Box office offers mix bag this Friday

With three different films from three different genres coming out this week, viewers are spoiled for choice. They can take a pick from "Joker", a sci-fi drama, comedy "I M 24" or children's film "Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid" as all are releasing Friday.

Film editor-turned-director Shirish Kunder's "Joker", starring actors Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha, is the story of Agastya (Akshay), a researcher probing the existence of aliens in the universe, who returns to his small little native village with his wife Diva (Sonakshi).

The out of luck Agastya takes it upon himself to put his crazy village on the global map and continues with his alien exploration from there. While his plan gets the village attention from across the world, it also comes with a great deal of risk.

Jointly produced by UTV Motion Pictures, Akshay Kumar's Hari Om Productions and Farah Khan-Shirish Kunder's Three's Company Productions Pvt, the film also stars actors Shreyas Talpade and Minnisha Lamba.

Releasing alongside "Joker" is actor-director Saurabh Shukla's "I M 24", featuring actors Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, Neha Dhupia, Manjari Phadnis and Saurabh himself.

The funny tales revolves around Shubendu (Rajat), a 42-year-old honest, balding writer who is tempted to lie when he falls in love with a 22-year-old girl (Manjari). They meet through the Internet, so he gets away with his lies about his age and appearance. His roommate Gagan (Ranvir) helps him cook stories.

What follows is a hilarious ride of lies, cover-ups, goof-ups and contradicting tales. Shubendu begins enjoying it. But at some point, the madness has got to stop. The question is, when?

After the success of "I Am Kalam", director Nila Madhab Panda's "Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid" is another film with a social message.

The film is largely based on the issue of female foeticide, but has been treated as an adventure thriller and journey film.

Produced by Sushil Kumar Agrawal of Ultra Distributors Pvt. Ltd., it features child actors Lehar Khan and Krishang Trivedi as protagonists along with "I Am Kalam" star Harsh Mayar.

Parvin Dabas, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Rahul Singh, Suhasini Mulay and V.M. Badola are also part of the cast.