Like so many of our stars, Arjun Rampal too couldn’t resist the temptation of becoming a film producer. And again, like many of these star-producers, Arjun too couldn’t make a success of his maiden venture, I See You. Whether it is Shah Rukh Khan or Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan or Suniel Shetty, they have all tried their hand at production and, more often than not, burnt their fingers.
Shah Rukh’s Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani ran neither in Hindustan nor in the rest of the world. Ajay Devgan suffered such heavy losses in Raju Chacha that he didn’t think of making another film after that. Suniel Shetty lost money in Rakth as well as Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav and Anil Kapoor was left well and truly embarrassed with Badhai Ho Badhai. Jackie Shroff too realised that film production was simply not his cup of tea. Whether it was his Grahan or Boom, they spelt doom at the box office. His other film Sandhya did not even see the light of day. Years after it was completed, it remains canned, unreleased because it is unsold.
Arjun Rampal did the smartest thing by keeping his budget in control. As a result, even though the distributors have come to grief, Rampal himself hasn’t lost money in the enterprise. Frankly, the Indian audience is just not receptive to films like I See You which deals with a medical problem, and that too, quite an unusual and unbelievable one. And so, in spite of being a well-made film, it just didn’t click with the audience. A pick-up in collections doesn’t happen unless reports are extremely good or the starcast is immense. I See You has just Arjun Rampal to offer when multi-hero projects have become the norm today.
Meanwhile, Priyadarsan’s Bhagam Bhag scored initially due to its perfect release in the Christmas week. The festive holiday period saw collections soar but they dropped soon after the initial euphoria died down. Once again, collections picked up in the New Year holiday weekend, so that its distributors could at least heave a sigh of relief.
The spotlight this year would be on the following names:
Hrithik Roshan: Will he be able to live up to the larger than life superhero image he has created for himself with Dhoom 2 and Krrish?
Shah Rukh Kha: He has come full circle and returned to the small screen with Kaun Banega Crorepati. People will be watching keenly to see if he can be a match for Amitabh Bachchan. If SRK succeeds, well, what can we say except Don Banega Crorepati.
Madhuri Dixit: She will be staging a comeback with a song-and-dance film produced by Aditya Chopra.
Ranbir Kapoor & Sonam Kapoor: The son and daughter of Rishi-Neetu Kapoor and Anil-Sunita Kapoor respectively, Ranbir and Sonam will debut in Sanwariya, directed by none other than Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Karan Johar: His Kutchie Kutchie Hota Hai, an animation remake of his own Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, will decide the future of animation films in India.
Himesh Reshammiya: The singing star is making his acting debut in a film which gets its title from his most profitable album so far, Aap Ka Surroor.
Aishwarya Rai & Abhishek Bachchan: They’ll be in the news more for their off-screen romance than their on-screen chemistry in Mani Ratnam’s Guru.
John Abraham: Will his sex appeal diminish or grow deeper like his dimples?
Karisma Kapoo: Will she return to acting this year?
Aamir Khan: We’ll find out if he is as good as a director as he is as a ghost-director. The 40-plus star has turned director with his home production, Tare Zameen Par, which he is co-directing with Amol Gupte.
Komal Nahta is editor of Film Information
