The Review of Raavan..Another disaster after KITES!!

Raavan..a figure etched in our minds since times immemorial...he is sometimes more colossal than RAM himself..may be i sound blasphemous but then to MANI RATNAM it wasn't!! He endeavours to create a product that has Beera(Raavan) abducting Ragini(Sita) and Dev(Raam) trying to save her with the help of the likes of Govinda playing the role of a forest officer.


Lets dissect the movie point wise:-


1.PLOT: The big question is where was the plot? I didn't see it..the audience was stressing each and every neuron to find it!! The plot is too little to be called a plot itself! A great storyline that once was told by Ramananda Sagar has been raped by one of the directing maestro's called Mani Ratnam. The plot could have been overwhelming but then the director over-judged himself and his capabilities.Twisting the plot to include the soft-corner in sita's heart for raavan is like trying to give a wonderfully wonderful original storyline a devastating midas touch!!


2. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Now Mani Ratnam's movies are lauded for their character developments be it Dil Se/Guru/Yuva. But Raavan treads on such wafer-thin plot that character development takes a back seat.Characters seem to be hushed and improperly researched. Abhishek's character has its grey and white shades but then its not developed fully that it required to.Aish has a significant character development in the movie and you can easily relish her role although it too does go out of proportions at some times! Vikram/Govinda are all wasted.Nikhil Dwivedi/Ravi Kishan might find some roles after this movie as they do justice to the time and role the plot awards them.


3.ACTING:
1.Abhishek Bachhan: He should ask his legendary father that why didn't he pass on his acting genes to him!!!! Legacy isn't going to work for long. Abhishek hams/overacts throughout the film with some idiotic expressions and body movements.Infact its his credit that you start finding the serious scenes funny.Had it not for him and his over-burdened/extra-endeavoured acting Raavan would still find many takers. He either has misunderstood the plot or the director has not properly conveyed him the way he had to enact the role. But acting-wise Abhishek fails miserably,he is infact pathetic!


2.Aishwarya: By far the best actor of the lot..ofcourse she whines throughout the movie coupled with those seriously blank eyed expressions but still she carries the movie single-handedly.The lady can act and can act better than her husband! Aish is the only saving grace of the movie.She has her moments..she has her weaknesses..and she expresses them nicely! If you opt to waste your 100-150Rs.,do it only for Aish.No one else deserves an ounce of it!


3.Vikram/Govinda: Wasted!Wasted!Wasted! Govinda is unemphatic..leaves no imprint on mind...Vikram has little to offer so my review also ignores him!!


4.Nikhil Dwivedi/Ravi Kishan/Priyamani: They are good to solid in their parts and they will certainly impress you in however little time they make it to the screen.


4.CINEMATOGRAPHY: Excellent/Ethereal/Beautiful/Mesmerising..this might work as a model to other cinematographers.The work is indeed of high quality..sets the perfect tone for the movie which the director obviously messes up.The lakes,the falls,the rains all are beautifully captured.Had it not for the storyline/terrible acting and direction..this movie would have been an epic of sorts!!You can actually feel the ambience in which the movie is set. Kudos to the cinematographers!


5.DIRECTION: Terribly terrible....Mani degrades himself..he has lost all reputation he earned in my eyes atleast with this catastrophic outing of his.No research,No character diversification,no plot.just a wonderful cinematography and that too its not to his credit! I am sad enough to let the criticism be only to these few sentences!


ADVICE: Keep away from theatres.


RATING: 1/5..*/*****

MNIK OVERSEAS NUMBERS-UPDATED!!!

Country-wise breakup of revenue:-

1.United States of America: 19 crores(4.018M US$)

2.United Kingdom+Ireland+Malta+Netherlands=20.25 crores(4.2M$) Link

3.United Arab Emirates: Movie has been tracked to 7th week by bomojo. Link
The total listed there is $2,109,306= 9.92 crores=~10 crores

THE TOTAL GIVEN BY BOI FOR MIDDLE EAST AS ON 31ST MARCH 2010: $3.75 million=17.7 CRORES.WE SHALL BE USING THIS DATA LATER.

4.Egypt: $517,018=This is the latest update by BOMOJO as on 6/6/10.= 2.5 crores.Link

5.Bahrain: $459,418=2.17 crores.Link

6.Ghana+Lebanon=71542 US$=0.34 crores Not a single penny more as MNIK was lasting on single screen in the last update.Link

7.NOW THE MIDDLE EAST IS COMPRISED OF 16 COUNTRIES.Link

BOI says 17.7 crores as on 31st march 2010 as i said earlier.Apart from one country turkey the movie is released in all countries.
U.A.E=10 CRORES
EGYPT IS 2.5 CRORES
BAHRAIN IS 2.17 CRORES
LEBANON IS 0.29 CRORES
TOTAL IS 15 CRORES.

THEREFORE THE TOTAL FROM SYRIA+OTHER MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES APART FROM TURKEY IS 2.7 CRORES.

2

8.Indonesia+Malaysia:1.75 million US$=8.25 crores…Kjo reported it,BOI reported it.. Link

9. Pakistan+Srilanka= $700,000+150,000$=850,000$=4 crores .. as reported by BOI on 31st march 2010.

10.Poland: 75000$(Kjo)+ 25000$ at maxx therefater..100000$=0.5 crores Link

11.France/monaco/morroco:$110,005=0.5 crores Link

12.Spain: $$127,113=0.6 crores Link

13.Belgium+Luxembourg: $$21,905=0.1 crores Link

14.South Africa:$270,698=1.3 crores Link

15.Nigeria:$29,939=0.15 crores Link

16.OCEANIA:1.2M$ as per BOI=5.64 crores Link


17. Germany:$137,813=0.66 crores Link

The total adds upto 78.78 crores or approx.79crores. Further approximation for untraced BO earnings by BO mojo/BOI should yield ~2 crores~. Thus the final total till date is 81 crores.

Figures from turkey/italy still to be added...the revenue should be nothing less than 3-4 crores approx.

So in all probability MNIK should end its run overseas in the range of 85-86 crores which is almost 14 crores more than 3 idiots.

Hats off to such a fantastic response overseas though the indian performance was just decent enough!


MNIK indian revenues:


1.MNIK TOTAL GROSS INDIA:118 CRORES
2.MNIK NETT GROSS:73.5
3.Distributor share(india): 37.5 crores

MNIK IMPACT...READ ON!!

When SRK-Kjo came out with MNIK on 12th feb this year..they took the international scene by storm...i have already discussed the humongous response to mnik before in my blog and the BOX-OFFICE economics has already been discussed.

Today i write about the impact of the first truly global bollywood cinema.The cinema that revolves around the innocence of an autistic muslim man in the times and life after 9/11.The movie pondered not over the plight of muslims only but also gave a heartwarming message of humanity and love beyond religious borders.The movie became a hit in india especially amongst the classes..and was a rage overseas.It stormed the UK box-office,tsunamised the US box office,conquered the MIDDLE-EAST and hit the numero-uno status in all countries like egypt,south africa,indonesia,pakistan,australia+newzealand,poland for a bollywood movie ever.

The impact was global and phenomenal,It focussed on the essence of humanity and coupled with sterling performances by SRK and KAJOL..the movie forces audiences to think on the current hatred that surrounds us.Infact it got a grand salute in EGYPT..running for over 2 months now.Students are being given project-work on MNIK.

He is more like a new prophet of his time but are we true Muslims to believe in him" al-Kurdusi said. That is what a famous egyptian movie-analyst had to say about SRK and MNIK.

Infact in syria where hindi movies never had a strong foothold..MNIK conquered such a virgin territory and came out with flying colours!Unimaginable it was.

'My Name is Khan has created a certain pride in being a devoted Muslim, as the lead character is shown in the film. He prays five times a day, as most Syrians do, uses phrases from the Koran in his daily conversation and believes that justice will prevail both in this world and the afterlife for those who uphold the Prophet Mohammad and Islam. 

Many Syrians and Arabs see a mirror reflection of themselves on the screen through the life of Rizwan Khan, a simple man who leads a simple life, is devoted to his family and religion and who yet is accused of being a terrorist by the US. The fact that Rizwan Khan was actually Indian and not Arab did not really matter to Syrian viewers. '

This is what Sami Moubayed a famous syrian journalist had to say about MNIK.Imagine the impact..can you?

Infact MNIK and its impact in US forced raju hirani to rewrite his MUNNABHAI CHALE AMERICA...according to him..KHAN did all that in US what MUNNABHAI had intended to do...Isnt that  a great compliment from another master director.

Grossing much critical acclaim from all corners of the world..it is story of hope and reaffirms our faith in global humanity..in love beyond nations..in innocence..in relationships..in the fact that there are only two people in the world-GOOD and BAD.

As one of my friends said:MNIK begins as a movie and ends up as an experience...feel free to write ur opinion on MNIK.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LE01Ak01.html

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/article/56701.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/News-Interviews/No-Visa-for-Munnabhai/articleshow/5924964.cms

And to add:

1.SRK is not doing ferrari ki sawari with Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

2.Ra.one releases most probably in march 2011

3.SRK attending IIFA 2010-might show rushes of Ra.one

4.MNIK verdict: INDIA:74.5 crores nett gross: HIT

                           OVERSEAS: 80 crores+ : ALL TIME BLOCKBUSTER

For overseas report: http://www.boxofficeindia.com/npages.php?page=shownews&articleid=1614&nCat=news

For indian verdict: Follow taran aadarsh/BOI/Indicine.com/PlanetBollywood.com: they all say the same..

If u need the links..ask for it..i ll find them out and post it!!

MNIK ROCKSS!!

RA.ONE!!!-NEWS AND BEYOND!!

Ra.One (also called Ra.1) is an upcoming Bollywood science-fiction superhero film directed by Anubhav Sinha and starring Shahrukh Khanand Kareena Kapoor. The film is reported to have a budget of INR 1 billion, making it the second-most expensive film in India, after Blue, and equaling the record of My Name Is Khan's buyover for the same price. The film will be produced under Khan's production company, Red Chillies Entertainment.

Cast

• Shahrukh Khan as Shekhar/Jeevu
• Kareena Kapoor
• Arjun Rampal
• Satish Shah
• Shahana Goswami
• Dilip Tahil

• DIRECTOR: ANUBHAV SINHA
• PRODUCER: SHAHRUKH KHAN / GAURI KAHN
• MUSIC: VISHAL -SHEKHAR
• CINEMATOGRAPHER: UELI STEIGNER
• RELEASE DATES: IN 2011 AS STATED IN SRK'S TWITTER A/C

• STORY LINE: SRK plays the role of a miami based software engineer who is assisted by sahana goswami and he fights his self-created techno monster.SRK can solidify electricity in this superhero movie.Breath-taking action stunts are reported to be the USP of the movie!!Arjun rampal is in the negative role.Kareena Kapoor plays the housewife of shahrukh.

• SHAHRUKH reportedly said that he is doing this movie for his kids.

• AKON has sung one song for the movie.he came to india on march 8th and recorded the song on 9th and 10th march.
• SRK-KAREENA pair after 9 long years.last seen together in asoka (2001).

• SRK flaunting an 8-pack abs for the movie!! recently suffered a knee injury that hampered shooting for  a while!

• JACKIE CHAN was approached for the movie but later it was stated that he would not be featuring in the movie!!

• ANUBHAV SINHA'S last outing CASH failed to register a cash-flow at the box office.

• The suit that SRK would wear in the movie is reportedly the costliest suit in the world ever made.

• Shooting will take place in miami and india and london.

•  KAREENA KAPOOR JOINED SHOOTING ON 21st of APRIL 2010.      

       LET'S HOPE THAT SRK AGAIN WINS ACCOLADES AFTER HIS STUPENDOUS 

       PERFORMANCE IN MNIK.


       p.n:keep following the blog for further updates.
       To all shahrukh khan die hard fans...lets give all we have to our SRK.
       HAIL THE KING!!

MEDIA AND JUNTA.....

I remember my papa reading 'The Times Of India' and 'Prabhat khabar' daily in the morning after he was done with his shaving. Then in the evening there would be the national news on DD1 at 8'o clock that he rarely missed.
Those were the days of early and mid nineties when media depicted the happenings only..it never dissected it.It just read out the activities that happened during the day but never tried to become prejudiced or biased towards any such event.


Then came ZEE NETWORKS LTD. and private TV channels captured the fancy of indian junta..slowly and steadily the media overpowered every other pillar of democracy and established itself as the most powerful-the fourth pillar of democracy.I vividly remember that the present AAJ TAK(the self proclaimed best hindi news channel in india) was just a 24 minute news bulletin on DD metro that broadcasted at 10:30pm with nalini singh as its host.Then there was parakh hosted by vinod dua betwewen 1992-1996 on DD1...and chunav chunauti on sony entertainment television.Till then everything was fine.


Then came the internet.initially considered a status symbol to have internet at home...it gradually became easily accessible to one and all..media by now had spread its wings to an extent that it could malign anyone's image at its own will..that it could sensationalize news and divert the attention from the core issue.Reporting became a  joke..reporters became a bigger joke...media came under heavy criticism but to no effect.Reporters looked like drama artists and their reporting looked more of an emotional scene from a Bollywood movie. 


Have u all forgotten nithari children murder case..moninder singh pandher and his servant were initially accused..media degraded them calling darindas and khooni bhediya's...later the servant was found guilty and moninder singh pandher was acquitted and his innocence was restored.but when pandher came out clean..media gave it a 10 min space on TV as against 24 hours they gave when nithari case gained prominence and when they were almost raping him on TV.
The list of cases doesn't end here...recently when dantewada massacre took place in which 65 CRPF jawans lost their life...media was busy reporting the marriage of a failed tennis star and an another failed cricket player  and captain of a neighbouring country's cricketing team.Who attended the wedding,who ate what,who didn't come,who came,who left when,who was wearing what...thank GOD they don't report things like 'who went to pee and who din't?' Thousands of important things would be happening around that are worth reporting but media now-a-days is interested in TRP'S and revenues and thus diversifies itself into sensational news and if there is no such news-they create one out of nothing!! While watching news channels you don't feel like u are watching news..you feel you are relishing a daily soap!And to add to that different media houses owe loyalty to different political parties.


The nexus is such that the aam-junta,the mango man,the cattle class is left amidst the glamour of the news far away from the substance within it....news channels are misguided missiles used by politicians to aim each other.We have no hardcore reporters left..intelligent ones like Dr.Prannoy Roy and Vnod Dua are fading....others like burkha dutt are gradually being gulped in by the glamour world of news,no one is interested in watching DD NEWS...as it is a government owned channel and all reporting on important issues are actually a draft by the government itself...I agree the awakening of media has helped too in many ways like bringing justice to jessica lal etc. but then the cons outweigh the pros by huge margin...the media should understand its responsibility and report things,not judge things and then report them 'coz whatever maybe...we have something called the judiciary! is the media listening?????

MNIK:BOX OFFICE PERFORMANCE

The phenomenom that was MNIK,has finally crossed 5 weeks of its release...lots of speculations surrounded its box office performance so much so that it was the topic of debate everywhere on the internet and off the internet alike.
lets ananlyse its performance both in indian and overseas markets:




INDIAN MARKET:
A total of 75 crores nett. collected till the fifth weekend.
VERDICT:HIT
The film performed below expectations though..it was touted to touch almost 90-95 crores..it will not be able to do that....its lifetime business shall be around 76-80 crores.




LINKS RELATED TO THE CLAIM MADE ABOVE ARE FROM THE MOST TRUSTED SITES ON BOLLYWOOD ECONOMICS:
1. http://www.planetbollywood.com/BoxOffice/
2. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/
3, http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/trade/special_features/index.html
4. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/youdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=1599&nCat=you_asked_it




OVERSEAS:
The response was colossal...MNIK is has already become the highest bollywood grosser ever beating 3IDIOTS on the way!




Lets see a country/region wise comparative breakup:
1.US:$4,096,371 as on APRIL 15th 2010
This breaks the record of SRK'S previous best OSO's record in US but falls short of 3IDIOTS run that stands at 6.5million U$ now.




2.UK:MNIK is the BIGGEST bollywood movie ever in UK.-GBP 2.62millions




3.MIDDLE EAST:HIGHEST  bollywood grosser ever:3.7million US$




4.AUSTRALIA:$9,25,000:SECOND highest ever after 3 IDIOTS($1,100,00) {all figures in australian dollar}




5.NEW ZEALAND:2,30,000US$ :HIGHEST EVER beating 3 IDIOTS(1,75,000US$)




6.OTHER smaller markets have also contributed heftily...with pakistan,indonesia,bahrain,egypt,south africa,malaysia, contributing around 2.3million US$ cumulatively.




VERDICT:ALL TIME BLOCKBUSTER
COMMENTS:In phase 1 of its release it has accumulated 68 crores almost..while 3 IDIOTS lifetime collections are around 70 crores...MNIK'S second release phase in countries like poland,germany,russia combined with a shorter version for US audience will certainly catapult it all the more ahead of 3 IDIOTS overseas.....
FINAL VIEW:WILL SOON BECOME THE HIGHEST BOLLYWOOD GROSSER EVER...NO SECOND THOUGHTS ON IT!ABSOLUTELY!




LINKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CLAIMS:
1.http://www.naachgaana.com/2010/03/23/mnik3-idiots-overseas-numbers/
2. http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/trade/special_features/index.html
3. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/npages.php?page=shownews&articleid=1602&nCat=news
4. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mynameiskhan.htm




THE MOVIE IS A PHENOMENOM...COMPLETE ONE!KUDOS TO SRK,KARAN AND KAJOL FOR SUCH A SCINTILLATING EFFORT.




SPREAD THE WORD:MNIK IS A CLEAN HIT IN INDIA& THE BIGGEST HIT OVERSEAS EVER.....

SRK'S TEN BEST ROLES....part 1

SRK...THE ACRONYM STANDS FOR THE BIGGEST CINEMATIC ICON OF BOLLYWOOD AFTER AMITABH BACHCHAN....HE STANDS LIKE A COLOSSUS WATCHING THE WORLD UNFOLDING IN APPLAUDS FOR HIM AT INTERVALS MORE THAN REGULAR....!

TODAY I PRESENT TEN BEST PORTRAYALS OF SRK...ITS MY ORDER..YOU MAY BEG TO DIFFER..BUT STILL IF YOU ARE AN ARDENT FAN OR EVEN A SECRET ADMIRER YOU ARE GONNA AGREE WITH THE LIST COMPLETELY OR TO A MAJOR EXTENT...SO HERE WE GO!!

1.KABHI HAAN KABHI NAA:its not easy to portray a role of a loser...a boy who was nothing in almost every aspect of life...a boy who was never standing upto the expectations of his parents...a soul who was searching himself through the eyes of this world...a mind that was competing with better ones around him!but SRK essayed the role with aplomb...the composure and consistency under strain of the character was more than evident...novice as he was...unruly hair that he had..the innocence he carried...the guilt that he reflected..the way he faced his parents...the way he lost one girl he loved...the manner in which luck betrayed him at the last moment and the way he still carried a contagious smile on his lips...the tears rolling down his cheeks....this role remains as SRK'S most natural,most effervescent,and the most emphatic one...p.s. the other versatile khans have never dared portray the role of a loser with such frankness..one of them came close to doing it in 'akele hum akele tum' but its trivial in front of the perfection of king khan!

2.SWADES:The NRI scientist of NASA...returning to homeland in his SUV...with a view that india is poor,dilapidated,deplorable....collides with the richness of indian values in a village...meets a self dependent,high esteemed girl,understands the requirements of his country by evaluating the lack of basic amenities like electricity in his village and apathy to education...works in tandem with the girl he starts loving to bring children to school,utilises his knowledge to create hydroelectricity....but returns to US again as he still is not convinced about the way india needs him...his SWADES needs him..the girl refuses to go along with him..so does his mother...but he returns back as the heart lies where the mind wanders...SRK was underemoting yet his emotions were bang on target..commercial failure but critical success..this film put SRK in the league of those mainstream actors who could carry subdued roles with utmost of ease without any hero like tantrums...he was simple yet classy..he was underplaying still he excelled..there was no melodrama yet there was drama unfolding every frame...POTENTIALLY SRK'S BEST CHARACTER TO DATE...THE BEST!

3.MY NAME IS KHAN:The film has already become a global phenomenom....critically highly appreciated,comercially raking in moolah...RIZWAN KHAN proved that acting is not about different hair-do's or 8 pack abs or marketing gimmicks...he proved that roles are essayed with ease and spontaneity...SRK has essayed the role of an autistic with such perfection that the role haunts you long after you have left the cinema hall..the innocence depicted...the determination portrayed..has not been seen in recent times....khan is at his scintillating best...he captures the movie,elevates it to an unfathomed height doing somewhat for the lacklustre editing in second half....shahrukh has set a benchmark for everyone to surpass him and his acting skills...his acting was not a dissertation like the other khan..but its spontaneous,very spontaneous...you dont know what you are going to get next! I WANNA HAVE SEX NOW,NOW!!can anyone demand sex from his spouse more innocently than that...no one can!shahrukh has excelled in terms unparalleled leaving behind all criticism about his acting...shahrukh has rewritten the rules of acting...the movie has already garnered 198 crores worldwide in just 29 days of its release!!!!

4.CHAK DE INDIA!: kabir khan is another khan which tsunamised the box office!A national game in deplorable condition...gender bias prevailing in extreme quanta...authority corrupted,a personal insult to be wiped out...everything almost non-conducive for a national women's hockey coach...added to all of the above personal rivalry and state-wise lobbying of the players!One man could do the miracle....he could rewrite 'REMEMBER THE TITANS' for india...his name was KABIR KHAN..and he did it...shahrukh looked the best in this movie till date...his voice was stern..his mannerism was authoritative..his heart felt a grief that transcended into your heart...sharukh was at his empahtic best...his character had a depth and he even outdid the depth..he surpassed all inhibition to churn out the best character in hindi cinema ever and the best sports movie ever and and and the sport anthem of our country..chak de india!such was the influence of the movie that it injected a new life into hockey by diverting the attention of masses to the plight of hockey...sahrukh carried the movie alone on his shoulders...and he not only carried it..he went and nailed the name of the movie amongst the top movies of bollywood cinema!!I bet no other could have done justice to the role...no one..shahrukh not only did justice to the role but also imparted a decree to be followed while acting!period!

5.BAAZIGAR:When no one dared to essay an anti-hero role,king khan did it with utmost of conviction..and won hefty accolades....khan was hineous..clever..yet he was romantic..the way he mixed his romanticism with his revenge..his pleasure with his motive..was a class act! 'JEET KAR HAARNE WALE KO BAAZIGAR KEHTE HAIN' this dialogue sets the tone of the movie...loosely based on a novel 'the dying kiss' this movie will be remembered for the scene where SRK throws shilpa shetty from the terrace.. khan assumed a license to kill and he killed at his will,with ease...his dangerous eyes,his dangerous smile were all fantastic.the climax was heart tearing...a man fighting for his family..his mother...being almost killed by the culprit and then you could see the revenge in shahrukh's eyes and at last thew ay he plunges the iron rod into dilip tahil's bowels and then dying in his mother's arms...saying..'maa mujhe teri god me sona hai..main bahut dino se soya nai hun'...its the most empahtic revenge movies of all times..shahrukh gave it a clinical treatment...gave it novelty...gave it the much needed villainous features coupled with a somewhat underplayed romantic aspect!!!Will always be remembered whenever revenge and motives shall be discussed in bollywood!!!!

PART 2 SHALL BE HITTING THE BLOG TOMORROW...!!!!