In
the
early
1990s,
a
new
breed
of
film-makers
erupted
on
the
screen.
Sooraj
R.
Barjatya
[Maine
Pyar
Kiya],
Dharmesh
Darshan
[Lootere]
and
Aditya
Chopra
[Dilwale
Dulhaniya
Le
Jayenge]
were
three
prominent
names
that
were
revered
in
every
filmi
office.
Later,
Karan
Johar
joined
the
tribe
with
Kuch
Kuch
Hota
Hai
and
the
'awesome
foursome'
[a
title
coined
by
me
in
one
of
my
editorials
then]
were
expected
to
take
the
entertainment
industry
to
a
new
peak.
Dharmesh
Darshan
went
on
to
make
the
all-time
blockbuster
Raja
Hindustani
next
and
there
was
no
looking
back.
This
younger
son
of
a
prominent
Central
India
distributor
continued
to
enjoy
an
enviable
status
a
decade
ago.
Sadly,
Dharmesh
couldn't
recreate
the
success
story
in
his
forthcoming
endeavors.
Yet,
no
one
lost
hope.
A
Dharmesh
Darshan
film
never
had
dearth
of
buyers
or
moviegoers.
Despite
failures,
Dharmesh
continued
to
attract
the
best
of
production
houses
like
Boney
Kapoor
[Bewafaa]
and
the
Jains
of
Venus
[Mela,
Dhadkan].
So,
when
Dharmesh
decided
to
reinvent
his
style
with
Aap
Ki
Khatir
[his
third
film
for
the
Jains],
the
film
industry
was
optimistic
that
his
new
endeavor
would
prove
to
be
a
turning
point
in
his
career.
But
Aap
Ki
Khatir
has
emerged
a
cropper,
belied
all
expectations
and
proved
a
major
disappointment.
It's
a
failure...
as
a
film,
as
a
business
proposition.
Released
two
weeks
after
Kabhi
Alvida
Naa
Kehna
and
with
no
major
opposition
alongside,
the
opening
numbers
of
Aap
Ki
Khatir
should've
been
in
the
range
of
85%
+.
But
no
one
expected
the
film
to
cut
a
sorry
picture,
with
shockingly
low
collections.
The
desi
adaptation
of
The
Wedding
Date
started
on
a
disappointing
30%
+
note,
but
went
downhill
on
Day
1
itself.
The
evening
and
night
shows
plummeted
to
20%
+,
which
was
a
clear
indicator
that
the
film
had
been
rejected.
What
went
wrong?
Sure,
Dharmesh
was
saddled
with
a
poor
script,
but
even
the
direction
left
a
lot
to
be
desired.
A
couple
of
well
executed
sequences
aren't
enough;
the
film
has
to
appeal
in
its
entirety.
Even
if
the
content
is
strictly
average
but
is
backed
by
a
solid
climax,
it
helps.
Alas,
AAP
KI
KHATIR
faltered
big
time
in
its
second
hour,
with
the
penultimate
reels
looking
like
one
bad
dream.
If
the
weekend
business
of
Aap
Ki
Khatir
was
disheartening,
the
business
crashed
further
on
weekdays
[15%
+].
From
the
business
point
of
view,
it's
expected
to
make
a
big
hole
in
the
pockets
of
its
investors.
As
for
the
second
release
Sandwich,
all
I
can
say
is
that
this
supposedly
comic
caper
proved
to
be
a
bad
joke
for
its
backers.
THIS
WEEK,
LAST
YEAR
[Weekend:
August
26-28,
2005]
The
uncertainty
over
the
release
of
Boney
Kapoor's
biggie
No
Entry
made
big
news.
That
the
film
wouldn't
make
it
to
theatres
on
August
26
spread
like
wild
fire,
even
as
Boney
was
involved
in
serious
discussions
with
his
creditors.
There
was
panic
within
the
industry.
As
a
result,
when
the
delivery
of
prints
commenced
from
Wednesday
night/Thursday
morning,
the
industry
realized
that
the
film
would
make
it
in
the
scheduled
week,
although
the
prints
wouldn't
reach
everywhere
on
Friday.
The
prints
of
No
Entry
didn't
reach
major
centres
of
the
country
till
Saturday.
But
the
harm
had
been
done
by
then.
Confused
that
the
release
had
been
cancelled/called
off,
not
many
people
sauntered
into
movieplexes
to
watch
No
Entry
on
Friday.
In
fact,
the
Friday
collections
ranged
between
30%-50%
almost
everywhere.
The
dull
opening
of
No
Entry
did
catch
the
industry
unaware,
although
everyone
agreed
that
it
had
everything
to
do
with
the
confusing
signals
sent
out
[vis-À-vis
its
release],
not
its
merits.
Saturday
onwards,
the
film
gathered
momentum
and
by
Saturday
evening,
the
verdict
was
loud
and
clear:
No
Entry
had
stormed
into
people's
hearts.
The
second
release
of
the
week,
Iqbal,
had
a
slow
and
steady
rise
over
the
weekend.
Nagesh
Kukunoor's
much-acclaimed
film
opened
to
an
astonishingly
low
15%-25%
on
Friday,
climbed
to
60%
by
Saturday
evening
and
was
70%
+
on
Sunday
at
major
multiplexes.
The
glowing
reviews
in
the
media
and
the
all-round
appreciation
by
the
discerning
moviegoers
helped
the
film
consolidate
its
status
over
the
weekend
at
metros
mainly.
The
strong
word
of
mouth
helped
tremendously
and
despite
a
huge
opposition
like
No
Entry,
this
Subhash
Ghai-produced
film
attracted
ample
footfalls
at
multiplexes.
As
for
the
third
release,
Bhaggmati
-
The
Queen
of
Fortunes,
it
was
a
commercial
and
critical
disappointment
from
the
word
'Go'.