Trishakti

Starring: Arshad Warsi, Sharad Kapoor, Milind Gunaji, Radhika, Ashish Vidyarthi, Govind Namdeo, Himani Shivpuri, Anil Nagrath & Sadashiv Amrapurkar

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar

Music: Rajesh Roshan

Releasing This Week

Captain Bhavani

Starring: Vijayashanti

Director: Kodi Ramakrishna

Music: Vandemateram

Releasing This Week

Kohram

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff, Jaya Prada, Tabu, Mukul Dev, Ayesha Jhulka, Kabir Bedi, Mukesh Rishi & Danny

Director: Mehul Kumar

Music: Dilip Sen - Sameer Sen

Releasing Next Week

Taal

Starring: Akshay Khanna, Aishwarya Rai

Director: Subhash Ghai

Music: A. R. Rahman

Releasing Next Week

Pyaar Koi Khel Nahin

Starring: Sunny Deol, Mahima Choudhary, Apoorva Agnihotri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Aloknath, Dalip Tahil, Mohnish Behl, Navnit Nishan & Bindu

Director: Subhash Saigal

Music: Jatin-Lalit

Released. The title of the film Pyar Koi Khel Nahin means that love is not a fun game. But the director of the film Subhash Sehgal should also understand that film-making is also not a fun game. One has to take film-making seriously to give the best to the audience. The film is a love triangular and has been inspired by Deewana. After action director Veeru Devgan turning to director, it is the film editor turning into director and both of them made bad films.

Sunil (Apurva Agnihotri) and Nisha (Mahima Chaudhary) fall in love with each other at first sight. (It was very surprising to find Apurva falling for Mahim when she was so badly dressed!). Sunil's elder brother Anand (Sunny Deol) does not have any time for love and marriage. He runs a soft drink company. But Anand also falls for Nisha who is working in his office.

Now Anand's family chooses Nisha for Anand. When Sunil comes to know that Anand also loves Nisha, he tells no to Nisha. But finally it is Anand who sacrifices his love when he comes to know about Sunil and Nisha and get both of them married.

Now for more twists. Sunil is killed in an accident and Nisha is pregnant. With family pressure that it is difficult for a child to grow up without a father and to stay single, Nisha is married to Anand. Again to make for more complications, Sunil comes alive on the Karva Chauth day. Poor Nisha is now confused to whom to go with. There are some villains also in the film.

Sunny Deol looks very confused in this role. But he is the only watchable person in the film. Mahima Chaudhary is good in emotional scenes. But she needs to have to think on her gawdy getup. It needs a drastic change. Apurva Agnihotri does not impress at all. Music is average except the song by Falgni Pathak Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi.

Rating: Poor

Hindustan Ki Kasam

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Manisha Koirala, Sushmita Sen, Prem Chopra, Shakti Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, Shahbaz Khan and Kader Khan

Director: Veeru Devgan

Music: Sukhwindar Singh

Released. It is but obvious that one expects a good film when there are 4-5 contenders to take the credit of the story of the film. However the film turns out to be a total mess. None of the writers would like to take credit now. Action director-turned-director with this film, Veeru Devgan has not been able to handle and direct a complete film.

Ajay Malhotra (Ajay Devgan) is a thriller writer. In his childhood, his twin brother is separated by Jabbar (Gulshan Grover) and sent him to Pakistan to be raised in a terrorist camp. The other brother grows up to be Touhid (Ajay Devgan) and is involved in terrorist activities.

Whatever Touhid is doing comes in Ajay's dream and then he writes them in his novel. Touhid is supposed to assassinate the Pak Prime Minister in India, so that the blame comes on India and then the Pakis can declare the war. Ajay is suspected for Touhid's activities and is arrested.

In the film, there is one character Kabeera (Amitabh Bachchan) who loses his arm in the war and comes up on the screen every few minutes and gives lectures on patriotism. Ajay is in love with Priya (Sushmita Sen) who comes to India after winning the Miss Universe crown. The other lady Roshanara (Manisha Koiral) who is a cabaret dancer is in love with Touhid inspite of him saying that he is a terrorist.

National Award winner Ajay Devgan is not very effective in the double role. Maybe, this is because of poor scripting and no strong characterisation. Sushmita Sen and Manisha Koirala are not very impressive. It is sad to see a good actor like Amitabh in such a bad role. However his voice is still mesmerising though his lectures tend to get boring after some time. Another so-called highlight of the film is the aerial stunt.

Veeru Devgan has failed miserably in the direction field. Music by Sukhwindar Singh is also a big let-down. The only things to remember in the film may be are the song Tera Jalwa and Amitabh's voice.

Mann

Starring: Aamir Khan, Manisha Koirala

Director: Indra Kumar

Music: Sanjeev-Darshan

Released. Mann is a dishonest adaption of Hollywood's romantic hit An Affair To Remember. Director Indra Kumar always claims that there were many faults in all his previous hits like Dil, Beta, Raja and Ishq and that in Mann he has made an attempt to rectify all his mistakes and tried to do something different as said in the byline of the film -- Listen to your Heart. But, alas, again the same mistakes are repeated -- the film is stretched, and has unwanted emotions, unbelievable scenes, stupid comedy..... However Lady Luck has always been with Indra Kumar so even a bad film of his is a hit. So one cannot say anything about Mann.

Dev Karan Singh (Aamir Khan) is a Casanova always flirting with new girls. He is engaged to a millionaire's daughter (Deepti Bhatnagar). On his trip to Singapore by ship, Dev meets Priya (Manisha Koirala). As usual he tries to play pranks on her. In all his pranks, Priya could sense the good qualities of Dev. Priya is also engaged to her mentor Raj (Anil Kapoor).

With a few incidents of the ship, Priya and Dev become friends and then the friendship develops into true love. Dev also takes Priya to meet his grandmother (Sharmila Tagore), where Priya finds that our hero is also a very good painter. Now, Dev decides to reform and both of them decide to give each other 6 months time to break their previous engagement and then get married to each other. They decide to meet at Gateway of India after six months. Dev loses all his money when he breaks his engagement. But Dev once again becomes rich by his paintings (unbelievable a painter can become so rich in such a short period of time). On the decided day Priya fails to come because of her disability. Then, after some long emotional and melodrama scenes, true love unites.

What is worth a praise in this film is Aamir Khan's high spirited performance. he is truly a great star. He just gets into role. If Aamir was out of this film the film was not even worth mentioning. Surprisingly, one finds a calibre actress like Manisha Koirala so inconsistent in this film (performance-wise as well as looks-wise). In many scenes, she looks so jaded and in comedy she does not impress that much. However she holds an upper hand in emotional scene. She is very good in those scenes without make-up. Anil Kapoor is likeable in a small role. Sharmila Tagore is good but her getup is very bad.

Debutant music directors Sanjeev-Darshan (Shravan's sons) have done an excellent job. They have some churned out some very melodious songs. Director Indra Kumar said that the film is very emotional but there are hardly any which touch you.

Rating: Fair

Hote Hote Pyaar Ho Gaya

Starring: Kajol, Jackie Shroff, Atul Agnihotri, Ayesha Julka, Aroona Irani, Prem Chopra, Kulbhushan Kharbanda

Director: Feroz Irani

Music: Anand Raaj Anand

Released. The film has the age-old story of Hindi films and it also was very long time in the making. The marriage takes place against the wishes of the boy and girl. And later as time passes they slowly and steadily start falling in love with each other. However the good thing about this film is that there is not much of melodrama in the film.

Pinky (Kajol) and Bunty (Atul Agnihotri) love each other. But both the parents are against their marriage. Both the parents have already chosen the match for their children. Bunty wants to elope from home with Pinky. But Bunty's aunt (Aruna Irani) paints a very grim picture of marriage without the parents support. Instead she gives them a different idea to get married. She tells them to get married according to their parents' wishes. Then they can get divorced with their partners and finally the two lovers can unite.

Bunty gets married to a very simple girl Shobha (Ayesha Jhulka) and Pinky gets married to a police officer Arjun (Jackie Shroff). the aunt gives ideas of breaking the marriage to Bunty and on the other hand gives Shobha ideas of how to make their marriage successful. The fun part of the film starts when Bunty suspects his wife of having an affair with some other man and Pinky suspecting her husband is having affair with other woman. The ending is as expected.

There are four central characters in the film -- Kajol, Jackie Shroff, Ayesha Jhulka and Atul Agnihotri. Kajol is the best part of the film. Though nothing extraordinary is expected from Kajol in this type of film, she has done a good job. She is very natural in front of the camera. Jackie Shroff also has done a good job. Ayesha Jhulka is fair but Atul Agnihotri has done a bad job. Aruna Irani impresses.

The music is average.

Rating: Poor

Haseena Maan Jaayegi

Starring: Govinda, Karisma, Sanjay Dutt, Pooja Bhatra

Director: David Dhawan

Released. The film is in line with director David Dhawan's previous films where the audience has to leave their brains behind and go and watch the film. Whatever may be the quality of the film, David Dhawan-directed films with Govinda's comedy tactics do draw a good initial. The film has been inspired by Kishor Kumar-starrer Pyar Kiye Ja and Shammi Kapoor starrer Professor.

A miserly millionaire (Kader Khan) has two sons Sonu (Sanjay Dutt) and Manu (Govinda). The only thing these two good-for-nothing sons do is to make a fool of their father and take money from him. To solve the problem, the father separates the two sons. He sends Sonu to Goa and gives Manu the responsibility of the office. In Goa, Sonu tries to woo Pooja (Pooja Batra), daughter of a rich man (Anupam Kher). On the other hand Manu falls in love with Ritu (Karisma Kapoor). Pooja and Ritu are sisters.

To fix Sonu's marriage with Pooja, Manu disguises himself as Sonu's uncle. To add another twist Pooja-Ritu's aunt (Aruna Irani) falls in love with the uncle. Now Manu has to play a dual role of Ritu's lover and Sonu's uncle.

Then comes Sonu-Manu's father and as expected everything ends well. There is also a villain (Ashish Vidyarthi) in the film. As expected David Dhawan has many light moments. Many of them are senseless and some are repetitive.

It is once again Govinda who steals the show. He has a perfect timing for comedy. Sanjay Dutt tries to match that same pace, but is not so successful. Karisma Kapoor and Pooja Batra are only there to dress well and sing some stupid songs with our heroes. In fact, Aruna Irani is much better than the heroines.

Rating: Fair

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

Starring: Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan, Aishwarya Rai

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Music: Ismail Darbar

Released. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is inspired by Woh Saat Din, Kasak and Pyar To Hona Hi Tha. The rituals and festivals in the film are inspired by Hum Aapke Hai Koun and the wish-made-upon-falling-star from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The director has flooded the film with colours and festivities. The first half of the film is full of colours and ethnic dresses. Sanjay has reaffirmed his position after Khamoshi as a sensitive director and an imaginative technician.

The film starts with a family in Gujarat. A well-known classical singer (Vikram Ghokhale) has a very big house with a very big family. All the women in the family wear very colourful dresses and the house is always lightened by ceremonies and dances. Then comes Sameer Rosselini (Salman Khan) from Italy (half-Indian origin) to learn Indian music. As expected, Sameer gets attracted towards his guru's daughter Nandini (Aishwarya Rai). Both fall in love with each other. Then there are some colourful songs and dances.

Alas their love is not accepted by Nandini's father. He asks Sameer in gurudaksina that Sameer should never see Nandini's face again. Dejected Sameer gives the promise and returns to Italy. Nandini is married to Vanraj (Ajay Devgan) who is a lawyer against her wishes. After marriage Nandini does not accept Vanraj as her husband and tries to be away from him. When Vanraj comes to know about the truth of Nandini and Sameer, he is hurt. But then he decides to reunite the two lovers.

Vanraj takes Nandini to Italy and then starts the search of Sameer in Italy (as Nandini does not know the address). Few incidents get Nandini closer to Vanraj. By the time Sameer is found, Nandini is already in love with her husband.

All the three lead stars have given excellent performances. Salman Khan as usual is excellent in comic scenes. He is very likeable and cute in this type of role. Aishwarya Rai looks gorgeous and this times she even attracts attention for her acting. She is good in emotional scenes. For the first time, she is able to prove her acting abilities. But finally it is Ajay Devgan who steals the show. He is a first rate actor; so intense are his looks that half the time his eyes speak more than the words. He is just excellent.

The first half of the film just splashes colours, songs and dances all over, the second half is intense. Sanjay has handled emotions very well. The new music director has given very hummable music especially Aankhon Ki Ghustakiya and Dhol Baje. However the biggest drawback of the film is its length. The 23-reel film becomes too much for the audience at times as the story is too small. However, it is a delight to watch made straight from the heart.

Rating: Good

Arjun Pandit

Starring: Sunny Deol

Director: Rahul Rawail

Music: Dilip Sen - Sameer Sen

Releasing Soon

Last week's release Subhash Sehgal directed Pyar Koi Khel Nahin did not get a good opening. The film has not been liked by the critics as well as the audience. Most of them did not understand the logic of the film and that is the main cause of its failure.

After an excellent start, the eollections of Veeru Devgan's Hindustan Ki Kasam started falling later in the week. However as the film was released with many prints and good opening, the overall first week's collections of the film are higher than the super-hit film of the year. The film is still strong in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. But one will have to wait for 1-2 week's collections more to discuss the fate of the film. If the collections don't remain steady at this level then the distributors are going to lose money. Now it has become a trend that more editing is done after the release of the film. First it was Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, then was Mann and now it is Hindustan Ki Kasam. The film was cut short by 12-15 minutes. The first week's collections of the film were 87% in Mumbai (from 16 cinemas) and 86% in Delhi (from 16 cinemas).

Mithun Chakraborty starrer Dada is a big flop in all the major cities. The second week's collections of the film were 37% in Mumbai (from 3 cinemas).

Indar Kumar's Mann is a flop in India but is doing good business overseas. Now Aamir Khan is waiting for his off beat release Deepa Mehta's 1947-Earth. The third week's collections of the film were 71% in Mumbai (from 8 cinemas).

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is still very strong in Mumbai and Gujarat. The sixth week's collections of the film were 77% in Mumbai (from 10 cinemas). Now Aishwairya rai's next big release will be Subhash Ghai's Taal costarring Anil Kapoor and Akshaye Khanna. The pre-release report of Taal is excellent. One will have to wait for the post-release report. Subhash Ghai claims that Aishwairya's is at her best in the film.

Box Office Collections

Hindustan Ki Kasam (1st Week)

• Mumbai (87%) - 77,99,894
• Ahmedabad - 20,35,819
• Delhi (86%) - 76,82,974
• Calcutta - 28,55,047
• Jaipur - 17,49,803
• Hyderabad - 28,01,859

Dada (2nd Week)

• Mumbai (37%) - 3,84,916
• Delhi - 1,75,304
• Jaipur - 75,332

Mann (3rd Week)

• Mumbai (71%) - 30,69,877
• Ahmedabad - 55,000
• Delhi - 28,00,336
• Calcutta - 14,71,892
• Jaipur - 1,86,798
• Hyderabad - 9,52,289

Haseena Maan Jaayegi (5th Week)

• Mumbai (54%) - 15,47,610
• Ahmedabad - 44,003
• Delhi - 11,26,901
• Calcutta - 1,54,063
• Jaipur - 1,59,144
• Hyderabad - 3,60,829

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (6th Week)

• Mumbai (77%) - 43,22,792
• Ahmedabad - 11,44,108
• Delhi - 6,29,498
• Calcutta - 3,69,257
• Jaipur - 2,37,910
• Hyderabad - 5,87,498

Sirf Tum (7th Week)

• Mumbai (46%) - 3,09,873
• Delhi - 74,007
• Calcutta - 99,298
• Hyderabad - 3,16,567

Biwi No. 1 (9th Week)

• Mumbai - 4,35,066
• Delhi - 2,76,052
• Hyderabad - 63,830

Sarfarosh (13th Week)

• Mumbai (59%) - 6,17,514
• Ahmedabad - 2,08,391
• Delhi - 2,51,106
• Calcutta - 1,47,192
• Jaipur - 37,508
• Hyderabad - 2,67,070