Paltan Takes On Laila Majnu

The desperation to score a hit is making the team behind this week’s release the love story LailaMajnu featuring tow newcomers who are worlds apart from the Laila and Majnu that Ranjeeta Kaur and Rishi Kapoor played in H S Rawail’s 1976 released Laila Majnu, indulge in strange P R tactics.

A few days ago Anurag Kashyap who is a close friend of the Laila Majnu director Sajid Ali ‘s brother Imtiaz Ali (nepotism on another level altogether), hosted a screening of Laila Majnu for fellow-directors who turned up for the screening for the sole purpose of praising the film to the skies.

A major director who didn’t attend the screening says ” I saw no point in the exercise because the audience doesn’t care what we directors think. So why indulge in irrelevance?”

Trade analysts say the desperation to score doesn’t help the film.

“Imtiaz Ali is promoting his brother Sajid Ali‘s Laila Majnu. It isn’t helping the film one bit because the film stars two newcomers in whom the audience has no interest. Moreover, Imtiaz’slast two films were massive flops. He is not helping his brother’s film by becoming its face,” says a trade pundit.

According to a trade pundit, the interest level in J P Dutta’s Paltan which releases alongside Laila Majnu is much higher.

” J P Dutta has a proven track record for delivering war films. Paltan comes at a time when the spirit of nationalism is at the highest ebb. It is definitely the film audiences want to see this week,” says a trade expert.