Box office Reports: continue bad response from three new releases

Box office Reports: continue bad response from three new releases: Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, Phas Gaye Re Obama and Rakht Charitra - 2 - the three releases of last week couldn’t do much to fight the box office blues. As the year 2010 is mostly a year of flops, a lot depends on the December releases.

The biggest film of the week, Ashutosh Gowariker’s Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey disappointed its makers with collection of just Rs 3.50 crore approx from its first weekend. The collections on Saturday and Sunday were better but can’t help the movie from being a sure-shot dud.

Phas Gaye Re Obama, the best of the lot, also had a poor weekend of just Rs 1.25 crore approx. The film did pick up on Saturday, alas, it couldn’t continue its better run at the BO. It can be said that the masses are still not accepting small budget films in a big way.

Rakht Charitra 2 had weekend business of only Rs 2 crore approx. The film is said to be better than Rakta Charitra 1 but its collections are lower. The first was a flop and second is also on its way.

Now all eyes are set on Yashraj Films’ Band Baaja Baaraat which is an entertainer releasing on December 10 along with the madcap comedy No Problem.

Box Office Report: Currently New Releases get down

Box Office Report: Currently New Releases get down: The movie buff isn’t in the mood for an outing it seems. For all the three releases of this Friday, Rakht Charitra - 2, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey and Phas Gaye Re Obama have opened to very poor response at box office.

Many expectations were attached to Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Khelein Hum… starring Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone. But despite the film’s patriotic theme, it got 10 to 20 percent response on its opening day.

Ram Gopal Varma’s Rakht Charitra 2 is faring no better. The film introducing south star Suriya to Bollywood is doing dull business even at single screen theatres where it was expected to do well.

Director Subhash Kapoor’s black comedy Phas Gaye Re Obama is also doing very poor despite getting rave reviews from critics.
Verdict: the box office also seems to have mood swings.

Movie Review - Phas Gaye Re Obama lead with Neha Dhupia

Movie Review - Phas Gaye Re Obama lead with Neha Dhupia: From Osama to Obama, the world renowned figures are slowly creeping into the seldom fecund imagination of Indian scriptwriters. Unlike Tere Bin Laden which spoofed the world’s most wanted man unabashedly, Phas Gaye Re Obama doesn’t show that much cheek and only references the Nobel winning American president through posters, graffiti and, of course, his famous slogan ‘Yes We Can’.

From America’s swish corporate world to apna India’s squalid underworld, none was spared from the economic meltdown that made bankrupts out of many a millionaire overnight. One such unfortunate soul is the US-based NRI Om (Rajat Kapoor) who, having lost everything to recession, comes to rural India to sell off his ancestral property with the hope of taking back some money to the US to pay off the loan for his home.

To his utter misfortune, Om is kidnapped by a gang headed by Bhaisaab (Sanjay Mishra). Now the gang is facing severe financial crunch. No bullets for their guns, no petrol for jeep, and to top it all, no rich folks left to kidnap. Mandhi (recession) has hit everyone. Om seems to them a big catch. But when it turns out that he too is stony-broke like them, it’s Om who shows the way further.

Om is passed on to bigger gangs. There’s the female Gabbar, Munni (Neha Dhupia), the spitfire dacoit whose oversexed female underlings have Bollywood names like Deepika, Priyanka and Preity. And then there’s Dhananjay (Amole Gupte) who is the Animal Welfare Minister but runs a covert kidnapping racket so well organized that it even gives out proper receipts for ransom it extorts.

Apart from its delightfully offbeat story, Phas Gaye Re Obama boasts of goofball characters that leave you chuckling throughout. There’s the don’s America-loving sidekick Anni (Manu Rishi) who hears Obama speeches with mouth agape; or there’s this English school teacher whose English is as funny as flawed.

Kudos to writer director Subhash Kapoor for making a thoroughly entertaining satire with an interesting twist in the end. Performances are topnotch by almost everyone. But Sanjay Mishra, Rajat Kapoor, Amol Gupte and Manu Rishi deserve a pat on the back.

A potent black comedy like Phas Gaye Re Obama is a rarity in Bollywood. Do watch it even if you are broke and have to borrow or steal for the ticket money.