The hits and misses of the week.
Gold and Satyamev Jayate have made the most of the Independence Day holiday at the box office.
They will score again with yet another public holiday, Bakri Eid, coming up on August 22.
While Gold is running ahead, both films will end up with healthy figures and be declared hits.
Vinod Mirani gives us his weekly verdict.
Gold
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh, Vineet Kumar Singh, Sunny Kaushal.
Director: Reema Kagti.
What works: Good supporting cast.
What doesn't: Akshay Kumar, in a sloppily written role.
Number of weeks: New.
Box Office verdict: Good opening.
Satyamev Jayate
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, John Abraham, Aisha Sharma.
Director: Milap Zaveri.
What works: Good action.
What doesn't: Predictable twists, superficial emotions.
Number of weeks: New.
Box Office verdict: Good opening.
Vishwaroop II
Cast: Kamal Haasan, Rahul Bose, Shekhar Kapur, Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah, Waheeda Rehman.
Director: Kamal Haasan.
What works: Waheeda Rehman.
What doesn't: Slowest spy thriller ever made, random storylines are padded together.
Number of weeks: 1.
Box Office verdict: Disaster.
Fanney Khan
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand, Divya Dutta.
Director: Atul Manjrekar.
What works: Anil Kapoor.
What doesn't: Ordinary soundtrack, long second half, silly story.
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Karwaan
Cast: Irrfan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar, Amala Akkineni.
Director: Akarsh Khurana.
What works: Irrfan, beautiful locations, good soundtrack.
What doesn't: Random sub-plots, tepid film.
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Below average.
Mulk
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Manoj Pahwa, Taapsee Pannu, Prateik, Ashutosh Rana.
Director: Anubhav Sinha.
What works: Manoj Pahwa.
What doesn't: The film turns social issues into happy, genre-based endeavours.
Number of weeks: 2.
Box Office verdict: Below average.
Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster 3
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Shergill, Mahie Gill, Chitrangada Singh.
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia.
What works: Tough!
What doesn't: Tigmanshu Dhulia's direction, shoddy performances, bad dialogues.
Number of weeks: 3.
Box Office verdict: Flop.
Dhadak
Cast: Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana.
Director: Shashank Khaitan.
What works: Good performances.
What doesn't: Not as well-made as the original film, Sairat, disappointing.
Number of weeks: 4.
Box Office verdict: Fair.
- The Rediff Reviews: Sukanya Verma, Sreehari Nair, Kshamaya Daniel
Soorma
Cast: Diljit Dosanjh, Tapsee Pannu, Angad Bedi.
Director: Shaad Ali.
What works: Good performances.
What doesn't: Second half wallows in heartbreak and pity.
Number of weeks: 5.
Box Office verdict: Below average.
Sanju
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Vicky Kaushal, Manisha Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Jim Sarbh.
Director: Rajkumar Hirani.
What works: Ranbir Kapoor is brilliant, the rest of the cast lends good support.
What doesn't: Predictable story, omits large parts of Sanjay Dutt's life, paints it rosy.
Number of weeks: 7.
Box Office verdict: Hit.
