MUMBAI: Last week saw the release of 'Jism' and 'Dil Ka Rishtaa'. The former was a hit and the latter flopped. This week too, two big films, 'Dum' and 'Kucch To Hai', hit the threatres. Both are average stuff, generating mixed response.

           Starring Vivek Oberoi, Diya Mirza and Atul Kulkarni, Dum has been directed by E Niwas of 'Shool' fame. The music is by Sandip Chowta. But despite being an action film with some hard-hitting dialogues and a good music, it opened to a lukewarm response across the nation last Friday. 'Kucch To Hai', a whodunit produced by soap queen Ekta Kapoor, also failed to thrill audiences with its suspense. Released simultaneously with Dum, this heavily promoted and superbly publicized thriller failed to live up to the expectations of a chilling suspense drama.

           Dum has broken the myth that action fares take a good initial. It was a big let-down with the audiences and the box office. Though the presence of current sensation Vivek Oberoi helped the film a bit, the hackneyed plot of a young man's fight against the establishment did not bind the audiences to the theatre. The first week's collections were just 68 per cent in Mumbai and only 45 per cent in Delhi, while at other places the collections were even poorer. Vivek Oberoi failed to deliver a hit this time also though his popularity remains intact.

           On the other hand, Kucch To Hai, starring Esha Deol, Tusshar Kapoor and new-comer Natasha and heavily publicized, did not have a good opening, garnering 72 per cent in Mumbai and 61 per cent in Delhi. But in the rest of the country, the film stands to lose money.

January 31,  2003