Movie buffs cheer with 'Anjaana Anjaani' and 'Robot' arrival

Though there has been a lovey-dovey tale that has worked earlier this year with 'I Hate Luv Storys' clicking at the box office, it was a romantic comedy more than a quintessential romantic musical. A new pairing in the form of Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra is enticing enough and hit music has ensured that there is enough visibility that the film has gained during last six weeks.

The release of 'Anjaana Anjaani' is happening at just the right time because now the euphoria of 'Dabangg' has settled down. Moreover, audience too is looking forward to something new as pre and post 'Dabangg', the talks have centred only around the Salman Khan starrer. 'Anjaana Anjaani' gives them a chance to bite on something new. Also, Ranbir's stocks are high after 'Raajneeti' and the youth flavour of his new release should find him more acceptance from his target audience base.

With expectations of an opening that should be good and in the range of 70pc -80pc , the only factor that could take 'Anjaana Anjaani' down is if the film is made really bad. By the look of the things, that doesn't seem to be the case at all.

'Anjaana Anjaani' won't be releasing solo though. Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Rai starrer 'Robot' would be giving it some good competition as this Tamil film which has been dubbed in Hindi has big release plans for itself. Though in South it would be 'Robot' which would be enjoying a monopoly, in urban centres like Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Pune, 'Robot' could well find good opening numbers. Anything over 50pc would be pretty much acceptable by the makers here.

One waits to see if 'Khichdi - The Movie' ends up throwing a little surprise though. A first ever instance of a television series being taken forward to a big screen affair in Bollywood, this hilarious affair could have fetched some good eyeballs had it arrived away from the clutter. However, low budget of the film coupled with loyal TV audience means that this ensemble cast affair may well find some takers for itself.

Same can't be said for 'Benny and Babloo' which could struggle to find good screens for itself, especially in the urban centres. A comedy starring Kay Kay Menon and Rajpal Yadav, it is seeing some decent promotion but is marred by below average production values, no hype and too much of competition. It would be a surprise if audience is even aware about the arrival of this film, let aside making a decision to watch it at all.

-- Joginder Tuteja