Last week’s release Ujda Chaman fared average at the box office, even as Housefull 4 continued to do fabulously.
Vinod Mirani gives us his weekly verdict.
Ujda Chaman
Cast: Sunny Singh, Maanvi Gagroo, Saurabh Shukla, Karishma Sharma.
Director: Abhishek Pathak.
What works: Maanvi Gagroo is the saving grace.
What doesn’t: Dull and insensitive film.
Number of weeks: New.
Box Office verdict: Average.
Housefull 4
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Riteish Deshmukh, Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Kriti Kharbanda, Chunky Pandey, Boman Irani, Johnny Lever, Rana Daggubati.
Director: Farhad Samji.
What works: Good music.
What doesn’t: Done-to-death story, crass comedy.
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Hit.
Saand Ki Aankh
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Kumar, Shaad Randhawa.
Director: Tushar Hiranandani.
What works: Good performances from Taapsee and Bhumi, an interesting first half.
What doesn’t: The second half flounders. Except for the two leads, the other characters are all one-note. The film is made to appeal to our basic liberal goodness.
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Average.
Made in China
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Mouni Roy, Boman Irani, Gajraj Rao, Paresh Rawal.
Director: Mikhil Musale.
What works: Good performances.
What doesn’t: Pedestal comedy, too much drama, filmsy film-making.
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Average.
Ghost
Cast: Sanaya Irani, Shivam Bhargava.
Director: Vikram Bhatt.
What works: The first half.
What doesn’t: Not scary at all.
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Poor.
Laal Kaptaan
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Zoya Hussain, Sonakshi Sinha and Deepak Dobriyal.
Director: Navdeep Singh.
What works: Saif Ali Khan and amazing cinematography.
What doesn’t: The length of the film.
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Poor.
The Sky is Pink
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim and Rohit Saraf.
Director: Shonali Bose.
What works: Fantastic performances.
What doesn’t: Rather than allow us to feel things on our own, the film tells us when to cry.
Number of weeks: 3.
Box Office verdict: Below Average.
War
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Vaani Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, Anupriya Goenka, Dipannita Sharma, Soni Razdan.
Director: Siddharth Anand.
What works: The Hrithik-Tiger face-off.
What doesn’t: Predictable, largely influenced by Hollywood films.
Number of weeks: 4.
Box Office verdict: Hit.
The Zoya Factor
Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Dulquer Salmaan, Sanjay Kapoor, Angad Bedi and Sikander Kher.
Director: Abhishek Sharma.
What works: Dulquer Salmaan.
What doesn’t: A shrill Sonam, the film does not capture the book’s magic.
Number of weeks: 6.
Box Office verdict: Poor.
Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas
Cast: Karan Deol and Sahher Bambba.
Director: Sunny Deol.
What works: Gorgeously shot.
What doesn’t: Poor performances.
Number of weeks: 6.
Box Office verdict: Poor.
