/> GULAAL hasn't exactly sprayed color at the box office if the collections over the week gone by are any indication. The opening was quite low all over with around 30% occupancy.

Though such opening was pretty much on the cards due to the film's theme and star cast, one expected (especially after seeing the high voltage promos of the film), that the overall narrative too will be quite powerful.

However, that was not the case to be because while the first half demonstrated director Anurag Kashyap's strength once again, the second half meandered hence resulting in loss of interest amongst the audience.

As a result, even though the reviews have been favorable at most place, the word of mouth has been lukewarm due to which there hasn't been much pick up in collections.

The situation of JAI VEERU (Fardeen Khan, Kunal Khemu) has been hardly impressive either. Let alone bad reviews coming it's way, the film hasn't even been reviewed by majority which has resulted in total ignorance about the film.

Though there have been reports that early release of the film in some circuits on Holi has seen favorable response from certain single screen theaters, if one looks at the multiplexes, audience footfall has been hardly impressive. It seems like yet another film that would add some more red in the box office report card of the year so far.

In comparison, 13B and DHOONDTE REH JAAOGE, which were released a week earlier, came with a good screen count (over 500 each) which ensured that collections that came in were decent.

While 13B netted around 5.5 crores at the box office, DHOONDTE REH JAAOGE too crossed the 5 crores mark. Face saving collections for both the films means that they will end up as a coverage affair at the least if the second week turns out to be reasonable well.

13B was better appreciated of the two films even though it was meant for an audience that wants it's movies to be a ‘hatke' affair.

As for the third release of the week, KARMA AND HOLI, no one actually cared. A trade disaster, this has only added up to the flops of Sushmita Sen in the recent years. The film is hardly in the running in the second week and there are absolutely no chances of it doing anything better even as it arrives on DVDs.

This brings one to the five films releasing this weekend – ALOO CHAAT, FIRAAQ, STRAIGHT, BARAH AANA and LOTTERY.

ALOO CHAAT (Aftab Shivdasani, Aamna Shariff, Linda Arsenio) - a light hearted feel good romantic comedy, is the only quintessential commercial film of the week and is expected to have audiences warming up to it while taking a decent (~40-50%) start.

However, it's the zero promotion factor that is hampering the prospects of STRAIGHT. It's a pity since with Vinay Pathak and Gul Panag in the lead roles, makers could have opted for creating some buzz at the least for their product.

For Naseeruddin Shah fans, there is a lot to rejoice though since two of his films are releasing on the same day - BARAH AANA and FIRAAQ. Yet again, there isn't any hype or publicity, though for FIRAAQ, some tremendous word of mouth is being generated through the special screenings and multiple awards that it has won internationally.

As for Abhijeet Sawant's launch pad flick LOTTERY, no one is talking about it and it will be an achievement if the film even manages to find a multiplex release.