Top 10 Bollywood hits of 2012

Top 10 Bollywood hits of 2012

1. Ek Tha Tiger (All Time Blockbuster) / Dabangg 2 (still running)

Ek tha tiger has netted 199 crores [according to Yashraj films] and is presently the biggest hit of the year and 2nd biggest hit of All time. Dabangg 2 has just released and is having a rocking time at the Box office, whether it will beat ETT will be clear in coming weeks. Based on that one film will slide to 2nd place

3. Rowdy Rathore - Blockbuster

Akshay Kumar's biggest hit ever

4. Agneepath - Blockbuster

5. Barfi - Blockbuster

the film started slowly and caught up like wild fire with tremendous WOM

6. Jab Tak Hai Jaan - Super Hit

7. Housefull 2 - Super hit

8. Son of Sardaar - Hit

9. Bol Bachchan - Hit 

10. Talaash - Hit

Besides these there are many notable hits like Oh My God (OMG), Kahaani, Vicky Donor, English Vinglish, Ishaqzaade, Student of the Year etc

Khiladi 786 - Exclusive Movie Review

KHILADI 786 : Exclusive Movie Review 

Story & Music by Himesh Reshamiyya

Directed by Ashish R Mohan

Produced by Twinkle Khanna / Himesh Reshamiyya / Sunil Lulla

Creative Producer Rakesh Upadhyay

Starring Akshay Kumar , Asin , Mithun Chakraborthy, Himesh Reshamiyya 

Khiladi 786 - Movie Review by Sree Prasad Nair

Theater - Abu Dhabi National Cinemas, UAE

06/12/2012 - 10.30 pm

Occupancy - 100% (Sold out) 

2012 is an eventful-emotional year for Superstar Akshay Kumar personally and professionally. The actor had 3 BlockBusters in the form of Housefull2 (117cr), Rowdy Rathore (136cr) & OhMyGod (85cr) & became a proud father to a baby girl. But produced an epic disaster with his 100th movie Joker & lost his father-in-law Superstar Rajesh Khanna. 

Khiladi786 is the fifth Akshay Kumar movie in 2012. Khiladi 786 is touted as the biggest franchise of Indian Cinema & the return of Akshay Kumar in a KHILADI title film after 12years. Its been 23years of Akshay Kumar in Indian Film Industry, all thanks to his first hit film on 1992, KHILADI! And Khiladi786 is the 8th Khiladi film of the famous series. Khiladi films are always famous for actions.

Khiladi786 stars Akshay Kumar, Asin, Himesh Reshamiyya, Raj Babbar, Mukesh Rishi & Johny Lever. Director is debutant Ashish R Mohan, earlier worked as the assistant director of Rohit Shetty. Khiladi786

is a joint production of Akshay Kumar & HimeshReshamiyya and the creative producer of the movie is Rakesh Upadhyay. 

Story

Mithun Chakraborthy is a Mumbai don who is in search for a decent groom for his one and only sister Asin. Himesh Reshamiyya is a struggling wedding planner and unable to organize a single wedding. Akshay Kumar is from a Punjab family & desperate to get married, but not getting any bride due to his multicolour (multi-national) family background. And how Himesh manages to get Akshay and Asin married despite Asin being in love with In&Out-Prisoner Rahul Singh is the story of Khiladi786.

Positives Of The Film 

Akshay Kumar does a fantastic job. The actor continued his terrific form from Rowdy Rathore in Khiladi786 too. His comic timings and expressions are unmatchable and fit in the Bahattar Singh character very well. His dhamakedar entry with ‘Khiladi Is Back’ one-liner is a visual treat. Climax is a treat for Akshay Kumar fans with a BIG SURPRISE!!! Asin is looking gorgeous and acted well, in a limited role. Himesh Reshamiyya is SURPRISINGLY good in the film and got a meaty role. Not surprised since he is the story writer/producer/musicdirector of the film. Mithun Chakraborthy got a good role but had the shades of his own role in Housefull2. Raj Babbar, Sanjai Mishra & Mukesh Rishi are good in their roles. Manoj Joshi & Johny Lever are strictly ok in their small roles ditto are Akshay Kumar’s multi-national family. 

Another plus point of the film is the superhit music from Himesh Reshamiyya. Every single track is a chartbuster and picturized well in every 15/20mins of the movie. Be it Lonely, Long Drive, Saari Saari Raat, Balma & Hookah Bar at the end credits. Action scenes are well executed, even though some are over the top. Witty one-liners, punching Punjabi dialogues are sure to be appreciated by the audience. Director Ashish R Mohan made a good debut with Khiladi786. 

Let’s talk about the negatives of the film first :

Though Khiladi786 delivers as expected, the story of Himesh is meatless. Khiladi 786 is a total mash-up of Welcome, Namastey London & Singh Is Kinng. Some forced scenes are lacking fun & bit louds at times. Heart-broken Innocent Punjabi Groom Akshay Kumar, we have seen him in Namastey London, Welcome & in Singh Is Kinng too. And few over the top action scenes are bit hard to digest, yet passable considering masala as its genre. And Asin’s wedding followed by a stunt are getting repetitive in each of her film’s climax, be it Ready, Housefull2 & in Khiladi786. Mushtaq Khan and Bharti Singh suddenly becoming news reporters at the wedding stage is questionable ? 

Besides these flaws, Khiladi786 works big time for what it is targeted for, to entertain audience. On the whole Khiladi786 is a paisa vasool Akshay Kumar starrer which is surely turning out to be his 3rd 100cr/ 4th blockbuster (if not Superhit) for Akshay Kumar and fifth for Asin.

At the B.O the film is sure to have an extra ordinary opening especially in single screens & will be good in multiplexes. Since the budget of movie is 45cr, expecting the same for the weekend with an opening numbers between 12-15cr! A two open weeks till Dabangg2 (on Dec21st) is bountiful for the makers.

VERDICT – Fourth Akshay Kumar BlockBuster of 2012 ! 

Rating – 3.5/5 (3 for the film and .5 for Himesh’s Surprise Acting)

A definite blockbuster among the masses, and is sure to enter the popular 100cr Club!!! 

This Reviewer can be contacted on Twitter : @i_spn : https://twitter.com/i_spn

Akshay Kumar's 'Joker' - Exclusive Movie Review

      Joker – External Movie Review

 Sree Prasad Nair

                                              Theater - Abu Dhabi National Cinemas, UAE

                                                                  30/08/2012 - 9.30 pm

                          Occupancy - 80% (50% are kids with family, thanks to U/G certification)

Akshay Kumar is going through one of the best phases of his career now. Thanks to his two 100crore blockbusters in a row in the form of Housefull2 & Rowdy Rathore. Joker is his third film of 2012 to hit the screens. Joker is reportedly Akshay Kumar's 100th film. Joker released today in UAE. Joker is a fantasy adventure film directed by Shirish Kunder, and also his second directorial venture after Jaan-E-Mann also starred Akshay Kumar with Salman Khan. Shirish made a grand entry in Bollywood as a director by getting excellent reviews from the critics for the film. But since it’s opened on Diwali 2006 with stiff competition from Shahrukh Khan’s Don,  Jaan-e-mann didn’t click as it deserved to be. After 4 years he again came back with Akshay Kumar in the form of script writer for his wife Farah Khan’s third directorial venture, Tees Maar Khan

. Luckily for them & unfortunately for the audience the film looted maximum collection within 1^st week only thanks to the Sheila Ki Jawaani mania & the hype around TMK for being a Christmas release. Frankly speaking TMK was an undeserved success for the Akshay-Farah-Kunder team. Their intention was clear.  Just make audience fool and earn maximum money within 1^st week. Since TMK was co-produced by Akshay & Farah, it gained profits… But at the same time TMK remains a favorite punching bag to this day for Akshay-Farah-Kunder. And now with Joker, the same team coming again, this time directed by Shirish & co-produced by Akshay & Farah. Sonakshi Sinha is the heroine of Joker. This will be her second film paired opposite Akshay after Rowdy Rathore.

In 1947 when the maps of India and Pakistan were being drawn, an oversight ensured that the village of Paglapur didn't find a place in either country. The village had the distinction of housing the largest mental asylum in the region that ensued during partition, the asylum inmates broke loose, drove away the villagers and established their own republic in Paglapur. And that's how it stayed for the next 60 years! While the world outside changed, Paglapur remained isolated, with no electricity, television or sanity. Now, decades after the world forgot this village, a NASA scientist of Indian origin, Agastya played by Akshay Kumar and his beautiful wife Diva played by Sonakshi Sinha find themselves on the road to Paglapur. Agastya is working on a top secret project for creating a device to communicate with aliens. So why is he in a village whose colorful inhabitants include a man who speaks in Gibberish (Akshay’s brother played by Shreyas Talpade), another who thinks he is a lamp post and everyone else who think Mahatma Gandhi is still around, fighting for independence? And more importantly, what are they going to do that will soon turn the universe's spotlight on this forgotten village? 

Let me go straight to the positives of the film first.

Joker is well executed in the first half. Infact everything about the first half is simply superb. Akshay Kumar who entertained us in Housefull2 & Rowdy Rathore got a serious role here. And no surprise he is good in this film too. Sonakshi Sinha is strictly OK. Shreyas Talpade is a big surprise. Infact he entertained us more in this film. Asrani is funny. And his english subtitles for his each hindi lines are really witty. All other actors are good in their own roles. The much talked Alien Golkot is very entertaining and it’s a visual treat for all the kids. Music composed by famous Tamil Composer GV Prakash (Nephew of AR Rahman) is excellent and all the 4 songs Kaafirana, Jugnu, Singh Raja & Yeh Joker are really good. Shirish Kunder directed the first half brilliantly. No two opinions on that. Frankly speaking really impressed by his film making STRICTLY on the first half. Whatever others say, he got an extra good oblongata when attempting new themes in Bollywood. His background score is epic stuff. Hats Off to him for letting us see this Place Paglapur. Excellent location & production value is just superb. Infact everything till first half was just wow and I was hoping for the same treatment in the second half. 

UNFORTUNATELY……. A Big NO, But Why ???...

Here comes the negatives of the film. Well it will be better if I say Second Half itself is a negative for the film. I have no idea what Mr.Kunder was thinking while writing the script for second half? The lesser I say, the better it would be. Some scenes are absolute crap.  At one point I asked myself, am I watching the second half of Joker? Infact I had a feeling of watching Tees Maar Khan 2 !!! Agreed Joker is touted as a film for kids. But atleast some Logic ??? The only good thing about second half is that 5 min scene by Alien Golkot. It was really entertaining. But that’s about it. So many questions remained unknown… What happened to Akshay Kumar’s job which he need to finish within the target of 1 month??? No clue… Minisha Lamba is totally wasted. Sonakshi got only 3 dialogues in the second half. And Sonakshi in a village dress? Ufff No Way… Last but not least, I was wondering why Askhay Kumar was keeping distance from the promotion of Joker, that too being his 100^th film ??? if rumours are to be believed true, then we can’t blame Akshay. Sincerely feel bad for Akshay to get Joker as his 100^th film.

On the Whole Joker is just about an average film which has excellent first half & music as its plusses and the whole second half as a letdown. Take your kids, they will enjoy for sure. Akshay Kumar films will always recieve bumper opening at the box office. But in the case of Joker,  considering its lack of promotion & the superstar’s absence on promotions, chances are very less to open 10cr+ on opening day. If weekend cross 30+, then its ONLY because of the star power of AkshayKumar. Good news for Joker is that it’s a 40 crore film co-produced by Akshay & Farah and already recovered 32 crore before the release. So whatever the film gonna gain will be a profit for the makers & distributors.

Verdict – Strictly Average

Its an Udtha Firtha Half cooked 'Omelet' which fails to hit the 'Bulls Eye'

Rating – 2and Half stars ( 2 for the film and half for the production value)

                   This Reviewer can be contacted here : https://twitter.com/i_spn

Akshay Kumar's 'Joker' - Exclusive Photo Cadrs from Theaters in Kerala

Rowdy Rathore - Movie Review - Commercial Mega Blast 3/5

Directed by     Prabhu Deva

Produced by     Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ronnie Screwvala

Screenplay by     Shiraz Ahmed

Story by     Vijayendra Prasad, N Prakash

Music by     Sajid-Wajid

Cinematography     Santosh Thundiyil

Studio     UTV Motion Pictures

Distributed by     SLB Films

Release date(s)         1 June 2012

Rowdy Rathore - the immensely hyped return of Akshay Kumar as Actiok ka BAAP - delivers what it promised - a Mass Action fiesta with a heavy dose of South Indian [which now loved in Noth as well] Masalas.

The story is about Shiva (Akshay Kumar), a small 'Rowdy' who charms & steals not only wealth but also every ladies heart in a blink. Shiva falls in love with Priya (Sonakshi Sinha), a pretty and smart girl from Patna. Into this enters six year old Neha who  believes Shiva to be her father -Vikram Rathore [Akshay Kumar]. The further movie deals with what changes and responsibilities does this little girl brings to his life and how he becomes the only hope for people of a small town in Bihar to get rid of a ruthless MLA [Nasser] and his mafia goons.

Those who have seen the original either Vikramarkudu or Siruthai may find this one less appealing [provided you are not an Akshay Fan]. But for the majority of its core target audience this will be a perfect entertainment treat post IPL season that everyone was looking for.Its the perfect blend of comedy,over the top action, songs, dance, dialogues etc-  everything that we were expecting from such a movie

Positives

1. Akshay Kumar - Rocked as rowdy but tad disappointing as Rough & Tough Vikram Rathore [even though its short in Length]

2. Songs - Eventhough every single one of them is lifted from various hit South Indian tracks, its full on Masti 

3. Prabhudeva's direction - he sticked to the original, didn't try to many experiments [just like 'Wanted']

4. Comedy, Action, Dance etc

5. Camera Editing BG everything suited the mood of the film

6. South Indian actor Nasser rocked  as the villain goon/land lord - one of his best perfomance

Negatives

1.Sonakshi Sinha - Big Disappoinment - She went from Terrific in Dabangg to Terrible no where near Anushka Shetty eventhough better than Tamanna [in Siruthai]

2. 'Dadang Dang' Song -Horrible Choreography, Sonakshi looked terrible

3. Too much violence for family audience

4. Strong Telugu Flavour

5. On Comparison with the original this is an inferior product, Akshay couldn't match upto Ravi Teja

6. The hyped cameos by Tamil superstar Vijay & Kareena Kappor turned out to be duds [just like chitti in ra.one] - even fans like me didn't get the energy seeing them on screen thanks to the screwed up editing & camera 

Verdict

 A full on commercial mass masala action blast from Prabhudeva & Akshay

Box-Office 

 Already taken a thunderous opening, should break some records if Multiplex audience didn't reject the movie coz of the violence factor.

Rating: 3/5

[for those who have seen Vikramarkudu 2.5/5]

Akshay Kumar's 'JOKER' - Exclusive Mega Quality stills

Click on the images to View Them in Full Size

Credits: Shiris Kunder

Housefull 2 - Exclusive First Look Posters & Trailer