Veerzara, MEA and Aitraaz released 2 weeks ago and dclared 'at least coverage', Hulchal and Rog too are expected/ reported to be money making films.

Hulchal:
http://www.indiafm.com/broadband/04/nov ... ndex.shtml

First Day First Show reactions:

A huge smile on the faces of cinegoers indicate that they have had their bag of laughs. The maker of Hera Pheri and Hungama will in all likelihood complete his hattrick with Hulchul. People seem to have loved the laugh riot that director Priyadarshan has served

Not just the performances or any one particular element, people have loved Hulchul for being a 3-hour blast!

If laughter’s the best medicine, Hulchul is a laughter-pill!

Ab Bas:
http://www.indiafm.com/reviews/04/abbas/index.shtml

From the looks of it, AB… BAS! may seem like a sex-based theme. But it's not! Yes, there's some titillation [hot smooches, bedroom scenes et al], but there's a story as well - of a wife who walks out on her husband and when pushed against the wall, decides to take matters into her own hands. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

Music [Daboo Malik] is melodious. 'Tu Ishq Mera Hai' [filmed at the Floating Market in Bangkok, besides other panoramic locales of the city] and 'Kehta Hai Mera Dil' [filmed on Nigar Khan] are two numbers that stand out, for the catchy tunes as well as their filming. Cinematography is eye-catching.

On the whole, the target audience for AB… BAS! are the masses and it should keep them content. Considering the price it has been sold at as also the genre of the film, it should find the going smooth at smaller centres/single screens.

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BTW, at two sites (don't remember which ones), there were diametrically opposite reviews of these two films. Each site loving one film (declaring it a hit) and trashing the other film (declaring a waste of time). Both sites picked a different film than the other, that they liked.

Hulchul: a painful watch

Raja Sen | November 26, 2004 15:41 IST


There are some films that pose in you an existential dilemma, and Hulchul is one of them.

Not by provoking profound ruminations on life, the universe, and, as Doug would say, everything, but rather crucially and sardonically poking a more personal, self-addressed question: how awfully can I possibly have sinned in order to have to sit through this painful, mercilessly raucous drivel? It's near impossible to justify this cinematic rusty guillotining of your neck, but then we have to keep things in perspective (and ourselves reassuringly consoled), so I'd urge you to ponder instead upon the dismal fortunes of the cast who are actually a part of this venture.


O' Four has been a thoroughly haphazard year, and God's been shooting dice with the box-office with gusto. In India, the hits of the year are an adulterous Hollywood remake, and a biker flick; internationally, a cartoon ogre and a wall-crawler, both sequels, made more money than Jesus and Homer combined. It's a turvy-topsy world.

The only consistent feature of this year, however, is that is has been the year of the Faltering Directors. From Oliver Stone to Mani Ratnam to Robert Zemeckis, this year has seen more celluloid mucking up by the respected 'greats' of the industry than any in recent history. If this is merely a trend of things to come, Farah Khan save us all.





Priyadarshan, in the last few years, has shown more than a little proficiency in comedy. His Hera Pheri, along with Rajkumar Santoshi's endearing Andaz Apna Apna, was one of the funniest films of the last decade, and firmly cemented Paresh Rawal as a new standard in credible comic acting.

Almost single handedly, the success and universal appeal of Hera Pheri resuscitated the purely comic genre in Indian film. His last outing, Hungama, continued in similar vein, and, while not as memorable as the earlier classic, provoked enough of a good-natured guffaw to augur well for satellite television reruns galore.


Hulchul is where things go awry. Watching this excruciating effort -- akin to slapping you in the face so hard you'll eventually crack and break into submissive laughter -- is sad, because you expect a far better product from the director.

It's also very puzzling -- watching an ensemble cast (mostly comprising) of talented actors, culled from stage, television and better cinema, reduced to script-less shambles would be understandable in the hands of a novice director and a moneyed producer, either gullible or aiming at a tax write-off. Here, it's hard to believe this film hails from pretty much the same crew.


The essential problem with Hulchul is that it tries to find that slippery twilight ground between comedy and drama, an admittedly formidable task. Goofing up with grandiose ambitions is more than forgivable, especially to a director who's worked well before, but this is no ordinary disaster. The film is not a comedy, despite what the promos make you believe, unless the sight of Arshad Warsi being rained upon by paan spittle regales you tremendously. Neither is it a drama, a ridiculously contrived face off between two families as clichéd as B-grade cinema of the 1980s. It's impossible to take it seriously, so it comes across as a spoof, minus the comic timing. Ouch.


Grimaces are induced from the beginning, when the director cruelly introduces us to his matriarch, Lakshmidevi (Lakshmi) a lady who assaults your ears with screechy yells at every stage of the film, a process she embarks upon when attempting to coerce an elephant's bowels into synchronisation. She's the demented head of Family One.

Family Two, headed by the completely wasted Amrish Puri, shuns all womanhood. There's really not much else to say in terms of (we use the term loosely) plotline, except that these families hate each other, bay violently and unashamedly for blood, and helpfully listen to each other only when advocated to slaughter their own kin.


Most of the cast is talented enough to shrug this turkey off, and are possibly praying for its burial and utter neglect at the box-office. Arshad Warsi, as is becoming inevitable, reprises his 'Circuit' character, but the script ensures that his finest moments are pretty much those when his face is busy bouncing off the busy end of Jackie Shroff's elbow.

Paresh Rawal is the one you feel really sorry for, trudging through this tripe, but like a brave foot-soldier, he does as commanded, and even manfully elicits a few laughs.

Jackie Shroff really has nothing to do, but an explanation as to how he protected his rimless frames from harm while his head thudded around assorted walls and wooden beams would personally be rather helpful.


Kareena Kapoor is getting to a point where she can treat each film depending on how well it fares. She plays her cards with artful meows, claiming she works with films because of the director, resultantly absolving herself from all blame while earning Bollywood brownie points -- one can never have enough. To be fair, she has performed adequately here. In a film of constant excesses, she -- with the exception of the jarring songs -- has underplayed her role. It's nowhere close to a good acting performance, but, relative to what surrounds her, she isn't horrible.

Akshaye Khanna could well end up being the film's tragic casualty. While the others can hide sheepishly behind their spineless, impossible-to-like characters, his 'Jai' persona suddenly sprouts some unused-to vertebrae and stands up for himself. This spurt of cojones, I take it, is to endear him to the crowds, but by now, it really is too late: he's been a lout, and he's not got the acting spurs to pull it off. Priyadarshan should have stuck to his guns and found his old cast member minus the silent 'e', but at least with the temerity to grin and let us bear it.

The film is a mess, a blunder of slapstick and camp, and, quite simply hurts. A lot of this is due to the constant shrieking and hoarse/shrill (Suneil Shetty/Lakshmi) yelling.

There is a scene featuring a huge vessel of glue, and Arshad Warsi can't figure out what on earth it's for. This is never explained, and it just functions as a hackneyed plot-device that the hapless Warsi falls into.

Hulchul, as a film, is worse than that glue-bowl: equally extraneous and redundant, but much more irritating.

Diana's new film makes you say ab bas!

Indrani Roy Mitra | November 26, 2004 16:58 IST


Posters of the film Ab... Bas (with tantalising glimpses of Diana Hayden's midriff and legs) seem too tempting to resist.

Sadly, however, director Rajesh Singh fails to capitalise on his film's USP -- Diana. It's time someone told Singh and, perhaps, Diana too, that breasts cannot act. Neither can the former Miss World title (she would do better if she exchanged notes with her predecessor Aishwarya Rai).

A chance to see Diana Hayden in her first solo-heroine role may draw the crowd for the first few days but a taut storyline and perfect execution are the tenets that make a film viable. And in these respects, Ab... Bas fails miserably. A single viewing is sure to give you a splitting headache.




Soumya (Diana) is a former beauty queen who shies away from marriage and thinks guys are not to be taken seriously. In comes Karan (Shawar Ali) whose attitude and respect for women has Soumya floored in no time. The inevitable happens and the two get married.

Thereafter, the story takes a dramatic turn as Soumya comes to know of Karan's fling and decides to leave him. Failing to put up with a now-overtly-possessive Karan, she flees with daughter Sara. This is when the real thrill (?) begins. No point telling you what happens in the end.

The plot bears an uncanny similarity with Sleeping With The Enemy and its Indian counterpart Agnisakshi. But if Nana Patekar and Manisha Koirala had put in wonderful performances in the latter, Diana and Shawar look like two brainless mannequins sleepwalking through their roles.

Ab... Bas is dotted with glitches and it will take a day to list them. Here is one of the blatant ones: Karan wins Soumya's heart by taking resort to drama. He impresses her by rescuing her from a café-hoodlum's advances. On finding out later that the hoodlum was but Karan's friend and the two had set the small incident up to gain Soumya's confidence, she says, 'Kitna bewakoof thi main.' Isn't it enough to make you tear your hair? Who is this film meant for, after all? Did the director feel two good-looking models with flawless skin and body will keep the viewers engrossed enough to throw every iota of logic and reason out of the window?

As for performances, lack of rehearsal and grooming stare hard at your face. Each time Shawar 'tries' to be intimate with Diana, she closes her eyes and that leads to even more disaster. What's even more disgusting is that these scenes don't get edited.

In one of the most romantic scenes, the couple looks petrified sporting an eager-to-get-over demeanour. It goes without saying that both Shawar and Diana need to spend some time honing their acting skills before returning to the sets. They must not forget: it's difficult to be a successful model but it is even more difficult to be a good actor. Possessing a great body does help but it cannot make an actor out of a model.

Lovemaking scenes look ill-planned, contrived and even inane. When will our Hindi film directors realise that we don't make love with our clothes on (neither do we bathe that way! In one scene, Soumya's passion is inflamed as she catches Karan in the shower with his underwear on!). Couldn't these scenes be done with some discretion?

As the film progresses, one is increasingly aware of the director's lack of focus. One can't know for sure if he had aimed a thriller, a family drama or a commentary on domestic violence. The film has a bit of everything in it. Which is why it never reaches a consummate end. It beats around too many bushes and never reaches a point.

There are a few non-mentionable songs in the film. But they just rub salt into your injury, and you want to say ab bas!

Initial Box Office reports are encouraging at surprise success of Hulchal and although Ab Bas has poor collections, it was expected to recover its miniscule investment from the interiors (B-centers).

http://www.boxofficeindia.com/

BOX OFFICE UPDATE-27th November 16.00 IST

Hulchul takes a very good opening all over.The opening is much better than the last two Priyadarshan comedies Hera Pheri and Hungama which were mainly Mumbai fares. The great opening of Hulchul all over India has surprised the trade.The film is a winner.Ab Bas got a poor opening.

ALL INDIA FIRST DAY AVERAGE OPENING

Ab Bas 30-35%

Hulchul 85-90%

http://www.boxofficeindia.com/

BOX OFFICE UPDATE-29th November 15.00 IST

Its loud and the critics don't like it but the public has loved it. The first three days of Hulchul have shocked the trade,the business is like a big star cast film instead of a moderate budget small cast film.The Mumbai circuit with 120 prints is just extraordinary but the surprise is places like Rajasthan and Punjab where comedies usually start on a poor note but Hulchul is doing very well.The film is going to notch up a very healthy first week total.The film is almost certain to be Priyadarshan's biggest hindi box office success.