Another thundering FLOP for Vishal Bhardwaj with Pataakha

4 Oct 2018

Amacabre patternof repeated failures has emerged in filmmakerVishalBhardwajs career. While his films are praised to the skies by critics, they make no money at thebox office. Bhardwajs last film Rangoon lost close to Rs. 35croresfor its co-producers Viacom 18, forcing the thriving company to apparently consider losing downuntilSanjayBhansalis Padmaavat put Viacom 18 back on its feet. You would think Vishalsnew release Pataakha with zero star value would at leastput Bhardwajs career back on the right track. But, Pataakha opened to collections as shockinglylow as 5 percent insome centres. Apersonnel from a leading multiplex chain says, Pataakhais a total washout. Weve replaced shows of this film with SuiDhaaga (the other release this week) in some centres.VishalBhardwajisabrilliantdirector. But his films areonly liked by critics. Film criticRajaSen, who is a diehard fan of Bhardwajs cinema, says, Masterpiece cinema andbox officereceipts have nevershared adirect correlation. Anyway, India hasno credibly auditedbox office figures. As for Pataakha, it is clearly a low-budget film without any stars, so theabsenceof a big opening did not surprise anyone. Addstrade analystAtulMohan, Pataakha was planned so as to have not such a traditional wide release. Instead, it was alimited release. Released in little over 750 screens, the film has shown a marginal upward trend over the firstweekend. Pataakha stars two semi newcomersSanyaMalhotraandRadhikaMadanas two warring sisters in a rugged grimy rustic setting. This isanother setback forSunilGrover struggling to establish his ownidentity after his split withKapilSharma. Pataakha is Bhardwajs fifth flop in a row. His earlier works 7 Khoon Maaf and Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola were resounding flops. Even the highly regarded Haider did not make any profits. Also Read: Malaika Arora to feature in an ITEM number in the Vishal Bhardwaj film Pataakha