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Business, as usual

It was a mixed bag for Hindi movies as they courted flops and hits in equal measure during the first half of the year. ZIYA US SALAM

A PANORAMA Stills from "Guru"

It could not have been timed better. Just when the film industry was crying over two mega flops from Yashraj Films, unsung (pun unintended) Himesh Reshammiya and our own Dharmendra sprung a pleasant surprise. Reshammiya’s “Aap Kaa Surroor

Apne

” was supposed to provide his formidable critics with enough ammunition to last a lifetime. Instead, it sent his fans, even more formidable, into raptures. When he sang, they whistled. When he spoke, they clapped. In the bargain ensuring that “Aap Ka Surroor” got the kind of initial the best of films seek but seldom get.

Dharmendra’s much-awaited “Apne” was on predictable lines: the die-hard believed that their hero had enough gumption to still pack a punch in his great family union film. In the age of nuclear families and supremacy of the individual, he talked of some old fashioned virtues. And managed to strike a chord. Like Reshammiya’s film, “Apne”, directed by the Deol clan favourite Anil Sharma too hit the bull’s eye at the end of the first half of the year. Together, the two films restored sunshine and smiles in an industry which had sunk into depression following the colossal and wholly unexpected twin failures of Yashraj Films’ “Tara Rum Pum” and “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”. While “Tara Rum Pum”, directed by Sidharth Anand, at least got a superb initial, Shaad Ali Sehgal’s “Jhoom…” was as big a wash-out as any in the recent record of the illustrious banner.

So, the first half of the year has had two mega hits and two mega flops. Well, it is not as simple. There have been some inexplicable flops just as there have been some surprise hits. Among the latter has been Anurag Basu’s “Metro” that linear tale of multiple relationships in urban India. Riding on Pritam’s super hit music, and backed by the hype surrounding Shilpa Shetty, the film has done very good business in the A-centres, particularly among the multiplex frequenting audience. And Basu is suddenly his own man, not just a Mahesh Bhatt protégé.

Aap Kaa Surroor

Sagar Ballary’s experience has been equally pleasant. His first directorial venture, “Bheja Fry”, a low cost, star-less venture, sent the cinemagoers into peals of laughter. And the producers laughing all the way to the bank. A few notches in the box office collections but quite appreciated was Rahul Dholakia whose quite delayed “Parzania” – largely in English – got a fine initial before tapering off. On the same lines was the experience of Jagmohan Mundhra whose “Provoked” released in Hindi and English both, and surprisingly did fine business in Hindi too as the masses identified with the tale of a marital violence victim.

While “Provoked”, despite the off-beat subject, at least had Aishwarya Rai to guarantee some business in the first week, Madhur Bhandarkar’s “Traffic Signal”, had no such luck. Not a star of note, the music not quite a rage, yet the film worked at the box office, confounding critics who gave good reviews but did not foresee great business.

Salam-e-Ishq

Two other films acquitted themselves with credit at the turnstiles. There was Balki with “Cheeni Kum”, a sensitively handled tale of love post-60 that found takers at the multiplexes. There was Reema Kagti whose “Honeymoon Travels” evoked a few laughs, and surprised the doubters.

These films, however, were largely niche ventures, very urban-centric. But the film that really stirred the masses before the twin success of “Apne” and “Aap Kaa…” was Vipul Shah’s “Namastey London”, a rare all-India hit. The Akshay Kumar-starrer, a take on second-generation NRIs, rode to thumping success on its hit music and loud humour, easily dwarfing the collections of “The Namesake” – Tabu’s subtle film directed by Mira Nair – that released the same week. Incidentally, another niche film released around the same time, “Water”, completing Deepa Mehta’s trilogy of elements, got critical acclaim but little else.

“Namastey London” merely continued what was actually a fine beginning to the year with Mani Ratnam’s “Guru” sailing to success in most centres, except the South. The Abhi-Ash-starrer, released before their marriage, started off tremendously well, but could not sustain the tempo. More or less like “Shootout at Lokhandwala”, Apoorva Lakhia’s film that too opened to superb response.

Namastey London.

However, it was not all release-and-reap for the distributors. Much talked about films like “Risk”, Vinod Khanna’s comeback film, “Eklavya”, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s multi-starrer, “Salam-e-Ishq”, another-hig-profile starrer, and Ramgopal Varma’s “Nishabd” disappeared faster than they released. Even films on real-life cases, including “Undertrial” and “Miss Anara” failed. That was expected, keeping in mind the crassness of the ventures. What was disappointing was the failure of Bhavna Talwar’s beautiful “Dharm”, Ganesh Acharya’s low-key “Swami” and Amrit Sagar’s “1971”. The films just proved that you need more than just a dash of class to conquer the box office.

Beyond the hits and flops, the first half of the year posed a constant question: when will the industry organise itself? While films like “Eklavya”, “Tara Rum Pum” and “Jhoom…” were solo releases, in other weeks there was a clutter of choices with up to eight films being released the same week, followed or preceded by lull. A case in point was the simultaneous release of “Red Swastik”, “Mera Pehla Pehla Pyar”, “Dharm”, “Swami” and “The Train”. The exhibitors have their problems, the producers their financial constraints, the availability of theatres is another block in the jigsaw puzzle. The solution defies all….

One in the list A still from “Provoked”.

The first half of the year has been notable for the delayed arrival of many films, long awaited, either because of the merits of their directors, stars or even the topicality of the subject.

However, most of them bit the dust at the box office.

Here are some films that managed a release this year after being in the cans for long:

“Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamana”, starring Rekha and Mahima Choudhary.

“Undertrial”, Rajpal Yadav’s take on a real-life incident.

“Anwar”, director Manish Jha’s promised film.

“Nehle Pe Dehla”, Sanjay Dutt-Saif Ali Khan’s moth-eaten venture.

“Big Brother”, Sunny Deol’s film, the first to be signed by actress Priyanka Chopra, much before her other films that have come and gone over the past three years.

“Red Swastik”, Vinod Pande’s attempt to revive sagging fortunes.

“Sarhad Paar”, Raman Kumar’s Sanjay Dutt-Tabu starrer.

“Yatra”, Goutam Ghose’s controversial film with music by Khayyam.

“Miss Anara”, so many directors came and went, the film suffered, finally released in June and disappeared. Now add “Water”, “Provoked” and “Parzania” to the list and you know the cinemagoers have accommodated many dated ventures this year.

ZIYA US SALAM

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