Could SRK or Aamir have salvaged Jhoom Barabar Jhoom?
The debate on Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’s performance at the boxoffice is pretty much sealed. It’s a disaster of epic propotions and you know it’s a serious failure, when even Satyam readily admits to it. (Of course, he was as forthright with Umrao Jaan as well, which again was a total washout). Now, even Anurag Kashyap disowns it. Talk of failures having no fathers.
Question is,
Who gets how much blame?
Like when Mangal Pandey flopped, it was Aamir Khan who had to shoulder the blame. After all, neither Ketan Mehta nor Bobby Bedi were big players in the true sense.
That may not apply to Abhishek Bachchan even post Guru, because he’s obviously not in the league of the two Khans or even Hrithik.
In my humble opinion, the rejection has been less for Abhishek and more for the subject of the film(or for the lack of it) and in such cases, the stature of the star almost always comes into question.
The fact that Abhishek couldn’t pull it off confirms once again that he’s still only an upcoming star but to prove this conclusively, one would have to analise whether this film would have done any better with SRK and Aamir in it.
PS: I’m not including HrithikRoshan for the simple reason that I do not think he’s been successful in any ‘tricky’ film, and I feel Jhoom Barabar Jhoom certainly is one. Before I hear voices of dissent, I’d like to say that I consider his so called different film, Koi Mil Gayaa just about as dicey as Lagaan (a film, which was risky to Aamir only in a certain personal capacity. As for its theme and treatment is concerned, I feel it was foolproof).
So question again, could any other star have pulled off JBJ?
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
As far as the boxoffice is concerned, the movie would’ve had a bigger initial no doubt, but I don’t think the movie would’ve clicked as such even with Aamir or SRK.
The rejection has been for the movie itself, and Abhishek’s performance on the whole has been appreciated.
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
“The rejection has been for the movie itself, and Abhishek’s performance on the whole has been appreciated. ”
I don’t think so.. A lotta reviews I read have either bashed his performance.. or just cited that he didn’t fit the role..and the movie needed someone like Akshay instead.
Comment by aby2000 on 2 July 2007:
I personally feel that no aamir, hritik or srk could have salvaged jbj. As a ‘movie’ it was totally disliked by the majority of the audience unlike a kank or mp where there wasn’t such an absolute negativity towards them….it’s amazing that yrf had gone in for such a film and i admire that they attempted something different….yes, i am one of the very few who totally loved this movie and the madness in it. I dont know how box office works but for a movie that had supposedly crashed in the weekend itself to make 20cr is not an easy task….do i see all the credit going to yrf for that?
srk couldn’t pull of swades, hritik couldn’t pull of mpkdh what does that mean? the fact of the matter is that both guru and jbj got the biggest openings of the year….
Comment by jayshah on 2 July 2007:
Agree…was just going to write the same. I think with movies that are totally rejected (and this is whats happened here), its hard to imagine any other star saving it UNLESS the way the movie was made is changed. It’s a flop for Abhishek, but not exactly a flop because of Abhishek - there is a difference.
Also every now and then a film won’t click, its part and parcel of the game ! Even Ponting gets out on 0 (occasionally)
Comment by aby2000 on 2 July 2007:
yes akshay, agreed….most have praised abhishek and trashed the movie…
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
“srk couldn’t pull of swades, hritik couldn’t pull of mpkdh what does that mean?”
That’s a totally unfair comparison.. and one you’ll only see on NG. Swades not working .. same as JBJ not working? come on dude..
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
SP: “I don’t think so.. A lotta reviews I read have either bashed his performance.. or just cited that he didn’t fit the role..and the movie needed someone like Akshay instead.” A lot of reviews??? I have read maybe 1-2 reviews which have said that from the countless reviews. The criticism has been MORE on the movie rather than on Abhishek the actor(heck who is going to question Abhbishek’s talent after GURU). I agree as far as Boxoffice pull is concerned this is a collossal disapointment on Abhisheks part no doubt, but in no way shape or form is his performance being critically slammed!
Any2000: Well said! At the end of the day, both GURU and JBJ indeed got the best openings of the year…figure:-)
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
The last time SRK had a complete flop in a commercial entertainer vehicle was like 10 years ago in Duplicate.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
And don’t think im picking an argument here SP, go heck out allbollywood.com, and see the reviews from almost all major indian critics there, of the reviews there are only 1-2 at the most whom haven’t liked Abhishek’s performance. However I do agree that this is Akshay’s territory and Abhishek acted in it remarkably well.
As for the comparison with SWADES and MPKDH, I think the point any2000 trying to make is both films were disasters at the boxoffice, and rejected despite the presence of a huge star!
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
Once again… Seems like Guru should be pulled out to delegitimise any negativity to do with Abhishek. Though it’s a different case, that I neither consider the movie Guru that great .. nor Abhishek’s over-rated performance therein.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
It happens from time to time!
Are ASOKA and PAHELI not “commercial” entertainers”? I certainly don’t consider them as any high form of art by any means!
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“Well said! At the end of the day, both GURU and JBJ indeed got the best openings of the year…figure:-)”
Don’t agree. It’s a misconception that Guru opened to a flier. It was very below average until the WOM and reviews came in. Then of course, it picked pace and registered a very healthy first week collection.
With JBJ, the opening should have been earth shattering, given that it was a Yash Raj film and was publicized as a fun flick. Yet, it was a disappointment on all counts.
None of these films are flattering to Abhishek, where purely opening is concerned.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
SP: Thats only opinion, the universal acceptance of GURU speaks for itself and it’s a topic i’d rather not go round and round in circles with you given the movie speaks for itself. And specially given you’re one of the people who found the music of GURU “crap”!
I’m not trying to defend Abhishek for the poor performance of JBJ, heck when the movie flopped I was one of the first to say “this movie is a goner”. Some people still said that it may reach safety etc. This is a major setback for him, and unlike UJ….he is the MAIN MAN here!
A.Shah
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“Are ASOKA and PAHELI not “commercial” entertainers”? I certainly don’t consider them as any high form of art by any means!”
They are no high form of art but they were certainly ricky by all means.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Sandyji: GURU indeed opened to a smallish opening on the first day, but the WOM certainly picked up in big way within the first week itself. The movie came with a certain “buzz” that caught on with the people..and the rest is history!
JBJ was touted as this years DHOOM 2, and the opening indeed should’ve been shattering!
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
ASOKA as risky? Granted it was a period film, but the movie actually had a very small budget. Also given SRK managed to rope in Kareena who was hot property at the time, as well as a smashing soundtrack this one should’ve been an easy hit. I didn’t find the movie risky on any counts.
As for PAHELI, a bonanza of stars, lavish locales, heck the promos looked like K-jo in the desert?
The riskiest film SRK has done in recent times is SWADES, DON and now CDI!
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Again with PAHELI the budget was miniscule!
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
So I assume that Guru outsold all albums in the past decade or more???
Stop assuming the popular view on NG to be the popular view everywhere. And yes.. I’ve given links to a number of forums and blog sites.. where Guru is everything but the classic status that it enjoys here.
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“neither consider the movie Guru that great .. nor Abhishek’s over-rated performance therein.”
SP: I’ve always said it, Guru’s a good film overall, not a great one. Only a person with very low expectations will say it’s a masterpiece.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
“So I assume that Guru outsold all albums in the past decade or more???” What does how many albums sold have to do with the quality of the music? Mind you, you did clearly say in that particular post that you knowledge of Indian music is limited which is evident, nothing wrong in that. There is a difference between “lack of knowledge” and “ignorance”.
Popular view on NG? I can already see us going in circles, feeling dizzy already.
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
Obviously Asoka and Paheli were not risky at all.. they were run-of-the-mill masala potboilers by directors who have given us the Gadars and Sholays of our times. JBJ and Guru were far more risky…
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
I maintain that I find both Paheli and Asoka risky. It’s nothing to do with lavish locales or stars, you should know that much.
It’s the subject that can go wrong with these films and they did.
I mean, be fair yaar. Paheli was a folk tale about a woman falling in love with a ghost?! Now, that’s not a difficult film to carry off?!
Also, Asoka was a period film and we all know that as a genre, it’s a risky one.
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“Obviously Asoka and Paheli were not risky at all.. they were run-of-the-mill masala potboilers by directors who have given us the Gadars and Sholays of our times. JBJ and Guru were far more risky…”
LOL, I bet Akshay Shah thinks that way.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
SP: Again it is easy to twist words now isn’t it? Maybe I term a “risk” differently to yourself, but I didn’t think ASOKA was that much of a risk, and specially not PAHELI given it’s low budget. Both these movies were quiet safe, and I remember various discussions that these movies are technically “unfloppable” on PB by the most ardent of SRK fans on PB given that the movie’s budget was actually quiet small(a remarkable effort as ASOKA actually felt like a expensive movie). As for GURU and JBJ, did I ever say these films were risky?
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
“What does how many albums sold have to do with the quality of the music?”
Read your earlier comment. You clearly say that I am the one of the very very few people who didn’t like Guru’s music. Witha statement like that.. one obviously assumes that Guru is this phenomenal album that everyone and their aunts and uncles have hailed it high up.. and love it to death. This SP is the sole individual out there who is not all that fond of it.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Sandy: I certainly don’t think that way, however whenever a SRK film flops, it gets called risky? I just don’t get it! A few months back even CDI was being called risky, and there are poeple on NG who openly said to expect the movie to earn around 25-30 crores because it’s risky and different?
Like I said, maybe i term what is “risky” as differently to you guys.
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
SP: I have yet to come across a person other than yourself who finds the music of GURU as “utter crap”? I’m genuine here…perhaps I can understand someone who didn’t like the music because it didn’t appeal to their senses, but making a statement like “the musics crap” gives the feeling that the person knows the works of Rehman, and this is clearly is worse kind of deal which clearly isn’t the case. I can understand GURU-the movie as being called “crap” as I know quiet a few people who haven’t liekd GURU(though they appreciated the performances and the effort) however I haven’t found anyone who has found the music crap?
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
akshsyah… Asoka was directed by Santosh Sivan. Paheli was directed by Amol Palekar.. and it’s SrK’s film we are talking about.. an actor and a producer.. who doesn’t get involved one bit in a director’s job. What is the most conventional film any of those 2 directors have ever made in the past .. or since then.
Asoka had the Santosh Sivan signature all over it.. even if one claim the content was massy.. but the treatment was exactly like his previous arty films ala Terroist. There was one item song.. and maybe a couple of romantic light scenes.. but the rest of movie had absolutely none of the masala ingredient in it it.
Comment by jayshah on 2 July 2007:
Ashoka/Paheli were risky but lets not make an art film out of them.
20Cr opening for JBJ was NOT a good opening ! Like Sandy has already said, the first day opening was expected to be massive here but it wasn’t. The 20Cr should actually have been at least 25Cr opening ! The number of prints here suggests it had the most prints in circulation of any movie barring D2 and maybe KANK/Krrish.
I think YashRaj will take the brunt of the blame here, especially since the media has portrayed TRRP as a non success, this is more reason to jump on the anti YashRaj bandwagon. Despite this Abhishek’s next release is going to be a significant one for many reasons. Bouncebackability is a huge part of being a big star, he will need it for sure !
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“Like I said, maybe i term what is “risky” as differently to you guys.”
I find this attitude plain unethical and irresponsible. I mean to call Paheli a safe film is the pits.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
“I have yet to come across a person other than yourself who finds the music of GURU as “utter crap”?”
Once again.. I remember very well.. that I posted links to MANY forums members’ feedbacks to my reviews.. and a whole whole lot of them had very similar feelings about teh film as mine. But as always.. you don’t know anyone who doesn’t consider Abhishek’s performance in Guru award-worthy? You don’t know a single soul who hasn’t loved the film.. and yes.. you haven’t met anyone who hasn’t like the music. I see a clear pattern there.. do you?
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
So comparative to Shahrukh Khans other films, they were risky, Im happy with that statement. A “risky” film by SRK imo is SWADES and more-so HEY RAM!
Jayshah: Yea 20 crore was not a good opening at all, expectatons were just too high here.
Sandy: Live with it:-) It’s my opinion and i stand by it. Unethical? irresponsible? Hardly!!! If one can find the music of GURU “utter crap” one can surely find that PAHELI is by not a “risky” film by any means:-). The first timethe PAHELI promo came out, I still remember the hype amongst people, SRK, RANI(hot after BLACK and BUNTY AUR BABLI paired with her V-Z Co-star), AMITABH, JUHI CHAWLA, SUNIEL SHETTY, hit music, plus a budget that was evidently clear from the start was not big at all..
A.Shah
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
SP: Guru had very good music. If you didn’t like it, it could be something to do just with your taste.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
SP: Read above , I have clearly said I know a number of people who have NOT liked GURU, and Abhisheks performance. But with the music? Meh! You ‘ve changed my mind…the music of GURU is pure trite, and Abhishek’s performance is lame:-)
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Anyways, BACK TO TOPIC…COULD SRK OR AAMIR HAVE SAVED JBJ? The openings would’ve been bigger, but the movie itself NO!
A.Shah
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
A mighty star cast does not necessarily make a film ’safe’, just get that!
Comment by utkal on 2 July 2007:
Firstly, I will not concede that MP was a flop. Considering that it was period biopic, it did the best in that genre in the recent times. Compare it to Bhagat Singh (any version)and Bose, and you will see. Amir’s star charisma took it to that level.
Second, it is always a film that fails and not its star. A star can bring in opening and an extra edge later. I will agree that with amir or Sharukh, the film would have got a better opening, partly because of their star charisma, parttly because they would have ACTED better.
Third point, is abouit the film itself and its reviewers. People like Bardwaj rangan go overboard and have not poinyed its obvious flaws. While Rajeev Masand got it bang on when he asays ” I don’t mind a mad film but will not stand for a stupid film. ” The mistake critics like Rangan make is seeing a film as a critic than a viewer.They don’t realise that in jokes on films are funny only to critics or to those die-hard cinemagoers who dont have a life beyond their DVD library. Real humour comes from observation of life and from having insights into humanlife and behaviour ( eh LRMB, Bheja Fry.) and not other films. From the reviews I could see that it is a terribly unfuny film and avoided it from word go. Jaaneman had similar problems. And unlike what many in this forum believe, if it wasn’t for the emotional second half,( which I didn’t care for much either), the film would ahve tanked further, as has been proved by JBJ. My advice to any scriptwriter, see more of life and less of DVDs. A 80% -20% life would be kind of perfect. Maybe 70%-30% at most. Learn from Raju Hirani or Mani Ratnam.Or Sooraj barjtya ( a true original). Or Shankar.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Oh I get that Sandyji, but I guess if a mighty starcast all coming off huge boxoffice success and critical acclaim, a low budget, hit music and promos which have garnered a positive response on the whole isn’t “safe” then what is? Like I said, but SRK’s standards PAHELI was a risk..
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
“Guru had very good music. If you didn’t like it, it could be something to do just with your taste.”
I’ve never ever tried to convince people that they should hate the music too coz it’s crap. In fact I’ve always maintained that I don’t really listen to a whole lotta Bollywood msuic.. and very few songs.. (a handful of them a year) I actually like to listening to.
It’s Akshayshah.. who’s been trying to convince me that the music is Godly and there must be something wrong with me that I found it boring, uninteresting and yes.. crap.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
SP: I haven’t tried to convince you at all that the music is “godly”? The blnaket statements are coming out now:-)..Nice chatting with you guys, I will let others continue this conversation further as I have given my 2 cents on what the topic/moot of the conversation is.
Thanks,
A.Shah
Comment by jayshah on 2 July 2007:
I think on Paheli/Asoka, a risk maybe termed financially or as a film. So for example MP is a big risk because it came with a big budget. Asoka didn’t have a big budget so financially it wasn’t a big risk. BUT the treatment of Asoka maybe (depending on how you see it) termed as more risky then MP. So things kinda even themselves out. But Asoka is no art film, this is just a term used to defect blame from SRK. Its typical - Earth is like an art film, Hey Ram too…not Asoka !
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“The first timethe PAHELI promo came out, I still remember the hype amongst people,”
Amongst people in a town in New zealand. WOW! Nice barometer you have. I should start asking my friend who lives in Uganda about the prospects of Chak De India, what say?
A trade guide would shudder to stand anywhere close to you, Akshay Shah.
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“Firstly, I will not concede that MP was a flop”
Not in pure boxoffice terms but certainly for the public, it was a disaster. Ask your neighbour. And no, I don’t agree that it did best possible business for its genre.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Like I said, riskier than what SRK usually churns out for sure but not on the whole.
BTW Sandy, I was in India(Delhi) when PAHELI came out:-)
Anyways, happy chatting people…
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Jay: Well said, trust you to read my mind and summarise what i’ve been trying to say!
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
Jay: You’re right. Asoka is not an art film, in the way Earth or Hey Ram were. It’s an SRK failure, no doubt abt that.
Comment by utkal on 2 July 2007:
With regard to Street Pharmacist’s comment on Asoka and paheli, what commercial film did Ketan Mehta to his credit? The opeing and the next week’s run goes largely to Amir Khan. And Lagaan with unknoen Asutosh Gowarikar, an unknown heroine, ( no Kareena, no item song, no sexy romatic song)and a ful length cricket match as the main narrative was very, very risky. AS was RDB. ( no heroine, no romantic track, no lip-synced song). But if I was the producer, the only safety for me would be that the script and the director’s planed treatment was first-rate. And that would dilute the risk for me a great deal.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
utkal.. A genre of a movie is not the say all end all in determining the viablity of a success of a film. Boss and MP are both historicals.. but both have entirely different treatments. To be honest, Gadar the biggest hit of the decade is also a historical.. but can you really copare Gadar to a movie, say , like TLOBS or 1947 Earth?
On paper, Asoka might look like this grand epic movie about one of India’s greatest emperor..a warrior… a philospher.. and even a preacher.. but the movie had no Braveheart-like presentation.
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“On paper, Asoka might look like this grand epic movie about one of India’s greatest emperor..a warrior… a philospher.. and even a preacher.. but the movie had no Braveheart-like presentation.”
SP: That’s a wonderfully perceptive point you’ve made here.
Comment by utkal on 2 July 2007:
To Sandy: If MP was a disaster for the public should it not have had a crash like JBJ? Actually it would ahve crossed 30 crores hadn’y YRF pulled it off for Salaam Namaste.And yes it is among the best earners in it’s genre. Would have done beeter if Ketan had been more sincere and respected the audience more like rakeysh mehra did. But still. Which film in its genre did better? Asoka? Bhagat Singh? Patel ( again by Ketan Mehta)? In future maybe, or i will say, definitely. But as of now MP is the most successful period bio-pic in the colour era.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
“With regard to Street Pharmacist’s comment on Asoka and paheli, what commercial film did Ketan Mehta to his credit?”
Have you really checked the filmography of the Ketan Mehta vs that of Saontosh Sivan and Amol palekar.. there’s absolutely no comparison. The latter are totally perecived as art-house directors who have neither done anything else.. nor have even attempted.
As for mr. Ketan Mehta.. maybe you should check out Hero Heralal, Maya Memsaab, Aar Ya Paar .. among others.
But even otherwise.. one cann’t really deny all the masala elements to make the movie more Commercially viable infused into Mangal Pandey. The movie had everything… there was the fist-fights, the over-the-top dialoguebaazis, the long monologues, the dramatized action sequences.. everything that one would expect in a movie intending to be the summer blockbuster.
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
If MP was a disaster for the public should it not have had a crash like JBJ?”
You are obviously ignorant about the fate of Mangal Pandey in its true sense, so no point making you see sense.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
btw.. I really loved MP. .. and specially Aamir’s performance in it. IMO his best alongwith Lagaan.
Comment by jayshah on 2 July 2007:
‘“On paper, Asoka might look like this grand epic movie about one of India’s greatest emperor..a warrior… a philospher.. and even a preacher.. but the movie had no Braveheart-like presentation.”’
On paper JBJ looked like the typical comedy caper but it wasn’t. The point is exactly like you said….before the release, people expected a grand epic movie ! Thats how the movie must have been promoted…..when they didn’t get that they got disappointed ! People walk in with a certain level of expectations with movies that give alot away in trailors. Asoka at the time (if I remember a fair few articles I read) was promoted as SRK’s answer to Lagaan. One period movie for another. This kind of stuff, ridiculous, but this was the perception of the movie. maybe the treatment wasn’t ‘braveheartlike’ but then the promotion was misleading too a little then ? i.e. Asoka was not promoted like an art movie in any sense, and if your suggesting the movie failed because its treatment was ‘art’ like then tough luck because the audience was tricked then !
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Plus ASOKA was tough on SRK coming off PBDHH! Thank god his dance in KAAL saved Red Chillies;)!
A.Shah
Comment by jayshah on 2 July 2007:
Sorry my comment ‘On paper JBJ looked like the typical comedy caper but it wasn’t. ‘
Should be JBJ looked like a typical YashRaj style comedy, but it was rather treated much more differently !
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“btw.. I really loved MP. .. and specially Aamir’s performance in it.”
Hey, that’s a coincidence, because even I like most of SRK’s flops more than his hits. I loved KANK for example..LOL
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
“Thank god his dance in KAAL saved Red Chillies;)!”
You missed CC and MHN in between.. so very convenient.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
CC and MHN, were they Red Chillies or Dreamz Limited?
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
jayshah.. Asoka had a very lowkey promotion.. and teh trailors were all either too short.. or had that stupid “O re Kanchi” item number. There were a few of those long action scenes trailors .. but they came too late.. and just a few days before the release.
And no.. nobody said Asoka was to be SrK’s answer to Lagaan. If anything.. some might have said it were SrK’s answer to Gadar. .. coz it was Gadar-mani back then in 2001.. as opposed to what the popular beleif on NG is.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
sandy.. I won’t say I loved KANK.. but yeah.. id did really enjoy the movie.
Would have loved it if it were for the original casting. I just cann’t stand Rani at all. There’s a very long list of films that I didn’t like specifically coz of Rani.
Comment by jayshah on 2 July 2007:
Ok SP I take your word on this one, but I don’t believe for a second Asoka can be considered ‘arty’. Paheli maybe but not Asoka. Both are risky but not financial risks, risky for SRK’s filmography. I would also add a film like Earth is not risky par se, because there are hardly any expectations attached to such a small release. Its a bit like Being Cyrus, its kind of no lose situation i.e. an Earth failure didn’t hurt Aamir’s career in the slightest, but MP did.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Rani will be back to form in LAAGI CHUNARI MEIN DAAG;)..It will be interesting to see how she compares with Jaya Bachchan and Konkona Sen Sharma!
A.Shah
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
SP: Agree. I too thought KANK would have been a wonderful film without Rani Mukherjee. She ruined it for me and was least believable.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
KANK would’ve been better if it had Kajol instead of Rani, which is what Karan wanted. Then Kajol breaking up with Abhishek wouldn’t have looked so bad and Abhishek would’nt have got the public sympathy as audiences would’ve obviously wanted to see SRK-Kajol together again.
KANK is K-jo’s best film IMO, an ambitious failure, but not a bad film as K-jo has done far worse damage to our sensibilities!
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
Jayshah.. There’s a huge diference between Asoka/Paheli… and say Earth, Being Cyrus et al.. Agree that a Being Cyrus hit or flop won’t hurt Saif’s career one bit.. and same is true about Earth.. but with a star like SrK.. it’s a different scenario. Every flop counts. And though majority in the trade may not look at it that way.. there are some who do.
P.S. If Aamir delivers an Earth today, it will hurt him as he’s a top 3 star tday.. but in 98, when Earth released, he was nowhere close to the top.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
and Jayshah.. not to mention the fact that Paheli grossed 10 times more than Being Cyrus.. and Asoka made 10 times more than Earth. ..and Swades is actually a decent grosser. But the problem is that people expect every SrK film, whether a K3G or a Pahli, to be a major grosser… and that’s where it hurts him.
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“and Asoka made 10 times more than Earth”
Puhleeeeese! You actually sit and calculate such things SP and feel happy about it?
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
“But the problem is that people expect every SrK film, whether a K3G or a Pahli, to be a major grosser… and that’s where it hurts him.”—I guess thats something that comes with the title of being King Khan, Number One! People have high expectations, same goes for Hrithik, and Aamir!
A.Shah
Comment by jayshah on 2 July 2007:
‘Jayshah.. There’s a huge diference between Asoka/Paheli… and say Earth, Being Cyrus et al.. Agree that a Being Cyrus hit or flop won’t hurt Saif’s career one bit.. and same is true about Earth.. but with a star like SrK.. it’s a different scenario. Every flop counts. And though majority in the trade may not look at it that way.. there are some who do.’
That is in a way what I am saying. Earth, HeyRam, Being Cyrus are films that don’t really count in a sense. Also might add a movie like Phir Milenge. But when talking about Asoka/Paheli/MP/JA etc, they do count because there is a certain level of expectations from these. HeyRam didn’t hurt SRK for example. But Asoka/Paheli would.
And SP please don’t play silly games like ‘X film made 10times more than this etc’. Heck MP a total flop made nearly double the combined gross of Swades/Paheli ! Its a silly game !
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
“. Heck MP a total flop made nearly double the combined gross of Swades/Paheli ! Its a silly game !” Kya dialogue maara hai boss;)
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“Heck MP a total flop made nearly double the combined gross of Swades/Paheli ! Its a silly game !”
Couldn’t have said it better.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
oh totally akshay.. and that’s why SrK and Aamir cann’t afford the luxuries that other stars can. SrK delivers two 50 cr grossers and it’s a abad year for him..Another star does the same and that apparently makes him the King of BO. lol.
Sandy.. it says a lot about SrK’s BO pull. Throughout the 90’s SrK’s flops made as much .. or in many cases more than some of Aamir’s “hits”. And no… I may not feel all that happy about it.. but Srk should.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
oh totally akshay.. and that’s why SrK and Aamir cann’t afford the luxuries that other stars can. SrK delivers two 50 cr grossers and it’s a abad year for him..Another star does the same and that apparently makes him the King of BO.
King of the BO??? I take it you’re referring to Abhishek?
The top 3 are
SRK
Aamir
Hrithik
No 2 ways about it, after that is Akshay Kumar!
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
then Sallu, unless Sallu can pull off a biggie with PARTNER! I don’t see much hope for MARIGOLD. And then Saif, both EKLAVYA and TRPP didn’t do much, though the later did make money!
A.Shah
Comment by utkal on 2 July 2007:
Mangal Pandey was meant to be a commercial film. But It was about a freedom fighter. The central story was about him and his martyrdom.Asoka and Paheli were also meant to be commercial successes, ASoka more so. It had put the love affair with Karubaki at te center with three or four love songs, choreographed duets, swordfights, evrything. Paheli was a man-woman story with songs and dances galore. MP. Bose was also a big budget film ( 27 crores). Yes, none expected to be a big hit. But it was adisaster. It earned about 2 crores. LBOs and SBS, bot had budgets of 25croires eacxh, and each earned abourt 10-15 crores. So wasn’t the earning of MP a big achievement?
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Its like that in Kollywood too! Vikrams flops make MORE than what Vijay’s hit do, and Vijay is called the next superstar?
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
jayshah.. Get your facts straight. MP is not a total flop.. no way. It’s a semi-hit by most analysts.. an average to belwoe average in the worst case.
And if it did made gross more than Pahli/Swades.. big deal. It’s not the first time a semi-hit has grossed more than 2 flops.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
ASOKA was trying to be something very ambitious, and somewhere along the lines it failed. This isn’t even a critical success like SRK’s DIL SE.. And DIL SE.. is another case I found strange, as the movie actually made a decent gross, but way below expectations. The ending got rejected from Day One!
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
The thing with PAHELI is that it didn’t actually lose much money! Amitabh worked for free, budget was small from the start, the SFX was his own, and he was the main star. The movie did more damage to SRK’s credibility than anything.
I think the public is more susceptible to seeing SRK in different roles now, specially after DON was a success. OSO, CDI both come with highest expectations.
A.Shah
Comment by Achilles on 2 July 2007:
I just have one question - Before thinking of whether Aamir could salvage JBJ … Does anyone really believes that Aamir would have done this ??? I dont think so!
Also SRK/Hrithik in JBJ wud have meant a much bigger opening which would have taken the movie to safety.
Comment by utkal on 2 July 2007:
I will agree with 1. SRK 2.Amir 3. Hritik and 4. Akshay . Hritik may look ke a nO 1, but I would go with 3, because he is yet to prove himself across genres. But in his genre ( action-emotion caper) he is No 1, which today would be higher than what SRK ( romance), amir ( feelgood - drama) or akshay ( comedy caper) can deliver in their favourite genres.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
No.. Akshay. I was referring to another star who just happened to dleiver two 50 cr grossers last year.. and is now hailed teh to star in Bollywood BECAUSE OF THAT.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Well said Utkal,and very true! Lets see how successful Hrithik is when he diversifies.
Achilles: JBJ is a very self indulgent film, wouldn’t have worked without the cast it’s got. This is a rather personal film from Shaad
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
As far as I’m aware, Aamir is in the top 3, not over or beyond SRK. And SRK is in a much stronger position with CDI and OSO, than Aamir with TZP.
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
utkal.. Paheli was shot in a total of 3 weeks..and the entire production of the film took no more than 2 months and with its shoestring budget.. had the film actually burnt the cash registeres, SrK would have been cherged with wizardry..
Compare that to Mangal Pendey.. who which was made on 5-time bigger budget.. and took more than a year in making and had all the making of a blockbuster.. man can you even compare them.
ANd contrary to what Akshay says.. Asoka wasn’t all that ambitious either. The next time somebody make an 7-cr ambitious film with SrK, will be the first time.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
“Then why did you bring up the
Earth grossed”
Read the comments above by Jayshah. He was the one comparing Earth and Being Cyrus BO irrelevance … to that of Paheli and Asoka… and how teh stars come out clean from such failures.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
ASHOKA was ambitious. It was SRK’s home production with him in the lead. PAHELI was less ambitious, though SRK did try his best to commercialise it.
A.Shah
Comment by sandy on 2 July 2007:
“Does anyone really believes that Aamir would have done this ??? I dont think so!
Also SRK/Hrithik in JBJ wud have meant a much bigger opening which would have taken the movie to safety.”
Much as I disagree with Achilles on his refrain (just the way I feel about hrithik), I’m glad he has brought us back to the topic at hand, which is, would ANY other star have managed to make this film a hit? -on the basis of performance or BO clout.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
Akshayshah.. What do you mean by ambitious? Did he make the movie expting to get a 50cr grosser from it? Man..he only spent about 7 cr on teh film.. and so in the best case scenario he was hoping to get have a 25-30cr net gross from the film. And that’s the very best case scenario.
Yes.. Asoka could have been termed an ambitious film.. for a star like Ajay.. or Saif.. but not for SrK.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Perhaps if the movie starred Rajnikanth in Abhishek’s role, Vivek in Bobby Deol’s role? We would probably have the highest grossing movie of all time?:)
A.Shah
Comment by Achilles on 2 July 2007:
Akshay i agree with ur top three (i guess everyone here does) … but its difficult to rank them at the moment … i ll wait for JA,CDI,TZP n OSO before doing that.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Still don’t guy it sorry Street, SRK didn’t have low expectations from ASOKA, he even talked about his hope that the movie would go International! PAHELI yes, ASOKA? NO!
BTW even our Non Indian Video store in NZ has a copy of ASOKA for hire..guess SRK succeeded somewhere
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Achilles: TZP does not belong in that category! Right from the outset it’s clear that Aamir is only in the movie for 30 minutes! The main protagonist of the movie is a little kid.
Yes, Aamir is directing the film, but then gague him as a first time director, not as an actor.
The point im trying to make is that TZP does not belong in a comparative in front of OSO, CDI, JA or even SAAWARIYA, thats GHAJINI;)
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
1. SrK/Hrithik
3. Aamir
4. Abhishek
5. Akshay
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
akshay.. it’s simple math.. a 7cr film is not expected to be a 50 cr grosser. Ofcourse there are ones who have achieved it. But generally, the more expensive the film, the higher projected collections are.
Comment by Achilles on 2 July 2007:
agreed … ghajini should be a parameter more than TZP … m still excited abt TZP with aamir making directorial debut plus acting in it
Street: Put akshay before abhishek dude
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Abhishek above Akshay? Akshay is clearly ahead of Abhishek, and if anything, more consistent!
Also Akshay is in a very strong position right now with some very good choices. After JBJ, Abhishek is a step behind.
1) AAMIR, HRITHIK, SRK (In no particular order)
2) AKSHAY
3) ABHISHEK
And this can go on and on;)
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
In those days, not many films did make 50 crores anyway SP! It would’ve been in the 35 crore category it was aiming for, and it didn’t even get half of that I don’t think. Anyways, this can also go on and on.
Achilles: Yea Im excited about TZP more to see what Aamir Khan the director gives us. Aamir is supporting the kid here, lets see what happens on the acting front, another great sign of Aamir’s innovation I must say! First sharing the movie with a rookie in RDB, and now with a child artiste in TZP!
GHAJINI will be a monster IMO, if this is a true blue hit there is no doubt about Aamir’s power at the boxoffice in masala mould.
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
On CDI, promos of a movie being generally disliked by the public to the extent they get taken off air is never a good sign for a movie. That aside, I think CDI will pull through mainly because I have faith in Shimit Amin and Jaideep Sahini! These guys can do wonders with SRK on the acting front.
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Though I also wonder how much flexibility Yashraj has given them with a film like CDI and for that matter LAAGI CHUNARU MEIN DAAG! Both Sarkar and Amin got full flexibility when making ATC and PARINEETA, however under Yashraj they might make a “different” sort of film to what they would usually do in the pressure to deliver at the Boxoffice. Now AB has been added in what is no doubt going to be a 2 bit appearence in LCMD. Just shows their insecurity imo.
The next Yashraj BLOCKBUSTER will be given by King Kumar and co. in TAshan
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
Akshay is very over-rated at the BO. he’s one actorwho has NEVER EVER done a film one even carely refer to as “risky”. He sticks to his strengths.. and does fuly commercial films.. and still only manages to deliver hits of the magnitude of Abhishek, Salman and Saif.
Abhishek would have dleivered a 45-55 cr grosser with JBJ if the film had been liked.. Can anyone really see Akshay being able to pull such a grosser in near future? I don’t.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
SP: no doubt about it on Akshay! His popularity and pull is very similar to Salman Khan IMO! He keeps building on his strengths in the masala format and has no pretensions about doing serious or meaningful cinema. In many ways he reminds me of the attitude Govinda and Salman shared.
As for Akshay pulling off such a big grosser? I certainly do with TASHAN, and perhaps even WELCOME. HEYY BABYY I have doubts on. Even BHOOL BHULAIYA should be a 45 crore grosser for Akshay.
I guess you really don’t like the name King Kumar eh? Don’t worry SP, he’s not a threat to SRK:-). Not with Hrithik and Aamir right there side by side with SRK
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
Anybody who puts Aamir ahead of Srk, as of today, at the BO is clearly a SrK-hater. Aamir hasn’t acheived anything that significant to warrant a spot ahead of SrK on the BO standings, specilly when the last two SrK movies totally outinitialled Aamir ones.. and even his underperforming films made almost as much as Aamir’s stupendous successes did.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Heck Ranbir might come and give straight 50 crore grossers in a row putting a spanner in the works.
FOLKS HIMMESH RESHHAMMIYA JUST OPENED A FILM TO 95-100%!!!!!! In some centres equalling the collections of KRRISH. Some theatre owners have even decided that the letters HR is very lucky for them.
Every friday the kismat of a star changes, so who knows? No one expected GURU to still remain the highest grossing film of the year. No way in hell will it remain there by the end of the year with CDI, OSO , SAAWARIYA etc coming, but no one saw it being there in the first place either.
Just like no one thought Apoorva Lakhia with a reasomably shoddy film and a huge cast could give a success in SOAL?
Heck even Bachchan goes solo again and gives a SOLID HIT with CHEENI KUM:-)
A.Shah
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
“Anybody who puts Aamir ahead of Srk, as of today, at the BO is clearly a SrK-hater” LOL..more blanket statements! Aamir is NOT ahead of SRK, but he is definetly SIDE BY SIDE
ANYONE WHO SAYS AAMIR IS NOT SIDE BY SIDE WITH SRK AND HRITHIK FIGHTING FOR THE TOP SPOT IS BIASED?
AAMIR, SRK, HRITHIK…all on one PAGE, same line….with 1) right next to them;)
A.Shah
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 2 July 2007:
yeah .. why not.. Put Himesh on the same line as well.. side by side with them 3.. and I though Abhishek was also added after Guru.
1. SrK,Aamir,Hrithik,Himesh,Abhishek, …
Wow!!! anyways.. it’s the same people who claim that Aamir was abigger star than Salman and Sunny in the 90’s and Amitabh delivered twice as many hits as the rest of the stars in the 70’s and 80’s combined.
I’m done for the night… fight u guys later.
Comment by akshay shah on 2 July 2007:
Blanket! The top 3 will remain AAMIR, HRITHIK, SRK. Lets see what the tail end of 2007 brings us.
Anyways im out, phew! Happy chatting all
A.Shah
Comment by rajen on 2 July 2007:
JBJ proved that tongue-in cheek humor doesnt work where head-up-the-ass mentality is prevalent.
SRK may have pulled in a couple of extra crores,he couldnt have done Rkki Thakral half as well.Aamir may me could have done a good job but not neccesarily saved the movie.
People just didnt appreciate the movie.
Comment by Paddy on 2 July 2007:
JBJ did nothing for me. It was a bore and Abhishek and the cast hammed. Hope this acts as a wakeup call for YRF. Dhoom 2 would also have tanked had it not had a someone called Hrithik Roshan. Hope YRF fastens its seatbelt else the liked of UTV will take over!
Comment by satyam on 2 July 2007:
Some quick points here:
1)The film opened very well if not quite at D2 levels. How do we know this? After being in continuous free fall from the very first Mon the film still made 20 crores. This means that had this film been liked it would have minimally opened at 25 crores and more likely at 27-28 crores. Perhaps more.
2)Had this film not opened well enough it could not possibly have pulled in this figure. Because a relatively lower opening followed by a 20 crore initial would suggest some stability whereas the evidence points towards exactly the opposite in every sense.
3)Does this prove anything about Abhishek’s stardom? Not really. When a film is so totally rejected it goes beyond the ’star factor’. Let’s not forget Hrithik’s disaster in Yaadein or a flop in MDK (a normal Yashraj love story that no one hated), MPDKH (this was hated by many). And of course there were others.
SRK has had his own string of flops. in fact everything flopped if it wasn’t Yashraj/Dharma, up until KANK. True, he never flopped in those genres but then he never had a Guru either. Nor has Hrithik! Plus the Yashraj label in earlier years was playing to the audiences, these days they make other kinds of films. Whether it’s a Dhoom or a JBJ, a TRP or a LCMD or a CDI. This is why it’s even more surprising that Hrithik couldn’t pull off MDK. Now this would certainly have been a hit with SRK or maybe even with Saif.
4)The very important point to remember in the entire debate is that much as big stars can have serious flops (I have listed some above), big stars can also sometimes have low initials. Nothing explains why Swades did not get a minimal initial when it was the Lagaan director’s first film post-Lagaan. But this film never excited anybody. Even CC did half-decently and wasn’t a proper hit at its budget despite being a genre film.
4)Many people here are also guilty of reading too much into Hrithik’s ‘06. Unlike Aamir’s sucess in RDB and Fanaa which needs no qualifiers Hrithik was lucky enough to have two ‘genre’ films in ‘06. He’s always done hugely well in these irrespective of the competition and year. It is the other stuff that’s been problematic for him and he can of course change things with JA.
5)In any case for the question phrased in this post to be answered in the positive, one also has to prove that films were always safe with Hrithik and SRK. THis is manifestly not the case, even in safe genres. hrithik in fact has three flops or disasters in the safest romantic genres with banners like Yashraj or directors like Barjatya and Ghai (in MPDKH his performance was even hated). SRK flopped in everything from Baadshah to Duplicate to Josh to PBDHH and so on.
Even Don proves this more than anything else. The film was liked by enough people but did just about decently and was nowhere in the league of the year’s other important grossers, despite all the classic hype and so on.
One could easily reverse this question and suggest as I have before that neither SRK nor Hrithik have ever had a RDB or a Guru moment.
6)Having said all of this the film is still a big blow for Abhishek (a flop always affects a star much as a hit does in a different sense). And it’s now a high stakes game with Drona as the next release.
Of course the other important point to remember here is that Abhishek has prospered (contrary to all the propaganda) far more without the banner props. Yashraj got him Dhoom and BnB, but Yuva (despite not being a box office show) is the important moment that at least equals these films and possibly exceeds them. Again Sarkar 2 is probably a critical point for all the reasons I’ve mentioned before. Dus and BM were also hardly the most obvious recipes for any kind of success. Since ‘06 D2, a Yashraj supergrosser didn’t do much for Abhishek, and JBJ meant to be another huge one has been a colossal failure. What worked? Rathnam’s Guru! In the biggest sense of the word!
7)Again as I said the other day films and roles that are not careful about Abhishek’s ’symbolization’ will either fail or under-perform. The counter-intuitive truth here is that Drona is actually less risky than Karan Johar’s film assuming a minimal decent effort in each case.
All the films that have succeeded with Abhishek at any critical or commercial level have maintained his symbolic space — Yuva, Guru, Dhoom (1 but also 2 in a somewhat interesting sense, Abhishek does have the final word here and therefore ‘controls’ the eventual outcome), Dus, BM. BnB is a bit different in this regard but it is also a D2 deal where Abhishek has the Hrithik deal, always able to evade Bachchan, and when finally caught is ‘released’ by the latter much like ABhishek ‘releases’ Hrithik in D2. And of course the father-son angle adds to the symbolism of BnB anyway.
JBJ (though I liked the film very much) does not maintain Abhishek’s symbolism in this sense. It’s not that people like to watch Abhishek doing serious dramas but that they want to see him mean something in any film that he does beyond the extent of the actual role. In other words Abhishek could not get away with a BB or a PHP. Because there is no symbolic space to these roles in the ways I’ve been talking about.
8)To repeat I think that a couple of premises here are quite false. If a film after being totally rejected and after sliding after the very first weekend gets to 20 crores you’re looking at a minimal Fanaa-like initial (with Gujarat) if the film had been liked more and even something much bigger if the film had done a BnB!
Much as MP did not suddenly prove that Aamir wasn’t a big enough star! Normally films are not that disliked outside the historical genre but there are always exceptions and JBJ has turned out to be one of them.
Finally (and I’m glad Sandy clarifies this) I have always been brutally honest in box office matters, irrespective of the star in question.
Comment by satyam on 2 July 2007:
And I might not disagree with Rajen. Could Aamir or Hrithik or SRK have added a couple of crores. Possibly. But it wouldn’t mean anything significant either in terms of the initial or in terms of the final gross.
of course the problem with some of the people commenting here is that they’re trying to have it both ways. If Abhishek’s hits including Guru did not supposedly prove much why does a flop do so?!
The evidence is so obvious in terms of Hrithik’s and SRK’s failures that no one not accounting for these can be taken seriously.
This is why I always give the greatest credit to Aamir. Since Lagaan everything has worked barring MP. This is hardly as easy as it looks.
Comment by satyam on 2 July 2007:
And yes Akshay is also right. In a verifiable sense the top 3 remain Aamir, Hrithik, SRK. For Abhishek to now enter this list a big one in Drona will be needed. Of course the year’s not done yet. Let’s see how CDI and JA do. OSO seems the safest but let’s see here as well. It’s been quite a while since SRK’s had a big one. Plus this also has a reincarnation angle. The plausible scenario I’m offering is that if these films underperform/fail there could still be a levelling of the playing field and the guy with Guru could still be standing tall! Not very likely but plausible! Who would have expected Guru to be a major success and JBJ to be major failure?! Actually this is quite a rebuke to all those who were associating Abhishek with Yashraj and other factors! But in any case the year isn’t up yet!
By the way Aamir could still emerge a winner with TZP but this isn’t an equation-changing film.
Comment by Tango on 2 July 2007:
Akshayshah- Ithink this one was tailormade for Akshay. If he could pull the bad Phir Hera Pheri sequel then this one, a much superior product would have been a cakewalk for him.
Komal now rates Akki at no 4 or 5 .
Comment by rks on 2 July 2007:
Tango: Akshay’s comedy is of obvious type (Friends). JBJ comedy is subtle, dark (Scrubs - I do not know they show it India).
Comment by satyam on 2 July 2007:
Rks: True. There’s a different between the PHP/BB/Partner kind of deal which people like and JBJ! The point isn’t just that people did not take to JBJ but the fact that many absolutely hated which suggests an ideological component to the reaction. In other words the JBJ kind of comedy is subversive and not just plain comedy.
Of course even with the obvious comedy BB opened no better than JBJ!
That I love watching Akshay do that kind of comedy is another matter altogether.
JBJ originated as a small film from Kashyap (Sangam Mail). Shaad wanted to shoot it completely in India as per the script. Aditya leaned on him to shift it to Europe. It then became the big Yashraj film for ‘07 and of course the followup to BnB. I think that somewhere along the lines what perhaps got lost in all of this is that the subject wasn’t that of a blockbuster. This perhaps should have been a smaller BM kind of film.
Of course in retrospect one can engage in a great deal of analysis. This is a useful exercise of course but the fact remains that this has been on the big shocks in recent times much like KANK. But then this is also the beauty of the box office. Nothing is a given!
Comment by satyam on 2 July 2007:
And yeah you do so some of the anti-Abhishek folks now making JBJ a part of their respective politics. The anxiety factor has always been there (this is precisely why my statements have caused so much offense!) and now a film that was least expected to be anything but a superhit has turned into a box office disaster. So it’s an unexpected gift for these folks. This too shall pass! This is hardly a worse moment for Abhishek than UJ/D2! The guy has shown an ability to rebound when his back is against the wall. Look out for some Drona fireworks!
Comment by satyam on 2 July 2007:
Incidentally the guy who’s getting a raw deal is Saif. Because the media is lumping TRP and JBJ together when the former did way better than this and was always very good in the smaller centers. On that note actually JBJ is also not bad at all in most of the smaller centers and in cases even good. But more on this when I put up the box office report. It’s an irony though that in their weakest moment Yashraj actually have the small centers on board!
Comment by jayshah on 2 July 2007