Almost a month after ‘Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari’ released in cinemas, finally another A-grade Hindi film will made its way to theatres last Friday. Also, two small but interesting films released on digital platforms as well.
‘Indoo Ki Jawani’ stars Kiara Advani and Aditya Seal and marks the directorial debut of Abir Sengupta in Bollywood. The story is about a feisty girl from Ghaziabad who gets embroiled in a comedy of errors when she decides to meet a guy to whom she swiped right on a dating app. The trailer begins on an ordinary note. But suddenly, the promo depicts that Aditya might be a Pakistani. From here on, the trailer goes on another level and ends up impressing. Kiara looks in great form and her comic timing seems spot on. Sadly, the awareness of the film and most importantly, that it’s releasing in cinemas, is hardly known. And hence the excitement is also minimal. The songs haven’t worked at all and that’s another downer.
‘Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari’ opened at Rs. 75 lakhs and it remains to be seen if ‘Indoo Ki Jawani’ can have a better opening. Even if it does, the Day 1 earnings are expected to be less than Rs. 1 crore. If the film turns out to be as crazy as the trailer, then it’ll have a superb word of mouth and that in turn would result in a healthy lifetime.
Way back in September, the makers of ‘Indoo Ki Jawani’ had decided that their film will be the first one to release in cinemas. But as cinemas didn’t open uniformly across the country and when Zee Studios took up the Diwali slot for ‘Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari’, the producers changed their mind. However, it’s praiseworthy that despite getting offers from OTT, they chose to release it in cinemas and thereby give much-needed content to many cinemas across the country.
‘Durgamati’ is the official remake of the 2018 super-hit Tamil film ‘Bhaagamathie’. Just like the original, the remake is also directed by G Ashok. But while Anushka Shetty starred in the lead in Bhaagamathie, here it’s Bhumi Pednekar who has bagged the coveted part. Arshad Warsi, Karan Kapadia, Jisshu Sengupta and Mahie Gill also star in this horror thriller. The film reminds one of ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ (2007) and ‘Laxmii’ (2020) but those who have seen the original promise that it stands out and that it’s a fun-filled ride. ‘Bhaagamathie’ was a huge success down South and was a rare female-centric Tamil film to collect Rs. 50 crore at the box office. Anushka was terrific and her star presence also added to the impact. It remains to be seen if Bhumi Pednekar manages to justify her casting and keep the comparisons with Anushka Shetty at bay.
‘Torbaaz’ stars Sanjay Dutt, Nargis Fakhri and Rahul Dev and is the first Indian film to be shot in Kyrgyzstan. It is about a man who attempts to transform the lives of the children in a refugee camp through the game of cricket. Directed by Girish Malik, the film has been shot on a grand scale. But it’s been quite delayed and moreover, the content seems dicey. At the box office, the film would have had a tough time for sure.
