Yash Raj Films scare no more

There was a time when a film coming from the house of Yash Raj Films used to scare any and every movie which planned to release around the same date. Not just did the film refrain from releasing on the same day as a Yash Raj project, even a Friday before and after their new release used to follow a 'zero new film' trend.

However, the trend got reversed when last year 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa' released on the same day as 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' and severly massacred it. 'Aaja Nachle', too, had other films releasing on Fridays around it and though 'Tashan' did see a solo major release ('Sirf' was never a contender to begin with), it's subsequent failure has made other film makers suddenly wake up to the fact that if they want, they can pose as a good enough challenge.

This is why there hardly seems to be the Yash Raj Films scare factor when their second project of the year, Kunal Kohli's 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic', releases on 27th June.

Picture this: On 20th June, there are as many as 6 films lined up for release. They are Eshwar Niwas' 'De Taali' (Atab Shivdasani, Ritesh Deshmukh, Ayesha Takia and Rimi Sen), Kunal Shivdasani's 'Hijack' (Shiney Ahuja, Esha Deol), Nagesh Kukunoor's 'Aashayein' (John Abraham), Kumar Mangat's 'Haal E Dil' (Amita Pathak, Nakuul Mehta, Adhyayan Suman), Mani Shankar's 'Mukhbir' (Suneil Shetty, Om Puri, Sameer Dattani) and Sunil 'Bheja Fry' Doshi's 'Halla' (Rajat Kapoor, Sushant Singh, Vrajesh Hirjee).

This is not all as the week after 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic' is stuffed too with two major films confirmed for release on 4th July. They are Harman Baweja's launch pad 'Love Story 2050' that has Priyanka Chopra as the star attraction and 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa', an Aamir Khan production which launches his nephew Imraan Khan who is paired opposite Genelia D'Souza.

With 8 films lined up for release around 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic', that stars Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Amisha Patel in the principal roles, one wonders whose turn it is to really get scared this time around!

Joginder Tuteja