Two high profile releases-Drona and Kidnap - and the jury is still out on their b-o. performances. Much space has been devoted to Drona and its shortcomings, so let me point out the silver lining-the movie for the most part is slick in the special effects department. I would still call it a brave effort and hope that the sequel, which according to reports was being planned, is not shelved because of the unflattering reviews. Wiser after the first attempt,a sequel could, if all its shortcomings are addressed, be among the films that count among Bollywood’s best. The fact of the matter is that most movies this year have been disappointing on the story and screenplay fronts. Weak and poorly-written scripts are a common reason for several films, even the slick productions, failing to impress.Two movies from last year, Chak De! India and Taare Zameen Par stand out as at their cores they had very strong stories. Jaideep Sahni has on various occasions spoken about all the time and effort that went into writing the script-meeting the hockey players and then translating their lives into a story that impressed both the discerning audience as well as the wolf-whistling variety. A lot of trouble was taken over the story and the effort showed. Amole Gupte’s labour of love, though based on a subject that does not lend itself easily to cinema -days in the lives of a dyslexic child- won over the audiences with its poignant story. In fact, almost everyone who watched the movie felt that it was the story of their childhood. Almost everyone wept buckets. Likewise with Chak De! India, which struck a chord. There was the gender issue, the sports bit, the communal bias and of course, the triumph of the underdog. Coupled with King Khan delivering a power-packed performance, the results were there for all to see.
Jaane Tu…, A Wednesday!, Rock On!! and Mumbai Meri Jaan are among the films with good stories that have also done well at the box-office. Considering that films these days are all mutli-crore propositions, surely paying some attention to the content makes tremendous business sense-almost as much as signing up the stars for astronomical prices if not more. Here’s looking forward to better movies then.
While critics have nothing kind to say about Goldie Behl’s fantasy offering, the verdict about the premiere is unanimous-it was a big- ticket event. The guest list was high-wattage-Shah Rukh Khan with wife Gauri and the kids, directors Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ashutosh Gowariker and Farah Khan among others. That the two biggest stars-the Baadshah and Shahenshah - buried their differences (if any) and came together in a show of support was big news (pun unintended). It’s got everyone guessing. Creative collaboration, joint political appearances, crossover of the groupies…the possibilities are endless. Predictably, it was priority news on television channels for a while. Even as our Prime Minister negotiated his way through the nuclear deal and put across a few pertinent points to the French, that coverage paled in comparison to that about the stars. Filmi news, clearly, is leagues ahead of the real issues when it comes to garnering eyeballs. News channels signing up a big star for giving us the taaza khabar could be the next smart move to ensure better TRPs. Star news just assumed a whole new meaning!
