When announced, Imran Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer 'Break Ke Baad' sounded like a fun film. However, as it reaches closer to its release, the buzz and hype haven't been to the same level. The reason is simple. Imran has already been seen in another romcom 'I Hate Luv Storys' earlier this year. Many are of the opinion that the film, though not similar in theme, has a strikingly close look and feel which imparts a sense of deja vu. Also, the songs have a classy feel to them and don't belong to chartbuster vareity, hence not quite enticing the masses.

Moreover, the promotion - though quite good in quantity - isn't really terrific from quality perspective. This is where one has to compliment Karan Johar for the way he has backed his newcomer directors like Siddharth Malhotra (We Are Family), Puneet Malhotra (I Hate Luv Storys), Rensil D'Silva (Kurbaan) and Ayan Mukherjee (Wake Up Sid) in the past. In case of 'Break Ke Baad', one has hardly seen most associated with the film, whether the makers or the actors, go the whole hog in giving their film just the kind of fillip that they deserved.

Perhaps they were following the Yashraj formula of the film being entrusted to do all the talking but as of now, all these factors combined together mean that 'Break Ke Baad' won't quite have a bumper start that Imran's 'I Hate Luv Storys' or Deepika's 'Housefull' had enjoyed. The film would mainly be patronised by college going audience to begin with and only later would it find bigger audience if at all a positive word of mouth starts spreading out. Till then it is a wait and watch situation with expectation of a 50% odd opening mark for the film.

There were also talks of Barbara Mori's dubbed version of 'Spanish Beauty' releasing at select theaters across the country last weekend. However, the release plans were changed at the last moment and now the film arrives this week. However, as before, the film doesn't stand much chance at the box office, what with Censors further cutting the very USP of the film i.e. it's steamy scenes featuring Ms. Mori.

One does have good hopes from 'Allah Ke Banday' as a film that would be a quality outing. However, lack of star power coupled with a serious/gritty theme means that the film would struggle to gain an opening which would give it a comfort feel from the box office standpoint. At maximum, this Faruk Kabir film can be expected to find some decent foot falls coming it's way with some good word of mouth since those who have had a dekko of the film have positive things to say about it.

In addition, there is a decade old film of Sunny Deol, 'Khuda Kasam', which would be hitting some select screens in scattered pockets of the country. Expect no fireworks here.