Hindi
John Day: Some thrills, some gore
MUMBAI: New directors often choose to make their place in the film industry the hard way. They tend to experiment but to do that, one not only needs solid work on the script but also total conviction and confidence. The trick is also in knowing ones limits with experiment.
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Producers: K Asif, Anjum Rizvi, Aatef A Khan. Direction: Ahishor Solomon. Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Randeep Hooda, Shernaz Patel, Sharat Saxena, Vipin Sharma, Elena Kazan, Makrand Deshpande, Bharat Dabholkar, Anant Mahadevan. |
Naseeruddin Shah and Shernaz Patel is a loving couple living with their adopted daughter. Then things suddenly start going wrong with them. Their daughter goes out with her boyfriend on the pretext of going out for a school project. They land up at a huge empty property far from crowds which is full of shrubs. They go for a dip in the lake on the property. Her friend is still in the lake as she returns to the shack they are put up in, when the whole property along with the shack goes up in flames.
The grief is great on the couple, especially Shernaz who, even after two years since the incident has not come out of it. Shah has got busy again with his job as a bank manager. That is when another tragedy strikes the family. Shernaz is kept hostage at her home by a thug whose partner has gone to the bank to rob it. Reluctantly, Shah hands over the keys for the sake of safety of his wife. But the goon has different plans; he hits Shernaz with a hammer even as his partner clears out all the bank lockers. Shernaz does not die. Worse, she goes into a vegetative state and is in no condition to help with the search for the culprits.
This is only the beginning of Shah’s problems though he is not aware of it. The coin drops only when a bank customer, Elena Kazan, comes to the bank to claim her papers back from the locker. The file she describes has Casablanca marked over it. Shah realises that the property where his daughter died was, in fact, called Casablanca. Shah now has a reason to believe that his daughter’s death was not an accident. He decides to start his own personal investigation.
Kazan takes the file to Randeep Hooda, a suspended ACP, she also happens to be his mole. To Hooda’s surprise, the folder is the same he was looking for but the papers inside are missing. Hooda is a cop turned criminal. He blames the world for everything that has gone wrong with his life.He was an orphan who was exploited by the orphanage keeper and sodomised when he was nine. Hooda now plays up both sides of dons, one in Mumbai (Sharat Saxena) and the other in Dubai though both are sworn enemies. The Casablanca papers relate to the very property where Shah’s daughter died. The property is sought by both the dons and the Dubai don has promised Hooda Rs 50 crore if the papers are handed over to him. Hooda belives that the papers have gone with rest of the loot that the bank robbers took.
Now, Hooda and Shah both are looking for the thieves. As expected, their paths are bound to cross but Shah manages to be one step ahead of Hooda most of the time. Gradually, Shah cracks the secrets and decides to finish all those who ruined his world.
On and off, the film resorts to violence and some scenes have been made explicitly gory; the idea is to make Hooda’s character devilish and soulless. Unfortunately, the director fails to control his script and the ‘experiment’ seems to slip out of his grasp. A lot is taken for granted and illogical things happen to make the latter parts confusing. The mostly outdoor film has been shot well. Background score is effective. Performance wise, Shah excels. Hooda has his limitations as his character is one shade. Saxena and Shernaz are good. Vipin Sharma impresses. Bharat Dabholkar, Anant Mahadevan and Makrand Deshpande make cameos.
John Day has gory scenes and an inconsistent second half going against its chances at the box office.Grand Masti: ABCD of sex
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Producers: Ashok Thakeria, Indra Kumar. Direction: : Indra Kumar. Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani. |
This may be a money-making formula but it sure isn’t cinema. Gather a bunch of not-in-demand actors (the term actors is used loosely because they are the only recognisable faces in the film), give a ‘break’ to as many new, aspiring starlets since they don’t matter anyway except they are willing to play along in a all the vulgarity that is dished out and let loose two and half hours of crassness backed by lewd gestures (acting is not part of the scheme here).
Director Indra Kumar always exhibited the traits of a wannabe Dada Kondke when he made Gujarati films,which thrived due to the Gujarat government’s 100 per cent entertainment tax exemption policy. But Kondke at least tried garnishing his vulgarity under a veil of double meaning. Indra Kumar starts off his Grand Masti with cheap and gaudy titles in the fashion of 1960s and 70s films and then never looks back. It is cheap (in making) and vulgar and crass in its content. So much so that the next few rapes that happen in the country should probably be credited to this film.
There are three guys, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani and Vivek Oberoi, doing their final year in college. In the college they pursue women as if they were fed on Viagra instead of milk as toddlers. It is not romance they seek, it is sex. In a quantum jump to five or six years after college, all three are married and one would think that their lust would have subsided by now. No, in a theme seen in many films before, these poor souls never get privacy with their spouses and are always left craving for some action.
An opportunity comes their way when their college invites them for a reunion. Of course, the wives are too preoccupied to join them, opening the scope for three more girls willing to titillate and be part of the film. There are some imaginary seductions and there are some almost-there kinds but, it is a ‘clean’ Hindi film and the men must emerge clean and untouched at the end. Both parties realise their mistake and decide to mend their ways.
For performance, the characters need to indulge in tomfoolery, which also takes some talent. Of the boys, Riteish does it the best; Aftab is passable while Vivek cuts a sorry picture in this department. Girls do what they are required to. Direction is okay. The gags are mostly reruns. Music has nothing much to write home about.
Considering the opening response Grand Masti has got, this one seems to be working with the young lot despite or, probably, because of its vulgarity. However, its audience should soon dry up as this film, touted as Adult Comedy, is not the kind made for a family outing.
Hindi
GUEST COLUMN: Why film libraries & IPs are the new engines of growth
Unlocking value through catalogue strength and IP synergy
MUMBAI:In a media landscape defined by fragmentation, platform proliferation, and ever-evolving audience behavior, the economics of filmmaking are undergoing a fundamental shift. No longer confined to box office performance, a film’s true value is now measured across an extended lifecycle that spans digital platforms, syndication networks, and global markets. As content consumption becomes increasingly non-linear and algorithm-driven, film libraries and intellectual properties (IPs) are emerging as strategic assets, capable of delivering sustained, long-term returns. For Mohan Gopinath, head – bollywood business at Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd., this transformation signals a decisive move from hit-driven models to portfolio-led value creation. In this piece, Gopinath explores how legacy content, when intelligently repurposed and distributed, can unlock recurring revenue streams, why the interplay between catalogue and original IP is critical, and how media companies can build resilient, future-ready entertainment businesses.
For all these years, we thought that a film is successful if it performs well in theatres. There are opening weekend numbers, box office milestones, and distribution footprints that gave a good picture of how the movie has done commercially and also tell us about its cultural impact. However, there are multiple platforms today, always-on content ecosystem, which has caused a shift. Today, the theatrical performance is not the culmination of a film’s journey but merely the beginning of a much longer and more dynamic lifecycle.
Film libraries today are emerging as high-value, constantly evolving assets that deliver sustained returns well beyond initial release cycles. This becomes a point of great advantage for legacy content owners with diverse catalogues, to shape long-term business outcomes.
According to FICCI-EY, the media and entertainment industry of India achieved a valuation of Rs 2.78 trillion in 2025 which is expected to reach Rs 3.3 trillion by 2028 through a compound annual growth rate of approximately 7 per cent and digital media will bring in more than Rs 1 trillion to become the biggest sector which generates about 36 per cent of overall market revenues.
This shift is the expansion of distribution endpoints. We know how satellite television was once the primary secondary window but today, it coexists with YouTube, OTT platforms, Connected TV, and FAST channels. Each of these platforms caters to distinct audience demographics and consumption behaviors, helping content owners to obtain more value from the same asset across multiple formats.
For instance, films that had great reruns, now find continuous engagement across digital platforms. On YouTube, classic Hindi cinema continues to attract significant viewership, reaching audiences across generations and geographies with remarkable consistency. At Shemaroo Entertainment, this is reflected in our film library shaped over decades as part of a long association with Indian entertainment. From classics such as Amar Akbar Anthony to much-loved entertainers like Jab We Met, Welcome, Dhamaal, Phir Hera Pheri, Dhol, Golmaal, and Bhagam Bhag, many of these titles continue finding new audiences while retaining their place in popular memory. Their enduring appeal reflects how culturally resonant stories can continue creating value over time. Similarly, FAST channels have created curated, always-on environments where catalogue content can continue to thrive through star-led and genre-based programming.
This multi-platform approach has very well transformed films into long-tail IP assets which are capable of generating recurring revenue across advertising, subscription, and syndication models.
The evolution of audience behavior is equally important. Nowadays, it’s more important to find what’s more relative than what’s recent as viewers are more influenced by mood, memories, and algorithmic suggestions than by release schedules. Even if a movie was released decades ago, it can trend alongside a newly released movie, if surfaced in the right context. Thoughtful packaging, whether through festival-based playlists, actor-driven collections, or genre clusters, allows catalogue content to remain dynamic and continuously discoverable. Shemaroo Entertainment has built extensive film libraries over decades and its focus has mostly been on recontextualizing content for the consumption of newer environments. This process doesn’t just include digitization and restoration, but also re-packaging of films as per platforms.
Syndication itself has evolved into a key growth driver. In perspective, when looking at the domestic market, curated content packages continue to find strong demand across broadcast and digital platforms. Meanwhile, in the international market, especially in markets like Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia, the appetite for Indian content is opening up new monetization avenues. Here, the ability to package and position catalogue content effectively becomes as important as the content itself.
Importantly, the need to re-package catalogue content does not diminish the role of new content. In fact, originals and fresh IP are essential to sustaining the long-term value of a film library because they act as discovery engines that bring audiences into the ecosystem, while catalogue content drives depth, retention, and repeat engagement.
This interplay between the “new” and the “known” is what defines a robust content strategy today. While new films generate spikes in consumption, catalogue titles offer familiarity and comfort. These are factors that are increasingly valuable in an era of content abundance and decision fatigue. This is also shaping our strategy, drawing value from both a deep catalogue assets and a growing focus on original IPs to strengthen long-term audience engagement and build more predictable revenue streams.
There is growing recognition that long-term value in entertainment will be shaped not only by how intelligently existing content continues to live, travel and find relevance, but also by how consistently new stories are created to renew that ecosystem. In that sense, film libraries and original IP are not parallel bets, but reinforcing engines of growth. For media companies, the opportunity lies in making these two forces work together, because that is increasingly where more resilient and predictable businesses are being shaped.
Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.
