We
love
cricket.
We
love
Bollywood
with
equal
passion.
What
happens
when
Bollywood
merges
with
cricket?
It's
chaos
at
the
box-office,
the
business
touches
nadir.
Let's
face
it,
IPL
has
taken
a
toll
on
Bollywood's
health,
with
cineplexes
wearing
a
deserted
look.
You
find
more
ushers
in
a
cineplex
than
viewers
since
last
few
days.
Cricket
mania
has
gripped
the
entire
nation!
In
the
past
few
days,
wherever
I
went
--
to
the
channel
to
record
my
daily
show,
to
a
good
friend's
press
meet
[gosh,
you
require
an
entire
hall
to
accommodate
the
media
these
days],
to
a
leading
actor's
select
do,
to
catch
up
on
a
new,
soon-to-be-released
film
--
everyone
was
discussing
cricket,
cricket
and
only
cricket.
Perhaps,
there
wasn't
much
fodder
for
discussion
last
weekend.
Tanuja
Chandra's
Hope
And
A
Little
Sugar
isn't
the
kind
of
film
that
would
open
debates,
with
the
traders
divided
over
its
business
prospects.
Hope
And
A
Little
Sugar
is
Tanuja's
finest
effort
so
far,
but
it
was
an
unsung
release
completely.
The
general
awareness
was
negligible,
the
promotion
was
low-key,
the
hype
was
missing.
Besides,
an
English
film,
starring
Indian
actors,
has
a
niche
market
in
India.
Resultantly,
there
wasn't
much
hope
for
Hope
And
A
Little
Sugar
.
It
arrived
without
any
noise
and
has
not
made
any
noise,
post
release
as
well.
I'd
like
to
laud
the
Shroffs
of
Shringar
for
exploiting
Khuda
Kay
Liye
exceptionally
well
in
Mumbai.
Unaffected
by
the
thanda
opening
to
the
film,
they
never
lost
hope,
they
continued
to
publicize
the
film
with
equal
zeal
and
fervour
and
the
strategy
has
paid
off.
The
film
has
caught
on
with
the
Mumbai
audiences
and
the
strategy
of
prime-shows-at-select-screens
is
resulting
in
good
returns
from
plexes.
The
film
is
going
from
strength
to
strength.
Back
to
cricket!
One
question
that's
uppermost
on
everyone's
mind
is,
will
IPL
affect
Tashan?
I
doubt!
Tashan
has
a
powerful
star
cast,
it's
produced
by
a
banner
that
has
cultivated
a
huge
following,
plus
the
hype
is
tremendous.
It's
sure
to
fetch
a
massive
start
at
the
box-office.
Story first published: Friday, April 25, 2008, 10:28 [IST]