The film fraternity rarely showers praises on films they’re not associated with, but Sriram Raghavan’s JOHNNY GADDAAR seems to be an exception. Although the film has under-performed at the box-office, several respected film-makers are extolling praises, calling it one of the finest films to hit the Indian screens in a long, long time.

“It’s an incredible film,” NO SMOKING director Anurag Kashyap tells me, “One of the finest thrillers to have come out of Bollywood.” Madhur Bhandarkar cannot stop praising the film. “It swept me off my feet. Sriram has done a fantastic job. And Neil is a star. Not only is he blessed with great looks, the level of performance is rare for a first-timer,” Madhur states.

Meanwhile, Adlabs is hopeful that the business would gather momentum in days to come since the word of mouth is very positive. “October 2 [Gandhi Jayanti] is a holiday and the business should show an upswing,” an Adlabs personnel told this writer.