By:
Taran
Adarsh,
IndiaFM
Friday,
August
10,
2007
At
the
wedding
anniversary
of
a
leading
financier,
the
conversation
veered
towards
the
varied
themes
that
are
being
witnessed
on
the
Hindi
screen
of
late.
Irrespective
of
how
these
films
fare
at
the
ticket
window,
you
cannot
turn
a
blind
eye
to
the
fact
that
most
storytellers
are
at
least
making
an
effort
to
offer
something
different
to
moviegoers.
Let's
take
a
quick
look
at
the
kind
of
cinema
we've
witnessed
in
the
recent
past.
Apne
was
a
family
film
[literally],
Awarapan
highlighted
a
love
story,
Naqaab
was
a
suspense
thriller,
Partner
tickled
your
funny
bone,
Cash
presented
the
chor-police
chase
and
Gandhi
My
Father
depicted
reality.
In
fact,
when
the
release
of
Cash
was
shifted
by
one
week,
coinciding
with
Gandhi
My
Father,
the
film
industry
wasn't
worried.
Reason
being,
the
two
films
were
diverse
in
content
and
would,
therefore,
attract
different
patrons.
But
the
Friday
numbers
came
as
a
jolt.
Let's
talk
about
Cash
first.
A
section
of
the
industry
was
of
the
opinion
that
the
film
would
open
with
a
bang,
like
Partner
or
Anubhav
Sinha's
previous
outing
DUS.
But
the
not-as-expected
start
did
catch
people
by
surprise
[ideally,
the
multi-starrer
should've
garnered
a
90%
+
start].
In
certain
circuits,
the
opening
numbers
were
approx.
40%
-
50%
-
60%,
while
in
Punjab,
the
collections
came
sliding
downwards
on
Day
1
itself.
What
went
against
this
much-hyped
multi-starrer
were
the
negative
reports.
The
film
was
high
on
hype,
but
low
on
substance
and
the
cracks
started
appearing
for
this
reason.
The
film
fell
on
Saturday
at
several
places,
while
Sunday
was
better.
Monday
onwards,
Cash
is
on
a
downward
spree,
as
collections
continue
to
fall
rapidly.
What
also
goes
against
the
film
is
the
price
tag
attached
to
it.
Adlabs
bought
the
film
for
a
handsome
price
and
in
turn
sold
it
for
fancy
prices
to
various
distributors.
As
things
stand
today,
the
film
is
sure
to
make
a
hole
in
the
pockets
of
its
buyers.
In
fact,
the
Head
of
Distribution
of
Studio
18,
one
of
the
prominent
distributors
of
Cash,
has
gone
on
record
[on
my
TV
show]
to
state
that
they
would
lose
30%
of
their
investment
in
Cash.
The
fate
of
Gandhi
My
Father
came
as
a
shocker.
A
good
film
and
a
good
run
at
the
box-office
are
two
different
issues.
Gandhi
My
Father
is
a
well-made
product
and
I
strongly
feel
that
it
needs
to
be
nominated
for
the
Oscars.
Surprisingly,
even
though
the
audience
feedback
was
tremendous,
the
numbers
of
Gandhi
My
Father
refused
to
multiply.
With
a
shockingly
low
start
on
Friday,
the
film
did
show
a
slight
increase
on
Saturday
and
Sunday
at
select
multiplexes,
but
the
overall
scenario
continues
to
be
disheartening.
Anil
Kapoor,
the
enterprising
producer
of
Gandhi
My
Father,
has
gone
on
record
[on
my
TV
show
again]
that
the
film
would
gather
momentum
from
its
second
week
onwards.
But
there's
Chak
De
India
and
Kaafila
to
compete
with.
Also,
with
Partner
still
faring
well,
it's
going
to
be
a
tough
journey
for
Gandhi
My
Father.
The
third
release,
Naya
Daur,
was
also
greeted
by
equally
unenthusiastic
crowds.
A
section
of
the
film
industry
attributes
the
poor
start
to
the
low-key
promotion
[unlike
Mughal-E-Azam,
which
was
heavily
promoted].
A
few
feel
that
the
theme
of
the
film
is
irrelevant
in
today's
times.
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