JOIN USGlimpses of brilliance
In the last 50 years of Indian cinema, the end of each decade has witnessed significant changes and paradigm shifts in terms of films and people associated with the Hindi film industry – 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 (the millennium’s beginning) and now, of course, 2010. How does 2010 classify as a significant year? Films that did well were the ones which had melodious music coupled with meaningful lyrics. They also had playback singers lending their soulful voices to songs, rather than crooners from pop, fusion or bhangra music genres.
Two big-ticket releases, Farah Khan’s acid-test Tees Maar Khan and India’s first live action-cum-animation feature Toonpur Ka Superrhero starring Ajay Devgn (who has already given four hits in Raajneeti, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai and Golmaal 3) and wife Kajol, are set for release, in addition to a few other films, by December 31. But as things stand now, the biggest hit of the year, as well as the film with the best-selling music, is Dabangg.
And nothing exemplified the sweeping change of 2010 more than this film. Apart from Wanted (a remake of a Southern hit) in 2009, Salman Khan had had a flop record since Partner in 2007. No one was seriously excited about a film that had a new director, Abhinav Singh Kashyap, and whose music was composed by Sajid-Wajid.
Sonakshi Sinha, low-profile daughter of Shatrughan Sinha, whose brother Luv Sinha had made a disastrous debut in this year’s Sadiyaan, was the heroine. What would anyone expect?
But perceptions began to change in July when Dabangg’s electrifying promos went on air. Salman Khan’s avatar of the bad cop was loved by everyone. Especially the generation who had lived through the eras of Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan and even Sunny Deol. They saw a larger-than-life character in Salman Khan. He was ruthless yet endearing. Dabangg’s dialogues were a hit. So where dialogues from movies like Raajneeti and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. The entire album of Dabangg, not just Tere mast mast do nain and Munni badnaam hui, was a major crowd-puller for the film, eventually giving it a tremendous opening. This moderately-priced film has netted a whopping 82 crore in India, smashing past Ghajini’s 59 crore and nearing the 3 Idiots benchmark of Rs 104 crore. Dabangg was no classic, but was born to conquer. It elicited extreme reactions, but the people who loved the film were many and the ones who didn’t, few.
Masala magic
Therefore, the year 2010 proved that masala potboilers with foot-tapping musical scores could do extremely well and create box office history. These films, particularly Dabangg, appealed to all age-groups and income groups. A cliche was busted that films which are catered to NRIs, are highly-glossed and polished, are the only ones that do well in metros. Thus, the success of Dabangg echoed a common sentiment that the audience still enjoyed films with rustic characters and simple plots rather than unidentifiable alien content or film grammar. Raajneeti, Golmaal 3 and Housefull followed in the hit-list, and in the above-average success category were Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, Ishqiya, Prince and Atithi…Tum Kab Jaoge? Robot too did a business of Rs 21 crore – the highest ever for a dubbed film.
Small and ‘different’ films had a tough time though in 2010. What bailed them out was not the multiplex culture but the fact that the economics of a film (that decide if the film has gained or lost money) today, not just depends on footfalls in theatres but also on various revenue streams like purchasing their rights. Peepli (Live), Love Sex Aur Dhoka, Phas Gaye Re Obama, Tere Bin Laden and Khichdi – The Movie were films that yielded profits by deals rather than ticket sales.
Among those debated as hits or flops, trade analyst N P Yadav says, “Shah Rukh Khan is still regarded as the face of Hindi cinema abroad. My Name Is Khan was of specific interest to NRIs and Muslims. It made a killing overseas and after deducting all its costs, it still made a profit of some 20 crore.” He adds further, “As for the Yash Raj Films investment model, it is such that Badmaash Company and Band Baaja Baaraat could not have lost money.”
Films that suffered due to their poor quality promos and bad timing of their release dates were Aakrosh (again critically-appreciated) and Action Replayy. Although Udaan was appreciated by the media and some niche audiences, it lost money even though it was made on a small budget.
The most prominent newcomer of the year was of course, Sonakshi Sinha. Other promising debuts were of Ranveer Singh (Band Baaja Baaraat), Ali Zafar from Pakistan and Pradyuman Singh Mall (Tere Bin Laden), Shraddha Kapoor (Teen Patti) and Rohit Barmecha (Udaan). Also, the Hindi film industry saw multiple foreign debutantes this year, including the much-hyped Barbara Mori (Kites), and Sarah Thompson (Raajneeti), whose performance in the film was much appreciated.
The brigade of successful new directors was led by Abhinav Kashyap , followed by Abhishek Sharma (Tere Bin Laden), Abhishek Chaubey (Ishqiya), Maneesh Sharma (Band Baaja Baaraat) and Anusha Rizvi, whose film Peepli (Live) is India’s official selection for the Oscars. Critically-acclaimed debutant directors were Vikramaditya Motwane (Udaan), Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan (Lahore), who has picked up two National awards and Amit Rai, whose film Road To Sangam won international acclaim.
Though these newbie directors’ films were not box office fodder in most cases, they stood out in stark contrast to the big names that spun turkeys like Anees Bazmee (who bravely admitted that he had slipped in No Problem), Priyadarshan (Khatta Meetha, Aakrosh), Mani Ratnam (Raavan), Anurag Basu (Kites), Ashutosh Gowariker (Khelein…), Ram Gopal Varma (Rann, Rakht Charitra and its sequel), Anil Sharma (Veer) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Guzaarish), which lost the maximum money.
Musical high
At the musical level, ironically, Bhansali spun the most accomplished score of the year in the same film, which marked his debut as a composer. Sajid-Wajid emerged the composers of the year with Dabangg (with Munni from Lalit Pandit) and Veer. Pritam (Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai and to a lesser extent Crook and Action Replayy) scored and the music of Ishqiya, Kites, Raajneeti (Mora piya was a huge hit), My Name Is Khan, Housefull, Karthik Calling Karthik, Tees Maar Khan and Anjaana Anjaani also did well.
The singer of the year was definitely Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, who had hits galore in multiple films, including Dabangg, Once Upon…, Ishqiya, Veer and My Name Is Khan.
The film industry lost several veterans as well as young talents (like actor-director Manish Acharya, directors Pankaj Advani and Sourabh Usha Narang). The others who passed away were Aamir Khan’s father Tahir Husain, writer-filmmaker Govind Moonis, who had introduced Madhuri Dixit, saxophone ace and R D Burman’s key player Manohari Singh, legendary art director Desh Mukherjee and veteran actor-producer Sujit Kumar.
The last word
When stepping into 2011, the industry would do well to remember the crucial audience verdicts given in this significant, unpredictable and interesting turnaround year. After all, writings on the wall are the way to move ahead with both success and excellence. Films, as the audiences have clearly declared in Hindi and regional films this year, are all about storytelling and entertainment that is rooted in our culture. Those who do not subscribe to this axiom may please stay away.