Barren Box-office

There has been such a dearth of good Hindi movies to watch in theatres for the past few weeks. After 'Wake up Sid', not one movie has managed to evoke a modicum of interest in me.

First there were those three duds - 'Blue', 'All the Best' and 'Main aur Mrs. Khanna'.
'Blue' sounded promising till I heard Chiggy Wiggy - a contender for the Stupidest Song Ever. Then I saw a haggard and bloated Sanjay Dutt in the promos trying to look like a cool surfer dude next to fit-as-a-fiddle Lara. Have you seen the poster where the guys are in wet suits and trying to throw some serious attitude? It was hilarious to see Sanju Baba with his back to the camera, glancing over his shoulder, since he couldn't afford to show his bulging belly in the wetsuit (thank heavens!) Akshay was the only thing close to cool and even he has been high on hype and dismal on delivery, so I didn't take any chances. I did hear though that the movie made huge gains on Day One itself thanks to a great opening. That's how most of the big budget movies recover costs these days methinks. Also, as a friend put it, "movie tickets - Rs. 400, popcorn and Coke - Rs. 300, Lara in a bikini - priceless!"

'All the Best' was a comedy so I had some hope. But it takes some serious 'willing suspension of disbelief' to watch Mr. Intense, Ajay Devgn and Mr. Clueless, Fardeen Khan deliver the goods. I gave this one a miss too though I did hear some reports that it was passable. That's the thing with comedy - someone or the other is sure to find it funny.

'Main aur Mrs. Khanna' looked like one more of those Salman-Sohail lets-keep-it-in-the-family type of wannabe movies. Kareena was there too with her 'I'm so perfect' expression, so I skipped this one too. Just as well because the movie didn't last a week at the theatres. I believe Salman actually had just a cameo in the movie though it was a being promoted as a two hero film. In one interview, Salman said he realised they had goofed up when his nephews walked out in the middle of the movie saying it was too boring. And this they unleash upon the unsuspecting audience!

Last week's releases have also received poor word of mouth but that's no surprise. 'Aladin' had little to tickle one's interest what with Riteish Deshmukh essaying the title role. During the pre-launch publicity drive, the director blatantly touted it as an Amitabh Bachchan movie. Arrey dada, why didn't you name it 'Genius' then (that's what Amitabh is called in the movie)? Poor guy probably realised he'd made a hash of it and was falling back on the tried and tested Mr. B.

My interest in 'London Dreams' faded when I found out that Ajay Devgn and Salman Khan were playing rock stars in it. I mean, puhleeze, gimme a break! Agreed Sallu Mian belongs to the rock star personality type but surely its 15 years too late for him to be doing this kind of a role. And Ajay Devgn? I just feel sorry for the guy. Also, for a movie about music, there was precious little of the good stuff in this soundtrack.

What I'm looking forward to now is 'Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani'. Why? Well firstly, its a comedy and I liked Raj Kumar Santoshi's last attempt at the genre (Andaz Apna Apna), second, Ranbir and Katrina together are a refreshing watch and third, the promos look good.
So its wait-to-watch time now folks!