Emraan Hashmi’s ‘Raja Natwarlal’ opens below average

Actor Emraan Hashmi’s latest release, “Raja Natwarlal”, has reportedly opened to tepid business despite opening on Ganesh Chaturthi holiday.

The movie has screenplay by Narender Kumar, story by Parveez Shaikh and dialogues by Sanjay Masoom. The movie stars actress Humaima Malick opposite Emraan Hashmi with Paresh Rawal and Kay Kay Menon in crucial roles. Tamil composer Yuvan Shankar made his debut as a music composer with this movie and lyrics by Irshad Kamil.

Directed by Kunal Deshmukh of “Jannat” fame, this Bollywood crime comedy is produced by UTV Motion Pictures. The movie’s Friday box-office collection with about 25% occupancy stood at Rs 6.10 crore.

Box Office India reported that the film did well in Mumbai and Gujarat circuits on account of Ganesh Chaturthi holiday. However, the collection from rest of India was below average and is not expected to pick up during the weekend also due to the negative reviews.

Rajeev Masand of IBN rated the movie 2 stars out of 5 saying the movie is not as entertaining as an average Emraan Hashmi thriller nor it is a complex thriller. Film critic Anupama Chopra gave the movie 2.5 stars out of 5 saying “Raja Natwarlal” isn’t actively awful but neither does it sparkle.

Emraan Hashmi’s “Raaz 3” remains his top-grosser with Rs 10.47 crore. “Raja Natwarlal” has been affected by “Rabhasa” in Telangana where Hashmi’s movies score well. Previous weeks’ releases “Mardaani” and “Singham Returns” had a decent first week and are expected to dominate over “Raja Natwarlal” in this week.

Meanwhile Hashmi was seen praying for the success of the film at Ajmer Sharif dargah. The movie certainly needs some prayers.