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With Diwali round the corner, Bollywood is all set to usher in the boxoffice season as multi-crore productions compete with one another for release, writes V. Gangadhar FOR Bollywood, along with the normal four seasons, there are two more. These are the lean season and the box office one. The monsoon season has ended, festivals are on and Bollywood is all set to usher in the box office season, which began from Dasehra and will last up to next February. This is the time when multi-crore productions will compete with one another for release, critics will sharpen their pencils and audiences will wait in anticipation. 2010 is no exception. Big banners, top stars and colossal amounts await their fate eagerly. Aakrosh, an animated version of Ramayan and Jhootha Hi Sahi opened the season and their impact is being assessed. The industry has buckled itself to what will happen to investments around Rs 500 crore. To survive and celebrate, returns from the movies lined up for release must be 20 to 25 per cent more than this amount.
Diwali is just round the corner and for Bollywood, this is the time for films to make money. Experience tells us that comedies and action films did better than emotional ones. Going by that logic, this year’s big Diwali releases Golmaal 3 and Action Replayy should do well. Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal has now become a brand and its very name spelt success. The other film, Action Replayy has novelty as its main feature, the pairing of Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai. Lacking any particular histrionic efforts on her part, Aishwarya Rai’s Robot, and particularly its regional version, Endhiran, became superhit while Akshay Kumar’s films this year did not bring in the expected returns. Perhaps, Action Replayy will bring him back on the right track. These two films have a definite advantage because no other major releases are scheduled for the next two weeks after their Diwali release. The next biggie is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzzarish. There is always high drama and politics, including dirty tricks during this period because it is believed that only two hits will be possible during the Diwali season. Producers vie with one another to get their films released in the theatres of their choice and the competition is fierce. Those who wish to avoid the rat race have postponed their releases to later dates. Aamir Khan’s Dhobi Ghat was earlier billed for a December release but now has been shifted to next February. Between Diwali and new
year, there are a number of releases offering variety and new themes.
But there are no biggies from banners like Yash Raj, Shah Rukh Khan’s
Red Chilies or Aamir Khan. Hiss boasted of Hollywood
connections and, of course, Mallika Sherawat, who could be deadlier
than a cobra. Guzzarish, like most other Sanjay Leela Bhansali
films, is expected to do well among multiplex audiences and Break
ke baad offers the interesting pairing of Imran Khan and Deepika
Padukone. Of course, there is nothing known as Audience Loyalty these
days. Much depends on promos, publicity and the unpredictable factor,
LUCK! Dozens of small and medium budgeted films will also be hitting
the screens during the bumper season and who knows, one or two of them
can hit the jackpot.
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