J P Dutt’s Paltan
which has been panned by most critics has collected Rs 1.15-1.25 Cr this much
on day 1. Then film has been largely disliked and will need a miracle to cover
its cost. Add this to the fact that it has not got many shows in theatres for
display. SpotboyE.com editor Vickey Lalwani rated the film with 2 stars and
wrote, “There are bullets in the guns, but no fire. There is artillery at the
base, but no attack. You know what I mean. J P Dutta has a story to tell about
our brave soldiers who were engaged in an intense war against the Chinese
infiltration through the Sikkim border in '67, but he fails to execute it. The
film begins well with the Indo-China '62 war but that's just that it has to
keep you on your seat. 7 minutes later, in fact, when all the main characters
are introduced, lactic acid starts generating in your body instead of adrenaline
flowing in it. Is this the same filmmaker who made Ghulami, Border and even
Refugee? There is a big Border hangover that stares glaringly at you right
through the excruciating length of the film, but JP has clearly lost his touch.
The biggest failure of the film is that the bromance between the jawans
is devoid of conviction and depth. Anyway, the war begins. And?”
On the other
hand, Sajid Ali’s Laila Majnu, a love saga, set in contemporary times has
received fairly good reviews. Add this to the good word-of-mouth. All this may
translate into growing numbers over the weekend. SpotboyE.com editor Vickey
Lalwani rated the film with 3 stars and wrote, “Feuding families and passionate
love set in today's times. You may ask: So what's new? Yet, it's a very fresh
film with two interesting newcomers Tripti Dimri and Avinash Tiwary. You will
come out of it glad that you spent your last two-and-half hours seeing
something that will stay with you for a long time. You will see virgin love,
where the two neither marry nor consummate their affair- and you will see it
loaded with dollops of innocence. Go for it.
Let’s see, what
Day 2 has in store for Paltan and Laila Majnu. This is not a long holiday
weekend and both movies will have to really speed up on Saturday to set their
cash registers ringing. Over to the shows!