The King of Kings review – Charles Dickens retelling of the Jesus story does a serviceable job

The famous author tells his son and their cat the story of Jesus in this mixed-bag family animation, voiced by an impressive cast This syrupy cartoon account of the life of Jesus (voiced by Oscar Isaac) is narrated, with consummate weirdness, by Charles Dickens (Kenneth Branagh). It’s in fact based on a story Dickens wrote for his children (and wasn’t published until 1934, decades after his death). The idea is that Dickens is telling the story of the New Testament to his young son Walter (Roman Griffin Davis) and Walter’s impish cat, explaining to the King Arthur-obsessed Walter how Jesus was the real King of Kings and all that. And so we see Walter and Charles, in their mid-19th-century garb, wandering through scenes of JC’s life nearly two thousand years earlier, from the nativity to the crucifixion – much like Scrooge and his spectral buddies in A Christmas Carol as they wander through past, present and future Christmases. It rather drags out what is already a pretty long running ...

Sikandar’s shows CANCELLED in several cinemas; replaced with All The Best Pandya, L2 Empuraan, The Diplomat; Gaiety-Galaxy INCREASES shows due to INSANE public demand

The Salman Khan-starrer Sikandar has failed to entice the viewers as intended. The word of mouth is very poor and though there was growth on the second day of release, the trend has made it clear that the film will suffer a fall once the holiday season gets over. Realizing this aspect, the theatres have begun to reduce the showcasing of Sikandar and replace its shows with successful holdover releases.

There were reports that Sikandar’s shows were being cancelled due to no audience. A trade source told Bollywood Hungama, “We didn’t find any instance of the show getting cancelled in Mumbai. There were shows where the number of viewers was in single digits but on the first two days, no show got cancelled due to no audience. However, the same happened in Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore etc., especially in areas where there was little or no Eid effect.”

Kiritbhai T Vaghasia, who runs The Friday Cinema multiplex in Surat, said, “Not a single ticket was sold for the 9:00 am and 10:00 am shows on Monday. I was hoping there would be more audience for this film on Eid. Instead, we sold more tickets on Sunday, the day of the release. I guess the word of mouth spread faster, resulting in such dismal numbers on Monday.”

Due to such a response to Sikandar in his cinema hall, he had to reduce the number of shows of Sikandar. Kirtibhai revealed, “I replaced two-night shows with All The Best Pandya and Umbarro. Both these Gujarati films are getting decent footfalls. Surprisingly, Umbarro is in its ninth week and is still attracting an audience.”

All The Best Pandya, which was released on March 14, has been running successfully across Gujarat and also Mumbai. In Inox Raghuleela Kandivali in Mumbai, Sikandar’s 9:30 pm show has been replaced from April 1 with the Gujarati movie. From April 2, the cinema hall has removed 5:30 pm of the Salman Khan film and will play Umbarro instead.

Mohanlal’s L2 Empuraan is also getting steady footfalls in several cinemas. In Cinepolis Seawoods and PVR Orion Mall Panvel, the 9:40 pm and 5:30 pm shows of Sikandar were axed and replaced with this Malayalam film. Meanwhile, in South Mumbai’s elite Inox Nariman Point and Metro Inox, the John Abraham-starrer The Diplomat will be played at 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm respectively instead of Sikandar.

Amid all these cancellations and replacements, Mumbai’s iconic Gaiety-Galaxy or G7 multiplex stands as an exception. Since Sunday, March 30, Sikandar has been playing in its two biggest cinema halls – the 991-seater Gaiety and 818-seater Galaxy. From March 31, the Salman Khan-starrer’s shows were also accommodated in the 105-seater Gossip. L2 Empuraan’s Hindi version was earlier playing in both Gossip as well as the 255-seater Gemini. The Mohanlal film will now be showcased only in Gemini.

Despite so many shows, Sikandar still managed to run house-full on the day of Eid in this cinema complex. Salman Khan’s films have always worked big time in Gaiety-Galaxy but for Sikandar to do so well, despite its underperformance in other areas, once again indicates that Salman Khan’s stardom is intact, especially among the mass audience.

Also Read: Salman Khan promises action and emotions in Sikandar; says, “When you see the film, you will understand that this trailer was nothing”



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