Some more worry
Everyone from Dilip Kumar and Rakesh Roshan and Dr. B. R. Chopra to Yash Chopra took the news of the shooting of Chhota Rajan as very grim news. They said that they were not so scared of Chhota Rajan who according to reliable sources had some close connections with filmmakers and whose money too was involved in the making of some big films. They are now "really scared" of the "big D" who they feel is the only threat to them, both to filmmakers and stars. Things are getting worse after the shooting of Chhota Rajan. The bid D’s gangs are continuously sending out threats to all the big names in the industry demanding money on a do or die basis. The police are trying their best to take all the precautions for the safety of soft-hearted film fraternity but the fraternity is still living on the fringes of fear. They don’t know what will happen when and why. It is the why of the whole thing that is worrying them the most.

The other threat
Some observations and some questions which will make a very strong difference to the future of films.
More and more theatres are getting threats from the people who once thronged the same theatres. These are different kinds of threats. The people are not satisfied with the kind of films that are made, the way they are made, the way the stars are letting them down consistently.

The unbelievable prices the stars are charging without any reason! Like all the distributors unanimously believe that the only star who can bring in the audience on the first three crucial days is Hrithik Roshan, like he proved in Fiza, no one else. They have seen him in Kaho Na... and Fiza and men women and children have fallen head over heels in love with him. It will soon be time for Hrithik to face the most crucial test of his career in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir. The watchers and experts at the box-office are now eagerly awaiting the release of Aditya Chopra’s Mohabbattein with Amitabh, Shah Rukh, Aishwarya and six new comers. Amitabh it is said is so carried away by the film that he openly calls it his next Deewar, Shah Rukh Khan who needs a very big break, nothing but a very big hit and Aishwarya Rai too needs a big boost. There is a too much at stake in this film. On stake also the careers of six new comers and Aditya himself.

A graveyard of dreams
I have just returned from a graveyard after saying farewell to a friend who I felt, believed had loved me till she bluntly told another friend " Oh no, of course not, I do not love him," she said. And shattered me a millions times in a moment. Her rejection had the power to kill. But my love had the power to pardon her. I pardoned her for her grievous sin of trying to kill me. She died without her knowing that my love for her could never die Because it was love gifted to me by God, the God of love I smiled as I looked at her once angelic face, my angel my everything.

And I left the graveyard and gradually walked to the nearby Natraj Studios, Oh my God! Was this the Natraj Studios I used to know. No it could not be that Natraj Studios where I had first stepped in some twenty-seven years ago. Those were the glorious days when giants like Dr. Ramanand Sagar, Pramod Chakravorty, F. C. Mehra , the Late Atma Ram and Shakti Samanta made films, big films, ambitious films, colourful films. I walk in. There are just two empty floors left There is no activity, no excitement, no enthusiasm There was just mud destruction, demolition everywhere I felt the devil had just paid it a quick visit And ruined it all. I fled the studio which had turned (or was slowly turning0 into a graveyard, a graveyard in which were buried some of the greatest dreams, some of the loftiest ambitions. I couldn’t take it any more. I wondered whether I could visit this graveyard again ever...

Those talented girls
Please, for God sake, please don’t think that I am talking about a particular community, a community that I have a soft corner for and that I was gloriously happy when some of the most talented girls working in Hindi films belonged to that community. It was a sheer coincidence that they all belonged to that community and gave the other girls from other communities a massive complex, gave the film makers and other stars all the reasons to worry about the rise and rise of these girls— these girls from the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the land of Dnyaneshwar Tukaram and Balasaheb Thackeray. These “ghaati girls” (that’s how the rest of the world referred to them) went from glory to glory, took several strides and reached positions to envy, positions every other girl would love to reach but couldn’t because they didn’t have the talent to make it big and threaten the other girls on talent alone.

Standing head over shoulders among all the other girls was Madhuri Dixit, a beautiful girl who was more than just talented. She was several steps ahead above all the other girls of even her own community. The rest took their places down below. They never gave any proof that they could rise to the position Madhuri had reached and they were no comparison to Madhuri, they themselves knew it. The other girls who awaited their turn, tried there best to rise above Madhuri, couldn’t reach anywhere near her both in beauty and talent. The other girls included the Rangili Urmila Matondkar, Sonali Bendre and Namrata Shirodkar and the latest to enter the field, Tejasvini Kolhapure the younger sister of one-time actress Padmini Kolhapure and the Mamta Kulkarni the shocker. And there were just a few good actors besides Sachin Khedekar, Makrand Deshpande, Ashok Saraf, Shivaji Satam and Atul Kulkarni and the list goes on.

It does not matter to which community they belong but it certainly matters that they are highly talented artistes and they are co-incidentally from the same community. There were times in the fifties and sixties when this community still ruled and to think of it, the film industry itself was founded by a man from this community, Dada Saheb Phalke.

No giving up
The people are not willing to give up on Abhishek Bachchan after his first three indifferent releases. They are still waiting to see his major releases which will come later in 2000- 2001. They are still waiting to see his major releases. The people are waiting to pass judgement on all the other stars who are demanding and dealing in crores according to sources. They want them to give them their money’s worth or they have plans to.....

Oh God, Oh God You the creator of this insignificant thing called man, what are you doing about him, why are You giving him the freedom to believe that he is God that he is as powerful as You are. That he in his foolishness feels he doesn’t need You any more. That he has played into the hands of enemy. Why did you allow man to create money, dear God? Why did you let some of your creations grow filthy rich. And some poor, so poor that their poverty leads them to hate the rich, even attempt to kill them? You created man to be in Your likeness, like You. Then why are You sitting unconscious while man is killing man for money, only for money. How can You sit back, relaxed when gentle men like Rakesh Roshan, Manmohan Shetty, Dilip Kumar, Hrithik Roshan and even the dainty delicate Manisha are being played around with their lives? Why God, why?