Summer has set in, but it’s frosty at the Indian box-office.The ration continues to drop. Last week, NISHABD and NEHLLE PE DEHLLA and this week, RED – THE DARK SIDE, 1971, WATER and SARHAD PAAR have only made the industry poorer by a few crores.Let’s talk of RED – THE DARK SIDE. Last year, the Himesh Reshammiya – skin show combo resulted in the film fetching an excellent start at the box-office. But despite it all in abundance it failed to take offThen there was the negative feedback. IN HOT WATERSThe below-the-mark response to WATER proves yet again that Oscars or any of those fair/unfair awards hold zilch value when it comes to Indian box-office. It’s a great film, no doubt, but it’s not the type that would appeal to all sections of moviegoers.SUPER-FLOP
Almost three years ago, during the I.I.F.A. weekend in Singapore, I distinctly remember attending the press meet of SARHAD PAAR. In fact, four Sanjay Dutt starrers MUSAFIR, RAKHT, TANGO CHARLIE and SARHAD PAAR were showcased and unveiled to the global media for the first time. The film was slated for release that year!
While the first three films have already come and gone, SARHAD PAAR had an unsung release last Friday. The film had been delayed for various reasons and the release date kept getting shifted frequently. The final nail was director Raman Kumar’s statement on the day of its release, calling it an incomplete film.
The film fell even before it could rise!
PLEASANT SURPRISE
I was apprehensive when I walked into Adlabs preview theatre at Film City to watch 1971 four days before its release. Indo-Pak themes are passé, in fact a couple of them had left me squirming in my seat. But 1971 is one of the finest films in this genre. I only suggested two things to its distributors Studio 18 as well as debutante director Amrit Sagar. One, they ought to increase its promotion. Two, the film deserves to be tax-exempted [as a result, the ticket prices are reduced], so that more and more people watch the film.