With no competition from any major release last Friday, the Yashraj movie Mere Brother Ki Dulhan is going strong at box office.
The film got a good opening Rs. 25.6 crore nett in its opening weekend and its run at theatres remained steady over its first week. The movie was made at a cost of Rs. 20 crore and it raked in a decent collection of Rs. 37.5 crore nett in its first week run at the theatres. Add to that the fact that the much awaited Mausam, scheduled to release on Sept 16, was postponed by a week, giving MBKD another seven days of good run.
Going by the trade figures, the collections in the second week have dipped slightly for MBKD but the movie is holding steady more or less.
On the other hand, Salman Khan’s Bodyguard rounded off its second week with a collection of Rs. 21 crore nett, taking its total collections to the whopping figure of Rs. 130.50 crore nett.
The coming Friday would see the release of Mausam and Speedy Singhs. Of the two, Mausam is expected to get a good opening.
In their recent romcom, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ali Zafar and Katrina Kaif don't end up with each other. The picture in reality however is far from the 'not-so-perfect' reel ending.
The two actors, we hear, are all set to carry their camaraderie to the next level and collaborate on a music album.
Understandably, the actress does not want to reveal much at this point. She says, "Ali and I have definitely hit it off musically. We share a lot of common musical interests that we're trying to take further. Let's see where it goes."
Incidentally, Kat has done a spot of nursery-rhyme singing for a kiddies' album by music maestro A R Rahman in the past.
She also learnt to play the guitar from Farhan Akhtar during Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, a talent she then applied in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.
During the making of the latter, sources say both Kat and Ali were constantly in a huddle. "Ali and Katrina get along like a 'rock stadium' on fire.
They have a musical bonding. They enjoy each other's company. But more than that, Katrina enjoys the fact that Ali talks music," explains a source.
If their off-screen chemistry is anything to go by, we're sure this jugalbandi of sorts will be a treat to watch and hear of course!
After Salman’s ‘Bodyguard’, which smashed box-office records, it’s his ex-flame's ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’ that is doing good business at the box-office.
According to box-office reports, Katrina Kaif, Imran Khan and Ali Zafar starrer MBKD has successfully managed to gross around 29 crore in just four days.
The film, which hit the cinema houses on Sept. 9, continued to fare well on Monday.
Trade experts are expecting the movie to mint nearly 37-38 crore by this week.
MBKD actress Katrina receives good reviews from critics Ever since YRF’s latest venture MBKD has hit the screens, its female lead Katrina has been receiving good reviews for her performance in the film.
Going gaga over the rock star chic, one of the critics articulated, "The charismatic Katrina Kaif in MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN is easily the star of this show. Offering an uninhibited and winning performance as the mad but endearing Dimple."
When asked to react to reviews, Katrina, who still seems to be well-grounded, stated that every project which she undertakes is a challenge for her and she leaves no stone unturned to give her best.
"The way I approach my films, each of them has to be a separate entity in itself. To start a film, do it well, promote it to the fullest, get it up for release and then to see that it gets accepted by the audience - there are challenges at every juncture. Really, every film of my own is a little battle of its own," Katrina told the shutterbugs.
Katrina to sizzle with Sanjay Dutt in ‘Agneepath’ After mesmerizing one and all with her chartbuster item track ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ from ‘Tees Maar Khan’, Katrina seems to have become the hot favorite item girl in the industry now.
Grapevine has it that the bombshell, who recently made a special appearance in Salman’s ‘Bodyguard’, will now be seen sizzling with Sanjay Dutt in KJo’s ‘Agneepath’.
Apparently, the item song in question is going to be composed on the lines of Amitabh’s popular song ‘Jhuma Chooma De Dein’ from the film ‘Hum’.
The song has been compiled by Ajay Gogavale and Atul Gogavale.
With her recent success of ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’, Katrina Kaif in an exclusive interview speaks of her experience shooting the movie.
In the movie, there is a very critical scene where in Imran Khan confronts Katrina, following which she slaps him. Commenting on it, Kat breaks into giggles and says that Imran was slapped over 16 times while shooting for that particular scene! She said, “Well I don't think he anticipated that we were going to shoot that particular bit 16 times so he got lot of slaps from me and they were pretty hard. By the end of it he was like, 'I can't take any more slaps'. But finally we got it right.”
Along with Imran and Katrina, Pakistani musician and singer Ali Zafar was also a part of the cast, playing the role of Imran’s brother. On being questioned about her experience with Ali, Kat said, “He is a real good performerI think he is great at comedy and he just kind of brought lot of good vibes during the shoot. And since he is also a musician he would entertain us with his songs when we were shooting outdoors. He would play guitar and it was like a bunch of group of friends hanging together on the sets.”
The movie was shot in different locations in Delhi and Punjab. Speaking about adjusting problems at dingy places, Katrina seemed to have no problem with that. She said, “It was called Iqbal Inn and I remember Imran being terrified when we walked in. But it was a young unit and we had a great time. We forgot all the problems and decided to have fun together.
We were there for about 25 days. We would eat only dal, roti and tandoori chicken but the environment was great. Imran couldn't adjust well and we would all pull his leg about it.”
Also, she said that the most fun part of the shooting was cricket. The cast often played cricket on the sets during the shoot. She said, “That is something which I really enjoyed and actually kept me fit and gave us a form of exercise in between the shots.”
Fresh off the success of her last blockbuster Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Katrina Kaif proves her mettle yet again in the span of 2 months with Yash Raj’s Mere Brother Ki Dulhan that opened to impressive collections this weekend.
Apart from proving yet again that she’s Bollywood’s lucky mascot when it comes to box office figures, Katrina Kaif also received stellar reviews for her performance as the zany Dimple Dixit.
Talking about her role in the film says Katrina, “It was my dream to work in a Yash Raj film. It is a romantic comedy, very exaggerated, tongue-n-cheek.I play Dimple in the movie she is completely mad and very bindaas”
“The charismatic Katrina Kaif in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan is easily the star of this show. Offering an uninhibited and winning performance as the mad but endearing Dimple” adds critic Rajeev Masand
If that wasn’t all, as per official box office reports, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan had the seventh biggest opening day of the year (7.35 crores approximately).*
Katrina Kaif however remains unfazed with the adulation coming her way and is keen to push the envelope even further in her next releases. Says Katrina “The way I approach my films, each of them has to be a separate entity in itself. To start a film, do it well, promote it to the fullest, get it up for release and then to see that it gets accepted by the audience - there are challenges at every juncture. Really, every film of my own is a little battle of its own."
The box office scenario of 'Mere Brother ki Dulhan' is still ambiguous and it's very early to speculate anything about Katrina Kaif's position on the number podium. However, Katrina was and will remain one of the top heroines of the tinsel town, at least for another couple of years.
MBKD shows Katrina as a bidi-smoking damsel who can cause distress. She seems to be undergoing a conscious image change from her porcelain doll avatar in earlier films.
More or less, Katrina has played an arm candy till now. 'Boom' is better forgotten; in fact Katrina should be awarded for not denying doing 'Boom'.
The role of the suave Pooja in 'Sarkar' did not have much meat, and people noticed Katrina in the film only because she was a famous model.
'Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya' featured Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen primarily, but Katrina was there to dance. Her vacant expression was reminiscent of an actor who has forgotten her cue.
Surprisingly, she started to make her own fan base right after this film. Kaif's link-ups with Salman fetched her more attention than her entire PR team's effort.
'Namstey London' followed 'Humko Deewana Kar Gaye' and Kaif arrived in Bollywood in the true sense.
For the first time, she was in the running for the number one slot after 'Namastey London'.
Aishwarya Rai had 'Guru', while Kareena Kapoor was seen in her career defining role of Geet in 'Jab We Met', in the very same year. Katrina was nowhere close to the stature of these two heroines, neither in acting, nor in star quotient.
Then came 'Apne', 'Partner', 'Race', 'Welcome' and 'Singh is Kinng'.
Five back-to-back hits and every producer was outside her gate.
None of these films, except 'Partner' had given her the chance to emerge as a thinking actor.
She tried her best to look 'emotional' in the climax of 'Partner', but Rai and Kapoor, had
already proved their mettle in thinking roles.
Aishwarya had 'Devdas', 'Chokher Bali', 'Bride and Prejudice', 'Raincoat', 'Sarkar Raj' and 'Jodhaa Akbar' to her credit while Kareena had 'Asoka', 'Chameli', 'Dev', 'Aitraaz', 'Fida' and 'Omkara'.
But another competitor had entered the race of number one in 2008 - Priyanka Chopra. She was glamorous, good dancer and as capable as an actor as Rai.
Initially, she did not experiment much with roles and that gave her a chance to consolidate her fan base.
'Fashion' and 'Kaminey' provided Chopra the long anticipated recognition as a heroine with wide mass appeal, who can act well too. Her position gradually got strengthened. She developed into a typical Bollywood beauty with good acting skills.
The audiences were always waiting for someone as Priyanka, and critics had become bored of reviewing useless beauties. Priyanka satisfied them all.
Kareena kept doing happy go lucky characters, and thus the value of one hit film gained ascendance, because only hit film can make you better than other heroines, who are also portraying the same kind of roles.
Then, the situation became trickier, because Katrina delivered three commercially successful films out of her next seven releases.
'New York', 'Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani' and 'Rajneeti' brought Katrina also to the forefront.
With one Hollywood movie, 'The Pink Panther', and several Bollywood flops, Aishwarya seemed more interested in award ceremonies and her family. She was still one of the highest paid heroines but her charm started to fade down considerably post 'Raavan'.
Kareena tasted success in '3 Idiots' and 'Golmaal' series, where she had prominent roles.
Kareena already had a good fan base and thus the showcase of refined acting made her a very good challenger for the top spot.
Till the end of 2010, the race for the quintessentially accepted heroine for all was tilted more or less in favour of Kareena Kapoor, despite the success of 'Rajneeti', where Katrina donned the cap of a thinking actor for the first time. This political potboiler presented Katrina in a powerful role, and she satisfactorily passed off as a performer.
'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' showed Katrina in an entirely different light. She played an adventure loving girl in 'ZNMD', who is specifically clear about the goals of life.
It was not an unlikely role but it came as a pleasant surprise. Katrina was finally trying to evolve as a potential thinking actor.
But, the track was still not clear for a race between Katrina and Kareeena. '7 Khoon Maaf' got the rabbit out of the cap, and Priyanka magic swelled over the mass.
A fantastic performance in '7 Khoon Maaf' placed her above everyone, as far as the acting was concerned.
Now, Kareena can boast of 'Bodyguard', which has received the highest opening of all times, but the real force behind the film is not a hidden fact.
We can narrow down the race of becoming the next lady superstar to three ladies in the shape of Kareena, Priyanka and Katrina, but in reality, the battle is in between just two, Kareena and Priyanka.
Katrina might be riding on a string of successful films but she has not proved her worth as a good actor yet.
Ideally, one superstar should possess brilliant acting skills with devastating looks and courage for experimentation. Remember Hema Malini, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit.
Katrina's spotless features can earn her big films, but she will become the super star that the Hindi film audiences are looking for, only when she will come up with rare roles or fine performances to make a role rare.
Kareena Kapoor has 'Ra.One', a potential hit, in kitty but she also has not shown the guts to experiment with every film. Basically, she is conscious about her position at the box office, which will eventually stop her from taking the leap of faith towards superstardom.
Therefore, Priyanka Chopra remains as the real scion of the reigning queen's post, however, her ascendance to the throne will depend a lot on the comparative performances of her films against Kareena's and Katrina's.
