May 22, 2013
Much awaited Jimmy Sheirgill film is a poeor fare overseas. The collections are shockingly low for the Punjabi superstar who has had a very good box office record in Punjabi Cinema.
Rangeelay has opened to mixed reviews from critics and audience too have given mixed feedback, overall giving it practically no chance at the box office.
Now, it's not that we like to criticize a film that doesn't work but we love Jimmy Sheirgill, Navaniat Singh (Director) and Dheeraj Rattan (Writer), and we would like to introspect for them and find th causes for Rangeelay's poor performance.
1.) EROS Entertainment's Poor Marketing and Distribution - One of India's biggest production house but it has an extremely poor record in Punjabi Cinema. None of their film has been a certified hit in Punjabi Cinema. They basically don't consider Punjabi films to be an important asset in their film calendar (60+ films per year). Now, here's the problem, Jimmy Sheirgill has signed a four film production/distribution deal with EROS and the response has been extremely poor for the first three films that released so far (Taur Mittran Di, Saadi Love Story and now Rangeelay). This writer was contacted by atleast three different distributors from Canada, USA and Europe who wanted to promote and release Rangeelay in their respective territories but were not getting any response from EROS. Despite this writer's efforts, the film could not be promoted well in overseas territories. Considering a huge market like Australia, Canada and USA, the film made a poor 1 Cr over the 1st weekend. Disappointing!
Tip - Jimmy Sheirgill, you should join hands with Speed Records or get TIPS back to Punjabi Cinema who have an unparalleled record in Punjabi Cinema (Dil Apna Punjabi, Mel Karade Rabba and Jihne Mera Dil Luteya)
2.) Jimmy Sheirgill's not so positive attitude - Agreed, Jimmy Sheirgill has contributed hugely to the Punjabi film industry by giving hits like Mel Karade Rabba, Dharti, Tera Mera Ki Rishta, Munde UK De but a star's most loved quality is his humbleness and gratitude that has been missing in Jimmy Sheirgill for sometime now. It first felt like that during the promotions of Dharti, when he gave several interviews overseas that made it look like he was doing a big one sided favour for Punjabi's. We do understand that he was going through health issues (Back injury, etc) but you can't survive in entertainment industry if you are not good friends with Media, Promoters, etc. More recently, during promotions of Rangeelay, Jimmy Sheirgill mentioned that he does Punjabi movies for fun and would not like to do anything serious in them. Please Jimmy! We do like to get entertained but only in movies, otherwise we like to take our films seriously.
Tip - You have your own PR team to advice you but here's our request. Please be humble and welcoming in your media interviews, whatever the platform is, whether it is a small radio station or a local tv station in a foreign country. We really love you and want you to be as humble as you were when you started!
3.) Navaniat Singh and Dheeraj Rattan - Now, these are two names that are highly respected by film lovers but they need to work harder now. Earlier when you started, there were no Anurag Singh (Jatt and Juliet), Smeep Kang (Carry On Jatta), Rajan Aggarwal (Daddy Cool Munde Fool), Anugrah Bohrey (Best Of Luck), Amberdeep Singh (Singh Vs Kaur, Jatt and Juliet 2) but now there is a lot of competition and only the best will come out on the top. You can't be fooling the audience by showing the same old tried and tested formula's. Get innovative and show us more meaningful yet entertaining cinema.
Tip - Hire good AD's Gugnu sir, your continuity mistakes, camera crew in film shot is such a shame for your caliber. You can do certainly better than that. Remember your first film Tera Mera Ki Rishta, it is still the most technically correct film of yours. Dheeraj Rattan, you should hire a few assistant writers now. You have already proved that you are the top and the best writer of Punjabi Cinema presently (or maybe ever) but now you need to take lesser assignments and build up good quality again.
4.) Music Man Jaidev Kumar - When a Gippy Grewal, Sharry Mann or a Diljit Dosanjh is loved by one and all, why would you want to bring in singers like Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala to ruin the party. Agreed, these are romantic comedies (Drama, action, etc), but then you need to be innovative and introduce some melodious Punjabi voices. It's not us, its your own audience that has rejected you music twice this year!
Tip - Charan Ahuja was a great musician until you came. You were a great musician, until Jatinder Shah came. This is a circle that keeps going, we respect you but we expect you to deliver. Better luck next time!
5.) Honestly, we can go on and on but let's make it interesting. You tell us the more reasons's why Rangeelay didn't work?
