IF a chunk of Bollywood’s chances had to rest on one pair of shoulders, at least they’re the muscled, pump-wielding ones of Sunny Deol. On the eve of The Hero — Love Story Of A Spy’s release, the star admits that he’s never been so jittery. Yet sleepy-eyed after a nap, light blond hair tousled, the actor’s looks belie his words. “I’m not going to lie. I’m more nervous than I was before Dillagi (his directorial venture). We really want success,” he says. Sunny hasn’t had a hit since the blockbuster Gadar — the actor’s and director Anil Sharma’s first effort together two years ago. “Gadar was an underdog, we never knew it would become such a mega hit,” recalls Sunny, “We would like The Hero to reach somewhere there, but it’s in a different genre.” Well, his uncertainty over how audiences will react has, in part, been answered. The Hero has opened to mixed responses. As with Gadar, critics have slammed its jingoistic flavour. But unlike Gadar, its opening has been less than impressive. Before its release, trade analysts predicted that the first two weeks would be phenomenal, owing to the gold rush of holidays dotting the calender. But its opening-weekend response was confusing. Ticket sales dipped on Saturday, picked up on Sunday and have dipped again since Monday. Cementing this impression is the tepid response to the film in the North territory, Sunny’s traditional stronghold. Why it Works† Holiday season† No big competing releases† The Gadar hangover† Plays to the gallery† Sunny’s still the best action heroWhy it Doesn’t‡ Sunny goes urban‡ Too much nuclear physics‡ The sidekick has the meatiest lines‡ Ticket prices hiked by upto 80 per cent‡ 600 plus prints dilutes impactThe Hero is in a sticky spot because its makers got carried away by its potential and the overwhelming success of Gadar. Comparisons are odious, but that is exactly what audiences have done with The Hero. And so far at least, they’re not enthused about this mostly-restrained Sunny who pops a vein only in spurts and shows way less passion for his Preity princess. Sunny’s strengths this time round have been underplayed because of Sharma’s notion of him. “When it is Sunny throwing 50 men, it is somehow more believable. But Sunny is a He-Man with a soft face; he has subtlety.” The actor himself yokes his popularity to that of his father Dharmendra. “His fans have spilled onto us. It started off with dad,” he says. Be that as it may, Sunny is among the handful of privileged actors to command a territory. Which is why there is a lot of hope pinned on The Hero, after Bollywood’s nightmarish 2002. Sunny knows that the industry is counting on this film to bring people back to the theatres. Says producer/director Shyam Ramsay, “Usually, producers are in competition with each other. But this time round, we’re all praying that The Hero is a hit.” The Hero is the biggest film of 2003 so far. One of its three producers, Dhirajlal Shah, puts the budget at just over Rs 55 crore. Industry buzz is, however, that the film hasn’t crossed a budget of Rs 30-35 crore. Trade analyst Komal Nahata says the film was also sold very expensively, at Rs 3.5 crore per territory. Sharma boasts that 600-700 prints were released in the market, double the normal number. Even last year’s biggest release Devdas had around 400 prints. In Mumbai city alone, 40 theatres are screening the film, one industry analyst called this overexposure “suicidal”. The flood of prints has hit its opening, along with overpriced tickets. Says an industry source, “The problem with The Hero is that it is too English for the masses. Also, to those people who would have been impressed by the strong anti-Pak wave — most of those dialogues are mouthed by Sunny’s sidekick, not him.” While there are scattered bursts of clapping and ceetees for Sunny’s flashes of anger, he has to share the glory with Arif Zakaria’s impassioned “Indian Muslim” dialogue. Sunny has played safe this time by toning down his rhetoric. Yet patriotism has been stretched thin in The Hero. At his bungalow in Juhu, Sunny grins and shakes his head when asked whether the Indian Army calender hanging in the room is his touch. “I think I’m more Indian than anyone. But it isn’t how the media has made it out to be. Earlier, the villain used to be a smuggler and we weren’t allowed to name countries. Now the villain is another country; it’s relevant because the world has become a smaller place,” he says. While it’s too early to write off the film, insiders are clear this is no blockbuster. Even so, Sunny sees this as a beginning of big things. “I want to be a part of films that makes Hollywood wonder how we pulled it off. To make things look real even if they aren’t,” he says. Maybe The Hero’s problem lies in its telling. Sharma says Gadar’s story is plain — Sita is in Lanka and Ram has to bring her back. The Hero too hinged on a spy full of desh prem. Its makers should have just kept it that simple.
