It’s not just the biggies that are failing at a regular rate this year. If CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA, BILLU and DELHI 6 have turned out to be huge disappointments then even smaller films haven’t been able to capitalize much on the open market. Something which has been reflected with the release of KISSE PYAAR KAROON and SIDDHARTH – THE PRISONER.
None of the two films had much of a competition at the box office since not just did they have an open week ahead for themselves, there wasn’t much competition from DELHI 6 either that has seen a constant decline over the last few days. Still, both the films that belong to comic and drama genre respectively fell on their face at the box office with near to negligible collections.
While KISSE PYAAR KAROON was dated and had released sans much fanfare (even the stars didn’t have much to talk about during the film’s promotion), SIDDHARTH – THE PRISONER, primarily a festival film till now, saw a sudden release at the theaters.
Result? There was just no excitement amongst the audience to watch any of the two films. In fact the audience which didn’t really have much problems with Arshad Warsi’s last slapstick comedy GOLMAAL RETURNS was just in no mood to venture into theaters for KISSE PYAAR KAROON which also starred Ashish Vidharthi and Yash Tonk along with Udita Goswami. The dated feel was on-your-face and post the fall of numerous biggies in the last few weeks, a walk into the theaters was too much to expect from audience.
On the other hand SIDDHARTH – THE PRISONER came virtually unannounced with zero buzz, hype and promotion. It made a silent entry and will die a silent death. The name Rajat Kapoor hasn’t been good enough to attract the audience and the result is crystal clear with the film neither finding good reviews coming it’s way nor any audience.
Now one waits to see how do 13B, DHOONDTE REH JAAOGE and KARMA AND HOLI, the three releases of this Friday, perform at the box office.
By Joginder Tuteja
