Bollywood, Box Office and ZNMD

The Box Office never ceases to amaze you. 

I have not seen Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara(ZNMD) yet. Plan to watch it over the weekend. 

After watching Delhi Belly, I actually thought Farhan and Co will have a tough task making money off ZNMD. Apart from the fact that it was made at a budget of mindboggling 70 crores, DB had raised the bar all of a sudden, in terms of story, screenplay and pacing. But after the rave reviews it got, Mayank Shekhar of HT going as far as calling it a Dil Chahta Hai for this generation, I upped my expectations. Still, for the movie to break even was a bleak chance, I thought. 

Bang comes this announcement from Eros Films, the co-producers. 

"Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara grosses Rs. 108 crores in 10 days,with Rs 86 crores coming from India alone". 

Zapped, aren't you? So what are your thoughts - a good movie making good money or a film which has many stars, a great story and great direction doing well?

My Review - Luck by Chance

After the dissapointments which came last year in the form of a Hancock or a Hulk, a Ghajini or a Rab ne(and please don't even get me started on the Tashans, Singh is Kings and suchlike), I was really looking forward to watching Luck By Chance(LBC).

In his review Rajeev Masand spoke about the opening credits sequence and indeed it is mindblowing especially the shot where Zoya's name comes. LBC is a part-serious part-hilarious look at the hindi fIlm industry. A place which is full of punjabi producers, kanpuria strugglers, overprotective divas, dumb stardaughters, selfish friends and manipulating magazine editors. Zoya Akhtar, having seen most of the behind-the-scenes action herself, narrates the story of Vikram Jai Singh(Farhan) and Sona Mishra(Konkona) beautifully. So you have Zafar Khan(Hrithik), reigning superstar walking out of a producer's film to play second lead in a Karan Johar movie, the flop actor(Sanjay Kapoor) of a big producer turning director, a yesteryear's actress(Dimple) scripting every move of her daughter(Isha Sharwani) to make her entry into Bollywood easier and the saddest but the funniest of the lot, producer Romi Rolly(Rishi Kapoor) who is trying to manage everybody.

There are cameos by almost half the fillum industry(Aamir, SRK, Abhishek, Vivek, Ranbir, Dia, Akshaye Khanna, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Manish Malhotra) including a brilliant two scene cameo of Anurag Kashyap as a (DVD copycat) writer. The pace is somewhat slow but the gags and punches keep you in the loop. The entire cast plays their part to a T but the highlight is Rishi Kapoor as producer Romi Rolly. He is funny, cunning and emotional at the same time. The only weak link I found in the film is Farhan(who is unconvincing in some scenes) and the music.

Luck by Chance is an exciting debut by Zoya Akhtar. Not to be missed.

Also Read

Anupama Chopra's Review

IndiaFM - Taran Adarsh Review

Nikhat Kazmi - TOI Review

Farhan's scoreline

Farhan - The Good

1. Dil Chahta Hai
2. Lakshya
3. Rock On(Audio)

Farhan - The Bad

1. Don - The chase begins again
2. Rock On(Video)

Farhan - The Ugly(iest)

1. Oye! It's Friday!

The final score reads 3-2-1.

My Review - Rock On

Finally I saw Rock On. And I have to say that Rajeev Masand's review is spot on. The film has its moments but its not a cult film(which I am guessing most of us thought it will be right?!!). First the bad things. Some of the dialogues and scenes are very awkward - the one where the band members fight or the scene where Aditya(Farhan's character) leaves his girlfriend overnight etc. The first half is painfully slow and Aditya's attitude seems irritating. The second half has its moments(when Prachi watches her husband in a new role and the channel V performance) but the cliches are hard to miss.


About the cast, Purab is the funniest. Farhan, sadly, is a better singer than actor. Shahana Goswami(plays Arjun's girlfriend and wife) is a revelation(she is sexy, dusky and can act). Arjun Rampal has given a nice understated performance. But the real scene stealer is Prachi Desai(sooooooooo cute) who looks so damn fresh and so elegant. Also, I have to add that the songs make much more sense once you see the movie. You can't help but admire Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for their mindblowing music. Pichle saat dinon main and Yeh tumhaari meri baatein are the best songs.

I would conclude by saying what Rajeev Masand said - Watch the film Cause at least it tries to be different. Three out of five stars is what the film deserves.