**HOPEFULLY! IT SHOULD NOT BECOME AVERAGE LIKE KHAKEE!

Lakshya hits the jackpot at the BO!
Farhan Akhtar’s second film Lakshya, featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta, made an impressive opening.
Like his debut film Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya is doing exceedingly well in cities.

Whether the film will continue to maintain its hold at the box office remains to be seen.

The other release of the week Raghu Romeo opened to rave reviews but low collections.

Note: Films are ranked according to their release dates.








Lakshya

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, Om Puri, Boman Irani, Sushant Singh, Sharad S Kapoor
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Terrific acting, great direction and stunning visuals.

The film moves at a slow pace.

Number of weeks: New
BO Verdict: Hit
The review







Raghu Romeo

Cast: Vijay Raaz, Sadiya Siddiqui, Saurabh Shukla, Maria Goretti
Director: Rajat Kapoor
Good performances, great humour, gritty and well-directed film.

Niche audience.

Number of weeks: New
BO Verdict: Flop
The review







Dev

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Om Puri, Kareena Kapoor, Fardeen Khan
Director: Govind Nihalani
Seasoned performances, good music and cinematography.

Too preachy.

Number of weeks: 1
BO Verdict: Average
The review







Girlfriend

Cast: Ishaa Koppikar, Amrita Arora, Aashish Chowdhury
Director: Karan Razdan
Daring subject.

A flesh fest, not meant for family audiences.

Number of weeks: 1
BO Verdict: Flop
The review







Aan

Cast: Shatrughan Sinha, Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Preeti Jhangiani
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Exciting action sequences.

Too many subplots; poor editing.

Number of weeks: 2
BO Verdict: Average
The review







Hum Tum

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Jimmy Shergill, Rishi Kapoor, Kirron Kher, Rati Agnihotri
Director: Kunal Kohli
Impressive performances; catchy music.

Excessively mushy at times.

Number of weeks: 3
BO Verdict: Hit
The review







Police Force

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon, Amrish Puri
Director: Dilip Shukla
Akshay Kumar!

An outdated storyline.

Number of weeks: 3
BO Verdict: Flop







Yuva

Cast: Ajay Devgan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor, Esha Deol, Om Puri, Anant Nag
Director: Mani Ratnam
Technically inspiring; Abhishek Bachchan's performance.

Confusing screenplay; unnecessary songs.

Number of weeks: 4
BO Verdict: Flop
The review








Uff Kya Jaadoo Mohabbat Hai..!

Cast: Sammir Dattani, Pooja Kanwal, Sachin Khedekar
Director: Manoj Bhatia
Melodious music.

A contrived love story.

Number of weeks: 4
BO Verdict: Flop







Run

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Bhoomika Chawla, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ayesha Jhulka
Director: Jeeva
Abhishek Bachchan delivers an intense performance.

Weak plot; Manjrekar's loud acting.

Number of weeks: 5
BO Verdict: Flop
The review




Design: Uday Kuckian



Last week's box office results


Tell us what you think of these ratings

rediff..at times is unrelaible...

Yes!! I totally agree!!
But I didnt want to be BIASED!
specially, their TRACK RECORD with YAADEIN and DEVDAS!

Mid-Week Top 5 Movies of the Week

By Taran Adarsh (As on June 24th, 2004)

Film Cast Plusses Minusses Verdict

Lakshya Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta Impressive names on and off screen, breathtaking visuals and award-worthy performance by Hrithik Roshan Slow pace, uninspiring music and unexciting second half

Hum Tum Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji Likeable first half, Saif and Rani's performances and Jatin-Lalit's lilting music Waferthin storyline, dull second half and weak climax

Dev Amitabh Bachchan, Om Puri, Fardeen Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Amrish Puri Impressive star cast, excellent performances and technically well shot Too realistic, violent and serious theme, slow-paced narrative and imperfect climax

Girlfriend Aashish Chowdhry, Isha Koppikar, Amrita Arora Different theme and decent performances Too many songs and a hurried climax

Main Hoon Na Shah Rukh Khan, Suniel Shetty, Sushmita Sen, Zayed Khan, Amrita Rao Typical masala entertainer, SRK's powerful performance, Anu Malik's music and fast-paced proceedings Abounds in clichés


(Ratings are based on the box office collections and the cost of the film)

- Hit
- Flop
- Average

BUSINESS TALK

By Taran Adarsh, June 24th, 2004 - 0930 hrs IST


'LAKSHYA' - NOT ON TARGET!

Everybody is curious to know the fate of LAKSHYA. Let's go step by step and unravel the facts -


This Hrithik Roshan starrer took a stupendous start almost everywhere. The opening was at par with the biggest opening of this year so far, MAIN HOON NA. The terrific start didn't come as a surprise, primarily because the film starred Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta together after KOI… MIL GAYA, besides it was the second film of Farhan Akhtar after DIL CHAHTA HAI. Of course, the presence of Big B also added to the glory.


While the advance booking at metros was fabulous [it ensured almost 100% collections in the opening weekend], the opening at smaller centres [where the system of advance booking doesn't exist] was mind-blowing as well. The opening weekend throughout the country was highly impressive, despite the fact that the collections had started falling at several centres.


The audience feedback after the opening weekend was crystal clear: The cinegoers have liked the first half, while the second half has come in for sharp criticism. Viewers are finding the war scenes an extension of L.O.C. Even the slow narrative has proved a deterrent.


So, what is the future of films based on Indo-Pak themes? In the present scenario, when the Indo-Pak relations are at a new high, Indo-Pak war films are an absolute no-no. Films that abound in jingoism or those indulging in Pak-bashing are sure to get a cold response from the paying public.


Hrithik Roshan has been appreciated by one and all. Even his harshest critics have admitted that the youngster is pure dynamite. However, the feedback is not too flattering for the Big B. A sizeable section of the audience is wondering what actually prompted Mr. Bachchan to accept this film. Frankly, any character actor could've essayed this role. For Preity Zinta, it's been a mixed response. Some have liked her, some haven't!


While Farhan Akhtar's second film has won all-round praise for its technique and visuals, writer Javed Akhtar's script has met with its share of criticism. The script is a downer and a sore point for sure!
Monday onwards, the film is holding on very well at select theatres/multiplexes of big centres, but the collections have taken a dip at smaller centers, as expected. While the collections at Mumbai, Delhi [certain theatres] and Kolkata continue to be rock-steady, the business at smaller centres isn't encouraging.

The verdict is clear: The film is faring well at big centres. While the film should fare the best in Mumbai, distributors who have acquired the film for fabulous prices will stand to lose a substantial sum due to three factors - one, the film has not been liked by the hoi polloi; two, it lacks repeat-value, so important to recover the high investment and three, the coming week witnesses a big opposition in DEEWAAR, which is expected to take a fantastic start and cut into the business of LAKSHYA.

Lakshya starts faltering in 5 days.

http://www.boxofficeindia.com/

BOX OFFICE UPDATE-24th June 13.00 IST

Lakshya after a great start started faltering midweek.The small centers had started dropping over the weekend but on Tuesday the single screens in Delhi city were showing just 65-70% collections.Only in Mumbai and in parts of South the film is holding rock steady.It is going to be very difficult for the film to recover its investment just from multiplexes.Farhan Akhtar joins Raj Kumar Santoshi has the highest paid director ever with this film.Santoshi had received 4 crore for Khakee and now Akhtar has been paid the same for Lakshya.

Rajshri´s - The Bad Luck Continues With ´Lakshya´
By: Abid
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Rajshri´s who changed the way films were made with ´Hum Aapke Hai Koun´ , leading to spate of films modelled on it . Director Sooraj , became a role-model for all upcoming directors that made their debut in the ninetees .

However , with the infamous black buck shooting episode during the making of ´Hum Saath Saath Hain´ , all that changed and their next release ´Hum Pyar Tumhin Se Kar Baithe´ flopped badly . Subsequently , they ventured into distribution with ´ Chura Liya Hai Tumne´ once again the outcome was a failure and the failure of their potential blockbuster ´Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon ´ , shocked the industry . This was followed by the diasastor called ´Uuf Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai ´ .

The bad phase continues with ´Lakshya´ despite the fact that the movie has collected an impressive 11.60 crore in its first week at an all India level , with excellent collections from the Metro´s in particular .

Not many know that Rajshri´s have distributed ´Lakshya´ , in partnership with Zee in C.P. , A.P. , Nizam , Assam , Bihar and Orissa territories and the oucome of ´Lakshya´ has been the worse in the above mentioned territories except for Hyderabad city in Nizam .

In fact if we analyse East India (consisting mainly of Bihar , Assam , Orissa and West Bengal ) , the only place were ´Lakshya´ has done wonderfully well is Calcutta city in West Bengal but there the distributors are Venkatesh 2000 and not Rajshri-Zee .

We sincerely hope that Rajshri´s next venture with newcomers , to be directed by the wizard called Sooraj will change their luck for the better .


Post your comments

Family movies and Pak-bashing: staples of Hindi cinema...

I haven't seen Lakshya yet, so no comment, though I would be surprised if Farhan Akhtar did such a film.

Whatever you may think of the Pak-Bashing Staples of Hindi Cinema as you put it, the film is not good as DIL CHAHATA HAI, so don't expect too much when you do see it!

This some up REASONS for LAKSYA DEBACLE!!

When u go to see DCH, and u end up with Mature film, like ARMAAN!!

Lakshya has not done too badly.

After 2 weeks of good collections, collections are definitely going to jump upwards in the Delhi-UP, Bengal territories. Lakshya has been Entertainment Tax exempted, bringing the ticket prices to half.

http://www.indiafm.com/scoop/04/jul/070 ... P,~Bengal~

‘Lakshya’ tax-free in Delhi, U.P, Bengal

By Taran Adarsh, July 07th, 2004 - 1930 hrs IST

Farhan Akhtar’s LAKSHYA has been tax-exempted in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal. It remains to be seen whether the business of the film will show a jump with tax-exempted rates.