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![]() Now, I’m not here to argue the box office status of these films—but it is saddening the way Bollywood’s biggest directors invest big finances into big feature films and the outcome turns out to be such a big disaster. Couldn’t something – the most pragmatic—have been done differently? Hype has killed Bollywood immensely—but with the combination of the faulty films being released so quickly, it’s hard to think that these films could have been a success otherwise either. Bollywood films are hyped to the max, by the film makers, by the media, but recently that hype has proven to be all a malefactor for the releases simply because the producers do not know how to utilize it properly.
While the former films were hyped extraordinaire, it was clear that they could have went the critical appealing way vs. mass appealing way, particularly for Lakshya. But the hype was still there. A magnanimous film and one by a director who created a mature film like Dil Chahta Hai should have at least let the hype work in their favor a bit more before releasing their films. Instead, they let hype have the negative effect, and tarnish them completely. But certainly, it could have been different. On the other hand, you have films which have equally as much hype, like Fida and Kyun Ho Gaya Na which seems like they will be trashed by critics immediately on release, and even they can’t let the hype work in their favor. For all the hype Kyun Ho Gaya Na generated, it is a shame the film couldn’t be worthy of not even half of it. For a Vidhu Vinod Chopra protégé, Samir Karnick couldn’t make a cohesive film for the life of him. The long and boring Kyun Ho Gaya Na was touted to be a big hit, a reel life come real life couple super hit, and unlike Deewaar or Lakshya, the producer actually waited before rushing to feature his film on the big screen. Originally scheduled for a July released, Boney Kapoor let the audience anticipate his film further—but even that wouldn’t work. Quite a shame that “big” films can’t even give viewers a reason to look forward to them. As for Fida, a film that could have worked even more, the situation was no different than the others. This “Abbas-Mustan” styled thriller had everything working in its favor—much more than Kyun Ho Gaya Na. It had a popular younger star cast, much better than Kyun Ho Gaya Na; it had super hit music which was catching on immensely and it had a subject matter that was your typical romance, something that would attract the general audience. But once more, the fault lies in the immediate release of the film. Having the soundtrack release just shortly before the film released was a major problem, and quite unlike Tips. With songs like “Nazar Nazar” topping the charts, its weird that they didn’t at least let the hype settle in making the film attract more of the audience. Perhaps this would have been better—Fida may have not been this taut thriller but it is a masaladar film which could have worked.
As another year prepares to close, with about two major weekends of releases being highly anticipated, it is clear Bollywood will continue to face its ups and downs. Even the pre-released schedule for Diwali seems like it is going to be doom, not the good kind, for Bollywood with big and small films all fighting for a piece of the pie. Imagine, all the hype Yash Chopra’s films has generated, and all the hype Sanjay Gupta´s is to generate, what hype is left? Whomever gets a piece of that pie of hype will probably be getting a mere fraction of what’s left of the viewing audience that weekend and will probably be worthy of even less.
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