Sunday, February 6, 2000		Bollywood Bhelpuri

Realising dreams
By Madhur Mittal

THE response has been more than overwhelming! Dreamz Unlimited’s first film — Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani has pulled in the crowds like crazy! In Mumbai, as elsewhere, theatre owners have had a tough time controlling the jostling surging swarms of cinegoers desperate to get their hands on a ticket... and the premium be damned!

Never has the Bollywood Press witnessed such concentrated hype from top stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla for any of their many movies together in the past. But then, I reckon PBDHH is singularly special to both of them... for it is their film, literally — they’re equal financing partners in the production company, along with director Aziz Mirza, after all ! And they’ve certainly gone all the way to promote their debut offering to the (fickle ‘n’ elusive) box office goddess, I must say. Whatta face about for the generally unapproachable duo as they pandered to the media moods... very simply (and obviously) because this time, they needed the Press more than the Press needed them.

Inside sources point out that the entire exercise is the Khan’s brainchild. He, being the most calculative of the lot, realised that there was a new way to cash in on his immense popularity (other than the inane ads he’s been doing be it cars, colas, whisky, suitings or "snoodles"!) By producing films. So he coaxed Juhi into parting with her money as a partner and cajoled Aziz Mirza into joining ‘em, in order to impart their ‘dreamy’ banner some down to earth respectability, see?