Archive for December, 2008

Billu Barber First Look Poster—It’s Special to be Ordinary

December 30, 2008 at 10:27 am · Filed under movienomics ·Tagged , , , , ,

Ok folks, it is time to move over Surinder ji Sahni or Raj–the naam tho suna hoga and put your hands together for Sahir Khan–the reel and real SuperStar played by SRK. Also, it’s time to get hair cut from Billu Barber! As promo songs, which by the way are rocking, begin to air the curtain raises for Billu Barber with this first look poster and the film’s tagline—it’s special to be ordinary.

billubarber_designerposter1Call it coincidence or calculated, but the tagline is similar to Rab Ne…tagline about ordinary-extraordinary. Looks like SRK is continuing to build a new image for himself—that of an ordinary, yet special/extraordinary man. The poster design is simply superb—artistic, stylish, and cool. The film title’s font and the oil-painting of a young Shahrukh Khan is great. For audience who have no clue about the original film’s story line the poster raises the curiosity level showing a simple village couple of a cycle and a cool-super guy next to them. The original film in Malayalam was a sensational success, but it’s remake in Tamil and Telugu with Rajnikanth bit the dust. It will be interesting to watch how SRK and Priyadarshan handle this film. If Priyan manages to add the SRK-glamor without hurting the essence of the story, which is actually Billu-the Barber, then the film is all set to be a memorable one.

The songs doing the rounds show a colorful SRK dancing away with Bollywood’s best ladies and the songs by Pritam are really good. Shahrukh looks like a full fledged mass-commercial hero in terms of dressing and dance steps. Deepika is smokin hot, while skinny-Kareena could have been avoided. The film is expected to release mid February, may be February 13th.

The poster is a Smash-Hit and gets Mr. Inkenti’s Thumbs Up! The confusion over Billo or Billu is now settled.

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Ghajini Box Office Status and Public Talk

December 27, 2008 at 2:49 pm · Filed under movienomics ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

5th January, 2008: I didn’t want to write in between constantly, even though the traffic and comments on this post were heavy, but wanted to wait until the verdict is loud and clear. The verdict is that Ghajini is thundering towards becoming an All-Time Industry Record film not only breaking all records, but also creating new records. In the process, it is re-writing box office records and raising the box-office stamina of a pacca mass-masala Bollywood film.

The first week took in 64 crores nett and now the second weekend took in close to 17 crore nett so the total stands at close to 82 crores nett for. This total is just a few crores shy of Om Shanthi Om’s and Dhoom 2’s All-Time Industry Collections Record. It will surely surpass this record and establish a new Industry record. The film has held its ground well and did not fall after the intial weekend as I had thought.

Congratulations to writer-director A R Murugadoss and producer Allu Aravind (brother-in-law of MegaStar Chiranjeevi) for giving Bollywood a taste of Southern Mass-Massala!

Why Ghajini’s Records are Important for Bollywood?

Ghajini’s records and box-office stamina should come as a wake-up call to Bollywood film makers who are making silly films in favor of the overseas and multiplex market. Critics may not like them, audience who visit their local multiplex for the weekend might put them down, but the masses love films that stick to the basics and deliver the high-voltage entertainment. The industry needs such mass-massala films because these are the only films that work in all centers. Personally, I didn’t like the Hindi Ghajini campared to the Tamil, but (i can understand) the fact that it has become such a roaring Hit just goes to show how starved the Hindi audience were for a full-fledged mass-massala film which all the basic ingredients: a villian, hero, heroine, love, tragedy, comedy, songs, dance, dance steps, etc. Down South, such films are quite common and it is quite common to see films creating hysteria at the box office in all centers. In Bollywood, because of the empahsis given to multiplexes, overseas audience, and wanna-be thematic like Hollywood, films have lost the native touch and just don’t work.

Enough of movies directed by assistant’s to other directors who can only think of a foreign backdrop. I want to see directors like A R Murugadoss, Farah Khan who stick to the basics and deliver the entertainment. Thats the bottom line.

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27th December, 2008: The monstor size good news at the end of what can easily be called one of the most difficult years for India, at the box office, borders, and economy, is that Ghajini has opened to Huge, with a capital H, collections all over. Begining with Wednesday night paid previews and the following first two days have been HOUSE-FULL. To put things in perspective, Ghajini is expected to collect in the first five days what Om Shanthi Om, Singh is Kinng, and Rab Ne… did in their first seven days. The number we are talking about is 40, 43, and 44 crores nett, for the three movies listed above (according to BoxofficeIndia.com).  So what does this mean? It means two things: firstly, the film is not that bad to fall flat and secondly, Bollywood’s hype-machine has out-performed itself!

Read Mr. Inkenti’s Movienomics Verdict on Ghajini

Yes, I am surprised that Aamir Khan managed to pull this off.  I must say, it’s been the best gimmick of all-time Bollywood. All the hype around a 13 monght work-out and buffed-up body only to be seen for a few seconds in the film. Why was Aamir not showing the body throughout the film for the fight sequences? It would have only added more mass-power to the film. The real test for Ghajini begins after the initial curiosity and weekend has ended. I remember how Taran Adarsh had gone ballastic when Singh is Kinng released using the same words “earth-shattering”, “unprecedented”, “unparalleled”. But what happened? The film slowly lost fizz in it’s full run. This is where OSO wins, hands down.I expect the same to happen for Ghajini, as the degree of hype around these films looks quite similar. The public talk for Ghajini ranges from too violent-useless to outstanding. There is consensus among even those who liked the film that it lacks repeat value. The entertainment quotient in the film is quite low.

In addition, given the excessive number of prints in circulation, the collections are bound to drop. Also, lets keep in mind that the film was sold for 90 + crores so it has to collect that much and so much more to be called either a hit, super hit or blockbuster. Lets wait and watch how the days go by.

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On Good Governance…

December 26, 2008 at 3:03 pm · Filed under World Affairs ·Tagged , , ,

For all my colleagues and friends working in public affairs, policy, administration and towards good governance. I must say, Deccan Chronicle has good stuff at times. I was in splits reading this.

govtethics_cartoonstrip1

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Ghajini Movie Review— Not as Impressive as the 8-Pack Abs!

December 25, 2008 at 12:29 pm · Filed under movienomics ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

mrinkenti3So finally 25th December has come and it is the day we remember to watch Ghajini for the all the hype that has been pumped in to it. Firstly, lets put aside this bogus comparison that all reviewers (rediff, bombaybitch, etc) are making to Momento. A R Murugadoss’s original Tamil Ghajini (later dubbed into Telugu) stands on its own with powerful mass-massala, high-power action, a touching and sweet love story, and a performance by Surya that no actor in India can match. There is no point running down a massala film by comparing it with an English one, however inspired. Period. Now, coming to the Hindi version, the script is let down by Aamir Khan’s action that does not quite generate the needed power-punch for such a massala film. At the end of it, the film is not as impressive as Aamir’s 8-pack abs, which by the way are only a guest appearance.

ghajini_poster2Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan) is a business tycoon just returned from America to look after his father’s business, a mobile phone company. One fine morning, while at a traffic signal he sees Kalpana (Asin), a struggling artist in the ad world, helping handicapped girls and falls in love. Kalpana and Sanjay slowly fall for each other in the backdrop of a funny love story where Kalpana thinks that Sanjay is Sachin, another struggling artist, and becomes a star model faking to the world that she is Sanjay’s lover! The night that Sanjay is about to reveal the truth, Kalpana is smashed to death by Ghajini, the villian, and his goons for rescuing young girls from their illegal activities (organ trade and trafficking). In that very incident, Sanjay also is smashed with a iron rod, but not to death; he develops short term memory loss where he forgets every 15 minutes. From this point on, there is only revenge for Sanjay and he begins to hunt the murderers down by clicking instant photos, tattooing, and writing instructions all over this body and house. And yes, there is Sunita (Jiah Khan) who is interested in studying Sanjay as a medical case, then begins to help him find Ghajini, the villian.

The highlight of the film is it’s narration. It begins with Sanjay hunting them down and as his history is being investigated, first by a police officer and then by Sunita, the love story and it’s tragic end are revealed. The present and past slide past each other. The action is typical of South Indian films, Tamil and Telugu, where the hero has ‘balls’ and the villain is the evil of the Universe. Such action has been missing in Hindi cinema. However, the dose of violence and sadism is disturbing. Jiah Khan’s character plays a vital role in the film, but she is totally uneffective with her acting. Asin is the highlight of the film generating comedy and emotion. Though she goes over the top at times, she has done a great job. The much hyped Aamir ‘perfectionist’ Khan could not carry the weight of his characterization and for this reason you don’t feel the power-punch that you should get watching this person who is nothing less than a wounded lion seeking revenge. He looks more powerfull on the posters than in his acting delivery. He shows his body, but that is only in the beginning when he sees the instructions written on the mirror “REMOVE T-SHIRT”. Why so much hype for these 8 pack-abs that make just a guest appearence? It looked like the body building exercise was more for the hype and publicity and less for the film. The first half is really good—Asin’s highlight performance which gives comedy, a sweet and funny love story, an exciting opening of Aamir and his body, but the second half is kinda flat.The opening shots of Aamir were received with full whistles and confetti! Me included.

The ending has been changed, in the sense that, in order not to leave a bitter taste for the audience, Aamir is shownghajini_poster3 imagining Asin sitting next to him. Kudos to our home town boy, Allu Aravind, for producing a film with Aamir Khan. Kudos also to our unasuming and little-man A R Murugadoss from down South for showing what a mass-masala movie should be like. A R Rahman’s music is a big dissapointment with the songs simply falling flat. Guzarish is the only saving grace. Thus to the sum it up, although the story and narration are unique, the minus points of this film are an unimpressive Jiah Khan and the underutilization of this hot chick (her song was there for hardly a minute), an Aamir Khan who couldn’t deliver the power-punch and wild-madness, and the music. Even Ghajini’s, the villian, characterization is not given much power.  The violence towards Asian and Aamir is disturbing and uncalled for. Interestingly, the minus points of the hindi Ghajini were the plus points of the Tamil Ghajini (Surya, Nayanthara–remember X Y macchi?–and songs!).

Mr. Inkenti’s Movienomics Verdict: Thumbs Down. A flat and not-so special second half, uninteresting songs, strips this film off any repeat value. Forget Momento for now, just watch the Tamil Ghajini with subtitles.

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25th December: GHAJINI FIRST DAY FIRST SHOW

December 24, 2008 at 4:24 pm · Filed under movienomics ·Tagged , , , ,

Read Mr. Inkenti’s Movienomics Verdict on Ghajini

25th December: As expected, the film has opened Big and is attracting mass audience, primarily youth. Aamir Khan’s first appearance on the computer screen, as the doctor explains his case, received great response. Next, Aamir’s opening scene where he beats up a goon (whom Telugu audience will easily recognize as our Yadu stars in most Telugu filmsghajini_poster1 as the star rowdy) and pushes a tap into this stomach is received with whistles. The songs did not get much response, but the starting tune of Guzarish when Aamir sees Asin for the first time took the theater by storm with screams. Jiah Khan fell flat on her face. In the climax fight, when Aamir suddenly forgets as he is beating up the goons got great response. On the first day first show, the usual dus wala versus pachaas wala comments took place. Overall, the second half did not impress and my group of friends felt that Aamir was looking like a small kid who got angry and he could convey the intensity that Surya had in the Tamil version. Also, Asin dominated with her awesome screen presence.

The film has all chances of being a hit because of the 8-packs hype, but there is nothing much of the body in the film. Repeat value is missing because of unimpressive songs and taking of the songs. Family audience might not patronize this film. Lets see how the opinion shifts.

24th December: As this post goes to press, the paid previews of Ghajini have began, news channels are beating about the court case which looks like it is resolved and the film will release on 25th, Taran Adarsh from Indiafm.com has gone ballastic and given the film 4.5/5…and the film’s poster seems to be generating a sort of mass hysteria! Keeping in tune with that hysteria, I am preseting to all fans an Aamir Khan cut-out on my blog as well. I will be watching Ghajini first day first show on 25th December, 2008 at Sri Sai Raja 70mm, Hyderabad and it will be evening by the time Mr. Inkenti’s Movienomics Verdict is given. In the meantime, visitors and friends of Mr.Inkenti’s Blog can post their comments and views.

A lot rides on the success of the film. Yes, the 90 crores that it was sold for, but more than that it has to join Rab Ne…in exciting the box office and finish of the year in mass hysteria. And most important of all, it’s success will spark off the Khan vs Khan war that will be taken forward in to 2009! The film will see a thundering opening, but it all depends on how it will sustain. The masses will love the fighting, but families who usually patronize a film after the initial days of euphoria might be hesitant; the film might not also have that much of a repeat value.

Anyways, wishing Allu Aravind, Aamir Khan and team all the success!

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Vinayakudu Movie Review—Watch it for the Big Guy!

December 24, 2008 at 4:07 pm · Filed under movienomics ·Tagged , , ,

mrinkenti2There are times you are unlucky enough to watch a worst film in a hurry and somehow miss out a really feel-good flick. After watching total trash (read Neninthe), my brother-in-law and me neededVinayakudu to de-toxify ourselves. Morevoer, when you have a simple-flick with new actors playing in close to 9 single screens + multiplexes in it’s 5th week in Hyderabd, you know for sure that the film deserves a watch. Although the direction, plot, and performanes are nothing much to boast about, the Big guy makes this film enjoyable!

vinayakudu_poster1Set in Hyderabad’s Madhapur hi-tech city the film revolves around the characters of a advertising firm. Kalpana (Sonia, Shravs of Happy Days) and her friends are living the usual lives shown in so many such films—pubs, useless looking guys with bekar looking girlfriends, and wannabe cool attitude (can somebody please show this lifestyle in a better style?). Their routines are in for a refreshing change when Karthik (Krishnudu), a big, huge, cool guy from the Godavair district enters as their fellow employee. Karthik is innocent and finds that even as he is being natural, all those around him are too artificial and superfial. Karthik and Kalpana slowly become friends and Karthik begins to like-like her even as she is busy dating her potential husband, her fiance. How this unlikely pair comes together forms the remainder of the film.

Yes, this film is totally refreshing in the sense that there are no villians, unnecessary comedy, and comes as fresh air amdist the current lot of smelly rotten Telugu films. However, the story is not that great and some of the threads are either unconnected or not properly weaved into the story. For example, Ankitha’s thread is useless and the reason for Kalpana breaking up with her fiance is  not convincing. Why does he she break up?—when she and her fiance are sitting in a park the police come and round up all the youngster obviously suspecting red-light work. Kalpana’s fiance, poor chap, in order to settle the issue bribes the polic and for this Kalpana flips out saying that this shows he thinks she too is of cheap character. From here on, she begins to get drawn towards Karthik. Nay, not convincing at all. And the direction is really amateurish and there is no style. Then what is that makes the film appealing? It is Krishnudu’s superb act as Karthik–the Vinayakudu. If a Star is someone because of whom a film runs, then Krishnudu is  a Star. His accent is adorable, his dialogues are hilarious (watch out for the discussion on pre-maritial relationships and when he asks Kalpana if she would be ready for it!), his innosence and honesty is infectious. You feel like crying when he does and feel like smiling when he does. If only the story, plot, and situations were better this film would have been a must-have DVD collection. Notwithstanding that, Krishnudu makes several sequences enjoyable for you.

Mr. Inkenti’s Movienomics Verdict: One Thumb Up! This year, 2008, is the year of small films in Tollywood…Ashta Chemma and now add Vinayakudu.

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Villu Music Review— DSP’s Tollywood Blockbusters Imported

December 23, 2008 at 10:35 am · Filed under movienomics ·Tagged ,

I simply love Tamil hero Vijay. Why? Because he so keenly observes Tollywood’s movies and music. Whats more, he actually picks up the good pieces from Tollywood, which is devoid of any creativity, and totally bankcrupt of any fun filled ideas.

The only thing exciting in 2008 for Tollywood was Devi Sri Prasad’s music. In particular, Jalsa. So for Villu, Vijay picks up DSP and simly imports some of DSP’s blockbusters: Sa re ga ma…Jalsa, Om Namasthe Bolo, Akalesthe Anam Peditha…

Clearly, Vijay is not looking for any original work. He simply wants to entertain his fans who hopefully will dance away to these blockbuster songs!

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Chandni Chowk to China is a Freemake of Kung Fu Panda!

December 23, 2008 at 10:14 am · Filed under movienomics ·Tagged , , , ,

The makers of Chandni Chowk to China have begun this really silly promotional and curiosity campaign (read bullsh*t campaign) that CC2C is a kind-of-a-biography of Akshay Kumar. Why? because Akshay began as a cook and now is now a big star (please, he is at least a century away from being a super star) just like the protagonist of the film who is a cook and then goes on to become something really big–he goes on to fulfill a Chineese legend to save the locals.

Firstly, it cannot be a biography because in real life Akshay is not fullfilling any legend or prophecy and is not saving any country. Secondly, it is not a biography of Akshay because the film’s story seems to be cleanly lifted from the international blockbuster Kung Fu Panda where Po, the panda, is a noodle maker in a village, but it turns out that he is picked by the master as the destined leader to save his people form the evil tiger.

I hope the makers of CC2C stop bullsh*ting and raising the curiosity around the film for it’s openings by saying that it is Akshay Kumar’s biography. I certainly do not hope that they will instead turn around and say that Kung Fu Panda’s story is actually inspired by Akshay Kumar’s life journey. Although this has not come out in the news, I am sure there are others who have smelled the similarity!

just come clean, say it is inspired and provide a good desi-style masala entertainment.

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Ghajini Advance Booking Status

December 23, 2008 at 6:00 am · Filed under movienomics ·Tagged , ,

It is nice to see that we are slowly consuming what we like the most: movies. Even as Pranab Mukherjee and team held the first ever meeting of all 120 India Mission envoys to discuss about options, the general public’s attention has been diverted to the box office. From the attacks and India’s intelligence lapse, the public talk shifted to Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, it’s initial mixed talk and later “hit” talk, and even before we knew it it is now all about Khan vs Khan with Ghajini round the corner. As expected Ghajini has generated tremendous excitement, primarily because of Amir Khan’s fully-buffed-up-by-steroids body only. As of this point, Amir Khan’s body and hair cut are the only pulling factors (songs are a dud).

In Hyderabad, Ramakrishna 70mm and Venkataramana Megaplex 70mm, the two main theaters, have been booked by the distributors, Indra Films, from Thursday to Monday. Advance booking is only available from Tuesday at this two theaters. I wonder what this means and how will the tickets be sold. Clearly, the distributors have paid the rent for the theaters and are confident of making up that money; perhaps by selling in black.  From what I see, advance booking on EasyMovies is lukewarm. Boxofficeindia.com is reporting unprecendented advance booking in some centers of North India; select paid previews for Wednesday are sold out.

For all the blog spots and one upmanship over SRK, Aamir Khan has resorted to more or less the same sort of marketing gimmicks that SRK did for Om Shanthi Om. The highlight of Aamir’s star power, all these years, has been his silent nature and allowing the films to speak for themselves. No media interaction, interviews, silly promotion activities etc and his movies always boasted of strong scripts and all this made him the star he is. But now we see him doing haircuts–it is the height of silliness really.

Anyways, Ghajini will open Big, but now openings cannot be seen a marker for a successful film (more on this in a later blog). As of now, the only USP of Ghajini is Aamir’s body and haircut. Lets see how the film has shaped up and how it sustains. The good news is that towards the year end, the box office is celebrating with Rab Ne…and Ghajini.

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Google Ads on My Blog!

December 22, 2008 at 8:46 am · Filed under movienomics ·Tagged , ,

googleadsonmyblog2Having Google Ads on my blog has always facinated me. I like the ads. There is something about having Google Ads on your web page. I tried hard, but I just don’t have the technical stuff in me to pull it off.  Yes, I even tried WordPress.org, but failed to understand it. And then….one day…just to see where in the search results my review sits when I clicked on my own review…I found GOOGLE ADS!!!!!  

 

googleadsonmyblog1Well, what can i say. I am proud of this page. It looked commerical, live, and kickin! Yea, I know that I don’t earn any money, but I love WordPress (the reason why I din’t shift to Blogger even though the latter allows Googel Ads with the press of a button) and I don’t mind if WordPress earns through ads on my blog’s page. I remember reading about this and always wondered whether ads would be placed on my blog. My wish is fullfilled.

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