LoC-Kargil
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Akshaye Khanna, Abhishek Bachchan and others
Director: J.P. Dutta
Plus points: Great camerawork
Weak points: Too long and overdrawn, poor music, half-baked characterization, documentarish
Box-Office verdict: Flop
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Gracy Singh
Director: Raj Kumar Hirani
Plus points: Fantastic situational comedy, outstanding performances by Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani
Weak points: Weak music
Bo Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Gracy Singh
Director: Raj Kumar Hirani
Plus points: Fantastic situational comedy, outstanding performances by Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani
Weak points: Weak music
Box-Office verdict: Average
DIL PARDESI HO GAYAA
Cast: Amrish Puri, Introducing Kapil Jhaveri and Saloni Aswanui
Director: Saawan Kumar
Plus points: Patriotic theme
Weak points: Pseudo-patriotic, poor execution and music, lack of face value
Box-Office verdict: Flop
TEHZEEB
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Urmila Matondkar, Arjun Rampal, Dia Mirza
Director: Khalid Mohamed
Plus points: Superlative performance by Shabana Azmi, dramatic Urmila-Shabana confrontations, catchy music
Weak points: Songs resemble item numbers, sluggish pace post-interval
Box-Office verdict: FlopTEHZEEB
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Urmila Matondkar, Arjun Rampal, Dia Mirza
Director: Khalid Mohamed
Plus points: Superlative performance by Shabana Azmi, dramatic Urmila-Shabana confrontations, catchy music
Weak points: Songs resemble item numbers, sluggish pace post-interval
Box-Office verdict: Flop
KAL HO NAA HO
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Jaya Bachchan
Director: Nikhil Advani
Plus points: Foot-tapping music, memorable performances, splendid visuals and a well-penned dialogue track
Weak points: Predictable plot and song situations, too long and weepy in the second half
Box-Office Verdict: Semi-Hit (Hit in Mumbai & Overseas)
JANASHEEN
Cast: Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan, Celina Jaitley, Pinky Harwani, Kashmira Shah
Director: Feroz Khan
Plus points: Great locales, music, plenty of oomph, a strong performance by Feroz Khan
Weak points: Weak plot and performances by the leading cast
BoJANASHEEN
Cast: Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan, Celina Jaitley, Pinky Harwani, Kashmira Shah
Director: Feroz Khan
Plus points: Great locales, music, plenty of oomph, a strong performance by Feroz Khan
Weak points: Weak plot and performances by the leading cast
Box-Office Verdict: Averagex
OUT OF CONTROL
Cast: Ritesh Deshmukh, Brande Roderick, Hrish*taa Bhatt
Directors: Apurva Asrani, Ramanjit Juneja
Plus points: A sexy and attractive looking Brande, excellent production values, one or two foot-tapping numbers
Weak points: Incompetently executed and written
Box-Office Verdict: Flop
WAISA BHI HOTA HAI PART II
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Prashant Narayan, Sandhya Mridul
Director: Shashanka Ghosh
Plus points: Some melodious numbers, a strong performance by Prashant, a bit wacky and unconventional
Weak points: Badly executed, routine gangster theme
Box-Office Verdict: Disaster
JODI KYA BANAI WAH WAH RAMJI
Cast: Amarr Upadhyay, Reema Sen, Paresh Rawal
Director: Raman Kumar (but he withdrew his credit and disassociated himself from the film)
Plus points: A sincere effort by Paresh Rawal
Weak points: Incomplete, continuity jerks, contrived humour, bad music, poor performances
Box-Office Verdict: Flop
CHOKHER BALI (Bengali with English subtitles)
Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Raima Sen, Prasanjit Chatterjee
Director: Rituparno Ghosh
Plus points: A class act by Raima Sen, brilliantly shot, subtle emotions
Weak points: Too long and overdrawn, Aishwarya unimpressive, wavering screenplay
Box-Office Verdict: Flop