January has not augured well for Bollywood. All the ten films released during January have turned out to be damp squibs. None of the expected films have warmed up the box-office during winter season as the country is reeling under unprecedented chilly weather, more particularly the northern part. Thus failures of these films have let down the distributors.

Among the three major releases, Halla Bol starring Ajay Devgan and Vidya Balan, Sunday starring Ajay Devgan and Ayesha Takia, and Nagesh Kuknoor’s Bombay to Bangkok were big let downs to its distributors as none of them brought back investments. It is a set back year for Ajay Devgan because two of his starrers — Halla Bol and Sunday —have flopped in quick session. In fact the first week of January had begun with bad omens.

All the three releases — Manthan- Ek Kashmakash, Phir Tauba Tauba and Humne Jeena Seekh Liya — which were released without any publicity or even obscure prior announcement, turned out to be box-office duds. Contrary to expectations and despite the holiday period, the animation film Return of Hanuman failed to fetch any returns from the cash counters and Showbiz was even worse. These films have been taken into account in January because they were released at the fag end of the last year.  Among the two major releases during the second week, Halla Bol and My Name Is Gonsalves featuring debutant Nikhil Dwivedi with Amrita Arora, did generate some heat in the otherwise chilly weather but could not warm up the whole week to sustain.

One expected that Nagesh Kuknoor’s Bombay 2 Bangkok could brighten up mid-January collections but all hopes were belied. B2B is a slapstick film.

Tulsi, a remake of Marathi film, Chimni Pakhre, failed to elicit any good response from audience despite the presence of Manisha Koirala. Sunday, the lone film that released in the last week of the month, had too many complications in the plot which did not go well with the audience. Poor music is another set back for the film. The item numbers featuring Esha Deol and Tusshar Kapoor lack quality required for a hit number. Rohit Shetty has messed up his direction, which is why it turned out to be damp squib.  Next month there are some interesting fares like Rama Rama Kya Hai Drama, Jodhaa Akbar, comedy caper Kisse Pyar Karun, Ru Ba Ru and Mehbooba.

This month has given a clear message that only innovative and different kinds of subjects work at the box-office like Bheja Fry, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Tare Zameen Par and Chak De India and not routine films. Unless the subjects or contents are extraordinary, no film can run successfully in the name of stars, however big they are.