Stars, to be star makers!

Amitabh Bachchan pioneered it track by establishing his ambitious and probably India's first giant Entertainment Company Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL). The company met with a tragic halt later on and slid into a deep crisis. Big B has resurrected ABCL and it has been reincarnated as Amitabh Bachchan Corporation (ABC) with a renewed stance and expanded business strategy. It was the first major instance where an extremely popular star had gone ahead with his own Production Company. Then it was the talented Jackie Shroff's time to take the stride when he formed his brand Jackie Shroff Entertainment but unfortunately his first film as a producer GRAHAN got over-delayed and it suffered at the box-office. Not to forget King Khan Shahrukh whose films PHIR BHI DIL HAI HINDUSTANI and ONE TWO KA FOUR under his flag of Dreamz Unlimited (with Juhi Chawla), were well crafted but didn't click at the box-office.

So what does this suggest? Are the stars preparing up with their retirement plans or are they dabbling with Production as a side-business? Anyway, one thing, which comes into the light here is film is after all a filmmaker's medium. May be the reason why all of the above established stars wanna juggle with Film Production is that they could be able to tell their own ideas and materialize their thoughts by bringing them on to the celluloid, that they couldn't do otherwise. As an actor you are just supposed to enact your role and flesh out the character. An actor is not responsible for the creative and technical aspects of the film, which is looked after by the filmmaker. It can't be denied that most of the actors want to tell stories and aspire to get creatively involved in the Production process. There is always a possibility and that's why one can see some respected actors like Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah trying their hand at filmmaking. The mercurial actor Nana Patekar is planning to direct his next film (his first directorial attempt was PRAHAAR) and the noise is that eminent director Prakash Jha has decided to produce it.

The latest buzz is that the vibrant Saif Ali Khan now wants to produce a movie and he is contemplating on hiring his PARINEETA director Pradeep Sarkar to don the mantle. The film's synopsis or the subject is still under the blanket and nothing has been disclosed as yet. Also that the sweltering Sushmita Sen is now set to open up her own Advertising Company. Well not an issue with all these stars taking a frog jump as long as they make quality films and provide the best of entertainment to the audience. It might come as a pleasant surprise if these stars live up to the expectations and endow us with some amusement as their pursuit is loaded with all their experience in the industry and also by now they have developed a neat understanding of the medium. The media and the audience alike should give them a chance with not bombarding them with heavy burden of expectations and grave demands. And on the flipside if the stars are not able to deliver their best then they better get back to the thing they know best and that is 'acting'!