Dil Chahta Hai or Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke?
While Yaadein sank like the Titanic in the third week of its run in North America and United Kingdom, two newcomers fought for the numero uno spot last weekend. But by eating into each other's box office, both films seem to have suffered.
Of the two, Dil Chahta Hai seems to offer more promise than Yeh Raaste Hai Pyaar Ke. The former grossed $210,000 in America last weekend and $80,000 in UK.
If the standard box office attrition for desi films applies, Dil Chahta Hai may end with a medium sized $500,000 in America, Canada and United Kingdom. But if the film holds well, it could earn twice that. Aamir Khan's fan following has increased after the huge success of his Lagaan which has grossed about $1.7 million on both sides of the Atlantic.
The $110,000 weekend opening for YRHPK in North America is certainly a disappointment considering it features Preity Zinta and Madhuri Dixit, apart from Ajay Devgan.
Across the Atlantic, it did marginally better than Dil Chahta Hai but its $100,000 gross over there was not earth shattering. Both films were listed on the top 15 box office grossers of the week.
The list was led by Cats & Dogs, which grossed $3.2 million last week on 453 screens in its second week. In America, the box office champion, American Pie baked a very tasty $45 million cake, in its opening week, in more than 3,500 theaters.
Kishore Dadlaney, whose Video Sound distributed YRHPK in North America, said that it is hard for the audience to accept two new films in the same weekend.
Dadlaney also said that for most Indian films in North America, it is a 'three-day game'. By Monday DVDs and videocassettes are out -- in many cases, they are pirated. But recently, distributors have started releasing authorized DVDs the same week the film is released, hoping to fend off illegal videos.
Dadlaney said his company released DVDs of YRHPK on Monday. "Otherwise the pirates would gain from the film", he said.
Nevertheless, the pirated DVD of Dil Chahta Hai was out by Saturday.
Rippy Sethi, the distributor of Dil Chahta Hai said despite video piracy, the film was doing well. The evening shows at Cineplaza, North Bergan were sold out on Saturday, and they had to add two more shows.
"It is a very contemporary film, which is appealing to the metro and the overseas markets," Sethi added. It is also shaping as a favourite date film for the desis. He believed the film will continue to do fairly well in the next two weekends, as no films were releasing till then. The release dates for both Nayak (originally scheduled for August 24) and Lajja (originally scheduled for August 31) have been postponed to September.
Though Yaadein lost its box office by 72 per cent in the second week, and by about 60 per cent in the third week, it has still made about $1.1 million in North America. But it is clearly a disappointment to its distributors, especially in light of the huge $600,000 plus gross the first weekend in North America.
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Shah Rukh Khan watches Lagaan’ and gets nervous..
Watching Aamir’s ‘Lagaan’ would be enough to unsettle superstars whose own debut production vehicles created merely a whimper at the box-office. No prizes for guessing which superstar would be the most troubled. You said it- Shah Rukh Khan.
Apparently, the ever-energetic producer/actor sat beside Aamir and Ashutosh Gowariker and watched ‘Lagaan’ with awe. Bravo, he proclaimed. But inside, his mind was troubled. No, not about his failed venture of the past. But his prized project of the future. Altogether now... ‘Asoka The Great’.
Turns out that after watching Aamir’s spectacular and hugely successful film, Shah Rukh felt that ‘Asoka’ desperately required a re-think and a re-fashioning. The re-fashioning evidently meant inserting new songs. How he got that from ‘Lagaan’ will remain a mystery.
The renovation doesn’t stop there, my friends. So restless is Dreamz Unlimited’s main man that he has also taken to re-editing ‘Asoka’ sans the presence/assistance of director/friend, Santosh Sivan. Rumour has it that the artistic Sivan shrugged his ticked-off shoulders and pronounced, okay...no problem. But...( and there would have to be a ‘but’), Santosh insisted adamantly, the international version of the film will be his and only his.
So...there you have it. There will be two versions of the keenly awaited ‘Asoka The Great’. If you can’t get enough of one, there’ll always be the other. Recipe for success, you think?
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Akshaye in Sanju shoes
It's a known fact that Nitin Manmohan had announced AANKH MICHOLI with Anil Kapoor and Ajay Devgan, to be directed by Anees Bazmee. Subsequently, Sanjay Dutt replaced Anil in the project. But when the producer and director started a film with Ajay and Akshaye Khanna, it took us by surprise. Was it the same project? If it was, then why did Sanju opt out of it? "DEEWANGI is different from AANKH MICHOLI, which starred Sanju and Ajay. Both the scripts are different. In fact, AANKH MICHOLI is already shelved," Bazmee tells us, setting the record straight.
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The Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke review.
Deepak Shivdasani’s multi-starrer Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke sets out to explore love and relationships in a new light.
Don't confuse this flick with the 1963 film of the same name. Because this one's supposed to be a remake of Khilona.
Ajay Devgan plays Vicky, a swindler who makes his living stealing cars and gambling. Preity Zinta (Sakshi), is his accomplice and sweetheart. They fall ill of a villainous used-car dealer, and a casino brawl results in the accidental death of the dealer’s brother.
The dealer bays for Vicky’s blood, but ends up killing Vicky’s lookalike Rohit (played by Devgan again, of course), as he walks out of a swanky Delhi hotel. The happy-go-lucky Sakshi is completely shattered when she mistakes the body for that of her beloved.
Vicky, on his part, hops on to a Manali-bound bus, oblivious to the drama behind him.
Thus the coincidence of the lookalikes being at the same place at the same time starts off a series of mistaken identities and relationships going wonky.
Actually, Robin Bhatt and Akash Khurana have been a bit lazy with the screenplay, leaving the hapless audience to find its own way around the various leaps of logic and quirks of fate (or is it the other way round?)
A lot seems to happen in the beginning, but things start slowing down as the story moves on.
As for the sets and the costumes, what they lack in taste, they certainly do make up for in colour. The only saving grace is the obviously ageing (yet agile) Madhuri Dixit, resplendent in designer Ritu Beri's creations and tons of jewellery.
The good old dazzling smile and the glowing complexion are still intact, and almost compensate for the extra kilos.
Meanwhile, as Vicky wakes up in Manali, he finds himself being mistaken for Rohit by the whole town – including Rohit’s wife, Neha (Madhuri), who insists on staying stubbornly married for most of the film (even managing to remain dressed like a bride throughout).
Rohit’s billionaire dad (Mohan Gokhale), implores Vicky to stay on and pretend to be Rohit for a while, and thus help Neha get over her denial of Rohit’s death. He tells him (with the help of a convenient flashback), the story of how Rohit had just married his childhood sweetheart Neha, winning her over from an old admirer (a specially-appeared Sunny Deol), much to the chagrin of her family.
Conman that he is, Vicky names his price for the subterfuge. He also makes his exit soon, having pocketed some expensive jewellery on the side. Old habits die hard.
However, once he’s back in Delhi and a reunited with a dazed Sakshi, Vicky realises he owes Rohit his life. He promptly makes his way back to Manali to help nurse Neha back to a better mental health.
One by one, all the characters in the film land up in Manali for no apparent purpose but to add to the confusion. While Vicky and Rohit’s dad wonder how to convince Neha about her widowhood, the used-car dealer shows up to kill Vicky.
Again, the dealer manages to kill the wrong guy. And, finally, himself. Somehow this ends up solving all problems. Though I won’t tell you how.
While YRHPK's not quite the standard formula flick, it's still vintage Hindi cinema -- with the mandatory masala of mass calisthenics (Ganesh Acharya and Saroj Khan), dhishoom-dhishoom, clichés... and all the overstated melodrama of the type that prompted Baz Luhrmann to make Moulin Rouge.
The only thing missing is slapstick.
There are actually very few laughs in the film, except maybe a couple of scenes with Tiku Talsania. Kader Khan is decidedly below par with the dialogues.
The soundtrack has eight songs -- six composed by Sanjeev-Darshan, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi; and the other two by Adnan Sami, with Mehboob. The only ones worth a listen are the bhangra-popish about halfway through the film and the theme song, which returns to haunt you throughout.
Oh, the first song is shot in Malaysia, if that’s important to you. Most of the film has been shot in Delhi, and only some in Bombay.
The film doesn't set out by promising too much. It doesn’t deliver too much either. Devgan has done a good enough job, but he really didn’t have to do much except look either pained or confused most of the time.
Preity Zinta is at her best, acting well and looking good (except for a few weird outfits). But just how much can you do with a bad script?
Here's a film that sets you back to the Eighties (or even the mistaken-identity infested Seventies) -- in form as well as content.
It explores the intensity and dilemmas brought to life by love and human relationships, but one can’t help but wish they’d dealt with it in greater detail. Life’s no longer so black and white. We could do without the clichéd characters, couldn’t we? Especially the all-forgiving, all-sacrificing Indian Woman.
Verdict? Well, if you find yourself home without much to do on a Sunday evening -- read a book.
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Madhuri's dream comes true!
When J.P.Dutta's Bandhua was launched and then came crashing down to terra firma, due to the backing down of the financier, Madhuri's dream of acting with Amitabh Bachchan also came crashing down as well! she was supposed to have a mind-blowing role opposite him. Next came a dance sequence in a David Dhawan film, Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan and Madhuri just couldn't say no. But she still nurtured the dream of acting with the Big B in a full-fleged role...Finally it looks as though that dream is about to turn into a reality. Romantic film maker, Yash Chopra, has signed the two for his forthming venture to be directed by him and which he intends releasing next year.
Madhuri according to a friend is supposed to have said, "Now I really feel I've worked the whole gamut as an actress. After this I don't mind quitting." As for Chopra's film, it also stars Shah Rukh, Kareena and Uday Chopra.
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Nirupa Roy charged in dowry case
Chandigarh, Aug. 12: Yesteryears’ perfect mother of the silverscreen Nirupa Roy has been charged in a dowry case by her daughter-in-law Una Roy in Panchkula near here, the Haryana police said on Sunday.
The charges against the star, who most often played the role of a sobbing mother and an affectionate mother-in-law, included causing cruelty to women, criminal breach of trust and beating, Panchkula SP Manoj Yadav said.
The cine star’s daughter-in-law, who is an NRI had alleged in her complaint filed recently that she was subjected to severe mental and physical harassment and cruelty at the hands of Nirupa Roy and her family.
Una Roy had alleged that Nirupa, unlike her screen image, was a "very dominating mother-in-law and controls all financial affairs of the house".
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Superstitious Bollywood
It's a known fact that people in the film industry are a superstitious lot.
Everyone knows that the names of the films produced by Rakesh Roshan and Jeetendra start with the alphabet 'K'. But not many are aware that Deepak Shivdasani, the maker of YEH RAASTE HAIN PYAR KE, has added an extra 'a' and 'i' to his surname, so that lady luck smiles on him. It's now Deepak Shivdasaanii.
But Arjun Ramphal thinks differently, for he has removed 'h' from his surname. It is now Rampal.
On the other hand, the makers of YEH TERA GHAR YEH MERA GHAR have added an extra 'a' to TERA and MERA for reasons best known to them. The new spelling is now YEH TERAA GHAR YEH MERAA GHAR.
Will the alterations in the names change the luck, is to be seen!
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