Akshay Kumar

There are 5 posts tagged Akshay Kumar (this is page 1 of 1).

Sitaare Zameen Par vs Housefull 5: The Box Office Collection War

Israel-Iran conflict is nothing in front of the war going on in the multiplex near you.

Aamir Khan’s much awaited Sitaare Zameen Par released on June 20 and since then social media is going crazy. There is a huge section of so called business analysts who analyse the daily booking trends and predict fate of the movie released.

Which is not the problem. The problem is these so called arm-chair analysts are biased and actually run a campaign for or against any film based on – err who pays and how much. 

Some of them post multiple videos during the day – the ones if support of good cinema praising the collection. But those against the film, come up with all sorts of theories why the film is getting the numbers.

Hai La

Since June 20, there is a virtual war going on. Twitter and YouTube is full of it. As all it takes is a mobile and camera, everyone has jumped into the online war. A certain Dhruv Rathee sitting in Germany has also joined the gang. Why because – dollars ka mamla hai bhai.

For the past few days I have been watching this circus and its quite funny how a group of people for reasons best known to them are leaving no stone unturned to bring down the film. So much hatred? Against Aamir Khan?

But look at the video below. It surely is not AI generated or planted.

Ui Maa

There are all sorts of theories doing the rounds. A Twitter user alleged a big production house behind the campaign.

And then I randomly watched an interview of producer Pahlaj Nihalani. The man behind many successful Hindi films revealed the ugly face of the industry.

He said it is actually people in the industry who bring down their colleagues. He also gave examples of how veteran actors indulged in this game during time. He also recalled how his films were not given screens following threats by other producers.

So this thing has been going on. While in the past it was not known to the world, thanks to technology and yes, the YouTubers, its all in the open. Now we have these hired analysts who pull down a movie if its doing well or is doing better than that of a particular actor.

Well nothing new here either. As a fan of actor ‘A’ I want his films to do well at the box office. But if the film itself is bad, I just cannot ignore the harsh reality. 

The fate of any film good or bad should rest in the hands of the audience. Running a campaign – for or against – cannot make a bad film work on box office or tank a good film.

The war is far from over.

Bell Bottom review: Wish there was bell to sound script writers to stop writing bottomless scripts

There is catch phrase in Bell Bottom, \’It isn\’t over till it\’s over\’ which is obviously said by Akshay Kumar who is playing the title role. The same catch phrase is true for the ordeal of watching the latest offering by Kumar. It isn\’t over till the end credits start rolling which is 123 minutes after it started playing on Amazon Prime.

Now Akshay Kumar had mastered the art of becoming new age Bharat Kumar. I am sure like many things, he discovered accidentally that was the space he could easily fill. To be fair to him, he was part of many such successful patriotic films. But to give him the credit alone would be wrong. He had directors like Neeraj Pandey and wonderful script writers too. Sadly after successful films the two parted ways and since then Kumar is trying to find the winning combo with little success so far.

Coming to Bell Bottom, if you have seen the promo or if you were lucky enough to watch the film in cinema halls (really? lucky?), you know it\’s about a plane hijack incident and Kumar plays a RAW agent whose code – you guessed it right, is Bell Bottom. Now if you read the synopsis it\’s like tailor-made for Akshay Kumar. There is little that could go wrong. But after spending 123 minutes of a lazy Saturday afternoon, I am sharing the big secret. Everything about the film is wrong.

Script

As said earlier, the script synopsis sounds great. But the full script needs more meat to hold the audience. Here it fails miserably, which has been the case with past so many Akshay films. Agreed the film was shot during strict lockdown conditions but a half baked script won\’t have survived even during the normal times. It looks like the script was not ready and the makers decided to go ahead with the shooting.

Going back to Neeraj Pandey- Akshay Kumar combo (sounds so much like a dish you are ordering that would taste much better than this tasteless film), the characters were fleshed out and there were good, rather excellent actors in other roles too. There are glaring loopholes in the film and without giving away too much let\’s just say ignore them to sit for next 123 minutes.

There is scene in Baby climax (it reads so weird, read that again to get the punch), when the flight is waiting for ATC clearance to take off. Bell Bottom has a similar scene. While the Baby scene had tension building up because you so badly wanted the flight to take off with the prized possession, in this latest offering you don\’t care if the flight is allowed to take off or not. You just want this to end (there is till few minutes left if you check the player). Don\’t worry.

Actors

Ever since the trailer of the film was out Lara Dutta got special mention for her role as Indira Gandhi. Getting the look is fine. It\’s what the script offers after the look that matters. And she is not present throughout the film (it\’s not about her). Adil Hussain is great actor but had very little to do in this film. Vani Kapoor continues her War role of a song, couple of scenes and pack up. It\’s sad to see actors like Huma Qureshi, like Hussain, have been reduced to itsy bitsy roles.

And Akshay Kumar has age catching up with him. Fast. How on earth can he be passed off as a 30/32 year old is beyond me. I mean he is no Aamir Khan who works really hard on his character/look. That Kumar cannot act is a well known secret. It\’s just that producers get their money back and that\’s how he has survived. But not anymore. He reinvented himself to become the Bharat Kumar Hindi film industry was looking for. After all these years, looks like time has come for him to reinvent again. A lean, mean, fit Akshay Kumar is fine but films need more. There are other actors vying for the Bharat Kumar slot like Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff. So there is competition for Kumar.

There are two songs in the film. First one is picturised on Kumar and Kapoor and the other one plays in the background during the climax. The KK song is pretty early in the film and it\’s not even on my playlist, which kind of explains there is nothing much to write when it comes to music.

I think the makers also realised the film will not have a long shelf life, like say Baby (I have lost the number of times I have seen it),  and hence thought it best to release it on Amazon Prime before it\’s too late.

I was wondering what if the code name was either Sunder, Saand, Pucchi or Dollar given to other RAW agents in the film, instead of Bell Bottom?

While you think about it, look for Baby. It must be playing on one of the platforms and may be watch it again. Give this bottomless movie a miss.

कोई ये बन गया, कोई वो बन गया

गायक अभिजीत भट्टाचार्य ने शाहरुख़ ख़ान के लिये फ़िल्म फ़िर भी दिल है हिंदुस्तानी में एक गाना गाया था I am the best और लगता है अपने ही गाये हुये इस गाने से बहुत प्रभावित हैं। वैसे अभिजीत का विवादों से पुराना रिश्ता है। अपने बड़बोलेपन के चलते वो कई बार मुश्किलों में पड़ चुके हैं। हाल ही में उन्होंने अक्षय कुमार को गरीबों का मिथुन चक्रवर्ती बताते हुये उनकी सफलता के श्रेय अपने गाये हुये फ़िल्म खिलाड़ी के गानों का दिया।

अभिजीत के अनुसार फ़िल्म खिलाड़ी में उनके गाये हुये गीत \’वादा रहा सनम\’ बाद अक्षय कुमार की किस्मत बदल गई औऱ वो गरीबों के मिथुन चक्रवर्ती से एक कामयाब नायक की श्रेणी में आ गये थे। अब्बास-मस्तान के निर्देशन में बनी फ़िल्म चली तो बहुत थी औऱ उसका संगीत भी काफ़ी हिट रहा था। लेक़िन क्या इसका श्रेय सिर्फ़ अभिजीत को मिलना चाहिये ये एक बहस का मुद्दा ज़रूर हो सकता है।

वैसे इससे पहले अभिजीत ने अपने आपको शाहरुख़ ख़ान की आवाज़ बताते हुये ये कहा था की उनकी आवाज़ में ही किंग खान ने सबसे ज़्यादा हिट गाने दिये हैं। वैसे एक सरसरी निगाह डालें तो शाहरुख़ के लिये ज़्यादा गाने तो नहीं गाये हैं अभिजीत ने। उदित नारायण औऱ कुमार शानू ने कहीं ज़्यादा गाने गाये हैं शाहरुख़ के लिये। इस पर भी बहस हो सकती है जो ज़्यादा लंबी नहीं खिंचेगी। लेक़िन अभिजीत हैं तो मामला कुछ भी हो सकता है।

वैसे कुसूर उनका भी नहीं है। बरसों पहले सलमान ख़ान की फ़िल्म बाग़ी के हिट गाने देने के बाद भी वो सलमान की आवाज़ नहीं बन पाये औऱ ये सौभाग्य मिला एस पी बालासुब्रमण्यम जी को। इसके बाद शाहरुख़ ख़ान के लिये भी हिट गाने देने के बाद भी उदित नारायण औऱ कुमार सानू ने ही उनके अधिकतर गीत गाये।

आज ये अभिजीत मेरे निशाने पर क्यूँ हैं? यही सोच रहे होंगे आप। दरअसल आज दिन में देवानंद जी की फ़िल्म सीआईडी (1961) के गाने सुन रहा था तो अभिजीत का ख़्याल आया।

आमिर खान-करिश्मा कपूर की फ़िल्म \’राजा हिंदुस्तानी\’ बड़ी हिट फिल्म थी औऱ बहुत से कारणों से ये चर्चा में रही थी। फ़िल्म की सफलता में उसके संगीत का बड़ा योगदान रहा था। नदीम श्रवण के संगीत को आज भी पसंद किया जाता है। फ़िल्म का सबसे हिट गाना \’परदेसी परदेसी\’ रहा जिसको उदित नारायण, अलका याग्निक एवं सपना अवस्थी ने गाया था।

उदित नारायण को इस फ़िल्म के लिये फ़िल्मफ़ेयर अवार्ड मिला था। अभिजीत जिनका फ़िल्म फ़रेब का गाना \’ये तेरी आँखें झुकी झुकी\’ भी फ़िल्मफ़ेअर के लिये नॉमिनेट हुआ था। उदित नारायण का ही एक औऱ सुंदर गाना घर से निकलते ही भी लिस्ट में था। लेक़िन अवार्ड मिला राजा हिंदुस्तानी के गीत को चूँकि वो बड़ा हिट गाना था बनिस्बत घर से निकलते ही के।

अभिजीत इस बात से बहुत आहत हुये थे और उन्होंने बाद में कहा की \”गाने में दो लाइन गाने के लिये उदित नारायण को अवार्ड दे दिया\”। अग़र आपने गाना सुना हो तो निश्चित रूप से उदित नारायण ने दो से ज़्यादा लाइन को अपनी आवाज़ दी थी। ख़ैर।

तो आज पर वापस आते हैं। फ़िल्म सीआईडी के गाने एक से बढ़कर एक हैं। आजकल तो ऐसा बहुत कम होता है की किसी फ़िल्म के सभी गाने शानदार हों, लेक़िन उन दिनों संगीत क़माल का होता था शायद इसीलिये आज उसीकी बदौलत बादशाह औऱ नेहा कक्कड़ जैसे लोगों का कैरियर बन गया है। बहरहाल, फ़िल्म का संगीत ओ पी नय्यर साहब का है औऱ बोल हैं मजरुह सुलतानपुरी साहब के। लेक़िन इस एक गीत के बोल लिखे हैं जानिसार अख्तर साहब ने।

इस गाने की खास बात देवानंद औऱ शकीला तो हैं ही लेक़िन उससे भी ज़्यादा ख़ास है इसका मुखड़ा। जो इस गाने के अंतरे हैं उसमें नायिका नायक से सवाल पूछती है औऱ नायक का बस एक जवाब होता है \’आँखों ही आँखों में इशारा हो गया\’। मोहम्मद रफ़ी साहब के हिस्से में मुखड़े की बस ये दो लाइन ही आईं औऱ गाने के अंत तक आते आते वो भी गीता दत्त के पास चला जाता है। लेक़िन जिस अदा से रफ़ी साहब मुखड़े की दो लाइन गाते हैं औऱ पर्दे पर देवानंद निभाते हैं…

लाइन दो मिलें या पूरा गाना बात तो उसको पूरी ईमानदारी से निभाने की है। अवार्ड मिले या न मिले। औऱ लोगों का क्या, उनका तो काम है कहना। औऱ ये मानने में भी कोई बुराई नहीं है की आप सबसे अच्छे हैं। बात तो तब है जब यही बात बाक़ी लोग भी कहें या माने।

Baaghi 3 gets audience approval; Will Sooryavnshi repeat the magic?

Update: The film has opened to good response despite poor reviews. It\’s speaks volumes about credibility of Tiger Shroff because there is no one else in the film to rake in Rs 50 crore in two days. The numbers would have been better had it got a wider release. It is riding only and only Tiger Shroff\’s goodwill and the action sequences which the audience seems to have loved. It\’s good news for the Hindi film industry. Now all eyes on Akshay Kumar\’s cop drama Sooryavnshi.

Hindi film industry is staring at what could be worst beginning for them. Already first two months of year 2020 has seen many big films expected to rake in the moolah not living upto the expectations. March has two big films lined up for release – the third installment of Tiger Shroff action franchise Baaghi and Rohit Shetty\’s Sooryavanshi starring Akshay Kumar. But the spread of coronavirus in India just before the release of Baaghi and days after the March 24 release of Sooryavanshi trailer is not the news Hindi film industry would be happy with.

Of all the films released in first two months of 2020 only Tanhaji – The Unsung Warrior has got a nod from the audience and has managed to collect Rs 278 crore so far. None of the other films have been anywhere close to Rs 100 crore figure. Deepika Padukone\’s Chhapak managed Rs 34 crore, Varun Dhawan\’s Street Dancer 3D collected Rs 68 crore, Kangana Ranaut\’s Panga made Rs 28.92 crore.

Saif Ali Khan and Aliya F\’s Jawaani Jaaneman was the surprise hit collecting Rs 28.76 crore. Aditya Roy Kapur-Disha Patni\’s Malang collected Rs 58 crore while Imtiaz Ali\’s Love Aaj Kal did not win hearts of the people and collected Rs 34.8 crore. Even the box office favourite child these days, Ayushman Khurrana failed to get the same love for his Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan and the film on gay romance has so far collected Rs 57 crore.

MOVIESBox Office Collection
Chhapaak34.08
Tanhaji – The Unsung Warrior278.47
Street Dancer 3D68.28
Panga28.92
Jawaani Jaaneman28.76
Malang58.09
Love Aaj Kal34.8
Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan56.98
Thappad (Till March 3)19.13

(Figures in crore. Source: Bollywood Hungama)

Taapsi Pannu starer Thappad though loved by critics has got a rather lukeworm response with Rs 19 crore collection in first five days. The numbers will not improve, if the initial collection is anything to go by.

Cut to 2019 when three films managed to strike gold in the first two months. Uri – The Surgical Strike managed life time collection of Rs 245 crore while February releases Gully Boy and Total Dhamaal crossed the Rs 100 crore mark and collected Rs 140 and Rs 154 respectively. Two more films collected Rs 90-plus crore – Manikarnika – The Queen of Jhansi released on January 25 collected Rs 92.19 crore and Luka Chuppi, released on March 1 collected Rs 94.75 crore.

MOVIES (2019)Box Office Collection
Uri – The Surgical Strike245.36
Manikarnika – The Queen Of Jhansi92.19
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga20.28
Gully Boy140.25
Total Dhamaal154.23
Luka Chuppi94.75

(Figures in crore. Source: Bollywood Hungama)

Sandiwched between the two big releases is the Irrfan Khan starrer English Medium. Unlike the two biggies which are driving high on action and low on everything else, this sequel to Hindi Medium promises to be a content and performance heavy film. With Irrfan Khan still undergoing treatment for cancer, the film is eagerly awaited by his fans.

\"English

A look at first two months of 2020 indicate which way the wind is blowing. The spread of cornonavirus has already resulted in people staying away from group activities like Holi celebration and the same would apply to watching movie in a theatre. Its too early to predict hot it hits the Hindi film industry and Indian film industry in general but it definitely would impact the collection of big movies lined up for release.

Sooryavnshi trailer review: Akshay Kumar, Rohit Shetty film is a joke on \’Content is King\’

With one successful cop franchise, Singham, in his list of successful franchise films, director Rohit Shetty is adding more to the list. Simbaa with Ranveer Singh was first attempt in the diversification and Sooryavnshi with Akshay Kumar in the lead is the next attempt to create another franchise.

The trailer of Sooryavnshi tells you the entire story in a nutshell. While both Singham and Simbaa were Goa based, Sooryavnshi is Mumbai based. The villain or the evil cops are fighting in Singham series and Simbaa is local in nature but Sooryavnshi is tackling no less than Jaish-e-Mohammed. Akshay Kumar would not have settled for anything less going by his modern Bharat ka beta (don\’t confuse with the Salman Khan starrer) avatar.

Obviously the scale is huge with this kind of background but the problem is also obvious in Rohit Shetty films. The script is never the king. It\’s the stunts and the typical Rohit Shetty style of cars flying in and out. Sooryavnshi trailer is no different.

With Akshay Kumar as lead the action scenes have a chopper sequence, a bike sequence and lots of commandos in action. With just 22-days left for the release of the film, expect yourself to be bombarded with Akshay Kumar, Rohit Shetty interviews on channels, newspapers. The film is relying heavily on Akshay Kumar Katrina Kaif jodi and to encash the same there is a recreated Akshay Kumar hit. The Tip tip barsa paani song will hit the airwaves soon but will it convert into box office collection remains to be seen. Towards the end of there is good Muslim and bad Muslim gyan. Wonder how ruling government supporters are going to use it in the days to come.

Overall Sooryavnshi trailer was on expected lines. You don\’t expect Rohit Shetty to churn out a Shool or Sehar. This is what he is capable of and this is what we should expect from someone who is not willing to learn from his past mistakes.