Midweek: 'Kidnap' is a failure, 'Drona' disaster!
- By Taran Adarsh, October 6, 2008 - 15:55 IST
Film Cast Plusses Minusses Verdict

Kidnap Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan, Minissha Lamba, Vidya Malvade Imran Khan Shoddy script, Pritam's poor music and mediocre direction Collects approx. Rs. 15 cr. + in its opening 4-day weekend, which is below the mark. Which means, the distributors' share is approx. Rs. 7 cr. After a 70% + start on Thursday, the collections fell drastically on subsequent days. Recovering its Rs. 40 cr. cost [Rs. 36 cr. price paid by Indian Films to Ashtavinayak + Rs. 4 cr. print and promotion] seems impossible. Distributors might end up losing money. The film has crashed on Monday

Drona Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Kay Kay Menon Not much Too many Started with a bang in U.P., but elsewhere, was not as strong on Thursday. Fell all over from Friday itself. Collections have hit rock-bottom. Monday is very, very poor. Debacle

Welcome To Sajjanpur Shreyas Talpade, Amrita Rao, Yashpal Sharma, Ila Arun, Divya Dutta, Ravi Kissen, Rajeshwari, Ravi Jhankal, Kunal Kapoor [sp. app.] A simple story told effectively, with superior performances Songs are a deterrent Total so far [till Sunday]: approx. Rs. 10.75 cr. nett

A Wednesday Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Sheirgill, Aamir Bashir, Deepal Shaw. Outstanding film in all respects Difficult to find Total so far [till Sunday]: approx. Rs. 10.90 cr. nett

Rock On!! Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, Prachi Desai, Shahana Goswami, Koel Purie Excellent film in all respects Pace slackens in the second hour


Note:- The collections of RAMCHAND PAKISTANI are dull.

(Ratings are based on the box office collections and the cost of the film)

- Hit
- Flop
- Average
- Above Average
- Average to Flop

All three losers were disgrace to their producer.directors..and AB sr/jr factor.
P chopra x2

Bollywood producers are the biggest suckers in this world. Who else would keep investing money, that too obnoxious amounts like 50 crores, in the likes of Abhishek Bachchan, the likes of whom, that cannot even guarantee a decent collection on the first day. I mean I know it is too much to expect crap movies to run on the shoulders of any star today, like in the hey days of Amitabh Bachchan, but the least one expects from these over paid, over hyped stars of today, is a decent initial. But, release after release shows quite clearly that except for maybe a Shah Rukh, an Aamir or an Akshay there is not a single so called star who can even bring in a decent initial on their own and most certainly the likes of Abhishek Bachchan have time and again proven otherwise. In my opionion Abhishek Bachan is the most over hyped and over paid star in the Indian movie industry today.

Why the hell, they do not hire some original writers like Gulzar and others to write a heart warming but progressive story and make a heart felt, feel good film for peanuts.

Saw Kidnap today. Despite some/ many things I didn't like in the film, there were many enjoyable segments and the film doesn't deserve to flop.

Good: Excellent foot tapping music, songs, beach babes (including heroine; good dose), etc. Yes, there is a also a beach segment when there is not enough water, in the kidnap cell, to wash face.
5.1 audio must be good but I didn't get DD screening. There was plenty of action deserving aggressive directional sounds and it must be there as end credits showed DD Ex logo. (No DTS)

Not Too Good: Main plot is Die Hard 3 Wild Goose Chase games. I hated that absurd plot. Luckily, there were other plots too. I think main reason for negative reaction is because of presenting/ justifying villain as hero. This kind of ending sends audiences unsatisfied.

Film was aprox 155 min.

Anyone who saw this film:
Who is that item girl in party where Sanjay Dutt is sent. Why did not his security team do that task ??

Go watch DRONA now, u might find some goodness in there too rana!

or Hello

Saw Kidnap a second time with family at Rainbow. Surprise that they moved the film to theatre # 1 and this theatre had perfect sound. It sure had DD and one could see the film with full action effects and thumping bass and aggressive surround. And this high octane audio and surround was not just occasionally but throughout the film. All 5 songs were rocking. Rarely do I see sound in theatre more powerful than car audio that this screening was, and rarely do we see a film with all 5 songs excellent (A must buy CD). We fully enjoyed the film.


In the 2nd viewing, I get it that the kidnapper takes the kidnapped girl to the beach. It's not spelled out clearly, but that's implied.

Well, with proper audio, Die Hard 3 type Wild Goose Chase scenes did come alive and although theme is the same, games/ puzzles are different and that's not the full plot anyway. This time I caught the screening from the very start and there is some hints in the start titles about what happened in the past and why the hero/ villain did kidnap. Still, IMHO, I don't see the kidnapper as hero and a minor justification doesn't make me see him a hero. Actually, now I see what director is trying to show, be soft on crime. Bravo.

Anyway, keeping issues with hero or villain aside, I rate this film 9/10 when seen with proper audio and 5/10 if back up audio.

wasn't sarook murderer hero of baazigar

Well, it depends on the presentation, how compelling is the justification for villainous acts. In Baazigar I developed sympathy for SRK, not for Ifran in Kidnap.

BTW, one of the comments I heard, after the screening, about the film was, "the director is obsessed with 'B'. 'B' for beach, 'B' for babes and 'B' for b--bs". You decide whether it's good or bad.

Can we hear your Verdic on DRONA the

Got through watching Kidnap. Although a few parts are reasonably watchable, far too many are far too stupid to call the movie even mediocre. One wonders why some directors absolutely insist on incorporating the stupidest moments in their films ("Hey, let me take this broad I just kidnapped to the river, so she can shake her ass to a shitty song...").

I felt the same when I saw it in theatre with no surround and average sound. My opinion totally changed when I saw it in theatre that had high octane, thundering bass and aggressive surround.
I wonder if you saw Kidnap with proper DD or DD-EX audio ??

a film makes it with repeated viewing, not with on single, luke warm visit lol. When people each watch it 3 x at least and have a good word of mouth , it is sure to succeed! man