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Oscar-winner Kartiki Gonsalves joins Nagesh Kukunoor, Mira Nair who made a splash on debut

When you are in Bollywood, don’t expect critical appreciation to go hand in hand with <keyword id="25892" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="box-office">box office</keyword> success. Last Friday (March 21), a total of five movies hit the theatres, but with the sole exception of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/movies/Box-Office-RaginiMMS-2-Thrills-All-Gang-Of-Ghosts-Lacks-Finesse/articleshow/32673836.cms">Sunny Leone-starrer Ragini MMS 2</a>, the other four failed to impact the <keyword id="827271" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Domestic-Box-Office">domestic box office</keyword>. As we discussed yesterday, Gang of Ghosts turned out to be an average movie but this time, let us have a look at the other three. 
 
Both <keyword id="875510" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ankhon-Dekhi">Ankhon Dekhi</keyword> and <keyword id="6526" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lakshmi">Lakshmi</keyword> are exceptional movies but look like box office bombs, unless they turn out to be <keyword id="1165784" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sleeper-hits">sleeper hits</keyword>. Written and directed by <keyword id="51" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajat-Kapoor">Rajat Kapoor</keyword> (he also plays one of the lead roles), the multi-starrer flick Ankhon Dekhi had poor response on Day 1 and could not even cross Rs 5 crore during the opening weekend, as per industry estimates (official numbers are yet to come in). It is the same tale of lacklustre <keyword id="2168413" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="BO-performance">BO performance</keyword> with Nagesh Kukunoor-directed Lakshmi although this one should be the most lauded, going by its sensitive yet realistic treatment of <keyword id="6357490" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Human-trafficking">human trafficking</keyword>, <keyword id="6476483" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Child-prostitution">child prostitution</keyword> and <keyword id="1834687" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sexploitation">sexploitation</keyword> of <keyword id="624" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Women">women</keyword> in general. As for <keyword id="2165865" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kolkata-Junction">Kolkata Junction</keyword>, a drama-thriller directed by <keyword id="10158" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Anjan-Dutt">Anjan Dutt</keyword>, the opening weekend collections reportedly stood at Rs 9 crore. 
 Theme-wise, these three flicks vary widely, but one can also notice the similarities without much effort. All three of them are <keyword id="1108336" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="low-budget-movies">low-budget movies</keyword>, don’t have so-called ‘hot’ star cast (although the veterans have actually acted their hearts out), the promotion part has been pretty low key and finally, none of them hit too many screens like the big-budget films do. Should we call that a sure-shot recipe for box office disaster? The promotion part needs to strategised well if good movies are to get great response. 
 
 
 Coming back to <keyword id="819874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="the-movies">the movies</keyword>, we must say Ankhon Dekhi is worth the watch. It is a typical Rajat Kapoor film – funny, satirical and at the same time, deeply touching. It tells the tale of Raje Bauji (<keyword id="62834" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sanjay-Mishra">Sanjay Mishra</keyword>), a Delhi-based man in his late 50s, who only believes what he sees. The <keyword id="6374782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="journey">journey</keyword> that follows walks you through the life of a commoner and the compromises he is compelled to make to survive in a hostile world. As one <keyword id="210839" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Critic">critic</keyword> says, “It is cinematically ecstatic... made beautifully on a very low budget… high on performances.” 
 
Nagesh Kukunoor-directed Lakshmi is an exceptional story of trauma and tragedy, courage and triumph. <keyword id="250" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Singer">Singer</keyword> <keyword id="294857" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Monali-Thakur">Monali Thakur</keyword> makes her acting debut as Lakshmi, a 13-year-old who has been kidnapped and sold into prostitution. The ruthless reality portrayed by every single character makes us squirm and ask ourselves the very question the movie is asking – are we being human? 
 
It’s not surprising that <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> Junction has done a bit better at the ticket windows than the other two. After all, who can escape the allure of an entertaining drama-thriller featuring the likes of <keyword id="6354338" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Naseeruddin-Shah">Naseeruddin Shah</keyword>, <keyword id="29287" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="kay-kay-menon">Kay Kay Menon</keyword>, <keyword id="6354732" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sonali-Kulkarni">Sonali Kulkarni</keyword>, <keyword id="4666" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jimmy-Shergill">Jimmy Shergill</keyword>, <keyword id="17610" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sandhya-Mridul">Sandhya Mridul</keyword> and <keyword id="6059" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rituparna-Sengupta">Rituparna Sengupta</keyword>? Both the storyline and the performance are bound to thrill the audience and the numbers may look better after the second weekend. 
 
Images: Indiatimes

Ankhon Dekhi, Lakshmi
Disappoint At Box Office But Capture Hearts

If you are in the age group of 18-40 years and own a smartphone, watching TV series and movies through apps is nothing new. Thanks to <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword>, Hotstar and TVF, who have ventured into the Indian <keyword id="1245953" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="OTT">OTT</keyword> (Over -the -Top) content landscape last year and made the urban youths accustomed to the culture of paying and watching original video contents ranging from TV series to stand up comedies and movies. And now, the OTTs would be in run for money as the <keyword id="6377522" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="queen">Queen</keyword> of Television, <keyword id="6354597" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ekta-Kapoor">Ekta Kapoor</keyword> has now ventured into the OTT front with Alt Balaji app. <keyword id="53" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kapoor">Kapoor</keyword>, who had revolutionised the daily television in the early 2000s with family soaps and made media coin the term ‘saas-bahu’ shows has always been successful with her ventures. Though the family dramas, which the millennials agree to be tacky or her horror movies that lacked sense, Kapoor has her signature magic that made them a major hit. However with the viewers in OTT being different from the homemakers, ALTBalaji will deal with original contents only. How is it different from the competitors? Unlike others, the platform will offer 250+ hours of original, exclusive content to its subscribers. This ad free, subscription based platform is now commercially available with few of these original shows. “The most endearing feature of ALTBalaji is its content; we are launching with the promise to bring fresh and never heard of stories to our viewers. While we are starting with 5 shows, it will be followed by a new show every 15 days for the binge watch lovers. On one hand we offer story of India’s first female in combative role- THE TEST CASE on the other we have most loved TV stars in KARRLE TU BHI MOHABBAT. It is intriguing and fresh story-telling,” Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO of ALTBalaji told Business Insider. “ Content As far as the teasers are to be believed, ALTBalaji is showing a great change in its dimension. Ranging from gay love story to woman army commando’s struggle, it seems to have some great content. Regional take This is one point where ALTBalaji made a major impact. While most OTT are focussed on English language, Kapoor’s venture will have most regional shows ranging from Tamil, Odiya and Bengali. ALTBalaji definitely takes the brownie for understanding the potential vernacular market of India. No new talents? The shows on video on demand platform are created by the best talent of Indian entertainment industry including critically acclaimed directors and actors. The long illustrious list of artists comprises of Nagesh Kukunoor, <keyword id="6371319" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Juhi-Chawla">Juhi Chawla</keyword>, Nimrat Kaur, Rajkumar Rao, Hansal Mehta, Sakshi Tanwar, Ram Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, <keyword id="7559" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sameer-Soni">Sameer Soni</keyword>, Yudhishtar Urs, Dipannita Sharma Atwal, and many more. Does that mean unlike other OTTs, ALTBalaji will deal only with established actors and screenwriters and not give chance to new talents? Nachiket assures the first few series are planned with established ones but the door is open for new talents as well. Regularity One major issue with most OTTs who provide original contents is keeping with the pace. If the first series comes this month, the second season may appear after two months. Being in the business for more than decades, Kapoor’s ALTBalaji will have new series coming up every 15 days. <div type="image" title="ALTBalaji Logo" msid="58497517" hostid="261"></div>

 Pricing The introductory plan starts at Rs 300 for 12 months and Rs 100 for three months. However the normal plan will be Rs 90/month. Also the plan is to get the viewers watch first three episodes of all shows for free. We have seen tons of start ups focussing on app based OTT have been doing good business in India. But then most of the other OTTs are mostly in the area where TV shows are re-ran to keep the regular viewer updated in case he missed out on an episode. However ALTBalaji seems quite different.

Netflix cannot really chill as TV queen Ekta Kapoor now enters OTT sector with ALTBalaji

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Oscar-winner Kartiki Gonsalves joins Nagesh Kukunoor, Mira Nair who made a splash on debut

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