Three releases this week: Will the film trade never learn?

By Subhash K. Jha -

January 30, 2015 - 5:06 AM IST

Three releases this week: Will the film trade never learn?

For a while it was touch-and-go for this week's whodunit Rahasya. The film was embroiled in a legal battle with the parents of the slain girl Arushi Talwar who claim the film is based on their daughter's case.

However, responding to the film's makers' protests the honourable court on Tuesday afternoon allowed the film to be released stating that the content and plot of Rahasya did not resemble Talwars' case in any prominent detail

Overnight, as it were, Viacom 18 the producers of Rahasya scheduled the film again for release this Friday.

Explained the Rahasya director Manish Tiwari,"As this is a legal matter we didn't want to take a risk. We had suspended all promotion and marketing. For all practical purposes we had decided to postpone the release. However when the honourable court ruled in our favour and very clearly said that Rashaya did not resemble the Arushi Talwar case, we decided to go ahead and release this week as planned earlier."

Real-life characters on screen perpetually get into trouble. Manish washes his hands off the newspaper headlines. "We always maintained Rahasya did not resemble the Arushi case. When the honourable court said the same we decided to go ahead with the release. It's a bit of a rush, yes. But we'd rather stick to our original release plan than to start the promotion and marketing from scratch for a new release date."

The reappearance of Rahasya in movie schedules this Friday means there is that much more competition for screens and eyeballs this weekend.

Two debutant directors are eagerly unfolding their new films this week. Vibhu Puri who has been guided into filmmaking by Sanjay Leela Bhansali unfurls his magical period film Hawaizaada this Friday. The film tells the story of the enterprising 19th century scientist Shivkar Bapuji Talpade. Puri has spent the last three years of his life researching and directing his dream film. "It was a dream to make a film on this unsung hero. I think we've managed to put that dream on celluloid," says Puri.

Period films are not known to do that well.

Puri corrects the perception. "Lagaan, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Om Shanti Om, Devdas...these are some of the biggest blockbusters of our times. It's the story that matters, not the period. We believe Bapuji Talpade's story is hugely inspiring."

This week's third release is the Bhatts' erotic thriller Khamoshiyan again directed by a debutant Karan Darra. It's been cashing in on the hot-bod element of its three protagonists.

But does the erotic thriller thrill the audiences anymore? The lukewarm audience response to last week's Alone where Bipasha Basu did naughty things with debutant Karan Singh Grover all over Kerala puts a question-mark on the erotic thriller's future.

For now the three protagonists in Khamoshiyan played by Ali Fazal, and debutants Sapna Pabbi and Gurmeet Choudhary make an inviting threesome.

Television's heart-throb Gurmeet Chowdhary who makes who large-screen debut in Khamoshiyan says the film is not about well-oiled unclothed bodies writhing in pleasure. "It's a very clever and original script. I've waited long to make my film debut with the right project. Why would I choose this if I didn't know its potential?"

Trade analysts Taran Adarsh is hopeful about all the 3 releases this week. "All three films look interesting. The best part of the multiple releases this week is the diversity of genres. For those looking for different plots there's a banquet of options this Friday."

So far 2015 has not given us any significant successes at the box office except Neeraj Pandey's Baby.

But Taran is hopeful about this week's releases. "It would be really interesting to see how these films are received by the paying public."

Fingers crossed.

However another trade pundit Atul Mohan warns against the plethora of releases. "A crowded week is never good for the box office. Perhaps for the first time we have three leading corporate houses battling it out at the box office. Viacom 18 with Rahasya, Fox Star Studios with Khamoshiyan and Reliance Entertainment with Hawaizaada. It will be a divided week, and the film with the best word-of-mouth reaction would pick up as the week progresses."