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Response: Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur, with its crude humour, logged average collections and the first day saw the film mopping up Rs 3 crore while the remaining two days of the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) brought in around Rs 7 crore.

So, during the first weekend, the total amount grossed stood at Rs 10 crore, which is pretty good as no big stars were there to steer the film.

Made on a budget of around Rs 16 crore, Gangs of Wasseypur could see profit may be from the end of the second week. But in the Hindi belt, especially in Bihar and Jharkhand, the movie has been running to packed houses.

So, it won’t take long for the Gangs of Wasseypur to rake in the moolah.

Film type: Drama

Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chaddha, Reemma Sen, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi and Piyush Mishra

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Time of movie: Two hours and 40 minutes

Story: Gangs of Wasseypur is a tale of gang wars in Dhanbad, the coal capital of the country, where rivalry and revenge hog the limelight. Shahid Khan (played by Jaideep Ahlawat) is betrayed, and his son (played by Manoj Bajpayee) and grandsons swear to avenge his dishonour and death. However, even this promise goes amiss.

During the colonial rule of the 1940s, there is old rivalry in Wasseypur (near Dhanbad), a hub for coal traders and mafia.

The war in Wasseypur is a Muslim vs Muslim battle for power (between the Qureshis and the Pathans) which goes on for three generations, culminating in the death of Manoj Bajpayee.

Review: Gangs of Wasseypur is typically a film made in India’s rustic terrain of Dhanbad, which is also known as India’s Coal Belt, located in Jharkhand. The movie emanates a flavour of the coal capital. The crude dialogue delivery, the rustic humour as well as the songs and the direction are simply mind blowing and will lead to an outburst of laughter.

It is about real people and real violence. So, if you are curious to know about Dhanbad’s mafia, Gangs of Wasseypur can throw some light on them.

However, Gangs of Wasseypur fails to maintain its fast pace and tends to become very slow towards the end, concluding abruptly with the killing of Manoj Bajpayee. But the sudden ending may also be a deliberate move with director Anurag Kashyap probably wanting to keep the best for his sequel (Gangs of Wasseypur Part II).

The excessive violence and confusing plot in the Gangs of Wasseypur are some of the negatives of the film. But if you’re not the weak-hearted types and crave for some violence, Gangs of Wasseypur won’t let you down with its out-of-the box rustic scenes (and humour) of shootouts, country-made pistols exploding on hands and bloodshed.

But towards the end, the film drags on and on and may prompt you to wonder where it is heading to. But if you’re patient, it is worth every penny.

Manoj Bajpayee steers Gangs of Wasseypur alone with his superb dialogue delivery, and he is well supported by Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chaddha, Reemma Sen, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Huma Qureshi. So, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to munch popcorn over some “real-time” gang wars in Wasseypur.

Rating: 4/5

Response: Akshay Kumar and Anupam Kher-starrer Special 26 has been topping the box office charts even during the second week, trumping the response generated by (and taking a toll on) new releases as well, owing to its mass appeal and mind blowing plot.

The movie has done well in both multiplexes as well as in single-screen halls across the country, and according to figures, total collections from Special 26 in the country stood at Rs 60 crore after the second week. Special 26 did start on a poor note but the good word passed on by those who saw the movie helped add succour to the film’s earnings.

Special 26 generated nearly Rs 6 crore in the US, Rs 1.15 crore in Australia and Rs 2 crore in the UK. And it looks like many who saw Special 26 may try for another peek at the film.

Film type: Thriller.

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Kajal Aggarwal, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill and Divya Dutta.

Director: Neeraj Pandey.

Time of movie: Two hours and 35 minutes.

Story: Special 26 is based on a real-life story of conmen who undertook an income tax raid in the garb of CBI officers during the 1980s.

During the raid, an unknown man, posing as CBI officer Mon Singh roped in 26 men and conducted a raid on the Opera House branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri in Mumbai and disappeared with jewellery worth lakhs in broad daylight.

In the movie, Ajay Singh (played by Akshay Kumar) and his gang comprising PK Sharma (played by Anupam Kher), among others, make easy bucks by conning those with black money. But these men are not hardcore criminals and have family backgrounds like any other middle class family.

After conning a politician in Delhi and a businessman in Burrabazar of Kolkata, they are eyeing the big fish, a high profile diamond jeweller in Mumbai. CBI officer Wasim Khan (played by Manoj Bajpayee) is after them in their third and final heist. Will Wasim be able to nab these conmen or will he get conned himself?

Review: Although director Neeraj Pandey took the plot from a real-life event, he has got it all right, even though there were some unexplained areas in the storyline of Special 26. The dialogues and the humour are great, family ties have also been shown in a commendable fashion and the climax is the best a thriller could give.

But Kajal Aggarwal’s romance added to the gloom. However, Akshay, Anupam, Manoj and Jimmy were highly impressive and the film scores a perfect 10 as an entertainer.

Special 26 is a 100 per cent paisa wasool movie and a perfect one to keep you busy throughout, thanks to the mind boggling plot.

Rating: 4.5/5.

Response: Chakravyuh managed to earn around Rs 10.5 crore over the five-day (first) weekend at the box office, as per estimates despite being a great film (with a few poor performances though).

Chakravyuh was released on Wednesday (against the normal release of Friday) in order to take advantage of the Dussehra holidays. But that was not to be.

The response was good in India’s Hindi heartbelt (the northern states that is) but the average occupancy in multiplexes across the country was a poor 30-40 per cent.

Till the first Monday, total box office collections stood at Rs 12.5 crore.

It seems Chakravyuh will make up to Rs 15 crore in the next week or so and could wrap up with total collections of up to Rs 20 crore and a maximum of Rs 25 crore.

Film type: Political drama.

Cast: Abhay Deol, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee, Anjali Patil, Om Puri, Kabir Bedi and Esha Gupta.

Director: Prakash Jha.

Time of movie: About two and half hours.

Story: Chakravyuh clearly highlights the Naxalite movement in Madhya Pradesh (and India as a whole). It is about two friends Adil (played by Arjun Rampal) and Kabir (Abhay Deol), who find themselves at the line of fire of each other.

Adil is a high profile police officer in Chakravyuh posted in Naxalite bastion Nandighat. Whenever Adil tries to nab top Maoist leader Rajan (played by Manoj Bajpayee), he gets caught in Naxalite crossfire owing to wrong intelligence information and deceit.

Meanwhile, his friend Kabir (Abhay Deol) comes to visit him and vows to mingle with the Maoists and give Adil information about the movement of Naxal leaders.

Kabir manages to impress the Naxalites and becomes a part of the rebel group. But for how long does he give vital leads to his friend Adil?

Review: Even though the poor box office collections fail to reflect the ‘good’ quality of Chakravyuh the movie, it is a must see film like any other Prakash Jha movie. His superb direction catches the Naxalite movement in India (which is hounding several states even today) like never before.

So far as acting goes, Abhay Deol and Anjali Patil along with Manoj Bajpayee do a great job. But the rest are a letdown. Arjun Rampal’s role in Chakravyuh as a top police officer is out of place and even his moustache fails to impress the audience. Om Puri and Kabir Bedi have a limited role.

Esha Gupta, who plays the wife of Adil and friend of Kabir, is a wrong choice and is the biggest blunder in Chakravyuh.

But the plot of Chakravyuh is interesting and it can easily be a paisa wasool entertainer, which perfectly reflects the Naxalite movement in India today and is a good movie with a poor response.

Rating: 4/5.