A shower of success
Since Readys release on June 3,the industry is passing through a rare hit streak.
Anees Bazmees Ready seems to have proved lucky for the industry. Most of the big-ticket movies that have released since Double Dhamaal,Delhi Belly,Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap,Chillar Party,Murder 2,Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and now Singham have proved successes,hits or more. To have four super-hits Ready,Delhi Belly,Murder 2 and Singham in the space of eight Fridays is something spectacular and unheard of in decades in Hindi cinema. Even more significantly,two of the films have been adult movies,Delhi Belly in Hinglish with unbridled expletives and sequences to match,and Murder 2 with a good amount of erotica and brutal murders. Singham,of course,is an explosion of CGI-enhanced action while Ready is unapologetic masala with humour,emotions,family values and two chartbusters topped by Salman Khans unique charisma.
Inflation-adjusted as well as in terms of humour,Double Dhamaal may rank lower than its 2007 original Dhamaal,but its still a fun film if one takes it on its own merits. And Bbuddah… is the realisation of the audience dream to see Bachchan as the iconic action hero again and Bachchans own desire to revisit the genre that has made him a superstar without equal.
Moving on to Chillar Party,after eons,Hindi cinema has witnessed a true-blue childrens film. It is indeed,really very interesting to realise that both Delhi Belly and Chillar Party have the audience smile,chuckle and chortle from the first sequence to the last scene when no two movies could possibly be so diametrically opposite in concept and content! Chillar Party was that benchmark kids movie that we all were missingentertaining with subtle messages woven in,laced with dollops of emotions within all the fun and games going on,completely sans melodrama or moralising,real,contemporary and finally the kind that adults can enjoy even if they go and watch it without kids.Gratifyingly,the zero face-value film picked up by quick word-of-mouth and did capacity business in multiple locations in an opening weekend opposite a hit of the degree of Murder 2.
Along with Delhi Belly and Chillar..,,Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,which defied doomsday predictions and scored a hit,proved that as long as the audience was not taken for granted,real cinema also was welcome in the variety that moviegoers have always craved in every era. Thus the biggest lesson that the powers-that-be must learn including the champions of real cinema within the industry and similarly-inclined media is that these three films have been accepted by the same smart audience that rejects poorly-made films across both real and larger-than-life classic Hindi cinema like Thank You,Shaitan,Always Kabhi Kabhi and Bheja Fry 2. So once again,the key point is never ever underestimate,disrespect or look down on the intelligence of the ticket-payer when he endorses a masala film because he is bang-on 99 times in a 100!
The second related lesson is that the audience is perennially starved for entertainment of the classic Hindi film kind,so much so that even average or slightly-above average films of this genre like Ready and Singham get a whopping reception and will always be preferred to realistic cinema on a broad basis. So please do not give us too much of the wannabe kind of global sic cinema,except as a change and when it is rarely well-made! Thirdly,musically-strong films will always fare better check Ready and Delhi Belly vis-a-vis Bbuddah… and Zindagi… . For the first time in years,hardcore desi audience response,that is,the single-screen business Ready,Murder 2,Singham has scored in importance over the multiplexes and overseas harvest,for Zindagi…,though roaring in the multiplexes and with thrice the business of Murder 2 in UK,has not acquired the super-hit tag of the latter!
And one must also sound a note of caution: the moment a film is a hit nowadays,a sequel Chillar…,Murder 3 or a franchise Bbuddah… are impulsively planned or announced in the euphoria of the moment. One must remember that Murder 2 and Double Dhamaal have worked as standalone films,even if they are a part of a brand. Bheja Fry 2 has released alongside to help us zero in on this home-truth that only good sequels work. Besides,films are not television serials or sitcoms to continue meaninglessly as episodes.
rajiv.vijayakarexpressindia.com
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