Box-office Report

(The verdict is based on all-India collections and indicates the overall status from the date of release)

TOP 5 FILMS (for The Week Ending October 5, 2008)

1. WELCOME TO SAJJANPUR

2. A WEDNESDAY

3. ROCK ON!!

4. 1920

5. HARI PUTTAR

1. WELCOME TO SAJJANPUR

Director: Shyam Benegal

Cast: Shreyas Talpade, Amrita Rao, Ravi Kishan, Rajeshwari, Kunal Kapoor

Plus Points: Shyam Benegal diverting from his usual style of film making, UTV backing the same, excellent performance by Shreyas Talpade

Weak Points: Unwanted songs which breaks the flow, actually the film should have been without them, slow at some places

Box-Office verdict: Hit

Business: India - 1st week Mumbai: 45%, Delhi: 35%

2. SAAS BAHU AUR SENSEX

Director: Shona Urvashi

Cast: Kirron Kher, Farooque Shaikh, Tanushree Dutta, Masumeh, Lillite Dubey

Plus Points: Excellent performances by Kirron Kher and Farooque Shaikh.

Weak Points: Confused narration by maker – whether women should venture into stock market or not remains unanswered, going by title one expected good dose of comedy but it comes in parts.

Box-Office verdict: Flop

Business: India - 1st week Mumbai: 11%, Delhi: 10%, Overseas - $23,000

3. RU-BA-RU

Director: Arjun Bali

Cast: Randeep Hooda, Shahana Goswami, Rati Agnihotri

Plus Points: Not any

Weak Points: lack of publicity, poor music etc

Box-Office verdict: Washout

Business: India - 1st week Mumbai: 12%, Delhi: 10%

4. 1920

Director: Vikram Bhatt

Cast: Rajneesh Duggal, Adah Sharma, Anjori Alag, Raj Zutshi.

Plus Points: Vikram Bhatt attempting horror genre again after Raaz, background score that scares you at many places, top notch cinematography and good performances by the new comers.

Weak Points: slow narrative, if Raaz had haunting music this one is no music for ears.

Box-Office verdict: Above Average

Business: India - 1st week Mumbai: 40%, Delhi: 35%

5. THE LAST LEAR

Director: Rituparno Ghosh

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Prety Zinta

Plus Points: Rituparno Ghosh, a great story teller at helm, Amitabh Bachchan working with him

Weak Points: Too much of artistic approach in making, no substance for regular cinegoers, loopholes in script

Box-Office verdict: Flop

Business: India - 1st week Mumbai: 18%, Delhi: 15%

6. HIJACK

Director: Kunal Shivdasani

Ca6. st: Shiney Ahuja, Esha Deol, Kaveri Jha

Plus Points: Good promotion and nothing else

Weak Points: unconvincing storyline, below average performance

Box-Office verdict: Flop

Business: India - 1st week Mumbai: 24%, Delhi: 15%, Overseas - UK - $26,810

7. A WEDNESDAY

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Aamir Bashir, Deepal Shaw

Plus Points: Brilliant performances, direction

Weak Points: Too short in length (but a film like this has to be shortto leave an impact)Box-Office verdict: Poor

Business: India - 1st week Mumbai: 20%, Delhi: 16%

8. TAHAAN

Director: Santosh Sivan

Cast: Purav Bhandare, Rahul Bose, Anupam Kher, Rahul Khanna, Victor Banerjee

Plus Points: Brilliant performance by Purav, cinematography by Santosh Sivan

Weak Points: Limited appeal, loose and unappealing screenplay

Box-Office verdict: Washout

Business: India - 1st week Mumbai: 21%, Delhi: 20%

9. CHAMKUDirector: Kabeer Kaushik

Cast: Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra, Irfan Khan, Danny Denzongpa

Plus Points: We tried to figure any plus point but could not find any

Weak Points: Bobby Deol's poor run at the box-office, weak promotion, weak music, outdated story with poor narration

Box-Office verdict: Washout

Business: India - 1st week Mumbai: 20%, Delhi: 16%, Overseas - UK - $23,093