~150 TH BOLLYWOOD POST ~
DO READ: https://mouthshut.com/diary/bhdgtsour/Fenils-Bollywood-Talk-completes-150-weeks
GET READY FOR A DELUGE OF FILMS!
Last month, just 2 films hit theatres. Producers had one full month of March to release their film and thus save themselves the competition of other flicks. But fearing World Cupand exams, they didn’t. Result: There would be minimum 3 films releasing every week from tomorrow! And this goes on for the whole of May. At least 20-24 films are scheduled to release in these 5 weeks! These are small-budget films hoping to succeed during the IPL season as once it ends, biggies (Salman’s Ready on June 3) will hit theatres. The producers of these films overlook the fact that it’s the cluttered release that hits the film hard! Needless, in this mad rat race, genuine efforts are bound to be ignored or overlooked.
Out of the 6 films releasing tomorrow, following 2 has high chances of commercial success:
CHALO DILLI (CL): This film had me excited ever since I heard of it some 6 months back I even listed CL as one of my keenly awaited films DP (read here:https://mouthshut.com/diary/bgcctolpr/My-Most-Awaited-Films-of-2011)! This is because of lots of factors-the title, name of the banner (Bheegi Basanti), the director (Shashant Shah who made Dasvidaniya) etc! The promo was out on April 1 which confirmed that the film indeed will be worth watching. Vinay Pathak is in a role similar to what he did in Bheja Fry. It’s set in the heartland of India and such films are increasingly becoming hits. Yana Gupta has an item number which I found okay but has helped in increasing hype. Lara Dutta not only acts but also produced it with hubby Mahesh Bhupathi. Film is made on modest budget and if it gets good response, there is no reason why it should fail!
SHOR IN THE CITY (SITC): The film has travelled to MIAAC Fest New York (where it won Best Director Award), Pusan International Film Festival and Dubai International Film Festival and have wowed audiences everywhere. Starring Tusshar Kapoor, Nikhil Dwivedi, Radhika Apte, Sendhil Ramamurthy and newcomer Preeti Desai, SITC is directed by Krishna DK and Raj Nidimoru, whose last Hindi film 99 was one of the finest films of Bollywood for me. Film’s producer Ekta Kapoor has smartly kept the budget within 3 crores and inspite of less hype, film will easily recover costs. SITC could be the dark horse this weekend!
The other 3 films are
I AM: Seems like the most meaningful film of the 6. Film was funded not by any producer or corporation but by aam junta through social networking sites. As many 400 people (acc to Wikipedia) have donated for the film (includes cast and crew of the film and also actor Shilpa Shukla who played Bindiya Naik in Chak De India)! I Am consists of 4 stories and stars Nandita Das, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala, Sanjay Suri, Abhimanyu Singh, Shernaz Patel, Rahul Bose etc and also directors like Anurag Kashyapand Anurag Basu. Juhi and Kashyap and Manish Malhotra refused to accept money for their contribution. In spite of competition, I Am will stand out for sure due to its theme and accolades.
NAUGHTY @ 40: Directed by Jagmohan Mundhra, it stars Govinda as a 40 year virgin and Uvika Chaudhary in leading roles. The film at first suffered from economic issues and later sued as it was lift from the Hollywood movie 40 Year Old Virgin. Film’s promotion started 10 days ago and being a sex comedy, it’ll find patronage in some mass-dominated theatres.
(CONTINUED IN COMMENTS)
