Smile...Comedy is king!
ZIYA US SALAM
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This year, guffaws from the galleries are making serious business sense. From the double entendres of "Kya Kool Hai Hum" to the subtleties of "7-1/2 Phere" via "No Entry", it has been raining laughter.
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Loud, over-the-top, outrageous, the critics panned them... but the masses were queuing up at the box office!
THE MORE BRAZEN THE BETTER This is the mantra for box office success this season. Here is a still from "Kya Kool Hai Hum".
At a time of Nero worshippers, the Box Office deity is awake, alive. The distributors, the exhibitors are happy. The cinemagoers cannot get that smile off their faces. Some are giggling, others jiving. Things have never been better for the feel-good brigade. The tragic-romantic hero is dead. Long live comedy! Yes, the year 2005, almost three-quarter way into history, has had a memorable date with comedy. From Tushaar to Amitabh Bachchan, from Anil Kapoor to Salman Khan, everyone has paraded his stuff, winked, and walked away with box office glory.
It all started with "Kya Kool Hai Hum", Sangeet Sivan's much-sneered attempt at evoking a laugh or two. The jokes were the ribald kind, the visuals unabashedly so. The actors, led by Tushaar Kapoor, were game. The film, derided by all for double entendres and sexually base shots, did a cool business of over Rs.17 crores. This with a starting line-up including Tushaar, Riteish and Isha Koppikar, who between them cannot help sell a hundred tickets at the box office.
Mocking at morality
Mocking at pundits, scoffing at upholders of cine morality, the film had it all: self-love, same-sex bond, simulation of the adult act. And a guy pretending to be involved with a mannequin. Not to forget a doctor with a "ball therapy".
The masses did not seem to mind it at all. Many came back for a second helping. And the film was certified the biggest hit of the year!
Not to be left behind, Anees Bazmi who had in the past given us "Pyar To Hona Hi Tha", tried his hand at comedy with "No Entry". The film, on the shelves for quite some time, finally had a low-key release. Bazmi need not have worried. Almost two months down the line, it shows no signs of fading away. Starring Anil Kapoor, back to the ribaldry of "Andaaz", Salman Khan and Fardeen Khan, it had a time-tested formula for success: The devoted housewife and the husband's glad eye. And the street-smart dancer with a heart of gold! Of course it came laced with some double meaning dialogue and situational humour. Loud, over-the-top, outrageous. The critics found all expressions to pan the film. They need not have bothered. The masses were not reading them. Instead, they were queuing up to see the film, which has done a business of Rs.5 crores in the Delhi-U.P. territory so far and is touted to touch Rs.10 crore, with estimates going up to Rs.80 crores all over India.
If these two out and out comic shows have had the masses slapping their thighs and the distributors-exhibitors laughing all the way to the bank, things have been much the same with David Dhawan's madcap "Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya" and Shaad Ali's "Bunty Aur Babli". Ali's film, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek with Aishwarya Rai in the famous "Kajrare Kajrare" number, did a net business of nearly Rs.4.5 crore in the Delhi-U.P. circuit with the all-India gross poised to touch 35 crores!
Incidentally, this film too did not get the classes swaying its way from day one. Then, word spread that the film had nice comic exchanges between Rani Mukerji and Abhishek as youngsters on the run. "Kajrare... " did the rest, and soon Abhishek Bachchan had logged in a rarity: a solo hero hit!
Salman's smiling
If "Bunty Aur Babli" capitalised on the mid-summer vacation time, "Maine Pyar... " did exactly the opposite with the same results! The film was not allowed to be screened at some theatres in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh following the disclosure of Salman Khan's alleged underworld links. A section of the audiences was angry, it was reported. The newspaper reports of the underworld links coincided with the film's release. It deterred no fan of Salman Khan. They came in droves to watch him pair up with Dhawan again. The film, another outrageous plot of a man happy to be with girls without any matrimonial commitment, sent the masses into splits. The box office registers sounded the sweet tinkle of cash. The film collected a net of Rs.3.5 crores in Delhi-U.P. with the all India gross collections going up to Rs.30 crores.
And barely had the laughter died down than we saw R. Madhavan making a comeback to Hindi cinema with "Ramji Londonwale". A tale of a cook from Bihar finding his feet in England, it did not exactly set the box office on fire, but gave a handful some nice smiles, some warmth. Which is much more than one can say for the intolerable "Bachke Rehna Re Baba" which tried to mix sex and comedy with disastrous results. Starring Rekha with Mallika Sherawat, the film attracted attention for debasing art, and taking comedy to a new low. The masses, already happy with "Kya Kool... ", etc., shied away - a woman with a sex toy was too much.
The same fate awaited Kamal Haasan's "Mumbai Xpress" which was derailed despite Haasan's trademark wisecracks. And amidst all this, Irrfan tried his hand at deadpan humour to critical acclaim in "7-1/2 Phere". A nice take on some of the serials being made for the small screen, this Isshaan Trivedi film was noted for subtle humour, and the refreshing absence of double meaning dialogue. The other day Chandan Arora's "Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh" hit the theatres with the tagline "Love comes in all sizes". Enticement enough for cine goers on the lookout for humour in the age-old triangle. Good enough, did one say? Well, no. Lined up this Diwali is David Dhawan's "Shaadi Number One" with Sanjay Dutt joining hands with Zayed Khan, Fardeen Khan and Sharman Joshi. Then there is Priyadarshan ready with his wares. There is a sequel to "Kya Kool... " too. Let Nero sleep, there is reason enough to smile.
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