Flurry of new releases before biggies strike
By SAMPURNSaturday, August 28, 2010
August 28, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): There are still a few more days to go before the release of ‘Dabangg’ but before that there are a dozen odd films filling in the blanks. Five such films that arrive this week are ‘Hello Darling’, ‘Aashayein’, ‘Madholal - Keep Walking’, ‘Antardwand’ and ‘Gumshuda’. Really, there is no hope of any of these five medium to small budget films succeeding at the box office though amongst all, it is only ‘Hello Darling’ that could still see some footfalls coming it’s way.
Three good looking leggy females (Celina Jaitly, Gul Panag, Eesha Koppikhar) featuring in the film coupled with an enticing theme (sexual harassment) narrated in a humorous tone may help ‘Hello Darling’ gain some foot falls at the least. In fact amongst all the five releases, ‘Hello Darling’ should see the best opening but anything more than 30%-40% would be really surprising.
There won’t be much surprise though if ‘Aashayein’ doesn’t find many takers on it’s release. Despite starring John Abraham with Nagesh Kukunoor at the helm of affairs, this dated film is seeing a release which is not carrying much spunk. There is absolutely no buzz attached to this film which seems to be releasing just because every completed film has to release at some point or the other. It may see some good reviews coming it’s way but there is not much scope here for word of mouth to take the movie forward since the week to follow would be dominated by ‘We Are Family’.
‘Madholal - Keep Walking’ and ‘Antardwand’ belong to art house cinema, are ready for quite some time and are now arriving unannounced. With newcomers leading the bunch, unknown makers and no corporate house backing, these films about the heartland of India are all set to go totally unnoticed, regardless of whatever merits they may be carrying. It would be interesting to see if these films manage even an all-India release for themselves, let aside stay in theaters beyond a weekend.
As for the fifth release of the week, ‘Gumshuda’, which is a dramatic thriller, it has come as a surprise even to the industry-wallahs, let aside the cine-goers. Forget the fact that audience won’t have any clue about this film, even the trade is expected to be oblivious about the film’s presence.
– Joginder Tuteja / Sampurn Wire
