Hits and misses

Hindi film lovers had more disappointments in 2009 than Bollywood treats, with box-office disasters overshadowing the hits. The deadlock between the film producers and distributors and multiplex owners didn’t do any good to the industry, causing major revenue losses during the two-month school holiday period. John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Katrina Kaif starrer ‘New York’, one of the two major releases, managed to pull the crowds and draw moolah at the box-office. The other major release ‘Kambakht Ishq’, starring Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor failed miserably despite being a big budget film.

Some of the other films that created hype include ‘Delhi-6’, ‘Luck By Chance’, ‘Wake Up Sid’, ‘London Dreams’, ‘Blue’ and ‘What’s Your Rashee’ (better known as Ashutosh Gowarikar debacle). Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja starring ‘What’s Your Rashee’ didn’t click with the audience owing to the length of the film (read 3-hrs-40-mins mental torture) with Chopra in 12 different roles portraying characteristics of the various zodiac signs and featuring in 12 songs.  

Another talked-about film Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Kaminey’ starring Shahid Kapoor donning a dual role of a good and a bad boy brought acclaims for Kapoor for his powerful performance. Starring opposite him was Ms Chopra. ‘London Dreams’ and ‘Aladin’, both big budget movies, could not cast their spell on the box-office. The year 2009 failed to bring grand rewards for filmmakers and great entertainment for film lovers and with the year close to end, there are hardly any hopes of a major success. 
 
Some flicks to release soon include ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani’ and ‘Radio’.