Sunday 29 June 2014

Kerala Box Office - 2014 Half Year Exclusive Report





Kerala Box Office - 2014 Half Year Exclusive Report




6 Months into 2014, lets look at how how Kerala Box Office performed so far this year. Total 91 Malayalam film released till June 27th including 10 Dubbed ones. The Top grossers are



1. Bangalore Days

The first blockbuster of the year is the mega multi starrer Bangalore Days. The film is also the first and biggest success in Malayalam by a Women Film Director. With Ramzan fasting beginning from tomorrow June 29th) it will be interesting to see whether the film will beat Mayamohini & T20 to grab the 3rd or 2nd biggest hit of all time title.The film is a huge success in 'Rest of India' markets too grossing around 6 crores, becoming the 2nd biggest hit following Drishyam.

Gross - 19.61 crore in 29 Days 
Distributors Share - 8.64 crore

2. Ring Master

Another summer vacation, another Dileep hit. The film was made for ladies and Kids and it worked out well thanks to the target audience. As usual critics thrashed it and mass audience accepted it. The film didn't take a great opening but sustained through out as the Vishu releases slowly faded out.

Gross - 14.56 crore 75 days
Distributors Share - 6.15 crore


3. How Old Are You HOAY

Ladies were queuing up for the film from FDFS. Even though competition with Mr Fraud hurt the film in the initial days later the film picked up as Fraud went down. Thanks to the strong support from Family, especially Women, audience the film attained Super hit status. Its also the biggest grossing Women oriented film in Malayalam.

Gross 12.25 crore 42 days
 Distributors Share - 5.15 crore 

4. Ohm Shanthi Oshaana OSO

2014 is a rare year for Mollywood as two Women oriented film attained huge success, first OSO, then HOAY. The film made Nazriya a household name and the most popular Malayalam actress since Manju Warrier, looking at the response she is getting in theaters.

 Gross - About 10 crores

5. Mr Fraud

The film took a thunderous opening and had the biggest 1st week of the year (which BD later broke). Fighting social media activists and critics the film attained success thanks to the mega opening. Unlike Grandmaster the film was a disappointment at Outside Kerala markets. 

Gross - about 9.5 crore
 Distributors Share - 4.25 crore

6. Jilla

Film featuring 2 of the biggest mass super stars @ Kerala Box office raked in 2.63 crore, the biggest ever, on day 1. But the insignificant role Mohanlal got proved to be a curse for the film. The Drishyam Tsunami also affected it greatly as the film couldn't create life time records as far as Tamil films are concerned.

Gross - about 9.5 crore
 Distributors Share - 3.5 crore 

7. 7th Day

The film surprisingly took a huge opening, Prithviraj's biggest, despite low key promotions and not even a trailer being released.  The film got mixed reviews and couldn't sustain the early momentum.

Gross - 9-9.5crore
Distributors Share - about 3.75 crore

8. 1983 

The film got tremendous reviews which helped the film which began in a low key manner to acheive HIT status in the long run. The successful run of Nivin Pauly in 2014 began with this film.

Gross 7.5 crore



Maan Karate - the biggest Tamil hit of 2014 so far, in Kerala,  based on Returns on Investment. The rights were purchased for 15 lakhs and the total gross is about 1 crore

Among dubbed films Bhaiyya (Yevadu) was average while Lucky The Racer (Race Gurram) did above average business, while all others where wash outs.

Among Hindi films 2 States was a huge hit, and now Ek Villain took good opening.

Among Hollywood films X-Men Days of Future Past is the biggest hit of 2014 so far.



* Figures are approximate values and may not necessarily be exact. Actual Figures might be slightly different

Thursday 26 June 2014

Transformers: Age of Extinction - Movie Review


Directed by     Michael Bay
Produced by     Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Ian Bryce
Written by     Ehren Kruger
Based on     Transformers by Hasbro
Music by     Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography     Amir Mokri
Edited by     Paul Rubell, Roger Barton, William Goldenberg
Production company   Paramount Pictures, di Bonaventura Pictures, Hasbro,  China Movie Channel, Jiaflix Enterprises
Distributed by     Paramount Pictures
Release date    June 26, 2014 (India)
Running time     165 minutes
Country     United States
Language     English
Budget     $165 million

Cast

    Mark Wahlberg
    Stanley Tucci
    Nicola Peltz
    Jack Reynor
    Kelsey Grammer
    Li Bingbing
    Sophia Myles
    Titus Welliver
    T. J. Miller
    Melanie Specht

 After the so called final episode in the franchise, 'Dark of the Moon', comes the next installment in the mega blockbuster Transformers series 'Age of Extinction'. The movie has everything to satisfy a 'Transformer' fan, but nothing new and is agonizingly long. The franchise which hit rock bottom with just its 2nd installment 'Revenge of the Fallen', recovered some of its lost ground in 'DOTM'. But 'AoE' somewhere between 2nd and 3rd in terms of quality and entertainment. 

Years after the 'incident in  Chicago' US Govt are doing a witch hunt of 'Transformers'. With even Autobots declared 'Enemy of the State, an unsuccessful robotics inventor Cade Yeager comes across a scrap trunk from junkyard which turns out to be a hiding, damaged 'Optimus Prime'. A unit of CIA is working with the 'Creators' (of 'Transformers') to help them capture 'Optimus Prime' in exchange of a bomb that will help US Army to make their own Robot Soldiers. Meanwhile a firm, KSI, has made their own transformer, which has traces of Megatron. So what happens to Yeager and his family, Will Optimus Prime once again stand tall and prove Humans wrong, will earth be saved, forms the rest of the story.

If you have seen the past 3 movies in the franchise, there won't be anything exceptional in this to look forward to, unless you are a diehard fan of 'Transformers'. Like the previous movies it offers lots of action, Great CGI/VFX effects, great chase sequences, tongue-cheek humor etc. The film is way too long, running almost 3 hours. The film also offers 'Michael Bay' stamped visuals - low angle shots, ladies in shorts and their butt views, explosions, in brand placements, bad writing, great camera etc. 

Watch the movie in 2D as it offers nothing in the expensive, namesake 3D format. The action sequences are not cluttered or tiresome like ROTF but has a huge DOFTM, Avengers hang over and is long drawn out. There are many unnecessary sequences which could have been cut. Michael Wahlberg is a welcome change and the father daughter relation gives the film a better credibility than previous 2 films. Addition of Dinobots, especially Grimlock (T-Rex Bot) was a good move.

The movie is sure to be a super success. With the entire climax portions set in China, the film is for sure to make a killing there at Box Office, the biggest market for Hollywood films outside North America

In all Transformers: Age of Extinction is just for fans and those who like the huge, CGI heavy, brainless Summer Hollywood blockbusters...... others, catch it on bluray....

Verdict: Average or just a notch above

Rating: 2.65/5

Last Word: Will it be a full on transformer movie next,  with no humans at all ? Hmmmm... !!!!




Friday 20 June 2014

Robert Downey Jr's 'The Judge' - First Look Poster & Official Trailer



Robert Downey Jr's 'The Judge' - First Look Poster & Official Trailer

10 October 2014 (USA) 

Directed by     David Dobkin
Produced by     Susan Downey
David Gambino
David Dobkin
Written by     Nick Schenk
David Seidler
Bill Dubuque

Cast

    Robert Downey, Jr. as Hank Palmer
    Robert Duvall as Judge Joseph Palmer
    Vera Farmiga as Samantha
    Vincent D'Onofrio as Glen Palmer
    Jeremy Strong as Dale Palmer
    Billy Bob Thornton as Dwight Dickham
    Sarah Lancaster as Lisa Palmer
    Emma Tremblay as Lauren
    Ken Howard as Judge Warren
    Leighton Meester as Carla
    Dax Shepard
    Lance Norris as Juror #8
    Ian Lyons as Juror #2
    Johnny Orlando as Glen Palmer (Young)


Transformers: Age of Extinction - Kerala Theaters List





Transformers: Age of Extinction - Kerala Theaters List






Saturday 7 June 2014

Bangalore Days - YouTube JukeBox - Official Audio Songs


Bangalore Days - YouTube JukeBox - Official Audio Songs







The links given here are of the songs from the movie 'Bangalore Days' officially uploaded in YouTube by Music247 & Anwar Rasheed Entertainment who owns the copyright.



Ente Kannil Ninakkaai 


Thumbi Penne



Ethu Kari Raavilum
 
   

Nam Ooru Bengaluru

  


Video Songs 

 Wedding Song - Maangalyam  

Thumbi Penne

   

Nam Ooru Bengaluru

 

Friday 6 June 2014

Bangalore Days - Record Smashing Opening Week - Box Office Report


Like noted in the review the biggest star ensemble since 'T20', 'Usthad Hotel' reunion etc worked out perfectly for 'Bangalore Days'. The film even though had a slow start in small centers all major centers were witnessing mad rush from morning shows. The reviews were also extremely positive. The fact that film catered to the Multiplex-Youth audience, happening after a gap in Mollywood, helped the film as the film grew from strength to strength. The first day was not a record breaker, but definitely was the biggest of the year (Malayalam). The film showed its full potential on Saturday & Sunday helping its way into the biggest opening weekend ever. Despite Schools, Colleges reopening on Monday the drop showed at small centers were covered by the extraordinary trending at major centers and multiplexes. Most of the evening shows Outside Kerala also remained sold out through out the week. With the film covering 90% of the business done by most of the year's top grossers, looks like Bangalore Days in all likely hood will remain the biggest grosser of the year when year-end reports comes out in January [Unless something like a Drishyam happens]

Budget - 9 crore+

Day 1 - 1.61 crore

Opening Weekend - 4.81 crore

5 Days - 6. 70 crore

First Week Gross - 8.45 crore 

First Week Nett -  6.65 crore

Week One Distributors Share - 3.91 crore

Monday 2 June 2014

Kerala Summer (April - May) Box Office 2014 - Exclusive Report




Kerala Summer (April - May) Box Office - Exclusive Report



2 month long Summer Holidays will be official over by today marking an end to one of the biggest seasons for Movie makers and goers. Schools, Colleges will reopen and Monsoon is expected with in a few days creating a dent in collections, especially with Ramzan to come later this Month. Let's see what all movies during Summer 2014 at Kerala Box Office

Ring Master - The highest grossing film this summer and this year, so far. A fun film targetting Ladies and Kids even though didn't take a great opening, was rock steady through out the first month or so. Movie is still registering good collection at major centers.
Budget: 9 Crore
Last Reported Gross: 12.95 crores
Satellite Rights: about 6 crores

7th Day - Film took very good opening, but couldn't sustain it in the following weeks.
Budget: 5.5 crores
Gross - around 9-10 crores
Satellite Rights: 2.5 crore

Mr. Fraud - Film took the biggest opening for a Malayalam movie (till then) and had a smashing first week. But average reports had its effects from 2nd week.
Budget: 7.5 crore
Gross - 9 crore+
Satellite Rights: 5.5 crore

How Old Are You - Good hype, tremendous word of mouth, superb rush of Ladies crowd from Day 1, this very well can be called movie of the Season (Summer). Manju Warrier made a rocking come back to Movies.
Budget - 6 crore
Gross - 8 crore+
Satellite Rights: Not Sold

God's Own Country - Even though film got good reviews lack of publicity affectred the movie. By the time people came to know about it was removed from many stations. Have made come back in few of them this week
Gross - 4.25 crore+
Budget - 3.9 crore
Satellite: 2.6 crore

Pauly Technic - 4.20 crore

Mosayile Kuthirameenukal - Gross 3.95 crore

Drishyam - 46 crores (Kerala) 56 crores (All India)

Bangalore Days which released on May 30th has taken the biggest opening for a Malayalam film this year, details will be updated later.



* Figures are approximate values, till last available udpate, may not necessarily be exact.