The hits and misses of the week.
Kalank, Karan Johar's most expensive production to date with an estimated budget of Rs 250 crores (Rs 2.5 billion), may well be "another Thugs Of Hindostan in the making," a source at a multiplex tells Subhash K Jha.
"The audience has failed to connect with the plot, characters and dialogues," Suman Sinha, a leading exhibitor in Bihar, tells Subhash.
Sources say Kalank's losses will be absorbed by Fox-Star Studios, Karan's partner.
Karan sold Kalank to Fox-Star, so he won't lose much beyond Dharma Productions's reputation as a movie-maker with the Midas touch.
Fox, who have been on a winning streak with the blockbusters Baaghi 2, Sanju and Total Dhamaal, could be looking at heavy losses this time.
Meanwhile, Vinod Mirani gives us his weekly verdict: Kalank released on Wednesday to make the most of the Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday holidays.
Thanks to the film's face value, it saw a bumper opening, but it could not sustain itself and ended its five-day extended weekend with below average collections.
The word-of-mouth for the film has been poor.
Kalank
Cast: Madhuri Dixit Nene, Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Sinha, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sanjay Dutt, Kunal Kemmu.
Director: Abhishek Varman.
What works: Beautiful sets, rich costumes, quite a spectacle on the big screen.
What doesn't: Story does not make sense nor does it make an impact.
Number of weeks: New.
Box Office verdict: Below average.
The Tashkent Files
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Mithun Chakraborty, Shweta Basu Prasad, Pankaj Tripathi, Mandira Bedi, Pallavi Joshi.
Director: Vivek Agnihotri.
What works: Pankaj Tripathi, Pallavi Joshi, Mithun Chakraborty and Shweta Basu Prasad.
What doesn't: Politics in the film.
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai?
Cast: Nandita Das, Manav Kaul, Saurabh Shukla, Amarjeet Amle, Padmanabh Bind.
Director: Soumitra Ranade.
What works: Nandita Das, Manav Kaul, Saurabh Shukla.
What doesn't: Story doesn't make an impact.
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
RAW: Romeo Akbar Walter
Cast: John Abraham, Sikander Kher, Jackie Shroff, Mouni Roy.
Director: Robbie Grewal.
What works: Decent story.
What doesn't: The film has no thrills, John's characters look caricaturish.
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Average.
No Fathers In Kashmir
Cast: Shivam Raina, Zara La Peta Webb, Soni Razdan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Anshuman Jha, Ashvin Kumar.
Director: Ashvin Kumar.
What works: Beautifully shot, shows off different shades of Kashmir in a novel story.
What doesn't: Too dark.
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Junglee
Cast: Vidyut Jammwal, Pooja Sawant, Asha Bhat, Atul Kulkarni, Akshay Oberoi.
Director: Chuck Russell.
What works: Vidyut Jammwal.
What doesn't: Loopholes in the plot, childish stunts.
Number of weeks: 3.
Box Office verdict: Average.
Notebook
Cast: Zaheer Iqbal, Pranutan Bahl.
Director: Nitin Kakkar.
What works: Beautiful locales, Manoj Kumar Khatoi's camerawork.
What doesn't: The lead pair Zaheer Iqbal, Pranutan Bahl.
Number of weeks: 3.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Gone Kesh
Cast: Shweta Tripathi, Jitendra Kumar, Vipin Sharma, Deepika Amin, Brijendra Kala.
Director: Qasim Khallow.
What works: Good performances.
What doesn't: Predictable climax.
Number of weeks: 3.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Kesari
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra.
Director: Anurag Singh.
What works: Akshay Kumar.
What doesn't: Too long.
Number of weeks: 4.
Box Office verdict: Above average.
Mard Hai To Dard Nahi
Cast: Abhimanyu Dassani, Radhika Madan.
Director: Vasan Bala.
What works: Well directed film.
What doesn't: Tough!
Number of weeks: 4.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
