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It never rains but it pours, at least in <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword>, and this time, you get to see half-a-dozen low-budget flicks vying for visibility and struggling for a successful <keyword id="25892" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="box-office">box office</keyword> run. Mind you, when we say half-a-dozen, we are not exaggerating – here is the complete list of six – <keyword id="6375259" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Manjunath">Manjunath</keyword>, <keyword id="2178404" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Koyelaanchal">Koyelaanchal</keyword>, <keyword id="1835898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hawaa-Hawaai">Hawaa Hawaai</keyword>, <keyword id="2069848" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mastram">Mastram</keyword>, <keyword id="2093570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Yeh-Hai-Bakrapur">Yeh Hai Bakrapur</keyword> and finally, <keyword id="1276718" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Khwaabb">Khwaabb</keyword>. So catch your breath as we run you through them quickly. There is just one common factor here – all of them turn out to be pretty intriguing, irrespective of the sluggish response at the <keyword id="827271" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Domestic-Box-Office">domestic box office</keyword>. 
 
Manjunath: Bitter to the end 
Our first choice is Manjunath, a biopic directed and co-produced by <keyword id="2239399" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sandeep-A-Varma">Sandeep A. Varma</keyword>, which tells the true story of the <keyword id="6354412" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="indian-oil">Indian Oil</keyword> <keyword id="6420527" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="executive">executive</keyword> <keyword id="479971" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Manjunath-Shanmugam">Manjunath Shanmugam</keyword> and his fight against the <keyword id="425101" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="oil-mafia">oil mafia</keyword> of Uttar Pradesh. The murder of this IIM braveheart for his whistleblowing act is still considered a national tragedy, but Varma’s kind of docu-drama unfolds a dark reality that’s too chilling and too gut-wrenching to give way to tears. The movie meanders at times, but the protagonist, brilliantly played by newcomer <keyword id="2239401" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sasho-Satish-Saarthy">Sasho Satish Saarthy</keyword>, takes you to a world where <keyword id="46183" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Corruption">corruption</keyword> is a way of life. However, the verdict at the domestic box office has been harsh and Manjunath only managed to nett around Rs 1 crore after Day 4 while debut day earnings were a paltry Rs 15-20 lakh. 
 
Koyelaanchal: Look what’s unearthed 
The second flick under scanner is Koyelaanchal, produced and directed by <keyword id="1235537" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ashu-Trikha">Ashu Trikha</keyword>. After <keyword id="486655" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gangs-of-Wasseypur">Gangs of Wasseypur</keyword> and <keyword id="6427325" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gunday">Gunday</keyword>, it is the latest from Bollywood on the exploits of the <keyword id="85025" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="coal-mafia">coal mafia</keyword> and had a huge release, especially in single screens. But the film tripped at the box office and collected about Rs 45 lakh on the opening day. Although official numbers are yet to come in, total earnings spanning the first three days are a little below Rs 2 crore, as per industry estimates. 
 
In Koyelaanchal, we again come face to face with all-pervading corruption and criminal use of natural resources. This time, it is the coal <keyword id="2239403" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mafioso-Saryubhan-Singh">Mafioso Saryubhan Singh</keyword> aka Maalik (<keyword id="6430614" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vinod-Khanna">Vinod Khanna</keyword>), who rules the mines of the <keyword id="2239414" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bihar-Jharkhand-belt">Bihar-Jharkhand belt</keyword> and locks horns with <keyword id="6359011" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="District-Collector">district collector</keyword> <keyword id="2239402" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Nisheeth-Kumar">Nisheeth Kumar</keyword> (<keyword id="7646" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="suniel-shetty">Suniel Shetty</keyword>) when he raises troublesome questions. <keyword id="819709" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="the-script">The script</keyword> goes haywire at times, but the USP here happen to be the thorough research and the realistic take at a time when a multi-billion-dollar Coalgate scam has deeply shaken the nation. 
 
 
 
Mastram: Morality decoded 
Next comes Mastram, again an offbeat movie that deals with a sexually repressed society and its ingrained hypocrisy. A <keyword id="41623" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Directorial-debut">directorial debut</keyword> by <keyword id="1628796" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Akhilesh-Jaiswal">Akhilesh Jaiswal</keyword>, it is the story of the <keyword id="2239404" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="failed-author">failed author</keyword> <keyword id="201974" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajaram">Rajaram</keyword> (<keyword id="2102195" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rahul-Bagga">Rahul Bagga</keyword>) whose work gets rejected because they lack masala. But the man finally excels as he starts writing erotica and along with that, begins a painful <keyword id="6374782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="journey">journey</keyword> of self-realisation. Made on a budget of around Rs 2 crore, this ‘fictional biography’ had collected around Rs 75 lakh on the opening day at the domestic box office and its earnings stood at a little over Rs 3 crore after the first Monday. 
 
Hawaa Hawaai: Breezy &amp; smooth-flowing 
Back again after <keyword id="63220" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Stanley-Ka-Dabba">Stanley Ka Dabba</keyword> (well, that one grossed a little over Rs 5 crore), director-writer <keyword id="91815" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amol-Gupte">Amol Gupte</keyword>’s <keyword id="2239418" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Commercial-entertainer">commercial entertainer</keyword> Hawaa Hawaai has been produced by <keyword id="106474" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fox-Star-Studios">Fox Star Studios</keyword> and hopes to do better this time. The movie netted around Rs 4.25 crore in the first three days and had an estimated budget of Rs 6 crore. 
 True to his pet genre, Gupte is still catering to the young audience and telling a simple tale with a touching innocence that will win every heart. But the emotional outing and catch-my-dream theme are fraught with grim realities as well. <keyword id="2234714" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Arjun-Harishchandra-Waghmare">Arjun Harishchandra Waghmare</keyword> (Amol’s son <keyword id="678010" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Partho-Gupte">Partho Gupte</keyword>) is a migrant <keyword id="6377229" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Child-labour">child labour</keyword> who toils hard at a roadside restaurant in Mumbai but wants to become a <keyword id="2239398" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="champion-roller-skater">champion roller-skater</keyword>. That’s not too difficult when the <keyword id="2239405" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="kind-hearted-coach">kind-hearted coach</keyword> <keyword id="6369280" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lucky">Lucky</keyword> (<keyword id="684700" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Saqib-Saleem">Saqib Saleem</keyword>) is willing to help and his poor but large-hearted peers are keen to support him as much as they can. Overall, a thought-provoking movie that flows smoothly without too many hitches. 
 
 
 
Endnote 
The other two releases of the week are Yeh Hai Bakrapur and Khwaabb. The former is a many-layered socio-political satire, starring <keyword id="124285" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Anshuman-Jha">Anshuman Jha</keyword> and <keyword id="1810577" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Asif-Basra">Asif Basra</keyword> (plus, <keyword id="2239416" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shah-Rukh-the-goat">Shah Rukh the Goat</keyword>) and directed by <keyword id="468251" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Janaki-Vishwanathan">Janaki Vishwanathan</keyword>. The scathing attack on blind faith, punctuated with sharp wit, makes it an amply watchable movie. Khwaabb (directed by <keyword id="537936" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zaid-Ali-Khan">Zaid Ali Khan</keyword>), on the other hand, is a sports-based romance-drama starring <keyword id="1280175" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Navdip-Singh">Navdip Singh</keyword> and <keyword id="708963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Simer-Motiani">Simer Motiani</keyword>. In spite of some interesting scripts, both movies failed to impact the domestic box office – each collecting a little over Rs 1 crore after the third day. 
 But don’t worry too much even if there has been a box office debacle for some time now. <keyword id="14509" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rajinikanth">Rajinikanth</keyword>’s <keyword id="1849408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kochadaiiyaan">Kochadaiiyaan</keyword> is due to be released in a couple of weeks and that will surely set the box office ringing while <keyword id="2239419" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mainstream-movie-fans">mainstream movie fans</keyword> go crazy about thalaiva. 
 
Images: Indiatimes

Box Office Falters But
Tales Of Corruption, Turbulence Make Their Mark In Bollywood

NEW DELHI: Looking to cement its frontrunner status, BJP faces a formidable array of rivals ranging from Congress, Samajwadi Party, BSP, Janata Dal(U) to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha as the biggest round of polling in 121 seats in 12 states takes place on Thursday. 
 
Though BJP is expected to do well in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh where it won state polls last December, it needs to prove its mettle in UP and Bihar and retrieve ground lost to Congress in the Karnataka election in 2013. 
 
A strong performance by BJP in UP, Maharashtra and Bihar, which account for 168 seats, is critical for the party to cross the 200-seat mark, crucial to powering BJP, and specifically its PM candidate Narendra Modi, to the magic halfway mark of 272. 
 
The Shiv Sena and BJP have their task cut out in western Maharashtra’s Maratha belt where the Congress-NCP control over sugar cooperatives gives them significant political clout. NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s family boroughs of Madha and Baramati will also be tested. 
 
The central stretch of Bihar going to polls is a big test for Janata Dal(U) leader Nitish Kumar as the party holds important seats like Arrah, Nalanda and Munger and must contend with the two-pronged threat of RJD-Congress and BJP-LJP. 
 
BJP needs a high strike rate to remain on course to winning more than 20 of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats, an objective integral to the party’s hopes of picking up a rich haul of seats in UP and Bihar. 
JD(U) is at risk of being squeezed out of the frame with RJD-Congress appearing a preferred option for Muslims and upper castes, as well as a chunk of middle castes gravitating towards BJP which has sought to encash Modi’s backward caste credentials. 
 
In UP, BJP is banking on a counter-mobilization that cuts across castes to help it challenge SP and check BSP. The latter may face the toughest test as it must compete with SP for the minority vote while protecting parts of its dalit base from drifting to the BJP. 
 
In the 11 seats of Odisha that include tribal ones like Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj as well as those in the coastal heartland, BJP has emerged as a surprise force but its capacity to convert support into seats will be tested by lack of organized presence. 
 
In MP, BJP holds most of the 10 seats and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia remains the sole hope. In Bengal, Congress has been reduced to a bit player with even BJP grabbing more eyeballs. In Jharkhand, BJP has just two of the six seats up for grabs, and hopes to improve at the cost of Congress-JMM and Babulal Marandi’s JVM(P).

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Box Office Falters But Tales Of Corruption, Turbulence Make Their Mark In Bollywood

Sanghamitra Mandal

Lok Sabha Polls 2014: Get Set, Vote In Biggest Phase Today

Times Of India

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