Hindi
One By Two: A Lost Cause
MUMBAI: One By Two is formula for an economic date where one shares a single soup with his date with the notion that he will get a little more than the other.
Here, the title is also symbolic of the stories which move simultaneously of two people which become one only at the end. Described as a romantic comedy, the film has these ingredients missing, romance as well as comedy! In fact, the film lacks in a definite concept. What is it all about?
Abahy Deol is a dejected man having been dumped by his girlfriend. However, he is bent on getting her back. He serenades under her balcony when he is not punching a computer keyboard in his office or strumming a sponsor’s (washing powder Nirma) jingle on a guitar. His prized possession is a DVD of a song he wrote for his girlfriend which he hopes to play for her again someday! If this is an ode to youth today, it is a sad one. His girlfriend has dropped him in favour of her dance guru so that she gets selected for a famous TV dance show.
There is another contender to the said TV show in Preeti Desai, a London trained ballet dancer. What is common between Preeti and Abhay’s ex girlfriend is that they are so determined to get on to the show carrying a prize of 10 lakh that they make it a practice of sleeping with the guys in charge! In a supposedly contemporary film, prize money of 10 lakh in a TV show must be pittance, especially considering Preeti seems to be well-off with her mother, Lillete Dubey, consuming gallons of Scotch per day. The ground for Lillete to be sauced all day is that she was dumped by her moneybag paramour.
The sequences in the film often have no relevance to previous happenings. Some things just drop from nowhere. The comedy in the film is in noisy passing of gas and other toilet humour, all repeated rather too often. The hero is confused, undecided all his life. When asked to marry a girl of family’s choice, the family being his mother Rati Agnihotri and father Jayant Kriplani, he is okay with it. The suitor is a full blown Punjabi girl endowed with all the Punjabi attributes. And, how does he make his intent of not wanting to get tied down known? On the Roka ceremony, he emerges out of his bedroom in a worn out boxers and a T shirt; he welcomes the girl’s family with a loud song accompanied by his guitar! The idea of comedy is rather weird!
Instead of a romantic comedy, the film comes out more as a story of two perpetual losers. The film can be called directionless. As for music, the film has a couple of decent tracks in Ishq ki khushfehmiyan… and Khuda na khasta. While the making is economical, the only positive aspect in the film is cinematography by Sameer Arya. Performances are generally ordinary.
One By Two is a lost cause.
Producers: Abhay Deol, Amit Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Vikram Khakhar.
Director: Devika Bhagat.
Cast: Abhay Deol, Preeti Desai, Lillete Dubey, Rati Agnihotri, Jayant Kriplani, Darshan Jariwala, Anish Trivedi.
Hindi
UFO Cine Media Network unveils ‘India’s biggest cinema moment ever’
Dhurandhar 2 and Toxic tipped to deliver rare pan-India scale for brands
MUMBAI: UFO Cine Media Network is pitching an upcoming dual-film release weekend as what it calls the largest advertising opportunity cinema has offered in India, banking on an estimated 100 million cumulative footfalls nationwide.
The initiative, branded “India’s Biggest Cinema Moment Ever”, is anchored around the simultaneous release of Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge and Toxic, two high-profile action films expected to dominate screens across regions and languages. Trade projections, supported by cinema measurement tool Procat, suggest the combined lifetime theatrical run could deliver one of the widest audience concentrations seen in recent years.
Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge, an India–Pakistan spy thriller, is set to release in five languages, broadening its appeal across northern and southern markets. The franchise has already built a sizable multilingual following through theatrical runs and streaming platforms. Toxic, fronted by pan-India star Yash, is expected to draw heavy footfalls across southern circuits and beyond, buoyed by the actor’s proven box-office pull.
UFO, which operates an in-cinema advertising network spanning more than 4,100 theatres, is positioning the release window as a rare moment of synchronised national attention. Its footprint covers multiplexes and single screens across over 1,500 towns and cities, allowing advertisers to deploy campaigns at scale during a single weekend.
Executives at the company argue that cinema’s value lies not just in reach but in attention. Unlike digital or television, audiences are captive, emotionally engaged and free from distraction, they say, translating into stronger recall and measurable returns for brands. With advertisers increasingly focused on performance-led media planning, UFO is framing the dual release as comparable in scale to India’s largest broadcast and sporting properties.
Industry observers note that as theatrical exhibition expands deeper into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, such tentpole weekends are becoming anchor moments for annual media strategies. If Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge and Toxic deliver as expected, the weekend could set new benchmarks not only for box office numbers, but also for cinema’s evolving role as a high-attention advertising medium.
