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2 Monday 13th December, 201 WednesdayThursdayWednesdayThursday 17th 2nd November, 30th 3rdDecember, December,November, 2010 2010 2010 20

BY COOMI KAPOOR removal schemes and news television’s The Star/ ANN obsession with ‘exclusives’ and ‘break- Hindi film industry reels from big flops ing news’, Peepli Live turned out to be a arring a lone super hit, it has surprise commercial success. been a flop of a year for Two other low-budget films clicked at BBollywood. the box office - Tere Bin Laden and Sex, While big-banner, big-star films fell Love and Dhokha. Both had convincing by the wayside, low-budget films with storylines and the films were made by strong storylines did surprisingly well little-known directors. Dismal year However, it was a cruel year for the in the box office. Small wonder the Hindi film industry reckons that its col- established, big-time directors. lective losses would be upwards of Ashutosh Gowariker’s Khelein Hum Jee US$60 million. Jaan Se, a film based on an actual inci- At the year-end, much was riding on dent of a localised uprising against the the last big release of the year to revive for British in erstwhile Bengal, bombed at sentiment in Bollywood which was reel- the box office. ing under enormous flops. Starring and The release of the much- publicised , a lot was riding on Farah film, Tees Maar Khan, star- the film for both its hero and its director. ring and , Bachchan Jr had earlier featured in on the last Friday of the year was wide- another big-budget flop, Raavan. And ly expected to lift spirits of filmmakers prior to Raavan, he also starred in two who had failed to wow the cinema-goers. more box office duds, Delhi-6 and Drona. Though publicity and clever market- As for Gowariker, well, the director ing had aroused keen interest in the of the classy Lagaan was doubly film, with enthusiastic response to unlucky, having failed miserably in his advance bookings at the 2,000-odd the- earlier film What’s Your Raashee?. atres showing the film, the final verdict In fact, it was ’s on Tees Maar Khan must await its sec- Dabaang which was the lone conqueror ond week run. of the box office in 2010, though there On her part, producer-director Farah were a few other moderately successful Khan left nothing to chance, featuring films. herself in various media interviews It raked in big bucks for Salman’s with the lead actors to market her third family production, emerging as the movie. biggest hit of the year. Her earlier films, and Other films which did well at the box Main Hoon Naa, were big hits. Both had office were Once Upon a Time in in the lead. , Golmaal 3, Rajneeti and Such was the pre-release hype Housefull. around Tees Maar Khan that one of its On the back of three moderately suc- most raunchy numbers, Sheela Ki cessful films, Ajay Devgan’s star shone Jawani, was played on radio and televi- bright at the box office. In both Rajneeti sion more than two thousand times in and Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, the run-up to the actual screening of the Devgan played the main lead. film around the country last Friday. On the other hand, Given that very often a single song was not so lucky with both his big-budg- can prove a difference between a hit and et films, Kites and Guzaarish failing to a miss, producers of Tees Maar Khan find audience approval. believe that in Sheela Ki Jawani they Shah Rukh Khan had a lone hit in may have already have the box office while goodies in the bag. and Saif Ali Khan had no releases dur- Should Farah Khan’s comedy do well ing the year. Akshay Kumar had a big hit in Housefull. at the box office, it will lift the mood in Bollywood personalities (L-R) Katrina Kaif, Akshay Kumar and director Farah Khan attend the premiere of the Hindi film ‘Tees Maar the entire industry. Among the younger crop of heroes, After all, when all the big guns are Khan’ in Mumbai on December 23. talented Ranbir Kapoor won accolades for his Michael Corleone act in Raajneet still left nursing their box office wounds, entertainment, and a number of them demanding and discerning, especially in strong storylines. and maintained his position as the a super-duper hit provides hope that cin- regularly showing old Bollywood the lucrative urban centres. In the above genre, without doubt the numero uno in the under-30 heroes. ema audiences had not turned their movies, filmmakers no longer enjoy the That would explain the popular phe- grand success of the Aamir Khan-pro- In other words, a dismal year for back on Bollywood. advantage as the sole providers of nomenon of multi-screen theatres and, duced Peepli Live was a highlight of the Bollywood with the cumulative losses With a myriad of television channels escapist fare to the masses. consequently, the commercial success of year. running into some US$60 million. available as an alternative source of Besides, audiences are getting more intelligent but no-frills cinema with A biting spoof on rural poverty

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