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| This Diwali, Bollywood gives Khan power a miss By DNA, 28 October, 2008 |
 Over the years, most Diwali blockbusters have starred a Khan. But this year, tinsel town is doing without their stardust.A 3D animation Walt Disney feature film about dogs, a no-holds-barred account of the fashion industry, a road-trip about finding your patriotic roots and a multi-star cast popcorn-muncher sequel to a successful comedy — this Diwali is perhaps Bollywood's most versatile line-up to audiences. It's also a line-up devoid of any of the top Khans of tinsel town — Shah Rukh, Aamir, Saif Ali and Salman — the well-established foursome who for long have given film distributors peaceful nights. It's their mass appeal that for years has made producers hurry up with production schedules, egging on directors to release their films just in time for the festive holiday season, expecting jingling cash registers. But one look at the recent slate of releases indicates that Bollywood, and most importantly, audiences, have learnt to live without the Khans, at least in Diwali. The attempt may not be deliberate, but producers only seem too keen to monetise their star power better in dry periods in the film calendar when they have to work extra harder to attract footfalls in multiplexes. Moreover, the success of cricketing events like T20 has proved that Bollywood has to contend with new dry periods, in addition to shraddh and school examinations. A star-studded line-up in the extended festive season — Eid, followed by Christmas and New Year — is one way of going about it. No wonder then that it's only after Diwali that their star power will truly get unleashed. Dostaana, SRK-starrer Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Subhash Ghai's Yuuvraaj, Aamir Khan's Ghajini and Akshay Kumar-starrer Chandni Chowk to China are some films expected to release before the year ends. So what does that leave Bollywood with this Diwali? Four films. Two of them — Roadside Romeo and Heroes — have already hit the theatres on Friday, while the other two — Fashion and Golmaal Returns will release this Wednesday itself, on Diwali. Audiences will be spoilt for choice, and distributors and exhibitors alike will try and make the most of the holiday mood, followed by the weekend. Distributors have enough reason to be bullish. Each banner brings some reputation or novelty leading up to their film's release. For example, Fashion comes from UTV Motion Pictures — the label which has had a string of successful releases this year (Jodhaa Akbar, A Wednesday!, Aamir, Welcome to Sajjanpur, Race). "Its a film pegged purely on the stardom of Priyanka Chopra, who's now an A-list actress and director Madhur Bhandarkar, whose track record (Page 3, Corporate, Traffic Signal) has been assuring for exhibitors and distributors," a trade analyst told DNA Money. Meanwhile, Golmaal Returns is Shree Ashta Vinayak Cine Vision's second offering after the successful comedies Golmaal and Jab We Met. Heroes, made by Samir Karnik (the director of box-office dud Kyun! Ho Gaya Na) has already sprung a surprise thanks to critical acclaim and weekend collections suggest it has done well in the North while Roadside Romeo — Yashraj Films' second bet to end its bear run — is witnessing encouraging collections in multiplexes, even though it's an animated film. |
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