Bollywood asianculturevulture vibes – robot film charms, Bhumi Pednekar shines in Netflix abuse film…

It’s been a mixed month with a couple of unexpected breakout hits, while the country mourned singer Pankaj Udhas…

By Rodrigues C

HELLO from a pleasant Mumbai. With temperatures still hovering around 22-24 degrees in the night, it’s been chilled out February, literally.

As for Bollywood, it’s been a lacklustre month unlike January which saw major releases such as the Deepika Padukone-Hrithik Roshan starrer ‘Fighter’, Katrina Kaif-Vijay Sethupathi starrer ‘Merry Christmas’ and Pankaj Tripathi’s ‘Main Atal Hoon’.

The first film love story of the year, Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon starrer ‘Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya’ (TBMAUJ) (February 9), is the third biggest movie of the year so far after ‘Fighter’ and ‘Hanu-Man’. It unexpectedly did good business at the box office collecting about £7 million in three weeks so far. The film has also become Kapoor’s third highest grossing project after Prabhudeeva’s ‘R…Rajkumar’.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Kabir Singh’ and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmaavat’ are Kapoor’s other two biggest hits. In ‘TBMAUJ’ Kapoor’s character falls in love with Sanon, who is actually an AI programmed human robot…

Another notable theatrical release which has been making news is ‘Article 370’, starring Yami Gautam and Priyamani. Gautam plays an intelligence officer in this political drama, which revolves around the removal of the special status of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Gautam’s husband Aditya Dhar, who had helmed the hit ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ is one of the producers of the movie. Directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, the thriller was released on February 23 on the big screen and received positive responses from critics. Budgeted at a paltry £2 million, it has so far minted about £3m at the box office, mainly due to word-of-mouth publicity.

Like ‘Fighter’, ‘Article 370’ has been banned in a few Middle-Eastern countries; both movies are based on India-Pakistan border issues.

Vidyut Jamwal’s ‘Crakk- Jeetegaa Toh Jiyegaa’, which has been made on a budget of £4.2m is the only competitor for ‘Article 370’ at the box office. Released on February 23, the Aditya Datt directed thriller has so far collected £1.1m at the box office.

Bhumi Pednekar and Sanjay Mishra starrer ‘Bhakshak’, which was released on Netflix on February 9 has been winning hearts across the country.

The crime thriller has received an average of 3.5 out of 5 rating. Produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s wife Gauri Khan for Red Chilies Entertainment ‘Bhakshak’ follows investigative journalist Vaishali Singh (played by Pednekar) as she exposes a powerful man, who exploits girls from an orphanage.

The film has been directed by Pulkit, whose previous movies were ‘Maroon’ (2016) and ‘Roar’ (2014). He recently revealed he wrote the film with his wife, Jyotsana, a screenwriter, while convalescing from cancer treatment.

Late actor Satish Kaushik’s last film, ‘Mirg‘ (February 9), Guru Randhawa and Anupam Kher starer ‘Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay‘ (February 16) were the other major Hindi releases at the box office in February. Neither appear to be garnering momentum as the month ends.

On the morning of February 26, veteran ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas (72) breathed his last at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital following a “prolonged illness”. The news, which was revealed on social media by Udhas’s family in a brief statement, left the whole country in shock.

Once a regular at Mumbai’s events and party scene, he was not seen in a while in public. Trained under the tutelage of Navrang Nagpurkar, a singer from the Gwalior Gharana, Udhas was born in Gujarat.

He released more than 50 albums, singles and sang for several Bollywood films. His Bollywood journey started with the K Chatterjee directed film ‘Kaamna’ (1972).

He went on to record hits for movies such as ‘Mukarar’ (1981), ‘Tarrannum’ (1982), ‘Mehfil’ (1983), ‘Nayaab’ (1985), ‘Naam’ (1986) and ‘Aafreen’ (1986). His hit songs such as ‘Chitthi aayi hai’, ‘Aur ahista’, ‘Aaj phir tum pe’, ‘Thodi thodi piya karo’, ‘Chandi jaisa rang hai tera’ and ‘Jeeye to jeeye kaise’ still resonate with the masses.

He also performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1984. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with several Bollywood celebs have released statements on social media mourning the singer’s death.

In terms of movie releases, the month of March will be far better compared to February.

The line-up for the month includes ‘The Crew’ with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kriti Sanon and Tabu; ‘Do Aur Do Pyar’ with Vidya Balan and Ileana D’Cruz; ‘Swatantra Veer Savarkar’ with Randeep Hooda; ‘Shaitaan’ with Ajay Devgn and R Madhavan; ‘The Diplomat’ with John Abraham and Sadia Khateeb; ‘Yodha’ with Sidharth Malhotra and Disha Patani and ‘Showtime’ (Netflix) with Emraan Hashmi. As for which of these will fare better than the other at the box office is anybody’s guess.

Till then friends…