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One out of four

A still from Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain

Sharmila Taliculam

There were no releases in the first two weeks of January. And then there was a flood in the third. Four films, Gulzar's Hu Tu Tu, Rishi Kapoor's Aa Ab Laut Chale, D Rama Naidu's Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain and Shakeel Noorani's Bade Dilwala, all provided a surfeit of goodies for the audience.

All four were major releases and all had hopes of being hits. And with two holidays leaving the populace with little to do, good business, it appeared, was guaranteed. But as things turned out, it wasn't.

Other than HADMRH, all the others look like flops. There are quite a few reasons for their failure but the primary one stated is that either the storyline or the characterisation left the audiences confused. And that can have a very bad effect on collections.

Hu Tu Tu dealt with venality of the current politicians and how it had messed up the lives of the next generation. But the audience wasn't impressed.

Komal Nahata, publisher and editor of Film Information, a trade guide, has an explanation. "It was so confusing. The director wanted to say a lot of things and left it to us to understand that. How can the audience read what is on the director's mind? Moreover, the film was really slow," he said.

The film starred Tabu and Sunil Shetty in a different image, which didn't help in the final assay.

A still from Hu Tu Tu

The movie has done well in Bombay and some parts of Maharashtra. Not unlikely, since the film is set against a Maharashtrian backdrop.

Most of its distributors have suffered a loss, as has the producer. This is the first time Time Films has experimented with a different kind of a film. They generally stuck to action films, which did well mostly in the interiors. Even Tabu's presence or performance couldn't save the film.

"It's a typical class film in a commercial mould and it's difficult for such films to run successfully," said Nahata.

Aa Ab Laut Chale was Rishi Kapoor's dream project. RK Productions celebrated its 50^th anniversary and this film was supposed to revive the RK magic.

A still from Bade Dilwale

The film starring Akshaye Khanna and Aishwarya Rai was shot in the US, working on NRI nostalgia and Indian pride, like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Pardes. But while those movies were hits, AALC isn't.

"Rishi Kapoor made one mistake here. He made the hero look a little odd. In India a good boy who loves his parents and who looks like he will look after them suddenly runs off to America for a job and money and tries to con a girl into marrying him for a green card. He then accuses her of being bad because she smokes and drinks. I mean, what is Rishi Kapoor trying to say here -- that America is the land of opportunity and that opportunity corrupts," says Nahata.

"Rishi Kapoor was also confused whether he should concentrate on his hero being an opportunist with a heart of gold or to instil traditional values into us, to tell us that our country is the best... Still, the film isn't a total flop. It remained steady in most centres and lost only in places like Rajasthan and east Punjab. But that's enough to put the producer Rishi Kapoor in the red."

Aishwarya's image didn't work wonders at the box office either. This is her third flop in Hindi. "She is very plastic in some scenes and wooden in others", laughs Komal. Even the rumours that Akshaye and Ash were having a love story of their own didn't impress people enough to go and see the film.

Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain is the only one to hit the bull's eye. It did very well in Bombay and Maharashtra and decently in other parts of the country too. The credit might go to the story, which isn't too traditional but not very modern either. This film does have a different storyline and Kajol is excellent in the film. This is her fourth hit in a row.

A still from Aa Ab Laut Chalen

"This film did well only because it was different. Though it was a family drama and a standard D Rama Naidu film, it had an interesting angle, which appealed to people, especially women. I think that did the trick," says Nahata.

The less said about Bade Dilwala the better. The film is the only one to flop everywhere. It didn't get a decent initial either. This film is a remake of an English film It Could Happen to You and Sunil's role is based on Nicholas Cage's role in the original. This is another film where Sunil Shetty has opted for another image, opting for a sensitive romantic role. He isn't completely off violence though. But his role is that of a cop with a nasty wife who falls for a sympathetic outsider. It had everyone on edge.

Generally, the success of the films is judged by the returns. And, most often, it is the distributors who stand to gain or lose. Just this time it was the producer Rishi Kapoor, who lost money. He couldn't get the price necessary to cover his costs.

He incurred a loss of billions with his film, as did Time Films with Hu Tu Tu. Both Aa Aab Laut Chalen and Hu Tu Tu had actors who were in the news but couldn't sell. Both Aishwarya and Akshaye have three flops apiece while Sunil Shetty still has to pull in a crowd on his own. Publicity and foreign locales can help some, but can't altogether salvage a film.

Expectations were very high since all of them were big banner films. But maybe it wasn't a good idea releasing them all together. It's unlikely, isn't it, that someone will see four films one soon after the other?

"I don't think it was advisable," says Nahata. "Everybody thought that their film could succeed and they had good reason to think so. But somehow they couldn't score, despite the Id and Republic Day holidays. In fact, they even cut into each other's business."