Not a dirty picture after all

It’s a final wrap for Bollywood’s scene this year. Rajiv Vijayakar looks back at 2011,only to conclude that it has been quite a good year for Hindi cinema.

With Milan Luthria’s The Dirty Picture as the year’s latest bonanza, 2011 has been quite a good year for Hindi cinema. If 2008 (Ghajini) and 2009 (3 Idiots) saw a film each that did business over a Rs 100 crore, and 2010 saw Dabangg and Golmaal 3, this year, there were four films that crossed that new magical benchmark — Ready, Singham and Bodyguard, followed by RA.One.

From top to bottom

The flipside was that while all the above-mentioned films costed a maximum of Rs 50 crore to make and market, movies like RA.One made money only for producer Shah Rukh Khan and the co-producers and co-distributors, Eros. However, the total loss for most of the distributors came to over Rs 30 crore, mainly due to the exorbitant pricing. When such is the case, a film is officially a flop, especially when the ord-of-mouth is negative. The pricing factor also became a bane for Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s Force and Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar.

Without doubt, the biggest casualties of the year were, according to different trade sources, either Mausam or Rascals. Patiala House, Game, Thank You, Aarakshan and 7 Khoon Maaf were the other big losers.

Huge box-office revenues are possible now, thanks to advertising within films, multiple rights and a rapidly broadening cinematic base that include overseas destinations and inflated ticket rates at multiplexes. The only sensible criterion remains the cost-to-profit ratio that is calculated on the basis of expenditure and revenue.

By that criterion, the biggest hit of the year is likely to be Milan Luthria’s pathbreaking universal hit, The Dirty Picture (TDP), which still appears to be going strong. Cutting across all audience demographics and barriers, and pleasing critics as well, this sex-laden film made a clean sweep of the accolades as well as the moolah. Whether TDP makes the Rs 100-crore grade remains to be seen, but without doubt, it will emerge as the biggest film of the year as far as ‘return of investment’ is concerned. The trade website, boxofficekings.com, reveals that as of now, Mohit Suri’s Murder 2 is leading the roster, followed by the Deols’ Yamla Pagla Deewana, Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted 3D, Balaji Telefilms’ erotic-horror film Ragini MMS,   and Rajkumar Gupta’s No One Killed Jessica.

Other films that did brisk business among the modestly budgeted films were Mere Brother Ki Dulhan from the Yash Raj Films’ stable, Aamir Khan’s Delhi Belly and Dhobi Ghat as well as Aanand Rai’s Tanu Weds Manu. Making modest profits for their respective and varied production costs were Chalo Dilli, Chillar Party, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, F.A.L.T.U., Pyar Ka Punch-Nama, Dil To Baccha Hai Ji, Dum Maaro Dum, Double Dhamaal, Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap, Damadamm! and Desi Boyz.

A stand-out feature of the year was an array of faceless films that simply did not take off. Most of these were laden with English titles to attract audiences. Among these, Subhash Ghai’s Love Express, made by the alumni of his Whistling Woods International, deserved a better fate.

Losing films that were worth a watch included Ram Gopal Varma’s Not A Love Story, Prawaal Raman’s 404, Nupur Asthana’s Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge and Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Shagird and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster. Major cinematic mishaps included Teen Thay Bhai, Bheja Fry 2 and Always Kabhi Kabhi, besides critics’ misguided delights like Shaitan, That Girl In Yellow Boots, My Friend Pinto, I AM and Stanley Ka Dabba. In sheer
contrast, the wonderful I Am Kalam was also a commercial non-starter.

The unusual releases included the coloured 1961 original, black and white
super-hit Hum Dono, the dubbed versions of Bengali (Kashmakash) and Canadian (Speedy Singhs) films and the hugely appreciated Pakistani film, Bol. None made a box-office impact.

By the time you read this, Farhan Akhtar’s Don 2 — the last biggie of the year — would have released, and the die cast, but trade sources peg the film as “safe”, meaning that even if rejected by the audience, the movie will recover its investment. States trade analyst Komal Nahta, “The film has already made over Rs 40 crore by way of several rights on the table. Its budget is around Rs 70 crore, and for a Shah Rukh Khan film, it will be a cakewalk to make the balance.”

Trends

Consolidating trends set in the second half of 2009-2010,the blockbuster entertainer became the industry’s economic saviour, and the figures were dominated by
remakes of southern films, such as Bodyguard, Ready and Singham, all three of which trounced competition and made almost Rs 400 crore between them.

 Commercial films made with a mix of conviction, competence and a dollop of freshness, like Yamla Pagla Deewana, Tanu Weds Manu, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara won huge rewards, not to forget The Dirty Picture.

A record 25 sequels were announced or launched, but among the releases, only Murder 2 did well. Sex and erotica, when sold with story and substance, not just skin show and sleaze, win huge rewards, as proved by The Dirty Picture, Murder 2, Delhi Belly and Ragini MMS. Ragini MMS, along with Haunted 3D, showed that the market for horror films was still thriving.

Stars of the stars

Salman Khan’s fortunes continued to be on the upswing. After annexing the biggest hit of 2010 with Dabangg, he shouldered both the biggest hits of the year in terms of footfalls and collection — Bodyguard and Ready. Stepping in at the last moment as co-producer of the wonderful Chillar Party (which won the Best Film trophy at the International Children’s Film Festival and also made profits), he is invincible as of now.

Ajay Devgn’s lucky star is also on the rise — his Singham and Dil To Baccha Hai Ji were humongous and decent successes respectively. The film he rejected, Aarakshan, came out as being a cropper.

Hrithik Roshan got his first success in three years with Zindagi…, while Akshay Kumar’s dull streak continued. Shah Rukh Khan still needs a genuine hit in India after Om Shanti Om, while Aamir Khan did well as a producer. Imran Khan (Delhi Belly, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan) and especially Emraan Hashmi (Dil To…, Murder 2, The Dirty Picture) had an excellent year.

Kareena Kapoor was easily the top star among the ladies, and is now the first heroine to cross the one crore barrier in fees, after movies like Bodyguard and RA.One. Katrina Kaif, with Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and her Bodyguard cameo, continued at number two. But Vidya Balan is fast coming up as the female Aamir Khan, after No One Killed Jessica and The Dirty Picture.

Rohit Shetty consolidated his status with Singham, ditto Anees Bazmee, with Ready, both skilled adaptations of South Indian films. Mohit Suri came back to the
reckoning with Murder 2, as did Vikram Bhatt with Haunted 3D.

There was a record turnout of new faces and directors, but sadly, little by way of promise. Only Rohit Dhawan (Desi Boyz), Abhinav Deo (Delhi Belly) and Nupur Asthana (Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge) show potential as filmmakers. Among the on-screen new faces, there were some decent actors but no future big-ticket stars.

Music hits a low again

Music hit a new low in quality. Retro re-creations became endemic, often emerging as either the best or the only decent songs on the soundtrack. The only big film with a hit score was Bodyguard. If ever there was a year in which the Best Music award would not be given, it would be 2011.

Lyricists too became very gimmicky, phonetics-oriented and lacking in
substance, led by names like Amitabh Bhattacharya and Irshad Kamil. Major
disappointments this year were A R Rahman’s Rockstar, Ajay-Atul’s (whizkids of Marathi film music) Singham and My Friend Pinto, Vishal Bhardwaj’s 7 Khoon Maaf and Vishal-Shekhar’s RA.One.

Year of titanic losses

It was a year of the titans departing as well. These men, even if inactive towards the end, had once shaped and defined various aspects of Hindi cinema, especially music  — icons like Shammi Kapoor (seen in his last film this year, Rockstar) and Dev Anand, Jagjit Singh, Dr Bhupen Hazarika and sarangi ace Ustad Sultan Khan. Even as Anil Kapoor celebrated his Hollywood debut with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (albeit in a glorified cameo), his father, producer Surinder Kapoor, passed away.

Now, only memories and their eternalised portrayals remain as great lessons for the year ahead.