Even ‘Taare Zameen Par’ took a slow opening: Adhyayan Suman

‘Jashnn’ released over the Friday gone by and has surprisingly taken a slow start at the box office. Ironical as it may sound but this time around, director duo of Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwala has seen good reviews coming its way. Still, audiences are yet to warm up in a big way for the film that stars Adhyayan Suman, Anjana Sukhani, Shahana Goswami and Humayun Saeed.

The good news though is that select segment of audiences that has watched the film has good things to say about this emotional tearjerker that has number of poignant scenes that result in moist eyes. No wonder, the film's lead Adhyayan Suman is (rightly) hopeful that the film would pick up with strong word of mouth.

"Such films do take time to find audiences and I have myself seen good trend emerging with every passing day", says Adhyayan who is ecstatic though that his performance has not just been noticed but widely appreciated by majority of audiences and critics. "Yes, Friday was slow but no one came out complaining. I have been informed by trade that Saturday and Sunday have seen better results. Even if the film continues to hold up similarly on the weekdays, something that I am quite positive, I am sure we will have a good second weekend."

In the times when the first weekend does all the talking, what makes him so confident about the prospects of ‘Jashnn’? One can count the number of films that would have probably gone on to become popular amongst the audience in spite of not-so-favorable box office opening.

"And the film that sits at the top of such list is Taare Zameen Par", Adhyayan is quick to respond, "Didn't it see such a revival in fortunes after such a below average opening? It went on from strength to strength and went on to be a blockbuster! Yes, we have a big difference here though that ‘Taare Zameen’ Par had Aamir Khan while ‘Jashnn’ has Adhyayan Suman. But then it is sweeter to see an underdog succeed, isn't it?"

He is unhappy though that a section of media has come down heavily on him. "Frankly, I am not even sure whether these so called 'learned critics' have even bothered to watch the film", says Adhyayan in an amused tone, "Some of them seem to be making comments that are not even related to the film which makes me doubt if they have actually just done a desk job of putting together a review? That's because as far as I know, those who saw the film did appreciate the good work that has gone into making the film."

Is criticism rattling him? "Not at all", Adhyayan negates the theory, "If that was the case then I would have walked out of the film line after ‘Haal E Dil’ itself. Moreover, even in ‘Raaz - The Mystery Continues’, some said I was good and some said I was just average. I acknowledged the feedback and worked further on my performance."

"I am fine even if someone says I am bad in ‘Jashnn’. It's fine as long as someone can point out a scene and say that you were unconvincing at such and such scene. I will thank that person and work on myself. But if you make generic statements like Adhyayan was disappointing or he doesn't know the basics of acting or he was not right for a complex role like this, then hello, I can't take that. Give me feedback but make that objective enough", fumes Adhyayan.

Well, Adhyayan is surely fighting against the odds. But then fact is that a large section of media as well as audiences have given a Thumbs Up to his matured performance in ‘Jashnn’. Delivering much more than what he could have probably promised with ‘Jashnn’, it's just a matter of time before he is taken seriously as an actor.

Mahesh Bhatt calls Jashnn as 'emotional pornography'

With ‘Jashnn’ finally hitting the screens, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt is back with his quotable quotes. As per him, this film is nothing short of being an 'emotional pornography' since it is raw and nude in emotions.

Informs Anjana Sukhani, leading lady of the film, "Yes, ‘Jashnn’ is indeed an emotionally driven film. No wonder, (Mahesh) Bhatt saab always claimed that ‘Jashnn’ is nothing short of emotional pornography. Of course the statement will raise quite a few eyebrows but the fact is that it comes with a different connotation."

She goes on to explain the 'depth' of the statement. "See, to achieve something in life, the bigger struggle is not from the outside world but from your inner self. You have to first fight yourself, take your inner demons hands on and struggle from within. That's what you get to see in ‘Jashnn’ which gets all such emotions out in nude."

Despite NEW YORK, disasters continue to dominate

Ok, so NEW YORK has been a huge success while coming weeks promise jumbo size entertainment as well, what with KAMBAKKTH ISHQ, SHORTKUT - THE CON IS ON, SANKAT CITY, JASHNN, LUCK, LOVE AAJ KAL, AGYAAT and KAMINEY arriving in quick succession. However, it would still be too early to forget some of the recent disasters that Bollywood has faced during the fortnight gone by.

First and foremost let’s talk about RUNWAY, the film which released alongside NEW YORK. The film has been kicked and buried deep down with not many being even aware about this Amarjeet Shukla and Tulip Joshi starrer. Despite some melodious music, the film would be most remember for it’s shoddy direction and downmarket treatment.

Films that released a week earlier have been ‘red’ as well for their investors. PAYING GUESTS, for all the claims by it’s makers to be a success, has bitten the dust and is hardly in the reckoning in it’s second week. The film is a flop, what with just 6 crores coming from it’s first week in spite of a big release of 500 cinemas. A comedy, it has just not excited the audiences and should soon be finding a release on home video. The only person who has come out unscathed is Shreyas Talpade who has done well once again in a comic outing after GOLMAAL RETURNS. However, it would be a surprise if PAYING GUESTS would ever ‘return’ despite producer Subhash Ghai and director Paritossh Painter being gung-ho about coming up with a sequel.

The other three films that released alongside PAYING GUESTS have been all disasters, as indicated by less than 10 lakhs that they all have earned between them. Yes, you read it right - sum total of collections of LET’S DANCE, HUM PHIRR MILEINGE and RAFTAAR hasn’t even crossed 10 lakhs. While Gayatri Patel’s debut flick LET’S DANCE, which was centred on dance, was the best reviewed of the lot, it’s 4 lakhs total in week one immediately qualifies it as a box office disaster. As for Sarvar Ahuja, the young man continues to make poor selection of movies that hardly justifies the talent that he possesses. His HUM PHIRR MILEINGE has managed just 2 lakhs across the country. Similar are the collections for a small time film called RAFTAAR which released without any promotion and disappeared over it’s opening weekend itself.

If one talks about the bigger films then KAL KISSNE DEKHA, which cost quite a fortune for it’s makers, has completely drowned with a fall of more than 80%. With just 1 crore more coming in the second week, the film has almost closed shop at 6.5 crores. As for Mithun starrer ZOR LAGAA KE HAIYAA, lesser said the better. The film’s 20 lakhs total is lesser than what Mithun Chakravorty’s Ootywood movies have made in the past.

With such pile up of movies expected to be a thing of the past, one sincerely hopes that the era of disasters is over and better months are there ahead for the Hindi film industry.