Ankhon Dekhi, Lakshmi Disappoint At Box Office But Capture Hearts

When you are in Bollywood, don’t expect critical appreciation to go hand in hand with box office success. Last Friday (March 21), a total of five movies hit the theatres, but with the sole exception of Sunny Leone-starrer Ragini MMS 2, the other four failed to impact the domestic box office. As we discussed yesterday, Gang of Ghosts turned out to be an average movie but this time, let us have a look at the other three.

Both Ankhon Dekhi and Lakshmi are exceptional movies but look like box office bombs, unless they turn out to be sleeper hits. Written and directed by Rajat Kapoor (he also plays one of the lead roles), the multi-starrer flick Ankhon Dekhi had poor response on Day 1 and could not even cross Rs 5 crore during the opening weekend, as per industry estimates (official numbers are yet to come in). It is the same tale of lacklustre BO performance with Nagesh Kukunoor-directed Lakshmi although this one should be the most lauded, going by its sensitive yet realistic treatment of human trafficking, child prostitution and sexploitation of women in general. As for Kolkata Junction, a drama-thriller directed by Anjan Dutt, the opening weekend collections reportedly stood at Rs 9 crore.

Theme-wise, these three flicks vary widely, but one can also notice the similarities without much effort. All three of them are low-budget movies, don’t have so-called ‘hot’ star cast (although the veterans have actually acted their hearts out), the promotion part has been pretty low key and finally, none of them hit too many screens like the big-budget films do. Should we call that a sure-shot recipe for box office disaster? The promotion part needs to strategised well if good movies are to get great response.



Coming back to the movies, we must say Ankhon Dekhi is worth the watch. It is a typical Rajat Kapoor film – funny, satirical and at the same time, deeply touching. It tells the tale of Raje Bauji (Sanjay Mishra), a Delhi-based man in his late 50s, who only believes what he sees. The journey that follows walks you through the life of a commoner and the compromises he is compelled to make to survive in a hostile world. As one critic says, “It is cinematically ecstatic... made beautifully on a very low budget… high on performances.”

Nagesh Kukunoor-directed Lakshmi is an exceptional story of trauma and tragedy, courage and triumph. Singer Monali Thakur makes her acting debut as Lakshmi, a 13-year-old who has been kidnapped and sold into prostitution. The ruthless reality portrayed by every single character makes us squirm and ask ourselves the very question the movie is asking – are we being human?

It’s not surprising that Kolkata Junction has done a bit better at the ticket windows than the other two. After all, who can escape the allure of an entertaining drama-thriller featuring the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Kay Kay Menon, Sonali Kulkarni, Jimmy Shergill, Sandhya Mridul and Rituparna Sengupta? Both the storyline and the performance are bound to thrill the audience and the numbers may look better after the second weekend.

Images: Indiatimes