Streaming Video News: June 10, 2017

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon’s Heera channel with one new addition to the catalog. Sonakshi Sinha’s Noor is now available for streaming, just seven weeks after its theatrical release. Sonakshi is better than the material she’s given to work with in Noor.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with the addition of the 2011 documentary The Highest Pass. The footage of the Indian Himalayas is beautiful, but I found the narrative a little too self-helpy for my tastes. For everything else new on Amazon Prime — Bollywood or not — check Instant Watcher.

Streaming Video News: June 8, 2017

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with one new addition to the catalog. The 2017 family film The Wishing Tree — which features Shabana Azmi, Saurabh Shukla, and Shernaz Patel — is now available for streaming in the United States — before it opens in India on June 9! Fair warning that Kaanchi expires from Netflix on June 11. Watching it should not be a priority.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with a couple of new additions to the catalog, including Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Liar’s Dice, which was popular on the festival circuit a few years ago. Also new is director Shomshuklla Das’s 2013 Bengali film Chhutii Aar Picnic.

For everything else new on Netflix and Amazon Prime — Bollywood or otherwise — check Instant Watcher.

 

Opening June 9: Raabta

One new Hindi movie opens in the Chicago area on June 9, 2017. The reincarnation drama Raabta (“Connection“) stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon, and Jim Sarbh.

Raabta opens Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge. I’m surprised that this isn’t opening in more theaters, specifically at MovieMax and the Cantera 17, which carry almost every new Bollywood film. It’s weird. The movie has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 28 min.

Also noteworthy: The family movie The Wishing Tree — which opens in India this Friday — is already available on Netflix in the United States.

Hindi Medium and Sachin: A Billion Dreams both carry over at the South Barrington 24, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, and the Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville.

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion gets a seventh week at MovieMax (Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi), South Barrington 24 (Hindi), Cantera 17 (Hindi), and Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge (Telugu).

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:

Bollywood Box Office: June 2-4, 2017

North America is an inhospitable territory for Hindi horror films. The latest casualty is Dobaara: See Your Evil, which had the advantages of being based on the 2013 Hollywood film Oculus and starring real-life siblings Huma Qureshi and Saqib Saleem. Still, in its opening weekend of June 2-4, 2017, it earned just $7,110 from 30 theaters ($237 average; adjusted average of $284 from 25 theaters). Even though the local audience for Bollywood horror flicks is small, these ultra-limited theatrical releases do the movies no favors. I would love to watch Dobaara, but not if it requires two hours of expensive tollway driving for me to do it. On the other hand, skip the theatrical release and charge $12 for a day-and-date North American streaming option, and I’m there.

One movie I skipped writing about last week because I didn’t even realize it was in Hindi is Jattu Engineer, the latest vanity project by Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan of MSG fame. After an unremarkable opening weekend ($2,691 from three theaters), its business made an inexplicable jump in its second weekend, earning $8,048 from four Canadian theaters ($2,012 average). It has earned a total of $12,082 so far, which is a lot better than the Saint’s March, 2017 release Hind Ka Napak Ko Jawab: MSG Lion Heart 2, which scraped together $6,243 over five weeks.

Hindi Medium is on a roll, posting consistently strong per-theater averages. In its third weekend, it earned another $72,210 from 34 theaters — an average of $2,124 per theater. Fewer than half of the 2017 films that lasted three weeks averaged more than $700 in their third weekend, with only four of those movies managing to average more than $1,500 per theater. Hindi Medium‘s total stands at $647,602, good enough for seventh place this year so far.

Other Hindi movies still showing in North America:

  • Baahubali 2: Week 6; $81,323 from 55 theaters; $1,479 average; $20,690,866 total
  • Sachin — A Billion Dreams: Week 2; $78,585 from 72 theaters; $1,091 average; $558,024 total
  • Half Girlfriend: Week 3; $5,996 from nine theaters; $666 average; $436,984 total
  • Sarkar 3: Week 4; $314 from two theaters; $157 average; $244,168 total
  • Meri Pyaari Bindu: Week 4; $50 from one theater; $174,955 total

*Bollywood Hungama frequently counts Canadian theaters twice in when they report figures for a film’s first few weeks of release. When possible, I verify theater counts at Box Office Mojo, but I use Bollywood Hungama as my primary source because they provide a comprehensive and consistent — if flawed — data set.

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Opening June 2: Dobaara — See Your Evil

One new Bollywood movie hits Chicago area theaters — correction, theater — on June 2, 2017. Dobaara: See Your Evil is the official Hindi remake of Oculus. It stars real-life siblings Huma Qureshi and Saqib Saleem.

Dobaara: See Your Evil opens Friday at the AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington. It has a listed runtime of 1 hr. 46 min.

Sachin: A Billion Dreams gets a second week at the South Barrington 24, as well as the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville.

Both MovieMax and the South Barrington 24 give a third week to Half Girlfriend and Hindi Medium, which also carries over at the Cantera 17.

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion gets a sixth week at MovieMax (Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi), South Barrington 24 (Hindi), Cantera 17 (Hindi), and Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge (Telugu).

Bollywood fans may also be interested in checking out 3 Idiotas — the Spanish-language remake (with English subtitles) of 3 Idiots — opening on Friday across the Chicago area.

Other Indian movies showing locally this weekend:

Streaming Video News: June 1, 2017

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with a bunch of new additions to the catalog. Shah Rukh Khan’s 1995 flick Oh Darling Yeh Hai India is now available for streaming, along with Aashik Awara, Lens, Maya Memsaab, Qila, and Prince (the 1969 version, not the one with Vivek Oberoi). Also new to the service are the Hindi TV shows The Golden Years with Javed Akhtar, Jhansi Ki Rani, and Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya. In case you missed my tweet about it the other day, director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon is also now available for streaming. It’s worth checking out. For everything else new on Netflix (Bollywood or not), check Instant Watcher.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Heera with one newly added film and a brand new comedy special. 1999’s Mann is now available for streaming, as is the comedy special Kanan Gill: Keep It Real, from the other half of the Pretentious Movie Reviews duo (Biswa Kalyan Rath’s special Biswa Mast Aadmi was added to Heera last week).

Bollywood Box Office: May 26-28, 2017

Since I know nothing about cricket, please insert your own cricket pun here to reflect the fact that Sachin: A Billion Dreams had a good opening weekend at the North American box office. From May 26-28, 2017, Sachin earned $334,402 from 112 theaters ($2,986 average; adjusted average of $3,344 from 100 theaters*). Keep in mind that total doesn’t include returns from Monday’s Memorial Day holiday in the United States.

Sachin‘s solid performance was enough to finally dethrone Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, which took in $274,803 from 119 theaters ($2,309 average). Its total after five weekends is an astounding $20,476,672.

Hindi Medium is proving to be 2017’s first sleeper hit, even adding a theater in its second weekend of release. (The only other film to add theaters this year was Badrinath Ki Dulhania.) Hindi Medium held on to 2/3s of its opening weekend business, putting it first in that category by almost 20% (ahead of Badrinath). In its second weekend, Hindi Medium earned $151,159 from 59 theaters for an average of $2,562 per theater. That’s the best second-weekend-average of the year for every Hindi film besides Baahubali 2. Hindi Medium‘s total stands at $485,804.

Half Girlfriend also held up well in its second weekend, even if its performance pales a bit compared to Hindi Medium. Half Girlfriend earned $50,650 from 51 theaters ($993 average), bringing its total to $401,306 — good enough to rank in the top half of Bollywood movies released in North America this year.

Other Bollywood movies still in US theaters:

  • Sarkar 3: Week 3; $803 from three theaters; $268 average; $243,495 total
  • Meri Pyaari Bindu: Week 3; $436 from one theater; $174,801 total

*Bollywood Hungama frequently counts Canadian theaters twice in when they report figures for a film’s first few weeks of release. When possible, I verify theater counts at Box Office Mojo, but I use Bollywood Hungama as my primary source because they provide a comprehensive and consistent — if flawed — data set.

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Streaming Video News: May 26, 2017

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with a major new addition to the catalog. Shah Rukh Khan’s 2017 gangster drama Raees is now available for streaming. It’s not my favorite SRK film, but it has its moments. For everything else new on Netflix (Bollywood or not), check Instant Watcher.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Heera with two new additions, including another 2017 theatrical release — Commando 2! The plot is crazy, but Vidyut Jammwal action movies are always fun. The second new addition to Heera is 2016’s Dev Bhoomi: Land of the Gods. I’m not sure if Amazon’s deal with Cinestaan applies to the US as well as India, but the addition of Dev Bhoomi could presage the eventual addition of Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial debut A Death in the Gunj to Heera. We’ll have to wait and see.

I made one addition to my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime as well. The documentary Faith Connections — which director Pan Nalin made before Angry Indian Goddesses — is now available for streaming.

Opening May 26, 2017: Sachin — A Billion Dreams

One new Hindi film opens in the Chicago area on May 26, 2017. The documentary/biographical drama Sachin: A Billion Dreams — about cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar — is the latest sports film from director James Erskine and features a soundtrack by A.R. Rahman.

Sachin: A Billion Dreams opens Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 20 min.

Half Girlfriend gets a second week at all of the above theaters, plus the AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge, while Hindi Medium carries over at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, and Cantera 17.

The number of local theaters carrying Baahubali 2: The Conclusion is dwindling. Ticket prices have finally dropped, so take advantage of those matinée specials to see it a second time (or a fourth time, if you’re my friend Melanie!). Here’s where you can still see Mahishmati in all its glory:

Telugu: MovieMax, South Barrington 24, AMC Showplace Naperville 16 in Naperville, and Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge

Hindi: MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, Woodridge 18, and AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles

Tamil: Seven Bridges and MovieMax (which also carries Baahubali 2 in Malayalam)

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend include:

Streaming Video News: May 24, 2017

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with two new additions to the catalog. Piya Behrupiya is a filmed version of the stage play by the same name, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night that played at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater last fall (though I’m not sure where the Netflix version was recorded). Also new is comedian Hasan Minhaj’s stand-up special Homecoming King.

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon’s Heera Channel with another new stand-up special — Biswa Kalyan Rath: Biswa Mast Aadmi. Biswa gained fame as a member of the duo behind Pretentious Movie Reviews, and he had a killer cameo in Brahman Naman.