satyam

Bollywood sell-outs
In 2007, Bollywood’s fortunes swung like a wild pendulum. The industry was buffeted by a slew of potential blockbusters that fell way short of trade expectations.

But thanks to two men, Shah Rukh Khan, riding the crest of an unstoppable wave, and Akshay Kumar, with a hattrick of hits, Bollywood was saved the embarrassment of a string of flops.

If it’s Mani Ratnam, it’s got to be big. The man from the south lets his work speak for himself and Guru did just that. ‘Guru’, starring Aiswariya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan was an epic drama loosely based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.

Bollywood saved face with succour coming from completely unexpected quarters. First-time director Sagar Ballary’s ‘Bheja Fry’, which opened in mid April, had no saleable star names and rested on an unconventional plot premise – the film was inspired by Francis Weber’s French satire ‘The Dinner Game’, but it clicked big time.

Bheja Fry’, driven by a clutch of fine actors who aren’t saleable stars, was among a few other films that achieved commercial success.

The substantial domestic gross of Mira Nair’s English-language ‘The Namesake’, a fine adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, gave UTV Motion Pictures much cause for cheer.

Another surprise hit from the UTV stable in 2007 was Anurag Basu’s freewheeling ‘Life in a… Metro’.

The film is about the lives of a group of people, who live in Mumbai. The lives of these people revolve around a loner called Rahul – who occupies an apartment owned by his uncle.

To climb the corporate ladder he allows his rich and influential acquaintances to use his flat for their sexual past-times. It was hit for simply being in your face.

‘Chak De India’ saved the day for Yash Raj Films. Directed by Ram Gopal Varma protégé Shimit Amin and scripted by one of Bollywood’s most gifted screenwriters Jaideep Sahni, the film was as offbeat as a mass entertainer can ever get.

The tale of a hockey coach who has a point to prove and a bunch of women who have nothing to lose may have had shades of ‘Lagaan’, but it was driven by its own rhythm and logic.

Shah Rukh, for a change, shed his starry mannerisms to come up with one of his most convincing screen performances ever.

The second Shah Rukh starrer of 2007, Farah Khan’s ‘Om Shanti Om’, bettered the stunning box office performance of ‘Chak De India’. OSO, produced by the superstar himself, hit the screens on the same day as ‘Saawariya’ and romped home with ease.

The appeal of the crowd-pleasing fantasy about a 1970s film extra enamoured with a female star hinged on stale plot devices and infantile in-jokes, yet the film hit bull’s eye owing to Shah Rukh’s matchless ability to inveigle the masses with his unabashed hamming.

OSO was unapologetic masala, and its runaway success proved that the song and dance formula will never go out of vogue, no matter how much Bollywood changes.

‘Jab We Met’, a romantic comedy about a loquacious Punjabi lass and a down-in-the-dumps scion of a corporate family, gave Shahid Kapur the first major hit since his debut film ‘Ishq Vishq’.

But the year also saw a break-up between him and the film’s lead actress and his long-time girlfriend Kareena Kapoor.

The latter’s growing friendship with Saif Ali Khan quickly became grist for the gossip mills. TV news channels and shutterbugs had a great time following the twosome’s moves.

Just when Bollywood was getting immune to actor’s kids facing the camera, the unassuming Neil Nitin Mukesh made critics sit up and notice him. His debut, ‘Johnny Gaddar’, a suspence thriller, came as a surprise to movie goers who almost gave it a pass.

The other male star who could do no wrong in 2007 was Akshay Kumar. His report card for the year had a trio of huge hits, ‘Namaste London’, ‘Heyy Babyy’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’.

Not one of the three films was cinema at its best. They worked because in 2007 audiences were in the mood for kitsch.

In the fitness of things, the year saw a steady stream of unconventional ‘multiplex’ films making it to the theatres – ‘Gandhi My Father’, ‘Parzania’, ‘Black Friday’, ‘1971’, ‘Water’, ‘Provoked’, ‘The Blue Umbrella’, ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’, ‘Dil Dosti Etc’, ‘No Smoking’… But not one could come near the ‘Bheja Fry’ success story.

Thankfully for Bollywood, the year is ending on a positive note. Aamir Khan tried his hand at directing and boy! Did it turn out well.

‘Taare Zameen Par’, the film about children, turned out to be a block buster. Produced and directed by Aamir Khan, the film was a success with both children and adults. Aamir, who plays the lead in the film delivered to the T.

The time of the release coincided with Abhishek proposing marriage to Aiswariya. It did wonders for the film at the box office.