Fair success ratio

Women,in different roles as producers,directors or actors are finally beginning to make business sense.

This week,woman power in the entertainment space seems to be up by a few notches. The authority of the quintessential alpha male dominant across Bollywood landscape,seems under threat what with a significant female workforce emerging on the horizon. Women,in different roles as producers,directors,actors or business managers are finally beginning to make business sense.

Among the notable developments in the direction was the flagging-off of Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi with Priyanka Chopra firmly in the harness for a few exciting action-packed weeks in Brazil with her very own band of boys! Chopra steps into the XL-sized shoes of Akshay Kumar,who has had two very successful seasons of the show to his credit. The task at hand for her is challenging,to say the least. It is encouraging that instead of replacing Kumar with yet another male actor,the channel decided to go for an actress capable of making men jump off airplanes or dive into the deep sea! Chopra,who counts among the young actresses on top of her game,seems like a good brand fit. Her presence has already generated a huge interest in Season 3 of Khatron Ke Khiladi and something tells me that the channels programming heads are patting themselves on the back for a spot of clever thinking. Really,a good idea,sirji.

Yet another small step in equalling the power equation in Bollywood was the release of Aisha,a light-hearted,dressed-in-designer-togs chick-flick put together by director Rajshree Ojha,writer Devika Bhagat and producer Rhea Kapoor with sis Sonam Kapoor in the title- role. The good news is that the film is reported to have opened reasonably well at the multiplexes in the metros. Single screens,expectedly,have yielded smaller return but the modest-budget film,according to trade analysts,will recover its costs with the satellite rights and box- collections and then some more. Hopefully,this success,even if modest,could encourage fun films with better roles for actresses.

Ekta Kapoor has had a good year with the critically acclaimed Love Sex Aur Dhokha and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai with reasonably good collections. Perception- wise,the movies have benefitted Kapoor significantly.

Pooja Shetty Deora and Aarti Shetty,after their successful Marathi film Rita,have pulled off a surprise with the fresh and low-budget entertainer Tere Bin Laden.

The list,fortunately,has not ended first-time director Anusha Rizvis Peepli Live backed and promoted to the hilt by producer Aamir Khan which has been rather well received at the Melbourne Festivalis up for viewing this Independence Day weekend. And one has it on good authority that Kiran Raos Dhobi Ghat,with Aamir Khan and Pratik Babbar is an experimental film to watch out for!

We Are Family,with two fiery leading ladies namely Kajol and Kareena Kapoor,comes up soon enough and the year ends with Tees Maar Khan,touted to be a typical Farah Khan potboiler!

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Small steps,but Bollywood seems to be finally getting the yin and yang balance right.