Not even rumours of their impending marriage could ensure a decent initial box office take for Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan’s Umrao Jaan. J.P. Dutta’s remake of Muzaffar Ali’s film of the same name opened to an unbelievably cold response, belying the myth that publicity, hype and hoopla always translate into box office collections. Frankly, the story of Ash and Abhishek’s marriage plans, which satellite channels ran ad nauseum, had been done to death a few months ago. That is why people didn’t lend much credence to it. Coming as it did a week before the release of Umrao Jaan, the general public thought the story was just a publicity stunt to hype the period film.

The lack of a respectable opening was just one reason why the Rs 12 crore film was a turkey at the ticket window. The more important reason was its excruciatingly slow pace — even a snail could’ve given Umrao Jaan a complex!

As in J.P. Dutta’s last film L..C. — Line Of Control, his distributors have burnt their fingers while he himself has made a hefty profit. Adlabs, fresh from the Jaan-E-Mann setback, suffered another severe jolt with Umrao Jaan. While Adlabs distributed the Salman-Akshay-Preity starrer in the overseas circuit only, it bought the rights to Dutta’s film for almost the entire world. Luckily, it had sold the rights for many circuits in India while retaining the overseas rights. The distributors who acquired the film from Adlabs would lose almost 90 per cent of their investments, making Umrao Jaan one of the biggest debacles in recent years. The paradox is that Dutta has managed to make a profit of around Rs 15 crore on this disaster. Not only did he sell the distribution rights to Adlabs for a heavenly price but he also made Umrao Jaan on a modest budget.

The production values weren’t grand and J.P. Dutta is known to pay his stars much less than their market price. The stars are willing to work at a lower remuneration because they feel secure in Dutta’s hands. Of course, not all stars are eager to be part of a J.P. Dutta venture but there are enough of them around for Dutta to make his films.

The deal between Hrithik Roshan and Adlabs has finally been signed, sealed and delivered. Hrithik is richer by Rs 30 crore and Adlabs has the super-hero’s commitment for three films, to be made in four-and-a-half years, beginning 2008.

Yash Chopra, who never changed his release dates, is having to reschedule his films a bit too often now. Dhoom:2 got postponed from Diwali to November 24. Kabul Express would’ve been released long ago had it not been for several postponements. It’s now the turn of Siddharth Anand’s second film for the Yash Raj banner, Tara Rum Pum. Originally scheduled for release in January 2007, the Saif-Rani starrer will now hit the halls only in the last week of April. Exactly a month later, Chopra will release his Jhoom Barabar (directed by Shaad Ali). In June will come the Shah Rukh starrer Chak De India. Aditya Chopra will also be launching a film soon that he intends to direct himself. This will hit the screens before the end of 2007 — that is, if it doesn’t get postponed!

To make 10,000 people dance to your tune for a full hour is no joke. That’s exactly what Himesh Reshammiya had the audience doing at his show at Wembley in London. Show organisers have been claiming for some time that in the stage shows circuit, Himesh is next only to Shah Rukh Khan. The sold out show on October 29 proved them correct. Reshammiya’s detractors may go on and on about his nasal twang and about how he will be wiped out from the scene next year, but the singer has the public eating out of his hand. The guy is indeed a rock star. No other non- hero has such a huge fan following.

Komal Nahta is editor, Film Information