Hits and Misses of the First Quarter of 2012: BollywoodHungama

March ending is the favourite buzz word of people from the world of finance as it marks the end of the financial year. However, for us B-town folks, the last date of March marks the end of the first quarter of watching films released in the new year. The last 3 months have been a mixed bag for Bollywood with some films striking gold at the B.O. while others falling like a pack of cards. Bollywood Hungama’s Nikhil Ramsubramaniam gives a brief snapshot at the Hits and Misses of the first quarter of 2012. Read on…

HITS

Agneepath

Karan Johar took the risk of remaking his father’s cult classic Agneepath and even had the guts to hand over the directorial reins to a debutant director Karan Malhotra but boy did he deliver. The film saw some power-packed performances from Hrithik Roshan as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan and Sanjay Dutt as the evil Kancha Cheena. But the real surprise was Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala playing the meanest character he has ever portrayed. This one was a blockbuster from the word go and ‘Chikni Chameli’ rage only added to the collections even more.

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu

Dharma Productions’ struck gold once again when young debutant director Shakun Batra managed to make an unconventional yet feel-good love story in Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu. Imran and Kareena played their respective parts perfectly and brought about a refreshing chemistry on screen. The groovy music by Amit Trivedi and the locales of Vegas were the icing on the cake.

Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya

Frankly speaking there weren’t too many expectations from Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya starring Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh. However, the film surprisingly did well at the B.O. much to the delight of the newly-weds. Surely the duo couldn’t have asked for a better wedding gift.

Kahaani

The promos of Kahaani had generated tremendous buzz from the time they were first unveiled. After all, the film starred the one-man or rather one-woman army called Vidya Balan who is at an all time high in her career. The film took a bumper opening and continues to run in theatres till date. Sujoy Ghosh proved that he is no one film wonder by weaving a gripping story that kept you on the edge of your seats till the very end. Kolkata looked sexy and Vidya once again proved that she is the only Hero among all the Heroines.

Paan Singh Tomar

Paan Singh Tomar released with no hype or promotion whatsoever. No one had any expectations whatsoever with this long in the cans film. However post-release the film swept the box office like a hurricane and created so much buzz that it left even its own makers bewildered. Backed by a power-packed performance by Irrfan and a taut narrative by Tigmanshu Dhulia, this small budget film became the talk of the town and had the producers laughing all the way to the bank

Blood Money

The Bhatts surely know how to make movies in a shoe-string budget. It is this very nature that enabled them to make profits on a film like Blood Money which starred Kunal Khemu and Amrita Puri. Although the film’s music was a chartbuster, the film garnered mixed reviews. But a modest budget enabled the Bhatts to sail smooth and throw yet another success bash for their film.

MISSES

Players

The very first release of the year Players proved to be the biggest disaster of the year so far. Abbas-Mustan’s desi rehash of The Italian Job had mammoth star-cast, exotic locations but missed a gripping storyline leaving the audience bored.

Jodi Breakers

This romantic-comedy starring R.Madhavan and Bipasha Basu proved to be a tragedy for its investors who spent no stone unturned in giving the film a wide release. However, a screenplay of convenience and ordinary direction resulted in the audience giving this Jodi a thumbs down.

Ekk Deewana Tha

Probably the only good thing that happened because of Ekk Deewana Tha is Prateik and Amy becoming soul-mates in real life. The couple, who met during the shooting of this film, failed to recreate the magic of the Tamil original version Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya. Gautham Menon’s comeback to Hindi cinema is best forgotten. The film also had a very mediocre score by A.R.Rahman.

Agent Vinod

The long in the making Agent Vinod arrived with a bang but alas failed to take the Box Office by storm. After flops like Tashan, Kurbaan and Roadside Romeo, the on-screen pairing of Saif and Kareena once again failed to impress movie-goers. After the opening weekend euphoria settled down, this desi Bond flick found the going tough.

London Paris New York

This breezy rom-com had a fresh pairing in Ali Zafar and Aditi Rao Hydari but a half-baked script that dragged on endlessly didn’t do the film any good. Ali was good but the film in the end was just a series of montages put together without any cohesive plot.

Chaar Din Ki Chandni

Samir Karnik failed to recreate the magic of Yamla Pagla Deewana with this mad-cap comedy starring Tusshar and Kulraj Randhawa. Despite releasing during a Holi-day weekend, the film never took off and was severely panned by critics.

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