Aks is not emotionally satisfying

Arthur J Pais

"Let's go home, Dad, let's go home."

A 10-year-old kid kept nudging his father in a New York theatre. The kid was disturbed by some of the bizarre scenes in Aks - The Reflection.

As the Saturday evening show got over and people stormed out of the theatre, many teenagers too were heard complaining that the film was too disturbing. It's not a date film, some said, adding they would ask their friends to skip it.

"The video should be out in a few days," said one teenager. "I don't want my friends to waste their money to watch it in a theatre."

Adults had mixed reactions, too.

"I enjoyed Face-Off," said a graduate student referring to the 1997 hit starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. "But somehow, I cannot imagine a desi film with similar theme, however well-made it is."

Aks was technically brilliant, he felt. "But it is not emotionally satisfying."

Many moviegoers in Britain and North America seem to think on the same lines.

For the film opened with a tepid weekend take with $ 116,080 on 24 screens in North America where the previous Amitabh film, Ek Rishtaa - The Bond Of Love had opened with a reasonable $ 210,000 on the same number of screens.

Given the usual 50 per cent attrition rate for most films in North America, Aks could end its run here with just about $ 200,000.

In the United Kingdom, it grabbed about $ 70,000 on 16 screens. Comfortably placed right behind Aks was Lagaan, which seized about $ 65,000 in its sixth weekend.

With a gross about $ 650,000 in Britain (and still counting) and about $ 900,000 in America (where it ends its run), Lagaan is the film to beat this year.