Amir Khan's 'Thugs of Hindostan' tanks: Biggest Day 1 grosser becomes 'biggest shocker'

The star-studded cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif couldn't help pull people to the cinemas. The film minted Rs 1.33 bn in 5 days, which is way behind the Rs 3 bn budget of the film.

The combination of Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif hasn't helped Thugs of Hindostan garner box office numbers after the first day. After minting a record Rs 500 million on Day 1, the multistarrer's fortunes have been in a free fall as it collected just above Rs 1.33 billion in the first five days after release.

By the time the weekend was over, the movie seemed to have gone out of favour with the audience as it struggled to notch up even a tenth of its Day 1 figures on Monday and Tuesday.

Bollywood analyst Taran Adarsh summed up the box office figures as follows:

Hindi:

Thursday: Rs 507.5 million

Friday: Rs 282.5 million

Saturday: Rs 227.5 million

Sunday: Rs 172.5 million

Monday: Rs 55 million

Tuesday: Rs 43.5 million

Total: Rs 1.28 billion

Tamil + Telugu collection for five days: Rs 49 million

Grand total: Rs 1.33 billion

Adarsh called the movie the biggest shocker of the year in a tweet.

Trailer of the 'shocker'

Here's how news agency ANI had reviewed the movie's trailer:

The trailer of Vijay Krishna Acharya's "Thugs Of Hindostan" turns out to be much ado about nothing, except Aamir Khan.

The trailer opens with an interesting interlude where the mighty (Amitabh) Bachchan baritone which resonates across a skyline clearly painted with the same colours as "The Pirates Of Caribbean".

Bachchan is a pirate from the "Lagaan" era and among his rugged band of thugs is Fatima Sana Shaikh who looks determined to prove "Dangal" was no flash in the pan. But Katrina Kaif is happy with the status quo. She poses and preens as though she had walked into the "Chikni chameli" sets again.

Business Standard

Thugs of Hindostan' is like Koffee with Karan, albeit without the gossip

It's time we retire the films that put the stardom of actors above content and form.

Business Standard : Movies appeal to us for a variety of reasons. Some stand out for their ‘what’ (content), some for their ‘how’ (form), some for their both ‘what’ and ‘how’. 

Then there’s the fourth kind: the one about ‘who’. This is the cinema of the privileged – the moneyed producers who make the ‘who’ possible, the factor transcending ‘what’ and ‘how’. The main curiosity here revolves around the stars. That gets multiplied if the makers manage a casting coup: convincing two big names, not known for their collaboration, to share screen time. That in itself is enough – to the extent that the craft of filmmaking becomes irrelevant. The audience gets its doze of voyeurism: watching stars react to each other. It’s a bit like Koffee with Karan, albeit without gossip and with some pretense of storytelling.

Such films will always be in demand because we don’t just love our stars, we revere them. Which is why it’s not surprising that the cinema of ‘who’ hits the theatres during festivals. This Diwali, we have Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan, produced by Yash Raj Films, featuring stars that have never acted in a film together: Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. A period drama, Thugs of Hindostan is set in 1795 when the East India Company has begun its rapid colonisation of the country. Resistance comes through a band of thugs, led by Khudabaksh Azaad (Bachchan), who aspires to free the Indian subcontinent – Hindostan – from the foreign rule. Then there’s another thug, the small-time conman Firangi Mallah (Khan), thoroughly devoid of conscience and purpose, hired by the British to capture Azaad and dismantle his group.

You don’t need to re-read the synopsis to figure out the mechanics of this movie. Two big stars, cast opposite each other, spawning hype and intrigue: check. Casting them as characters hostile to each other to generate conflict and tension: check. Bringing them together later in the guise of fighting the common enemy (because stars, obsessively guarding their images, can do no wrong): check. Enough action sequences to keep you distracted: check. Heated confrontations culminating in sweet resolution and reunion: check. This is predictable and clichéd filmmaking, and, if you’ve seen enough multi-starrers, Thugs of Hindostan – with one eye at the box-office and the other at the vanity of the stars – will not come as a surprise.

This lack of ambition, however, isn’t as much of a problem as is the lack of effort. At its best, Thugs of Hindostan could have been a straightforward, by-the-numbers crowd-pleaser. Which would have been fine: nothing more was expected of it. And for that to happen, its principal actors had to do just one thing: show up to work. But they fail to cross that ridiculously low bar as well.... Read More

Hear her out, investigate: Bollywood on Tanushree, Nana Patekar controversy

In a recent TV interview, Tanushree Dutta had claimed that Patekar misbehaved with her on the sets of "Horn Ok Pleasss" 10 years ago.

Days after Tanushree Dutta alleged that Nana Patekar harassed her on the sets of a film in 2008, stars like Varun Dhawan and Swara Bhasker among others came out in support of the actor, saying her voice deserved to be heard.

In a recent TV interview, Dutta had claimed that Patekar misbehaved with her on the sets of "Horn Ok Pleasss" 10 years ago.

Asked about Bollywood's stand on the issue, Varun said that the emphasis should be on creating a workplace where everyone is respected.

"We have to make our industry safe for women men and children. Everyone should be given equal respect. The issue is being covered everywhere, though I don't know too much about it.

"If someone is speaking about it, you should hear the person out. It takes great courage to talk like that. I applaud that courage," the actor told reporters.

Varun was speaking at the 9th Jagran Film Festival on Sunday.

Joining him for the award ceremony of the festival were directors Anurag Kashyap and Sudhir Mishra, who also insisted on creating a safe environment for women.

Swara said having a safe workplace is everyone's right.

"Sexual harassment at workplace is a huge issue for our society. It receives very less attention and serious conversations. We are mostly unaware about this.

"Good thing is that now these issues are coming out. We should speak about it responsibly. In a collective way, we should make our workplace safe," the "Veerey Di Wedding" star said.

Anurag said introspection is the need of the hour.

"It is important to change, acknowledge and accept our mistakes. It's important that we this goes even for me introspect and look back at our lives and see the wrongs we have done, what our understanding was. It's time we all grew up. It's the fault of the entire system, the conditioning," he said.

Actor Pankaj Kapur said while he cannot say "who's right or wrong", an investigation should be pursued.

"Whatever wrong has happened at any point of time, it must be investigated," he said.

Pooja Bhatt said whenever someone voices their complains, they need to be heard.

"Whenever someone complains about it, you shouldn't count it out. I don't think we should silence those voices... I find it a very frivolous conversation that 'if Bollywood stands with you or not'. Truth doesn't need PR. If you believe it, go out there and speak it.

"Do not expect anyone to hold your hands and support you. Bollywood is a great place, you can expect support for award ceremonies, weddings and funerals... But in the test of life, I walk alone.

Business Standard

OnePlus 6T teaser goes live on Amazon, TV ad with Amitabh Bachchan out too

The OnePlus 6T is expected to be launching in the middle of October, with retail available shortly after the launch.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus is gearing up to launch the OnePlus 6T soon. The phone teaser is now live on e-commerce platform Amazon, and a television commercial featuring Bollywood celebrity Amitabh Bachchan is out too. 

This is exactly how OnePlus started promoting the yesteryear flagship OnePlus 5T before the launch. With the teaser page out and television commercial featuring on different channels, it is safe to assume that the launch is now only days away.

While the teaser on Amazon India does not reveal anything, the television commercial provides some details on the design aspect of the upcoming OnePlus flagship.

 In the commercial, Amitabh Bachchan is seen holding the phone and his index finger resting below the rear camera module. The phone shown in the advertisement wears midnight black design (matte black edition) that was introduced with the OnePlus 6. In recent reports, the OnePlus 6T was speculated to feature a tri-camera module on the back. In the commercial, however, the phone is shown sporting a dual camera module and Amitabh Bachchan’s index finger strategically covering rest of the space, leaving the speculation unanswered.

ALSO READ: Apple leads global premium phone market; OnePlus enters top 5: Counterpoint

Speaking of other upgrades, the OnePlus 6T is confirmed to get an in-display fingerprint sensor technology, where the sensor is placed beneath the display panel. This allows a part of the screen to double up as a biometric recognition module for identifying fingerprints for the phone's unlocking mechanism.

The in-display fingerprint module will free up the space on the back of the OnePlus 6T without compromising on the overall design theme. OnePlus’ sister company, Vivo, has been offering this technology in some of its premium models, such as the Vivo X21, Vivo Nex and the Vivo V11 Pro.

The OnePlus 6T is also reported to get a new screen format, with a tiny notch on top. Though the notch area in the OnePlus 6 is among the smallest when compared with other notch screen-based smartphones, it would be trimmed even more and reduced to a size of a big dot, enough to accommodate just the front camera. The Vivo V11 Pro or the Oppo F9 Pro are two smartphones that currently boast similar screen format design.

As for the trade off, the OnePlus 6T is confirmed to drop the 3.5mm audio jack to accommodate a bigger capacity battery. Other technical specifications of the upcoming smartphone are expected to be similar to the OnePlus 6 i.e. Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip (SoC) and three RAM & storage configurations – 6GB/64GB, 8GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB.

Article Source Business Standard

Kaun Banega Crorepati: Here's what's new in Amitabh Bachchan-hosted KBC 10

Those who stream Kaun Banega Crorepati live on Sony LIV app can also participate with other contestants on the hot seat and win prizes.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has once again returned on the small screen with the 10th season of the 18-year-old iconic show Kaun Banega Crorepati, which premiered at 9 pm on Sony TV on September 3. While the first season aired on 2000, much has changed since then.

While the format remains the same, for the first time, the Indian reality show will use of Augmented Reality (AR) technology to make the show more visually appealing. Here are some things that the new season of KBC has introduced:

Kab Tak Rokoge

According to the tagline Kab Tak Rokoge, the show will laud the spirit of resilience in people and evoke the emotions of every participant.

Opening episode of KBC 10

The first episode began with a poem recitation by Amitabh Bachchan that was based on ‘Kab Tak Rokoge’ theme.

Use of Augmented Reality

For the first time in Indian television, the reality show makes use of Augmented Reality (AR). Viewers will be able to see Big B interact with AR elements like Dhanalay (the money pyramid), Ghadi Buddy (the timer) and the Lifelines. Additionally, in every episode, the contestants will be introduced through an AR map of India.

Quiz questions to be tougher?

According to media, the quiz questions of KBC 10 will be tougher than earlier seasons.

KBC 10 to have highest number of episodes

Compared to previous seasons, the current season will continue for three months with five episodes every week — 60 in total.

Ask the expert

Kaun Banega Crorepati is once again bringing back the lifeline of asking an expert through video calling when stuck in a question. Apart from this, other lifelines like 50:50, audience poll and jodidaar (partner) will also be available for the selected contestants.

KBC Karamveer

On every Friday, the episode titled ‘KBC Karamveers’ will feature people whose actions have brought about a positive change in society. Sometimes, these ‘karamveers’ will be accompanied by celebrities.

Article Source BS