January jamming

January is a jinxed month, or so says the Box Office trend. But these Bollywood releases are out to defy that.

Why january?
The month is considered superstitious in the film industry since the late 90s when all films that released in the first week bombed. So much so that in 2000, no filmmaker released his film in the first week. Between 2001 and 2004 all first week releases flopped including Akshay Kumar-Kareena Kapoor starrer Talaash and Bipasha Basu starrer Ishq Hai Tumse. The disaster of biggies like Kisna (2005) and Salam-E-Ishq (2007) didn’t help either.

Despite exceptions like Rang De Basanti (2006) and Dev D (2009), filmmakers are still wary. Film critic Rajeev Masand says, “Traditionally, January is known to be a lean period during which most film-makers don’t prefer to release their films. But, it’s heartening to see films that seem good in content releasing during this period.”

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Yamla Pagla Deewana
Cast: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol
Director: Samir Karnik
Budget: Rs 20 crore
Release date: January 14
The three Deols come together for the first time in a comedy. The satellite rights of the movie has already been sold at Rs16 crores to a TV channel, which is Rs 6 crores more than what Dabangg was sold at. Actor Bobby Deol says, “Sunny bhaiyya had an idea about a film with two brothers. It stuck us that dad has completed 50 years in the industry so we must do something this year. So we added his character to the story and here it is.” Film critic Rajeev Masand says, “The first theatrical promo of the film looks good and the Deols have a huge fan following. It’s definitely something to watch out for.”Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Shruti Haasan, Emraan Hashmi

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar

Budget: Rs 23 crores

Release date: January 28

National award winning director Madhur Bhandarkar tries his hand at comedy for the first time. The filmmaker says that he was fed up of serious cinema and wanted to experiment. Trade analysts say that this is one reason why the film is highly awaited. Taran Adarsh says, "Madhur is going in a very different lane and trying something very different from his image of serious cinema. Fingers crossed that the film will work but nevertheless every one is looking forward it."

Dhobi Ghat
Cast: Aamir Khan, Prateik Babbar
Director: Kiran Rao
Budget: Rs 5 crores
Release date: January 21
Aamir Khan returns after 3 Idiots in his wife’s directorial debut. Aamir, who plays a painter in the film, kept his part in the movie a secret for a long time. The low budget film captures the various ethnicities of Mumbai. Adopting to her husband’s knack for promotions, Rao sent out handwritten postcards to journalists talking about her film. Says Adarsh, “The film has the industry excited. Aamir is attemptiong something very diverse — it’s a Mumbai diary.”

No One Killed Jessica
Cast: Rani Mukerji, Vidya Balan
Director: Rajkumar Gupta
Budget: Rs 14 crores
Release date: January 7
A political thriller, based on the murder of former model Jessica Lal, this film is close to every Delhiite’s heart. The promo of the film got 3,08,630 hits on youtube in 20 days. Actress, Vidya Balan who plays, Sabrina Lal in the film says, “When the film was announced, we all asked, ‘We all know everything, what more will the film say.’ The promo has answered that.” Says Masand, “The advantage about releasing it in January is that even if it doesn't have a strong opening, it will have time to grow."