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No Takers for Today’s ReleasesThis week, we have three films releasing, Preity Zinta’s maiden venture Ishkq In Paris, Jyotin…
I don’t plan to turn producer right now: Kiran RaoFilmmaker Kiran Rao launched the teaser and trailer of director Anand Gandhi’s upcoming film Ship…
Tiger Shroff: Another Action StarA few years ago, filmmakers were shying away from signing him but it was Sajid Nadiadwala who had…
Another Actor Turns ProducerIt’s a trend that’s turning into a tidal wave. We’re talking about actors turning producer.…
More On PK DealBox Office India was the first to tell you that Disney UTV had paid an astronomical price for Aamir…
“I cannot wait to work with Amitabh Bachchan again”The Great Gatsby, which released yesterday, is the fourth film based on the novel by the legendary…
Raj-DK To Launch Mahesh BabuThere was talk a few years ago that Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu would venture into Hindi filmdom…
“Today, I have to push much less to be appreciated”Guest Editor Deepika Padukone speaks to Box Office India about her upcoming release Yeh Jawaani Hai…
Take One
Legends Never Die
I first met Yash Chopra in 1969 in Delhi. I was still in college but had started assisting Dev saab and it was a chance lunch at the Oberoi in Delhi during one of Dev saab’s visit that I met Yashji and JK Kapur (father of Copper Chimney owner Joy). ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Amit Khanna, Dev Anand, Dharmputra, Dhool Ka Phool, Nitin Tej Ahuja, Yash Chopra
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The More The Scarier AKA The Pie Is Finite
In our editorial note last week (Logjam At The BO), a week in which seven Hindi films released, we had expressed our apprehension at the detrimental effect of multiple releases.To quote from last week’s note: ‘After all, with close to 200 releases annually and the number of weeks in a ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Aiyyaa, Ajab Gazab Love, Chakravyuh, Delhi Safari, Rush, Shudra
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Happy Birthday, Mr Bachchan!
Trying to encapsulate the legendary on-going career of Amitabh Bachchan in a 600-word editorial piece to commemorate his 70th birthday is trying to achieve the unachievable.
Indeed, scores of books have been written on the various facets of the man and still, all of them put together, do not ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged 70 years, Amitabh Bachchan, Big B, films, Happy Birthday, Nitin Tej Ahuja, Shahenshah
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Whatta Quarter!
What began with a bang, ended with a bang and had many bangs in between? Before you start throwing up answers ranging from the pious (Ganesh Chaturthi festivities) to the profane (a pornographic film), let me quickly clarify that I am referring to the third quarter of this calendar year!
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Compliments Of The Season!
Ecstatic overwhelmed, humbled… I could fill the entire page with the range of emotions that the team has been experiencing ever since our third anniversary issue released last week, prompting a virtual avalanche of compliments.
I am sorely tempted to reproduce the many phone calls, SMSes, tweets, Facebook posts, ...
3 Cheers For 3 Years!
You don’t need to hold a post-graduate degree in physics and mathematics or have spent years poring over Einstein’s theory of relativity to know that ‘time’ is a relative concept.
A span of a billion years would be too short for carbon to metamorphose into diamonds while 10 seconds ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Ajay Devgn, Ayushmann Khurrana, Mr Sanjay Gaikwad, Mr Sanjay Gupta, Mr Shah Rukh Khan, Mr Shoojit Sircar, Mr Shyam Benegal, Mr Siddharth Roy Kapur, Mr SS Rajamouli, Mr Subhash Ghai, Mr Sudhir Mishra, Mr Sunil Lulla, Mr Sunny Deol, Mr Tigmanshu Dhulia, Mr Tinku Singh, Mr Uday Singh, Mr Vashu Bhagnani, Mr Venkatesh Roddam, Mr Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Mr Vijay Singh, Mr Vikram Bhatt, Mr Vikram Malhotra and Mr Vishal Gondal, Ms Vidya Balan, shahrukh khan
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Contrarian Bet, Anyone?
Our industry has often been criticised for exhibiting a certain herd mentality. In droves, filmmakers latch on to the last hit film or star and then try to create multiple clones of that success.
While it is easy for outsiders to deride this trait, the fraternity itself would justifiably ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Agneepath, Bol Bachchan, Bol Bachchan and Ek Tha Tiger, Cocktail, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Ferrari Ki Sawaari, Gangs Of Wasseypur, Housefull 2, Ishaqzaade, Jannat 2, Jism 2 and Ek Tha Tiger, Kahaani, Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum, Paan Singh Tomar, Rowdy Rathore, Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya, Vicky Donor
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The ‘A’ Crisis… And A Plea To Behave Like Adults
There is never a dull moment in our business of filmmaking, is there?
It’s hard enough trying to somehow make a film and all the while that you are waging this uphill battle, you know that given the success ratio of our trade, the odds are loaded against you ...
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Exclusive Club Getting Crowded… And We Aren’t Complaining!
A crore’ is a numerical unit unique to India. While the rest of the world rather uniformly deals in thousands and millions and then on to billions and trillions, we Indians, always one to dance to a different drumbeat, go along with the rest of the world till the thousands ...
My Friend, Ashok Mehta
Ashok Mehta’s story is an inspiring tale of someone who transformed from a NOBODY to a LEGEND as a cinematographer … a real legend of Indian cinema.
And you become a legend only when your work inspires generations and they aspire to match your heights. You become an institution ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Ashok Mehta, Khalnayak, Kisna, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Subhash Ghai
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Box Office Blues For Patriotic Films?
On Wednesday, India will celebrate the 65th anniversary of the nation becoming independent.
The word ‘celebrate’, however, is used here in its more perfunctory sense rather than to indicate any mass jubilation or out pouring of nationalistic fervour. For most of us, Independence Day merely provides a happy reason ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged 65th Independence Day, bORDER, Krantiveer, Lagaan, Manoj Kumar, Rang De Basanti and ChakDe! India
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25-Gun Salute For The Hit Man
We live in an era where self-promotion and projection often count for much more than actual performance. And all it takes is the smallest smattering of success or the tiniest bit of public appreciation for the hype machine to go into overdrive, spewing superlatives of ‘the greatest’, ‘the phenomenon’, ‘the ...
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Mind Your Language
The Hindi film industry likes to think of itself as being synonymous with the Indian film industry. And it therefore often views the regional cinema industry like one treats one’s distant, not-so-well-off relatives: with a mix of amusement and condescending patronisation.
However, taking the same analogy further, over time, ...
Farewell: The King Of Hearts
How does one pay tribute to Rajesh Khanna?
We could write about the unprecedented scale of mass adulation that he generated in his heyday – the heightened hysteria and idolisation that really introduced our industry to what the term ‘superstar’ truly meant. We could write about the tilt of ...
Dub-ble Trouble
It is no breaking news that over the last few years, international (read Hollywood)films have emerged as a credible and potent box-office rival to domestic films. Andit is no secret that tent-pole Hollywood releases like 2012, Avatar, The Avengers and Spiderman manage to amass more-than-healthy collections.
However, there still ...
Film Marketing – Crucial Partner, Not Convenient Punching Bag
Success has many fathers, failure is a ba… Well, for the sake of our family readership, let’s just say failure is a child born out of wedlock!
No one will agree with the inherent truth in this statement more than the folks involved in the marketing of our films. ...
Sense-r Board
There is never vulgarity in a whole truth, however commonplace. It may be unimportant or painful. It cannot be vulgar. Vulgarity is only in concealment of truth, or in affectation.
John Ruskin
Our fraternity, this publication included, is quick to take offence and rave ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Delhi Belly, Gangs Of Wasseypur, Singham, The Dirty Picture
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Rowdy Rathore Extends June’s Spree
Let’s face it, we film folk are a superstitious lot… clinging to ‘auspicious’ clutches –‘lucky’ mascots, astrological and numerological vetting of film titles, mahurat timings, release dates and the like. And so there are certain commonly held beliefs about the last week of December or the first week of January ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Alag (Jun 16), Bol Bachchan, Chennai Express, Chup Chup Ke (Jun 9), Ek Second... Jo Zindagi Badal De... (Jun 11), Gangs Of Wasseypur, Krantiveer – The Revolution (Jun 25), Krrish (Jun 22), Love Ke Chakkar Mein (Jun 3), Maximum, Mr. Singh Mrs. Mehta (Jun 25), Phir Hera Pheri (Jun 9), Raajneeti (Jun 3), Raavan (Jun 18), Rohit Shetty, Rowdy Rathore, Sacred Evil – A True Story (Jun 3), Shah Rukh Khan, Teri Meri Kahaani
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Escape From Reality
Despite a pretty strong marketing campaign and an eclectic cast and crew, yesterday’s release Shanghai has failed to enthuse film-goers and looks unlikely to live up to the trade’s expectations of a strong showing.
On the other hand, last week’s offering, Rowdy Rathore, continues to do well at the box ...
Southern Comfort
As we go to press, the good news is that this week’s marquee release, Rowdy Rathore, has opened very well, with the first day’s collections likely to be in the range of Rs 15 crore. Further, the word-of-mouth publicity around the film is good and it looks all set for ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Akshay Kumar, Himmatwala, Mawaali, Rowdy Rathore, Sonakshi Sinha, Tohfa
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Move Over Cricket
By the time this edition is published, the IPL final will be just a day away, bringing to a close the cricketing extravaganza that is the Indian Premiere League.
Contrary to what some expected, the IPL managed to stay afloat despite a cricketing overdose and widespread disenchantment with Team India’s ...
Copyright Act Amendments – Who Really Won?
On Thursday, The Rajya Sabha passed by a voice vote, the long-in-the-coming Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010.
The Bill has been a major source of debate and divisiveness within the film and music industries, and we at Box Office India and our sister publication, Sound Box, have been giving you ...
Posted in Take One
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Goodwill Hunting
Last Sunday, India woke up to the launch of the much-anticipated Satyamev Jayate.
And what a launch it was! Never in the history of Indian television broadcasting has a single programme – major sporting events like the cricket or football World Cups or the Olympics included – been simulcast ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Aamir Khan, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty, Satyamev Jayate, Star Plus, STAR Utsav
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Countdown To A Century – Amar Akbar Anthony
On May 3, 1913, Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra was shown for the first time in public at Coronation Cinema at Girgaon, Mumbai.
In fact, Raja Harishchandra was preceded by Dadasaheb Torne’s Shree Pundalik, which released almost a year earlier on May 18, 1912. However, the fact that Shree Pundalik ...
The Dirty Non-Picture
“For unavoidable reasons, we regret to inform that the film The Dirty Picture will not be telecast today. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.”
That’s the message which ran across Sony Entertainment Television (SET) as a ticker last Sunday, on the very day the much-spoken-of Vidya Balan hit was ...
BOI Welcomes BO
An alliance between someone who is over 92 years old, and someone who just celebrated their second anniversary a few months ago would seem an unlikely one. More so, if they are separated by a physical distance of almost 13,000 kilometers.
However, a shared commitment to quality, credibility and, ...
Content Versus Commerce
“I went into the business for the money, and the art grew out of it. If people are disillusioned by that remark, I can’t help it. It’s the truth.”- Charlie Chaplin
As we go to press, last Friday’s release, Housefull 2, has clocked impressive collections in excess of Rs 60 ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Bittoo Boss, Bodyguard, Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein, Don 2, Housefull 2, Ready
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Q1 Trends – All Set For A Good Year?
The year 2012 began on the heels of a very successful 2011, and here we are with the first three months of the year already behind us. So how has the first quarter been for the trade this year?
Starting with Players on January 6 till last week’s releases, ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged and such films as Bittoo Boss, Bol Bachchan, Dangerous Ishq?, Department and Ishaqzaade, Ek Tha Tiger, hate story, Heroine, Housefull 2, Jannat 2, Jism 2, No one Killed Jessica, Raaz 3, Rowdy Rathore, Shootout At Wadala, Son Of Sardar, Talaash, Teri Meri Kahaani, Tezz, Vicky Donor, Yamla Pagla Deewana and Tanu Weds Manu.
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Ajay Devgn Is Son Of Sardar
If you have a cracking title for your film, the ca...
If you have a cracking title for your film, the ca...
On The Sets Of Bol Bachchan
Shooting for Rohit Shetty’s Bol Bachchan is on in ...
Shooting for Rohit Shetty’s Bol Bachchan is on in ...
Salim Khan On Salman Khan
After painful surgery in the US, Salman Khan is ba...
After painful surgery in the US, Salman Khan is ba...
We Will Not Say Goodbye
How does one pay tribute to a filmstar; nay, a leg...
How does one pay tribute to a filmstar; nay, a leg...
‘Sunny Leone Is Bhatt Camp Property’ – Mahesh Bhatt
Always think of unbelievable from Bhatts. Believe...
Always think of unbelievable from Bhatts. Believe...
1st Day 1st Show Collections Of Tezz: Dehradhun
The First day First show collections of Tezz in De...
The First day First show collections of Tezz in De...
Final Take
As the audience awaits the release of Bol Bachchan...
As the audience awaits the release of Bol Bachchan...
1st Day 1st Show Collections of ETT: Saharanpur
The first day first show collections of Ek Tha Tig...
The first day first show collections of Ek Tha Tig...
Ek Tha Tiger Day 4: NBOC
Ek Tha Tiger day four
Ek Tha Tiger day four
Second Week Comparision: Ek Tha Tiger Vs Ready
Circuit Ek Tha Tiger Ready Mumbai ...
Circuit Ek Tha Tiger Ready Mumbai ...
11 Hindi Films Make It To India’s Oscar Shortlist
FFI shortlists films for Oscars
FFI shortlists films for Oscars
Pooja Bhatt’s Next
Pooja Bhatt is all set to direct her next film tit...
Pooja Bhatt is all set to direct her next film tit...
