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| A decade of Diwali blockbusters |
| 2009's Diwali Dhamaka has All the Best, Main Aurr Mrs Khanna and Blue battling it out at the BO. It's too early to comment on the fate of these movies but we take a look at Diwali face-offs over the years. |
| Golmaal Returns and Fashion on 29 October 2008 Madhur Bhandarkar's sexy angels battled it out against Rohit Shetty's madcap cast. Fashion was made on a budget of INR 20 crore while GR cost INR 40 crore. Both movies were successful but Fashion was a bigger hit, commercially and critically. It gave Priyanka a new lease of life and started Priyanka's successful trilogy in which Dostana and Kaminey are the other two hits. She swept all the best actress awards. Fashion is a landmark film for its cast but GR is just another slapstick comedy that cashed in on the Diwali hype. |
| 9 November 2007 was a historic day for Bollywood. Farah Khan's lively musical Om Shanti Om with superstar Shah Rukh Khan and stunning newcomer Deepika Padukone was pegged against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Saawariya which introduced the demure Sonam Kapoor and the charming Ranbir Kapoor to Bollywood. OSO's magic formula worked and how and it went on to become the highest grossing film of Bollywood while Saawariya faced brickbats from audiences and critics alike and was a monumental failure. |
| Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan may be at loggerheads now but their competition can be traced back to Diwali 2006. SRK starrer Don and Salman-Akshay-Preity starrer Jaan-e-mann released simultaneously on Diwali in 2006. While the original Don became a cult classic and catapulted Amitabh Bachchan to iconic status, Farhan Akhtar's flick added to SRK's star power, re-popularized 'Don ko pakdna mushkil hi nahi naamumkin hai', made Kareena an item girl and opened doors for Don 2. Critics and hardcore Bachchan fans weren't too impressed with the new stylized and stylish Don but people saw the movie out of sheer curiosity, making the movie a sizeable hit. Jaan-e-mann's melodious, peppy music was chartbusting but failed to push people enough to see the movie, making it a gigantic disaster. |
| 2005's Diwali releases were relatively thanda. Akshay and John's spicy chemistry and the popular songs helped heat up box office collections for the Garam Masala. The star power of Kareena and Salman and the popularity of 'Dil keh raha' could do nothing to alleviate Kyon Ki's poor collections at the B.O. David Dhawan's Shaadi No. 1 starring Zayed Khan and a bunch of losers was supposedly a comedy but the producers weren't laughing all the way to the bank. |
| 2004 had some meaty Diwali releases. Antara Mali's toned bod and lack of clothes coupled with Abhishek's intensity could do nothing to salvage Naach from sinking at the box office. Priyanka Chopra's seductive turn and leg crossing scene ala Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct had a lot to do with the smashing success of Aitraaz. Yash Chopra's romantic saga Veer Zaara depicting the lead pair (SRK and Preity Zinta)'s undying and all encompassing love for each other had an immensely successful run at the box office. |
| Diwali releases in 2003 were absolutely not happening. SSshhh (starring Dino Morea and Tanissha) and Raja Bhaiyya (a delayed release for Govinda) aren't exactly worthy of Diwali releases. The less said about their collections the better. Pinjar didn't fit the mould of a festival release but the critically acclaimed saga starring Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpai among others had a decent run at the box office. |
| 2002 and 2001 had terrible Diwali releases that vanished without a trace. Does anybody remember seeing Jeena Sirf Mere Liye, Annarth, Waah Tera Kya Kehna, Deewanapan or Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar? We certainly don't! |
| Diwali in 2000 seemed very exciting but the films didn't set off any fireworks. Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein starred Ash as a ghost and pitted Big B against SRK with a bunch of newcomers in barely there clothes thrown in. The movie fell far below expectations and its collections were not a patch on DDLJ, which was running in theatres even five years after its release. Hrithik played a terrorist and Sanjay Dutt played a cop in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir. The film couldn't repeat the smashing success of Hrithik's romantic debut vehicle but is counted amongst his finest performances. |
| Sooraj Barjatya's follow up to Hum Aapke Hain Koun titled Hum Saath Saath Hain released in Diwali 1999. The multi-starrer with Saif Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor and Salman Khan couldn't repeat the glorious success or acquire the cult status of its predecessor. |
Link http://www.starboxoffice.com/gallery/sbogallery.aspx?aid=1378
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