After Effects: 'PPNH' reaps 20 Cr, but 'The Lunchbox' is heart winner

Shahid Kapoor-Ileana D'cruz film opens to poor numbers and Ritesh Batra's 'The Lunchbox' seems to have impressed the audiences' taste buds

After scandalising the audiences last week, Indra Kumar's Grand Masti made way for the more sober The Lunchbox and Phata Poster Nikla Hero last weekend at the box office.

Though expectations from the Shahid Kapoor-Ileana D'cruz film were high, the film opened to poor numbers on Friday but managed to reach the Rs 20 crore mark by Sunday. The collections around Batra's film grew by over 100 per cent by the end of the weekend to reach approximately Rs 7 crore.

Says distributor Sunny Khanna, `Grand Masti had a strong second weekend of around Rs 12 crore nett. The collections for the first 10 days are around Rs 75 crore nett. Phata Poster Nikhla Hero has collected below average figures of approx Rs 20 crore nett in its first weekend. The opening day figures were really low (Rs 5.5 crore). On Saturday the numbers had a marginal growth of Rs 6.5 crore but the film picked up by Sunday with Rs 8.5 crore.

The Lunchbox was released across limited screens (400 screens). It collected around Rs 6.85 crore over the weekend. It started slow on Friday by collecting Rs 1.25 crore but the reviews and word-of-mouth helped it double the figures on Saturday (by Rs 2.5 crore) and Rs 3.10 crore on Sunday.`

According to trade analyst Amod Mehra, Phata Poster has been an average fare, which apparently in comparison to the cost of the film is not good. He says, `The film's music was appreciated but the promotion didn't work for the film.

The Lunchbox has done well. It will translate into good numbers for satellite rights as well. It is impressive for a film that was made on a budget of approx Rs 5 crore, including publicity and promotion.`


Exhibitor Akshaye Rathi says, `Phata Poster had stars missing who could draw a big opening on their own strength. While the film has stayed steady and sustained without a crash on Monday, its satellite rights will help the film tide over difficult conditions. The Lunchbox has a niche appeal and has been released across centres that are expected to fetch good returns.

The extremely low cost of making and solid backing by UTV and Karan Johar make this a winner of hearts and box office returns. The kind of numbers Grand Masti has delivered has spun a surprise.

PHATA POSTER NIKHLA HERO: MOVIE REVIEW

Let's get one thing straight. This isn't what you want to see a super-gifted filmmaker like Rajkumar Santoshi do when he gets together with a talented star-actor like Shahid Kapoor. But what to do? Everyone wants a good laugh! It makes us forget about the troubles outside. Never mind the trouble that humour seems to encounter on screen each time someone makes a comedy.

To his credit, Santoshi deftly delivers the dynamics of drollery. No two ways about it. Unlike last week's lewd laughter in "Grand Masti", "Phata Poster Nikla Hero" (PPNH) avoids vulgarity like the plague. Dirty word plague....sorry wordplay is firmly eschewed. What we get is an earthy robust over-accentuated tribute to Salman Khan's Chulbul Pandey act from "Dabangg", with Shahid Kapoor stepping into the khaki uniform with the same wonky elan as our dear Chulbul Khan. Shahid has confessed it is easy to play a Salman Khan fan. The young actor who has so far not revealed his comic chops and has in fact shown dramatic synergy to be his forte, pulls out all stops to play an imposter cop, a role that makes him a Chulbul Pandey twice-over because Salman's cop-act was underlined as a spoof in the first place. So what we get in PPNH is a khaki-clad clown impersonating a cop who is actually impersonating Salman Khan in "Dabangg". Does that make sense? Even if it doesn't, it's just fine. 

Don't sweat over it. This is not one of Santoshi's seriously-intended films. For that, please refer to this wonderful director's "Lajja" or "Halla Bol". And if you are looking for hardcore gut-spilling action, go to Santoshi's Deol-driven juggernauts "Ghayal" and "Ghatak". Come to think of it, PPNH is not even an all-out zany comedy of errors like Santoshi's 'Andaz Apna Apna'. So what is it? After painful pondering over the over-punctuated parodic material in PPNH, I'd say it's a mongrelized mirth machine. A sort of "Dabangg" mated with Santoshi's last very successful comedy "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani" which evidently taught Santoshi a lesson: farcical frivolity and lengthy titles translate into big bucks."Phata Poster..." gives poster-boy Shahid Kapoor a custom-built opportunity to get seriously comic. He digs deep into the very slim plot, ferreting out meager meat from the skimpy material. I must think that Shahid has a ball doing the droll act for the doll Ileana d'Cruz who abandons her serious sari-clad audacious wife's role in "Barfi!" to play the kind of "social worker" who brings a bad name to all charity work. Didn't Katrina play a similar busybee's role in Santoshi's "Ajab Prem..."? Didn't Ranbir do the goofy Chaplin-meets-Kondke act for the commodious camera in that film? Shahid seems comfortable doing the irrepressible comic impresario. But he's far more at home in the more sensible sober scenes he shares with his screen-mom Padmini Kolhapure, who looks too young to play Shahid's mom. But then at least her talent is being aired.

Come to think of it - everyone in this over-the-top comedy seems to be in it for the sake of getting into a massy mode. The art direction is kitschy. The camera wallows in the carnival mood. In the endeavour to enroll enthusiasm into the rom-com, the film succeeds. But be warned: the writing is repetitive. The scenes all end in exclamation marks and italics... like an essay by a schoolboy who is out to impress his favourite teacher. The humour jumps out of the screen like an eager 5-year old brat which must get your attention at any cost. If you think Shahid is one of the more interesting star-actor's of the current generation, then PPNH is a frenetically fashioned farce fest with excessive energy oozing out of every saturated pore. Shahid's songs and dances, especially the zanily unpredictable "Agal bagal" number are the highlight of the humour-hamper. And that's not such a good thing. Shahid gets to share camera space with some accomplished actors like Saurabh Shukla, Mukesh Tiwari, Darshan Jariwala and Sanjay Mishra. And that's a good thing. At least we are ensured that the slender pretext for laughter is bolstered by hefty actors. Oh yes, and the real Salman Khan shows up.

I am not Vidya Balan. I am a hardcore commercial heroine: Ileana

She wowed everyone with her understated performance in her Bollywood debut 'Barfi', but Ileana D'Cruz says she is more comfortable doing hardcore commercial roles

The 25-year-old actress's second film is Rajkumar Santoshi's action-comedy 'Phata Poster Nikhla Hero', which is a departure from her first Hindi film. Ileana feels Bollywood and glamour go hand-in-hand and she is no Vidya Balan to pull off roles like 'Barfi' on regular basis.

"I must admit that if you want to survive in Bollywood, you have to have a certain amount of glamour attached to you other wise it is difficult may be. I can't talk about other actresses but I have relied on glamour in films in the south.

It works. "If you look glamorous, dress well, it works in the film. You can pass off in a film by just looking good. I am not Vidya (Balan). She is great and does not need glamour. I cannot even compare myself to her," Ileana told in an interview.

The actress says she decided to be part of 'Phata Poster...' as she felt people had started taking her too seriously after her portrayal of Shruti in Anurag Basu's 'Barfi' and feared getting typecast.

"I think before 'Barfi' released, I had a feeling that people won't be able to accept me in such a serious role because they have never seen me do something like this before. After the film they started taking me too seriously and I didn't like it.

"I wanted them to understand that I am a commercial heroine. I have done hard core commercial films down south. I think I wanted to get into that space again," said Ileana, who has starred in Telegu superhits like 'Devadasu', 'Pokiri' 'Jalsa', 'Kick' among others. 

In 'Phata Poster...' the actress has been paired opposite Shahid Kapoor. The film will hit theatres this Friday. The film follows the story of Vishwas Rao, an aspiring actor mistaken as a super cop. It comes from the director, who has earlier made hit comedies like 'Andaz Apna Apna' and 'Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani'. 


"The film takes comedy to another level. Rajji (Santoshi) has got a punchline in every scene. He has got an impeccable comic timing and he is a fabulous actor. I always wanted to do something like that and it is more than I could have asked for," Ileana said. In the film, Ileana says her character finds problems in anything and everything around her and is hence addressed as 'Complaint Kajal'. 

"Kajal is the complete opposite of me. I am a very quiet person. Kajal is very talkative, she just does not know where to stop. She is a little boisterous. She is this self-appointed social worker. She has filed so many complaints that people are fed up of her and call her 'Complaint Kajal'," she said. Ileana has her hands full in Bollywood. 

After 'Phata Poster...', she will be seen opposite Saif Ali Khan in director duo Raj Nidimoru-Krishna DK's romantic comedy 'Happy Ending' and will share screen space with Varun Dhawan in his father David Dhawan's film 'Main Tera Hero'. 

When asked if working in films down south has taken a backseat, Ileana said, "There is no contract that I won't do south films anymore, but as of now I am very busy working here. Life has been pretty full on. "It is out of the question to do films down south. I think when the time is right, when I have some time off from Bollywood and there is some really good offer, I will consider doing films there," she said.