in week one immediately qualifies it as a box office disaster. As for Sarvar Ahuja, the young man continues to make poor selection of movies that hardly justifies the talent that he possesses. His HUM PHIRR MILEINGE has managed just 2 lakhs across the country. Similar are the collections for a small time film called RAFTAAR which released without any promotion and disappeared over it's opening weekend itself.

If one talks about the bigger films then KAL KISSNE DEKHA, which cost quite a fortune for it's makers, has completely drowned with a fall of more than 80%. With just 1 crore more coming in the second week, the film has almost closed shop at 6.5 crores. As for Mithun starrer ZOR LAGAA KE HAIYAA, lesser said the better. The film's 20 lakhs total is lesser than what Mithun Chakravorty's Ootywood movies have made in the past.

With such pile up of movies expected to be a thing of the past, one sincerely hopes that the era of disasters is over and better months are there ahead for the Hindi film industry.

Last updated on Jul 2^nd, 2009 at 07:50 am IST--Sampurn Media