Neerja Movie Reviews & Boxoffice Thread - Part 2 - Page 2

Mention his 13-year hiatus from feature films and Ram Madhvani says, "Let's just make it 14 years because of my name." Then he chuckles, just so you're clear he's not equating himself with a Hindu deity.


Madhvani is on the big screen for the second time with Neerja, a film about the Pan Am flight attendant Neerja Bhanot who died saving lives when her flight was hijacked in 1986. His last outing on the big screen was the 2002 flick Let's Talk, and "the middle years were disappointing," he admits. But he's pretty philosophical about it. "I've given my disappointment a time limit. I mope for 24 hours, then move on."

Desi Mad Men

Could that skill at quick-recovery come from his experience in advertising? The 30-second ad-film training ground has bred some of the world's most legendary filmmakers, from Ridley Scott to Rajkumar Hirani.

His own style, Madhvani insists, is steadfastly Indian, thanks to a "very Indian and very English" childhood, divided between Barshi in Solapur and boarding school in Panchgani, during which he imbibed a gamut of influences.

"I'm desperately interested in the Indian aesthetic," he says. "The British colonised us culturally and the Americans have colonised us psychologically. It worries me."

It's what brought him back to India after NYU film school to join Sumantra Ghosal's Equinox Films, where he became a partner in two years.

"Ram's style is unique," says Laura Gregory, chairman and executive producer at the London production company, Great Guns, which represents him. She says it was only a matter of time before Madhvani turned to the big screen. "It's an easy transition for someone who's made advertising pieces that look like mini movies, and have all the emotion of a much bigger film."

Madhvani's recent Kindle TV spot made the Great Guns team reach for their hankies; his idiosyncratic Happydent ad won bronze and silver lions at Cannes in 2006 and was recently named one of the world's 20 best ad films of the 21st century; and young people across college campuses absentmindedly hum Airtel's Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai' jingle, which featured in the commercial Madhvani shot.



"That's our quest as storytellers, to become part of the conversation," he says. "As a filmmaker, you're either a visualist or a humanist. I prefer being a humanist. I'm interested in making you laugh, cry and having a dialogue with you. As a society, we've become so numb to loss and pain that - unfortunately - we need the outlet of art and cinema to feel. It's cathartic."

Har Ek Emotion Zaroori Hota Hai

Atul Kasbekar, celebrity photographer and Neerja's producer says Madhvani was "karmically ordained to direct Neerja". Both moved in the same circles as Neerja Bhanot, who was also a model. But it cut closer home: a friend of Madhvani's had shot an ad with Neerja just before she took the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 73, on September 5, 1986.



Launching into 36 months of research on the script, Madhvani recalls walking into the Bhanots' Chandigarh home with Sonam Kapoor. "Neerja's mother, Rama, said, Arre! Yeh to laado aa gayi'. She was also present when we began shooting at the plane set erected in Borivli, and applied a teeka to all 100 of our crew members," he says. "The worst thing in the world is to lose a child. But she was incredibly positive and energetic; always telling everyone Jeete raho, khush raho, mast raho'."

The mother-daughter story also involved what Madhvani calls the "daunting" task of directing Shabana Azmi. Madhvani visited her at Breach Candy Hospital when her own mother was ill, just two days before they were to shoot a crucial scene. "She asked me to give her the scene and began acting it out then and there. And she was spot-on emotionally. My wife and I had tears in our eyes."




Buckle up: Ram Madhvani's first film since 2002 is a biopic about the brave Pan Am stewardess Neerja Bhanot.




The Non-Don Draper

In an industry dominated by the stereotype of the adman as a chain-smoking, foul-mouthed, smooth-talking creep, Madhvani comes across as an anomaly. Kasbekar, who first met him almost two decades ago for a Duke's Lemonade ad, says he is "fully receptive" to any new idea from anyone on the crew. "But he's the boss," Kasbekar also points out. "His is the final call at the editing table. And I weave a protective cocoon around him!"

Anil Thakraney, former advertising writer, author and senior journalist has worked with Madhvani too. "If you're looking for someone to say something negative about Ram, good luck with that." But there are a few chinks in Madhvani's nice-guy armour. Gregory reveals that Madhvani, most ironically, has a fear of flying! Ask him if it's true and he shrugs: "I don't know what courage is, but I do know fear".

From HT Brunch, February 28, 2016

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch


Tags Neerja
Neerja Bhanot
Let's Talk
Ram Madhvani
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After Maharashtra and Gujarat, Sonam Kapoor starrer Neerja', is now tax-free in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.




Sonam tweeted, "#Neerja is tax free in #uttarpradesh! thank you @yadavakhilesh sir! Thank you for doing this.. We feel so blessed!" She later tweeted, "Thank you @ArvindKejriwal sir for this!! #delhi is also tax free!! Team #Neerja is very grateful!"




The movie has already proved to be a superhit at the box-office.



Now you can enjoy ad-free experience by downloading India's first Box Office mobile app from here -Android: http://bit.ly/BOCapsuleMobileApp and iOS: bit.ly/BOCapsuleiOSApp

Among other second weekend holdovers, Lionsgate held Busco Novio Para Mi Mujerin 357 theaters, grossing $375K ($1,050 average), giving it a cume of almost $1.5 million. And Fox Star Studios added 48 locations for Neerja in its second frame, grossing $480K ($3,967 average) for a cume of over $1.27 million.

Originally posted by: tarun1234567

Among other second weekend holdovers, Lionsgate held Busco Novio Para Mi Mujerin 357 theaters, grossing $375K ($1,050 average), giving it a cume of almost $1.5 million. And Fox Star Studios added 48 locations for Neerja in its second frame, grossing $480K ($3,967 average) for a cume of over $1.27 million.

RETURNING/SECOND WEEKEND

Busco Novio Para Mi Mujer (Lionsgate) Week 2 [357 Theaters] Weekend $375K, Average $1,050, Cume $1,495,356

Embrace Of The Serpent (Oscilloscope) Week 2 [21 Theaters] Weekend $105,738, Average $5,035, Cume $194,680

Neerja (Fox Star Studios) Week 2 [121 Theaters] Weekend $480K, Average $3,967, Cume $1,277,867

Source:http://deadline.com/2016/02/spotlight-brooklyn-room-specialty-box-office-1201710604/

@bollyfanlover haa it is doing extremely well there and i posted the boxofficemojo day to day collections in the last page...u can check them...Hardly there was a drop and seems a profitable for producers n distributors...Rentrak is tracking the worldwide collections and yet to update the weekend estimates but It should have been updated by now😕😆...

Originally posted by: gulabi22

Madhvani is on the big screen for the second time with Neerja, a film about the Pan Am flight attendant Neerja Bhanot who died saving lives when her flight was hijacked in 1986. His last outing on the big screen was the 2002 flick Let's Talk, and "the middle years were disappointing," he admits. But he's pretty philosophical about it. "I've given my disappointment a time limit. I mope for 24 hours, then move on."

Desi Mad Men

Could that skill at quick-recovery come from his experience in advertising? The 30-second ad-film training ground has bred some of the world's most legendary filmmakers, from Ridley Scott to Rajkumar Hirani.

His own style, Madhvani insists, is steadfastly Indian, thanks to a "very Indian and very English" childhood, divided between Barshi in Solapur and boarding school in Panchgani, during which he imbibed a gamut of influences.

"I'm desperately interested in the Indian aesthetic," he says. "The British colonised us culturally and the Americans have colonised us psychologically. It worries me."

It's what brought him back to India after NYU film school to join Sumantra Ghosal's Equinox Films, where he became a partner in two years.

"Ram's style is unique," says Laura Gregory, chairman and executive producer at the London production company, Great Guns, which represents him. She says it was only a matter of time before Madhvani turned to the big screen. "It's an easy transition for someone who's made advertising pieces that look like mini movies, and have all the emotion of a much bigger film."

Madhvani's recent Kindle TV spot made the Great Guns team reach for their hankies; his idiosyncratic Happydent ad won bronze and silver lions at Cannes in 2006 and was recently named one of the world's 20 best ad films of the 21st century; and young people across college campuses absentmindedly hum Airtel's Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai' jingle, which featured in the commercial Madhvani shot.

"That's our quest as storytellers, to become part of the conversation," he says. "As a filmmaker, you're either a visualist or a humanist. I prefer being a humanist. I'm interested in making you laugh, cry and having a dialogue with you. As a society, we've become so numb to loss and pain that - unfortunately - we need the outlet of art and cinema to feel. It's cathartic."

The mother-daughter story also involved what Madhvani calls the "daunting" task of directing Shabana Azmi. Madhvani visited her at Breach Candy Hospital when her own mother was ill, just two days before they were to shoot a crucial scene. "She asked me to give her the scene and began acting it out then and there. And she was spot-on emotionally. My wife and I had tears in our eyes."


The Non-Don Draper

In an industry dominated by the stereotype of the adman as a chain-smoking, foul-mouthed, smooth-talking creep, Madhvani comes across as an anomaly. Kasbekar, who first met him almost two decades ago for a Duke's Lemonade ad, says he is "fully receptive" to any new idea from anyone on the crew. "But he's the boss," Kasbekar also points out. "His is the final call at the editing table. And I weave a protective cocoon around him!"

Anil Thakraney, former advertising writer, author and senior journalist has worked with Madhvani too. "If you're looking for someone to say something negative about Ram, good luck with that." But there are a few chinks in Madhvani's nice-guy armour. Gregory reveals that Madhvani, most ironically, has a fear of flying! Ask him if it's true and he shrugs: "I don't know what courage is, but I do know fear".

From HT Brunch, February 28, 2016

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch

Originally posted by: tarun1234567

Neerja

Domestic Total as of Feb. 28, 2016: $1,277,867 (Estimate) Distributor: FIP Release Date: February 19, 2016 Genre: Drama Runtime: 2 hrs. 2 min. MPAA Rating: Unrated Production Budget: N/A

FEBRUARY 2016

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
14	15	16	17	18 Rank Wk/nd Rank Daily Gross Wk/nd Gross Change Y/L* Wk/nd Chng Thtrs/% Theaters / Average Wk/nd Thtr Avg Gross-to-date	19 - $148,307 - / - 73 / $2,032 $148,307 / 1	20 - $279,025 88.1% / - 73 / $3,822 $427,332 / 2
21 - 23 $199,196 $626,528 -28.6% / - - / - 73 / $2,729 $8,583 $626,528 / 3	22 - $35,350 -82.3% / - 73 / $484 $661,878 / 4	23 - $69,045 95.3% / - 73 / $946 $730,923 / 5	24 - $37,250 -46% / - 73 / $510 $768,173 / 6	25 - 24 $29,694 $797,867 -20.3% / - - / - 73 / $407 $10,930 $797,867 / 7	26 - (estimate) $124,000 317.6% / -16.4% 120 / $1,033 $921,867 / 8	27 - (estimate) $212,000 71% / -24% 120 / $1,767 $1,133,867 / 9
28 - (estimate) 25 $144,000 $480,000 -32.1% / -27.7% +47 / -23.4% 120 / $1,200 $4,000 $1,277,867 / 10	29

Damn this movie is surpassing every expectations and proving to be a leggy one...😆It Just witnessed a 23% drop from the 1st weekend...Neerja is the 1st Female Biopic to cross $1 million threshold in USA and 3rd female orientated picture to cross this mark(other's are Queen n Piku)...This is quite remarkable and something no one expected from this movie...Can this movie cross $2 million in USA is a million dollar question??😆We should wait for some more days for the end collections...Lets Hope Neerja attains this mark😎

Originally posted by: tarun1234567

@bollyfanlover haa it is doing extremely well there and i posted the boxofficemojo day to day collections in the last page...u can check them...Hardly there was a drop and seems a profitable for producers n distributors...Rentrak is tracking the worldwide collections and yet to update the weekend estimates but It should have been updated by now😕😆...