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Posts tagged 3 hours
Farah Khan follows Manmohan Desai formula for TMK
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Joginder Tuteja, October 29, 2010 – 11:33 IST
Decades ago, Manmohan Desai is said to have quoted that for a commercial masala flick to work, there should be at least one highlight on screen every 10 minutes. Given the fact that movies in that era were 3 hours long, it comes to around 20 highlight sequences in the entire run of the film. Circa 2010 and Farah Khan is pretty much following the same adage with Tees Maar Khan which releases this Christmas.
No wonder, Farah doesn’t mind getting more ‘highlight sequences’ in the film that fetch headlines before the theatrical release itself.
“What could be the other way to describe the coming in of Anil Kapoor and Twinkle Khanna in Tees Maar Khan“, questions an observer, “The very fact that Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna are sharing the stage again after years was enough for media and audience to go into frenzy. The sequence may last just for a minute but the fact that we are talking about it makes it highlight worthy.”
“Also, the pulling in of Anil Kapoor for an award ceremony sequence was a master stroke”, he continues, “Audience still relate to him as the Slumdog Millionaire star and since he doesn’t mind taking a dig at himself, his appearance in the sequence doesn’t appear misplaced at all.”
Other than Anil Kapoor and Twinkle Khanna, now Farah has also roped in Sanjay Dutt to do a special voiceover for Tees Maar Khan. And the master stroke comes in the form of Salman Khan’s entry into the film’s narrative with More >
Movie Review: AASHAYEIN by FENIL SETA
02 years ago
We all have our own wishes and desires and patiently wait for the day when they will all come true. We slowly and steadily also work towards fulfilling them. But what if one day you discover that you have just few days to live? What will be the state of our near and dear ones? How will they survive once we have left for heavenly abode? And not to forget, what about our dreams that we had patiently nurtured over the years? Aashayein takes a look at this issue where a terminally ill patient tries to find purpose and hope in his last few days. Although there have been films that have dealt with a more or less similar issue in the past and are very close to our hearts (Anand, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Dasvidaniya), Aashayein still succeeds in many ways and touches a chord. Unfortunately, at the same time, the film falters which prevents it from becoming a classic.
The story of the movie: Rahul (John Abraham) is a compulsive gambler and a chain smoker. One day he succeeds in winning a huge amount in gambling and throws a party to celebrate. In the party, he proposes marriage to his longtime girlfriend Nafisa (Sonal Sehgal). However, immediately after doing so, he collapses. After a medical checkup, the results are out-he has lung cancer and only a few months to live. He is obviously shocked and then decides to shift to a hospice without telling anyone about his whereabouts. It is here at the hospice that he learns some lessons of life.
Aashayein begins well and grips More >
Fenil’s Bollywood Talk # 84
03 years ago
WILL VEER BE A BIGGER HIT THAN WANTED?
The stage is set. Veer is ready to release tomorrow. The timing of the film is excellent. After 3 Idiots, all the films that arrived (Dulha Mil Gaya, Pyaar Impossible, Chance Pe Dance) had failed to bring audiences to theatres. People have money in their pockets but hadn’t spent and so majority might invest in Veer! Then there’s a holiday on Tues Jan 26 (Republic Day) and so the film has an extra day besides the 3-day weekend to amass profits.
Besides the aforementioned reasons, the most important factor that goes in favour of Veer is that it presents Salman Khan as an action hero. The last time he went around bashing up baddies in Wanted, audiences went crazy and the film became a super-hit. Something similar is expected for Veer too. Salman has a considerable fan base among masses who love to watch him in action and comedy films. Also, this is the first time that Salman is acting in a historic saga. Not to forget, Sallu himself has penned the story of the film too, which has aroused tremendous curiosity!
However, a sizeable number of factors go against Veer too. To begin with, it’s a period film which might put the audiences away notwithstanding Salman’s presence. Secondly, the film is too long (close to 3 hours). Thirdly, a lot of money has been pumped in and hence, the film’s costs are high and might be difficult to recover.
The film has to be really very well made in order to sustain in theatres and cover its More >
3 Idiots is Raju Hirani's longest film ever
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Joginder Tuteja, December 21, 2009 – 12:52 IST
Get set for an epic take in the offing. This year’s most anticipated release, 3 Idiots, has a running length of close to 3 hours. Taking audiences through different locations in the country and across time zones, this Rajkumar Hirani film is in fact his longest ever when compared to his earlier two efforts – Munnabhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munnabhai.
“That’s true,” confirms Hirani. “Both the films in the Munnabhai series were under 2.5 hours. However, 3 Idiots required a longer duration. I am not worried about the length factor though.”
Well, even for audiences it should be pretty much the case of ‘ all izzz well‘. Longer stories, if told well, have traditionally worked quite well at the box office. Some of the biggest classics in the history of Indian cinema like Lagaan, Sholay and Mughal E Azam have all crossed the 3 hour mark. Yes, those were the times when only single screens ruled and hence the revenue earned through a larger number of shows wasn’t a criteria for a film’s length. However, the fact remains that the biggest ever grosser in the history of Indian cinema, Ghajini, lasted for a couple of minutes over 3 hours.
Says a trade follower, “I am aware of people’s expectations where they want to see more of an actor or a director, if their body of work over the years has been impressive enough. Remember those Amitabh Bachchan films in the 80′s? Or the ones directed by Subhash Ghai? Each of them was mandated to be magnum More >
It's bonus time: Akshay-Katrina rain song back in De Dana Dan
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Joginder Tuteja, December 1, 2009 – 11:21 IST
The inevitable has happened. Owing to popular demand, ‘Gale Lag Ja‘ – the rain song and dance number featuring the lead pair of Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif – has been added to the film’s narrative.
Though this much hyped song had created quite some buzz en route to the release of De Dana Dan, it was chopped off from the final copy of the print since it was adding to the film’s length. However, the makers of De Dana Dan were open to the idea of incorporating the song as an added bonus if audiences demanded so and the film worked at the box office. With weekend collections being quite strong worldwide, the final call was taken around bringing back the song in the narrative.
Confirms Ratan Jain, producer of De Dana Dan, “We were clear that the song would be added only if the film did well at the box office. There was no point doing that if (God forbid) people wouldn’t have been going into theatres. Now that the weekend collections are out, we know that there would be repeat audiences for the film. For them, it would be another incentive to watch the film again while for the first timers, it’s an added bonus.”
Since the film’s running length is a little less than 3 hours already, would the incorporation of song be of any further impact?
“No”, says Jain, “The length of De Dana Dan is still the same. To compensate for those 4-5 minutes of the added song, we have edited an equal duration of a few scenes from the film.”
‘Gale Lag More >