Bollywood on self-healing path with four hits

New Delhi, Aug 25 Energetic openings to Bollywood's four recent releases, 'New York', 'Kambakkht Ishq', 'Love Aaj Kal' and 'Kaminey', have succeeded in getting the business perk up. Wounded by a long strike earlier this year, the film industry is perhaps on a self-healing path now, say trade pundits.

The two-month-long stand-off between the producers-distributors and multiplex owners over revenue sharing, which was resolved June 5, led to a whopping Rs.300 crore (Rs.3 billion) loss to the Hindi film industry.

The dry spell was broken by Kabir Khan's 'New York' that released June 26 followed by the other three films -- 'Kambakkht Ishq' that came July 3, 'Love Aaj Kal' July 31 and 'Kaminey' Aug 14 -- raking in a net profit close to almost half the losses so far this year.

'These four films will do a net business of Rs.150 crore (Rs.1.5 billion) put together,' revealed an industry insider.

Said trade analyst Taran Adarsh: 'The industry is definitely on a recovery path... it is getting better now, but we do need a big number of hits to follow as even an A-list movie like 'Luck' bombed.

'Every movie has a luck of its own. For example, a small-budget film like 'A Wednesday' had a moderate release last year but proved to be a dark horse. At the end of the day it's the content that will win.'

I know dad will love me in 'Kambakkht Ishq': Kareena Kapoor

Of late, Kareena has been bonding big-time with her father. And Randhir Kapoor couldn't have chosen a worse time to be out of the country. Just when Kareena's most important film was about to release, both her sister and dad are out of the country, hence their absence from the special screening on Tuesday night, last week, when Kareena invited just her family and no friends.

Saif tried to keep her spirits up. But Kareena was undoubtedly missing her father. Kareena these days is constantly in touch with her father, inquiring about his diet and health, visiting him as much as possible. And when Randhir Kapoor signed two films lately, his younger daughter was the happiest.

"He needs to work. He must work. He's such a talented actor. I've inherited my comic timing from my father, which you can see in Kambakkht Ishq. I know he'd love me in this film," says Kareena emotionally.

Randhir Kapoor is currently on a cruise holiday in Lisbon.

Akshay upset at strategy to pull him down

Akshay Kumar is thrilled and upset at the same time. Thrilled, because his new movie, 'Kambakkht Ishq', has taken an incredible start from East to West and from North to South. Post 'Jumbo', 'Chandni Chowk to China' and '8 x 10 Tasveer', Akshay had become everyone's favourite punching bag. Once considered the blue-eyed boy of one and all, Akshay was dropped like a hot potato after a string of flops.

"I was disillusioned. I would be lying if I said that the flops didn't affect me. They did, especially the failure of 'Chandni Chowk to China'. I was heart-broken, crest-fallen," Akshay informs me. He's just back from a whirlwind tour [Puerto Rico, London, Delhi, now Mumbai] and has barely slept since the past few days.

"I was extremely nervous. I couldn't sleep. What if 'Kambakkht Ishq' doesn't open well? That thought kept bothering me," Akshay admits. But now that the film has fetched a superb start, the actor is feeling relieved. "Aaj raat achchi neend aayegi," he flashes his charismatic smile, when he's told that the film should have a record-breaking opening weekend.

But Akshay's upset too -- and it shows -- when he feels that there's a strategy to pull him down. The negative sms-es during the paid previews and the subsequent messages ridiculing his film have hurt him. "Why do we resort to such things? Aren't we happy that the audiences are back? 'New York' attracted crowds, now 'Kambakkht Ishq' has. 'Luck', 'Love Aaj Kal' and 'Kaminey' would also bring crowds. The volume of business is only increasing. But by resorting to such things, we are only harming ourselves," Akshay says.

Akshay Has High Hopes for Kambakkht Ishq

Kambakkht Ishq is all set to release tomorrow and there is a lot resting on the movie. It is not just about the amount of money that Sajid Nadiadwala has put into the project. The film's fate is quite closely entwined with the fate of its leading actor Akshay Kumar.

Akshay had a massive hit last year in Singh Is Kinng. Besides that, he was riding high on the success of Heyy Baby and Welcome. But if on the one hand there were the highs of Singh Is Kinng on one hand, there was also the lows of Tashan, Chandni Chowk To China and 8x10 Tasveer that he had to contend with. Hence, it is imperative for Akshay that Kambakkht Ishq does well at the box office and consolidates his position as a saleable star. Of course, he has another action thriller lined up for later in the year in Blue, besides Priyadarshan's De Dana Dan and Vipul Shah's Action Replay. But if he has to stay at the top of the heap, it is important to strike big at the box office. There is way too much competition at the top. Let's hope that it is celebration time at the box office for Akki this Friday. It's not such a make or break situation for the film's heroine Kareena Kapoor. After all, she has a hit in the Golmaal sequel to talk about. Up ahead, she has some very exciting films which are due to release like Rensil D'Silva's Qurbaan and Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots. She is definitely on a more comfortable pitch than Akshay. Like it or not, Kambakkht Ishq will prove to be an acid test for Akshay.

I want Kaminey and Kambakkht Ishq to do well: Akshay

Akshay Kumar speaks about flops, 'Kambakkht Ishq', and more!

Q. 'Chandni Chowk To China' and '8X10 Tasveer' didn't work at the box office. How did you cope with such situation?

This kind of flip-flop does happen in the industry so it's ok; one can't take such things to heart. Some films work and some do not. It doesn't mean that you hold anything in particular against something or someone. You have to move on.

Q. But both 'Chandni Chowk To China' as well as '8X10 Tasveer', did get hammered quite strongly by most?

Haan, critics ne kaafi bura-bhala kaha tha in filmon ke liye (yes critics did come quite strongly on both the films). Still, I won't say that 'Chandni Chowk To China' was a bad film. Even in '8X10 Tasveer' I took a risk. But then you know how artistic films are treated in India, especially when they come out of Bollywood! Such films have small audience and one has to keep that in mind as well.

Q. Regarding 'Chandni Chowk To China', till the release of New 'York', it was the only film that took some reasonable opening at least.

I didn't intend to speak about it but since you have brought it out, let me state that box office has its own story to tell. It has seen highest collections so far and though it was certainly less than what all of us were expecting, it has still been far better than any of the other releases in the year. However, people did write so much negative about it that it couldn't go beyond a point at the box office.

Q. You must be quite positive about 'Kambakkht Ishq' though.

Well, yes indeed. I really-really hope that the film works. It has been such an extended period of draught over last six months. Entertainment has just come down and it's high time that people go back to theaters for their staple diet of movies. Over last so many months, there was so much recession, so many problems that a common man could not dream of going to theaters. People were not getting their salaries, they were loosing their jobs. In such a situation, things only turn worse for film business.

Q. You believe that situation has improved now?

Very much so because honestly I had thought that the bad run would continue for an even longer period. I am just not talking about movie business but economy in general. Of what I collect from the market scenario, the situation has improved tremendously over last couple of months or so. There is a certain stability that has come in. We have a stable government, the stock market has gone up again and I see similar positive trend for Bollywood as well. Things are much better now. Itne waqt andhere ke baad ab jaise waapas savera aa raha hai (after an extended period of darkness, there is finally some light)!

Q. Isn't it ironical that the media is now saying that you will get audiences back with 'Kambakkth Ishq'?

When they say like that then it only feels good. You want to be a part of something that works for the industry, works for the audience, works for the producer, and works for yourself. If my 'Kambakkht Ishq' can improve the industry situation then I can only be proud and happy about that. But honestly, I want all films releasing this season to work. There are these biggies like 'New York', 'Love Aaj Kal' and 'Kaminey' coming one after another around my film and I want all of them to work.

Q. One doesn't find an actor saying this too often when so much is stake for his own film.

But then there is so much at stake for all of us out here, isn't it? I hear that during the strike, around Rs. 300 crores have been lost. We have to have something running to compensate for the losses. Aisa hoga tabhi mandi mein paisa wapas aayega (only if this happens would there be some money inflow into the industry); films would be made, people will get work. These are all important films and I want all of them to do extremely well!