Top 6 stars of the Indian B.O

1.Aftab Shivdasani: For a change!

E. Niwas, the RGV protégé who surprised the galleries with a powerful ‘Shool’ in 1999, has fallen for the B.O. bait and bitten the bullet with 'De Taali'. The film, an Archie’s rip-off, stars Aftab Shivdasani, Riteish Deshmukh, Ayesha Takia and Rimii Sen.

Aftab, who had made a lousy debut with ‘Mast’ (forget that ‘Cityman’ ad) – 1999, again—is  yet to cut off the “struggling star” tag. ‘De Taali’ is another take-home example of a flick with a weak script and wonderful frames.

Written by Abbas Tyrewala, ‘De Taali’ is must-watch only for those who have the talent of laughing at the inane. The first half is breezy, the second half is slow, and the efforts to be funny get so frenetic that they start irritating you after a while. Ritiesh Deshmukh keeps the loony antics going and is consistent in getting the giggles. Ayesha Takia does her things and packs up.

‘De Taali’ opened to a decent response at multiplexes, especially those in Mumbai, but at most single screens, the opening was way below the mark [15 per cent to 20 per cent]. The film is not likely to gain grounds, since the viewers’ verdict is not in its favour.

So, how will that make Aftab Shivadasani Number One on the Six Pack chart? It’s definitely not for the charisma he brings to the screen. It is just that we are tired of featuring Bachchans and SRKs here. Wishful thinking, you can call it. 

‘De Taali’

Strength: The courage to title it ‘De Taali’

Weakness: The inability to make people laugh’.

Box Office verdict: Lukewarm opening. Prospective dud.

2. ASIN: The Also-Ran!

Had ‘Dasavatharam’ been a living being, it would have thrown up at least two of the ten characters Kamal Haasan played in it. Out of indigestion!

This is one film, for which the makers should have hung the “House Full!” board on the screen instead of at the marquee.  The actors in ‘Dasavatharam’ look on helplessly as Kamal Haasan sets himself on a screen-eating spree. Asin is lucky to have had the patronage of the Universal Hero, for her character is seen holding the hands of the most seen Kamal Haasan character in the film. Her character is accorded the honour of running around with the Hero for most of the second half.

Brickbats apart, the film has taken a mighty opening at both the Indian B.O. and abroad. The first week collections have been phenomenal. It raked in Rs 3 crore in Chennai alone, and Rs 21 crore for the whole of Tamil Nadu. In the non-Southern markets, where it opened to about 80 per cent occupancy, the film grossed about Rs 60 lakh in the first three days of its running. It is anticipated to rake in close to Rs 100 crore as the “theatre revenue” at the end of this week. Given the current figures, ‘Dasavatharam’ is one up on Rajnikanth's ‘Sivaji’, which had grossed over 25 crore in its first one week.

‘Dasavatharam’

Strength: Kamal Haasan

Weakness: Kamal Haasan

BO Verdict: Terrific Opening

3. Paresh Rawal:  Live and Let Laugh!

In the Hindi remake of the Malayalam ‘Ishtam’. Akshaye Khanna and Paresh Rawal play father and son. Akshaye does his routine—eyebrow twitch along with a right-slant grin—with admirable ease. Paresh does what is he does best: Remain deadpan and let people die of laughter pangs!

‘Mere Baap Pehle Aap’ comes on the heels of a few Priyadarshan hits, but it has not lived up to the expectations. It had a shaky Friday, a good-average Saturday and a positive Sunday, but Monday onwards, the business has been on the downslide. Net collections on week 1 stand at Rs.6,45,91,677.

The film boasts of a terrific cast that includes Om Puri and Rajpal Yadav, but Paresh has the cake . He eats it as well!

4. Aishwarya Bachchan: Best of the Bahu

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan delivers her career-best performance in ‘Sarkar Raj’. Enough and more has already been written about her countenance, but not much print or virtual space has been devoted to her performances.  In ‘Sarkar Raj’, she holds her ground in combo scenes with hubby Abhishek and Pa-in-law Amitabh.

The feat is doubly laudable, since she has achieved this in spite of a script that depends overtly on actors to deliver the drama. Also, the script slants heavily in favour of its male characters.

‘Sarkar Raj’ collections came down to 65 per cent in week 2. The film had opened to 100 per cent collections all over India. The net collections for week 2 stand at Rs 26,82,69,500

Sarkar Raj

Strength: Terrific performance from the Bachchan trio; stunning climactic twist

Weakness: Screen lag; weak screenplay

Box-office Verdict: Hit

5. Genelia: The Tomboy from South

One of the reasons for the initial allure of ‘Mere Baap Pehle Aap’ has been the Bollywood debut of Southie heartthrob Genelia D’Souza. Priyadarshan has provided ample screen space for the disarmingly charming lass to bloom on a slapstick junkyard.

Genelia debuted in Tamil with Shankar’s ‘Boys’, and her recent Telugu release, ‘Bommarilu’, is a super hit.  Loved for her tomboyish ‘kirdaars’ onscreen, Genelia needs a really good second film to get launched into the Bollywood orbit.

Here’s looking at you, kid!

6. Sikander Kher: Be ‘Kher’ful!

Considering the volcanic talent his surname purports, it would be unsafe on the reviewer’s part to say that Sikander does not have it in him. He has handled the most complex of scenes in ‘Summer 2007’ with remarkable ease. But then, the film is a washout. So has been his debut wreck called ‘Woodstock Villa’.

Summer 2007 is a good concept gone wrong, thanks to too many sub-plots and a really lonnnnnnng running time [close to almost 3 hours]. At the box-office, it has sunk deep. The B. O. net collections on week 1 were a miserable Rs. 12,66,024

Kher has a few interesting projects in the pipeline, but he would really need a B.O. miracle to stage a comeback! 

B. O. Verdict: Flop

Source: India Syndicate