This week had
multiple releases Kajol-Riddhi Sen starrer Helicopter Eela, Govinda-Varun
Sharma starrer FryDay and Rhea Chakraborty-Varun Mitra starrer Jalebi.
But this was a terrible Friday as the first day’s collection was not
anything for anybody to shout about. According to a report in
BoxOfficeIndia.com, Helicopter Eela has earned only Rs 75 lakh, FryDay garnered
Rs 25 lakh and Jalebi registered Rs 35 lakh at the box-office.
SpotboyE.com
Editor Vickey Lalwani rated Helicopter Eela with 3.5 stars and wrote, “My
mother brought me up single-handedly, making sure at all stages until frailty
enveloped her, that I don't goof up. Sometimes, she picked up the phone to
infuse her inputs and sometimes she even turned up in person to ensure that I
don't do anything silly- like the day of my SSC result- when she entered my
school right up to the outside to check that I don't lose my composure if I
score below expectations. Did I get annoyed, err, exasperated, like Riddhi Sen
does when Kajol becomes that shadow in his life which refuses to leave him even
when it is dark? Yes, I did. And like me, most of you will identify many points
in the film as a part of your growing up years if and when your set of parents
or either of them became over-indulgent.”
He rated Govinda
and Varun Sharma starrer FryDay with 3 stars and wrote, “Abhishek Dogra may
deny but he has seen Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar and Vinay Pathak's Bheja Fry quite a
few times before sitting down to pen the script of his second flick after Dolly
Ki Doli, which sank without a trace. But this one won't. FryDay not just marks
the awaited comeback of Govinda but raises many laughs. A bit of toilet humour
which is not alright, but Dogra manages to salvage his position as director.”
Rating Jalebi
with 2.5 stars, he wrote, “That thrill which was present in every Mahesh
Bhatt movie as to what will happen next- be it even a straightforward story
like Naam and Arth (both masterpieces, mind you)- has just disappeared from the
Vishesh stable. This was indeed a vishesh company, which had a vishesh ear for
even music, a la Raj Kapoor. But today, their songs, including those in their
today's release Jalebi even if hummable, are repetitive and forgettable. So
Bhatt saab's touch is clearly felt in the film but only from the periphery.
Pushpadeep Bharadwaj (another newbie in Bollywood) has again let the creative
company of two famous brothers (Mahesh & Mukesh), down. The first-timer
does not make the ship sink but in the end you wonder whether you wanted to
know Rhea Chakraborty's long story told in a train on what went wrong in her
marriage with Varun Mitra. Got it? They have the story, they have the songs,
they have the guidance- but the soul is missing.”
The three movies
in question haven't been all that bad to witness such lacklustre response at
the ticket windows. Wonder if the public is only reading up in papers and
websites and seeing on television, just the #MeToo attack which has whipped up
a storm in Bollywood?