IPL hits Bollywood hard

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.