Intermission

Posted online: Friday, July 30, 2004 at 0000 hours IST

Seven months into 2004 we try to spot trends, predict patterns and hit on success formulae


EX. Seven months through 2004 that’s the buzz word at the box-office. Sex sells, no doubts about that. What’s more, today it is no longer a dirty word. Mallika Sheravat, Neha Dhupia, Ishaa Koppikar and Amrita Arora have finally liberated the staider-than-thou Hindi film heroine from conventional prudery.

Last week, Neha emerged from a tangle of satin sheets to announce unabashedly, “Main ek peshewar dhandewali hoon, I’m a prostitute by profession.” And whether she was splashing around in the pool in a show-it-all bikini or passionately smooching her live-in lover (and it was one hell of a no-holds-barred wet kiss), the former Miss India showed no traces of awkwardness or embarrassment. “Today, when a couple comes close, you cannot show them suddenly going behind a tree or under the bed sheet. We are in an age of progressive cinema where people are ready to accept bold stuff,” the actress reasoned.

That there were takers in plenty for Julie was evident from the fact that the film got off to a flier, packing in full houses in not just mass centres like Bihar and Berar but also in Mumbai and Delhi’s swanky multiplexes. It took a fabulous initial, comparable to a Shah Rukh Khan starrer, and even if collections dip in subsequent weeks, the film is a winner.

Earlier in the year, another bold new babe who had shocked middle-class sensibilities with her request for condoms and her last wish to feel her husband’s naked body next to hers in Khwahish, went a step further with her second film...Making love to Emraan Hashmi on the parapet of a Bangkok high-rise when still much married to Ashmit Patel. Mukesh Bhatt owes it to the care-a-damn Mallika for making a super success of his small film. Made on a shoe-string budget of Rs 2-3 crore and sold at a throwaway price of Rs 50 lakh, Murder will recover its cost from the Bombay territory alone. This, even though single-screen exhibitors in Maharashtra attempted to snowball the release by refusing to withdraw the theatre strike.

On March 19, 120 cinemas in Mumbai and several hundred across the state downed shutters, protesting against the government’s failure to implement the new tax policy as promised in the winter session of the State Assembly last December. According to the policy Entertainment Tax was to be reduced by 10 per cent from 55 per cent and service tax upped by a rupee to Rs 3. The strike continued for almost three weeks with single-screen theatres opening for business only on April 9, a week after Murder’s release.



“The strike however didn’t dampen excitement nor did it hamper the film’s prospects. And what was even more incredible was that business showed no signs of diminishing,” exclaims trade analyst and distributor, Amod Mehra.

Murder ended a three-month drought when the industry had to rely on two of last year’s releases, Karan Johar’s tear-jerker Kal Ho Naa Ho and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s laugh riot Munnabhai MBBS, to prop up the box-office. Till its 16th week, the romantic thriller was raking in decent collections from five Mumbai city theatres.

Adultery was the theme of this marital drama. And Mallika, in pre-release interviews, had insisted that adultery was the scourge plauging modern Indian society and marriages. “With the world’s largest population we can’t be unfamiliar about sex, yet the hypocrsy surrounding the subject shocks me. India has had an unhealthy attitude towards sex for far too long. We need sex symbols to clean up the image. I don’t have a godfather. If I’m being recognised for my sexuality and getting work for it, so be it. I feel proud to celebrate my sensuality and expect others to do the same,” she announced without a blush.


Murder is a faithful adaptation of The Unfaithful. That’s hardly headline grabbing news considering that this year we’ve had more than a dozen films hitting on Hollywood hits for inspiration. From Khakee (S.W.A.T.) and Paap (Witness) to Hum Tum (When Harry Met Sally), Masti (Seven Year Itch) and Plan (The Big Malkowich) to name just a few. What’s more, Mani Ratnam’s Yuva drew its muse from a Mexican film, Amos Perros—Life Is A Bitch and Vishal’s Maqbool was a desi version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth set in Mumbai’s underworld.

What set The Unfaithful apart was that not just Murder but Hawas and Unfaithful Hawas also turned to it for fodder. All three films were released within a month of each other. Murder was a blockbuster. Hawas did average business but since it was sold for a measly Rs 12-15 lakh, distributors will recover their investment. Only Unfaithful Hawas suffered from lack of publicity.

Yes, sex sells. Julie and Murder and to a lesser extent Hawas and Girlfriend have proved the adage true. And suddenly, there is a spurt of sex-oriented subjects. As many as 65 such films have been pumped into production and circulation from Bikaoo, Mirchi—It’s Hot, Jackpot and Chadti Jawani to Naari Ek Khilona, Hottest Mail.Com and Fun Can Be Dangerous. Even ice maiden Aishwarya Rai has unbent enough to do a steamy song with Sanjay Dutt in Shabd and share a smooch with Vivek Oberoi in Kyon...Ho Gaya Na. Dia Mirza plays a stripper in Mukesh Bhatt’s next, Tumsa Nahin Dekha. Diana Hayden’s legs-apart stance in the publicity prints of Ab...Bas has alreasy created ripples. And Meghna Hawas Naidu will once again stroke up a fire with Karan Razdan’s supernatural thriller Eight that is being shot in UK. “Like my earlier films, Hawas and Girlfriend, Eight too has sex along with suspense and thrills. It is a potent combination of sex and religion. Today, the only two ‘S’s that are a hit at the box-office are sex and Shah Rukh Khan,” the director informs.

However, in Hindi cinema the formula has rarely yeilded consistent dividends. Tum with its brazen publicity stills and the whiff of a controversy following Manisha Koirala and boyfriend, Cecil’s threat to the film’s publicist to withdraw the offending pictures from circulation, promised another Ek Chhoti Si Love Story. But the Aruna Raje directed murder mystery, had few thrills and even fewer cleavage spills. So, no happy ending for this one-night love affair.

Mehul Kumar’s Jaago got “real” with the subject of child abuse. But an absurd climax and clumsy handling of a sensitive subject resulted in another casualty.

“Kya irada hai, chalna hai kya?” Chameli invited with a provocative purr. The street lingo with its explicit sexual inneuendo brought the crowds streaming in the first couple of days. But they quickly petered out and the much-hyped film could manage only a fair showing in Bombay. Not enough sex was the complaint this time.


A fast learner Deepak Shivdasani ensured that the promos of Julie packed in plenty of sizzle to ignite a publicity storm. Chameli was a Kamatipura styled street walker. Julie was a high-class hooker. Shedding more clothes and inhibitions than Kareena Kapoor, Neha Dhupia ensured that the Rs 1.50 crore film shot in one schedule, earned producer NR Pachisia a table profit even before its release.

With one-minute plus promos on the etc channel and Deepak Shivdasani’s revelation that his heroine had gone topless (a claim Neha vehemently denied before she tagged along on a come-see-me tour), Julie brought an MG of Rs 40 lakh from even Aurangabad. That’s the power of publicity and the promise of uninhibited sex!

A confident Pachisia took on the combined might of Rajiv Rai’s spy thriller shot in Swiss snows, Asambhav and the record-breaking sequel to Spiderman to hit the theatres on July 23. The gamble paid off with Julie streaking ahead of the competition...Sex vanquishing even a fabled super hero.

Karan Razdan’s second film after Hawas, Girlfriend was also hot stuff. The film is notable for bringing lesbianism out of the closet and reeling in even respectable producers like Harry Baweja, who till now was content with action specials starring Ajay Devgan, into the “dirty” business. Not that sex, as we mentioned earlier, is a “dirty” word today. Hell, even soap queen, Ekta Kapoor after her second big screen debacle, Krishna Cottage reportedly went public with the desire to make a “sex” film!

Girlfriends, Ishaa Koppikar and Amrita Arora, like Mallika and Neha Dhupia, are unembarrassed and unapologetic about their unabashed “gay” union. Both actresses candidly confess that the film has given a definite boost to their careers.

Interestingly, despite its garam garam subject the film opened to a surprisingly thanda response and was heading in the direction of a normal flop. Then Shiv Sena activists, posing as society’s moral custodians, went on a theatre-smashing, poster-pulling spree. They insisted that Girlfriend was contrary to Indian culture and should be banned. Talk of a ban immediately sparked off interest in the film and helped distributors cover their Rs 60-70 lakh investment. Ironically, gay activists also had reason to camapign against the film that portrayed its homosexual heroine as a rampaging male baiter with revenge on her minds.


Within days collections however came hurtling down with uneducated males in mass centres unable to stomach the prospect of two women making love, even if one was completely smashed at the time. Masti with its often crude bedroom humour displaying a chauvanistic slant, was more suited to the mass palate.

Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria returned from the backwaters with this comic caper revolving around three bored bachelors-at-heart. More expensive than Murder with a budget of Rs 8-9 crore, the film raked in Rs 5 crore on delivery. Once again it was the mast mast promos of marital madness with their undercurrent of bawdy humour, that helped the film find favour with the film buffs.

Masti that ended the theatre strike in Maharashtra, is a hit in the Bombay territory where it has reportedly done a business of Rs 4-4.50 crore. Though family audiences were put off, the film found a following amongst the young crowd and did particularly well at multiplexes. Elsewhere, it has done average business but could bring in commissions from some centres.

‘M’ was the alphabet that ruled in May. Following in the footsteps of Murder and Masti that had the cash counters jingling merrily, came Shah Rukh Khan’s Main Hoon Naa. Expensively mounted with a budget of Rs 24-25 crore, the film fetched record prices for its overseas and Bombay territory. Co-producers Venus sold the Bombay rights to Shri Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Pvt. Ltd, new entrants in the distribution field, for a reported price of Rs 4.25 crore. The film made money in Bombay and Delhi and has inched its way into the “hit” category which is creditable going by the fact that besides SRK it did not boast of any big names. A directorial launch for choreographer Farah Khan, a comeback vehicle for Sushmita Sen and a career boost for Zayed Khan and Amrita Rao, the film gave Shah Rukh reason to smile and announce a second film with Farah and Shahid Kapoor, Om Shanti Om.

If Murder used sex to sell tickets Main Hoon Naa banked on laughs. After Munnabhai MBBS, the success of Masti and Main Hoon Naa have marked the return of spoofs. Distributors are showing renewed confidence in comedies, accepting Indra Kumar’s rationale that this is one genre that can endear itself to both the masses and the classes.

Of late, Sajid Nadiadawala’s David Dhawan-directed marry-go-round, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi has whipped up considerable excitement in the trade and amongst cine buffs with its talk-of-the-town promotional campaign and chart-topping music score. Not even a persistent buzz that the Rs 25 crore film is a rehash of Dhawan’s earlier Deewana Mastana has been able to spook the shaadi revellers. The film has reportedly earned Nadiadwala Rs 4 crore for Bombay and a ratio of Rs 3 crore for the other territories. “If comedy has a soul it will work,” insists Raj Kumar Hirani who has been busy with the scripting of a sequel to his debut hit, Munnabhai LLB. However, the poor showings of Paisa Vasool, Plan, God Only Knows, Shaadi Ka Laddoo, Suno Sasurjee and the more recent Raghu Romeo sound warning bells. “In Bollywood trends are hard to predict and patterns difficult to follow. The only trend one sees is that good films click, not genres,” avers Taran Adarsh, editor of the weekly Trade Guide.

At the beginning of the year producers and distributors had forecast the emergence of a new genre. “Adventure thrillers along with action films will make their presence felt. Barring those made by a handful of big names, romantic films appear to be on their way out,” Gaurang Doshi, the producer of the star-studded Deewaar—Let’s Bring Home Our Heroes, had prophesised.

Maar dhaad certainly dominated in films like Ab Tak Chhappan, Aan—Men At Work, Khakee, Aeitbar, Agnipankh, Bardaasht, Kismet, I Proud To Be Indian, Vajra, Kabhi Kranti Kabhi Jung,Dev, Lakshya, Lakeer, Run, Rudraksh Police Force and Gaurang’s own Deewaar. Interestingly, many of these films were about men in uniform with Amitabh Bachchan playing everything from a cop in Khakee and Dev to a Colonel in Lakshya and a prisoner-of-war in Deewaar. Besides Amitabh, Rahul Dev (Bardaasht), Jimmy Shergil (a police officer from Scotland Yard in Paap), Shatrughan Sinha (Aan), Om Puri (Aan and Dev), Paresh Rawal (Aan), Akshay Kumar (Khakee, Police Force, Aan), Tusshar (Khakee), Nana Patekar (Ab Tak Chhappan) and Uday Chopra (a renegade cop in Charas) pitted in their lot with the khakee brigade too. However, it was a cop out for the cop films with only Khakee (Mumbai) and Ab Tak Chhappan (Mumbai and South) making some impression. More recently Cinevistaas’ cop drama Garv got a mind-blowing opening in the mass theatres but failed to sustain despite a power-packed performance by Salman Khan.






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