Ram Gopal Varma Ke Sholay- Movie Preview - Page 4

The film was expected to open well due to the hype and being a remake of the legendary blockbuster film Sholay(1975). But the opening was a shocker at 20-25%. It may do better in Mumbai and South but not enough to recover costs. In the North it has bombed already. The reports are very poor.

www.boxofficeindia.com

Omg Razzziee award of the year---RGV ki AAG...

BHAG BHAAG!!!! 😆

Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag

Verdict: New

Weekly Earnings: -

Total Earnings: -

Ram Gopal Varma's 30 crore (as per the maker himself) tribute to 'Sholay', 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag', featuring some of the biggest names of the country like Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Ajay Devgan and Sushmita Sen, was expected to take a good start at B & C centres and also at single screens. Unfortunately its opening is dull and can at best be described as fair.

http://www.planetbollywood.com/BoxOffice/index.php

Kitne aadmi the (theatre mein)?

By: Nishant A Bhuse
September 1, 2007

There were 20 people in the 250-seat theatre we took two Sholay addicts to watch RGV's Aag. The film put them to sleep

DEATHLY BOREDOM: 1)That's the expression the Malhotras wore for most part of the movie

2) Thumbs down for the suicide scene

3) The only thumbs up — the Mehbooba song by Urmila Matondkar PICS/SURESH KK

MiD DAY invited film buffs Raj and Devyani Malhotra to watch Ram Gopal Verma ki Aag at Fame Adlabs in Andheri and review the film for us.

Residents of Lokhandwala, the couple was fondly called Veeru and Basanti by their batchmates as they were hardcore Sholay fans, a film they have watched over 100 times.

Raj also proposed marriage to Devyani on a water tank like Veeru did to Basanti in Sholay. The couple was extremely excited when they went to watch the film, but told us they wanted to get up and leave half way through.

"It's a mockery of Sholay. The direction is sloppy, the background noise is too loud, the songs are all flops and the acting is unremarkable. The only saving grace was Bachchan and Urmila Matondkar doing Mehbooba," said Raj.

He added, "We dozed off for a few minutes." Devyani said she had a headache towards the end, "If I have to punish someone, I will gift them with tickets to the film."

They gave a 'pathetic' performance

Sets: No lavish sets or interesting locales. At least 90 per cent of the film is shot between Bandra and Madh Island.

Thakur: Difficult to accept the character of Thakur as a south Indian inspector Narshima played by Mohanlal.

Basanti: Poor performance by Nisha Kothari as Ghungroo (the character of Basanti).

Radha: The character here is called Durga Devi played by Sushmita Sen.

But she looks at least 20 years older than Jai played by Prashant Raj.

Thakur holds a huge chopper even though he has lost all his fingers (Gabbar) Bachchan uses too many facial expressions and instead of looking menacing looks like Jim Carrey.

Moreover, he suddenly starts shaking his hips to the Mehbooba number and ends up looking ridiculous.

We want

(Frankly, all of Sholay, but here are specifics…)

- The chemistry between Jay and Veeru had

- The character of the Angrezi jailor, played by Asrani

- The train action sequence (where Veeru and Jai help Thakur get rid of the dacoits)

- Radha's bubbly past and Jai's mouth organ

- Basanti's famous Jab tak hai jaan dance at Gabbar's den

- The emotional death scene between Jai and Veeru

- Gabbar's mutilation by Thakur's hob-nailed shoes

- R D Burman's music.

Figure it out

Cinemax, Kandivali (E), 10:30 am

Capacity: 436
Sold: 42
People who left mid way (PWLMW): 6

Metro Adlabs, Dhobi talao, 11:30 am

Capacity: 152
Sold: 15
PWLM): 6

Roxy, Opera House, 12 noon

Capacity: 324
Sold: 25
PWLMW: 3

Gaiety, Bandra, 12:15 pm

Capacity: 972
Sold: 649
PWLMW: 40 per cent

Inox, Nariman Point, 1:30 pm

Capacity: 262
Sold: 100
PWLMW: 50 per cent

Globus, Bandra, 2:15 pm

Capacity: 259
Sold: 90
PWLMW: 10

Eros, Churchgate, 3:30 pm

Capacity: 1,024
Sold: 477
PWLMW: 8

Note: Figures have been obtained from booking clerks and ushers

http://www.mid-day.com/news/city/2007/september/163333.htm

Movie review Video:

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/47834/review-rgv-ki-aag-turns- out-to-be-rgv-ka-daag.html

Ab tera kya hoga, Ramu?

Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag is losing money everywhere. A lot of money

Posted On Sunday, September 02, 2007
Priyal Sanghvi

Things look bleak for Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag. The film will lose at least Rs 16 crore out of the total of Rs 22 crore that have gone into the buying of the film.

Trade pundits say, "The all-India distribution rights of the film were bought by Bharatbhai Shah for approximately Rs 16 crore, he will lose nothing less than Rs 5 crore in the deal. Luckily for him, he has sold a few territories to other distributors and recovered close to Rs 7.5 crore."

Ramgopal Varma Ki Aag opened to about a 35 per cent opening, which dropped to about 20 per cent by the end of the third show on the first day of its release. It is learnt that the only place the film has done some decent business is Uttar Pradesh. Otherwise, the film is a complete disaster in Ramu's own territory of Hyderabad. In Mumbai too, which is Ramu's stronghold, it has been learnt that Bharat Shah, who has distributed the film will lose about Rs 4 crore." In a film theatre, with a capacity of 450 people, only about 25 to 30 people were present. Out of that, ten walked out after the interval," said an exhibitor.

Aag missed two shows on the first day of its release in Nizam. "The prints of the film could not reach the theatres on time which resulted in cancellation of the first two shows,' said an insider. Ponty Chadha, the distributor of the film in UP and Delhi has apparently bought the rights of the film at about Rs 3 crore, the only recovery he will have is from UP where the film is doing a decent business. But he will lose at least Rs 2 crore," says Amod Mehra, trade analyst.

Ramgopal Varma Ki Aag is losing in almost every territory, Says Sanjay Ghai of Mukta films, "Every distributor will lose at least 50 per cent in this film, looking at the way the collections are going, the film is likely to be pulled out from theatres too."

The film has apparently been sold for about Rs 70 lakh in the Central Provinces. "The distributor will lose nothing less than Rs 30 lakh looking at the way things stand today. Besides unlike the original Sholay, which picked up business in the third week, this version of the film will not be able to stay adrift even till next week,' said a distributor. "The film has been sold in Assam and Orissa at a price of Rs 8 lakh but recovery of money won't be possible in those territories too,' add the distributor.

In Bihar, the film was sold at about Rs 60 lakh. It will incur a loss of Rs 35 lakh in that territory. Even in Bengal the distributors stands to lose Rs 30 lakh.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article&se ctid=30&contentid=2007090220070902025934984c53c354d

No sholay in Ram Gopal Varma's Aag

Aadhe idhar jao, aadhe udhar jao, baki Ram Gopal ki Aag ke saath jao

Call it deja vu minus all the good parts. That's the risk one takes while updating a legend like Sholay. Ram Gopal Varma took that risk and it's official now: Aag is a flop with expected losses to the tune of a whopping Rs 40 crore. With everybody and their Thakur measuring up Aag with Ramesh Sippy ke Sholay, it was always going to be an armless battle at the box-office. Working the phone for an RGV reaction was useless. The director went incommunicado after the scorching reviews that followed Friday's release. But the news is that one call did go through, with Ramu answering the question, "How do you feel?" with a monosyllabic "Dead" before hanging up.

Varma first talked about trying his hand at remaking the 1975 epic in the last quarter of 2005. Soon after the announcement, Amitabh Bachchan, who was roped in to play Babban (read: Gabbar) Singh had a surgery, which stalled the film for almost three months. When Varma did pick up the project in mid-2006, Sascha Sippy, the grandson of GP Sippy, who produced the original, legally restrained the director from using 'Sholay' in the title of the 'remake', claiming that it would be an infringement of trademark and copyright. But even after the film was renamed Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag, you didn't have to be a genius to realise what the film was about.

A total of 101 prints have been distributed across Delhi, the NCR region and UP. But with not one of the single-screen theatres buying the print, it will be the multiplexes — apart from RGV, that is — who will get badly hit. "It's a huge disappointment," said Deepak Saluja, VP-Operations, Delhi and NCR, Fun Cinemas. "To begin with, there was no advance booking. On the first two days of its release, it could only register an occupancy of less than 20 per cent."
That's a fate as bad as Kaliya.

PVR and Satyam Cinemas confirm the bad news. "The film had an average opening," says Ashish Saxena, chief operation officer, film cell, PVR Cinemas. According to Munish Sharma, Satyam Cinemas marketing head, the coming week will be crucial for the film. "With Chak De…India (tax-free) and Heyy Babyy going strong, Aag will have a major fall." Saluja also hopes for a mid-week turnaround. "Going by the current response, chances are Monday onwards, Aag will be shown on even fewer screens."

Manmohan Shetty, Adlabs Managing Director and the presenter of Aag is more dire in his predictions. "Audiences have declined the film. As a viewer, even I am with them. The verdict is clear and there's nothing to look forward to." He added he has learnt a lesson: "Don't copy a classic. Period."

Ab tera kya hoga, Ramu?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=42 4c25ff-8b3e-4c95-b6e3-3abf4ae683bf&&Headline=No+EMsholay+%2f EMin+Ram+Gop al+Varma%e2%80%99s+EMAag%2fEM

Let's hear it for the only man (?) who will "run back and view Ramu's revisionist Sholay"....

Subhash K. Jha speaks about RGV Ki Aag

No, this isn't the worst re-make you're likely to see. Nor does Ram Gopal Varma's Aag claim to have the wherewithal, the stock, substance and spice of Sippy's Sholay.

Let's just call Aag an interesting revisionist version of Sholay and be done with. The biggest mistake we can make while watching Varma go back to his favourite film (with his favourite actor, Amitabh Bachchan, playing a role that has already been done to 'dread') is to look for signs symbols and signals from the past.

Varma is to blame for doing some sequences as parodic homages to Sippy's Sholay. What is that, if not a tittering tribute to the original, when the neo-Samba (played by a Varma regular Ravi Kale) comes back after being hammered by the two mercenary heroes. Bachchan -Babban does the Kitne aadmi tthey scene like a rude game of Russian roulette with the stakes being life and death.

Trouble is, Ramu treats the classic material with an iconoclastic take-it-or-edit-it-out casualness. Some of the original's most celebrated sequences (such as Jai going to Basanti's Mausi with Veeru's rishta) have been defiantly and not quite definitively subverted to suit the stench of gangsterism that Varma's cinema embraces almost intuitively. Every time he looks at human relations within a specific socio-political context, it's almost always the underworld.

The biggest failing of Varma's revisionist Sholay is its locational dereliction. The action unfolds in a series of indeterminate disembodied locations, mainly run-down ware-houses, half-constructed high-rise buildings and sets that seem to suggest nothing beyond the immediate present that exists between the 'action' and 'cut'.

Cut to Sippy's Sholay where the boulder-centric locations defined the outlaw's menacing evil with geo-political accuracy…or the Thakur's bustling family- home where the villain's savage carnage occurred.

Here the slaughter of the police inspector's family is strictly ritualistic…designed to shock rather than create a distending drama of dread and vendetta through the poignant annihilation of the family nucleus.

Mr. Bachchan invests the villain's part with loads of nuanced diabolism, wacky humour and seemingly casual one-liners.

"Wait till his family hears this news break," puns the film's boisterous baddy Babban after breaking off some of police inspector Narsimha (Mohanlal)'s finger.

Sanjeev Kumar's chopped hand from Sholay becomes Mohanlal's severed fingers in Aag. The silently weeping-widow Radha from Sholay is transformed into a mutedly militant medico with not even a medical kit by her side to prove her sincerity towards her profession. And the post-Holi dacoit's attack on Sholay become a Diwali mayhem in Aag. Festival sideline?

Inexcusably the action scenes (Pradhyumna) and the other technical aspects including the camera work (by Amit Roy who was so incredibly outstanding in some of Varma's earlier films) don't seem to liven up the luminous antecedents of this purported homage to a timeless film.

Barring one major sequence between Babban and his morally antithetical brother(Sachin), some light moments between Ghungroo the auto-ricksaw siren and Rehmat (Gaurav Kapoor) the blind Muslim patriarch's playful son, and some perfunctory scenes between the vengeful cop and his non-practising medico-bahu(a.k.a as the widow in black) the inter-relationships among the character just don't hold together,

Specially damaging to the neo-plot is the complete lack of camaraderie between the new-millennium Jai and Veeu, now known as Raj and Heero. Devgan and newcomer Prashaant Raj (competent in glimpses) look like two acquaintances who have recently met at a railway station. Simply playing Yeh dosti as part of the background score (judicious mix of nostalgia and modernity by Amar Mohile) doesn't help create any bonding between the supposed buddies.

No, I am not going to think about the warm vibes between Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra in Sholay…Or the clean but carnal chemistry between Veeru and Basanti here reduced a touchy-touchy-feely-feely sticky liaison between Devgan and Nisha Kothari (she knows how to act, but now how much).

I'd still run back and view Ramu's revisionist Sholay for the pleasure of watching Mr Bachchan's Babban flick his tongue over his lips in a mix of menace and mischief, and for seeing the way Varma has steered the original material through murky waters to give Sholay a new-age look, albeit a look that's more bleak than bright.

But then who said movies were always about light?

http://www.indiafm.com/features/2007/09/01/2997/index.html

Im like halfway of the movie...and I must say.. it's boring, strange...and I dunno.. could have been better.

The cast choices should have been bettter. I understand why Ajay and Sush were chosen.. but the others.. it's like .. WHY? WHY would someone choose them? 😕

it is mockery of sholay. Big B is like a clown