Tees Maar Khan on the roll

Finally Farah Khan has got into the lingo of ‘Lights, Camera and Action’ for her most-hyped film ‘Tees Maar Khan’. Of late the shooting of the Akshay Kumar starrer kick started in the locales of the Film City.

In fact the filmmaker wanted to start the shoot on the day of Holi with the actor. However as Akki was keen to celebrate the festival, Farah had got on with the shooting of a sequence where junior artists were required to feature. Now that Holi is over, Akshay said to have joined the team.

Currently they are shooting Akshay’s introductory scene, which involves masaledar stunts and comedy. It was for this very scene the production had erected a huge jumbo jet, designed by Sabu Cyril.

The scene involves Akshay being taken captive in the plane and in the course of the sequence he outsmarts everyone and escapes.

‘Tees Maar Khan’ features Akki totally in a new avatar, playing a hot conman. For this, he is being styled by designer Aki Narula and international make-up stylists.

All Eyes On Housefull

The next two months will see small and medium budget releases and there may be a few box office surprises but all eyes will be on Housefull which is expected to get summer season going at the ticket counters.

The promo which premiered with Karthik Calling Karthik on Friday has seen a good response from the trade and public and the film looks like the first big commercial entertainer of 2010. This year has seen Veer succeed in interiors and My Name Is Khan in big cities but Housefull could work in both interiors and big cities.

The last time Akshay Kumar, Sajid Nadiadwala and Sajid Khan came together it resulted in a big hit in the form of Heyy Babyy and it looks like the house full boards may well go up again on 30th April when Housefull opens.

Karthik Calling Karthik Dull

Karthik Calling Karthik showed falls at most places on Monday despite it being a holiday for Holi. The business on Monday was around 1.25 crore nett which takes the film to 11.25 crore nett approx.

The film will find it tough going from here on and the first week is likely to come in around 14 crore nett.

Teen Patti did not fall as heavily as collections were very low anyway but still it managed to get a little benefit of Holi holiday. Teen Patti managed to add around 75 lakhs on Monday for a four day total of 3.75 crore nett.

Karthik Calling Karthik Movie Review

Have you ever received a call from yourself? Is it possible in the first place? There are several theories doing the rounds about the two Karthiks in this movie. So what is it? Is Karthik hallucinating? Does he have a double role? Or a split personality? For most parts of the film, you actually buy the explanation that Karthik does receive calls from, well, Karthik.

Let's accept the fact that a concept like this instinctively generates curiosity in the film. But the real test is to make the story work in those 2 hours. Also - this is vital - the identity of the caller should come as a jolt when the film concludes.

KARTHIK CALLING KARTHIK works in parts, but during the penultimate part, when the story shifts from Mumbai to Kerala, the sand castle, so beautifully built by debutante director Vijay Lalwani, gets washed away.

One doesn't want to challenge the behavioural patterns of a person with a certain disorder, but when it comes to the big screen, when you are narrating a story on celluloid, you need to do a lot of spoon-feeding and make it look convincing. In this case, unfortunately, the finale is just not convincing and therefore, acts as a spoilsport.

Meet Karthik [Farhan Akhtar], an introvert by nature and shy by choice. Karthik suffers with huge confidence issues and is miserable at his average job that yields less than average results. His boss [Ram Kapoor] treats him like dirt. Shonali [Deepika Padukone], his colleague, who he secretly loves, doesn't even know that he exists. Karthik is a loser. He knows it. He accepts it.

Suddenly, one night, the phone rings. And Karthik speaks to someone he never thought he would. He speaks to a man who also claims to be Karthik. The man on the phone says he's here to change Karthik's life. Karthik accepts the phone in his life and soon it becomes his guide, his mentor, his friend, his guardian.

KARTHIK CALLING KARTHIK is a love story as also a suspense fare that teases your mind. Any love story works if the chemistry and also the moments between the on-screen lovers looks real and the chemistry between Farhan and Deepika works well.

Correspondingly, a suspense film works if the viewer keeps guessing what the culmination to the story would be. The mystery only deepens when not only Karthik, but also his girlfriend and psychiatrist are engulfed in this storm. All hell breaks loose when Karthik's life goes upside down and Karthik is back to square one. But from this point onwards, the graph of the film only goes downwards.

Debutante director Vijay Lalwani knows his job well, but he's letdown by his own writing. The second hour not only looks stretched [two songs flow one after the other, with the story coming to a grinding halt], but the pace also gets excruciatingly slow at this juncture. The climax, as mentioned earlier, is a complete downer.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's musical score is an asset. The film has some lilting tunes. Cinematography [Sanu John Varughese] is perfect. Dialogues are simple mostly and at times, very witty.

This is Farhan Akhtar's third film as an actor and it must be said that he takes giant strides when it comes to acting. The story throws several challenges at him and fortunately, he emerges trumps in the most difficult moments. This is, by far, his best work.

Deepika Padukone looks bewitching and acts natural throughout. Ram Kapoor is fantastic. Why don't we see him so frequently on the big screen? Shifaali Shah is excellent. Vivan Bhatena is good. Tarana, Vipin Sharma and Yatin Karyekar are serviceable.

On the whole, KARTHIK CALLING KARTHIK is a decent product with an unconvincing conclusion. Watch it for the wonderful performances of Farhan and Deepika, if you have to. Caters to the youth in metros mainly.

My Name Is Khan Sets New Highs In All Markets

My Name Is Khan set the box office on fire abroad as it set new highs in all markets. The internationl markets business was a humungous 25 crore. The business of major markets is as follow.

United Kingdom - £936,000

(Previous Best Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna - £749,243)

North America US$1,860,000

(Previous Best Om Shanti Om - US$1,764,141)

Middle East - US$890,000

(Previous Best Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - US$830,000)

Australia - US$380,000

(Previous Best Three Idiots - US$350,000

My Name Is Khan more Reviews

Mayank Shekhar : Hindustan Times
A commercially successful, massively scaled mainstream film that doesn’t just make a song and dance of it all could certainly change Bollywood forever. Of all, I’m glad Johar also made that move. Sure, this movie’s a risk. Shouldn’t each be anyway?

Gaurav Malani : INDIATIMES MOVIES
Like his placard that reads ‘Repair almost anything’, Shah Rukh Khan makes up for every minor inconsistency in the film. My Name is Khan is worth a watch on his name alone.

india-server.com
‘My Name is Khan’ is definitely a movie of substance and is a must watch for both Shah Rukh’s fans and the ones wanting to see a logical nice movie!

Anupama Chopra : movies.ndtv.com
Rizwan is undeniably the best thing about My Name is Khan. Shah Rukh’s performance has little subtlety about it – for that watch Hugh Dancy doing Asperger’s in Adam – but it is heartfelt, endearing and more controlled than anything he’s ever done before. Watch him in a lovely scene in which Kajol accepts his proposal or how he restrains his tears so that his eyes brim but never well over.
I recommend that you see Khan for him. The film itself is too uneven to give us the emotional high we were waiting for.

Mihir Fadnavis : India.com
Director Karan Johar, the visionary that he is, injects new life into the stale Bollywood drama genre by introducing a mentally handicapped leading man and his loving wife, only to pull the rug from under us by transposing their roles when you least expect it. The acting is expectedly over the top, but MNIK thankfully does not completely reduce SRK, one of the best screen actors of all time, to a mugging embarrassment. Shahrukh really tries hard to dole up a studied, thoughtful performance, but the story is just terrible and written, no doubt, to accommodate several agendas. The ploy works, for SRK’s Rizwan Khan WILL melt fans’ hearts and leave them chanting, ‘Filmfare award! Filmfare award!! Get this guy a Filmfare award!!’

Taran Adarsh : Bollywoodhungama.com
On the whole, MY NAME IS KHAN is a fascinating love story, has an angle of religion and a world-shaking incident as a backdrop. It not only entertains, but also mesmerises, enthrals and captivates the viewer in those 2.40 hours. At the same time, a film like MY NAME IS KHAN is sure to have a far-reaching influence due to its noble theme. I strongly advocate, don’t
miss this one!

Shweta Parande : ibnlive.in.com
My Name is Khan is unlike any other Karan Johar-directed film, although it has glimpses of his past work. It does not have masala, no mindless song and dance, and no comic fillers. It has a very strong main message, and several others tucked in.
KJo has sure come a long way from candyfloss.

Raja Sen : movies.rediff.com
My Name Is Khan is a film that will have the galleries cheering and making sure there aren’t many dry eyes in the house. The applause will ring wild and while many might complain that Johar has simply ditched old movie cliches for more American ones, none can argue that the segue seems surprisingly seamless.
Karan Johar’s finally made his first grown-up film, and made it well. It could have been the stuff of much more, but let us leave that for another day. This is a film that will inspire, make aware, make happy.

Amit Tiwari : Samaylive.com
A fascinating love story
The film ‘My name Is Khan’ is prestigious project for Karan Johar as a director. After Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Ghum, Johar once again returned with SRK-Kajol pair on celluloid.
MNIK’s success will be proved as a landmark in Karan Johar’s directorial career.

Harshita Kohli : Starboxoffice.com

Kajol is brilliant and this time her eyes do a lot more tlaking than her words. Watch out for the change in emotions reflected so beautifully in her eyes as the film goes through its turmoils. The screenplay clearly shows that both Shibani Bathija and Karan Johar have done their research and done it well. You can see that in SRK’s mannerisms and in the bigger picture.
But the true credit of the film goes to only one person – Shah Rukh Khan. Shah Rukh Khan carries the story entirely on his shoulder without any crutches of make-up and prosthetics, his signature lover boy image left at the door along with the designer clothes or larger than life dialogues.

My Name Is Khan Has Huge Opening

My Name Is Khan opened to huge response with an opening of 90-100% at multiplexes. Single screens were in the 70-80% region. The film had release problems in Mumbai circuit but wherever it managed to get a screening there were huge crowds to see the film. The critics have given 4/5 stars but public reports are not at the same level. Reports are good but not outstanding like Three Idiots. Overall the film should emerge a winner and time will tell how big.


Striker had dull first week with business under 1.25 crore nett. DISASTER

Ishqiya sustained pretty well in week two with a 50% drop. The film did around 7 crore nett business for a two week total of 21 crore nett but with My Name Is Khan opening to such a huge response, Ishqiya may not be able to do much more business.

Source : http://www.boxofficeindia.com