October 22, 2010 : ‘Rakta Charitra’ has been projected for what it is which means that audience has been well prepared for the violent saga that lies ahead. Since the film’s subject is not quite universal and has a niche appeal to it, a terrific opening is ruled out. With such challenges ahead, it would turn out to be a pleasant surprise if the film manages anything over a 50% opening. The film can take solace from the fact though that there is no major release for two weeks till Diwali which means that it has a potential to grow with good reviews and word of mouth.
Jhootha Hi Sahi should take a better start though but still not the kind that makes it safe overnight. The biggest issue here is the music which has just not managed to pick up despite a 6 weeks window that it got for its promotion. The film is a solo starrer with John Abraham as the only star attraction, the leading lady (Pakhi) is new, the director (Abbas Tyrewala) is being looked at with quite some cynicism due to this being his first outing outside Aamir Khan productions, the subject isn’t really universal and the buzz is just about okay as well. All of this means that Jhootha Hi Sahi too would have to rely a lot upon word of mouth to make any impression whatsoever.
Hissss doesn’t have much going in its favour though. The promos have been out and out tacky, Mallika Sherawat has totally lost her audience in the last 3-4 years gone by, the ‘naagin’ theme is a story of the past (pun intended) and the publicity design has been violent enough to put off a majority of audience. With no pre-release buzz or any other positive word being thrown about the film, Hissss comes with a good probability of going ‘fussss’.
As for the fourth release of the week, Dus Tola couldn’t have chosen a worse time period for its arrival. Leave aside poor promotion, the fact is that there has been no awareness created about this Manoj Bajpai & Aarti Chabria starrer. No one knows what the story is all about, what exactly is the setting, its genre and its USP. Dus Tola sadly has turned out to be one of those films that see an inconsequential arrival. While one wishes that the film could have been releases in a better time period, the sad truth is that it would face difficulty in facing the competition (even though not mighty but at least in terms of sheer quantity) around itself.
— Joginder Tuteja /Sampurn Wire
