Street ramblings… SDM, Aamir, D6 etc…

S T R E E T |

84 | February 24, 2009 at 12:37 pm | 220 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

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So SDM won Oscars.. in fact it killed it at the Oscars but we all know that it didn’t deserve those awards. Yes, it was a good film, perhaps very a good film, but we’ve seen a number of similar type of films from Bollywood even better, much better. Now the interesting part of it all is that, SDM belongs to the realm of fimmaking that Bollywood shed its hands off long ago IN ORDER TO WIN WESTERN ACCEPTANCE. Film without songs have been applauded and seen more as pertaining to western likings. Lip-sync and choreographed dances as in Jai Ho have been seen as hindrances to the crossover audience. Someone here has written a post about how Aamir’s RDB is such a superior film because it features no lipsynced songs. And above all, romances have become a taboo. For years now, specially post-Lagaan (which ironically had its own love triangle) films that featured around a romantic plot have been considered lesser and given that outcast treatment by the critics and elitists. And here we have SDM, whose basic plot is that of a boy in search and struggle to acquire his love. Hopefully, with the SDM’s win, Bollywood would revert to its roots. Screw remakes of Mementos and Miracle worker, bring back some Tezaab, Hum and Agneepath. So in a sense, I am happy that a SDM type film won those awards. Ofcourse, Rahman and Pekuty`s wins are to be celebrated, but wouldn`t go over the top. We knew Rahman was an all-time great, dìdn`t need an Academy approval stamp for that. In fact, we`d hope the Westerners get a taste of his far more superior works. Try Dil Se or Taal for instance.

Coming to Aamir. Boy is he being over-rated here or what. Aamir’s Ghajini took the BO by storm. A 50cr (7 day) opening and a 115cr total .. good.. or say great. Almost double of what Hrithik’s JA made and a good 20-30% more than SrK’s RNBDJ. Big deal. (and yes diff is not all that huge if RNBDJ`s overseas gross is included). Anyways, a couple of year ago, Hrithik and his D2’s 35 cr opening and 80 cr total was equally dominant over Aamir’s Fanaa or SrK’s Don. Not to forget he also had a Krissh that year. And only a couple of years prior to that SrK’s VZ and MHN had him playing the one-man show. So it’s been pretty much taking turns for the top 3. One outdoes the other with every next film, but one can make a case for SrK being the creme de la creme coz he’s been more consistent than the other two and been delivering every single year. So guys, please stop over-rating Aamir. Even when it comes to the films’ quality and versitality of roles, he’s not all that far ahead of the others. Ofcourse it’s all subjective, but Lagaan aside, his other critically acclaimed films (RDB, TZP, DCH) are not clear-cut winners when pitched against Swades, CDI, Hey Raam, Paheli, etc. And his commercial entertainers Ghajini and Fanaa are hardly superior to Devdas, OSO, DON and RNBDJ. He’s played a variety of roles, for e.g. the care-free college student in DCH, the care-free college student in RDB and will yet again play a college student in 3 Idiots. lol.. but seriously, SrK is up there with him. He played Mangal, SrK played emperor Asoka. He played the short-term memory loss patient in Ghajini, SrK played a Cancer patient in KHNH and an alcoholic in Devdas . Aamir is a teacher in TZP, SrK played a coach earlier in CDI. And then SrK also played a ghost in Paheli, an anti-hero in Don, a 70’s struggling character artist in OSO .. not to mention the different genres of those films. Maybe Aamir is more versatile and his films are better, but the difference is hardly all that much. It’s nice to see finally a competition to SrK, something that’s been absent for years. It can only be healthy for Bollywood. But yes, stop giving more credit than its due.

D6’s opening is below average. Big Deal. Did JA open great? Was TZP ’s opening impressive? and how huge was CDI on the first day? And these are the top 3 stars of Bollywood. Abhishek doesn’t even come close, so why should a big deal made of Delhi-6’s below average opening. We all know that it wasn’t going to set the BO on fire. If anything, most would have predicted a decent opening and a film with potentially long legs in the mould of the other three aformentioned films. But the big problem here is that not only does the film seem to have a bad WOM and predictably a flop, it will do no harm to Abhishek’s market value. I don’t remember the last time a star, whether in the Bollywood or any other industry, was so flop-proof… a star whose offers werent affected by the failures of his flops. And he is flopping every type of film. Honestly, if he cann’t deliver with a prestige flick D6, he cann’t deliver with a multi-starrer song-and-dance funfare JBJ , cann’t salvage solo-hero romantics UJ and KNK, or action superheros Drona, then what he can he perform in? Small, budget, medium-budget or big ones, he flops them all. Even a sequel to an earlier success Sarkar does well below the mark. Compare the performance to other sequels PHP, Munnabhai, Golmaal, Raaz2. His only real success in past few years is Guru and a Hrithik-starrer D2. But hey, who cares, watch him sign the next biggie with whoever the next big name director is… as long as he`s a Bachchan he’ll get them. Interestingly he’s giving his dad quite a competition with flops and disasters.

Wall Street Journal on ‘3 Idiots’

Badminton is like ballet dancing: Aamir

I am not Aamir or Akshay to get solo films: Madhavan

Aamir, the poster boy for education

Aamir tops Filmfare Power List

There Are 84 Responses So Far. »

A C H I L L E S 24 February 2009
01:52:46 pm

LOL … like the tone and agree with th content.

Btw, the most astounding question is why the heck did UTV release D6 in 1000 screens in India? To cash on the RDB success?

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
02:01:31 pm

Edit: “…the difference is not all that huge if RNBDJ’s overseas gross is included…”

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
02:06:00 pm

Not only that Archilles, why do they keep baking on Abhishek. Maybe Hrithik, SrK or Aamir couldn’t have made it a blockbuster, but they could definitely have salvaged it. Remember, neither of KANK, MP or Lakshya is a flop.
Also for Abhishek one cann’t even use the “outside his comfort zone” or the “different film” excuse, we just dont know what his comfort level is. He has flops and disasters in everything. He doesn’t discriminate any genre on that front.

A C H I L L E S 24 February 2009
04:13:34 pm

Talking about D6 … it seems the bachchan clan are clutching on to the fictitious BOI 18 cr Net number in a hope of a high week 1 number … the same guyz who used to abuse BOI left and right … of course BOI is playing up with D6 numbers just like they did with CCTC opening … but the point here is the consistency and honesty.

Btw, I am amused to hear that those who shouted for a year in NG that UTV over-reported JA’s opening week is readily believing in the UTV numbers for D6.

Life goes around in circles!

The reported centers from Taran and FI will reveal the truth.

From the reports so far we have an exact replay of CCTC here … big release, average weekend gross and a crash after that.

A C H I L L E S 24 February 2009
04:17:13 pm

Street – Since you brought this up, there is a recent comment of mine in another thread:

hind his survival is that the top league are doing so less movies in the last few years … film-makers dont have much options nor can they ignore the politics of the Bachchan factor.

How many hits does abhishek have in one full decade after doing 35 films? lets see … Dhoom was a hit (a movie that made John a star) … Bunty and Bubli was superhit (almost a solo hit here if it wasnt for Amitabh) … Sarkar was a semi-hit ( a much stronger Amitabh presence here) … Dhoom 2 was a blockbuster (a total domination by Hrithik) … Guru was a genuine solo hit (full credit to Abhishek here) … Dostana was a semi-hit (again a multistarer).

How many hits? Including the 2 semi-hits the total count is only 6 … How many movies has he done in total? Whats the ratio?

Brian Charles 24 February 2009
04:28:12 pm

ACH i agree with you on the Abhi front, his success ratio is challenged by only salman in recent history.

But i dont agree with some of your ratings,

Dhoom – hit
BNB – hit
sarkar – above average
dhoom 2- blockbuster
guru – hit
dostana – above average

You have increased the ratings by one margin in some of these.

A C H I L L E S 24 February 2009
04:40:35 pm

Charles – I dont see any significant difference between above average and a semit …. both are between an average grosser and a hit … anyways, i dont give much importance to above-average/semi-hit movies … even KANK was a semi-hit.

Strictly speaking abhishek BACHCHAN has 4 hits in all these years …. D6 isnt going to add to this tally … but there will always be a Ravana or a Rama coming up.

Brian Charles 24 February 2009
04:48:03 pm

ACH but the thing for Abhi is, his reference point as a star is so low and stable that no disasters and flops make a difference to him. He is just doing his thing, i dont know how that works but its just keeps working.

A C H I L L E S 24 February 2009
04:52:57 pm

A lot of guys who are are totally unproductive are paid their salary too … big salaries if their dads have good contacts … thats how life goes on Charles … while we unfortunate souls keep complaining.

Brian Charles 24 February 2009
04:59:50 pm

Though i would like to see the real fate of D6 before pronouncing anything on Abhi, i am giving his last real shot to superstardom, if he can take D6 to 45+ cr and build upon it.

Lets see , but abhi has so much history of not building upon his successes i think he might go through his whole career like that, its almost 10 years now.

Hrithik is the only new superstar post khan era(except for the late career superstardom of akshay)

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
05:57:27 pm

Yes Achilles.. I seen that post. And find it quite suprising that he only had 4 hits. For some reason I always thought he had had a few more. But yeah… 4 hits out of 35 films is really bad.. specially considering the fact that almost all of them come from major production houses under promising directors, reputed producers, in medium-to-high budget ventures and with some of the hottest names as co-stars. Yes there’ ve been other stars who have delivered as many or more flops, but there’s a big difference in a film like Daava from a no-name director Sunil Agnihotri flopping than Refugee, MPKDH, HMBPKH and UJ.. films that happen to be directed by people who delivered amongst the biggest hits of the 90’s. It’s one thing to have a flop with Shilpa Shetty and Sonali Bendre… it’s another thing to deliver back-to-back flops with Aishwarya Rai and Kareena Kapoor. Abhishek has worked in literally every major production houses’ film.
As Achilles mentions, there’s always a Raavana around the corner. So, who cares if D6 flopped, he’ll feature in one of the next biggies. For a very long time, the industry was run by a handful of stars.. now it’s run y a handful of families. So even if you’re not a star or not delivering hits, it’s your bloodline that decides what films you get and how many chances you get. So John, Emraan, Shahid can deliver multiple hits … Shiny Ahuja, Sidddharth and Ranvir Shorey can blow the critics away with their performances.. and still cann’t have a single JBJ or Guru made with them. An Abhishek Bachchan or a Ranvir Kapoor will be forced down our throats whether we accept them or not. They going be the next superstars of Bollywood, and there’s no ifs and doubts about that. It’s imply a matter of when… Didn’t happen with Refugee, didn’t happen with DAPK, KNK or the latest JBJ or Drona.. but somewhere along the lines a D6 will click… a Raavana will have that story and screenplay that will work and boooom we have the new superstar. Absolutely sucks.. but what can you do.

rudresh 24 February 2009
06:17:06 pm

“An Abhishek Bachchan or a Ranvir Kapoor will be forced down our throats whether we accept them or not. They going be the next superstars of Bollywood, and there’s no ifs and doubts about that”
So nicely put up.

My name is Beld 24 February 2009
06:45:34 pm

street – I agree entirely on your write up on abhishek – very well put that he is totally flop proof

however – i do not agree on the aamir/srk comparison. I believe they are on the same pedestal and yes SRK is ahead overall because of his consistency and charisma – but I wont be too surprised if this is the year aamir overtakes SRK (assuming he is at the same level as SRK based on last year)

A C H I L L E S 24 February 2009
06:57:20 pm

Street – Agree with you word by word on your last comment … very nicely said.

imgr8 24 February 2009
07:25:31 pm

why dont people utilize some neurons that are mostly found in the upper upper upper department of the homosapiens (if they are one) before they put ranbir kapoor and abhishek bachchan in the same sentence! Who is forcing Ranbir down your throat??? You are free to go watch movies of Imran Khan and Neil and Zayed and Fardeen and Dino Morea and Arjun Rampal and so many other actors! Just FYI Ranbir enjoys a better standing that most of these names, not that I expect you to know it. Noone is forcing Ranbir down your throat, if he’s good he’ll find his position in the industry with or without you!

Brian Charles 24 February 2009
07:26:45 pm

Guys i know that some concerns have been put forward over ranbir kapoor.

The situation here is that he is only 2 movies old with a solo semi hit to his name.

Cant compare that to 14 straight flops of Abhi.

I know more will be expected from him in the future, but cant right now put him in the same category of Abhi.

And even though i agree with you Street, but never in the history of bollywood have superstars have been forced on people, stars yes but superstars no.

Superstars have to earn it and have certain amount of acceptability.

utkal 24 February 2009
07:32:15 pm

Agre with most of your points but not about SDM and the bOllywod ethos:
‘Lip-sync and choreographed dances as in Jai Ho have been seen as hindrances to the crossover audience.’ The song comes during the end credits. Not in the main narration in Tezaab and and the normal Bolywood films before the multiplex era.

‘And above all, romances have become a taboo.’ Romance was a never a taboo, not in Hollywood nor in new -Bollywood, only its manner of depiction.( th etypical song in the mountains of Swtizerland or beaches of New Zealand.) Heck, the biggest Hollywood blockbuster Titanic is a romance. Lagaan, RDB, DCH they all have romance, but their depiction is varied. And movies like TZP and CDI do without romance and the do. I for one dont want the 70’s Bolywod films to come back. There should be all kind of films telling all kind of stories. Like in this year’s Oscar list there is SDM there is also Frost/ Nixon, Milk and concept -laden Benjamin Button. I want Bollywood to offer an equally rich nad varied fare every year. I want a Ghajini, a CDI,a TZP, a Munnabhai, a Jab We Met, a Welcome and a Mangal Pandey in the same year.

Gabber 24 February 2009
07:52:23 pm

Agree with Street that Maamoo is highly over rated here on NG.

RAJ 24 February 2009
09:11:27 pm

Great write up….Street

“”"We knew Rahman was an all-time great, dìdn`t need an Academy approval stamp for that. In fact, we`d hope the Westerners get a taste of his far more superior works. Try Dil Se or Taal for instance.”"”

Agree here…

“”"He’s played a variety of roles, for e.g. the care-free college student in DCH, the care-free college student in RDB and will yet again play a college student in 3 Idiots. lol.. but”"”

Infact if we take last 10 movies of SRK and Aamir respectively..SRK have more variety in his roles than that of Aamir and BO wise SRK has more consistency than Aamir…

utkal 24 February 2009
10:23:53 pm

“We knew Rahman was an all-time great, dìdn`t need an Academy approval stamp for that. In fact, we`d hope the Westerners get a taste of his far more superior works. Try Dil Se or Taal for instance.”

WE are mistaking a background score with a collection of songs. what they are rewarding in Slumdog is not its songs, but the total score and the way it holds together and propels forward the film. I don’t think Dil Se or Taal were superior in that respect.

RAJ 24 February 2009
10:25:22 pm

Utkal,

I believe ARR got two awards at Oscars and one of them is for the song “”Jai Ho”"

utkal 24 February 2009
10:51:31 pm

As for individual songs he has done many better songs than Jai Ho. Hundreds of them. But they have to be in movies that are sent to the Oscar jury and I doubt Taal or Dil Se were sent to the jury as they were not in the nomination shortlist even.

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
10:51:53 pm

“Who is forcing Ranbir down your throat??? You are free to go watch movies of Imran Khan and Neil and Zayed and Fardeen and Dino Morea and Arjun Rampal and so many other actors!”

Akshay Kumar, after being in the industry for about twenty years, and delivering more back to back hits than God-knows-who and drawing moremoolah in a two-year period than anyone since the hey-days of Amitabh or even Khanna and then gets to do a CCTC… Ranbirs first film Saawaria is a bigger more prestgious prject than that. You’d say that they are both joinnt Hollywood-Bollywood productions but Ranbir’s film is directed by a Bhansali who’s put in much upper echelons of Bollywood standings than whoever CCTC’s flopster director is. Can you tell me why? I don’t have to care about Ranbir to watch Saawaria, after having enjoyed Khamoshi, HDDCS, Devdas and Black. Just as I’d have watched JP Dutta’s next after Ghulami, Hathyar, Batwara and Border whether it starred an Abhishek Bachchan or not.

and I agree with you Brian Charles never in the history of Bollywood has a superstar been fed into us, but times have changed. When kumar Gaurav’s subsequent films after Love Story flopped, the stature of his films and the quality of offers and the very magnitude of projects there after dropped sharply. When Puru Rajkumar first film (I think was with Karisma) flopped, he didn’t get any other respectable film thereafter. Saif washardly a flop in his first film, but he only got so many major films (and them too were multistarrers) until he started getting success lately. But the likes of Abhishek and Ranbir are getting royal treatment in literal sense. They, today, not to be mistaken, have as good or better a lineup of films and working with directors bigger in name and prestige than SrK, Aamir, Hrithik and ofourse Akshay. And though I admit that starsons have always have launch pads or launch vehicles (wateva you call it), but we see a lot more than that today. It’s as if they are superstars and have a 100 hits under their belt, even before their first films release. Achilles mentions that an Abhishek gets all these films because the top order are being very choosy and work with select prdoctions houses, their own productions and in case of Aamir even under own direction. Well I haven’t heard of Bhansali, Mehra, Gowariker, Ratnam flocking arond Akshay. And even otherwise, why don’t the likes of John, Shiney, Ranvir, Rampal, Shahid or Emraan get those roles? Their BO record is not any worse than that of Abhishek inspite of not having a single film half as big as him. Do you really think they’ll disappoint as badly as Abhishek if they got as many chances? Acting and looks are subjective matters but I wonder if Ranvir and Abhishek score all that highly over the ones mentioned. In fact, the two had already sgned half of those films even before their Refugee or Saawariya had seen a release so they could display their talent or none there-of.

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
10:55:20 pm

utkal I think Dil Se, Taal, Lagaan and Bombay’s score as well as individual songs are far more superior to his work in SDM. Rahman himself was bemused when first told about the nominations, that he had hardly done anything in SDM compared to what he does in reguar Bollywood ventures.

neelu 24 February 2009
10:58:47 pm

I was discussing this with Aarohi and what he said was interesting and pertinent. Was this a lifetime achievement award for ARR or an award for music in 2008? So who in 2008 was better than him?

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
10:59:42 pm

“…But they have to be in movies that are sent to the Oscar jury and I doubt Taal or Dil Se were sent to the jury as they were not in the nomination shortlist even…”

Agree.. and I am not really complaining that those songs didn’t get oscars or western recognition.. of any kind. I just mentioned them as better works by Rahman that we have experienced all these years.. and that these westerners haven’t really tasted the real RahmanIf they are goig gaga over Jai Ho, I wonder what they’d say after expereincing his Dil Se or Lagaan.

utkal 24 February 2009
11:11:27 pm

‘Rahman himself was bemused when first told about the nominations, that he had hardly done anything in SDM compared to what he does in reguar Bollywood ventures.’ NOT TRUE.

The score in Slumdog was amazing. Every reviewer mentioned the roe the music played in creating the right mood for the film. It is as if the muisc wasa lead actor of the film, The sound editing helped. The score in taal, dil Se, Bombay are good but not of that level.

neelu 24 February 2009
11:15:21 pm

Those who have experienced Dil se have fallen under the spell of the music. Did people forget that Spike Lee’s Inside man opened and ended to Chaiyya Chaiyya?

utkal 24 February 2009
11:17:49 pm

This is not surprising. Most Indian filmmakers or viewers were not sensitized to the role of the score in crafting a film, until Rahman. That is why the background score was done by some body other than the music director. It is still the case with music directors like NadeemShravan, Anu Malik , Pretam et al. Ho wwould you get a world class csore in an environment like that. Like mnay other things that rahman changed, this attitude too is now changing. People like sandeeo chowta, Salim Suleman are being good money do do quality score. But the art of using the sound track is far advanced in Hollywood and the artistic standards in this regard is on a different plane. Only Ilyaraj in the south has been doing top class scores over th years and rahman continues the traditon.

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
11:20:08 pm

beld… it’s hard to maintain. Aamir maybe climbing a sharper incline than SrK, but we’ve witnessed that before. Other stars have been able to edge him at the Box office with a hit or two but then lost into oblivion. I consider Gadar more impressive a feat than Ghajini but where is Sunny now? Hrithik’s MK opened bigger than SrK’s Mohabattein but what happened the subsequent years? Still, I do admit that Aamir today is as big a draw at the domestic BO (overseas SrK still quite ahead) as SrK and teh gap between the two is pretty much non-existent… but my point in the post above was about the general tone of some people towards SrK’s films versus those of Aamir. And that how the latter is showered with all kinds of praises for being the one with a great variety of films and the different types of roles played, when SrK is pretty much right there alongside him on that front.

RAJ 24 February 2009
11:21:00 pm

I agree to Utkal here..Yes BW is far behind as far using the Back Ground Score is concernedd…In HW this is as importnat as a lead star is..

Som 24 February 2009
11:31:27 pm

I would be inclined to put Dil Se and Taal ahead of SDM but the way each song was effectively weaved into the narrative in SDM was enticing and It literally carried the story forward.Each song had an infectious energy, It is hard not to get charmed.

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
11:41:40 pm

I’d even put RDB ahead of SDM..

actually RDB’s score and its integration in the screenplay is well ahead of SDM. The latter used two songs, one before the titles role and one after the movie ends.. waah kya kamaal ka integration hai.

And yes utkal, Rahman did say something along the lines that in a regular Bollywood movie he does far more work than he did in SDM.. something about more notes etc. I read it on NG itself.. tried to find it but as always I suck at finding anything on NG. fuk last time it took Som (I belive) to find a post I had written.

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
11:42:54 pm

Edit: “… one before the titles ROLL and one…”

utkal 24 February 2009
11:49:57 pm

‘actually RDB’s score and its integration in the screenplay is well ahead of SDM. The latter used two songs, one before the titles role and one after the movie ends.. waah kya kamaal ka integration hai.’

See, we are still talking of songs. That is how we are conditioned in Bollywood. Songs just take about maybe 20 minutes in SDM’s background score. The rest is music and sounds. a film like Star wars or LOTR have no songs, or maybe one. But the scores are great and leave subtle emotional imapct on the viewers. That’s why I said both the viewers and makes in BW are yet to be sensitized to this effect.

Rahman did say he did the Slumdog score in record time. # weeks or so. That’s because he received less number of but definite cues from director Boyle. But he never implied that that the work was any way insubstantial.

utkal 24 February 2009
11:56:14 pm

RAHMAN”s INTEVIEW IN TIME MAGAZINE: explains things somewhat.

You’ve worked on so many Bollywood epics, but Slumdog Millionaire was a film made by a team of Brits who set up camp in India. Was it a different experience, working on this film?
Definitely. The way that [Director] Danny [Boyle] uses music in his films is completely different from even other directors in the West. He uses songs as scores, and uses each moment of music as a highlight, which is very exciting. So I knew he was going to mix the music very high, which normally is not the case in most films, where the music is mixed underneath the action and gets drowned out.

What was the process between you and Danny?
I knew he had a very good ear for music, and I trusted the way he selected cues. I gave him four or five choices for each cue and then he would pick the one he liked and he would spend weeks trying to insert them. Any good idea I had, I’d send him a scratch of it via e-mail, and then he’d respond to two or three of those. It was a totally different way of working. [It meant that] there were a lot of ideas that didn’t get used but it worked out all right.

You spoke directly to the people of India the night you won your Golden Globe…
Well, I initially kept [my involvement] a secret. I thought that maybe if Danny didn’t like my stuff, it would only be between him and me. I did no publicity until I knew everything was working. India is a big fan of Hollywood, but we also love our regional stuff, and it’s a great moment for the country when one of their own gets recognized. When I won, I felt from my heart I should say, “This is for you guys, you’ve been wanting it.”

What was the reaction when you got back home?
There were drums and dancers, it was just like in the movies. At the airport, there was a lot of goodwill, and I think you’re able to see it on YouTube. [See clip below]. It’s all so good, though, because India has been through this huge thing with the Bombay [bombings], and the floods and so many other things. I’m glad there’s something to cheer about, and I hope the controversies don’t bring that celebration down.

Well, talk a bit about the film’s controversial reception in India?
I feel that the intention of the movie was right, but people were a bit touchy about the dog thing. It’s kind of an insult if you have the word “dog” in the title. That’s what they are objecting to, but I don’t think it was intentional from the creators. What I like is that here are probably the richest people in the world, living in Bombay, and the poorest of the slums, all coexisting. This movie kind of shows both.

What was it like working with M.I.A.?
I listened to her three or four years back — one of my friends played it for me and I was stunned by her whole vision. It was completely new and bold, and normally when a person comes from India you expect a differentness, but she was bold, very sweet but in your face. I met her when she came to my studio to work on some stuff for another album and I said, “Let’s do something together.” Danny later suggested her name and I immediately said “That’s a great idea.” On ‘O … Saya,’ I did the chant lyrics and she did the chasing [lyrics]. I would work on some of the track and send it to her through the e-mail and she would do the vocals in New York and then sent them back.

Listening to the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, every track sounds so different.
I took a cue from how Danny did his other soundtracks. There wasn’t one composer [on his previous films,] but rather so many people were involved. I asked him, “Can I do the whole score,” and he said, “Definitely, if you have the time, I would love you to.” But I wanted to innovate and to do justice to the film, so I tried to approach it as if each cue was from a different composer, with a different exoticness. So there’s a very vintage ’90s Bollywood cue, and then a more edgy, hip-hop sound and then a world music kind of thing. It was great fun.

S T R E E T 24 February 2009
11:59:02 pm

Even on BG score, Dil se Taal Bombay RDB and Lagaan score over SDM.

neelu 25 February 2009
12:05:44 am

Dil se background score was amazing – the haunting “Sitaron se aage jahaan aur bhi hain, abhi ishq ke imtehaan aur bhi hain” (and I know that was not a song, but background score!!!)!

S T R E E T 25 February 2009
12:10:23 am

Also the “ae ajnabi song” how well was that one done..

neelu 25 February 2009
12:16:08 am

Yes – Ae Ajnabi in its first iteration was part of the background score, as SRK was hyperactively describing his encounter at the train station and Manisha was listening on the radio.

Aarohi 25 February 2009
12:32:59 am

Not a big fan of Taal, but Dil Se and RDB had top class back ground score. As neelu mentions above, ‘Sitaron Se Aage’ is out of this world. I would also have the piece during the credit sequence in the same league. It’s probably in Assamese.

neelu 25 February 2009
12:46:45 am

Unfortunately my DVD has the beginning “lopped” off. I have not been able to find a perfect DVD version of Dil se, so the opening score is missing. But Sukhi’s singing of Sitaron se aage shows up at many points in the film and could be a fine “near song-length” piece. It is frustrating that this amazing background score is not available on CD.

Aarohi 25 February 2009
12:54:22 am

Hmm, I have that track in my home comp. Will try uploading it. Yeah, it’s a shame they didn’t release a BGM CD for Dil Se. And the DVD sucks. The DVD of the Tamil version (Uyire) is far better.

utkal 25 February 2009
01:17:01 am

‘Even on BG score, Dil se Taal Bombay RDB and Lagaan score over SDM.’ Not really. It is just not possible, because Bollywood does not have tradition of using BGM creatively and intelligently. Things have improved with the advent of rahman and directors like Mani and Mehra. Still the hangover of a tradition, where BGM scorers are treated like bnadmasters and paid a pittance while music directors are paid in crores, remain. In fact if you check the reviews of Tal, Dil Se or even RDB, no reviewer would have mentioned the BGM., They would ahve talked of the songs. Actually the best of BGM in Bollywood to my notice are in Satya ( wonderful work bu\y Sandeep Chowta), and Black Friday ( Indian Ocean), and the recent DEv D ( which has 18 songs , but used totally differently from the standard BW style). among Rahman’s scores th eones in Bombay and RDB and now dElhi ^ would be the best. But easily he best BGM by one single composer in Indian films would have to by Iliyaraja in film after film. Check the Iliyaraja community in Orkut to get hundreds of gems. But the West uses scires better because it is the part of their toolmaking tradition. the works by John Wiliams, Enio Morricone, Nagelis, Hans Zimmer and a few others are legendary.

utkal 25 February 2009
01:18:35 am

Nagelis > Vangelis ( Bladerunner, Chariots of Fire)

utkal 25 February 2009
01:27:36 am

Rahman for me is GOd, but still to put things in context, here is a low down on John Williams:

“John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor and pianist. In a career that spans six decades, Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in Hollywood history, including Star Wars, Superman, Born on the Fourth of July, Harry Potter and all but two of Steven Spielberg’s feature films including the Indiana Jones series, Schindler’s List, and Jurassic Park. In addition, he has composed theme music for four Olympic Games, NBC Nightly News, the inauguration of Barack Obama, and numerous television series and concert pieces. He served as the principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980 to 1993, and is now the orchestra’s laureate conductor.

Williams is a five-time winner of the Academy Award. He has also won 4 Golden Globes, 7 BAFTA Awards and 21 Grammy Awards.[1] With 45 Academy Award nominations, Williams is, together with composer Alfred Newman, the second most nominated individual after Walt Disney.[2] He was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.”

Zen 25 February 2009
02:39:37 am

Great Write up Street. we need more of these from you. On star sons, it is going to be more difficult for them, as the multiplex era has opened up opportunities for Struggling actors without khandaani connections in the industry. Just give it two more years and we’ll see.

RAJ 25 February 2009
02:58:10 am

Agree with Zen here…Its not the audince but the media who are fascinated by the starsons and daughters…

But still very few people from outside the media getting any breaks to make an impact..

rudresh 25 February 2009
03:08:18 am

I donot completely agree that its meid aonly that is fascinated by star childrens. Today media just go after the market, anything which sells they will show.
And i had seen many people who go excited byson/daughter kinda thing. aree yeh rishi ka beta hai, hema ki beti hai.its bit of craze. People like them or not, accept them or not is different thing.

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
09:13:30 am

rudresh .. maybe when they start yes.. their film may hold some interest for the audience..They’ve enjoyed Amitabh’s performance for years .. so let’s see what the son holds.. yes it true… and was always there. But in recent years , there’s a new phenomena.. it’s dat a certain section of the film “fraternity” have their firm hold on the top layer of film making. So even if a Abhishek, Ranbir, Kareena etc disapoint, they’ll still get a Bhansali movie ahead of someone like John, Siddarth, Shahid, Emraan, Rampal, Shiney etc even if the latter bunch have had successful films, audience appreciation, critics approval and what not. That wasn’t the case before. A Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Shahrukh khan was able to get prestigious films and offers from major directors and production houses as they proved their mettle. Today, even after delivering a whole bunch of superhits Akshay cann’t match the line-up of films that an Abhishek and Ranbir gets. Post-Dhoom, John got second-hero roles in Manjrekar (Viruddh) and Priyadarshan(GM) films, while Abhishek got signed by a Mani Ratnam and the likes. Even the same peoductions houses offered markedly different films and roles to the two actors.. Dharma gave him a Kaal but gave Abhishek a KANK. YRF signed him to low-budget film in a debuting director’s Kabul Express, while Abhishek had BuntyaurBabli and JBJ made for him. And I dont wanna get into the whole debate who the audience apprecitaed more in Dhoom.

neelu 26 February 2009
09:32:02 am

Street – there is some truth to what you say about clans and such. But in the end producers are into making money to the bigger deals always go to him/her who can most eyeballs into the theater. A few cases and my take on them:

1. Abhishek – I think anyone who has seen him in Yuva, BnB, KANK, Sarkar etc. cannot deny his talent. But IN MY HUMBLE OPINION he needs a good director who acknowledges and know where his talent lies and how to tap into it. Dhoom was Abhi’s film and John got away with playing cool and being in a big entertainer, but Abhi was NOT a cipher in Dhoom. So Abhi gets Dhoom 2 – but they make him a cipher there. I think a good sense of script would have made him ask for more, but perhaps he was OK with being in a sure-shot blockbuster film. Abhi needs roles where his intensity can be tapped and he should not be “static” but doing either action, or intense drama (angry man?) or OTT comedy.

2. Ranbir – whatever Bhansali did with Saawariya, Ranbir came out with maximum accolades and went right into a spate of films. For him to carry BAH to a semi-hit in only his second film is no mean feat, and he was decent in that role, fit it to a T. I say watch out for Ranbir – he may be a worthy star-son and a good mainstream hero.

3. Kareena – I think she is an interesting case. She over-acts to glory in every commercial film but only Imtiaz in JWM was able to capitalize on her ability to mug away at the camera to the fullest. This was really the POO avatar of K3G that was exploited to the maximum in comedy. The same thing happened in GR. So Kareena can be a commercial hit in OTT comedy. BUT look at her in underplayed role sin non-commercial films – Refugee, Dev, Chameli, Omkara. I think has the talent to be a fine actress (way better than her retired sister), but again it takes a Vishal or Nihalani to extract it from her.

So what is wrong with John? IMO I have not really see him act decently in a film. And I have not seen him make a film successful. Dhan Dhana Goal – poor film, Kabul Express – meh. Shahid – I think he is more talented than John and Kaminey is his moment. Can he capitalize on it? Emraan has his clan making films for him. I rarely see his films and when I do it is not with a sense of “wow he’s talented” but patient acceptance that he is in the film. Arjun is wooden most of the time and I am surprised he has come as far as he has. Shiney has had many lead roles – BB, KKC, WL – what did he do? Abhay seems content with smaller films but not like he was taking them to success. Maybe Dev D wil change the equation for him. Siddharth? Who Siddharth? Just kidding – but come on, one draws mostly a blank.

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
09:46:40 am

neelu… the talent argument goes for a toss because these people I am talking about signed most of those films even before their first film released, well before anyone saw their acting or talent or whatever.

Secondly, these people work with the best in the business.. so no wonder their performances look much better than what they would working in a sunil Agnihotri film. Watch Slaman in Bhansali films (Kamoshi, HDDCS) and then watch him in other flicks.. big difference. Similarly Abhishek in Yuva is a threat to watch, but in Dhoom2 we just cann’t stand him. btw.. he got a good enough role in Dhoom2, he just couldn’t capitalize on it… whether it be screen-time or dialogues.
And you provide a perfect example with Kareena… just to hide her acting limitations, directors have to work around their scripts instead of assigning the role to another actres who could perhaps fit the role.

And no Shiney hasn’t had enough opportunities.. not 1/20th of what these other guys had. And who knows how Emran, John, Rampal, Siddarth, etc would act in a ManiRatnam or Bhansali film.

Som 26 February 2009
09:48:50 am

We are forgetting Kamal Rashid Khan here. I firmly believe he is a man of extra-ordinary talent.The sequel to “Deshdrohi” is due for release in Diwali 2009. “Kites” better be postponed. )

neelu 26 February 2009
10:01:15 am

Street – I think Refugee was the first film by Abhi and Kareena – and Kareena was really good there. Abhi was OK too – nothing very great, but the film was an average ne – not bad for two newcomers. Kareena next year gave one hit, one average and two flops – again not bad. So what is the problem? If she picks (or is picked) for a Sivan, Sudhir Mishra, Mani, Nihalani, Vishal film then I do not think these are commercial directors – they did not have hits (Mani’s FIRST Hindi success was Guru!) and I think they chose talent first and foremost, and not pedigree. So I am unable to follow the argument. I think Abhi has fewer “critical acclaim” directors in his early career so I am unsure what was getting him the roles. Things began happening for him by 2003-2004. As for Shiney – he started out with Sudhir Mishra in a mindblowing film (and role) Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi – but he has never lived up to his potential even with Mishar in KKC. If Emraan Hashmi can make Bhatt films successful, why not Shiney? I think the actor to wonder on is Kay Kay Menon – he is supremely talented, and not a tepid actor like Shiney. He needs to get roles worthy of his talent.

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
10:29:27 am

neelu I think Shiney’s debut in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi was more impressive than both Abhishek’s Refugee and Ranbir’s Sawwariya.. aur yeh main nahin keh raha, moreso the critics response and within the industry perception.

Maybe Shiiney is not as talented as Abhishek is or the latest Kapoor is. But I’m sure a Siddarth and a Ranir Shorey is. And maybe the likes of John, Emraan and Rampal don’t find a place in a Ratnam film but don’t see why they shouldn’t be in a Dhoom or Dus. Would Shahid be all that worse in a KANK? Emraan’s made for a Sarkaar type role. But all that aside, it’s not really a matter of lack of alternative talent. Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar don’t have the movies and roles that Abhishek and Ranbir have in their kitty. Do you see anything like that in the 60’s 70’s or even 80’s? Is there a scenario where a Randhir or Shammi Kapoor got better movies or meatier roles in a movie with Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar etc? And even if there were such instances in history of Bollywood, they werent as abundant.. Here an Abhishek has been getting better offers than everyone but SrK CONSISTENTLY since he set foot in Bollywood.. inspite of disapointing almost every single time.

Rocky 26 February 2009
10:36:09 am

Street – shiney was horrible in Hijack and Khoya Khoya chand.

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
10:51:19 am

Hijack and Khoya Khoya chand would have turned out a lot differently had they been directed by JP Dutta and Mani Ratnam. Anyways.. I am not here to defend Shiney’s acting skills,… I myself don’t think that highly of him. In fact even if he were a great actor, he wouldn’t be getting those chances that them two starson are getting in today’s industry.

Man compare Aamir to them two.. and still cann’t match inspite of the enourmous talent and proven success.
Dhoom, BnB, Dhoom2 and JBJ were bigger movies than Fanaa.
Mehra gives Aamir a moivie where he shares screentime with 4 other heroes, Abhishek gets a solo hero Delhi-6,
All these years Ratnam never offers a movie to Aamir but does solo-hero Guru and ofcourse Raavana with Abhishek.
Aamir had to do movies with no-name John matthews while Abhishek does 3 back-to-back films with JP Dutta.(Abhishek killed poor Dutta)

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
11:01:12 am

And the Aamir movie liek Ghajini that seem big films, is simply due to Aamir himself. Replace Aamir with Abhishek and we realize it’s hardly that big a film. New actress, a Sothern director, action genre etc etc.. Imagine Aamir in Saawariya… how enourmous does that film get..
“Aamir in a Bhansali film right after Black? and that too a joint Hollywood production.. woah!!” Aamir doesn’t have a single film in his kitty of that magnitude. One would say Mangal Pandey.. but Ketan Mehta hardly has the name that Bhansali (had) built for himself prior to Saawariya.

It’s funny how the stocks of Bhansali, Dutta, Bharjatya, etc went down after their flops with these royal starson, but the starson themselves remain unaffected. And yeah .. add the latest casualty – Mekra.. to that list.

Even a few Bachchan fans (including satyam himself) argued here how the Chopras are giving their trump films to Abhishek and their lesser films like CDI to SrK.

sv 26 February 2009
12:11:01 pm

Street,I don’t think JP Dutta is a very successful film maker.
He was a critically acclaimed director,who only had a super hit in Border.But he launched Abhishek.
Abhishek is definitely flop proof to a certain extent.But I don’t think anybody can make a superstar out of him unless there is a certain level of acceptance from the public.
According to your logic,even hrithik was made a superstar because Rakesh Roshan made koi mil gaya when he was written off.

neelu 26 February 2009
12:19:16 pm

Street – Shiney was NOT better than Abhishek – ever! Pit his best against Abhishek’s best and you can see the truth. HKA was made by superb gut wrenching story and Kay Kay and Chitrangda too! And it was a film that went nowhere at the BO! Same Sudhir Mishra in KKC was able to extract nothing but wood from Shiney. People who follow Aamir’s career and interviews more than I do have stated that he likes to work with new directors – so let us not blame that on the industry or the established directors! SRK is sticking to the Chopra pere et fils, and to Johar and Farah. I think he could benefit from films by other directors who make more edgy cinema, but that is his choice. Mehra hardly gave Abhi a star role in D 6; in that film there was an even bigger ensemble cast that RDB and the city of Delhi itself was the star of the show. Mehra did seek Hritik and others and was turned down.

IMHO if an actor can deliver a Yuva or a KANK or a Sarkar (or even a great comic turn in Dostana) then he is an actor of note and the BO is not in anyone’s control. Mani has consistently used talent like Madhavan, even Mithun in films. I think he might be more connected to Aishwarya (due to her earlier Tamil films) and then Abhi is part of that package – but I could be wrong.

SEXY 26 February 2009
12:35:51 pm

Who gives a horse arse for this Shiney anyway. He’s another looser for cryin’ out loud. Now comin’ to D6 I think SRK would have done an awesom job. After acting in Swades and CDI so well, should be doing films like D6. I know BO wise its not profitable but after having an unprecedented record in Commercials, he should do more off beat even if it means making less. He is already No. 1 for 16+ years. He ain’t got to prove anything. If he does more of those his prestige wll also be unsurpassed. SRK is god of bollywood. That is the truth.

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
04:22:26 pm

sv.. Hrithik’s case is different coz Hrithik, like all other starsons, just had a launch pad.And it wasn’t even that ambitious a film compared to the other RR flicks. Every star actor throughout history of Bollywood has had it. From Rishi Kapoor all the way to Fardeen Khan.
The rest all came after he became a star with that launch pad.. after the public accepted him in that movie. The only other movie that he had signed while doing KNPH was Fiza.. Khalid’s debut film that had a very small role for Hrithik (like Maya Memsaab) initially but was expanded on later after KNPH created a buzz within days after it release. And KMG may have saved his ass the second time around, but that was just one of the movies.. he had bigger films that very year. Throughout this topic I am talking of big films (prior to release) what happens after is different.. but it’s the potential blockbusters… like MPKDH for instance.. It’s totally understandable that Sooraj Bharjatya would rope in Hrithik Roshan after the guy had delivered a blockbuster in KNPH.. but why was Abhishek given a parallel role there? He was coming off multiple flops.. and forgettable films.. .well before Yuva or Dhoom or wateva had surfaced.

And neelu I don’t buy that new-director theory from Aamir. It’s like the Filmfares.. just coz he didn’t get them.. he said he didnt want them. Still, he has repeated directors. But they weren’t great to be with to begin with. Except Mansoor, who very understandably did his biggest movie with SrK. (was gonna give Aamir the role Chandrachud played.. you get the idea..)Others , the bigger names, just didn’t give him any lucrative roles. He wasn’t offered any Dil Se.. the Chopras didn’t go to anyone after Darr, Bharjatya was stuck with Salman, Dhawan with Govinda. And neither did Ghai, RR or Bhansali ever approach him. That sums up the biggest names of the 90’s. Only Santoshi offered a couple of movies.. but both multistarrers with SrK in supposedly better/meatier roles. He just wasn’t big enough a star.

The bottom line is that… the more successful you get, the bigger a star you get, the bigger movies come your way.. whether you do them or not is a different case altogether. But in present day bollywood, Ranbir and Abhishek, thanks to their bloodline, get better and bigger movies than some of the topmost stars of the day.. even though they haven’t proved their mettle at the BO. Neelu no matter how much excuses you make for every other actor, I don’t see why Abhishek and Ranbir’s upcoming projects should be better than Aamir, Akshay, Hrithik, and even SrK.. forget the rest of the bunch.. John, Shahid, Shiney, Emraan, Rampal, KK, Siddarth, Shorey, etc etc..

A C H I L L E S 26 February 2009
05:11:21 pm

Street – ur logic cant be refuted in any way … but i will add on a point to it … on a rare few cases Abhishek became a default choice for Mani (Yuva) or Mehra (D6) as others had rejected the same role.

Almost everyone from Hrithik to Akshay to Ranbir to Siddhart! rejected the D6 script before Mehra finalised Abhishek.

the big stars doing lesser movies is benefiting the likes of Abhishek and Ranbir to bag prestigious projects … even the late rise of Akshay Kumar to superstardom lies in the fact that the top league is leaving lot of space for others … even this year there is only 3 movies between Aamir/SRK/Hrithik … but still 3 biggies like CCTC, Billu and D6 have flopped.

Karle mushkil Jeena Beld Kameena 26 February 2009
07:07:38 pm

awesome analysis Street. It makes for some great reading. Why do you think that star children get more chances? If you assume film making is a business – what could be the business reason. I can understand a JP Dutta or a Mehra or a Desai giving a break to a star son or a star daughter – but eventually shouldnt the business aspects take over.

I ask this because despite their disastrous BO records, Abhi and Kareena, are very hot on the endorsements arena. That means they have a saleability factor attached to them. Its indeed very odd to see that their brand value seems to increase with each flop they give.

For this alone – I feel advent of UTV, in retrospect, would be the best thing that happened to Indian cinema. I think, by and large, the coterie is broken now. There still will be old school _ like chopras and dharma – will keep giving the bachchans and khans and kapoors the plum movies – but they will just be a niche. UTV and other like them with multitude of actors will become mainstream

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
08:31:00 pm

So for how long will Abhi remain flop-proof? .. seems like forver to me. 35 films and almost a decade has passed and no change in that regard. Don’t you think it’s inevitable that he will become a superstar? coz on one hand failures don’t cause a dent in his position, but on the other hand the slightest of success, BO-wise or critically, will be awarded and help his position and market value.

Abhishek and Ranbir will br forced down our throats whether we like it or not.. and it’s only a matter of “when”, not “if”, till they become the topmost stars.

Karle mushkil Jeena Beld Kameena 26 February 2009
08:35:02 pm

abhishek cant become the top most star ever coz hrithik is in the same age group. Ranbir can and will one day. Till SRK is 45 or so he will rule the roost. then it will shift to ranbir. the hrithik/abhi generation will lose out is my prediction. Hrithik had his chances this decade but SRK outsmarted him

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
08:48:12 pm

“SRK is sticking to the Chopra pere et fils, and to Johar and Farah. I think he could benefit from films by other directors who make more edgy cinema, but that is his choice”

That’s untrue. Yes he repeated those directors (every 3-4 yrs) but at the same time he tries other directors as well. In fact he has worked with all kinds of directors.. big names like Roshan, Ghai, Abbas-Mustan, Ratnam, Mansoor, Bhansali.. to up-and-coming Ashutosh, Shimit and Farhan… as well total art-house directors or so-called parallel cinema filmmakers Santosh Sivan, Amol Palekar…and inspite of being at his peak where he could choose whatever film he wanted to do and pick whoever he wished to work with, he has taken chances total newcomers Johar, Farah, Advani.

Actually Ghai and Roshan aside, he has worked with all those people in past 10 years alone.

Only SrK can match the offers that an Abhishek and Ranbir has been getting…lol.. SrK to superstar hai.. lekin in dono ko toh bewajeh superstar treatment mil rahee hai.

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
08:51:55 pm

But Hrithik is not flop-proof.. sooner or later he`ll have a flop or unsuccessful film and will have to take a step back.. while for Abhishek the ladder only goes one way. It`s like playing snakes and ladders but everytime Abhishek`s turn comes the snakes are raised or hidden.

Gabber 26 February 2009
08:59:22 pm

Abhishek is fool proof.He has a solid fan base that is intact. It was expected to grow but it has not due to unfortunate reasons beyond his control.
Hrithik imo is most risky at No 4 followed by Akshay, SRK and Aamir in that order (Descending) making Aamir at the least risky situation of all.

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
09:12:56 pm

I don`t think Akshay is in a less risky position than Hrithik. For one, Hrithik has a daddy who will make films for him no matter what. Second, he knows very well to make successful films. And third Hrithik is younger than Akshay. And finally, Hrithik is a better actor than him as well (audience and critics`s overall perception not my opinion). And forgot to add, that Hrithik has more stable a fanbase and has proven more consistent than Akshay at getting his films initial across morew genres than Akshay.
For Akshay, he has to diversify… sooner or later the audience will get sick of his one-trick pony act. Remember what happened to Govinda….

RAJ 26 February 2009
09:42:01 pm

Street,

Excellent analysis..

Some body said Abhishek have a solid fann base…I do not agree with it at all…Infact he do not have a fan base at all…He completely have to depended upon his quality of movies to do well…in The contrary SRK ,aamir and HR have a solid fan base…Whatever the film might be they are bound to get a good initial…Akshay offlate is in this category too..But the problem with AK is his fan base is very fluid…Two more flops for AK he wont get good initials…But that wont happen with SRK,Aamir or a HR anytime soon…

And yes starsons do get royal treatment inspite of their failures…BW never treats outsiders liberraly..

Gabber 26 February 2009
09:49:15 pm

Street,

Point1 – Hrithik has his daddy
Well Akshay too has a core team – Sajid Nadiadwala, Priyadarshan, Sajid Khan and above all Vipul Shah. Individually they may look week in comparision with colossal Rakesh Roshan but combined together they are a force to reckon with with impeccable BO track record and the ability to make big commercial films, one each every year.

Point 2- Hrithik knows very well to make successful films.
May agree esp after CCTC’s debacle. But Akshay’s volume compensates for his lack of good script sense.

Point 3 – Hrithik is younger
No one can deny this fact but this can hardly be a concern if Akshay is able to manage to work with younger heroines and be gthe fittest person around

Point4 – Hrithik is a better actor
I have been agreeing to this always. Hrithik’s talent pool is the best we have in Hindi film industry. But talent is not the only criteria for success. Work etiquettes, hard work, passion to succeed and positive attitude more than does wonders to Akshay.

Point 5 – Hrithik has a stable fan base.
So does Akshay. Whose fan base is bigger can be debated but I feel Akshay’s fan base is still in the growth phase and this augurs well for him. Infact he is finding more acceptance now and the fact that juntaa and critics together are finding him to be the best thing in each and every movie that he does (whether flop or hit) makes him a good favourite amongst other star’s fan base.

Point 6 – Hrithik gets more initials across genres.
Well did not see that happening with the only different genre that Hrithik has tried – Jodha Akbar. I do not think it for 70% opening that Akshay’s flops like Tashan or CCTC got, forget about his hit film. Namaste London was a smash hit and it was not Akshay’s stronger genre. A smaller role in Bhool Bhulaiya was good enough for that film.

Point 7 – Akshay has to diversify
CCTC, 8X10, Blue, De Dhana Dhan all 2009 releases are good enough calculated diversification. Even last year Tashan and SIK were different kind of films.

Akshay film’s pricing needs to be cut by 3-4 Cr esp when his films comes in quick succession. Most of his films look a good hit on paper. Except for CCTC, his only other failed film Tashan went wrong with its cost and release strategy (no multiplex release in week 1 when single screens opened to 70%+ opening)

Gabber 26 February 2009
09:53:54 pm

Additionally different but consistent Media and reports have always beleived that the competition for top slot is between SRK and Akshay with Aamir (after Ghajini) to be a new entrant.

RAJ 26 February 2009
09:58:04 pm

Gabber,

It indded was a race between SRK and Akki by august 2008..But within next six months things have changed definitely,with the succes of Ghajni and failure of CCTC..Not that it cant change again in future…With two solid hits Akki would definitely be back in the reckoning ofr top slot without any doubrt…

utkal 26 February 2009
10:21:29 pm

Sajid Nadiadwala, Priyadarshan, Sajid Khan and above all Vipul Shah…none of them have the power to make the biggest hit of the year. Or an iconic hit that the nation talks about. Akshay will never be No 1. Like Dharmendra, far more talented and popular never was, not even with a Sholay, which Akshay does not have.

RAJ 26 February 2009
10:25:41 pm

Utkal,

Just out of the context..do you belong to Orissa???

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
10:38:27 pm

Hrithik ’s track record at getting solid initials has been impressive than not only Akshay but even Aamir and SrK. Right from Fiza to Mission Kashmir to MPKDH to KMG, Lakshya and ofcourse Kriish and D2. Even his totally rejected films like MPK and NTJNH had pretty decent openings when compared to similarly rejected films of other top stars. JA is the only film that didn’t get a good initial.. something that really surprised me.. but that’s just one film. CDI, ZP didnt have much of an opening either.

And on my secnd point there. I meant papa Roshan. He knows very well to deliver big hits. If things get really bad.. he’ll come up with a KMG for his son.

Also Gabber.. Akshay hasn’t really had a grosser of the magnitude that could compare with the three’s top grossers. He hasn’t had a D2, OSO or Ghajini yet. The three films that could have potentially done that for him all failed big time.. JeM with Salman, YRF’s Tashan and the biggie CCTC. Govinda also delivered a lot of “hits” including 3-4 in one year (which was a very very big deal in the dry 90’s) but never delivered one that could match a KKHH, HAHK or even a Border.

S T R E E T 26 February 2009
10:48:41 pm

“Additionally different but consistent Media and reports have always beleived that the competition for top slot is between SRK and Akshay with Aamir (after Ghajini) to be a new entrant.”

I remember them doing that with Ajay Devgan in 2002. Flavour of the month as they call it. What always suprises me is how they announce SrK has been overthrown by so-n-so actor one year (say Hrithik in 00) and then the very next year when another star delivers a bigger hit.. they say this new star has now overthrown SrK from the top (say Sunny in 01). But hey.. I thought SrK was no more the top star.. Shouldn’t these media tabloids announce something like Sunny has overthrown Hrithik from the top?
Similarly if Akshay had become the top star last year… wouldn’t it be more befitting if the media stated that after Ghajini aamir had replaced Akshay (not SrK)? anyways…

neelu 26 February 2009
10:55:52 pm

Target nahin badalta – sirf teer badalte hain har saal!

Zen 27 February 2009
02:06:36 am

The issue of star sons getting plum projects lies in the economics of movie-making more than anything else. Simply put, a star son/daughter brings great potential to a project without filmmakers incurring higher cost. But once the potential or fanbase of the star child evaporates, the projects stopped coming. Lets take Abhishek, Dutta took him on for three back-to-back projects yet each successive project was less plum than the previous, as nothing beat the prestige of the launch pad in these 3 projects. The second one, LOC had half the industry in it but few big names; the 3rd was the heroine centric Umrao Jaan which had none other than a fading suniel shetty. Dutta did not even bother to publicise the film, as he was confident in his artistic craft. Abhishek even asked him why don’t you promote the film! So in short these are 3 projects which rivals will not envy more so the last 2.

Coming to Mani, one can argue that AB jr landed Guru because he performed better than anyone else in Mani’s multi-starrer Yuva. A more compelling argument though is the well-known fact that Mani is a shrewd filmmaker who firmly controls the cost of his project, hence Abhishek is the Cheapest option for Mani, with the appropriate star appeal. Considering Mani’s tamil work, he never goes for the most expensive stars, rather he stuck to the Cheap but reliable Madhavan. Where were all the Vijays, the vikrams and the ajiths when they were piping hot?

For Bhansali, after Saawaariyaa, he did not go back to ranbir. And mehra went to the biggest stars like SRK and Aamir for RDB. Yashraj with the astute Aditya Chopra milked Abhi when he was cheap but once he didn’t deliver with JBJ, that was the end of it. Now they’ve got Ranbir in a supposedly 3 picture deal, signed before even Saawariyaa release, and when he stars quoting 15 crores, they’ll move. It is actually all about good economics and smart filmmaking talents.

When Dhoom release ABjr gave an interview saying that he recieves advice from the young filmakers which helps him to be grounded and not taken in by the success. He said that Aditya Chpra Sat him down and had a chat with him whilst KJO was present and he told him that he will succeeded as long as he nevers puts himself above the filmakers like Kjo who give him the good roles (or something to that effect), and I remember lauging at that, though its good advise it is also manipulation.BTW Abhi landing the role in KANK also had something to do with him having a greta 2005.

julie 27 February 2009
03:52:33 am

Great set of posts Street.

On star son and daughters, there is only one thing I will say and that is if you have the talent like Rishi Kapoor, you will go places. Talent speaks louder than any pedigree or lineage. A star son/daughter can commence their journey faster and quicker than a kid from a non -starrey background, but like Zen says with each passing project the tradeoff between economic viablility and the quality of the project begins.

Amongst the present lot of star sons/daughters the most flop proof have been Abhsihek and Kareena, the former a lot more than the latter. Kareena has occasionally delivered some prestige projects which have her national acclaim.

However going forward I do see the equation changing quite significantly. There is more and more fresh blood coming and financiers may invest slowly and steadily on new talent (which has some background say theatrical background). Only thing is that the scale of invest,ent would be low. That is the safest bet for financiers in contemporary world. I do believe taht we will see a distinct swerve of inclination in sponsoring projects with starrey background and little or no perceived talent.

Regarding ranbir, allow me to disagree. This is no ordinary star son. He started landing with plum projects (Sawariya and BAH) becasue of starrey background but proved himself in both the films critically at least. In BAH he managed to swing a Semi-hit status as well and this is just his second film. If he had not proved himself there is no way a Mani Ratnam would have made notice of him.

There is a distinct change since the time one started in the Abhishek / Kareena era moving to this generation of actors. Things are a lot more competitive now. Financiers are a lot more cautious. Now you have the odd example of Harman Baweja. But it is not so odd I guess, if his dad has the pockets to dole out funds. But a third or a fourth flop from harmie and trust me he will be history.

Coming to Abhishek let us take a rewwind, his first 13 projects or so were flops. Do you honestly beleive that 10 years later had he been delivering the same number of flops, he would be around? I don’t think so. (a) competition is a lot more stiff now (b) the financiers have become more cautious. The entire fundamental of economics and viability of stars has started kciking in. Now if D6 flops for instance, Abhishek’s viability as a lead in big projects will get significantly hampered. The financiers would just not invest 40 crores or so in an Abhi solo project. they would be more comfortable putting their money on a multi starrer project with Abhi possibly as the second lead (like KANK, D2). That is why a hit in D6 was crucial for him. Raavan has another lead hero who plays Ram and let us see how this project pans out commercially.

On Kareena – I think her landing with saif on a personal level was the worst thing to happen to her career and I see things only getting worse for her. A bit like the fate that Rani was subject to after her association with Chopras.

On Hrithik-Akki comparison – I am mostly wth you. i think Akkis will possibly have a decent year this year where at least 1-2 projects will click. However what he does not have on his side is (a) age (b) experience in the diverse range of roles that an aamir, srk and hrithik have (c) diverse fanbase. technically he is the most vulnerable going forward because of these three factors.

sv 27 February 2009
11:53:54 am

Hrithik’s main fanbase is youth.Once he becomes older,I doubt if he will have the same appeal as he has now..Hrithik,aamir act in one film in one year and they have consecutively given hits.But they can’t have hits forever,and one film will flop for sure,and if that happens their star value gets affected.
Akshay does 4 films an year and this always helps him.
Who said aamir replaced srk?

SEXY 27 February 2009
12:49:17 pm

Well said sv – Hrithiks fan base is under 18 youth LOL

And ya, aamir can replace srk BUT only in his own mind or in his dreams LOL