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475 Responses to “Happy New Year trailers (updated)”
Yes, I like Abhishek here. I believe he can pull off a near Robin Williams like spontaneous (outside the script) act with a proper director. I also think Farah is best to bring that Abhishekism out of him.
For a moment notice his clothes in the English bit. The clothes matches the act and enhances the bit.
that’s probably the only moment I liked in the trailer. But again all of this is Rohit Shetty or even Sajid Khan in grander, more ‘refined’ (!) format.
this is a ridiculous trailor but farah does that very well and HNY shd be way better than Sajid’s movie – although I loved OSO purely for the songs and Karz remake was done well – deepika rocked – still when I close the eyes that song Äankhon me teri…..is so refreshing…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5NB7qUqrEI
I was expecting a better trailer than this. Quite poor on many levels. Clearly going to be more of the sort of excess Farah Khan specializes in. Would be surprised at significant trending here. it’s going to be the usual big bang followed by half decent trending (by today’s standards) and it will get to a big number. But I doubt this is good enough to get to the D3 number (unless the film is better than this). Now OSO had good enough trending but almost no big film today is able to double its initial like that film did. This trailer seems to suggest a film much like the second half of OSO. The posters and so on led me to believe otherwise but this trailer even for the terrain is poor. Some of the comedy especially is really at Sajid Khan’s level! A ‘grand’ trailer for sure but a tasteless one in many ways.
A lot will depend on which Farah Khan turns up – The TMK one (which actually mirrored a Sajid Khan film complete with the type of humor it had) or the MHN/OSO ones which seemed to have a semblance of a plot (with weaknesses, I am add). I would think that with that star cast, at least someone would have had the sense to ensure that Farah doesnt go the TMK way.
No I think this will like OSO or the second half of it. Because OSO had the Karz plot that at least gave it some sort of dramatic frame. This film won’t have that. It’s a heist yes so it will have just enough to keep it interesting at points but most of the film will have this ‘resort’ feel to it with huge dance numbers, comedy at every turn and then some action thrown in at the end. Enough to get massive week 1 numbers and then it should do at least what Kick did if not more. Now maybe with some hit numbers it can better that significantly but in any case there’s very unlikely to be significant trending here. And again leaving aside all that this is just a poor trailer. D3 was way better than this. My only point here is that they already have everything in place, they don’t quite need to stoop this low. This is exactly what I was referring to in the other longer comment.
You may be right on that count. The only solace is that I will still take OSO second half over a Sajid Khan type of movie. Lets just hope this one is better than that!!
Oh I would too..! But that’s a gun-to-the-head choice. In all seriousness I find Sajid Khan completely unwatchable. Wouldn’t even put him in the Rohit Shetty category. The latter at his best is way better than this. BB had some truly funny sequences and the first DLLJ-spoof moment in CE was inspired.
Sajid was okay with Heyy Baby and excellent with Houseful 2
(not Houseful) and then ran out of jokes and resorted to silly stuff which is more in home jokes than for paying public.
Terrible trailer, but also an unsurprising one coming from Farah Khan. In that sense, the only thing to lament here is Abhishek’s recession into the background of a circus he probably shouldn’t be in in the first place.
Don’t forget Houseful 3, that’s how low he has to stoop now. But I think from a commercial perspective this is as good as it’s gonna get for Abhishek. He hasn’t been able to get the ball rolling for the last 14-15 years, and now there is just too much competition.
Well for anyone who wants to get or keep the ball rolling these days, this is pretty much the only option. There’s no top star not named Aamir Khan (though D3 isn’t exactly some shining example of great cinema) who’s not doing garbage at some level to get by. Not one. Signing up to be a star in this industry in its current phase makes it a kind of prerequisite. Abhishek’s appeal is (was) precisely that he was working with interesting filmmakers, not simply the first-weekend mongers who slap something repulsive together and call it a movie. For that reason alone I’d say he never had it better than he did from Yuva through Raavan.
Agree.. I’d stretch it to DMD but that’s probably what you mean. He did have a great deal of box office success through Guru as well and only very intermittently since. But yes even within the lowest commercial format there ought to be at least a BB kind of deal. Otherwise things become pointless. He’s supposed to be starting his home production in Nov. An action-masala subject with the Idea ads director (whose first film, an Okkadu remake is releasing with Arjun Kapoor next year). But I really think he needs either a series of successful solos (he has the Umesh Shukla in Dec) or (and I would opt for this option) a project with massive reinvention that isn’t just about doing a successful solo but also getting some of that edge back.
Yeah DMD was his last important film. Ratnam in many ways “legitimizes” him more than anyone else. There hasn’t been a peep on that front for a while. A Rohan Sippy in the offing would help as well. He might be working back up to these guys by way of the Shuklas or whatever but that sort of attempt to transition or build steam strikes me as simultaneously cautious and risky.
agreed again.. the multistarrer bit can be a trap if not handled carefully. Saif for instance irrespective of where he was in his career hardly ever did these. It doesn’t make you a bigger star to just do solos if you can’t get them to work a certain way but the opposite is risky as well if the right projects don’t follow. He certainly has two solos in the pipeline, one about to release, one in the offing. Rumors about one with Aishwarya. But in any case he’s raised the stakes on himself. Ultimately however you do it you cannot abandon your signature or what defined you in the first place for too long.
Agreed, however I would say Ranbir is also not doing garbage, and even someone like Sushant Singh Rajput is trying to sign some good films, but let’s see if he becomes successful or not.
not sure if Nahta saw the same trailer KomalNahta @ DM FAV RT ? 17:04
HNY trailer. Unreal, outstanding, suuuuperb, u haven’t seen something like this on Indian screen! Hats off. Huge blockbuster on its way!!!
DP, after CE, is again doing her accent bit which only means repeat foot falls.
Abhishek seems comfortable for the first time in exposing the side of him which people see in real life. Before HNY this “goofball” side has never really come alive on screen, but in HNY it appears he is putting it out there.
Sonu’s seems like he is showcasing his “hero ” credentials.
Of course it appears that SRK is there in an Avatar that his world wide audience want him. The energy, the comedy, the romance, the little engine that could spirit, all is there. Just SRK factor alone will take the movie to record territory.
I like that he gave everyone so e exposure in the trailer.
I am not in the prediction game, but this will reach 100 Cr in the shortest time.
Your objections are fair. The things you did not like sell. DP’s accent will sell like hot cakes. Abhishek’s rendering of his father’s old line will have people in splits.
SRK is there too anchor the film. Just with one scene, or with just one expression he can redirect.
The overall story is good. Six losers pose as dancers to job. This plus Dubai will set the stage for an enjoyable movie.
Abhishek has done all kinds of comedy before from Dostana to BB to the more understated kind elsewhere. He’ll probably have a number of looks here though.
These days, if you are looking for good indian comedy, then watch youtube channels like Qtiyapa and AIB. Bollywood is so far behind from that level of brilliance.
I never thought it would be Abhishek’s show.. I was saying something quite different.. I still maintain that though this clearly doesn’t look like a BB deal. of course those who couldn’t find Abhishek’s show even in BB or Guru or anything else are hardly best-suited to comment in these matters! Much as those who think SRK is still SRK whether he has a big grosser every year or once in 7 years are also in no position to comment! The thing as always is that if there is honesty a lot of discussions can be had. You aren’t honest even when it comes to Aamir forget Abhishek! We’ve similarly seen your statements about Bachchan Sr, AAA just the other day. with that kind of attitude or delusion one can hardly expect others to have a serious conversation. I’ve nonetheless tried in vain!
Comments, Like/Dislike are disabled for #HappyNewYearTrailer .. this is bad omen. All movies flopped in past whose comments were disabled .. Hummatwala .. Humshakal .. Besharam .. etc etc
The only +ve from this trailer is expectations from regular movie folks will be extremely low and if the movie turns out okayish then wom will be better which will may work in its favor like what just happened with Kick. .
Thank god SRK reminds us that this is promo .. mujhe laga picture khatam hone wali hai. BTW what is left to show in movie ? SO predictable and dabba content ..
I think the reaction here is a bit over the top. What exactly were people expecting from a Diwali entertainer? IMO the trailor is not a classic but its par for a Diwali movie. The movie sets the tone nicely and introduces the character and plot line. The comedy is too loud and music awful but again I think that may not be palatable to me but should be fine for the general audience who have made movies like BG, Kick etc hit which were far worse than this.
The thing is one can’t use Kick or whatever as a standard if one (not meaning you) ridicules this stuff otherwise. Obviously I would never confuse Farah Khan with Hirani (!) but is the Dhoom standard too much to ask? No one’s looking for anything cutting edge here but this is the lowest kind of comedy disguised as a ‘grand’ production. yes this is what Bollywood now is. And I don;’t have too many doubts about its commercial response either (though I very much do on the trending). But there can be such a thing as too much. And this film seems rather excessive even considering everything. Almost like a stage show in disguise. But I otherwise don’t have any illusions about an audience that rewards some of the films you’ve mentioned. There’s now a very fair chance that CE will turn out to be a lot better than this film. Barring the grandeur can’t Farah Khan top even that film? I mean we’ve come to the point where the best of Rohit Shetty seems to be a hard standard to live upto? Does this seem to be a better film than BB? Folks criticized D3. I can understand some of the criticism but did that film have anything remotely approaching this sort of badness? Let’s call a spade a spade. OSO trailers were a lot better than this. The 33 song bit came a bit later but the first long trailer was fine. This whole film looks like that 33 song moment! Actually SRK himself isn’t doing much here. But he’s realized at this stage of his career that he doesn’t need to. he just needs to get the circus going, be symbolically important (lines, songs etc) and let the show run its course. This is neither the Aamir nor the Salman logic where they really have to do everything in the film without distractions. CE was closer to that model. This one isn’t. In his home production SRK decided not to take even the CE sort of risk.
Raghav, first off you should watch what you’re saying. I removed one comment, seriously edited the other. There was truly disgusting stuff in the comment I edited. Quite an irony given what you’ve been saying about SRK.
when such poor defense are at work for such character in industry. And people here are displaying sympathy for such character, wow…great go take your kids to this one, enjoy
I will better switch off tv or change the channel every time this trailer pops up rather than allowing my children ask me meaning of cuss words used in here.
You can describe to your children meaning of words used by your beloved srk.
This is happening in every other film. Anyway even if one wants to be biased about it there ought to be a limit on what one says. You said some pretty awful stuff. One can be totally against someone, totally biased even but one shouldn’t reduce oneself to that kind of language. Specially if one is going to criticize SRK or whoever for vulgarity! It’s quite humorous actually.
It is definitely U/A movie just like Raone was and promoted in the name of family movie by so called dignified International icon of Indian Cinema . LOL
‘Specially if one is going to criticize SRK or whoever for vulgarity’
LOL. I know my audience here no one is kid here and we can discuss adult content.
”Specially if one is going to criticize SRK’
ROFL. What you have for srk in your heart, can you open up finally?, Satyam.
I think civility should be a constant and shouldn’t depend on whether one likes someone or not. Going a bit overboard sometimes is something we all do but one shouldn’t fall below a certain level. It’s especially disgusting (yes I’ll use that word again because you used your word again too) to come up with such analogies. I am the harshest critic of contemporary Bollywood. I’m not known for being a SRK fan either. And I have the least taste for the Sajid Khans of the industry. But one can say all this without stooping to that level.
You have problem when i used word whorehouse for srk while this is private forum and all are adults here. But, nothing against SRK displaying his filthy mind at display on public channel in the name of mainstream commercial cinema. Huh
Trailer overall was decent, I didn’t like the trailer of CE that much but the film turned out to be better than the trailer. There’s only 2 comedy bits here, both which unfortunately are like Sajid Khan- anything near Rohit Shetty humor would have been great. Disappointed with the humor. SRK looks dashing, this is the best he has looked in a while. Even without the beard he looks great. The blonde streak which looked stupid in public looks nice here. His acting is great in everything except once again the OTT comedy. Deepika was ok, she seems like she’s trying to do another Meenama but not succeeding. She look amazing though. Abhishek is a WTF and without a doubt he will get a terrible response from the audience for this. Sonu Sood looks bland, and the Justin Bieber kid may surprise, he is Naseerudin Shah’s son after all.
The production values are grand but that’s expected with a SRK starrer-All of his movies from the Darr/DDLJ have had grand production values, the other stars are just playing catchup to him now (D3, Kick etc). Vishal-Shekhar said there are 8 songs in the film- the song we hear at the beginning sounds like either SRK’s intro song and a chartbuster. Deepika will definitely have her Sheila Ki Jawaani, another chartbuster. Honey Singh is doing a song, so there’s the 3rd hit song. The Indiawalle song sounds ok but it’ll probably be over promoted and the video will be good forcing it to be the 4th chartbuster. The Mika Singh song in the trailer is bad as is the Sukhwinder Singh song (there was a leaked video on youtube with 30 sec of this song and it was bad). That leaves 2 songs, a romantic song which should be decent given V-S and something else. I still have high hopes for the music.
Farah Khan in each on of her movies has combined 2 different themes- in MHN it was the army officer going to college and the whole step-brother family drama. In OSO it was the film industry and the reincarnation story. In TMK it was the heist and movie. This seems like TMK and OSO combined. I don’t think she has learned a lot from TMK unfortunately.
This should easily get to 250 crores with the amount of promotion, hype, songs, more promotion, holiday release and if it’s as good as CE, then 300 and if it’s 3/4ths as good as OSO then 300+. I will say though if this movie is anywhere near as bad as TMK then 1000% of the blame goes to SRK. At least I personally will put all the blame on SRK something I didn’t even do with Ra.1
I don’t think it’s that easy to get to that amount unless the movie is good and connects with the paying audience.
“I will say though if this movie is anywhere near as bad as TMK then 1000% of the blame goes to SRK”
Agree, I will not blame Farah. All blame should be on SRK and SRK alone. In past he has listened to his heart and followed blindly for his friends but I would think now he has wisen up little bit and not be that trustful.
This whole absurd theory propagated by SRK fans that he blindly trusts friends and works with them unbindingly is hogwash of the highest order. Who are SRK’s friends & family? Karan Johar? Aditya Chopra? Farah Khan? Yash Chopra? And who are these? Are they some miserable 2nd tier directors? [Not talking of quality here [except Yash]; talking of their moolah generating quotient.] It is not as if SRK has worked with imbeciles or directors who didn’t know what ‘ACTION’ meant! This theory is just to falsely underline: ‘Oh SRK is so magnanimous. Look he doesn’t even read the scripts. He just blindly trusts the people and works with them. And because he is such a MASSIVE superstar, HE ends up validating these directors!’
LOL. As though SRK became a superstar by just taking a walk in the part where he offered himself to random peanut vendors & ended up making renowned directors out of them! SRK trusted them blindly BECAUSE he knew how wisely they knew how to sell him as a product of the ‘90s and a post economic-liberalization guy. Karan Johar walked into the GAP store in London and SRK walked into CALVIN KLEIN and both then realized how compatible their complicated philosophies about life are and joined hands. As simple as that. SRK is a marketing expert and knows too well his SWOT to be swayed by ‘friendships’ with incompetent peeps. He is too sharp a guy to leave things to ‘chance.’ David Dhawan was hot during the ‘90s. Why didn’t he work with him? Why didn’t RGV work with him? Because SRK knew his limitations—although he proclaimed that he is the ‘king’ and the ‘best’ actor in the world on month –after-month of Filmfare issues—and that his friends would present him in a way that would mask them. They would make the audiences remember him with his ‘arms-stretching’ moments and not with his envious ability to lapse into hamming! One just needs to see CHENNAI EXPRESS where he is god awful with respect to coming timing & at his hammiest best after RAM JAANE [this one really takes the cake].
Contrast this with Amitabh Bachchan and you will know the real meaning of working as a favor and trusting them blindingly. Who does he work with? LEENA YADAV? SUJOY GHOSH [pre- Kahaani]? Ravi Chopra? The Ganga guy? [his make-up guy?] Rumi Jaffry? Apporva Lakhia? Ravi Sharma Shankar? Samir karnik? Honey Irani? At least the Bachchan fans admit that SALIM-JAVED had major contributions in creating the angry young man persona and Mukherjee and Desai instrumental in bringing to fore the myriad acting chops of this powerhouse talent. [Though there are innumerable instances of Bachchan even during his peak days working with sub-standard directors and literally elevating their films to super-hits ONLY due to his presence.]
Even the DARR thingy is ridiculous considering that SUNNY DEOL was given the most thankless role. The ENTIRE film was written with emphasis on the author-backed negative character of an arsehole psycho [dumbed down to the maximum extent possible from both the B&W and De-Niro’s CAPE FEAR]. Not a SINGLE viewer in the theater would empathize with Sunny Deol’s character who was only protecting his wife from a psycho stalker! Aamir realized that Yashji was fishy in not providing a joint narration and walked out [though he would be the one that would be the beneficiary since it was THE important role in the film!] Trust my foot! To SRK’s credit, he was still newly stamping his foot-prints and hence took on the role anyway.
Nobody is ‘judging’ SRK here. At least I am not! SRK has every right to be selfish and to do whatever he wants to sustain his stardom. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that.The issue is only when his fans try to make a ‘saint’ out of him by spouting bull like his following his heart and placing friendship over career etc etc..,
P.S.: the only time SRK’s brain went into a coma was when he hired ANUBHAV SINHA to direct RA1. I don’t know what he saw in him. I am sure even Anubhav Sinha must also be wondering that.
“One just needs to see CHENNAI EXPRESS where he is god awful with respect to coming timing & at his hammiest best after RAM JAANE [this one really takes the cake]’.
There is a Anupama Chopra’s and Mihir Fadvanis’s review on CE somewhere on the net which summarizes srk’s part very well. Even I felt sad watching him do those squirmish scenes which I thought he was doing out of desperation since last couple of movies had failed and he had to resort to a shetty,who incidentally was still receiving brickbats for gomaal series.
But bandey ki kismet buland hai and look where the box office numbers took him with that movie. In a way he owes it to Salman for vacating the Eid berth due to delay in Jai Ho otherwise box office numbers would be vice versa for these movies.
Agree there but there is always that hope with big stars that something worthwhile has been done esp if groundwork before filming took a lot of considerations/ time and movie is not a quick fix.
Alas the wait for that perfect storm at the box office with big star just got longer!!
This is as calculated to unite Indian audience as CE was. There a Farah’s version of CDI running along side a thriller. This “patriotic” angle will trump Raja Sen.
Very few pay to buy Raja Sen quality. Sure the Abhishek at 1:47 looks silly, but that is what sells and what matters is that many people tried to get this level of naturalness out of Abhishek, but only Farah succeeded.
Judge the movie for what it purports to be, and not what you would like it to be. Farah made her movie, Raja Sen (like Khalid Mohammed) should make his movie.
This one might pass Kick at BO but barely. A 90 -100 CR Weekend is almost assured but I would be shocked if this does not go down the 2nd weekend. CE had a much more interesting trailer.
90 to 100 weekend over Diwali will be a huge let down. Bare minimum expect this to touch 40 to 45 criores on Diwali day. I would say anything less than 120 crores over a 3 day weekend will be an under performance.
It can happen on certain days, day after Diwali being one….This is releasing on 23rd. Not sure when is Diwali day if 23rd is Diwali post pooja day expect minimum 45 crores just on that day. If its 24th, then it will be around 35 to 40 crores on that day as that is second day then.
A poor trailer, rather flat — I certainly recall the Om Shanti Om trailers as being better than this, although that might just be memory’s gloss (certainly the film was bad).
It’s a blatant and still poor attempt to follow Aamir. D3, Ocean 11 and Abhi’s Players (Mastermind Charlie Mascarenhas..now SRK is Charlie in this) most certainly got evoked in this.
In D3 at least Aamir and Kat was 1st time novelty but here it’s not. DP looks stale here.
So now Kick has become stale and HNY is the new flavour and talk of the town. The audience is so fickle. No one seems to care for tomorrow’s release Singham. Rohit Shetty must be nervous.
Singham Returns will find its audience since this is a sequel. Tomorrow being holiday will work in its favor and audience including me is dying for some content / sequences / turn of events and seeti maar moments.
Yeah srk is well within himself and seems to be content just keeping the circus going..but that’s the catch
Haven’t watched it properly but the trailer seems subpar–but that’s not a surprise (& may not matter)
SRK has got his priorities clear–he neither has quality in mind nor a certificate in acting credentials –he can do both actually if needed.
He’s chasing “success” which here is box office –simple!
With his huge audience/fan base, srk doesn’t really need to pull a rabbit out of nowhere (or go nude!)
The most charismatic & successful star in Bollywood
The father of hype
Keeps showing why he is up there–Feel proud of srk
Ps: deepika continues to look yummy– her role is also up for grabs 🙂
Wow, this is garbage. It’s less of an ensemble movie and more of a SRK movie with a lot of supporting cast. The cinematography looks well done and the cast seems to be on track, but other than that, it looks awful. The jokes are unfunny. It seems to have a nonexistent story. This might be the first SRK movie that I’ll skip watching in theatres.
@Arsh -‘This might be the first SRK movie that I’ll skip watching in theatres’.
lol ! Aisa kahan hota hai. Somehow we will all end up at theater for and then this is not even a solo starrer. If you are in India, Diwali ki chutthi mein ek film toh family deserve karti hai. It’s a pity they have gotten away with multiple options now which were there at least a few years back.
Either go and watch this trash otherwise thullu pakad ke ghar baitho……but for that you need lots of forbearance.
I don’t live in India. I live in Canada. I could easily catch some Hollywood films without a problem. I don’t know. If the later trailers excite me, I’ll go watch it. But, this looks like crap (this coming from a person who almost liked RA.One).
Forget Singham Returns or Vanishes or Happy New year or Crappy New year or who gets how much footage..the only ‘release’ I am looking forward to is this…
A very noisy trailer, and loud music. Deepika swinging around like Katrina. In fact it reminds me of D3 trailer.
I cringed at a short Amir Khan posing away with hands on hips, and here at that very silly comedy. How could they even act that scene?
But that will bring in the crores just as D3 brought in, in spite of….
Even the scenes of jumping down from the building…ok in D3 he ran down it, and the scene where they show the place where the diamonds are, seem to be like D3.
SRK looks good. Abhishek looks interesting and I think better comedy will come from him. Hope Deepika isn’t left squirming around incessantly in skimpy clothes, and will have something more to do.
Terrible music…errr noise.
Think the posters made more of an impact than the trailer.
The reason some of the scenes look like D3 are because both are inspired from similar Hollywood sources. D3 did the Dark Knight more than anything else. I’d like to say this is thematically more Ocean’s 11 (and it’s more this than TDK I suppose!) but what a chasm between the aesthetics of this film and Soderbergh!
On the music think it’s par for the course these days and Farah Khan never came up with subtle soundtracks anyway. There should be the OSO sort of mix here.
by the way I didn’t like the Bang Bang trailer either but in terms of what each does relative to genre I’d take that over this one. And D3 easily over both. Just referring to the theatrical trailer in each case.
In some ways, HNY is like Ocean’s Eleven by Baz Luhrmann. Sure Luhrmann and Sodetburgh see the world in different colors but it is not as if Soderburgh is Tom Ford.
I bet you that if Farah had recreated the look and feel of Ocean’s Eleven, people would have complained that she is such a dunce that she does not know the difference between Las Vegas and Dubai. OR that she lack originality.
To me it appears that HNY is aiming higher. It does not want to be just Bollywood’s answer to Ocean’s Eleven. Farah is more ambitious than that. Yes HNY is a OE type heist movie set in a casino/resort in Dubai. But along with being a thriller with high production value, it is also a CDI transfered from a hockey field to a dance floor.
But wait, Farah is aiming even higher. She has added romance, revenge, comedy, …. in short this is not just Sanjay Gandh’s Ocean Eleven. Hence expect more than just Soderburgh’s sensibilities. This is a Farah Khan movie.
Really guys? Are we getting down to personal attacks now? Can someone please explain to me how generalization of a type of people is acceptable in any way? Sorry Rajen, but that one-liner is worse than the jokes in this trailer!
Munna, it just seems very feeble to me. Is there a single point in personally attacking a person just because they don’t agree with you (especially something artistic and extremely subjective). Yes rajen, I’ll say it. I think Shah Rukh is great. I think he’s amazing. And no, not his performances (even though those are up there too), but because of my personal story. I’ll link you it, and if you want, you can watch it and I hope we can just be friends who don’t call each other morons.
Really bad trailer…if not SRK movie this would have been declared another TMK after the trailer itself…the comedy and most of the things look over the top and so does the performances from the trailer…OSO and MHN trailers were much better.
@RajeevMasand: In @TheFarahKhan we trust! #HappyNewYearTrailer is busy, noisy, colorful. So much going on, hav to watch it a few times to enjoy everything!
What does “high quality symphony” mean, I didn’t get it. Also I completely agree with your comment above about this being Om Shanti Om with Oceans Eleven and CDI. I hadn’t even thought about how good the Whole indiawale thing could be if done right
Oh Ok got it makes sense. Also one thing that this trailer does well that Kick/D3/ETT failed at is that this hasn’t shown all the best scenes in the trailer. The “visual” treats are still yet to be seen, which for this movie is the heist scenes. For Kick all the good action scenes (bicycle scene, motorcycle, bus) were already in the trailer and there really was nothing new in the movie as was in the D3 trailer (Aamir’s intro running down the wall, Abhishek-Uday in the slum, Aamir driving the motorcycle out of the Truck).
Salman Khan – @beingsalmankhan
Jst saw happy new year ka promo , its Kick ass .
Hrithik Roshan – @ihrithik
HahahaWOW! Happy new year. Makes u want 2 celebrate already. @iamsrk @juniorbachchan @deepikapadukone @thefarahkhan time 4 sm Mad n masti!
RajRoshan: I actually think, it is very much in the TMK territory. Trying to be spoofy, and ending up being very unfunny. KIck on the other hand surprised me by being just the opposite. One expected something that threw logic and structure out of the window. But it had a a very coherent narration, character development and an elegant story-telling mode. This is all over the place, and revealing bad craftsman in every department . From Om Shanti Om to this seems a bit like moving from Dabang to Besharam.
Bandra NI: ‘But along with being a thriller with high production value, it is also a CDI transfered from a hockey field to a dance floor.” Yes. But does Farah Khan have the talent for either an Ocean Eleven level thriller , or a CDI level detailed human drama? Not by a mile – judging by MNH, OSO and TMK.
You are different than me, I am different than Sanjana, Sanjana is different than Satyam, and Satyam is different than Z
Tell me, does this difference make anyone less ? Difference does not make anyone less, difference is what makes us interesting. Everyone was saying rubbish about D3 and you came and give a sincere but “different” slant, well that difference suddenly made the discussion interesting.
If you are predisposed to thinking that Pizza is less than “Biryani” then that prejudice in you will make all a Pizza Chefs appear less talented or worthy of praise than the Biryani Chefs. But, in reality you will find many out there who do not even know what Biryani is. For them Biryani Chefs are as worthless as a typewriter repair technician.
You are predisposed to certain cinema. That is understandable. You may not like Farah Khan, that too is acceptable. This is all a matter of personal preference. Farah’s talent (one of them) lies in spoofing films (Rohit also tried that in CE and it paid off), now if you don’t like spoofs then that will make you not appreciate Farah. But Farah is not any less than those you like.
TMK was a mistake. Farah is a city person. Her vision needs the gloss and glamour of a city (or some prestigious institution etc). Her mistake was to set TMK in a rural backdrop.
But the one problem with that logic is that it becomes hard to separate the good film from the bad one. So one shouldn’t criticize Sajid Khan because he’s clearly trying to just make low grade over the top comedies! One shouldn’t say an Adam Sandler comedy is worse than a Scorsese because they’re doing different things!
That’s one problem. But there’s also another slippage here. Why is your imagination so limited that you cannot conceive of a better trailer on this terrain than the one Farah Khan put out? I ask this rhetorically? I’m not saying that she become someone else but is the MHN standard so hard to live upto? Is the standard of the first OSO trailer that much harder? You can have grand films that are even over the top but do you really have to be quite so crass about it? When you’re otherwise pretending that you’re making India’s biggest film or grandest film or whatever (SRK said this in the press conference and he probably says this about every other film of his!)? Doesn’t Rohit Shetty show that you can do a better version of Sajid Khan? And it’s not as if he’s some Hirani!
This argument is advanced by people all the time when they want to defend the indefensible. The funny thing is that when out then comes to films like Raavan or Talaash it’s about script problems and what not. Then it’s never about what the directors actually wanted to do or not! hey let’s not give Ratnam the benefit of the doubt! let’s give it to farah Khan!
Is it possible that nostalgia is making your heart fonder ? I was not around here during MHN/OSO etc but I bet the same was hurled at those trailers. I bet people then asked why were those trailers not as good as DDLJ
Hence let’s stick to HNY.
A large scale movie, done in a manner that will make Hollywood sit up and take notice (not just Abhishek not many think that), with a symphony of a story, thrills, and multiple high powered stars. All this they packed into 3 minutes.
I saw the trailer and saw all the elements that I have listed.
“A large scale movie, done in a manner that will make Hollywood sit up and take notice (not just Abhishek not many think that), with a symphony of a story, thrills, and multiple high powered stars. ”
About Hollywood sitting up and taking notice, I think Roshan square’s KRISHHIT 3 already achieved that..
I have to say that I saw things in the trailer that would make Baz Luhrmann envious. The colors and intensity (yes they are not as per Soderburgh) are as loud and as vivid as the modern miracle, Dubai.
This is not even a percent of the grandeur of a Gatsby or Moulin Rouge. In fact, it doesn’t even touch Bhansali imo. And I don’t think Hollywood has noticed anything mainstream out of Bollywood after Lagaan…
The confusion cannot be on account of us referencing different Baz Luhrmann. There is only one Baz, I am positive this difference in opinion has got something to do with the age old adage, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”.
Everybody has their own choices and opinion and way of looking at things.
Some here consider AAA classic when a lot of people thought of it as an illogical crap when it had released. Find me one article from when AAA was released or couple years after it where it states it’s classic (not talking about boxoffice). You will find article like that on MEA, Sholay, Kismat, Pyasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, etc…
Everybody has their own opinion.
If one find illogical AAA classic, that’s fine but don’t criticize somebody else when they have a movie they like or or call it a classic.
Ones opinion or view isn’t important than the others. I think once one realize this, life is beautiful. The bitterness, misery, etc goes away.
“Some here consider AAA classic when a lot of people thought of it as an illogical crap when it had released.”
Actually not only is this opinion completely false and imaginary it sounds even more absurd at the present date. For more reasons than one (including those related to academia). But it’s pointless? Why? Because one can have whatever opinion one likes, whether it’s a delusional one, that of a Philistine, or whatever, one has a right to it. But one exposes oneself rather royally when one makes statements like the one you have or some others that you do. You might be taken seriously among like-minded people online or offline but it otherwise makes you look completely ridiculous. Because even if you really believe it you simply don’t know what you’re talking about. This is something I’ve said many times in the past. There is ‘democracy’ when it comes to opinions (you’re welcome to yours) but actually there’s no democracy when it comes to judging those opinions. The problem is people like you take advantage of the former to get into the latter box. In other words say anything or be dogmatic about anything and then hope for civility on the other side or the pretense of a debate. And if someone says something rough pretend you can always respond with ‘he’s being mean to me just like he’s always mean to my SRK’.
If you want to sound utterly foolish saying certain things it’s upto you. You’ll be in good company.
I didn’t want to say this earlier because I was trying to be polite but today at least you have company with Bandra NRI when he compares Baz Luhrman with HNY. Call me arrogant if you want, uncivil or whatever, I don’t mind. Because while I value civility this doesn’t mean ‘anything goes’. There are other examples in the past where I’ve said the same to people so it’s not just a SRK or Bachchan thing here. It’s about not having an education in many matters and saying absurd things. Now I’m also uneducated or illiterate in many matters but then I don’t engage in certain opinions when it comes to those matters. Now it could be that you know better and are just playing a ridiculous partisan game or that you really are so much in love with SRK that whether it’s Bachchan Sr or Aamir you can only say such things. But whatever the psychological compulsion that drives you to such stuff the result is the same.
Now Bandra NRI will chide me for arguing so much. No! Things should be called by their proper names. I said as much when Utkal discovered Pyaasa or whatever Guru Dutt it was in Cocktail or Dostoyevsky in D3. It’s one’s opinion in each case (though he’s not a partisan like you) but there has to be some sanity to these things. And as I always like to add, this doesn’t mean one cannot say iconoclastic things or argue for minority positions. But it must be an ‘argument’ in the proper sense. That’s the key word.
Now on a conciliatory note I wouldn’t object if someone called DDLJ a classic of some kind. But again unlike folks like yourself I have some consistency in these matters. I defend Ratnam whether SRK does a film with him or Abhishek (in fact other than Raavan I probably like Dil Se more than every film he’s done with Abhishek, might even like it more than Raavan, depends on what day you catch me!), I dislike certain kinds of genres even when Abhishek does them. And I am still the strongest critic of either Bachchan that I know of (not counting non-serious folks). The same goes for Aamir or anyone else. It’s one thing to have a preference and defend it in terms of cinema or ideologically or whatever. Quite another to defend whatever one’s favorite does and to have this fantasy version of history and even the present for that matter. The thing is that part of the growing up process in life (assuming one is lucky enough to get there) is to start accepting some uncomfortable truths and to not always be on war with the facts. So you’re free to have that opinion on AAA or whatever. Or on Bachchan Sr or on Aamir!
Ah, I said I would end on a conciliatory note. So let me just say here that I revisit KHKN from time to time as well!
You have the right to agree or disagree, but not the right to be nasty.
I gave you the benefit of my views, now if you want to discuss it tell me WHY you disagree. Tell me exactly how you came to your conclusion. I certainly give many reasons. I gave reference from the trailer, I gave what I see will be HNY’s potential narrative arc, but against that I see personal attacks, and no substance.
See how Satyam or Utkal or Z how to debate. Sure they too get upset (once in a while), but they focus on substance not personal attacks.
So, have we decided on the final boxoffice figure of HNY? Will it be in range of Besharam or Jai Ho or Talaash? It can’t be YJHD or Kick, right?
You can’t tell me on one hand the movie will be garbage but then there’s some magic formula which will make it get to near 200 crore, if there is, why didn’t it work for Besharam and Jai Ho?
The way I see it, only time will tell. Don’t underestimate the paying public. If the movie is not good, it will wrap up in about 125 crore range and this is the difference between 2nd tier and 1st tear star. Akshay in bad big movie will wrap up at around 50crore (OUATIMD), while 1st tier star will at least get it past 100 crore like Jai Ho, JTHJ, Ra.One.
That is the tragedy or comedy of star power and their fan power.
The fans will make even a garbage a winner.
Win the fans, get as many fans as possible, the film will become 100 crore and then move on depending upon its real likeability.
1)Let’s keep Talaash out of it. Otherwise things get non-serious.
2)I agree that with a certain kind of star the failures too operate at a certain level. However Besharam does not make that point. I’m not saying Ranbir is right up there but Besharam was so completely, so totally rejected it’s hard to think of every many films if any that have it this bad after starting at a certain level (to put it in context Raavan did a lot better than this).
3)Now a film that has the potential to get to 150-160 crores in week 1 (because of the star and/or project or whatever) cannot do less than 200 even if it tanks beyond this. Why? Because if it were tanking like Besharam it wouldn’t get even to that number! But ETT for instance hardly added anything significant after that huge total in the first 5-7 days. So when there’s inflation all around and when increasingly films are close to that 200 range or cross it you don’t get credit just for doing this. Once again the film’s trajectory has to be seen. D3 doesn’t have an ideal gross because it could have done 350 and certainly ought to have crossed 300 at the very least. After that start and everything else it had going for it.
4)HNY is unlikely to do less than 200. I think the TMK analogies are exaggerated (or at least it would be quite amazing if Farah made the same mistake twice). There’s going to be enough here to keep it hot for a while. But I do think the trailer has got rather mixed reactions (which could help if the film is better than this.. because I will admit that whatever kind of director Farah might or might not be she could have cut a better trailer than this). it’s the sort of film that could easily do an ETT when many films these days do precisely this at very many levels. I’d still say it’s more likely the film goes well north of 200 than does a Jai Ho. But it’s the kind of thing where if it behaved much worse than expected I wouldn’t be the most surprised person in the world because of all the excess that seems to be on display here. This doesn’t mean it’s a TMK. If it does a Jai Ho it would be a worse tank than that. Why? Because Jai Ho never quite had that kind of start, there was never much excitement surrounding it. HNY will get off to one of the biggest starts. After this it cannot settle down even at 150 (let alone at Jai Ho level) unless it’s really tanking.
5)Finally you can’t change the standard at both ends. if a star is big enough to get to those highest benchmarks and if those benchmarks aren’t met you can say ‘oh even his failures made a 100’! This is an old game that SRK fans have played when they weren’t getting the big numbers. Tom Cruise can’t get 90m or whatever in his current release and say ‘that’s still better than most commercial films’! Or moreso for some of is previous releases that did 130 or more. If you live by those standards you have to die by them. there’s no consolation prize for Jai Ho. And this argument was only invented for SRK because for seven years he didn’t have a big one. So fans had only this to fall back on. Ever seen a Salman fan make this argument? Because everything else with him was much bigger and now with Kick it’s bigger again!
6)To sum up I still think this film should do a whole lot but unless it’s surprisingly better than the trailer I’d expect an ETT like run (which could take it to 200-230 depending on the start). On the other hand if it’s half-decent it could do a CE and get closer to 250 or something. I’d still be surprised if it gets anywhere close to D3, only because I’d be surprised if Farah Khan has made a truly good film. But if that were the case it could do a lot more than 250. So the likeliest range here is from ETT to CE in terms of box office graph but of course anything can always happen with any film.
“Let’s keep Talaash out of it. Otherwise things get non-serious.”
Why?
Jai Ho is not going to make a penny more if you replace Salman with SRK or JTHJ is not going to make a penny more by replacing SRK with aamir if these movies are as is.
You think having SRK in Talaash would make less if everything stays same? I dont’ think so. In fact it may even make more since SRK has a stronger fan base.
actually I don’t buy this entire argument at all.. I’ve already said enough today so not going to expand on this. Maybe Aamir should have stuck with Darr, then maybe he would have had DDLJ and that might have been it for SRK. Your logic leads to this, mine doesn’t!
Just finished watching the launch video. Some good info. This won’t be like D3, i think it will be like old masala multi starrer films where all actors will have ample time/exposure in the movie.
Some good and strong points by abhi towards end of the video but we’ll know for sure once the movie releases if it’s crap like Ra.One/JTHJ or good entertainer like MHN/OSO/CE.
Z, agreed on most old masala films not being classics, most have dated badly….I was watching Trishul recently, and some of the editing made me laugh. Just watch the scene where Shashi, all angry and fuming, asks Amitabh to come outside his house, and all of a sudden, they start fighting. And most of the songs are so abrutly placed, and just completely break the flow of the film. Poonam finds Sachin to be a gapuji gapuji gham gham (whatever the heck that means), and then starts singing a song. Hard for me to watch such stuff in 2014.
Throughout the film, I also kept asking the question if becoming rich was so easy for Amitabh, why didn’t he try to do so when his mother was alive so he could buy medicine and save her from dying. The writers just had to make Amitabh into an angry young man one way or the other.
I think this is why Naseerudin Shah has started questioning the supposed greatness of all these films, including his own.
Honestly, films like AAA or Trishul are not great cinema if one’s standard is The Godfather (one of the most perfectly executed films of all time). The only old masala film that still amazes me is Sholay, this was just way ahead of its time.
I agree with all of your point but the point i try to make all the time here (maybe it doesn’t come out correctly) is that each film, each film maker, each actor has their own specialty. Even each era has it’s own thing.
You should watch AAA, there a scene in beginning where 3 different people (amitabh, rishi, vinod) are giving blood to Nirupa Roy all at the same time.
As David Dhawan says, Yaar Chalta hai.
Having said that, I will take crap of 70’s anyday over crap of today. I guess it’s because I grew up in the 70’s so it’s more special to me.
Each era has same issue. People growing up in 60’s were told the movies are nothing like the ones in 50’s. People growing up in 70’s were told that the movies of 70’s are nothig compare to 60’s and so on.
We should understand that with time things change. I’m not going to tell a teenager from today who likes YJHD that he/she has no taste. If that is what’s liked today than so be it. I’m not going to impose my views on them.
Sholay is a true classic. Each shot of it screams classic.
actually that’s an enormously important, symbolically potent scene. This too is what I was getting at. there are enormous reserves of meaning in some of these moments. In a related sense:
That scene might be illogical. But coupled with Rafi crooning “Yeh sach hai, koi kahaani nahi..Khoon Khoon hota hai, Paani nahi” an average cinegoer’s eyes would well up in that scene. IMHO, it is one of the most iconic scenes of AAA, amongst many others.
It would be blasphemy to call AAA anything less than a classic within bwood’s fabled masala genre. My personal anecdote: I had never seen it on the big screen. One afternoon in 1990, a group of us happened upon it being screened for a day or perhaps a week in a cinema in Mumbai. To our surprise, that 3pm show ran housefull, full of seetis and claps. And this was a full 12 yrs after the release.
Actually I’d come at it the opposite way. I’ll use my favorite Don example because it always had some campy elements even for that age. The thing is if you make Don like Sholay my contention is that you lose the film. Or if you make Deewar like Satya you again lose the film. This doesn’t mean that it’s an either/or thing here. Sholay clearly shows you can do everything. But one must look at the average industry standard in those days in these matters. Plus one must also wonder what people will also think of many films in the present once some time has passed. This even accounting for the fact that ‘technical’ standards (to use that cliched word) have improved quite a bit over the last decade or more.
For one what has often been called the ‘mass aesthetic’ of that age often had a certain formalism to it. It wasn’t high art in that sense but it also did more than it sometimes gets credit for. Notice how much and how often B movie genres are talked about in a Western context. They’ve been reinvented in recent decades. So these were even less than those commercial films in many ways and yet you have a globally famous director like Tarantino who draws entirely from that tradition (by the way even with him I have argued that for all his strengths at one level he perhaps misses the point in other ways). The aesthetics of Don are part of the appeal of that film. Again this does not mean anything can be defended. Dus Numbri from the same era is actually pretty lowbrow in every sense. Many of Bachchan’s 80s films for instance are also poor examples in the same way (yaarana for example.. not Kaalia though).
Does one ever say that it’s ridiculous that Achilles can beat up so many people on his own in the Iliad? Does one say that when reading Homer one must forget about all this silly stuff and just focus on the deeper meaning? The same holds for masala (or the Mahabharata or whatever). In each case you have to enter the world of a film and then decide whether things are logical or illogical on the terms of that world. My problems with many of SRK’s iconic films for instance aren’t about this sort of illogical stuff but about the meaning behind them. Or maybe I’d make an exception for RNBDJ where even within the world of that film the basic premise doesn’t make sense. Shakespeare’s plays are utterly illogical in many ways. From the bed tricks to what not. If you raise the sorts of plausibility questions you just have about Trishul and Bachchan becoming rich you’d have to dismiss most of the world’s art. I’m being very serious. And also by the same token how can you accept any single commercial film today?
This doesn’t mean that some of the criticisms are not valid. I’ve always considered Yash Chopra functional as a director in very many ways with some exceptions. I’ve also critiqued in certain contexts the resolutions of Trishul or Kaala Pathar. So I’m definitely not saying those films should be held sacred (though one often tends to do this for the best of Hollywood.. this when the comparisons are not even like for like sometimes.. for example Apocalypse Now is a very interesting film but it’s also a glorious failure.. depends on what perspective one takes..). Now maybe Trishul or whatever isn’t your thing but why not focus on Sholay or Shaan or some of the middle cinema films that are still fine on even those counts? One doesn’t have to say everything is the same. But again I’d insist that masala is not the same everywhere. Between the best of Desai and most other masala directors there’s often a huge difference (even on stuff like editing and so on). And though this has been my favorite theme for years I think masala is that which a certain kind of Indian class has always found it hardest to come to terms with. They might love the films, call them classics or whatever but they find it difficult to defend them intellectually. And here part of the problem is the mixing of high and low elements of culture in these works. Something that even as a historic matter (and not only in India) is often greeted with suspicion. So again not saying one cannot have different views on those films but disagreeing with the terms of the debate. And here film culture in the strong critical sense is important. If this were Hollywood people would have put up multi-DVD anniversary editions on all of these films and celebrated them to such a degree that no one would even dream about questioning the value of these films in any sense. In fairness there is now more literature on masala cinema than there used to be but still not close to enough.
On Naseer I actually think he’s right about the art cinema movement. It went horribly wrong after a while barring exceptions. So for instance if you go from Benegal’s lyric Ankur or even the more intense Nishant to later stuff like Manthan you immediately see how the stress on greater realism also makes for a much more arid cinema. Nihalani always avoided this trap, there were some other films too. But by and large all these films are pretty forgettable if you ask me or even if they have some value there is far greater to be found in Southern or Bengali cinema in all sorts of ways. On commercial cinema he’s just not serious beyond a point. Maybe it’s a psychological thing. But he says some pretty crazy stuff.
finally AAA or Trishul are not great cinema if the Godfather is the standard. That’s fair. But a rather high bar if you ask me since much of Hollywood would have to be dismissed using this comparison. Or alternatively the Godfather might itself have to be dispensed with if one used some even greater standards elsewhere. But that’s not a like-for-like comparison anyway. Sholay is the only true one here. everything else and even when I for instance talk about the fineness of those masala films I assume one is not including Ray or Ghatak or Adoor or whoever!
First of all, I find most commercial films terrible these days including most SRK ones.
Secondly, I am not just questioning the logic of these films but how poorly directed they were. Some of the editing choices are so bad and haphazardly done in these movies that one can’t just call it mass aesthetic and get away with it. And I don’t think that level of filmmaking can be defended by bringing Shakespeare into the argument. Even at his most lowbrow, he was witty and sharp.
But I totally agree with you about Don, the campy elements are completely in sync with the film, whereas with a Trishul the poor direction definitely works against the film. Not saying that the movie isn’t good but I am just not sure if it’s ‘great’ or a ‘classic.
And I didn’t say the Godfather is the only standard. Howard Hawks said it the best – a great film consists of 3 great scenes and no bad ones. I think there are numerous Hollywood films (not just The Godfather) and films from all over the world that live up to this standard.
Ironically all those arguments were also used against Shakespeare at points! But leaving this aside I wasn’t talking about mass aesthetic in this context but the plausibility claim.
I’d disagree on Trishul though I’m willing to concede the point on some of the song placement. Speaking for myself I find it to be one of the most fluid scripts of Hindi cinema. Also my favorite movie in the world! On your Howard Hawks quote I’d say it’s hard to find simply ordinary scenes in this movie. Barring the Sachin stuff. It’s also an Awara rewrite in certain ways. I’d add that the Delhi of this film is truer and more authentic than many contemporary Delhi representations in the sense that it’s not an archetype. Again I don’t disagree that Yash Chopra was never a great director. Kaala Pathar might be his best in a visual sense.
At the end I don’t insist that everyone appreciate Trishul or AAA or whatever. My only point is that the standards used are either confused (not referring to you) or not entirely consistent. So the Hawks quote probably covers many films in Hollywood history but the Godfather is something more than this. The two standards are hardly the same. Similarly when I don’t intend ‘mass aesthetic’ to be a catch-all term but it also has to be taken seriously. The problem is that if just about every example of a film that displays this aesthetic is found problematic and if one cannot offer an alternative set as containing good examples of that aesthetic one might have issues with the larger genre. Which too is absolutely fine but that’s different from problems internal to the genre. On that note many films did have editing problems in that age but Desai wasn’t one of them. I again take your point on some of the Trishul edits. But implausibility in terms of editing choices or jump cuts or extreme angles that might be part and parcel of that aesthetic might also be classified as ‘bad edits’ when there is a thought behind them (I know this doesn’t apply for Trishul but I consider this to be a minor problem in this film that doesn’t crop up except for the songs and maybe a couple of other points.. on the other hand I think it has some great edits at very many points.. despite this I don’t believe Chopra is ever fine on this score).
By the way I didn’t think you were being partial to SRK or anyone else. I guess the larger point I’m trying to make is that masala remains a bogeyman for a certain class and all else being equal people are less likely to find plausibility or editing issues or whatever in multiplex genres than elsewhere. This might not be so for you but that ‘bias’ is often a fairly universal one and on that note even the fans I think get things quite wrong on this score (much as the fans of Amitabh Bachchan also misread him quite often or tend to gloss over the ‘meaning’ of those films). In any case I’m not trying to persuade. perhaps it’s a genuine disagreement. But as always a pleasure debating you.
Likewise, I am not trying to persuade you either….the greatest compliment I can give to those films that they were about something with drama and conflict that aroused real emotions in the audience. Most contemporary Bollywood is just devoid of feeling, and in the garb of masala cinema, directors are just making whatever the heck they want.
BTW on a somewhat related note, I really loved the Trishul tribute in GOW. Nawaz’s character watching Trishul with teary eyes, then acting/dressing up like Amitabh, basically a guy who wants to be the angry young man just through his hairstyle/gesturality etc., but lacks the moral fiber and substance to really become such an individual. It’s not only a great tribute, but a very true reading of our times – all style, no substance.
this is a great second paragraph Henry.. on the rest yes I too have always missed the cathartic element of cinema. Admittedly this is not the only standard but masala-comedies today completely miss the point (besides being poor films) and here too your second paragraph is relevant. But I also believe that the masala mix was very unique to Indian cinema. In a way its strengths killed it. It was so easy to do ‘formula’ with it that beyond a point no one even bothered with scripts. Ironically Bachchan was the other factor. If you could get big grossers doing yaarana why bother with a Salim-Javed script? And the Salim-Javed narrative drama genre (which wasn’t exactly masala, at least in films like Deewar or Trishul though there were some of these elements added on to increase their appeal) wasn’t really explored further for the most part. You have to get to more contemporary Tamil cinema to get this sort of thing though they too went more often than not in a thriller direction (and sometimes in a police procedural one). And then there was Ratnam who played with many of these formats by bringing down their emotional pitch a notch or two and using a semi-auteurist visual framework as part of the mix (in later years he moved more and more in the auteurist direction). In any case there were certain unexplored masala or narrative-drama paths that were only rarely explored by anyone in the post-70s world.
Some pointers on why MASALA Genre has to have certain belief, talent and intrinsic acting skills to really play larger than life and most unreal characters and its required role play..I believe Amitji has repeatedly stated very similar thoughts many times over..In fact if you do bit of critical analysi seems that Indian audience rejected Amitji when he started playing “real” characters may be as well..
SRK invariably copies thought process of Amitji yet again in here 🙂
“””To be honest, “Swades”, “Chak De”, “Asoka”, “Paheli”… easiest films to make. Because being real, being honest, is easy. Just sitting there and depending on the line, the words, your eyes and just the story is much easier than believing in a dream which is unrealistic and unachievable: I am going to mess with God. I will fly with electricity. I will win the World Dance Championship.
It is a huge leap of faith for an actor to believe he can pull these things off.
As an actor, put me in a real space and 80 per cent of your job is done. You put me in a hockey field and I am a coach. You put me in a space in the world your film is set in and I don’t have to do anything. But unreal characters are totally dependent on your dream and your belief in them.
Autism is a difficult thing to do but you know that space. You’ve met people like that. “Devdas” was easy to play because all men are like that.
Larger than life is difficult to play because there is no limit to largeness. How large can you make it? Can I catch you by the scruff of your neck and then pull you into the screen into the most unbelievable world?””
bandra.nri, your opinions seem to be based on the trailer.
hny should gross just about 200cr.It has first friday and sunday as holidays.Weekdays wont gross like kick.So first week will be well below kick.And after two weeks bombay velvet is coming.
Correct and Action Jackson is clashing with Akshay Kumar’s Shaukeen. And Action Jackson after SR which at the moment seems to have broken Kick’s opening day record, so HNY will be left with probably as many screens as Kick does now.
i v rarely read and here i actually read a para or two
which was–
“Do you ever feel trapped in a mould you have created every time you have to spread your arms… almost in every other film?
I work a lot in popular cinema. So there are parameters for that. So within those parameters, you are in a mould. You play the hero type. I always have the choice to break it when I feel like and go do a “Chak De” or a “Swades” or a “My Name is Khan” or a “Paheli” or an “Asoka.”
At least in the last five years, I’ve not gone to work because I have to. I’ve never gone to work because I need the money. I’ve never gone to work because I’m bossed around. I’ve never gone to work because there is nothing else for me to do. There is no other reason for me to work but the fact that this is really fine.
And every film takes a life of its own beyond the pages that are written.
When somebody from the market says, there has to be ‘X’ amount of this in the film, we do that. Because it’s a populist world, it’s a populist market, it’s populist cinema. But I also say, “Let’s try to change that. Or let’s not do that because there are so many, say, romantic songs like that.” So the change might be small, just a little beyond the parameters of commercial cinema, but that makes it exciting.
How do you react when critics say Shah Rukh Khan is Shah Rukh Khan in every film?
I downplay my acting prowess. I don’t take myself seriously but that does not mean I’m not a serious actor. I say I have five expressions… because I like to play it down.
I’ve done a lot of acting that I’m proud and arrogant about. I’m one of the few actors to have educated myself in theatre. I’ve done street theatre, I’ve done impromptu, I’ve done commercials, I’ve done plays for kids, I’ve done a Punjabi serial, I’ve done TV shows, I’ve done advertising and I’ve done cinema. I’ve risen in the ranks. And you don’t rise in the ranks over 25 years without knowing your s***. But it’s very boring to talk about how biriyani is made. And it’s nicer to taste it. And that’s what I do.”
another one–
“To be honest, “Swades”, “Chak De”, “Asoka”, “Paheli”… easiest films to make. Because being real, being honest, is easy. Just sitting there and depending on the line, the words, your eyes and just the story is much easier than believing in a dream which is unrealistic and unachievable: I am going to mess with God. I will fly with electricity. I will win the World Dance Championship.
It is a huge leap of faith for an actor to believe he can pull these things off.
As an actor, put me in a real space and 80 per cent of your job is done. You put me in a hockey field and I am a coach. You put me in a space in the world your film is set in and I don’t have to do anything. But unreal characters are totally dependent on your dream and your belief in them.
Autism is a difficult thing to do but you know that space. You’ve met people like that. “Devdas” was easy to play because all men are like that.
Larger than life is difficult to play because there is no limit to largeness. How large can you make it? Can I catch you by the scruff of your neck and then pull you into the screen into the most unbelievable world?”
“I have become more reclusive. I like spending time with me more than power parties. The world is growing bigger, people always want to talk to you. You see flashbulbs and hear voices all the time. More on Twitter. There’s just too much light in my face. I still want to do as much work but I would like to close the door a little more often. I have found myself entertaining people beyond the call of duty. Sometimes just to survive, sometimes for friends … but after 25 years I’ve done everything. There is no more reason to do things unless I am happy. When people ask me come here, there, to see their film, mujhe nahin dekhna hai, yaar (I don’t want to) … I just used to make films. I want to keep it that simple. I don’t want any other knowledge. I used to walk down to my house during “King Uncle.” I walked to Mehboob Studios at 6.30 a.m. and when I walked back at 2 p.m., people stopped to talk to me … “Deewana” had become a big hit. I never saw the film. I didn’t even know when I became a star.”
tallies with my sense of what srk represents
leave alone films—-
total synergy and thoughts and sense of things as well..
this is a guy i can say i learn from
unlike many fanboys/girls, i dont wanna meet any of these ‘celebrities’ in real life –not really
In terms of the comments I am forced to do this because you other deluge the blog with all sorts of non-serious comments. Something you did not do once. And I can’t always modify hours later when people have responded and so forth. If you were a bit more sober, again as you once more, I wouldn’t need to do any of this.
this ‘comment blocking’ business is more for your own ‘insecurities’ and much less for other bloggers –the “silent majority” anyways is robust & intact enjoys it lol
By this ‘moderation’ its me who is controlling u
infact Im “PLAYING” with u 🙂
the moment one chooses a ‘reactionary’ or ‘defensive’ stance, the originality and creativity and many other things diminish..(as we can see in satyam lately)
just like ABCDs thoughtful comment–
“Surprised to see Abhishek getting lower billing than Sonu Sood. Seems like he he has lost all his ego and stature.”
or Rahuls good comment–
“You know, I was watching Guru again on Thursday night and the next day I find him in what looks like a meaningless side-kick role ”
as for me—such “offers” to change have been given to me by many –many came many went … 😉
damn i don’t know what the standards were for this film but to me it had everything a big film should have. I will say that my personal expectations for this film were zero but the trailer has gotten me intrigued. the ‘indiawaale’ song has a chance to rile up the crowd. i am looking forward to abhishek/SRK scenes in the movie…just like amitabh/SRK combo, i think abhishek/SRK chemistry is great. maybe because they all have a genuine fondness of each other? who knows. this is no doubt a SRK film all the way, though Abhishek still might steal the show (like brad pitt in Oceans Eleven). also this type of genre has a chance to be a ‘franchise’ easily.
comparing it to other recent big films, i found the trailer better than Bang Bang, Kick, CE and yes even D3 (i had much higher expectations for D3).
out of all you’ve listed, i thought kick trailer was the best. it created a lot of excitement. Biggest problem with Kick and D3 trailer is that it showed the best part of the film.
With HNY, i don’t think that is the case. we’ll know for sure once the movie releases.
I think the focus was to introduce the “ensemble”. Also (e.g. Digital Poster) they have tried to make sure that people realize that this is not just a plain vanilla, formula ridden, one note, heist story. This is a complex symphony of a story. There is parallel track of a world dance competition (amongst other things).
They want people to know that what awaits them is a Baz Lurhmann like treatment of a Manmohan Desai’s Ocean Eleven. Now is the time for characters, the multi layered story, and the ambience (colors).
Sanjana, not to defend this promo but I see people are missing the point. Movies like CE are straight forward 1 line stories and easier to tell the story in the promo.
If you see SRK’s dialogues in the HNY promo, pretty much the whole story is there.
-SRK’s intro scene and he says, everyone gets a chance in life and this movie is about the biggest robbery of the world.
-6 losers – all are introduced for a minute with one of their short dialogues.
-Now after whole team is shown for the Bank robbery then SRK’s character says, we need to participate in WDC and he’s obviously hesitant to share what is WDC and finally reveals that it is World Dancing Championship.
-Even next dialogue is so straight – who can think that 6 dancers participating in the dance competition is here to rob diamonds worth of crores and their mission is called Mission Happy New year.
-Next diaogue – Humne ek din apna sab kuch kho diya aur socha ki kismet kitni kutti cheez hai, kabhi bhi palat jaati hai (Intro of villain – Jackie)
Then a lot of action follows and pretty much leads to the climax.
For all the talk of Abhishek Bachan having a double or triple role here, I am now asking myself what he is doing in the movie. Maybe he’s got a meatier role than the trailer suggests but the producers don’t seem to want to rely on him in the promos. Sonu Sood and Boman Irani get more footage than him here.
The likelier scenario is that forget the ensemble cast, this looks like an out and out SRK starrer and ABJr gets a Tushar Kapoor-in-Golmaal kind of deal in the movie. Either way, in both cases it’s very disappointing to see Abhishek in such a position after nearly one and a half decade since his debut.
Funny you mentioned me that, I was watching Guru yesterday and thinking… he has done Guru with Mani Ratnam and now doing side kick roles. But pretty much he has to blame himself for his career. Good part is that its on the verge of improving in next few years. If any of the solo films are success, he can come back at some level.
Even in our personal lives, we see ups and downs. Not that I am agreeing that these days mark Abhishek’s down period (not after Bol Bachchan and D3), but for the sake of an argument let’s say it is. Let’s say this is Abhishek’s bad patch. If that is the case then at least give him some space, don’t kick him while he is down.
As opposed to you I see a new revived and confident Abhishek coming out of HNY. Farah is the catalyst that he needed. Post HNY you will see a new Abhishek with a potential to stake claim in the top list.
You know, I was watching Guru again on Thursday night and the next day I find him in what looks like a meaningless side-kick role in what looks like a very poor version of Ocean’s 11 and it was very disappointing.
Poor man’s Oceans 11. More like a Oceans 6 with scenes lifted from Now you See me.
Surprised to see Abhishek getting lower billing than Sonu Sood. Seems like he he has lost all his ego and stature. Will reserve final judgement till watching the movie.
I do think Abhiskek’s career path dictates parallel roles. however he should opt higher stature roles such as Bol Bacchan KANK his last movie with his Dad
Reminding of negative feedback of trailer, I remember watching Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.. and I thought ROM lost the plot completely and made a gym-version and studio version of Mikha’s story but it turned out to be completely opposite! One of well told stories in recent times!
Ok I might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but I think the trailer is CheeZee…even to compare with some of the movies here it is really slick and over done..Tees Maar Khan re done..and it seems to me there is no one else to make movies other than this little group of people? how many combinations can one dream up?
hiya margaret ann- take it eazy–go with the ‘flow’–wheres your gravatar though 🙂
for more “substantial’ stuff theres ‘bang bang’ coming up…
HNY looks much more ‘padded” and ‘cushioned’ for safety with more sidekicks n frills..than BB
will be good to see how HNY & Bang bang perform—all the best to both
Yes, any type of comeptition will hurt somewhat but Haider is not a commercial film. This is not like a JTHJ/SOS case where if all things equal, SOS would be the first choice for viewers since that movie was a comedy and looked full on entertainment/masala.
I’ll be shocked if Haider does 40% of what Bang Bang does first weekend.
I think they’re giving away too much in the interviews they’re doing.
Abhi looks so relaxed and confident. I think with HNY, his 2nd inning is going to start. I hope he takes full advantage of it and stays away from likes of RGV.
From everythig so far, it looks like Farah will bring out the best in Abhi.
Regardless of what some might think here, SRK has true love/fondness for Bachhan family.
Loved the way SRK answered the question on Salman.
I’ve said before, I think he has genuine fondness for Abhishek. Not that he has a problem with the father but I believe it’s more complicated here. The father also represents the blocking of a certain ambition or a mountain too high to climb. All of this would take time to explore (though I’ve done it in the past).
On a new inning for Abhishek BB already did that, here there was no issue in any sense. But yes D3 was then a speed breaker. Whether HNY is more like the former, despite the advertising so far or just ‘better’ than the latter remains to be seen. Given everything I’ve heard about the film I’d say the former but in a ‘circus’ the semiotics become different. In a two hero film it’s one thing but when there’s an ensemble deal the SRK kind of star can get away by just doing the symbolic bit (in other words I very much doubt he has too much more to do leaving aside the symbolic moments.. you have the right lines or moments, you get the girl or whatever.. in any case he doesn’t need more than this.. he doesn’t need to be Salman or Aamir literally carrying the film..) but if you’re Abhishek and various questions have been raised about you (justly or unjustly) you can convincingly answer them in a BB deal where you have a double of kinds, there’s one other star, you have interactions with him, you have your own songs as well, and here you even have the title role which plays on the Bachchan mythology. The latter is obviously not crucial but in an ensemble thing unless the double is given enough time and more than this enough symbolic weight it can become part of the overall more general act. And so yes he might be in SRK with most scenes but there might be the others too. In which case are there moments that give you the chance to stand out from the crowd. Given that shot I have no doubts at all about Abhishek’s skills but as always it’s about how things are structured. This is again different from the advantage the bigger star has. For the reason I mentioned. Now in a film like KANK where Abhishek was still the supporting star he was given a lot by Johar (obviously because he was hot at the time). SRK here had a sober part, played an unlikable sort anyway. it was fairly easy for Abhsihek to really command attention here. Two stars, the contrast is easy to set up. The father also worked in his favor, the symbolic stuff, the song and so on. So if HNY were a two hero deal with SRK still having the symbolic weight that would be one thing but if you make it a completely circus you have to ensure that Abhishek gets enough space otherwise being lost in a crowd wouldn’t be the oddest thing. ‘Bigger’ stars in this sense are usually not fools, they usually ‘protect’ themselves in certain ways. One other way for me to make the same point is that either (and as Abhishek seems to indicate) he has an important part here but those gains will then come at SRK’s cost or he has an important part but not the kind that can necessarily ‘take over’ in an ensemble cast in which case SRK comes out ahead. Here I’m referring to the ‘text’ of the film if you will. After Abhishek there’s no one of any significance in the cast (in the ‘hero’ sense). But whether it becomes a film where SRK is ‘the star’, Abhishek has next billing though with the kind of part where he commands more attention or one where the former is true while the latter does not have enough to be a show-stealer remains to be seen. And this becomes all the more important when the advertising is somewhat lopsided. Not saying it’s D3 but nonetheless if it stays this way throughout the bar gets that much higher on Abhishek to be able to break through the crowd because the audience will be led to believe something (which wasn’t true for the KANK advertising for instance). Here there’s only one actress, she’ll have a love song with SRK. Abhishek’s advertising might again be part of the crowd.
At the end I don’t really believe in consolation prizes in this sense. At least Abhishek this late in the day cannot. There’s no consolation prize to be had out of D3 even if many people preferred him here over D2 or he looked good or whatever. An established star cannot turn the clock back in this sense. You can’t have partial or minor victories.
As for bringing out the best in Abhishek I reject that also. Even if everything worked out for him that would mean a commercial boost. But given many of his fine performances in the past the idea that Farah khan is bringing out what Ratnam or Rohan Sippy or others haven’t (and successfully at many points in a commercial sense) is a little bizarre. Even in over the top comedy Shetty has been there first. Actually Abhishek if anything has done all kinds of comedy before. Farah Khan might have fashioned gimmicky part with the double and lots of getups or whatever but that’s a different thing. But yeah I do think Abhishek would be great at doing a Namak Halal deal. the father cannot be touched in any sense on this or any other score but Abhishek would otherwise be fantastic.
Will agree that he looks quite relaxed and confident in the interviews.
SRK is not even at the base of that mountain yet. I mean this very sincerely and for anyone who’s interesting in the facts this ought to be obvious. Not that I expect you to understand this. Even at his very peak SRK wasn’t even close to having the record of a superstar! I’ve counted each and every time too many times in the past. Too boring to do it once more. It’s like there are great cricketers or important players but the moment you talk about Tendulkar and use that analogy you get into the realm of the absurd! Anyway I’m not going to get into this absurd exercise again. if one has to prove the significance of the sun to someone one might be the crazier for it, not the other person! But actually there’s no survey or poll of any kind you could conduct in India today where SRK would be anywhere to close to Bachchan on any such poll. We’ve seen this in the past — Bachchan and Sachin are usually in a very different league. But even when it’s only about contemporary stars SRK doesn’t even beat Aamir most of the team (over the last 15 years). Again you have to live in reality. Otherwise any claim can be made for anything and one can repeat it to oneself all day long! Of course to deny certain things requires a specialized form of blindness or delusion but this doesn’t mean it’s uncommon!
yes we’ve found two today who think so about their respective stars. Let’s shake this tree more. Others will fall out too saying the same for other stars. Sunil can hopefully do his bit for Akshay today.
I don’t spend time looking for things which are not there because there’s more important things in life.
I keep it simple.
He needs to stay away from Dhoom period, it’s embarrasing. Even in dhoom1 where he had equal role, it was Abraham walking away with all the citties and tallies.
the last bit is nonsense though propagated by some quarters of the media. Of course it’s a mystery why Abhishek’s career took after Dhoom, why he was doing many of the films he was and not John but I won’t introduce you to facts.
“I don’t spend time looking for things which are not there because there’s more important things in life.”
yes that’s usually the calling card of the ignorant..
as for having more important things in life yeah you prove it everyday with the kinds of conversations you have on the blog! You could be cracking superstring theory otherwise I suppose..
At this stage of his career, if Abhishek needs a complete reinvention, his best bet is to work with someone like Anurag Kashyap. Now of course a Kashyap film can’t be a blockbuster or whatever, but what Kashyap certainly has gathered is an enormous amount of critical cache (and this is irrespective of what one thinks of him as a director. I happen to believe that he is one of the best Bollywood has, infact among the ones currently the only other competition is Hirani and perhaps Rakeysh Mehra on a good day). Also Kashyap’s position is unique in the sense that there is NO other ‘important’ director who is ‘hotter’ than him among the campus crowd- GoW has become a rage of sorts; people now wait for ‘an Anurag Kashyap film’. Sometimes you need to give a little bit of ‘edginess’ to your filmography and Kashyap is the best guy to go to in order to achieve to this. Actually Abhishek should do a big enough project with Kashyap, something on the scale of Bombay Velvet.
I completely agree on the edge bit and said this too in a long comment a few days ago.. not as convinced about Kashyap though.. he could be part of some mix but his sort of cinema cannot reinvent a commercial star. But I’d otherwise agree that Abhishek leaving aside the solo bit which is obvious needs to get into something surprising (in some sense). Overall I’d also say he should perhaps think about the scripts more than the directors. Because depending on how well or not he’s doing he’ll get those talents but contemporary Bollywood by and large does not make projects that match his persona and/or skills in other ways. You need scripts that channel the Yuva/Sarkar/Guru element, those that do better with the BnB model, and then those that play with the understated BM type. He can have these over the top moments or masala moments or whatever but unless he does some mix of that first three that edge cannot be recovered. In other words if Abhishek became very successful doing what many others also do he’d be fine in commercial terms but he’s cancel out his signature or the mix I’ve just mentioned. There can be a kind of success which doesn’t have much meaning. If he were in the Tamil industry he’d never have a problem. They make the kind of cinema at different levels that would be a good fit for him. Bollywood doesn’t and hence you must then Aamir-like fashion things for yourself (whatever those choices might be). Because if you depend on existing talents you might get hits but even these won’t set you apart for the most part if you’re Abhishek. When he did Yuva or Guru or Sarkar people didn’t think this was something just anyone could do (for more than one reason). When you do Dostana it might become popular people might like you but it’s the sort of thing others can do also. The same for masala. That difference has to be established one way or the other. And yes sometimes the most risky thing is not taking risks. He should really get these multistarrers out of his system (whatever happens with HNY) and move on to a more meaningful mix.
Re.-He should really get these multistarrers out of his system (whatever happens with HNY) and move on to a more meaningful mix.
yes he should but he should never go to chhottards like Kashyap and his chamchaas. He should never forget what they said about him earlier…
Many tried the SRK model (including Aamir) and failed.
Many will try the Aamir model and WILL fail.
Before that many tried Amitabh Bachchan model and failed
Before that many tried the Rajesh Khanna model and failed
Before ….
The fact is, in this matter the spoils goto whoever occupies the space fist. The next guy will have to create his own niche. Abhishek will have to invent a new path.
Q: Have you seen any Tamil/Telugu films as of late (BTW I do remember you mentioning that you didn’t really care for Angadi Theru…I haven’t seen this film, but I did like the director’s earlier Veyil. His upcoming Siddharth and Prithviraj starrer Kaaviya Thalaivan also looks interesting, Rahman is doing the music here. But among the Angadi Theru ‘kind’ of films, the ones I quite like are Kattradhu Thamizh and Vazhakku Enn 18/9…Balaji Sakthivel has made 3 pretty good films- Vazhakku, Kadhal and Samurai).
BTW since you are in Bombay, you should check out Rajeev Ravi’s (who was the d.o.p of Dev D, GoW etc) “Njan Steve Lopez” (I have heard this terrific things about it- apparently it is a ‘darker’ version of Udaan. It is supposedly playing with subs in most metros though it sadly hasn’t yet released in Delhi). Ravi’s debut effort “Annayum Rasoolum” (starring Fahadh Faasil, his younger brother Farhaan debuts in Njan Steve..) was a stunning film- easily the best Indian romantic film since Kadhal (I actually find it better than Kadhal). This is a simpler film than Rathnam’s Kadal (I am comparing both because both are coastal romances), but I think it also a better film.
Thanks Saurabh — I haven’t seen these films, but will try and check them out! Recently got DVDs for the Malayalam films Dhrishyam, 1983 and Ustad Hotel, and will be checking those out over te next week…
Q: I haven’t seen Ustad Hotel (though I do want to, I do like Dulquer), so would love to know your thoughts on it.
I liked Drishyam, but I also found it grossly overrated. The thriller portions are excellent (they should have really cut down the length of the first half though, the 2 halves seem to belong to different films) but they didn’t have the same impact on me because I had read Keigo Higashino’s superb novel “The Devotion of Suspect X” (the film does filch its most important plot-points from the novel though it’s not a rip-off) just a month earlier before I saw Drishyam- would still love to know your thoughts on it
I actually preferred 1983 to Drishyam. For someone who always wanted to understand the myth of our ’83 World Cup win, this one proved to be a small little charmer of a film (this isn’t really a cricket film, but it’s how cricket shapes the protagonist’s life)- I wish Bollywood did films like these.
I also have Shaji Karun’s new film “Swapaanam”, but haven’t yet gotten around to watching it.
The truly brilliant Malayalam films from last year IMO were “Annayum Rasoolum’ (I have already said enough on this, but let me just said this is a visually enriching work on many levels), Artist (this again has a very sort of romance and the 2 leads here are fantastic. Fahadh Faasil, who was also in Annayum Rasoolum and is my favourite contemporary Indian star-actor by quite a mile, stars in this), “Amen” (this one is hard to be boxed in a genre- I don’t think there is another Indian film where they have used ‘magic realism’ as the central mode to tell the story. And I am surprised how they have a ‘mainstream Malayali film’ inspite of giving the film this sort of directorial treatment. It has some truly funny moments BTW. And yes, this too stars Fahadh), and finally “Mumbai Police” (I found myself completely riveted to the screen throughout the running time. It is a thriller with the a very unique climax twist- that someone like Prithiviraj decided to play such a character is commendable in itself. And Prithvi, with his sneering looks, really fits the part. Also I liked some of the night-time shots of Kerala, reminded me of Mysskin’s sense of visuals in Yuddham Sei).
Thanks Saurabh, this is a very helpful comment — especially because it is much easier to get Malayalam films with subtitles in India than Tamil films. Will try and track some of these down (I didn’t realise shaji karun had a new film out…
I loved the first half of Drishyam. I thought it did an excellent work in setting the characters. I liked the way they established the miserly character of Lalettan and then the same person will go to any length to save his family. Whats your views on Nivin Pauly. I think this guy is someone who has got good potential too. I loved him in Neram too.
Satyam: OT, but are you aware that Ramesh Sippy is directing a film with Hema Malini and Rajkummar Rao (the Shahid actor) in the lead (with another younger actress)- the rumour is that it might be a remake of a French film (and this rumour might be true considering his son’s Nautanki Saala itself was a loose remake of Apres vous) where a mother (Hema might be doing this part) and daughter, who run a cafeteria in a hill station, fall in love with the same man (Rajkummar Rao). Do you recall any such French film?
yes have heard of this film though didn’t know the plot. On the French film there was a famous 80s work called L’annee des meduses which also featured the ‘nymphette’ charms of Valerie Kaprisky in more ways than one! She then went on to do far more ‘daring’ stuff along the same lines. Can’t say I’m very excited if this is Sippy’s film. The same was true of Nautanki Saala. Don’t know why they’ve got this bug all of a sudden!
Actually I always felt Ramesh Sippy didnt direct enough for him to be talked about among the great directors of his time. Yes he had Sholay and thats a timeless master piece but then he directed only around 10 other movies over a 25 year time frame. Thats too less. Shakti was his other movies I liked a lot. Shaan had some memorable music but overall was just time pass. Andaz and Seeta and Geetha were much better efforts. Saagar was quite good but after that it was all down hill. I thought he should have worked more….
I have a great weakness for Shaan. It hasn’t lost any of its cool. But yes it doesn’t quite have enough substance to it (incidentally I must be the only person on the planet who prefers Shakaal to Gabbar in a weird sort of way!) but I’d take it over Shakti.
I wouldn’t agree with the rest though. There are directors or writers or what have you who come up with the one great work and then never quite live upto that. I think most Bollywood careers can be exchanged for that one Sholay! So he should have done more but on the other hand what do you do after Sholay?! But in any case there are enough figures in various artistic fields like Sippy. of course the latter was the whizkid of his age. Started off with hits in Andaz and Seeta our Geeta and then there was Sholay. But yes it’s true that he lost interest after Saagar and what he made was pretty poor. Including the truly awful Zamana Deewana.
For all these reasons I have no hesitation in saying that he’s a greater director than for instance Yash Chopra. The latter has many many more films but he’s never been great in that more profound sense barring with the Salim-Javed scripts (and this automatically raises some flags for me.. actually Lamhe had promise but Yash Chopra didn’t quite have the integrity for it though I still like the film), which is to say he isn’t a tenth as accomplished in terms of the medium (either in a formalist sense or as a visionary) as Sippy. Again with the latter I wouldn’t include Saagar either. It’s technically proficient but too stale a story otherwise (watchable though). His three Bachchan films are to my mind really his oeuvre as all three do something different even if Sholay is in a different league. Seeta aur Geeta was very iconic in its time, Andaz too, specially for the Rajesh Khanna guest appearance but these films cannot be compared with what followed in any sense.
On a related note the other film that released roughly the same time as Shaan and is still cool is Feroz Khan’s Qurbani. Very few films can manage to be cool outside their immediate age but I believe these films are among those exceptions.
By the way there’s a certain irony in saying all of this because I would take Yash Chopra’s Salim-Javed films over Sholay (all three!). I couldn’t argue this as a critical matter but for some very strange reason and much I am always impressed by Sholay and don’t find it surprising that it is considered the ‘greatest’ it has never been a personal favorite.
No Shah Rukh-Deepika romance in Happy New Year
August 19, 2014 14:21 IST
Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh KhanFor those expecting a full-blown Chennai Express styled romance between Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in Farah Khan’s Happy New Year, here’s some surprising news.
Deepika does not have a full-fledged romantic track with SRK in the film.
Says a source close to the project, “Deepika is like one of the boys in the film. She plays a bar dancer, who is called by Shah Rukh to teach his team of robbers how to dance in a global dance competition. The mutual attraction between SRK and Deepika is hinted at very gently. There is no attempt to cash in on the Chennai Express chemistry between the pair.”
More than romance, Deepika is the comic element.
“She feels she’s an artiste and therefore superior to the male actors, whom she has been called to teach how to dance,” says the source.
According to sources, this was Shah Rukh Khan’s idea.
“He wanted Farah to focus on the caper, and tone down the romantic element with Deepika,” says the source.
this is a bit of a risky strategy.. If a film is to trend well or well enough it needs an emotional anchor of some sort. OSO had it as did MHN. if you take that away you should be sure you’re making an ‘excellent’ film. Or at least one where all the comedy and all the songs and whatever else the circus offers is enough for the audience to not mind the lack of a proper romantic angle (and another emotional hook of some sort). Of course these days a film crosses 200 and everyone says it’s a big hit or whatever. But to get some sort of significant trending you need more than ‘sound and fury’. Even in Hollywood the ‘blockbusters’ usually have this sort of masala or an emotional angle. From Ocean’s 11 to Italian Job these sorts of films still do a fraction of what blockbusters do even when the latter do mediocre business and the former do very well. It’s certainly not going to be TMK or anything but this obsession with trying to create the biggest deal and so on can make one miss the forest for the trees. Farah Khan claims in her interviews that she hasn’t done this and yet nothing here so far suggests any kind of drama or anything that can keep the film a bit more grounded. This wasn’t true for MHN or even OSO, debased as the latter might have been for large sections.
This looks like another circus. Farah seems to have disintegrated from a fairly promising/entertaining debut film (and musical score) in MHN (very much in keeping in the SRK of Dharma/Yashraj at least a cousin of sorts) to making progressively “bigger” and “hyped” films which feel eccentric and far too spoofy. There is not a single “normal” character in the trailer…they all seem to present some kind of oddity in their behaviour. Everything is over the top. Akshay Kumar would fit in better in this kind of film. Think SRK looks great in the first shot, but after that shot the trailer falls apart.
The big films are really disappointing for the last couple of years. A year like 06 with RDB, Fanaa, Don, KANK, Krrish, D2, LRM, Omkara is totally a miss. Not to say all the big films “performed” but they did provoke conversation to some extent. Here, big films like all the Salman ones, CE, D3, Krrish 3 are all coming and going…sure they are making decent to good business in some instances, but they are al playing safe in a certain way. Bluntly they are not interesting, or when they are they miss out on execution.
HNY and Bang Bang feel much the same. I’ve not got a great feeling about P.K. although that is purely based on the outrageous first look. Without that poster I’d be gung ho still. Bang Bang trailer leaves more than HNY. Technically better put together.
Is that a trick question? Or is this the moment we turn CE into some kind of risky art-house film and lay claim to it being some kind of path breaking moment in Indian film history or that it invoked some kind of national pride like no other film has done that before. Or maybe it broke the boundaries of India.
It was a safe film. What more does one expect from Rohit Shetty? Sure it may have had a bit more substance than Golmaal and may have had some “clever” moments, but being safe does not mean you are without substance. Did it not have both leads in crowd pleasing roles, with lots of commercial elements like action/humour/romance? And that “chartbusting” type music expected of commercial films. The Lungi dance type song using Rajnikant to further the commercial prospects of the film. Big marketing on TV. Big prices. A plum Eid release.
Rohit Shetty’s films are Golmaal, Sunday, All the Best, Singham, Bol Bachchan etc. Singham is the closest on paper to making something that does not infuse comedy. The rest, CE included have all elements of action/comedy/romance. Hardly what one would call path breaking or cerebral or hatke and pretty damn safe.
If you dismiss or trivialize what makes CE different then yes under that restricted condition CE is NOT safe.
But, I don’t buy your logic.
If I say somebody is not short, I am not saying he is a giant. So let’s not start having a debate on issues that you seem to have attached to me. I am just trying to restrict it to whether it is short or not.
Never has there been a movie from Bollywood which had that much Tamil in it. This factor makes it different, as in risky, as in not safe.
Now you can dismiss the presence of Tamil in CE as not a big deal but then at some level everything is not a big deal.
Your logic is it had more Tamil than any other film so it is not safe. My logic is it had srk, deepika directed by rohit shetty. A big budget, decent marketing, a big release date…action, romance, dance, comedy, pleasant enough soundtrack. The directors previous films are all comedies and commercial bar one. So it is safe. You don’t have to agree. But the list on my side is bigger.
Bandra NRI, with all due respect to call anything made my Rohit shetty any kind of risk for any star is more than ridiculous. There is nothing in it that is risky in a commercial sense. Not even remotely. Zilch. Zippo. And if one believes otherwise every other commercial film is a risk. This isn’t up for debate. You’re simply wrong.
Ek Duje Ke Liye roughly 35 years ago had an unknown hero (for the North) who did not speak more than broken phrases of Hindi (he was a Tamilian in the film). This was a big hit. All these decades later the idea that a caricaturing of Tamil and Tamil culture (even if it is done affectionately in the film) makes the film risky is one of the most bizarre things I have heard.
And saying SRK is in it is not enough given how most or all of his high profile films performed between OSO and CE. This is the problem. A debate cannot get started if there isn’t a basic admission on the facts. If you want to be a SRK fan that’s fine but you don’t need to come up with such claims (or the kind of thing you did on Aamir sometime back.. where somehow a desperate star becomes Aamir!). If it doesn’t matter whether SRK had the Don gross or the CE one, the RNBDJ gross or the CE one, so on and so forth, then why is anyone celebrating CE at all?! And it’s a hopeless claim to make when a SRK fan suggests ‘oh he was at the top all along which is why CE eventually happened or CE eventually happened’. Why? because these are not the standards used for anyone in any industry. When a star who’s been struggling for a while (as SRK was relative to where he was prior to this) gets a big one you might say the star has had a bounce or ‘come back’. You don’t pretend nothing ever happened!
This is not about debate or opinions but about simple honesty. Somehow Salman getting these big numbers every year or twice a year and Aamir doing it in all sorts of genres regularly and SRK doing so once after seven years suddenly means the playing field is level?! This is such bull. And what is being celebrated here? The ultimate circus in HNY where SRK doesn’t really have to carry the load the way Aamir and Salman do in their films. Or CE with an actress on an amazing run and certainly a director who gave 100 crores with every conceivable star combo? Is this the same as Salman appearing in nothing films with rarely even a significant actress and getting those numbers?
And let’s also not get into this top 3, top 4 stuff. I don’t think SRK spent most of his career saying ‘hey I’m one of the top 3 or 4’! Gimme a break. This is like the ‘Khan club’. No such club when SRK was at his peak in the 90s. Aamir and Salman didn’t get to be in this club then. Suddenly the tables are turned and it’s a club! Yeah right!
Rohit Shetty’s riskiest film relatively has been Singham. That kind of cop drama hasnt done well for some time since AB hung his cop boots. There was a Kurukshetra from Dutt somewhere but that didnt do too well. I will give it to Shetty for not diluting the impact of a cop drama by having unnecessary comedy elements or unnecessary songs..
agreed.. everything else he’s done has been in the comedy genre. So yeah if you want to talk about relative risk in a commercial genre Singham is a lot moreso than CE!
Do you know how insulting this sounds? The analogies you’re constantly using for the ‘Tamil’ in CE? I am the severest critic of multiplex audiences but this is the worst kind of fantasy!
You are twisting it in a direction that is a stretch.
Tamil in CE is like Cayenne Peppers in a the food of someone who has always had bland food.
Tamil in CE is like dairy in a duet prepared for a Japanese.
Now neither Chillies nor Dairy by themselves are horrible/bad or offensive, but they won’t sell. These things will kill the business.
A thing need not be offensive to kill the market. Imagine selling a near Hindi movie to an English Only audience ? Yes, only those that understand will see it.
Now Vis a Vis EDKL, let’s not mix theme and language.
Your analogy is not a comparable one at all. Leaving this aside I guess you are saying that CE is a film in Tamil. This is why you used the French film analogy. You know Bandra NRI you’re in a hole here and you should stop digging. I’m trying hard not to be rude but this is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard on a forum!
If you are wondering whether I am using a sledge hammer to squat a fly, then don’t wonder. Yes I am, and I have to go that route only because you are missing obvious facts.
To disprove a positive, I have to only show evidence of the existence of a negative. However inconvenient this theory may be the world accepts it. The courts also accepts it.
Now French film sure is testing the limits, and but my hope is that if you can see this issue at its limits then least you will then get the gist of my position. Sure CE Vs French Movies, do not match on all four legs. But it does illustrate a similar reluctance. People stay away from movies that are in a language that they don’t understand. This is a fact that is self evident.
Even Rohit pitched SRK “Angior”. When SRK liked Rohit’s work, he told him about CE which for the reasons I have stated here was rejected by multiple producers. To Rohit’s surprise SRK liked the risk.
We don’t know each other, perhaps never will, hence the only influence I have is the integrity of my thoughts. You can agree or disagree, but they are sincere.
IMO Rohit Shetty has made only one good movie; All the best (and to certain degree Golmaal 1). Rest are trash. But then I call many other Bollywood movies trash as well.
Wow Satyam you are really keeping up with HNY updates and taking the movie seriously. Few days back you had summarized it very well when you called this more of a ‘stage show’ than a movie.
I fear this has a good chance of going into TMK and Joker type zoning.. Just look what Farah has done to Deepika’s act and if she stays like that with that accent throughout the movie which reviewers will notify us in advance, very difficult to touch this movie with a barge pole. There is no connection between that vernacular slang and the dress she is wearing….so those are the standards!!
There are times when you can forego the track/story line etc but there is no escape to hammy sequences / acting when you are shown that in advance through trailer.
you might have missed some of my earlier comments on all of this! Ultimately who gets credit or now is not really dependent on anything I say or not say? I might have an opinion on what’s happening in a film but at the end of the day what matters is what people think in general (as a pragmatic matter).
SRK I must say seems to have extraordinary praise for Abhishek in the two clips I put up yesterday. In one he claims he wanted to do Nandu as he felt this was the best character but he didn’t think he could pull it off. In the other he said that whether it’s a drunk scene or a dramatic one or a comic one or whatever every actor who did this stuff one way or the other referenced Bachchan Sr but that Abhishek had been absolutely brilliant without quite being Bachchanesque in that easy sense. He said that was the biggest compliment that could be offered to Abhishek, that he could even be spoken about in the same breath. Now of course while films are releasing people say all kinds of things but let’s say SRK (or for that matter anyone) doesn’t usually say this about his co-stars. He certainly seems to have a fondness for Abhishek (I’ve always said this) and what he says about Abhishek’s part doesn’t surprise me inasmuch as I would have expected as much when the film began. But the theatrical trailer has nonetheless been lopsided. If the advertising continues this way Abhishek would have to make quite an impression to reverse this sense. It’s clearly not going to be D3 by any stretch. Whether it’s a BB remains to be seen. Either way not my kind of thing. I very much doubt Farah Khan can ever make a film that I can like. In terms of Abhishek I might get a comic performance that I like (though I’m hardly surprised he can do this well) but that’s about it. If the film truly turns out to be fun that would be a pleasant surprise. But this sort of ‘excess’ is something I always recoil from. This kind of thing, contra Abhishek, is un-Desai. Just a very weak misreading of what Desai was about even if Farah Khan absolutely adores Desai.
SRK gets all the credit if the film is a hit because his last film also did super business with him being the lead in it and it’s like the other actors in this film are salman/aamir/HR/akshay/ranbir, they’re bunch of nobody.
If the film fails, SRK should get all the blame because he is the producer and the main star in it.
that’s a classic ‘red herring’ argument. In more ways than one. That you have to keep clubbing Abhishek with the rest indicates your anxiety! You’re in any case Jekyll and Hyde on this. One day you show up saying Abhishek has a great role, the film will relaunch him and so on and the next day you say he’s like Vivaan or Boman. You might want to make up your mind!
Please show me a post of mine where I said abhi is a star like salman/aamir/hr/akshay/ranbir?
my point in the above comment is regardless of how big others role is in HNY, if the movie fails, it’s all SRKs fault.
Than on same token, if it’s a success, SRK gets the credit for producing it and being the main star (you can say only star in it if you look at males only) in it.
Which last solo starrer film of vivan, sonu, abhi, boman was a huge hit?
one doesn’t follow from the other.. there can be a hit where someone steals the show from a star. There can be a flop where the lead star is nonetheless appreciated. The responsibility might be greatest on the main star specially when he’s also producing it but this doesn’t mean that the moment it’s a hit there’s no question about where the credit goes. Again it’s obvious that SRK benefits if it’s a hit. But Abhishek can benefit too if he has enough to do here. The scale for success in each case is rather different. SRK could be a winner overall even if Abhishek got more credit. So there are any number of scenarios here. It’s not as simply as you pretend it is.
also in my experience those who pretend to be so very generous when it comes to the stars they’re completely partisan about it usually means they don’t expect the worst — ‘oh it will be on SRK if it fails’ and so on! How do we know this? because folks like yourself have a 1000 excuses when the films of those stars (in this case SRK) fail or underperform.
While I am greatly impressed by SRK’s attitude towards Abhishek (he does seem genuine while praising Abhishek), this is not even close to how Abhishek was treated by Devgn (I am not even talking about the fact that Devgn pretty much served him a hit on a silver platter, coupled with the fact that he gave Abhishek almost akin to a central role in the film…forget Bollywood, this sort of gesture is hardly shown by anyone in any film industry. This was Devgn after the super-success of Singham, he didn’t need to do a BB, he could have very easily gotten a hit in a different comedy with him in central role or in a multistarrer like Golmaal). I very clearly remember some of the BB interviews where he not just allowed Abhishek to take the centrestage, but also took care of him- he kept defending Abhishek’s choices of films etc. And Abhishek himself said that while doing the film, he always felt that he was working in a film of his own production house. Now admittedly Devgn and Bachchans are really close, but still Devgn didn’t need to be half as ‘generous’ here.
BTW whatever Rohit Shetty’s merits are as a director, he is a far more reasonable voice than the likes of Farah and Sajid (I think it is also because unlike the others, Shetty is a chip of the old block). In one of the BB interviews, when asked to why did he choose to cast Abhishek considering he had a spate of flops back then (Raavan, D6, KHJJS, Players, Game), he said that Abhishek was plain unlucky that some of those films flopped as he considered quite few of them as very good films.
I agree that Devgn was being generous but I want to put it that Rohit shetty always owed to Abhishek as he was part of his debut film(Zameen) and wanted to give it back when he is down. Rohit shetty was sure he didn’t wanted Ajay as leading actor in his Golmaal remake and fortunately twisted Utpal Dutt’s role to fit in Ajay as well and got Abhishek on the board.
you won’t see me defending a flop film. a flop film is a flop film no matter who is in it. let’s not forget how you defend countless abhi flop films by giving some weird excuses. i think the umrao jaan was the best one you had “Not enough people showed up for it”, really???
yes because you change the terms of the debate when it’s a flop! On UJ I’m flattered you’ve been following me for such a long time and hanging on to every word but to say that I was euphemistic about the film is absurd. There are a number of Abhishek flops that I haven’t called anything but that.
I think that Devgan has always been very close to Abhishek.
I remember right after Refugee and when Abhishek’s Tera Jaadu Chal Gaya had flopped, Devgan was full of praise for Abhishek in an interview. He was very appreciative of Abhishek’s performance in Refugee and was saying that he saw a very good actor in there.
I think when it comes to SRK, we should be wary about his praises. I remember he was prasing Zayed Khan to the skies before MHN’s release while the latter was playing very much second fiddle to him. Incidentally it was a role earmarked for Abhishek and it’s a good thing Abhishek didn’t sign for it when you look at the scope of the role.
Look at the scenes edited out from KANK and you would find that on paper at least initially, SRK had a much longer role. KANK worked for Abhishek because his performance and character were less hammy than SRK’s.
It’s a case of the underdog stealing the thunder from the main man. But what’s certain is that SRK wasn’t as magnanimous as that. He had embarked on a venture where the director was a big fan of his, the production house was one he had worked with several times, the movie was one where he very much was the main man and with by far the lengthiest role. He also got most of the songs and he got the women. But Rani and him hammed too much and the underdog in the role of cuckold was more appreciated.
Remember Darr’s making. Aamir was honest enough to step away when he felt something was not right and that someone is being taken for a ride but SRK was quite unscrupulous there during his early days. And while the likes of Aamir and Salman work with various people and production houses, SRK chooses to work mainly with directors very close to him and he always ensures that he very much is the main man in his movies. He rarely works with directors outside of his camp and I feel that if he is doing an ensemble movie he is going to ensure he gets the lion’s share of whatever is on the plate.
So, I won’t be too much carried away with his praises.
As a professional you have to praise your team mates and colleagues. Also as a professional you have to show support for the product. This is all good form. SRK is just doing his job and saying what he is supposed to say and do.
To jump to conclusions about someone’s state of mind ( or “real intent”) based on an expression of professional courtesy, is not just conjecture but in itself predisposed to similar conjectures.
Ajay on the other hand along with the same professional courtesy was perhaps also extending a neighbor’s courtesy. Perhaps he genuinely feels for Abhishek because they live/lived next to each other.
You need to go beyond the mundane, par for the course, professional minutiae to establish SRK’s probable evil intent. Maybe you need to say what really bothers you about SRK.
I am somewhere between you and Rahul on this.. every actor looks out for himself, there’s nothing odd about this, SRK is hardly unique in this respect. But sometimes there are relationships in the industry because of which people do things. Now it’s much more common to do a film for someone for this reason rather than do one where one takes some sort of backseat or at least allow the other to be dominant in the film (or whatever). The latter is rare in any age and when this sort of thing happens usually the star has been taken by surprise. But with Devgan it’s true that it’s the rare case of someone actually doing so willingly. The families have been very close for more reasons than one. Devgan and his father both feel that they owe Bachchan for certain reasons. Rohit Shetty himself feels this about Bachchan. Now having said that there is a closeness there that by now transcends some of this stuff. Shetty took exactly those two actors even for Zameen. The larger point about BB though is that Devgan had the kind of part that was itself a crowd-pleaser and where he had lots of footage too and so on. He wasn’t really second fiddle here though it seemed that way to the reviewers and so on because again he gave away not just the double but also the symbolic bit to Abhishek.
What’s happened with HNY is that once again SRK has a certain fondness for Abhishek and if anything has often gone out of his way to praise him for his refinement and so on (this again isn’t something he’s said for anyone else). I also believe (and have good reasons to believe this) that SRK genuinely appreciates the actor in Abhishek (this is not something he believes for all of his peers, younger or older). You put it all together and it might well be the case that Abhishek has a special part here. However the difference is that SRK will always do enough to look out for himself and hence the advertising bit and so forth. But Abhishek might still have something very significant here. So it’s a question of temperaments. Devgan once he decides he’s ok with doing a certain deal with Abhishek (he wouldn’t do this for everyone by the way) is also quite happy to go along with a certain advertising parity and so forth (he could have done this deal too.. why? Because the bigger star even when he doesn’t have the better role can always make it up with the symbolic stuff.. this is exactly what SRK has done so far). I am quite confident SRK too wouldn’t have given this role to just any star, again for multiple reasons. But it works out for him to the extent that it will still be seen as his film and the advertising supports that narrative. Now unless people watch the film and feel this is BB (much harder given the circus here) SRK’s ok. Even if the latter did somehow happen SRK would still mind it far less I think given it’s Abhishek at the other end and at any rate the box office would still work better for his narrative than Abhishek’s. So there is all this built-in safety for SRK in this film. The same holds for Devgan too except that when you give away the symbolic stuff you’re at least relaying to the audience who the more central star might be for that film. Forget everything else that film even had the BB title which wasn’t necessary at all. One could have done everything the same way without that title.
You put it all together and I’d say Devgan’s was an extraordinary gesture all things considered. SRK’s I’d say is remarkable (assuming that Abhishek has something remarkable here.. obviously this doesn’t hold if he doesn’t.. what’s the standard? the footage of course and more or less Abhishek having that sort of impact.. so footage and the kind of part it is..) given the kind of star and frankly person he is. Ultimately this is an industry not a charity and one must look at those relative things stars do given their history and their inclination. Will say that Farah Khan was desperate to get Abhishek for this part and tried for a very long time (Abhishek didn’t sign on easily here). SRK too was keen on it. As for saying things to promote the film that’s absolutely true but he doesn’t say these things for others. And I don’t remember what he said about Zayed but I very much doubt he was saying this sort of stuff! This time around in any case he’s not saying much about the others anyway beyond the fact that it was all one happy family and that he hopes everyone has done better than their best here and so on.
I think Bollywood is becoming more and more professional. I think what Ajay did is indeed remarkable, because he gave Abhishek an opportunity to rise and shine, but what he did was also stay true to the requirements of the movie/subject.
Yes in ages past, the lead would edit out the competition. But these days everyone gets it that those tactics are counter productive.
Also it is not as if Ajay played the second fiddle. Ajay made sure that he had the better female star opposite him. Ajay also made sure that he had the Masalla Math in his favor.
Yakula,
This is the Bachchan hangover to you which is talking like this.Anyway, song seems good, D.P is the scene stealer here and Abhishek looks terrible in Arabic costumes.
Samal …. kache chawal dekh ke samajh aa jata hai kis khet se hai .. its not hard to figure out the thought process behing any movie of these siblings (Farah, Sajid) .. Farah’s next will be inspired from “Chal mere bhai tere hath jodta hun”/”Zindagi Imtehaan leti hai” .. and tribology will complete.
Farah does not seem to be the type who will add extra scenes for anyone. Her loyalty is always is to the movie. She will use everyone to their capacity (to the extent of the movie’s requirement).
But I have to admit that from the trailer (voice over by SRK), and now with this song, this seems less and less ensemble and more and more the usual SRK tour de force.
Abhishek comes out a winner just being attached to this venture. I am sure he will get a better deal than Dhoom 1 & 2. I am expecting a lot from Abhishek.
Sonu Sood appears to me to be the one who will gain a lot from this movie.
The kid, I am not impressed yet, but it ain’t over yet. Who knows, he may pull a Tahir Bhasin.
“Farah does not seem to be the type who will add extra scenes for anyone. Her loyalty is always is to the movie.”
For that to happen one needs to be principled and disciplined which she is not. With so much filmy background, goodwill and available resources from the top guns in film industry to both the siblings they should easily be making at least better stuff than a Rohit Shetty.
Currently bollywood is so badly infected with ‘bhai bhateejawaad’ that it is getting obnoxious and insufferable.
You may have a bigger point, but she is known to be a ball breaker (disciplined task master). She seems to be a detail person.
Farah’s best is way better than Shetty’s worst. Farah’s average is better than Shetty’s average. The question then is what about CE ? I think Shetty was influenced by Farah in CE.
Sure Shetty’s is more successful, he also has the pulse of the people (for the time being), but Farah is more resourceful and has more depth.
I actually disagree with that. I don’t believe OSO barring certain portions is a better film than CE or BB. And so far HNY looks a lot worse than OSO. MHN might still be her best film relative to what she was attempting. Not a Shetty fan by any means but this idea that one just does ‘grand’ and it becomes better is one I completely reject too, specially when the ‘grand’ is in as bad taste as that on display here.
She’s just a bread and butter filmmaker at this point with a big budget at her disposal. Otherwise there isn’t the least bit inspiring in her films by any stretch. Now HNY might turn out to be better than the advertising but how many times do films surprise us in this sense in Bollywood?!
Finally I don’t even find this debatable. With some kinds of films and advertising I can understand the appeal and so forth even if it’s not my kind of thing. But HNY seems subpar even by those standards. Find it impossible to believe that there are too many even SRK fans out there who find this film fine based on the advertising. Counting crores is a different matter. A number of films can do that these days. That too is hardly the biggest yardstick around.
It is emotion rather than substance that makes you rate BB that high. BB was good but not even as good as Singham 2 .
OSO set records for its time. The songs were a rage. All this while facing competition from Day 1. For me that is all it takes to believe it was good.
Of course you have another fake science, aka “trending theory” to discount OSO. I am positive some day you will simultaneously apply both, trending theory, and inflation adjustment to show how worthless SRK is. How about applying inflation adjustment to a trending multiple ?
For the moment, it is safe to say that, for you, none of SRK movies are good enough, and none of Abhishek’s movies are devoid of some redeeming feature (for you).
But your opinion or my opinion has to be weighed against the opinion of the BO.
MHN is her best film and it was a fun film that entertained. I found OSO a bit Jekyll and Hyde. Not had the guts to watch Tees Maar Khan but I wouldn’t be surprised if that one was OK as audiences just don’t get spoof. On OSO my fav was Dhoom Taana. I agree the album was peppy and had chartbusters plus melodious songs too. But the film in some parts was a bore and SRK’s looks fell apart from that film onwards. I think it worked for a lot of the audience but this is the first film I found where even SRK fans felt robbed and the first time I found that they did not like his film. Since then numerous instances, but thought this was the first.
In essence whether it Aditya Chopra, Yash Chopra, Karan Johar or Farah Khan…they all got a big success with SRK early on (DDLJ, Darr, KKHH, MHN) but they never managed to recreate that early success or magic to that extent even though they promoted it as such. They seem to get the big one early and continue to chase that success. Farah has her chance now. It wouldn’t be off surprise if DDLJ/Darr/KKHH/MHN remained the more “polished” films than anything subsequent.
I knew you would say some of this stuff. Actually OSO trended pretty well. It wasn’t extraordinary by the standards of its age but it doubled its week 1, something hardly any film does these days. RNBDJ also has good trending in the same way. So you clearly haven’t been reading me. On the ‘fake science’ yup.. just like the Big Bang.
On the ’emotion’ bit yes one of these days I’ll have to take lessons from you on how to be dispassionate towards a star (SRK in this case.. of course I am also guilty of citing Abhishek’s CE.. thanks for telling me you didn’t find BB even as good as Singham Returns.. here we finally have a scientific statement..). In the meantime I’m still trying to learn how you find HNY grander and more impressive than Moulin Rouge..
Finally the box office is about what the audience likes which I would think is not the only expression of ‘value’. But if it is wonder what you’ve been complaining about when it comes to Modi. A far bigger ‘audience’ gave him a huge majority!
Will say though that it’s good you’ve come out in the open more or less. There was no need for this pretense from day 1. You’re just another SRK fan, there’s nothing wrong in admitting it. You needn’t have said what you did about Aamir or Bachchan or whoever in the bargain though all of this is still excusable given you find Farah Khan more impressive than Baz Luhrmann.
OSO doubled its first week and RNBDJ too, probably a bit more than double in the latters case. By the standards today, they were definitely liked films. But I’d lean towards the latter as being better received overall, OSO had a lot of hype and the big OSO song sequence too. Sure it had competition but that was dead inside 2 days as Saawariya plunged really quickly. RNBDJ did well for 2 weeks and even when Ghajini released, it still did decent business. In a nutshell OSO owes more of its success to the size of the film, its “event” nature much like D3 whereas RNBDJ succeeded more as a film.
Gently read my comments, in any case they are opinions. I said “they never managed to recreate that early success or magic to that extent” – the key words being to “that extent”.
For Johar, KKHH is a “bigger” success than K3G – not a bigger film. For the size of film K3G was it should/could have been historic and better told as a story…
Same goes with OSO in a different context i.e. I believe MHN to be a better film, showing more promise for Khan as a director.
I am not saying neither OSO nor K3G were not successful. They were, but in my opinion they fell below the expectations of the cast, ambition of film etc. vs. KKHH/MHN.
Or simply put Darr/DDLJ/KKHH/MHN overachieved as successes vs. subsequent films.
And this is not a surprise. Typically after a big success, expectations rise, cast sizes rise, hype rises. To fall under some of these pressures but still get a success is a success. Consider Hirani. His path has been far more “linear”. One could say MBBS is his best film or LRM or 3 Idiots. The box office of those films has grown as the market has. The other directors don’t have a “graph” or filmography that suggests that. One could say it is more bumpy.
er… saawariya collapsed.. which means no one showed up for it beyond a point.. elementary.. no? I saw it in a utterly empty theater on day 3. But hey that’s still some competition..!
I read it as gently as you would have liked me to be. I think you would have proud if how gentle I was.
I found no reason for your abstract opinion that K3G was a lesser success than KKHH.
Sure your comment suits your narrative and that makes it a vested opinion. When you can support that with facts we will buy that snake oil.
With the example if OSO this absurdity becomes further clear. A movie that had competitor from Day 1 , yet managed to set new highs. Even your fake science agrees that it is a big success, yet you introduce subjective opinions to deny it it’s hard earned success. Why ?
This is a nice tactic, again rather stale. Insult the other person and then ask for their agreement. So keep saying ‘fake science’ (hey there are flat earth folks out there!) but then also say ‘even you agree with this’.
The funny thing is you go after Modi all the time. You allow yourself the whole dirty bag of tricks that you claim to dislike when politicians employ it. There are all sorts of rhetorical strategies one can use to pretend to be confused, to keep twisting things, to not give a straight answer, to avoid responding clearly, etc etc. The thing is life would be easier for you if you just owned up to things. Because it’s not as if anyone is fooled. It’s transparently obvious. There’s a reason I questioned you the first time you said something about Aamir. Not because I care whether anyone attacks Aamir or loves him or whatever. It’s because your claim was a dishonest one. But even dishonest claims ought to display a little more sophistication than you seem to be able to muster up.
How does the collapse of Sawariya by itself help OSO.
It is all about the screen count. Less screens means less revenue. If at Day 2 they had removed Sawariya and given those screens to OSO then that would have helped.
Bandra lets learn to move on. I don’t want to start another argument where you are constantly chasing my tail.
Saawariya collapsing SHOULD help OSO trending. Did it? Or did it still trend worse than D2/RNBDJ?
er.. no because films like OSO have all the screens they need and they’re not running at 100% capacity. So you wouldn’t get the Saawariya gross added on to it if it were the only release. You also have to account for audiences that will watch both films one way or the other. When one film gets bad reports they will probably skip out on this but watch the other one in any case. It’s like saying JTHJ would have had the entire gross of the competition if it had released alone. that’s absurd. And there’s another way of looking at it. RNBDJ was a solo release and still only managed the OSO opening (more or less). Two weeks later Ghajini was in a different stratosphere altogether. Don released with JeM. It had an anemic start and trended ok, did better than the latter. But years later the second Don at Christmas still had a sluggish start all things considered and trended worse. Competition matters but that doesn’t mean you crudely add on the other film’s gross. And in any case if one is going to talk about this one should also highlight the opposite. So if OSO is somehow over performing (let’s accept your logic) then RNBDJ is massively underperforming! Can’t have it both ways. Plus it’s also about WOM, beyond a day (actually these days even on day 1) or so it’s the response kicking in. If it’s not strong enough extra screens don’t save the film.
Of course wonder why you believe in ‘competition’ at all. This too is a ‘fake science’ idea much like trending. Here too you pick and choose!
anyway it’s pointless with you.. I think most fair people have figured out by now what’s going on with you.
Your inability to stick to the debate cannot be credited to any tactic of mine.
For the moment we are talking about Jay’s new theory that SRK never repeated success with his directors (subjective words left out for the sake of clarity).
If you want to discuss Aamir or Modi, we will do so but later.
“For the moment we are talking about Jay’s new theory that SRK never repeated success with his directors”
LOL – selective reading.
I think you enjoy creating a debate in your mind. I suggest you leave it to your mind.
NEVER did I say SRK did not repeat success. K3G, DTPH, Mohabbatein, OSO, RNBDJ are all successes. I just don’t think figuratively they are as successful “directorially” as the directors previous films.
From what was an observation about Farah/Yash/Karan/Aditya…you have quickly turned into “Jay thinks SRK never repeated success with his directors”.
LOL you got THAT from my comment? You GOT the SRK bit. I think I was willing to give some benefit with the “my opinions are fair, I battle in good faith” innocence. Now I think you are simply after credit for SRK.
OSO say 800 screens/Saawariya 600 screens. OSO opening weekend 23 crore, first week 40 crore total 80 crore odd. It trended with 50%.
RNBDJ 42 crore first week, total 85 crore, it trended 49%.
D2 35 crore first week, total 85 crore, it trended 41%.
RNBDJ had competition from week 3 which would impact its factor. OSO’s week 2 onwards is more advantageous than its first week as Saawariya is NOW a dead horse.
All this should mean OSO should have a “better” trend. It does not. Why?
Actually OSO set no records at all. even BOI downgraded the initial some weeks after release. And not sure what ‘beating competition’ means when the competition tanked on its own. These are all desperate excuses though you are only the millionth SRK fan to attempt it. And somehow you guys mysteriously vanish between OSO and CE! But here’s a history factoid (not that I mean to bully you with facts) — BMCM and KKHH released on the same day. The former had a bigger week 1 but the latter trended much stronger and had a much bigger final gross. When films are doing well these excuses are not needed. When one starts losing out to the competition that’s when all of this stuff comes in. Or let’s look at Lagaan and Gadar. The latter was historic in smaller centers, very good in bigger ones but Lagaan, a 3 hr 45 min period piece with far fewer shows per screen still did very well in its main metro markets (here one could even make a case it might have done more in other centers if that Gadar wave, something that doesn’t happen every day, weren’t on.. but maybe you think Saawariya was like Gadar). When films are genuinely liked by enough of a cross-section they tend to hold up pretty well. When it’s about a film built on hype which most of the audience finds just passable it usually goes down pretty fast after a week or two (these days faster than this).
But again you can keep spinning stuff. You’ve become the latest casualty in these matters (a person who loses all credibility other than with those who have the same low standard in these matters!). You just don’t know it yet.
First of all it’s a bit amusing to see you constantly argue with those who are somehow practicing ‘fake science’. But then of course you don’t believe that anyway.
On the rest my comment speaks for itself. You’ve taken one sentence out of context. let me put it this way, OSO could have had a much bigger total in week 1 with exactly the screens and the competition it did. The ‘slippage’ here (not that you or anyone else does it innocently) is suggesting that the existing initial is close to the ideal one, taking all factors into account. But this is bull. It’s like saying Kick could only have opened exactly the way it did, not 10 crores higher or something (competition or no competition a film that is liked with do better than one that isn’t.. but with the latter one can easily chalk it down to competition or whatever..SRK whether he had competition with Son of Sardar or he didn’t with Don 2, the films more or less grossed the same.. a bit more here, a bit less there.. it’s the very same range.. but if Don2 had released with SOS you would have pretended it was about the competition..). In any case all of these debates can be had where there’s some integrity, not utter dishonesty and the crude arguments to go with it.
Pi i.e. 22/7 is a result of real science. Proven and tested by respected scientist all over the world. No one disagrees with Pi. It’s discovery helped humanity.
Trending Theory & Co is a result of fake science. It is not endorsed by renowned scientists. There exist no consensus. It is trotted out to undermine a star (shall remain unstated).
Bandra.NRI- Actually it’s not that simple- No amount of ‘real science’ or scientists have been able to find out the precise value of Pi since it’s a series of neverending recurring decimal values…so you see how you have tied yourself up in knots.
Satyam: Debating with these folks reminds me of that scene in Mahaan where Bachchan is flogging himself 🙂
How can you insult a poster of comments on your own blog, is a mystery to me. Reading through all the commenst Bandra seems more cultured than all of you put together collectively attacking him.
Opinions contrary to the clique here not accepted Mr Bandra. I stopped giving them long ago.
Oldgold, there’s a certain game that people often play in politics. You never say or do anything in the formal sense but otherwise you’re guilty of a great deal. Civility is always desirable but it cannot become a weakness. If I keep arguing with someone at NASA on what the best path for a satellite is at some point he or she would be justified in telling me I’m an idiot! I could turn around and say ‘I’m being polite, why are you get upset’?! Or to bring it closer to home I could very politely keep arguing with someone that Rajesh Khanna actually wasn’t as a big a superstar as everyone thought he was, jeetendra was bigger. These propositions sound absurd right? Yes exactly.
I’m all for civility but don’t say completely absurd things (let alone dishonest ones) and then pretend it’s a debate. I’ve pointed out many of Bandra NRI’s examples here. Somehow you conveniently miss these! No matter how dishonest or absurd the other person gets you are never quite able to ‘see’ this. Then it’s only about crushing one set of opinions or something.
I’ll say this again — civility is desirable but it’s not an absolute. One can do terrible things always maintaining this guise. And by the way people are given a chance to clarify things. If they keep becoming more and more dishonest they can’t blame others for losing their patience. The same goes for those who indulge in utter nonsense 99% of the time. Go to a SRK forum or something and just say very polite things about him that are even mildly negative and then report back to me on the kind of treatment you get! You can entertain any opinion you like but your comment here is simply not a fair one. People criticize Abhishek here in the harshest terms all the time, they ridicule him and what not. As an Abhishek fan I should have greater problems there but all those comments are let through. But there’s a difference between the harshest such criticism and saying something totally absurd or dishonest. And doing so routinely.
To bring it even closer to home I don’t have issues with anyone who likes SRK’s films. I do have an issue when someone finds Inception more of a problem than Ra One. It simply seems tone a very unreasonable view though one is free to hold it. Similarly one doesn’t have to be an Aamir fan at all but if one thinks Aamir and SRK have more or less done the same sorts of films over the past 15 years I don’t consider that a reasonable position either. At some point one must wonder whether any opinion is about ‘anything goes’. One has a democratic right to say anything I suppose (not that a blog ought to be confused with a democracy) but at what point do others have the right to point out the absurd? With respect to Bandra NRI though it’s not just this but the blatantly dishonest. And if one doesn’t believe this what with what right does one criticize all sots of politicians? Why not show some civility there? Why assume the worst? What evidence does one rely on when one thinks one ‘knows’ what Modi is about? So on and so forth. So the moment it’s about other things we give ourselves the right to say and do the very same things that we otherwise criticize when it comes to certain stars or whatever.
The problem is everyone want to redirect the debate elsewhere.
If that fails, then it is personal attacks.
If that fails, then it is the age old accusation, “SRK Fan”. As if somehow that is a shameful thing to be.
Now how does being SRK fan or not change the issues ?
How will my stating Pi to some desirable decimal point change anything.
If you cannot back absurd statements like, “SRK never repeated success”, then why make such statements.
Anyway, today I am a SRK fan, tomorrow I will be accused of being a Hritikh Fan, then a Salman Fan, but why won’t they just stick to reasons and logic. Why this constant dodging.
Satyam u make some worthy comments here for a change!
I personally don’t believe in being a “people pleaser” @ all..and don’t really value civility!
beyond a point since it simulates fakery usually.
Having said that, are you competing with “those srk forums”?
The “power” u seem to wield here by “blocking” or “letting comments in” is actually eroding your own intellect and creativity. It’s got nuisance value for you. U have become a shadow of your potential self. I’m telling u this as a ‘genuine well wisher’…
As for bandra –u do make some good points but theres a skewed vision. To give you some examples your sense of justice suddenly goes for a toss when ISIS are making yazidi women sex slaves or there’re beheadings goin on; so engrossed u are in alternate theories of 9/11. So there’s an inherent bias.
Unfortunately u coudnt get my key replies due to Satyams insecurities who knew u won’t be able to cope with me …now I don’t usually bother.
Bandra–U do have tried to rediscover and reconfigure yourselves after your “karankumar” avataar and your previous unceremonious exit from here (if I’m not wrong lol)
Above all, the “yes men” who surround Satyam need to give him (& themselves) a break and let Satyam unleash his true potential.
It’s sometimes disappointing to see a stalwart like Satyam fighting over petty arguments and the same usual suspects lining up to say ‘yes sir’…
I know u have compulsions and have to survive on this blog (besides having some genuine likes or dislikes)
C’mon guys n gals y’all are much better than that.
Cheers
Disclaimer : I have no affiliations towards any caste creed or color and nor am I fan of anybody….
I am happy to discuss Modi, but let’s do it in its own thread. On this thread since the direction has taken a certain slant, let’s put that to bed first.
Now with regards to NASA etc, well they are a known and respected institution, with more experience in their field than perhaps anyone else. A person has to be out of his mind to think he knows better. In my life, when I come across a NASA, I too shut up and listen, but we don’t have a NASA here on this blog do we ?
I am open to listening to anyone. You said, Netflix does not buffer as much for you, well I listened and followed up with my Cable Co, thanks to that “listening” the problem is fixed. I am once again enjoying interruption free Netflix, thanks to you.
BTW, I am predisposed to take the side of any under dog. Here on this thread, SRK is the under dog, hence I jumped in. On another thread, you will find me defending Pink Panther or Bang Bang. But I recognize, you don’t want to debate, you rather fight the straw-man. On the other hand, I am Sun Tzu’s Reluctant Warrior, I rather not fight at all.
Hence, I will stay away. If someone wants to debate, post something and ask for me, if I catch it, I will jump in. I like discussions. I love discussion. If I have offended anyone I am sorry.
you don’t need to be sorry. you need to be honest. and you need to stop playing rhetorical games. You have a right to be anyone’s fan but you yourself are not taking that right by indulging in these very tactical rhetorical games.
Terrible song and video. One couldn’t be more unimaginative than this even if one tried! The video is still better than the song in the sense that it’s run of the mill but hard to believe they couldn’t have come up with a better song than this.
Yeah the song is quite terrible. I get the vibes that this is one of those filmy scene where a group of foreigners in brazil insults india and is culture and our 6 guys start singing this song on protest or something like that. At least that initial party sets says that. I am not going to be liking this movie if it is going to be this run of the mill. The dance sets etc are much better and the song might play much better as a dance show song though. Abhishek is also looking out of place in that turban thingy.
“this is one of those filmy scene where a group of foreigners in brazil insults india and is culture and our 6 guys start singing this song on protest or something like that”.
But isn’t all that stale stuff…bring something new if you are angling patriotic angle. Look at Vishal Shekhar marketing this song as some kind of genius –
Shekhar of composer duo Vishal-Shekhar says their song “Indiawaale”, which they composed for Shah Rukh Khan’s forthcoming film “Happy New Year”, will become a dance anthem.
“‘India waale’ is a song to be sung with a lot of pride. It has been an honour for us to get an opportunity to make a song on this situation. Our first ever!” said Vishal-Shekhar.
The song hits the right chord and you will want to hear it over and over again. Trust me, it will give you goose bumps.“‘India waale’ is the first of its kind song. A dance anthem for sure! It gives you goose bumps and also forces you to get up and dance. It was truly the most difficult song to crack as not only I but Vishal-Shekhar and Irshad Bhai (Kamil) had to think of today’s patriotism and make a song around that. Today what we feel for our country is so different from the sentiments of the 70s and 80s. It’s really a song that encapsulates all that makes us uniquely Indiawaale,” said director Farah Khan.
So true. Honestly the way this movie is shaping up, I think very few would have expected it. Even the biggest haters expected a couple of hit songs and a great trailer, TMK even had this. But so far none of this has happened. Also not that the number of youtube views matter, but the Trailer has gotten a terrible response, and this song even worse. The Tu Meri song from Bang Bang hit like 2million by now while this is stuck at 200K
Diwali release is its only trump card otherwise it would struggle for a 100 cr run if you consider how difficult it is to add daily net for few of these movies in the past. At the moment this is more in Ra1 category.Srk seems to have exhausted much of his fan base in these genre and it was rightly pointed out here OSO was a first.
Raj: Don’t tell me you are serious with those youtube hits. Those can be manipulated easily. Also depends on how many different accounts the same video is launched. Truly BB might have got lot more hits but thats not really any criteria to judge the buzz IMO.
Not serious about the youtube hits, that’s why I prefaced it with “Also not that the number of youtube views matter…”. Of Course given that its India, youtube views don’t matter but at the same time, which recent blockbuster didn’t have a large number of views? D3, Kick, ETT, YJHD, K3 (and their respective songs) had “record breaking views” (as Taran/Komal would say). CE’s trailer didn’t but Lungi Dance did. Better way to put it would be that: large number of youtube views do not equal a blockbuster movie, but a blockbuster movie does have a large number of youtube views
Vishal-Shekhar are done, not sure why SRK still went ahead with them after the lame Chennai Express songs. CE songs sucked until SRK got in Honey’s Singh Lungi Dance and saved the movie and to think of it, Vishal-Shekhar were mad with SRK for adding item song to their album. I think Farah wanted them as she’s been using them regularly from OSO, TMK and HNY now.
What is wrong with Vishal-Shekhar, they either make bad songs or ruin the good songs by having bad singers like Vishal himself sing them. And it’s been a Vishal Dadlani overdrive these past few weeks and not in a good way- Tu Meri, the Mary Kom songs, Haider, and now this. But Vishal’s voice and SRK, really? And KK for Boman? Shankar for Sonu/Abhi? Just ridiculous and backwards. The 3 singers are fine, its just who they are pictured on is messed up. Clearly Shankar M should be for Boman being the oldest, KK for SRK and Vishal for the rest. The first part of the video is so tacky, especially with the clothing- and having Abhi in a turban reminds me of some song in that crap movie No Problem. The SRK-Deepika bit is good although they have 0 chemistry in this song for some reason which is odd. The last part on stage was good. The choreography is too basic but that makes sense given that the characters are non-dancers. Is there a Honey Singh song in this? He’s going on the SLAM tour with them and given that you start the music trailers by launching your best song first, the music of this album is going the CE way. I won’t be surprised if SRK pulls another Lungi Dance (Or Dubai Dance) for this.
Listening to this terrible India Waale song reminded me of this fantastic energetic number from a decade and a half back which had the same patriotic vibe, but was FAR FAR better (I remember it was a rage back then. Sadly the film got shelved)-
@ Saurabh– thanks for sharing this oldie goldie. Lovely song! Great beat, words and dance moves frpm Salman, Shilpa, Sunjay Dutt, all. It’s a pity that ‘Dus’ got shelved, due to the director’s death. Why didn’t they try to revive the project? That terrific song deserves a great film. and Farah Khan should see this song. HNY song has a decent beat, but that’s it. The song is ok, not spl.
A senior police official from Banjara Hills police station said, “Shweta Prasad was arrested on Sunday, and has been sent to a government rehabilitation home. She will be in remand for some time now. The chargesheet will be filed within the next 10 days.”
Shweta reasoned for getting into sex racket, “I have made wrong choices in my career and I was out of money. I had to support my family and some other good causes. All doors were closed and some people encouraged me to get into prostitution to earn money. I was helpless and with no option left to choose (from), I got involved in this. I’m not the only one who faced this problem and there are several other heroines who have gone through this phase”.
Shweta, who is now working in Telugu films, has acted in Ekta Kapoor’s hit serial ‘Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki’ where she played the role of Sakshi Tanwar’s daughter.
I thought Sunny Leone was a porn star, not a prostitute.
Anyway to try and find out all the ‘consumers is not practical, just mentioning the name of the person caught with Shweta would have been enough, and fair, but the Indian media is so sold out.
Indian media is shameless. In every edition, I found the poor girl’s photo displayed with voyeuristic pleasure. In these days when even rapists’ faces are covered and protected, a young girl’s picture is used indiscriminately. This same media shouts during night times during news telecasts against crimes. Where is that shouting crusader now? Cant he take to task his own paper? Where is judiciary?
>If I keep arguing with someone at NASA on what the best path for a satellite is at some point he or she would be justified in telling me I’m an idiot! I could turn around and say ‘I’m being polite, why are you get upset’?!
..this means;
you arguing with Nasa about something ‘they’ are expert in = Bandra arguing with you (NASA) about something you are expert in 😉
“you arguing with Nasa about something ‘they’ are expert in = Bandra arguing with you (NASA) about something you are expert in ;-)”
Though this is a ‘civility’ trap I shall nonetheless not avoid it — the gulf is at least as great in the second instance! Which does not mean I am an ‘expert’. I don’t consider myself one in anything. But this is certainly a reflection on the other side!
This trap, that trap, civility trap, rhetorical question trap, trap, trap, trap…….. Perhaps it is not a trap, perhaps it is just simple obvious truth.
An expert is one who provides facts not discredited subjective conjecture. Hence a step towards the sainthood of expertdom would be to stop subjective conjecture. Start using objective yardstick and apply that evenly. Hence if you claim that a star is irrelevent even if he produces 200 CR (for example) worldwide then use that same yardstick for others also. You cannot annoint that someone is relevant when he does not even produce 100 Cr worldwide.
From one of the comments I gather that it is believed (rightly or wrongly) that you once could argue. You were once a Lion who could hunt. Today you just build straw-man ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man ). You have forgotten (even if you once knew) how to argue. You forgotten how to hunt. You have become a man eater.
To argue would mean to stick to the subject, not divert and distract. To argue would mean to make your case not misrepresent the opposition. To argue would be debate the issue not debase the opposition.
If you think you are a NASA like expert on films, then you are delusional. Clearly if you think you can argue then you are delusional.
This is an attempt to make you spring back to your former (as stated by someone) self.
SRK forums are exactly that, SRK forums. You should declare whose forum this is, then one would stop praising SRK here. One mistakes this as a ‘general’ blog where the admin likes the Bachhans and Amir and hates SRK, but that the blog functions differently to that of forums.
Calling everybody dishonest when not on your side or of your view has become a chronic disease.
So you’re saying it’s ok to lose all civility as long as one calls it the forum of a certain star?!
On the rest I am going to say this as a general matter — those who think that the problem is with people who praise SRK or those who dislike Bachchan or whatever else has either not been on this forum long enough or is too obtuse to figure out what is said and meant by all sides. Unless of course one too participates in an agenda where ‘what’ is said is less important than ‘who’ it is said about. So maybe one doesn’t mind utterly dumb things as long as the a certain star is served or not served.
Speaking for myself I find this criticism (not for the first time) rather ridiculous when I have otherwise been so highly critical of Bachchan in so many contexts on his blog (to his ever-lasting credit he never minds it.. can’t think of another star who wouldn’t) including those that have nothing to do with his films. Even if one knows that a critic is a fan it’s not easy to hear some of this stuff, specially when one is otherwise worshipped everywhere else. I have put up many of my comments on this blog in the past. I don’t mean this comment to be self-serving but it really is ridiculous to be accused of bias in this regard when one goes to the actual star and says rather harsh things.
Secondly it also takes obtuseness and/or an agenda to not see that I like or dislike certain stars based on a personal response but this is very different from liking or disliking certain movies for larger reasons of personal taste and/or ideological issues. What’s the difference? I don’t like Salman Khan at all. This has nothing to do with the politics of his films about which I might have a different opinion. On the other hand even when I liked watching SRK films I still didn’t like the politics of those films. Or I don’t like the politics of many films that Bachchan has done in the last 15 years or so. Leaving this aside even when it’s just about personal taste I don’t start loving certain kinds of films just because Abhishek shows up in them. Nor do I start loving everything that Aamir shows up in. Again one has to be willing to read carefully. I had problems with RDB from day 1. Even when it was the most celebrated film around. But there’s a difference between saying this and pretending RDB is just like MNIK! More recently I said Talaash might be my favorite Aamir film since Lagaan. I wasn’t calling it his ‘best’ film in a critical sense but my favorite. So once more one has to be willing to read things carefully and honestly. I have forever praised Dil Se here, even said I like it than all of Ratnam’s Abhishek films with the possible exception of Raavan. So whether it’s the director, a set of political concerns, a kind of cinema (in general) there is absolute consistency here. But this is precisely what one doesn’t get from the other side a lot of times. Including yourself by the way. My problem again isn’t about the fact that you like SRK or anything. But I’m not sure by what measure and in what universe one can like Ra One more than Inception. Or I don’t understand how it’s possible to think SRK and Aamir have the same kind of work just because one likes one of these stars more. That’s my problem here, not that you like SRK. Much as when you say the Don story was done in earlier films and hence isn’t original and try to ‘save’ SRK this way this is again not an ‘honest’ argument in my book. Why? It’s a bit like saying that someone who copies or rewrites Shakespeare’s Hamlet is doing what Shakespeare himself did since he borrowed the Hamlet story from elsewhere. That’s just a technicality. The canonical effort is Shakespeare’s much as the canonical such film is Don. It is even more bizarre to make this objection when songs and actual lines from the original film are used and when everyone associated with the remake calls it a tribute to Bachchan and so on. I didn’t want to get into these examples but I brought these up because not for the first time you choose to side with the ‘worst’. The ‘worst’ in my book is someone who simply sacrifices all reason, all logic, all honesty to pushing a preference. But you pretend not to see this.
And it’s not just about myself either. The people who are otherwise attacked here for doing the same have supported all kinds of films and have certainly not supported their favorites in all contexts. From a personal response to the box office I can recall them questioning very many films in all sorts of ways. And I could quote all these examples too. Again you somehow never notice this. But you immediately sympathize with the other side where someone can put up 25 comments trying to avoid saying something. And why does this happen? Because one doesn’t really want to debate anything. One simply wants to push forward an agenda. And the moment you say this openly you can be deconstructed by others. Why? because again it’s not a well thought-through position. It’s simply a preference. One then picks and chooses what one likes. One never has the courage to face the obvious. Some folks in this camp are just fanatics who don’t care how they sound. Others try to be more subtle about it. Sadly not with much more success because it’s very easy to spot certain kinds of arguments.
I’m not saying all of this to persuade you. I am not so foolish. But I know there are others who come here to just read stuff and so when this issue comes up I am quite happy to explain things. which is more than can be said for the opposition.
” It’s a bit like saying that someone who copies or rewrites Shakespeare’s Hamlet is doing what Shakespeare himself did since he borrowed the Hamlet story from elsewhere”
Good line there, Satyam-agree
Though I will be kinder to the likes of vishal bhardwaj who seems to have done a swell job in Haidar again (though the lead actor is underwhelming)
Terribly flat song.. Vishal Shekhar are among the lamest music directors today. No creativity, no interesting song!
The song itself is picturised like a music video. How can v continue watching such pedestrian stuff?
Yawn..
—–
about shweta prasad, two cents:
I dont trust the Indian media. first of all, prostitution circles among Bollywood circles might be a reality, but no names have been disclosed by the media before? Why this sudden focus on Shweta Prasad?
and even if she is, its no one’s business to point fingers at her if she does this out of choice.
they were good on BM with all the sampling and so on. But somehow they lost that edge very soon. Even by the already lowered standards of OSO (MHN was much better) HNY is so far quite poor. Of course these days you just need enough of a jingle that you can advertise to death and stuff down everyone’s throat. But it’s amazing how for some of these biggest movies these directors either don’t have the ability or don’t care enough to ensure more of a soundtrack.
CGI abs…just like we saw in OSO. These are just gimmicks for publicity. In the real life, their abs just disappear.
Srk and salman are the kind of persons who flaunt every thing little they have in public. Srk and salman are close to 50 now. Do they want us to believe they have perfect abs now while on tv shows they find excuses to remove t-shirts even after requests from their fans.
Very very average song, I liked Titli from CE and Ajab Si/Main Agar Kahoon from OSO much better. But the video is nice. Although Abhi looks sidelined, I like what he’s doing in the few scenes that we can see of him. Also don’t like the Beard + 18 pac look for SRK – choose one King Khan
By the way, the 8 pack looks pretty close to the image that was out yesterday. It’s not like a Gajini type of deal where the image was The Rock and in movie it was nothing like that body.
the song and video are much better than the previous one though SRK looks a just released prisoner from a camp of some sort (barring that 8-pack or 10 pack or whatever the deal is)! The CDI look worked for him. He should have stuck to this. Simply looks too gaunt here.
though on the 6-pack or 8-pack he’s not the only one. Digital manipulation or other kinds of ‘additions’ are perhaps worse but I don’t see much of an ethical difference between doing this sort of thing and overdoing the steroid bit. So many stars suddenly develop these massive frames. No amount of gym activity can suddenly make you big in this sense. Most do this (I’ve even posted the link here a couple of times with trainers talking about pretty much all the stars), then there are weight reduction drugs and/or digital manipulation from erasing wrinkles to constructing bodies like this and so forth. Hard to say anything is worse than any other beyond a point, specially when it’s so near-universal. Having said that the aesthetic question still remains and some of these guys start looking sick.
The whole deal nonetheless works whether it’s plausible or not because it conveys to the younger multiplex audience a certain sense that the star, specially an aging one, is with the program. Or values the same things.
Agree with this: “So many stars suddenly develop these massive frames.” After a point I don’t think it’s possible and plus factoring in that the 3 Khans are 50. However every single actor we have in the industry can be accused of digital manipulation/steroids for bodies-SRK for digital manipulation of his face and Aamir/Salman for using steroids/digital manipulation for their bodies. Actually only Abhishek is innocent here but he’s just unfit. Also, surprised you don’t like the OSO songs! And as far as I know there’s supposed to be a romantic song with Sonu Nigam but given the whole royalty issue either this was that song or there’s 2 love songs in the movie.
liked the love song on OSO and the climax song to a degree but that was about it. The rest were passable but nothing special. The song with 33 stars or whatever was awful. MHN was far better in this respect.
According to Farah Khan there isn’t an actual romance in the movie but just the suggestion of something. Maybe we get this through a couple of songs or something.
Just saw bits of this latest song- this may elicit a longer comment later
But agree with oldgold – this seems a good song finally after meh promos.
After getting a public spanking from me on the fanny video trailer thread ; deepika responds and delivers. It’s uncanny and seems the PR publicity team of hny (amongst other films ) are following my comments to modulate their campaign lol (because they know the ‘truth’ in them lol )
And finally we get to see some traces /remnants of the super stardom (albeit reduced and subdued) of the phenomenon caller srk…
Sweet song, pleasing to the ear, shot with imagination. I like the structured dichotomy inherent in this song. On one hand, the melody evokes nostalgia, while on the other hand, the visual makes it contemporary, not the harsh contemporary but the genteel contemporary.
From a pure business perspective, another smart move by Red Chillies, this song, like the Indiawalle song, has the whole ensemble involved.
But comming back to the song, one can see that Farah, like all good Bollywood directors, knows how to pick winners.
Perhaps in ages past, there might have been others. One hears about Dilip/Madhubala; Dilip/Meena Kumari; Raj/Nargis; Dharamendra/Hema; etc etc
My respect to Dilip, Dharamendra, Raj, …….but hopefully you will understand that I belong to the era of The Burning Man and hence that is my reference not Woodstock.
Using that logic one could say Obama is the greatest president ever and then add ‘I didn’t live in the time of Lincoln or FDR’! What else? ‘I didn’t live in the age of the Beatles’?! ‘I didn’t live in Kishore Kumar’s age so I’ll call Kunal Ganjawala the greatest’?!
The SRK-Kajol pair though had zero chemistry even otherwise. I mean in the erotic sense. The media sometimes joked that they looked like siblings. Not sure if I’d go that far but it was an Archie-Betty kind of deal at best. Hardly the model for a great romantic pair. Having said this was probably in keeping with the plastic and anodyne age this pair occupied.
here again Ratnam probably created the best SRK pair in Dil Se. On Deepika there’s simply too great an age gap. He looks positively haggard in these pairings. and HNY is really the worst in this regard.
Star Pairs Vs Presidents / Apples Vs Oranges. Let’s stick to stars for the moment.
This chemistry is like the old inflation adjustment. Tweak the base line and or the inflation rate a little, and the chemistry will equal or surpass whatever threshold you want.
But there has been (and will continue to be) a definate evolution in the relationship between couples. The other day a friend called and said that he was worried that he and his girl friend (a school mates of ours), were drifting apart. I asked him a simple question, I asked, “When she is driving back home, and on the spur of the moment decides to take a detour to do an errand, who does she call for directions ? ”
My friend replied that she can easily use the car’s navigation but always without fail calls him.
Well I said, “You are OK, don’t worry, ALL IS WELL”. In our age we communicate in our own ways. We may not recite poetry to each but find ways to express our deepest feelings.
From this woman’s POV he has a thin face in the first scene, which looks good anyway (not haggard) and thereafter he looks really good. Both SRK and Deepika are looking good together in this song.
WTF is Abhishek doing here ..reduced himself to a Zayad Khan….NOT Done !
Even in the very last frame, it is first SRK, then Deepika, then Abhishek !!
ab yeh din aa gaye innke !!!
would advise some of you guys to wait a bit before celebrating..! For at least two reasons. One related to the film itself, one related to Abhishek’s part.
I think the movie will be Outstanding (I like the ensemble kinds) and Abhishek will have a status appropriate part.
On both counts, movie and significance of Abhishek’s role, Farah will do justice. If Farah wanted Zayed, she would have taken Zayed. This role fit Abhishek, she got Abhishek.
Since this hardly seems like a content based movie and more of ‘get my popcorn movies’ in line with the Kicks and Dhooms of the bollwyood world, movie needs to be sold to audience as srk’s big ticket offering coming after CE success. So the advertising is focused in this way to get max eyeballs and work as competition tool between the fans of the top 3/4 stars. Now considering the low ebb in abhi’s career this is not such a bad move and reasonable as this movie needs big opening / people in the theater first.
Secondly the expectations from audience will now be low from Abhi for screen time but with a full fledged role he will come out hogging all the limelight considering the underdog tag attached to him. He benefited tremendously in KANK due to this.
But, SRK! Come on. What on earth are you doing in this kind of movie ! He literally has the ability to do any script he wants, produce any movie he wants, be any character he wants, and what does he do? The same old stuff, Ra One, Chennai Express, and now this. I would love to see him in something totally offbeat. Barring the 8/10 packs yuckiness, he looks great for his age but at the same time has the maturity to portray really substantial characters. Doesn’t he get bored of doing the same stuff? What does he need? More blockbusters and money?
As per past interviews we have read Abhi took a lot of time to confirm this movie and then Farah had her own take later in some interview again, that srk was magnanimous in letting the limelight shift to other actors in this movie.
As per the promos until now, he clearly seems a sidekick but knowing his equation with Bachchans now above are two reasons I can think of…..
The thing is that if SRK isn’t going to keep even the ‘symbolic’ part for himself he really has nothing left to do in the movie! In other words a star who becomes part of an ensemble cast needs to have something going for him. I made this point earlier. You become the leader of the team, you get the girl, you have a few key moments otherwise and that’s all you need. The film of course will be sold on your name. The thing is that the director and SRK have both made a number of statements about the film and about Abhishek which are either totally false (a bit hard to believe for a variety of reasons, specially since they don’t say these things otherwise.. SRK went to the extent of saying that he initially wanted to do Abhishek’s part but didn’t feel he could do justice to it and that he’d be willing to compare Abhishek’s act here with some of his father’s work, that while no one could be the father the fact that Abhishek was doing something that wasn’t a copy and was nonetheless good enough was the greatest tribute.. then there were lots of things the director said.. both have not otherwise said this stuff about other stars and so on in their films) or else what you and I are arguing for has some merit to it. Ultimately it’s not a charity. SRK won’t show up if there’s nothing in it for him. Alternatively if he just wanted a solo for his home production presumably he would have done it! Of course I could be wrong. Not for the first time! LOL!
Maybe I’m thinking with too much logic but I just don’t see how a producer will make one of the most expensive movie with Abhi in the central role.
Producing it is one thing than think of downstream effect, who is going to buy it? Which distributor will spends crap load of money on buying it with knowing that fact? Especially when the distributor is Aditya Chopra.
Abhi could have a very good role like Rishi did in Naseeb or Coolie but Bachhan was the lead in those movies.
Nowhere have I seen SRK or Farah say that Abhi is the main lead or has the most important role in the movie.
Let’s think about it this way, if Abhis role is so great and so important/big, why would he take a lot of time to sign the movie? It’s not like he has a line of producers waiting for him.
This could all be wrong and Abhi truly is the main lead in this movie but I just don’t see it happenning. There’s just too much money involved. Bollywood is too star driven, it has always been like that.
don’t think anyone is suggesting he’s the ‘main’ lead. You’re setting up a straw man here. The point is he just needs to have a central role. And sometimes top stars can do films where they don’t necessarily have the most footage but the ‘best’ kind. There’s a difference. The distributor doesn’t have a problem with this. Every such person worth his salt knows that films which are liked last and vice versa. Stars only get people in. So as long as SRK gets people in the distributor isn’t too concerned about how the spoils are divided. Of course SRK has enough to do here. It would be quite absurd to suggest anything else. No one was saying this even for BB. It’s always relative significance and who grabs the audience’s attention more. Abhishek was clearly ‘supporting’ in KANK. But because he was going through a hot phase he got a lot of attention in the trailers and so on. And then people liked him more too. And if Abhishek took time, he might have had his reasons, but this doesn’t contradict anything I’ve said. Because it’s never just about footage but ‘kind’ of footage. If it’s D3 it’s more about length of role. In other cases it might be about quality of footage. My only point here is this — if he has a proper part here (as both Farah and SRK seem to keep saying, in fact they say more than this.. so the argument really isn’t with me but them!) I think he’ll do fine. One could also make the argument that the ‘only’ thing SRK can truly rely on in an ensemble cast is the symbolic stuff. Look at the trailers. He’s never alone except in the song situations. So the ensemble thing doesn’t seem incorrect. And who makes such a fuss about all this stuff if it’s just a SRK film? The amusing thing here is that far more than the Abhishek fans (who at least have a better reason to be concerned) the SRK fans are much more anxious about all of this! The thing in life is that we always reveal more than we intend to in the ways we talk about stuff!
But yeah this could be BB, it could be D3, or something in between. Let’s see. Obviously because Abhishek doesn’t have the symbolic bit in the advertising it cannot be the first. It doesn’t seem to be the latter based on everything we know. But whether the double is the kind of part where Abhishek can attract the most attention, be liked the most, is certainly not an unreasonable question to ask nor an unreasonable expectation to raise! And you and other SRK fans know this. There is this constant anxiety to say ‘he will have a good part’. One wishes to circumscribe things this way. But why even a ‘good part’. Maybe he has nothing! So there are lots of such examples. if the SRK fans believe everything they say they have nothing to worry about! They don’t need to keep asserting it. What’s the anxiety all about? Maybe it’s another D3 and you guys can go home happy!
I should also add some more slippage on your part here (Z). otherwise you say or suggest things like ‘oh the Desai films were multistarrers, it was’t just Bachchan’. Now you’re saying ‘Abhishek will be like Rishi Kapoor, in those films Bachchan was still the main lead’. Which is it? or ‘Abhishek is nobody’ but then ‘Rishi Kapoor was a big star’. A lot of completely contradictory positions that simply cannot be integrated into coherent argument. And the reason is a simple one — one can take all kinds of positions but there has to be some conviction to the argument. You can’t have conviction if you make it up as you go along and/or if the claims are completely absurd. Getting back to HNY I would have thought a SRK fan wouldn’t have seen anything so far to worry about? Why even get into a debate if one is certain about something and the evidence seems to back it up?
And again this whole ‘I think Farah Khan will give Abhishek a good role, I trust her’ is followed up by ‘actually Abhishek is just like Zayed Khan here’! Of course one evidently doesn’t trust Farah Khan (or SRK) enough because one doesn’t take their own statements seriously, even though neither one indulges in such kinds of claims normally. Once more it’s not about what the truth here is but that the positions are completely incoherent. To repeat one shouldn’t be in a war with the facts. Or be willing to accept them either way. An argument cannot stay exactly the same if the evidence clearly points in another direction. I thought D3 would be better than D2 for Abhishek but just after the first trailer I saw I was wrong and there wasn’t anything else that I knew about the film to make me believe that the trailers weren’t doing justice to Abhishek’s part. With BB I believed something else. I wasn’t wrong (Devgan was still one of the main leads here irrespective of however much attention Abhishek got). And so an argument has to be coherent internally but then certainly take account of the facts. If you say that Bachchan was acting in multistarrers and therefore had his hits this way one is simply not a serious person. If one says Aamir did Lagaan (though you didn’t say this particular thing) out of desperation because he couldn’t match SRK one is again not a serious person. If one says the same sorts of things about Abhishek when it’s BnB or Guru that one did when it was Raavan or whatever one is once again not a serious person. of course one can still keep saying this stuff. Sunil or one of the Samars here regularly treats us to that sort of ‘anything’!
You have a Jekyll and Hyde deal going incidentally. Certain days you’re rather reasonable, other days you say absurd stuff. One gets the sense you want some sort of ‘deal’ here. ‘If the Abhishek fans accept he’ll be supporting no matter what I’ll accept he has a good part that will help his career’!
” if the SRK fans believe everything they say they have nothing to worry about! They don’t need to keep asserting it. What’s the anxiety all about? Maybe it’s another D3 and you guys can go home happy!”
There is no worry, like I said, I never thought otherwise. It’s just you keep asserting abhis importance to hny so i’m stating what i see and feel it will be.
There’s no way this is another D3 type of deal for Abhi. At least I hope not.
Let’s look at it this way, Shryas role in OSO was no where near Zayed Khan in MHN. I think Abhis role will be as important as Zayed was in MHN or more. Only thing that confuses me is if his role is bigger than what Zayed had in MHN and SRK has his than what does that mean for other 4 (depeeka, boman, and the other 2).
Also, I think gone are the days where directors were able to etch out a role or scenes where a side actor with a 2 minute role can leave impact. Think of Iftekhar in Don, Mazhar khan in Shaan, Dr. ShreeRam Lagoo in Lawaaris, etc…(not saying Iftekhar or Mazhar had 2 minute role but you know what i’m trying to say)
You’re still oscillating in this response and you’re still anxious in this response but I’ve said enough for today. By the way there is this old thing about ‘only responding’ to something I’m saying. Otherwise all’s well. Yeah right! Because even relative to other stars you are not exactly ready to face facts about SRK! I’ll keep it simple. I never believe in runner-up prizes. Either Abhishek has an important part here and gets a lot of attention or he doesn’t. End of story. That’s the only standard I have! This should be easy to prove or disprove!
^^otherwise you say or suggest things like ‘oh the Desai films were multistarrers, it was’t just Bachchan’. Now you’re saying ‘Abhishek will be like Rishi Kapoor, in those films Bachchan was still the main lead’. Which is it? or ‘Abhishek is nobody’ but then ‘Rishi Kapoor was a big star’. ^^
LOL!! Great comment Satyam. You caught the slippage and how! Juggling between bringing down the father and the son turns out to be quite difficult task one must say!!
And for the other ‘brilliant’ opinion/fact [statistic?], regarding AAMIR turned superstar after always turning out second-rung to SRK, here is a ‘raddi’ evidence {to paraphrase Samar} regarding Aamir’s thinking and tendency wayyy before LAGAAN happened to him..
Check out what Vikram Bhatt and other directors say about him way back in 1996/1997..
There is no slippage or any thing contradictory in my post, it’s just couple bachhan fans chose to make it something which it’s not, nothing new there.
So, let’s give it a one more try.
Abhis role in HNY could be that of Zayed Khan in MHN, which is not bad at all or it could be as big as what rishi had in AAA, Naseeb but no matter which one it is, MHN was SRKs and AAA/Naseeb was bachhans.
Maybe I should use bachhan movie for both example, Navin Nischol role in Desh Pramee was no where near what Rishis role was in Naseeb but eitherway, both were bachhan movie.
Of course the world knows whose movie is HNY but couple bachhan feels othewise just like how they felt Abhi had a huge role in D3.
The way I see it is that years ago, emotions & relations played a role in how much screen time one got. Today that does not play that big a role.
Likewise today an actor like John Abraham will refuse even HNY because it does not enable the professional journey he would like to currently chart for himself.
In Desai’s days, the film were really ensemble. If he gave one actor a bigger role then he also made sure he made that role subservient in other ways so as to not offend the other actors. At the end, a multi starer was a multi starter not a solo hero movie.
In this age, HNY no matter what you call it, at the end of the day will be just the same old SRK wine in new bottle. There is so much money riding on today’s movies that the choice to be emotional does not exist. A ensemble like HNY will be a SRK tour de force garnished by the presence of other stars.
I liked this song. Also liked the way how everything DP touches takes fire. SRK looks weird but abhishek is funny in that bhajan scene. Good song but the movie needs a chart buster item number to get everyone hyped.
Satyam u might want to create a new thread. This ones too long.
One thing SRK fans need to fear is the timing of this release. Normally SRK and Aamir movies are all staggered so a real comparative analysis is never done on both as each is forgotten by the time next one has a release. But Srk got a royal beating by Aamir during Ghajini / RNBDJ days which not only was a better movie but put the box office on fire…
Here again it is going to be a direct comparison between HNY and PK when the year end analysis is done. Personally, I am really looking forward to PK with the entire tidbits we have got on movie plot line circulating on PV and other sites. I cannot wait for aamir to speak in ‘theth bhojpuri’
RNBDJ was a much smaller film compared to Ghajini which was more a mass driven masala movie. Even the promotions of RNBDJ was quite understated which went well with the profile of the movie. Ghajini was always expected to get a monster start but no one would have expected RNBDJ to become the second biggest grosser ever after Ghajini beating the likes of Dhoom. And I say this even though the movie was directed by Adi Chopra.
If both Aamir and SRK act in mass oriented movies, both will get almost equal initials, maybe Aamir’s will be slightly better but the disparity will not be on the lines of Ghajini and RNBDJ. Infact between HNY and PK i think HNY will get a better initial due to the timing of the release but PK might be the better movie with better legs due to the track record of the director.
On a related note, some years back Ram jaane and Akele Hum Akele Tum released on the same day and Ram Jaane was a bigger success simply because it was more mass oriented even though Akele Hum akele Tum was a wonderful wonderful movie even better than Kramer vs Kramer.
What I said above can be seen by the openings of CE and D3. One opened to 100 crores for 3 days and other opened to 105 crores and differential was around 10 crores taking into account the pre-screenings and that can be explained by a bigger brand name of Dhoom and a better star cast all around.
Royal beating would be if the difference betweeh RNBDJ and Gajini was like Jai Ho and Kick.
Chopra at the time had said that RNBDJ was thier most profitable film, the whole movie was made on low budget with the whole movie taking place in the House, dance studio and garage.
Sounds like MSDhoni is taking lessons from Taran 🙂
lol , okay I do feel ‘royal beating’ is a bit exaggerated and take my word back but I genuinely mean the narratives / perceptions part here since SRK was the top shot for those days and was coming with adi chopra /yrf combo , and the genre was romance / home turf……its just that the movie turned out to be small , hammy & kindergarten stuff with those hum hain rahi pyaar ke phir milenge chalte chalte crap.
You need to give credit to Aamir here who was coming in an action avatar with that diminutive structure and largely unknown director in bollywood in a masala set up which a lot of people were ignorant to till that time…. I am not talking about the box office numbers but the sheer impact/ hysteria this movie created compared to RNBJ a bigger movie on paper and the thanda response it got in those days…. even an adi chopra was caught sneaking to a theater to get a glimpse of this mass hysteria….one of the first movie to jump from max 75-80cr market cap to
100-120cr…..
Oh Amitabh still matters in the space occupied by SRK, Salman, Aamir w.r.t. box office? I thought he was a goner, so why even give him respect bringing him for comparison when the 71 year old is not even in the competition???
And wonder why inspite of being a flop for 20 years, Kashyap or Shoojit or Vidhu or Balki or Nambiar still want to work with him..Really crazy logic of these guys wanting to work with a guy whose movies have taken an incomparable ‘beating’ for the last 20 years..
Let me be blunt and say this that every half-important director in Bollywood will easily give an arm and a leg to work with Bachchan.
Kashyap, not long back, had some really terrible things to say about Bachchan. A couple of years later he is told to make one of the films for Bombay Talkies. Guess what! He pays an explicit tribute to Bachchan in that film. He then follows it up by writing and producing a TV show starring AB.
And it’s not just about top directors wanting to work with him, but also the new age, cutting edge Gen-Y guys like Bejoy Nambiar- that says a lot. Nambiar hasn’t taken Bachchan because he is going to give the box-office some major fillip (though even at this stage, given the right role Bachchan isn’t a lesser box-office force than Farhan; yes, Farhan had a big hit with BMB but we just saw the fate of Shaadi Ke Side Effects which also had Vidya) but simply because he knows that once you work with Bachchan your prestige becomes something else! Bachchan is still the final frontier for these directors- to put it differently, you can’t be considered a truly important commercial/mainstream director till you work with Bachchan.
And Bachchan’s detractors should be a little careful- with Balki, Shoojit and Nambiar (he hasn’t had this sort of line-up in the past some years) releases lined up for next year, 2015 might just turn out to be a very strong year for him. The Balki film with Dhanush should have strong legs at B.O. itself though all I am interested in is that we get 3 good films.
Is there a chance we can address the questions/issues you have raised and also leave Bachchan immune from the fall out of this exercise ?
I would love to answer the questions. Please suggest how we go forward without making this something anti Bachchan.
Your questions/issues are silly. The answers are very simple and straight forward. But I don’t want to be disrespectful to Bschchan while addressing your comments
Satyam: I remember reading from you .. something about Abhishek won’t be doing Dhoom 3 unless he had a great role. It totally made sense.. as YRF and Abhishek drifted apart after D2( he didn’t sign any new movie after D2’s release though he had couple releases signed earlier) and finally when signed Dhoom 3, he was expected to do it on his own terms.
I guess you realized you were wrong beyond words. Everyone knows how much his role turned out. What was the reason for comeback to YRF for such a role? Why couldn’t Abhishek reject the film saying there is not much role for him? That was the only movie where he could have shown some resistance as YRF had no choice but to please him with a better role. Getting a Blockbuster film to the credit without any role will not help anyone’s career. YRF would have given him better role if he had shown some resistance as doing a replacement in a franchise is not beneficial to YRF either.
Regarless of how fans feels about how things should be or could be, the industry is very pragmatic about all this.
This is a business’s which is as ruthless as any other business.
Hence I think that in the HNY ensemble everyone will be given his due. Farah will not waste anyone’s presence. But SRK is SRK if the others are stars, then he is the sun (considerably higher wattage). Here Z is right on the money, in this ensemble don’t expect SRK to play Abhshek’s role and vice versa.
Now how much anyone was woed, well this is show business, everything is for show & tell. It makes good copy.
“YRF had no choice but to please him with a better role”
I think they would have just replaced him with anybody else if abhi had made any demands.
Bollywood is too star driven andimage driven. I remember back in the 80s, if there’s a multi star film and theres a fight sequence between two main lead even how many punches are thrown and landed were counted.
If I’m Abhi, I do not sign D4 at any cost unless somehow he gets the role of the bad guy.
Yes, they would have replaced Abhishek with a far bigger and far better star. Then just to spite him, would have given the replacement some clap worthy dialogues and scenes. These guys put the great Raj Kapoor in his place.
When you are a small fish, almost chum, you don’t mess with the sharks.
‘ Why couldn’t Abhishek reject the film saying there is not much role for him? That was the only movie where he could have shown some resistance as YRF had no choice but to please him with a better role. ”
Z , I am referring to comment made by Master and the whole comment makes a lot of sense to what we have been discussing on Abhi and HNY.
Master Says:
September 10, 2014 at 10:37 PM
Satyam: I remember reading from you .. something about Abhishek won’t be doing Dhoom 3 unless he had a great role. It totally made sense.. as YRF and Abhishek drifted apart after D2( he didn’t sign any new movie after D2’s release though he had couple releases signed earlier) and finally when signed Dhoom 3, he was expected to do it on his own terms.
I guess you realized you were wrong beyond words. Everyone knows how much his role turned out. What was the reason for comeback to YRF for such a role? Why couldn’t Abhishek reject the film saying there is not much role for him? That was the only movie where he could have shown some resistance as YRF had no choice but to please him with a better role. Getting a Blockbuster film to the credit without any role will not help anyone’s career. YRF would have given him better role if he had shown some resistance as doing a replacement in a franchise is not beneficial to YRF either.
On D4, I hope YRF takes Salman. Looking at how Salman looked in Kick, he would be awesome in Dhoom series. Would love to see him bold, like Van Diesel.
I agree .. Devgan is man of words .. He promised to Give Abhishek meatier role in BB and he even fulfilled. Abhishek was very happy with outcome of his role and success of movie.
But these two khans are Kaminey No 1 … they can not afford to appear in lesser/equal position .. otherwise likes of Amitabh showed them that even few minutes appearance can dilute other’s 3 hours of screen capture .. just because of complexes of these khans we have not witnessed solid confrontation scenes since so many years now ..
The song is decent and seems to have hit the right notes. On Abhi the final outcome is still to be seen..but whatever I have seen from the trailers he seems to be out of place trying those comedy styles. Actually most of the star cast seems to be trying over the top comedy..don’t know how bad this Farah’s product is going to be. This would have looked more confident having only SRK and Deepkia…or at most Abhi..but with all those 5-6 extras this looks bad…really bad.(Not sure why they are getting so much of footage as they aren’t even small stars who can bring any audience..except Abhi offcourse) It could be laugh riot…not in a good way though but how bad the movie turns out to be.
Happy New Year-Movie @HNY 42m
“Musafir hoon mein door ka,
____”
Complete lyrics of this verse & win tickets for music launch on Sept 15 in Mumbai! pic.twitter.com/3MtWhdAssz
SATYAMSHOT 
August 14, 2014 at 8:58 AM
Krrish:
This looks a proper Diwali dhamaka to me. Can be fun if done properly. Abhishek seems to be doing the Namak Halal English thingy here 🙂
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August 14, 2014 at 9:09 AM
Yes, I like Abhishek here. I believe he can pull off a near Robin Williams like spontaneous (outside the script) act with a proper director. I also think Farah is best to bring that Abhishekism out of him.
For a moment notice his clothes in the English bit. The clothes matches the act and enhances the bit.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:12 AM
that’s probably the only moment I liked in the trailer. But again all of this is Rohit Shetty or even Sajid Khan in grander, more ‘refined’ (!) format.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:52 AM
Farah can never be as rooted as Rohit, likewise Rohit can never bring that glamor/bling as Farah
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August 14, 2014 at 1:37 PM
this is a ridiculous trailor but farah does that very well and HNY shd be way better than Sajid’s movie – although I loved OSO purely for the songs and Karz remake was done well – deepika rocked – still when I close the eyes that song Äankhon me teri…..is so refreshing…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5NB7qUqrEI
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August 14, 2014 at 9:00 AM
The music is awful though
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August 14, 2014 at 9:06 AM
I was expecting a better trailer than this. Quite poor on many levels. Clearly going to be more of the sort of excess Farah Khan specializes in. Would be surprised at significant trending here. it’s going to be the usual big bang followed by half decent trending (by today’s standards) and it will get to a big number. But I doubt this is good enough to get to the D3 number (unless the film is better than this). Now OSO had good enough trending but almost no big film today is able to double its initial like that film did. This trailer seems to suggest a film much like the second half of OSO. The posters and so on led me to believe otherwise but this trailer even for the terrain is poor. Some of the comedy especially is really at Sajid Khan’s level! A ‘grand’ trailer for sure but a tasteless one in many ways.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:11 AM
A lot will depend on which Farah Khan turns up – The TMK one (which actually mirrored a Sajid Khan film complete with the type of humor it had) or the MHN/OSO ones which seemed to have a semblance of a plot (with weaknesses, I am add). I would think that with that star cast, at least someone would have had the sense to ensure that Farah doesnt go the TMK way.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:12 AM
I meant (with weaknesses, I MAY add)
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August 14, 2014 at 9:17 AM
No I think this will like OSO or the second half of it. Because OSO had the Karz plot that at least gave it some sort of dramatic frame. This film won’t have that. It’s a heist yes so it will have just enough to keep it interesting at points but most of the film will have this ‘resort’ feel to it with huge dance numbers, comedy at every turn and then some action thrown in at the end. Enough to get massive week 1 numbers and then it should do at least what Kick did if not more. Now maybe with some hit numbers it can better that significantly but in any case there’s very unlikely to be significant trending here. And again leaving aside all that this is just a poor trailer. D3 was way better than this. My only point here is that they already have everything in place, they don’t quite need to stoop this low. This is exactly what I was referring to in the other longer comment.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:24 AM
You may be right on that count. The only solace is that I will still take OSO second half over a Sajid Khan type of movie. Lets just hope this one is better than that!!
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August 14, 2014 at 9:37 AM
Oh I would too..! But that’s a gun-to-the-head choice. In all seriousness I find Sajid Khan completely unwatchable. Wouldn’t even put him in the Rohit Shetty category. The latter at his best is way better than this. BB had some truly funny sequences and the first DLLJ-spoof moment in CE was inspired.
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August 14, 2014 at 11:15 AM
Sajid was okay with Heyy Baby and excellent with Houseful 2
(not Houseful) and then ran out of jokes and resorted to silly stuff which is more in home jokes than for paying public.
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August 14, 2014 at 10:30 AM
Terrible trailer, but also an unsurprising one coming from Farah Khan. In that sense, the only thing to lament here is Abhishek’s recession into the background of a circus he probably shouldn’t be in in the first place.
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August 14, 2014 at 10:36 AM
Don’t forget Houseful 3, that’s how low he has to stoop now. But I think from a commercial perspective this is as good as it’s gonna get for Abhishek. He hasn’t been able to get the ball rolling for the last 14-15 years, and now there is just too much competition.
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August 14, 2014 at 10:49 AM
Well for anyone who wants to get or keep the ball rolling these days, this is pretty much the only option. There’s no top star not named Aamir Khan (though D3 isn’t exactly some shining example of great cinema) who’s not doing garbage at some level to get by. Not one. Signing up to be a star in this industry in its current phase makes it a kind of prerequisite. Abhishek’s appeal is (was) precisely that he was working with interesting filmmakers, not simply the first-weekend mongers who slap something repulsive together and call it a movie. For that reason alone I’d say he never had it better than he did from Yuva through Raavan.
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August 14, 2014 at 10:56 AM
Agree.. I’d stretch it to DMD but that’s probably what you mean. He did have a great deal of box office success through Guru as well and only very intermittently since. But yes even within the lowest commercial format there ought to be at least a BB kind of deal. Otherwise things become pointless. He’s supposed to be starting his home production in Nov. An action-masala subject with the Idea ads director (whose first film, an Okkadu remake is releasing with Arjun Kapoor next year). But I really think he needs either a series of successful solos (he has the Umesh Shukla in Dec) or (and I would opt for this option) a project with massive reinvention that isn’t just about doing a successful solo but also getting some of that edge back.
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August 14, 2014 at 11:32 AM
Yeah DMD was his last important film. Ratnam in many ways “legitimizes” him more than anyone else. There hasn’t been a peep on that front for a while. A Rohan Sippy in the offing would help as well. He might be working back up to these guys by way of the Shuklas or whatever but that sort of attempt to transition or build steam strikes me as simultaneously cautious and risky.
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August 14, 2014 at 11:36 AM
agreed again.. the multistarrer bit can be a trap if not handled carefully. Saif for instance irrespective of where he was in his career hardly ever did these. It doesn’t make you a bigger star to just do solos if you can’t get them to work a certain way but the opposite is risky as well if the right projects don’t follow. He certainly has two solos in the pipeline, one about to release, one in the offing. Rumors about one with Aishwarya. But in any case he’s raised the stakes on himself. Ultimately however you do it you cannot abandon your signature or what defined you in the first place for too long.
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August 14, 2014 at 11:08 AM
Agreed, however I would say Ranbir is also not doing garbage, and even someone like Sushant Singh Rajput is trying to sign some good films, but let’s see if he becomes successful or not.
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August 14, 2014 at 3:36 PM
Besharam was disgustingly garbage
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August 14, 2014 at 9:09 AM
Honestly this looks very silly humour doesnt work at all didnt find anything funny but this should post up some big numbers for obvious reasons .
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August 14, 2014 at 9:11 AM
Satyam said what i wanted to i too felt like in the middle this is the trailer of Sajid khan upcoming films .
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August 14, 2014 at 9:13 AM
not sure if Nahta saw the same trailer KomalNahta @ DM FAV RT ? 17:04
HNY trailer. Unreal, outstanding, suuuuperb, u haven’t seen something like this on Indian screen! Hats off. Huge blockbuster on its way!!!
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August 14, 2014 at 9:19 AM
they say this for every other film. they’re just part of the advertising campaign.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:22 AM
Oh this was terrible…OSO had much better comedy than this.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:27 AM
I see a block buster.
DP, after CE, is again doing her accent bit which only means repeat foot falls.
Abhishek seems comfortable for the first time in exposing the side of him which people see in real life. Before HNY this “goofball” side has never really come alive on screen, but in HNY it appears he is putting it out there.
Sonu’s seems like he is showcasing his “hero ” credentials.
Of course it appears that SRK is there in an Avatar that his world wide audience want him. The energy, the comedy, the romance, the little engine that could spirit, all is there. Just SRK factor alone will take the movie to record territory.
I like that he gave everyone so e exposure in the trailer.
I am not in the prediction game, but this will reach 100 Cr in the shortest time.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:31 AM
I liked the streaked hair look of SRK in the opening scene. The worst part of the trailor is the comedy pieces and the music.
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August 14, 2014 at 10:00 AM
Your objections are fair. The things you did not like sell. DP’s accent will sell like hot cakes. Abhishek’s rendering of his father’s old line will have people in splits.
SRK is there too anchor the film. Just with one scene, or with just one expression he can redirect.
The overall story is good. Six losers pose as dancers to job. This plus Dubai will set the stage for an enjoyable movie.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:39 AM
Abhishek has done all kinds of comedy before from Dostana to BB to the more understated kind elsewhere. He’ll probably have a number of looks here though.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:46 AM
These days, if you are looking for good indian comedy, then watch youtube channels like Qtiyapa and AIB. Bollywood is so far behind from that level of brilliance.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:48 AM
IMO the filmfare sequence in OSO is the best thing Farah has ever done. Was hoping for that kind of comedy.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:58 AM
The OSO trailer didn’t show the filmfare sequence. you can’t show the whole 3 hour movie in 3 minute trailer 🙂
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August 14, 2014 at 10:00 AM
Trailer did clear up one thing for sure, this is SRK movie from start to end (no that many thought otherwise).
The rest are like Zayd or Shriyas in MHN and OSO except in this it will be divided into many.
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August 14, 2014 at 11:14 AM
Thanks for clarifying .. responsibility of its debacle will be with SRK only.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:04 PM
some here thought it was gong to be abhis show all the way.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:13 PM
I never thought it would be Abhishek’s show.. I was saying something quite different.. I still maintain that though this clearly doesn’t look like a BB deal. of course those who couldn’t find Abhishek’s show even in BB or Guru or anything else are hardly best-suited to comment in these matters! Much as those who think SRK is still SRK whether he has a big grosser every year or once in 7 years are also in no position to comment! The thing as always is that if there is honesty a lot of discussions can be had. You aren’t honest even when it comes to Aamir forget Abhishek! We’ve similarly seen your statements about Bachchan Sr, AAA just the other day. with that kind of attitude or delusion one can hardly expect others to have a serious conversation. I’ve nonetheless tried in vain!
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August 14, 2014 at 11:11 AM
The trailer is full of special effects and hope comedy tracks are properly done for audience and not jokes within themselves. Disappointed!
Will wait for srk to start his next innings with Fan / Manish Sharma and Raees / Dholakia – Excel.
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August 14, 2014 at 11:19 AM
Comments, Like/Dislike are disabled for #HappyNewYearTrailer .. this is bad omen. All movies flopped in past whose comments were disabled .. Hummatwala .. Humshakal .. Besharam .. etc etc
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August 14, 2014 at 11:21 AM
The only +ve from this trailer is expectations from regular movie folks will be extremely low and if the movie turns out okayish then wom will be better which will may work in its favor like what just happened with Kick. .
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August 14, 2014 at 11:40 AM
Thank god SRK reminds us that this is promo .. mujhe laga picture khatam hone wali hai. BTW what is left to show in movie ? SO predictable and dabba content ..
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August 14, 2014 at 12:06 PM
kind of like your commetns.
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August 14, 2014 at 11:52 AM
I think the reaction here is a bit over the top. What exactly were people expecting from a Diwali entertainer? IMO the trailor is not a classic but its par for a Diwali movie. The movie sets the tone nicely and introduces the character and plot line. The comedy is too loud and music awful but again I think that may not be palatable to me but should be fine for the general audience who have made movies like BG, Kick etc hit which were far worse than this.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:10 PM
The thing is one can’t use Kick or whatever as a standard if one (not meaning you) ridicules this stuff otherwise. Obviously I would never confuse Farah Khan with Hirani (!) but is the Dhoom standard too much to ask? No one’s looking for anything cutting edge here but this is the lowest kind of comedy disguised as a ‘grand’ production. yes this is what Bollywood now is. And I don;’t have too many doubts about its commercial response either (though I very much do on the trending). But there can be such a thing as too much. And this film seems rather excessive even considering everything. Almost like a stage show in disguise. But I otherwise don’t have any illusions about an audience that rewards some of the films you’ve mentioned. There’s now a very fair chance that CE will turn out to be a lot better than this film. Barring the grandeur can’t Farah Khan top even that film? I mean we’ve come to the point where the best of Rohit Shetty seems to be a hard standard to live upto? Does this seem to be a better film than BB? Folks criticized D3. I can understand some of the criticism but did that film have anything remotely approaching this sort of badness? Let’s call a spade a spade. OSO trailers were a lot better than this. The 33 song bit came a bit later but the first long trailer was fine. This whole film looks like that 33 song moment! Actually SRK himself isn’t doing much here. But he’s realized at this stage of his career that he doesn’t need to. he just needs to get the circus going, be symbolically important (lines, songs etc) and let the show run its course. This is neither the Aamir nor the Salman logic where they really have to do everything in the film without distractions. CE was closer to that model. This one isn’t. In his home production SRK decided not to take even the CE sort of risk.
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August 14, 2014 at 11:57 AM
Such foul language has never been used in indian commercial cinema. Srk’s home production sets new low level every time. [edited]
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August 14, 2014 at 11:58 AM
Srk should be ignored and finished for the sake of cinema and more importantly institutions like family and society.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:03 PM
Raghav, first off you should watch what you’re saying. I removed one comment, seriously edited the other. There was truly disgusting stuff in the comment I edited. Quite an irony given what you’ve been saying about SRK.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:11 PM
when such poor defense are at work for such character in industry. And people here are displaying sympathy for such character, wow…great go take your kids to this one, enjoy
I will better switch off tv or change the channel every time this trailer pops up rather than allowing my children ask me meaning of cuss words used in here.
You can describe to your children meaning of words used by your beloved srk.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:15 PM
This is happening in every other film. Anyway even if one wants to be biased about it there ought to be a limit on what one says. You said some pretty awful stuff. One can be totally against someone, totally biased even but one shouldn’t reduce oneself to that kind of language. Specially if one is going to criticize SRK or whoever for vulgarity! It’s quite humorous actually.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:18 PM
It is definitely U/A movie just like Raone was and promoted in the name of family movie by so called dignified International icon of Indian Cinema . LOL
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August 14, 2014 at 12:21 PM
‘Specially if one is going to criticize SRK or whoever for vulgarity’
LOL. I know my audience here no one is kid here and we can discuss adult content.
”Specially if one is going to criticize SRK’
ROFL. What you have for srk in your heart, can you open up finally?, Satyam.
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August 14, 2014 at 5:30 PM
I think civility should be a constant and shouldn’t depend on whether one likes someone or not. Going a bit overboard sometimes is something we all do but one shouldn’t fall below a certain level. It’s especially disgusting (yes I’ll use that word again because you used your word again too) to come up with such analogies. I am the harshest critic of contemporary Bollywood. I’m not known for being a SRK fan either. And I have the least taste for the Sajid Khans of the industry. But one can say all this without stooping to that level.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:14 PM
You have problem when i used word whorehouse for srk while this is private forum and all are adults here. But, nothing against SRK displaying his filthy mind at display on public channel in the name of mainstream commercial cinema. Huh
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August 14, 2014 at 12:00 PM
Trailer overall was decent, I didn’t like the trailer of CE that much but the film turned out to be better than the trailer. There’s only 2 comedy bits here, both which unfortunately are like Sajid Khan- anything near Rohit Shetty humor would have been great. Disappointed with the humor. SRK looks dashing, this is the best he has looked in a while. Even without the beard he looks great. The blonde streak which looked stupid in public looks nice here. His acting is great in everything except once again the OTT comedy. Deepika was ok, she seems like she’s trying to do another Meenama but not succeeding. She look amazing though. Abhishek is a WTF and without a doubt he will get a terrible response from the audience for this. Sonu Sood looks bland, and the Justin Bieber kid may surprise, he is Naseerudin Shah’s son after all.
The production values are grand but that’s expected with a SRK starrer-All of his movies from the Darr/DDLJ have had grand production values, the other stars are just playing catchup to him now (D3, Kick etc). Vishal-Shekhar said there are 8 songs in the film- the song we hear at the beginning sounds like either SRK’s intro song and a chartbuster. Deepika will definitely have her Sheila Ki Jawaani, another chartbuster. Honey Singh is doing a song, so there’s the 3rd hit song. The Indiawalle song sounds ok but it’ll probably be over promoted and the video will be good forcing it to be the 4th chartbuster. The Mika Singh song in the trailer is bad as is the Sukhwinder Singh song (there was a leaked video on youtube with 30 sec of this song and it was bad). That leaves 2 songs, a romantic song which should be decent given V-S and something else. I still have high hopes for the music.
Farah Khan in each on of her movies has combined 2 different themes- in MHN it was the army officer going to college and the whole step-brother family drama. In OSO it was the film industry and the reincarnation story. In TMK it was the heist and movie. This seems like TMK and OSO combined. I don’t think she has learned a lot from TMK unfortunately.
This should easily get to 250 crores with the amount of promotion, hype, songs, more promotion, holiday release and if it’s as good as CE, then 300 and if it’s 3/4ths as good as OSO then 300+. I will say though if this movie is anywhere near as bad as TMK then 1000% of the blame goes to SRK. At least I personally will put all the blame on SRK something I didn’t even do with Ra.1
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August 14, 2014 at 12:18 PM
“This should easily get to 250 crores”
I don’t think it’s that easy to get to that amount unless the movie is good and connects with the paying audience.
“I will say though if this movie is anywhere near as bad as TMK then 1000% of the blame goes to SRK”
Agree, I will not blame Farah. All blame should be on SRK and SRK alone. In past he has listened to his heart and followed blindly for his friends but I would think now he has wisen up little bit and not be that trustful.
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August 20, 2014 at 11:52 AM
This whole absurd theory propagated by SRK fans that he blindly trusts friends and works with them unbindingly is hogwash of the highest order. Who are SRK’s friends & family? Karan Johar? Aditya Chopra? Farah Khan? Yash Chopra? And who are these? Are they some miserable 2nd tier directors? [Not talking of quality here [except Yash]; talking of their moolah generating quotient.] It is not as if SRK has worked with imbeciles or directors who didn’t know what ‘ACTION’ meant! This theory is just to falsely underline: ‘Oh SRK is so magnanimous. Look he doesn’t even read the scripts. He just blindly trusts the people and works with them. And because he is such a MASSIVE superstar, HE ends up validating these directors!’
LOL. As though SRK became a superstar by just taking a walk in the part where he offered himself to random peanut vendors & ended up making renowned directors out of them! SRK trusted them blindly BECAUSE he knew how wisely they knew how to sell him as a product of the ‘90s and a post economic-liberalization guy. Karan Johar walked into the GAP store in London and SRK walked into CALVIN KLEIN and both then realized how compatible their complicated philosophies about life are and joined hands. As simple as that. SRK is a marketing expert and knows too well his SWOT to be swayed by ‘friendships’ with incompetent peeps. He is too sharp a guy to leave things to ‘chance.’ David Dhawan was hot during the ‘90s. Why didn’t he work with him? Why didn’t RGV work with him? Because SRK knew his limitations—although he proclaimed that he is the ‘king’ and the ‘best’ actor in the world on month –after-month of Filmfare issues—and that his friends would present him in a way that would mask them. They would make the audiences remember him with his ‘arms-stretching’ moments and not with his envious ability to lapse into hamming! One just needs to see CHENNAI EXPRESS where he is god awful with respect to coming timing & at his hammiest best after RAM JAANE [this one really takes the cake].
Contrast this with Amitabh Bachchan and you will know the real meaning of working as a favor and trusting them blindingly. Who does he work with? LEENA YADAV? SUJOY GHOSH [pre- Kahaani]? Ravi Chopra? The Ganga guy? [his make-up guy?] Rumi Jaffry? Apporva Lakhia? Ravi Sharma Shankar? Samir karnik? Honey Irani? At least the Bachchan fans admit that SALIM-JAVED had major contributions in creating the angry young man persona and Mukherjee and Desai instrumental in bringing to fore the myriad acting chops of this powerhouse talent. [Though there are innumerable instances of Bachchan even during his peak days working with sub-standard directors and literally elevating their films to super-hits ONLY due to his presence.]
Even the DARR thingy is ridiculous considering that SUNNY DEOL was given the most thankless role. The ENTIRE film was written with emphasis on the author-backed negative character of an arsehole psycho [dumbed down to the maximum extent possible from both the B&W and De-Niro’s CAPE FEAR]. Not a SINGLE viewer in the theater would empathize with Sunny Deol’s character who was only protecting his wife from a psycho stalker! Aamir realized that Yashji was fishy in not providing a joint narration and walked out [though he would be the one that would be the beneficiary since it was THE important role in the film!] Trust my foot! To SRK’s credit, he was still newly stamping his foot-prints and hence took on the role anyway.
Nobody is ‘judging’ SRK here. At least I am not! SRK has every right to be selfish and to do whatever he wants to sustain his stardom. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that.The issue is only when his fans try to make a ‘saint’ out of him by spouting bull like his following his heart and placing friendship over career etc etc..,
P.S.: the only time SRK’s brain went into a coma was when he hired ANUBHAV SINHA to direct RA1. I don’t know what he saw in him. I am sure even Anubhav Sinha must also be wondering that.
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August 20, 2014 at 12:35 PM
“One just needs to see CHENNAI EXPRESS where he is god awful with respect to coming timing & at his hammiest best after RAM JAANE [this one really takes the cake]’.
There is a Anupama Chopra’s and Mihir Fadvanis’s review on CE somewhere on the net which summarizes srk’s part very well. Even I felt sad watching him do those squirmish scenes which I thought he was doing out of desperation since last couple of movies had failed and he had to resort to a shetty,who incidentally was still receiving brickbats for gomaal series.
But bandey ki kismet buland hai and look where the box office numbers took him with that movie. In a way he owes it to Salman for vacating the Eid berth due to delay in Jai Ho otherwise box office numbers would be vice versa for these movies.
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August 20, 2014 at 12:49 PM
Anupama Chopra
Mihir Fadnavis
Above links refresh our memories!!
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August 14, 2014 at 12:02 PM
Agree there but there is always that hope with big stars that something worthwhile has been done esp if groundwork before filming took a lot of considerations/ time and movie is not a quick fix.
Alas the wait for that perfect storm at the box office with big star just got longer!!
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August 14, 2014 at 12:03 PM
Jackie with just one glimpse and one look tells us why he was once (and even now), such a big thing.
This is what is Farah’s talent. She showcases the best aspect of an artist.
Look at Sonu at around 1:19 ; 2:47 ; and 2:56, this is the on screen Sonu that Sonu himself wants to be. Leave it to Farah to bring it out of him.
I like the confidence with which Shahrukh says in the end “This is just a trailer, the movie is yet to come”.SRK fans goto the movie to see that SRK.
I have a feeling that the whole of India will unite in cheering on the Indiawaale (just like CDI). This is going to be big.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:14 PM
I thoght the promo was okay but it’s what i expected.
Problem is some here becomes Raja Sen when it comes to SRK movies.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:15 PM
yeah and some ‘expect’ whatever is on display when it comes to SRK!
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August 14, 2014 at 12:26 PM
Z
This is as calculated to unite Indian audience as CE was. There a Farah’s version of CDI running along side a thriller. This “patriotic” angle will trump Raja Sen.
Very few pay to buy Raja Sen quality. Sure the Abhishek at 1:47 looks silly, but that is what sells and what matters is that many people tried to get this level of naturalness out of Abhishek, but only Farah succeeded.
Judge the movie for what it purports to be, and not what you would like it to be. Farah made her movie, Raja Sen (like Khalid Mohammed) should make his movie.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:41 PM
True, it’s like going to an Indian restaurant and than say that it doesn’t have good american food.
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August 14, 2014 at 1:46 PM
its all done and dusted, pushing and shuving it will do about 150cr and that is a “flop”……
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August 14, 2014 at 12:28 PM
This one might pass Kick at BO but barely. A 90 -100 CR Weekend is almost assured but I would be shocked if this does not go down the 2nd weekend. CE had a much more interesting trailer.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:52 PM
90 to 100 weekend over Diwali will be a huge let down. Bare minimum expect this to touch 40 to 45 criores on Diwali day. I would say anything less than 120 crores over a 3 day weekend will be an under performance.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:54 PM
40-45 CR means a 95-100% capacitiy ALL INDIA. It has never happened and I don’t see it happening here either.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:55 PM
It can happen on certain days, day after Diwali being one….This is releasing on 23rd. Not sure when is Diwali day if 23rd is Diwali post pooja day expect minimum 45 crores just on that day. If its 24th, then it will be around 35 to 40 crores on that day as that is second day then.
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August 14, 2014 at 1:07 PM
45 CR is a 9 freakin CR jump from the previous high. That’s asking too much (even on a diwali)
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August 14, 2014 at 1:10 PM
The previous high was on a working day. Its a high bar but if you have such a big film and hype to match it, you need to have a high bar too…
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August 14, 2014 at 12:33 PM
I am also getting a OCEANS 11 kind of feeling from this one….or may be it’s THE ITALIAN JOB.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:43 PM
looks way too garish and hollow.
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August 14, 2014 at 12:48 PM
A poor trailer, rather flat — I certainly recall the Om Shanti Om trailers as being better than this, although that might just be memory’s gloss (certainly the film was bad).
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August 14, 2014 at 12:57 PM
Garfield may have an excess Sarcasm brain freeze after watching this Promo.
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August 14, 2014 at 1:23 PM
It’s a blatant and still poor attempt to follow Aamir. D3, Ocean 11 and Abhi’s Players (Mastermind Charlie Mascarenhas..now SRK is Charlie in this) most certainly got evoked in this.
In D3 at least Aamir and Kat was 1st time novelty but here it’s not. DP looks stale here.
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August 14, 2014 at 1:41 PM
Aamir’s next – http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140814/entertainment-bollywood/article/aamir-khans-next-titled-dungal
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August 14, 2014 at 1:45 PM
Aamir in SRK thread 🙂 ? I don’t think it is confirmed.
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August 14, 2014 at 3:16 PM
He def looks really beefed up in this pic
http://www.oyetimes.com/cinema/masala/68642-check-out-amitabh-bachchan-meets-aamir-khan-at-yash-raj-studios
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August 14, 2014 at 1:42 PM
At least it will do 100% in Dubai, the city has been showcased brilliantly here.
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August 14, 2014 at 2:07 PM
So now Kick has become stale and HNY is the new flavour and talk of the town. The audience is so fickle. No one seems to care for tomorrow’s release Singham. Rohit Shetty must be nervous.
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August 14, 2014 at 3:07 PM
Singham Returns will find its audience since this is a sequel. Tomorrow being holiday will work in its favor and audience including me is dying for some content / sequences / turn of events and seeti maar moments.
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August 14, 2014 at 3:12 PM
first day 25 crores is on the cards
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August 14, 2014 at 3:11 PM
Singham returns is set for 20+ cr opening. Bookings are excellent.
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August 14, 2014 at 3:12 PM
Though, i am not interested in singham anymore, its trailer was bad. And songs were cruel.
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August 14, 2014 at 2:33 PM
‘Circus’ is the word that comes to mind…
Comment of the day goes to Satyam here
https://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/happy-new-year-trailer/#comment-276499
Yeah srk is well within himself and seems to be content just keeping the circus going..but that’s the catch
Haven’t watched it properly but the trailer seems subpar–but that’s not a surprise (& may not matter)
SRK has got his priorities clear–he neither has quality in mind nor a certificate in acting credentials –he can do both actually if needed.
He’s chasing “success” which here is box office –simple!
With his huge audience/fan base, srk doesn’t really need to pull a rabbit out of nowhere (or go nude!)
The most charismatic & successful star in Bollywood
The father of hype
Keeps showing why he is up there–Feel proud of srk
Ps: deepika continues to look yummy– her role is also up for grabs 🙂
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August 14, 2014 at 2:35 PM
Wow, this is garbage. It’s less of an ensemble movie and more of a SRK movie with a lot of supporting cast. The cinematography looks well done and the cast seems to be on track, but other than that, it looks awful. The jokes are unfunny. It seems to have a nonexistent story. This might be the first SRK movie that I’ll skip watching in theatres.
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August 14, 2014 at 3:12 PM
@Arsh -‘This might be the first SRK movie that I’ll skip watching in theatres’.
lol ! Aisa kahan hota hai. Somehow we will all end up at theater for and then this is not even a solo starrer. If you are in India, Diwali ki chutthi mein ek film toh family deserve karti hai. It’s a pity they have gotten away with multiple options now which were there at least a few years back.
Either go and watch this trash otherwise thullu pakad ke ghar baitho……but for that you need lots of forbearance.
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August 14, 2014 at 3:35 PM
I don’t live in India. I live in Canada. I could easily catch some Hollywood films without a problem. I don’t know. If the later trailers excite me, I’ll go watch it. But, this looks like crap (this coming from a person who almost liked RA.One).
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August 14, 2014 at 3:33 PM
Forget Singham Returns or Vanishes or Happy New year or Crappy New year or who gets how much footage..the only ‘release’ I am looking forward to is this…
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2600578/Playboy-to-release-nude-images-of-Sherlyn-Chopra-on-Independence-Day
Sabko Aazadi mubarak ho..
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August 14, 2014 at 3:41 PM
I thought she had already posted the nudes on Twitter many months ago. In any case, its her body, she can do what she wants.
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August 14, 2014 at 4:47 PM
–In any case, its her body, she can do what she wants.–
That’s what even I wish NyKavi..for her to please do ‘whatever’ she wants with her body!! I mean her, Nandana Sen, and Poonam Pandeyji..
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August 14, 2014 at 4:02 PM
Aapko bhi mubarak ho !! Issey kehte hain setting free. Agla number Ms Sherawat ka….though Jackie Chan has obliged a lot of her fans earlier.
If you don’t mind do you know when the print edition of this hits the stands. Online has complications you know what i mean…
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August 14, 2014 at 5:40 PM
lol..saw the pictures yesterday. Don’t know what to say 🙂
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August 14, 2014 at 3:54 PM
Cant say I am impressed. Looks pretty mediocre to me.
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August 15, 2014 at 9:42 AM
Production Value are mediocre ?
Story with heist, national competition, romance, revenue, mediocre ?
Indiawalle song mediocre ?
I see a rich symphony being offered to us. I see records (not in the prediction business)
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August 14, 2014 at 4:41 PM
A very noisy trailer, and loud music. Deepika swinging around like Katrina. In fact it reminds me of D3 trailer.
I cringed at a short Amir Khan posing away with hands on hips, and here at that very silly comedy. How could they even act that scene?
But that will bring in the crores just as D3 brought in, in spite of….
Even the scenes of jumping down from the building…ok in D3 he ran down it, and the scene where they show the place where the diamonds are, seem to be like D3.
SRK looks good. Abhishek looks interesting and I think better comedy will come from him. Hope Deepika isn’t left squirming around incessantly in skimpy clothes, and will have something more to do.
Terrible music…errr noise.
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August 14, 2014 at 5:33 PM
Think the posters made more of an impact than the trailer.
The reason some of the scenes look like D3 are because both are inspired from similar Hollywood sources. D3 did the Dark Knight more than anything else. I’d like to say this is thematically more Ocean’s 11 (and it’s more this than TDK I suppose!) but what a chasm between the aesthetics of this film and Soderbergh!
On the music think it’s par for the course these days and Farah Khan never came up with subtle soundtracks anyway. There should be the OSO sort of mix here.
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August 14, 2014 at 5:34 PM
by the way I didn’t like the Bang Bang trailer either but in terms of what each does relative to genre I’d take that over this one. And D3 easily over both. Just referring to the theatrical trailer in each case.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:36 PM
In some ways, HNY is like Ocean’s Eleven by Baz Luhrmann. Sure Luhrmann and Sodetburgh see the world in different colors but it is not as if Soderburgh is Tom Ford.
I bet you that if Farah had recreated the look and feel of Ocean’s Eleven, people would have complained that she is such a dunce that she does not know the difference between Las Vegas and Dubai. OR that she lack originality.
To me it appears that HNY is aiming higher. It does not want to be just Bollywood’s answer to Ocean’s Eleven. Farah is more ambitious than that. Yes HNY is a OE type heist movie set in a casino/resort in Dubai. But along with being a thriller with high production value, it is also a CDI transfered from a hockey field to a dance floor.
But wait, Farah is aiming even higher. She has added romance, revenge, comedy, …. in short this is not just Sanjay Gandh’s Ocean Eleven. Hence expect more than just Soderburgh’s sensibilities. This is a Farah Khan movie.
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August 14, 2014 at 10:07 PM
I think she is aiming for Terrence Malik and Martin Scorsese territory. After all she is Farah Khan!
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August 14, 2014 at 10:36 PM
Rajen
Why not ?
She can be anything she wants to be.
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August 14, 2014 at 10:40 PM
Rajen
Go sniff some glue
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August 14, 2014 at 10:30 PM
LOL This must be most hilarious comment in recent times of SS history.
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August 14, 2014 at 10:36 PM
SRK fans are no ordinary morons. They are a special kind.
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August 15, 2014 at 3:04 AM
Really guys? Are we getting down to personal attacks now? Can someone please explain to me how generalization of a type of people is acceptable in any way? Sorry Rajen, but that one-liner is worse than the jokes in this trailer!
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August 15, 2014 at 3:15 AM
Rajen Sir and SRK fans ka chattis ka akra hai!
ps Key
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August 15, 2014 at 5:03 AM
Munna, it just seems very feeble to me. Is there a single point in personally attacking a person just because they don’t agree with you (especially something artistic and extremely subjective). Yes rajen, I’ll say it. I think Shah Rukh is great. I think he’s amazing. And no, not his performances (even though those are up there too), but because of my personal story. I’ll link you it, and if you want, you can watch it and I hope we can just be friends who don’t call each other morons.
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August 17, 2014 at 6:04 AM
Arsh
Just saw your clip.
Do not let pathetic fools define your existence. I am so proud that you pulled through.
Inspired.
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August 14, 2014 at 6:08 PM
Really bad trailer…if not SRK movie this would have been declared another TMK after the trailer itself…the comedy and most of the things look over the top and so does the performances from the trailer…OSO and MHN trailers were much better.
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August 14, 2014 at 6:40 PM
Pretty Surprising
@RajeevMasand: In @TheFarahKhan we trust! #HappyNewYearTrailer is busy, noisy, colorful. So much going on, hav to watch it a few times to enjoy everything!
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August 14, 2014 at 9:48 PM
Raj
I am not surprised, this appears to be a high quality symphony
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August 14, 2014 at 10:32 PM
What does “high quality symphony” mean, I didn’t get it. Also I completely agree with your comment above about this being Om Shanti Om with Oceans Eleven and CDI. I hadn’t even thought about how good the Whole indiawale thing could be if done right
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August 14, 2014 at 11:09 PM
Raj
When different pleasing elements combine to produce something that is greater than just the sum of its parts.
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August 15, 2014 at 12:04 AM
Oh Ok got it makes sense. Also one thing that this trailer does well that Kick/D3/ETT failed at is that this hasn’t shown all the best scenes in the trailer. The “visual” treats are still yet to be seen, which for this movie is the heist scenes. For Kick all the good action scenes (bicycle scene, motorcycle, bus) were already in the trailer and there really was nothing new in the movie as was in the D3 trailer (Aamir’s intro running down the wall, Abhishek-Uday in the slum, Aamir driving the motorcycle out of the Truck).
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August 15, 2014 at 12:17 AM
Raj
Time will tell.
If the movie is good, then it will be a treat. If the movie is bad, then no skin off my back.
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August 14, 2014 at 9:08 PM
Finally saw it, only thing I would like to add is this looks the grandest trailer and looks like lots of money is spent on the production!
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August 14, 2014 at 9:15 PM
Salman Khan – @beingsalmankhan
Jst saw happy new year ka promo , its Kick ass .
Hrithik Roshan – @ihrithik
HahahaWOW! Happy new year. Makes u want 2 celebrate already. @iamsrk @juniorbachchan @deepikapadukone @thefarahkhan time 4 sm Mad n masti!
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August 14, 2014 at 10:38 PM
Piss poor trailer. Farah Khan seems to find it difficult to stick to the theme and cant help going all spoofy!
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August 15, 2014 at 1:04 AM
RajRoshan: I actually think, it is very much in the TMK territory. Trying to be spoofy, and ending up being very unfunny. KIck on the other hand surprised me by being just the opposite. One expected something that threw logic and structure out of the window. But it had a a very coherent narration, character development and an elegant story-telling mode. This is all over the place, and revealing bad craftsman in every department . From Om Shanti Om to this seems a bit like moving from Dabang to Besharam.
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August 15, 2014 at 1:07 AM
Bandra NI: ‘But along with being a thriller with high production value, it is also a CDI transfered from a hockey field to a dance floor.” Yes. But does Farah Khan have the talent for either an Ocean Eleven level thriller , or a CDI level detailed human drama? Not by a mile – judging by MNH, OSO and TMK.
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August 15, 2014 at 9:23 AM
Utkal
You are different than me, I am different than Sanjana, Sanjana is different than Satyam, and Satyam is different than Z
Tell me, does this difference make anyone less ? Difference does not make anyone less, difference is what makes us interesting. Everyone was saying rubbish about D3 and you came and give a sincere but “different” slant, well that difference suddenly made the discussion interesting.
If you are predisposed to thinking that Pizza is less than “Biryani” then that prejudice in you will make all a Pizza Chefs appear less talented or worthy of praise than the Biryani Chefs. But, in reality you will find many out there who do not even know what Biryani is. For them Biryani Chefs are as worthless as a typewriter repair technician.
You are predisposed to certain cinema. That is understandable. You may not like Farah Khan, that too is acceptable. This is all a matter of personal preference. Farah’s talent (one of them) lies in spoofing films (Rohit also tried that in CE and it paid off), now if you don’t like spoofs then that will make you not appreciate Farah. But Farah is not any less than those you like.
TMK was a mistake. Farah is a city person. Her vision needs the gloss and glamour of a city (or some prestigious institution etc). Her mistake was to set TMK in a rural backdrop.
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August 15, 2014 at 9:53 AM
But the one problem with that logic is that it becomes hard to separate the good film from the bad one. So one shouldn’t criticize Sajid Khan because he’s clearly trying to just make low grade over the top comedies! One shouldn’t say an Adam Sandler comedy is worse than a Scorsese because they’re doing different things!
That’s one problem. But there’s also another slippage here. Why is your imagination so limited that you cannot conceive of a better trailer on this terrain than the one Farah Khan put out? I ask this rhetorically? I’m not saying that she become someone else but is the MHN standard so hard to live upto? Is the standard of the first OSO trailer that much harder? You can have grand films that are even over the top but do you really have to be quite so crass about it? When you’re otherwise pretending that you’re making India’s biggest film or grandest film or whatever (SRK said this in the press conference and he probably says this about every other film of his!)? Doesn’t Rohit Shetty show that you can do a better version of Sajid Khan? And it’s not as if he’s some Hirani!
This argument is advanced by people all the time when they want to defend the indefensible. The funny thing is that when out then comes to films like Raavan or Talaash it’s about script problems and what not. Then it’s never about what the directors actually wanted to do or not! hey let’s not give Ratnam the benefit of the doubt! let’s give it to farah Khan!
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August 15, 2014 at 10:57 AM
Satyam
Is it possible that nostalgia is making your heart fonder ? I was not around here during MHN/OSO etc but I bet the same was hurled at those trailers. I bet people then asked why were those trailers not as good as DDLJ
Hence let’s stick to HNY.
A large scale movie, done in a manner that will make Hollywood sit up and take notice (not just Abhishek not many think that), with a symphony of a story, thrills, and multiple high powered stars. All this they packed into 3 minutes.
I saw the trailer and saw all the elements that I have listed.
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August 15, 2014 at 11:46 AM
“A large scale movie, done in a manner that will make Hollywood sit up and take notice (not just Abhishek not many think that), with a symphony of a story, thrills, and multiple high powered stars. ”
About Hollywood sitting up and taking notice, I think Roshan square’s KRISHHIT 3 already achieved that..
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August 15, 2014 at 1:19 PM
The following evoke the color & intensity of Baz Luhrmann :
0:08
0:26
O:30
0:34 to 0:42
1:29
2:01 to 2:13
2:32
2:49
All approx timing (plus minus a sec or two)
When Baz watches the above he would wish to remake Moulin Rouge
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August 15, 2014 at 11:04 AM
Satyam
I have to say that I saw things in the trailer that would make Baz Luhrmann envious. The colors and intensity (yes they are not as per Soderburgh) are as loud and as vivid as the modern miracle, Dubai.
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August 15, 2014 at 11:09 AM
This is not even a percent of the grandeur of a Gatsby or Moulin Rouge. In fact, it doesn’t even touch Bhansali imo. And I don’t think Hollywood has noticed anything mainstream out of Bollywood after Lagaan…
Anyway, I am willing to be proven wrong.
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August 15, 2014 at 11:18 AM
agreed on all counts..
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August 15, 2014 at 11:18 AM
not sure what Baz Luhrmann you’ve been watching.
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August 15, 2014 at 12:16 PM
Satyam
The confusion cannot be on account of us referencing different Baz Luhrmann. There is only one Baz, I am positive this difference in opinion has got something to do with the age old adage, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”.
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August 15, 2014 at 1:17 PM
No I’m afraid I can’t be as generous towards your opinion! Sorry.
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August 15, 2014 at 12:33 PM
Everybody has their own choices and opinion and way of looking at things.
Some here consider AAA classic when a lot of people thought of it as an illogical crap when it had released. Find me one article from when AAA was released or couple years after it where it states it’s classic (not talking about boxoffice). You will find article like that on MEA, Sholay, Kismat, Pyasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, etc…
Everybody has their own opinion.
If one find illogical AAA classic, that’s fine but don’t criticize somebody else when they have a movie they like or or call it a classic.
Ones opinion or view isn’t important than the others. I think once one realize this, life is beautiful. The bitterness, misery, etc goes away.
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August 15, 2014 at 1:40 PM
“Some here consider AAA classic when a lot of people thought of it as an illogical crap when it had released.”
Actually not only is this opinion completely false and imaginary it sounds even more absurd at the present date. For more reasons than one (including those related to academia). But it’s pointless? Why? Because one can have whatever opinion one likes, whether it’s a delusional one, that of a Philistine, or whatever, one has a right to it. But one exposes oneself rather royally when one makes statements like the one you have or some others that you do. You might be taken seriously among like-minded people online or offline but it otherwise makes you look completely ridiculous. Because even if you really believe it you simply don’t know what you’re talking about. This is something I’ve said many times in the past. There is ‘democracy’ when it comes to opinions (you’re welcome to yours) but actually there’s no democracy when it comes to judging those opinions. The problem is people like you take advantage of the former to get into the latter box. In other words say anything or be dogmatic about anything and then hope for civility on the other side or the pretense of a debate. And if someone says something rough pretend you can always respond with ‘he’s being mean to me just like he’s always mean to my SRK’.
If you want to sound utterly foolish saying certain things it’s upto you. You’ll be in good company.
I didn’t want to say this earlier because I was trying to be polite but today at least you have company with Bandra NRI when he compares Baz Luhrman with HNY. Call me arrogant if you want, uncivil or whatever, I don’t mind. Because while I value civility this doesn’t mean ‘anything goes’. There are other examples in the past where I’ve said the same to people so it’s not just a SRK or Bachchan thing here. It’s about not having an education in many matters and saying absurd things. Now I’m also uneducated or illiterate in many matters but then I don’t engage in certain opinions when it comes to those matters. Now it could be that you know better and are just playing a ridiculous partisan game or that you really are so much in love with SRK that whether it’s Bachchan Sr or Aamir you can only say such things. But whatever the psychological compulsion that drives you to such stuff the result is the same.
Now Bandra NRI will chide me for arguing so much. No! Things should be called by their proper names. I said as much when Utkal discovered Pyaasa or whatever Guru Dutt it was in Cocktail or Dostoyevsky in D3. It’s one’s opinion in each case (though he’s not a partisan like you) but there has to be some sanity to these things. And as I always like to add, this doesn’t mean one cannot say iconoclastic things or argue for minority positions. But it must be an ‘argument’ in the proper sense. That’s the key word.
Now on a conciliatory note I wouldn’t object if someone called DDLJ a classic of some kind. But again unlike folks like yourself I have some consistency in these matters. I defend Ratnam whether SRK does a film with him or Abhishek (in fact other than Raavan I probably like Dil Se more than every film he’s done with Abhishek, might even like it more than Raavan, depends on what day you catch me!), I dislike certain kinds of genres even when Abhishek does them. And I am still the strongest critic of either Bachchan that I know of (not counting non-serious folks). The same goes for Aamir or anyone else. It’s one thing to have a preference and defend it in terms of cinema or ideologically or whatever. Quite another to defend whatever one’s favorite does and to have this fantasy version of history and even the present for that matter. The thing is that part of the growing up process in life (assuming one is lucky enough to get there) is to start accepting some uncomfortable truths and to not always be on war with the facts. So you’re free to have that opinion on AAA or whatever. Or on Bachchan Sr or on Aamir!
Ah, I said I would end on a conciliatory note. So let me just say here that I revisit KHKN from time to time as well!
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August 15, 2014 at 12:35 PM
I could be wrong but I don’t think Luhrmann directed Houseful.
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August 15, 2014 at 3:14 PM
^You’re wrong and right, Sajid Nadiawala signed him to direct Housefull 3.
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August 15, 2014 at 1:59 AM
hny trailer isnt good.This wont gross 200cr.Bandra.nri,seems you are really deluded.
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August 15, 2014 at 8:53 AM
Sunil
You have the right to agree or disagree, but not the right to be nasty.
I gave you the benefit of my views, now if you want to discuss it tell me WHY you disagree. Tell me exactly how you came to your conclusion. I certainly give many reasons. I gave reference from the trailer, I gave what I see will be HNY’s potential narrative arc, but against that I see personal attacks, and no substance.
See how Satyam or Utkal or Z how to debate. Sure they too get upset (once in a while), but they focus on substance not personal attacks.
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August 15, 2014 at 9:28 AM
*See Satyam, Utkal, Z to learn how to debate.
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August 15, 2014 at 2:01 AM
your overpraise is surprising,you really mean this.
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August 15, 2014 at 6:40 AM
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August 15, 2014 at 6:43 AM
LOL, a spoof on how other stars react to HNY trailer:
http://www.desimartini.com/news/bollywood/shahrukh-khan-happy-new-year-trailer/article13076.htm
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August 15, 2014 at 7:00 AM
And also how other fans react. Stars are somewhat diplomatic while fans are not.
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August 15, 2014 at 8:47 AM
So, have we decided on the final boxoffice figure of HNY? Will it be in range of Besharam or Jai Ho or Talaash? It can’t be YJHD or Kick, right?
You can’t tell me on one hand the movie will be garbage but then there’s some magic formula which will make it get to near 200 crore, if there is, why didn’t it work for Besharam and Jai Ho?
The way I see it, only time will tell. Don’t underestimate the paying public. If the movie is not good, it will wrap up in about 125 crore range and this is the difference between 2nd tier and 1st tear star. Akshay in bad big movie will wrap up at around 50crore (OUATIMD), while 1st tier star will at least get it past 100 crore like Jai Ho, JTHJ, Ra.One.
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August 15, 2014 at 9:42 AM
That is the tragedy or comedy of star power and their fan power.
The fans will make even a garbage a winner.
Win the fans, get as many fans as possible, the film will become 100 crore and then move on depending upon its real likeability.
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August 15, 2014 at 9:48 AM
I’d make a few quick points..
1)Let’s keep Talaash out of it. Otherwise things get non-serious.
2)I agree that with a certain kind of star the failures too operate at a certain level. However Besharam does not make that point. I’m not saying Ranbir is right up there but Besharam was so completely, so totally rejected it’s hard to think of every many films if any that have it this bad after starting at a certain level (to put it in context Raavan did a lot better than this).
3)Now a film that has the potential to get to 150-160 crores in week 1 (because of the star and/or project or whatever) cannot do less than 200 even if it tanks beyond this. Why? Because if it were tanking like Besharam it wouldn’t get even to that number! But ETT for instance hardly added anything significant after that huge total in the first 5-7 days. So when there’s inflation all around and when increasingly films are close to that 200 range or cross it you don’t get credit just for doing this. Once again the film’s trajectory has to be seen. D3 doesn’t have an ideal gross because it could have done 350 and certainly ought to have crossed 300 at the very least. After that start and everything else it had going for it.
4)HNY is unlikely to do less than 200. I think the TMK analogies are exaggerated (or at least it would be quite amazing if Farah made the same mistake twice). There’s going to be enough here to keep it hot for a while. But I do think the trailer has got rather mixed reactions (which could help if the film is better than this.. because I will admit that whatever kind of director Farah might or might not be she could have cut a better trailer than this). it’s the sort of film that could easily do an ETT when many films these days do precisely this at very many levels. I’d still say it’s more likely the film goes well north of 200 than does a Jai Ho. But it’s the kind of thing where if it behaved much worse than expected I wouldn’t be the most surprised person in the world because of all the excess that seems to be on display here. This doesn’t mean it’s a TMK. If it does a Jai Ho it would be a worse tank than that. Why? Because Jai Ho never quite had that kind of start, there was never much excitement surrounding it. HNY will get off to one of the biggest starts. After this it cannot settle down even at 150 (let alone at Jai Ho level) unless it’s really tanking.
5)Finally you can’t change the standard at both ends. if a star is big enough to get to those highest benchmarks and if those benchmarks aren’t met you can say ‘oh even his failures made a 100’! This is an old game that SRK fans have played when they weren’t getting the big numbers. Tom Cruise can’t get 90m or whatever in his current release and say ‘that’s still better than most commercial films’! Or moreso for some of is previous releases that did 130 or more. If you live by those standards you have to die by them. there’s no consolation prize for Jai Ho. And this argument was only invented for SRK because for seven years he didn’t have a big one. So fans had only this to fall back on. Ever seen a Salman fan make this argument? Because everything else with him was much bigger and now with Kick it’s bigger again!
6)To sum up I still think this film should do a whole lot but unless it’s surprisingly better than the trailer I’d expect an ETT like run (which could take it to 200-230 depending on the start). On the other hand if it’s half-decent it could do a CE and get closer to 250 or something. I’d still be surprised if it gets anywhere close to D3, only because I’d be surprised if Farah Khan has made a truly good film. But if that were the case it could do a lot more than 250. So the likeliest range here is from ETT to CE in terms of box office graph but of course anything can always happen with any film.
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August 15, 2014 at 10:07 AM
So all magic formula movies should do over 200 crore or it’s flop?
I assume Bang Bang, HNY, PK and just about all future srk, salman, aamir, HR fall into this catagory?
What’s the # for other stars?
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August 15, 2014 at 1:45 PM
“Let’s keep Talaash out of it. Otherwise things get non-serious.”
Why?
Jai Ho is not going to make a penny more if you replace Salman with SRK or JTHJ is not going to make a penny more by replacing SRK with aamir if these movies are as is.
You think having SRK in Talaash would make less if everything stays same? I dont’ think so. In fact it may even make more since SRK has a stronger fan base.
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August 15, 2014 at 2:10 PM
actually I don’t buy this entire argument at all.. I’ve already said enough today so not going to expand on this. Maybe Aamir should have stuck with Darr, then maybe he would have had DDLJ and that might have been it for SRK. Your logic leads to this, mine doesn’t!
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August 15, 2014 at 9:41 AM
Watching the video above, i think abhi said he has triple role?
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August 15, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Abhi matki piece reminds me of Suhaag, I think the Radhe song in trailer is his entry song.
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August 15, 2014 at 10:21 AM
Just finished watching the launch video. Some good info. This won’t be like D3, i think it will be like old masala multi starrer films where all actors will have ample time/exposure in the movie.
Some good and strong points by abhi towards end of the video but we’ll know for sure once the movie releases if it’s crap like Ra.One/JTHJ or good entertainer like MHN/OSO/CE.
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August 15, 2014 at 1:16 PM
Z, agreed on most old masala films not being classics, most have dated badly….I was watching Trishul recently, and some of the editing made me laugh. Just watch the scene where Shashi, all angry and fuming, asks Amitabh to come outside his house, and all of a sudden, they start fighting. And most of the songs are so abrutly placed, and just completely break the flow of the film. Poonam finds Sachin to be a gapuji gapuji gham gham (whatever the heck that means), and then starts singing a song. Hard for me to watch such stuff in 2014.
Throughout the film, I also kept asking the question if becoming rich was so easy for Amitabh, why didn’t he try to do so when his mother was alive so he could buy medicine and save her from dying. The writers just had to make Amitabh into an angry young man one way or the other.
I think this is why Naseerudin Shah has started questioning the supposed greatness of all these films, including his own.
Honestly, films like AAA or Trishul are not great cinema if one’s standard is The Godfather (one of the most perfectly executed films of all time). The only old masala film that still amazes me is Sholay, this was just way ahead of its time.
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August 15, 2014 at 1:31 PM
Henry,
I agree with all of your point but the point i try to make all the time here (maybe it doesn’t come out correctly) is that each film, each film maker, each actor has their own specialty. Even each era has it’s own thing.
You should watch AAA, there a scene in beginning where 3 different people (amitabh, rishi, vinod) are giving blood to Nirupa Roy all at the same time.
As David Dhawan says, Yaar Chalta hai.
Having said that, I will take crap of 70’s anyday over crap of today. I guess it’s because I grew up in the 70’s so it’s more special to me.
Each era has same issue. People growing up in 60’s were told the movies are nothing like the ones in 50’s. People growing up in 70’s were told that the movies of 70’s are nothig compare to 60’s and so on.
We should understand that with time things change. I’m not going to tell a teenager from today who likes YJHD that he/she has no taste. If that is what’s liked today than so be it. I’m not going to impose my views on them.
Sholay is a true classic. Each shot of it screams classic.
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August 15, 2014 at 1:45 PM
Couldn’t agree more….and I remember the scene you are talking about lol.
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August 15, 2014 at 2:14 PM
actually that’s an enormously important, symbolically potent scene. This too is what I was getting at. there are enormous reserves of meaning in some of these moments. In a related sense:
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August 15, 2014 at 2:35 PM
That scene might be illogical. But coupled with Rafi crooning “Yeh sach hai, koi kahaani nahi..Khoon Khoon hota hai, Paani nahi” an average cinegoer’s eyes would well up in that scene. IMHO, it is one of the most iconic scenes of AAA, amongst many others.
It would be blasphemy to call AAA anything less than a classic within bwood’s fabled masala genre. My personal anecdote: I had never seen it on the big screen. One afternoon in 1990, a group of us happened upon it being screened for a day or perhaps a week in a cinema in Mumbai. To our surprise, that 3pm show ran housefull, full of seetis and claps. And this was a full 12 yrs after the release.
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August 15, 2014 at 2:08 PM
Actually I’d come at it the opposite way. I’ll use my favorite Don example because it always had some campy elements even for that age. The thing is if you make Don like Sholay my contention is that you lose the film. Or if you make Deewar like Satya you again lose the film. This doesn’t mean that it’s an either/or thing here. Sholay clearly shows you can do everything. But one must look at the average industry standard in those days in these matters. Plus one must also wonder what people will also think of many films in the present once some time has passed. This even accounting for the fact that ‘technical’ standards (to use that cliched word) have improved quite a bit over the last decade or more.
For one what has often been called the ‘mass aesthetic’ of that age often had a certain formalism to it. It wasn’t high art in that sense but it also did more than it sometimes gets credit for. Notice how much and how often B movie genres are talked about in a Western context. They’ve been reinvented in recent decades. So these were even less than those commercial films in many ways and yet you have a globally famous director like Tarantino who draws entirely from that tradition (by the way even with him I have argued that for all his strengths at one level he perhaps misses the point in other ways). The aesthetics of Don are part of the appeal of that film. Again this does not mean anything can be defended. Dus Numbri from the same era is actually pretty lowbrow in every sense. Many of Bachchan’s 80s films for instance are also poor examples in the same way (yaarana for example.. not Kaalia though).
Does one ever say that it’s ridiculous that Achilles can beat up so many people on his own in the Iliad? Does one say that when reading Homer one must forget about all this silly stuff and just focus on the deeper meaning? The same holds for masala (or the Mahabharata or whatever). In each case you have to enter the world of a film and then decide whether things are logical or illogical on the terms of that world. My problems with many of SRK’s iconic films for instance aren’t about this sort of illogical stuff but about the meaning behind them. Or maybe I’d make an exception for RNBDJ where even within the world of that film the basic premise doesn’t make sense. Shakespeare’s plays are utterly illogical in many ways. From the bed tricks to what not. If you raise the sorts of plausibility questions you just have about Trishul and Bachchan becoming rich you’d have to dismiss most of the world’s art. I’m being very serious. And also by the same token how can you accept any single commercial film today?
This doesn’t mean that some of the criticisms are not valid. I’ve always considered Yash Chopra functional as a director in very many ways with some exceptions. I’ve also critiqued in certain contexts the resolutions of Trishul or Kaala Pathar. So I’m definitely not saying those films should be held sacred (though one often tends to do this for the best of Hollywood.. this when the comparisons are not even like for like sometimes.. for example Apocalypse Now is a very interesting film but it’s also a glorious failure.. depends on what perspective one takes..). Now maybe Trishul or whatever isn’t your thing but why not focus on Sholay or Shaan or some of the middle cinema films that are still fine on even those counts? One doesn’t have to say everything is the same. But again I’d insist that masala is not the same everywhere. Between the best of Desai and most other masala directors there’s often a huge difference (even on stuff like editing and so on). And though this has been my favorite theme for years I think masala is that which a certain kind of Indian class has always found it hardest to come to terms with. They might love the films, call them classics or whatever but they find it difficult to defend them intellectually. And here part of the problem is the mixing of high and low elements of culture in these works. Something that even as a historic matter (and not only in India) is often greeted with suspicion. So again not saying one cannot have different views on those films but disagreeing with the terms of the debate. And here film culture in the strong critical sense is important. If this were Hollywood people would have put up multi-DVD anniversary editions on all of these films and celebrated them to such a degree that no one would even dream about questioning the value of these films in any sense. In fairness there is now more literature on masala cinema than there used to be but still not close to enough.
On Naseer I actually think he’s right about the art cinema movement. It went horribly wrong after a while barring exceptions. So for instance if you go from Benegal’s lyric Ankur or even the more intense Nishant to later stuff like Manthan you immediately see how the stress on greater realism also makes for a much more arid cinema. Nihalani always avoided this trap, there were some other films too. But by and large all these films are pretty forgettable if you ask me or even if they have some value there is far greater to be found in Southern or Bengali cinema in all sorts of ways. On commercial cinema he’s just not serious beyond a point. Maybe it’s a psychological thing. But he says some pretty crazy stuff.
finally AAA or Trishul are not great cinema if the Godfather is the standard. That’s fair. But a rather high bar if you ask me since much of Hollywood would have to be dismissed using this comparison. Or alternatively the Godfather might itself have to be dispensed with if one used some even greater standards elsewhere. But that’s not a like-for-like comparison anyway. Sholay is the only true one here. everything else and even when I for instance talk about the fineness of those masala films I assume one is not including Ray or Ghatak or Adoor or whoever!
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August 15, 2014 at 2:44 PM
First of all, I find most commercial films terrible these days including most SRK ones.
Secondly, I am not just questioning the logic of these films but how poorly directed they were. Some of the editing choices are so bad and haphazardly done in these movies that one can’t just call it mass aesthetic and get away with it. And I don’t think that level of filmmaking can be defended by bringing Shakespeare into the argument. Even at his most lowbrow, he was witty and sharp.
But I totally agree with you about Don, the campy elements are completely in sync with the film, whereas with a Trishul the poor direction definitely works against the film. Not saying that the movie isn’t good but I am just not sure if it’s ‘great’ or a ‘classic.
And I didn’t say the Godfather is the only standard. Howard Hawks said it the best – a great film consists of 3 great scenes and no bad ones. I think there are numerous Hollywood films (not just The Godfather) and films from all over the world that live up to this standard.
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August 15, 2014 at 4:09 PM
Ironically all those arguments were also used against Shakespeare at points! But leaving this aside I wasn’t talking about mass aesthetic in this context but the plausibility claim.
I’d disagree on Trishul though I’m willing to concede the point on some of the song placement. Speaking for myself I find it to be one of the most fluid scripts of Hindi cinema. Also my favorite movie in the world! On your Howard Hawks quote I’d say it’s hard to find simply ordinary scenes in this movie. Barring the Sachin stuff. It’s also an Awara rewrite in certain ways. I’d add that the Delhi of this film is truer and more authentic than many contemporary Delhi representations in the sense that it’s not an archetype. Again I don’t disagree that Yash Chopra was never a great director. Kaala Pathar might be his best in a visual sense.
At the end I don’t insist that everyone appreciate Trishul or AAA or whatever. My only point is that the standards used are either confused (not referring to you) or not entirely consistent. So the Hawks quote probably covers many films in Hollywood history but the Godfather is something more than this. The two standards are hardly the same. Similarly when I don’t intend ‘mass aesthetic’ to be a catch-all term but it also has to be taken seriously. The problem is that if just about every example of a film that displays this aesthetic is found problematic and if one cannot offer an alternative set as containing good examples of that aesthetic one might have issues with the larger genre. Which too is absolutely fine but that’s different from problems internal to the genre. On that note many films did have editing problems in that age but Desai wasn’t one of them. I again take your point on some of the Trishul edits. But implausibility in terms of editing choices or jump cuts or extreme angles that might be part and parcel of that aesthetic might also be classified as ‘bad edits’ when there is a thought behind them (I know this doesn’t apply for Trishul but I consider this to be a minor problem in this film that doesn’t crop up except for the songs and maybe a couple of other points.. on the other hand I think it has some great edits at very many points.. despite this I don’t believe Chopra is ever fine on this score).
By the way I didn’t think you were being partial to SRK or anyone else. I guess the larger point I’m trying to make is that masala remains a bogeyman for a certain class and all else being equal people are less likely to find plausibility or editing issues or whatever in multiplex genres than elsewhere. This might not be so for you but that ‘bias’ is often a fairly universal one and on that note even the fans I think get things quite wrong on this score (much as the fans of Amitabh Bachchan also misread him quite often or tend to gloss over the ‘meaning’ of those films). In any case I’m not trying to persuade. perhaps it’s a genuine disagreement. But as always a pleasure debating you.
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August 15, 2014 at 4:46 PM
Likewise, I am not trying to persuade you either….the greatest compliment I can give to those films that they were about something with drama and conflict that aroused real emotions in the audience. Most contemporary Bollywood is just devoid of feeling, and in the garb of masala cinema, directors are just making whatever the heck they want.
BTW on a somewhat related note, I really loved the Trishul tribute in GOW. Nawaz’s character watching Trishul with teary eyes, then acting/dressing up like Amitabh, basically a guy who wants to be the angry young man just through his hairstyle/gesturality etc., but lacks the moral fiber and substance to really become such an individual. It’s not only a great tribute, but a very true reading of our times – all style, no substance.
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August 15, 2014 at 5:41 PM
this is a great second paragraph Henry.. on the rest yes I too have always missed the cathartic element of cinema. Admittedly this is not the only standard but masala-comedies today completely miss the point (besides being poor films) and here too your second paragraph is relevant. But I also believe that the masala mix was very unique to Indian cinema. In a way its strengths killed it. It was so easy to do ‘formula’ with it that beyond a point no one even bothered with scripts. Ironically Bachchan was the other factor. If you could get big grossers doing yaarana why bother with a Salim-Javed script? And the Salim-Javed narrative drama genre (which wasn’t exactly masala, at least in films like Deewar or Trishul though there were some of these elements added on to increase their appeal) wasn’t really explored further for the most part. You have to get to more contemporary Tamil cinema to get this sort of thing though they too went more often than not in a thriller direction (and sometimes in a police procedural one). And then there was Ratnam who played with many of these formats by bringing down their emotional pitch a notch or two and using a semi-auteurist visual framework as part of the mix (in later years he moved more and more in the auteurist direction). In any case there were certain unexplored masala or narrative-drama paths that were only rarely explored by anyone in the post-70s world.
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August 15, 2014 at 1:20 PM
That is not to say that Amitabh wasn’t great in all these films, it’s just that very few films compared with his immense talent.
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August 15, 2014 at 1:53 PM
Some pointers on why MASALA Genre has to have certain belief, talent and intrinsic acting skills to really play larger than life and most unreal characters and its required role play..I believe Amitji has repeatedly stated very similar thoughts many times over..In fact if you do bit of critical analysi seems that Indian audience rejected Amitji when he started playing “real” characters may be as well..
SRK invariably copies thought process of Amitji yet again in here 🙂
“””To be honest, “Swades”, “Chak De”, “Asoka”, “Paheli”… easiest films to make. Because being real, being honest, is easy. Just sitting there and depending on the line, the words, your eyes and just the story is much easier than believing in a dream which is unrealistic and unachievable: I am going to mess with God. I will fly with electricity. I will win the World Dance Championship.
It is a huge leap of faith for an actor to believe he can pull these things off.
As an actor, put me in a real space and 80 per cent of your job is done. You put me in a hockey field and I am a coach. You put me in a space in the world your film is set in and I don’t have to do anything. But unreal characters are totally dependent on your dream and your belief in them.
Autism is a difficult thing to do but you know that space. You’ve met people like that. “Devdas” was easy to play because all men are like that.
Larger than life is difficult to play because there is no limit to largeness. How large can you make it? Can I catch you by the scruff of your neck and then pull you into the screen into the most unbelievable world?””
link: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/i-have-become-more-reclusive/article6319048.ece
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August 15, 2014 at 1:53 PM
bandra.nri, your opinions seem to be based on the trailer.
hny should gross just about 200cr.It has first friday and sunday as holidays.Weekdays wont gross like kick.So first week will be well below kick.And after two weeks bombay velvet is coming.
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August 15, 2014 at 2:09 PM
“And after two weeks bombay velvet is coming”
No, it’s not. Action Jackson is. Which will be a strong masala movie since it’s Prbhu Deva film.
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August 15, 2014 at 3:19 PM
Correct and Action Jackson is clashing with Akshay Kumar’s Shaukeen. And Action Jackson after SR which at the moment seems to have broken Kick’s opening day record, so HNY will be left with probably as many screens as Kick does now.
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August 15, 2014 at 3:33 PM
jus skim thru comments and i honestly quote the comment that catches my eye
without any bias or ‘motive’
comment of the day goes to ‘andy’
and thanx andy for briging to light this interview of ark
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/i-have-become-more-reclusive/article6319048.ece
i v rarely read and here i actually read a para or two
which was–
“Do you ever feel trapped in a mould you have created every time you have to spread your arms… almost in every other film?
I work a lot in popular cinema. So there are parameters for that. So within those parameters, you are in a mould. You play the hero type. I always have the choice to break it when I feel like and go do a “Chak De” or a “Swades” or a “My Name is Khan” or a “Paheli” or an “Asoka.”
At least in the last five years, I’ve not gone to work because I have to. I’ve never gone to work because I need the money. I’ve never gone to work because I’m bossed around. I’ve never gone to work because there is nothing else for me to do. There is no other reason for me to work but the fact that this is really fine.
And every film takes a life of its own beyond the pages that are written.
When somebody from the market says, there has to be ‘X’ amount of this in the film, we do that. Because it’s a populist world, it’s a populist market, it’s populist cinema. But I also say, “Let’s try to change that. Or let’s not do that because there are so many, say, romantic songs like that.” So the change might be small, just a little beyond the parameters of commercial cinema, but that makes it exciting.
How do you react when critics say Shah Rukh Khan is Shah Rukh Khan in every film?
I downplay my acting prowess. I don’t take myself seriously but that does not mean I’m not a serious actor. I say I have five expressions… because I like to play it down.
I’ve done a lot of acting that I’m proud and arrogant about. I’m one of the few actors to have educated myself in theatre. I’ve done street theatre, I’ve done impromptu, I’ve done commercials, I’ve done plays for kids, I’ve done a Punjabi serial, I’ve done TV shows, I’ve done advertising and I’ve done cinema. I’ve risen in the ranks. And you don’t rise in the ranks over 25 years without knowing your s***. But it’s very boring to talk about how biriyani is made. And it’s nicer to taste it. And that’s what I do.”
another one–
“To be honest, “Swades”, “Chak De”, “Asoka”, “Paheli”… easiest films to make. Because being real, being honest, is easy. Just sitting there and depending on the line, the words, your eyes and just the story is much easier than believing in a dream which is unrealistic and unachievable: I am going to mess with God. I will fly with electricity. I will win the World Dance Championship.
It is a huge leap of faith for an actor to believe he can pull these things off.
As an actor, put me in a real space and 80 per cent of your job is done. You put me in a hockey field and I am a coach. You put me in a space in the world your film is set in and I don’t have to do anything. But unreal characters are totally dependent on your dream and your belief in them.
Autism is a difficult thing to do but you know that space. You’ve met people like that. “Devdas” was easy to play because all men are like that.
Larger than life is difficult to play because there is no limit to largeness. How large can you make it? Can I catch you by the scruff of your neck and then pull you into the screen into the most unbelievable world?”
“I have become more reclusive. I like spending time with me more than power parties. The world is growing bigger, people always want to talk to you. You see flashbulbs and hear voices all the time. More on Twitter. There’s just too much light in my face. I still want to do as much work but I would like to close the door a little more often. I have found myself entertaining people beyond the call of duty. Sometimes just to survive, sometimes for friends … but after 25 years I’ve done everything. There is no more reason to do things unless I am happy. When people ask me come here, there, to see their film, mujhe nahin dekhna hai, yaar (I don’t want to) … I just used to make films. I want to keep it that simple. I don’t want any other knowledge. I used to walk down to my house during “King Uncle.” I walked to Mehboob Studios at 6.30 a.m. and when I walked back at 2 p.m., people stopped to talk to me … “Deewana” had become a big hit. I never saw the film. I didn’t even know when I became a star.”
tallies with my sense of what srk represents
leave alone films—-
total synergy and thoughts and sense of things as well..
this is a guy i can say i learn from
unlike many fanboys/girls, i dont wanna meet any of these ‘celebrities’ in real life –not really
but srk is one of them
pardon the arrogance / i cant fake humility–
for many of the so-called ‘celebrities’
but I FEEL IM A BIGGER STAR IN REAL LIFE 🙂
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August 15, 2014 at 3:52 PM
“but I FEEL IM A BIGGER STAR IN REAL LIFE :-)”
can’t quite recall what this condition is called..
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August 15, 2014 at 4:42 PM
the condition is called ‘delusional psychosis”
but hey, before going into all that
lemme take an example relevant to this blog
its YOUR blog
u can delete or modify any comment
but why do u need to take the headache of going thru each n every of my comments before blocking or ‘releasing’ them
this NEED OF yours will BEGIN to give the answer to your question
the field of work of SRK (and hence the popularity) may be different
the “goals” and “criteria of whats success” maybe different
BUT
being a “king’ is something only a “king” will understand…
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August 15, 2014 at 5:43 PM
In terms of the comments I am forced to do this because you other deluge the blog with all sorts of non-serious comments. Something you did not do once. And I can’t always modify hours later when people have responded and so forth. If you were a bit more sober, again as you once more, I wouldn’t need to do any of this.
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August 16, 2014 at 2:43 PM
face the facts buddy–dont be in denial–
this ‘comment blocking’ business is more for your own ‘insecurities’ and much less for other bloggers –the “silent majority” anyways is robust & intact enjoys it lol
By this ‘moderation’ its me who is controlling u
infact Im “PLAYING” with u 🙂
the moment one chooses a ‘reactionary’ or ‘defensive’ stance, the originality and creativity and many other things diminish..(as we can see in satyam lately)
just like ABCDs thoughtful comment–
“Surprised to see Abhishek getting lower billing than Sonu Sood. Seems like he he has lost all his ego and stature.”
or Rahuls good comment–
“You know, I was watching Guru again on Thursday night and the next day I find him in what looks like a meaningless side-kick role ”
as for me—such “offers” to change have been given to me by many –many came many went … 😉
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August 15, 2014 at 4:44 PM
damn i don’t know what the standards were for this film but to me it had everything a big film should have. I will say that my personal expectations for this film were zero but the trailer has gotten me intrigued. the ‘indiawaale’ song has a chance to rile up the crowd. i am looking forward to abhishek/SRK scenes in the movie…just like amitabh/SRK combo, i think abhishek/SRK chemistry is great. maybe because they all have a genuine fondness of each other? who knows. this is no doubt a SRK film all the way, though Abhishek still might steal the show (like brad pitt in Oceans Eleven). also this type of genre has a chance to be a ‘franchise’ easily.
comparing it to other recent big films, i found the trailer better than Bang Bang, Kick, CE and yes even D3 (i had much higher expectations for D3).
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August 16, 2014 at 6:38 AM
out of all you’ve listed, i thought kick trailer was the best. it created a lot of excitement. Biggest problem with Kick and D3 trailer is that it showed the best part of the film.
With HNY, i don’t think that is the case. we’ll know for sure once the movie releases.
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August 16, 2014 at 12:49 PM
I think the focus was to introduce the “ensemble”. Also (e.g. Digital Poster) they have tried to make sure that people realize that this is not just a plain vanilla, formula ridden, one note, heist story. This is a complex symphony of a story. There is parallel track of a world dance competition (amongst other things).
They want people to know that what awaits them is a Baz Lurhmann like treatment of a Manmohan Desai’s Ocean Eleven. Now is the time for characters, the multi layered story, and the ambience (colors).
“Picture is yet to come”.
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August 16, 2014 at 7:23 AM
CE trailer was much more captivating with that DDLJ spoof.
This trailer is confusing and a bit like TMK.
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August 16, 2014 at 8:39 AM
Sanjana, not to defend this promo but I see people are missing the point. Movies like CE are straight forward 1 line stories and easier to tell the story in the promo.
If you see SRK’s dialogues in the HNY promo, pretty much the whole story is there.
-SRK’s intro scene and he says, everyone gets a chance in life and this movie is about the biggest robbery of the world.
-6 losers – all are introduced for a minute with one of their short dialogues.
-Now after whole team is shown for the Bank robbery then SRK’s character says, we need to participate in WDC and he’s obviously hesitant to share what is WDC and finally reveals that it is World Dancing Championship.
-Even next dialogue is so straight – who can think that 6 dancers participating in the dance competition is here to rob diamonds worth of crores and their mission is called Mission Happy New year.
-Next diaogue – Humne ek din apna sab kuch kho diya aur socha ki kismet kitni kutti cheez hai, kabhi bhi palat jaati hai (Intro of villain – Jackie)
Then a lot of action follows and pretty much leads to the climax.
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August 16, 2014 at 12:53 PM
I like your summary
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August 16, 2014 at 9:00 AM
For all the talk of Abhishek Bachan having a double or triple role here, I am now asking myself what he is doing in the movie. Maybe he’s got a meatier role than the trailer suggests but the producers don’t seem to want to rely on him in the promos. Sonu Sood and Boman Irani get more footage than him here.
The likelier scenario is that forget the ensemble cast, this looks like an out and out SRK starrer and ABJr gets a Tushar Kapoor-in-Golmaal kind of deal in the movie. Either way, in both cases it’s very disappointing to see Abhishek in such a position after nearly one and a half decade since his debut.
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August 16, 2014 at 9:04 AM
Funny you mentioned me that, I was watching Guru yesterday and thinking… he has done Guru with Mani Ratnam and now doing side kick roles. But pretty much he has to blame himself for his career. Good part is that its on the verge of improving in next few years. If any of the solo films are success, he can come back at some level.
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August 16, 2014 at 1:02 PM
Even in our personal lives, we see ups and downs. Not that I am agreeing that these days mark Abhishek’s down period (not after Bol Bachchan and D3), but for the sake of an argument let’s say it is. Let’s say this is Abhishek’s bad patch. If that is the case then at least give him some space, don’t kick him while he is down.
As opposed to you I see a new revived and confident Abhishek coming out of HNY. Farah is the catalyst that he needed. Post HNY you will see a new Abhishek with a potential to stake claim in the top list.
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August 17, 2014 at 4:29 PM
i am eagerly awaits project of ab under ab corp, i prefer him more in d6, dmd,guru,yuva,raavan,sarkar etc. rather than masala multistarer entertainer.
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August 16, 2014 at 9:13 AM
You know, I was watching Guru again on Thursday night and the next day I find him in what looks like a meaningless side-kick role in what looks like a very poor version of Ocean’s 11 and it was very disappointing.
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August 18, 2014 at 12:32 PM
Abhishek was brilliant in Guru. Wish he could get another such role.
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August 16, 2014 at 11:38 AM
Poor man’s Oceans 11. More like a Oceans 6 with scenes lifted from Now you See me.
Surprised to see Abhishek getting lower billing than Sonu Sood. Seems like he he has lost all his ego and stature. Will reserve final judgement till watching the movie.
I do think Abhiskek’s career path dictates parallel roles. however he should opt higher stature roles such as Bol Bacchan KANK his last movie with his Dad
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August 16, 2014 at 1:04 PM
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August 16, 2014 at 4:04 PM
Reminding of negative feedback of trailer, I remember watching Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.. and I thought ROM lost the plot completely and made a gym-version and studio version of Mikha’s story but it turned out to be completely opposite! One of well told stories in recent times!
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August 17, 2014 at 7:18 AM
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August 17, 2014 at 7:22 AM
check out some of what Abhishek says about his part towards the end..
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August 17, 2014 at 8:54 AM
Every clip I see, reinforces my belief that this movie will be not be just merely big, but amazingly big.
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August 17, 2014 at 7:07 PM
Ok I might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but I think the trailer is CheeZee…even to compare with some of the movies here it is really slick and over done..Tees Maar Khan re done..and it seems to me there is no one else to make movies other than this little group of people? how many combinations can one dream up?
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August 18, 2014 at 5:21 AM
hiya margaret ann- take it eazy–go with the ‘flow’–wheres your gravatar though 🙂
for more “substantial’ stuff theres ‘bang bang’ coming up…
HNY looks much more ‘padded” and ‘cushioned’ for safety with more sidekicks n frills..than BB
will be good to see how HNY & Bang bang perform—all the best to both
anyhow folks
Manalis landmark bridge renamed “bang bang point”
http://www.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/hrithik-roshan-katrina-kaif-thriller-bang-bangs-manali-link-166721.html
nice pic there
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August 18, 2014 at 9:04 AM
Bang Bang will be huge. There’s no way this movie makes anything less then 200 crore unless there’s some major screw up.
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August 18, 2014 at 9:27 AM
Haider will unfortunately hurt Bang Bang (I believe they release on the same day).
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August 18, 2014 at 9:34 AM
Yes, any type of comeptition will hurt somewhat but Haider is not a commercial film. This is not like a JTHJ/SOS case where if all things equal, SOS would be the first choice for viewers since that movie was a comedy and looked full on entertainment/masala.
I’ll be shocked if Haider does 40% of what Bang Bang does first weekend.
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August 18, 2014 at 6:53 PM
actually..I just wanted to know if you were paying attention 🙂
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August 18, 2014 at 9:03 AM
I think they’re giving away too much in the interviews they’re doing.
Abhi looks so relaxed and confident. I think with HNY, his 2nd inning is going to start. I hope he takes full advantage of it and stays away from likes of RGV.
From everythig so far, it looks like Farah will bring out the best in Abhi.
Regardless of what some might think here, SRK has true love/fondness for Bachhan family.
Loved the way SRK answered the question on Salman.
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August 18, 2014 at 10:39 AM
I’ve said before, I think he has genuine fondness for Abhishek. Not that he has a problem with the father but I believe it’s more complicated here. The father also represents the blocking of a certain ambition or a mountain too high to climb. All of this would take time to explore (though I’ve done it in the past).
On a new inning for Abhishek BB already did that, here there was no issue in any sense. But yes D3 was then a speed breaker. Whether HNY is more like the former, despite the advertising so far or just ‘better’ than the latter remains to be seen. Given everything I’ve heard about the film I’d say the former but in a ‘circus’ the semiotics become different. In a two hero film it’s one thing but when there’s an ensemble deal the SRK kind of star can get away by just doing the symbolic bit (in other words I very much doubt he has too much more to do leaving aside the symbolic moments.. you have the right lines or moments, you get the girl or whatever.. in any case he doesn’t need more than this.. he doesn’t need to be Salman or Aamir literally carrying the film..) but if you’re Abhishek and various questions have been raised about you (justly or unjustly) you can convincingly answer them in a BB deal where you have a double of kinds, there’s one other star, you have interactions with him, you have your own songs as well, and here you even have the title role which plays on the Bachchan mythology. The latter is obviously not crucial but in an ensemble thing unless the double is given enough time and more than this enough symbolic weight it can become part of the overall more general act. And so yes he might be in SRK with most scenes but there might be the others too. In which case are there moments that give you the chance to stand out from the crowd. Given that shot I have no doubts at all about Abhishek’s skills but as always it’s about how things are structured. This is again different from the advantage the bigger star has. For the reason I mentioned. Now in a film like KANK where Abhishek was still the supporting star he was given a lot by Johar (obviously because he was hot at the time). SRK here had a sober part, played an unlikable sort anyway. it was fairly easy for Abhsihek to really command attention here. Two stars, the contrast is easy to set up. The father also worked in his favor, the symbolic stuff, the song and so on. So if HNY were a two hero deal with SRK still having the symbolic weight that would be one thing but if you make it a completely circus you have to ensure that Abhishek gets enough space otherwise being lost in a crowd wouldn’t be the oddest thing. ‘Bigger’ stars in this sense are usually not fools, they usually ‘protect’ themselves in certain ways. One other way for me to make the same point is that either (and as Abhishek seems to indicate) he has an important part here but those gains will then come at SRK’s cost or he has an important part but not the kind that can necessarily ‘take over’ in an ensemble cast in which case SRK comes out ahead. Here I’m referring to the ‘text’ of the film if you will. After Abhishek there’s no one of any significance in the cast (in the ‘hero’ sense). But whether it becomes a film where SRK is ‘the star’, Abhishek has next billing though with the kind of part where he commands more attention or one where the former is true while the latter does not have enough to be a show-stealer remains to be seen. And this becomes all the more important when the advertising is somewhat lopsided. Not saying it’s D3 but nonetheless if it stays this way throughout the bar gets that much higher on Abhishek to be able to break through the crowd because the audience will be led to believe something (which wasn’t true for the KANK advertising for instance). Here there’s only one actress, she’ll have a love song with SRK. Abhishek’s advertising might again be part of the crowd.
At the end I don’t really believe in consolation prizes in this sense. At least Abhishek this late in the day cannot. There’s no consolation prize to be had out of D3 even if many people preferred him here over D2 or he looked good or whatever. An established star cannot turn the clock back in this sense. You can’t have partial or minor victories.
As for bringing out the best in Abhishek I reject that also. Even if everything worked out for him that would mean a commercial boost. But given many of his fine performances in the past the idea that Farah khan is bringing out what Ratnam or Rohan Sippy or others haven’t (and successfully at many points in a commercial sense) is a little bizarre. Even in over the top comedy Shetty has been there first. Actually Abhishek if anything has done all kinds of comedy before. Farah Khan might have fashioned gimmicky part with the double and lots of getups or whatever but that’s a different thing. But yeah I do think Abhishek would be great at doing a Namak Halal deal. the father cannot be touched in any sense on this or any other score but Abhishek would otherwise be fantastic.
Will agree that he looks quite relaxed and confident in the interviews.
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August 18, 2014 at 11:10 AM
“The father also represents the blocking of a certain ambition or a mountain too high to climb”
Depends, In most eyes, that mountain was climed long time back.
SRK is getting bigger and bigger, not just in terms of movie making but other aspects of businesses too.
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August 18, 2014 at 11:34 AM
SRK is not even at the base of that mountain yet. I mean this very sincerely and for anyone who’s interesting in the facts this ought to be obvious. Not that I expect you to understand this. Even at his very peak SRK wasn’t even close to having the record of a superstar! I’ve counted each and every time too many times in the past. Too boring to do it once more. It’s like there are great cricketers or important players but the moment you talk about Tendulkar and use that analogy you get into the realm of the absurd! Anyway I’m not going to get into this absurd exercise again. if one has to prove the significance of the sun to someone one might be the crazier for it, not the other person! But actually there’s no survey or poll of any kind you could conduct in India today where SRK would be anywhere to close to Bachchan on any such poll. We’ve seen this in the past — Bachchan and Sachin are usually in a very different league. But even when it’s only about contemporary stars SRK doesn’t even beat Aamir most of the team (over the last 15 years). Again you have to live in reality. Otherwise any claim can be made for anything and one can repeat it to oneself all day long! Of course to deny certain things requires a specialized form of blindness or delusion but this doesn’t mean it’s uncommon!
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August 18, 2014 at 12:19 PM
I think Hrithik has already climbed that so called mountain.
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August 18, 2014 at 12:20 PM
Maybe he flew over it in his Krrish outfit!
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August 18, 2014 at 12:24 PM
LOL! line of the day!
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August 18, 2014 at 12:22 PM
yes we’ve found two today who think so about their respective stars. Let’s shake this tree more. Others will fall out too saying the same for other stars. Sunil can hopefully do his bit for Akshay today.
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August 18, 2014 at 11:14 AM
In short, as long as it’s not a D3 deal, he’ll fine.
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August 18, 2014 at 11:34 AM
In short no! In short you need to revisit the comment!
Doesn’t pay to be serious with some folks!
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August 18, 2014 at 12:22 PM
I don’t spend time looking for things which are not there because there’s more important things in life.
I keep it simple.
He needs to stay away from Dhoom period, it’s embarrasing. Even in dhoom1 where he had equal role, it was Abraham walking away with all the citties and tallies.
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August 18, 2014 at 12:23 PM
the last bit is nonsense though propagated by some quarters of the media. Of course it’s a mystery why Abhishek’s career took after Dhoom, why he was doing many of the films he was and not John but I won’t introduce you to facts.
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August 18, 2014 at 12:45 PM
“I don’t spend time looking for things which are not there because there’s more important things in life.”
yes that’s usually the calling card of the ignorant..
as for having more important things in life yeah you prove it everyday with the kinds of conversations you have on the blog! You could be cracking superstring theory otherwise I suppose..
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August 18, 2014 at 12:01 PM
At this stage of his career, if Abhishek needs a complete reinvention, his best bet is to work with someone like Anurag Kashyap. Now of course a Kashyap film can’t be a blockbuster or whatever, but what Kashyap certainly has gathered is an enormous amount of critical cache (and this is irrespective of what one thinks of him as a director. I happen to believe that he is one of the best Bollywood has, infact among the ones currently the only other competition is Hirani and perhaps Rakeysh Mehra on a good day). Also Kashyap’s position is unique in the sense that there is NO other ‘important’ director who is ‘hotter’ than him among the campus crowd- GoW has become a rage of sorts; people now wait for ‘an Anurag Kashyap film’. Sometimes you need to give a little bit of ‘edginess’ to your filmography and Kashyap is the best guy to go to in order to achieve to this. Actually Abhishek should do a big enough project with Kashyap, something on the scale of Bombay Velvet.
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August 18, 2014 at 12:14 PM
I completely agree on the edge bit and said this too in a long comment a few days ago.. not as convinced about Kashyap though.. he could be part of some mix but his sort of cinema cannot reinvent a commercial star. But I’d otherwise agree that Abhishek leaving aside the solo bit which is obvious needs to get into something surprising (in some sense). Overall I’d also say he should perhaps think about the scripts more than the directors. Because depending on how well or not he’s doing he’ll get those talents but contemporary Bollywood by and large does not make projects that match his persona and/or skills in other ways. You need scripts that channel the Yuva/Sarkar/Guru element, those that do better with the BnB model, and then those that play with the understated BM type. He can have these over the top moments or masala moments or whatever but unless he does some mix of that first three that edge cannot be recovered. In other words if Abhishek became very successful doing what many others also do he’d be fine in commercial terms but he’s cancel out his signature or the mix I’ve just mentioned. There can be a kind of success which doesn’t have much meaning. If he were in the Tamil industry he’d never have a problem. They make the kind of cinema at different levels that would be a good fit for him. Bollywood doesn’t and hence you must then Aamir-like fashion things for yourself (whatever those choices might be). Because if you depend on existing talents you might get hits but even these won’t set you apart for the most part if you’re Abhishek. When he did Yuva or Guru or Sarkar people didn’t think this was something just anyone could do (for more than one reason). When you do Dostana it might become popular people might like you but it’s the sort of thing others can do also. The same for masala. That difference has to be established one way or the other. And yes sometimes the most risky thing is not taking risks. He should really get these multistarrers out of his system (whatever happens with HNY) and move on to a more meaningful mix.
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August 18, 2014 at 12:16 PM
Re.-He should really get these multistarrers out of his system (whatever happens with HNY) and move on to a more meaningful mix.
yes he should but he should never go to chhottards like Kashyap and his chamchaas. He should never forget what they said about him earlier…
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August 18, 2014 at 11:07 PM
Many tried the SRK model (including Aamir) and failed.
Many will try the Aamir model and WILL fail.
Before that many tried Amitabh Bachchan model and failed
Before that many tried the Rajesh Khanna model and failed
Before ….
The fact is, in this matter the spoils goto whoever occupies the space fist. The next guy will have to create his own niche. Abhishek will have to invent a new path.
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August 18, 2014 at 9:09 AM
By the way, the trailer looked amazing on TV versus on the laptop. SO I can only imagine how it looks on big screen.
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August 18, 2014 at 11:48 AM
I saw it on TV, not just on the computer, and unfortunately its shittiness was simply magnified.
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August 18, 2014 at 11:56 AM
LMAO………… Q sir at his bitchiest best !!
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August 18, 2014 at 12:18 PM
as long as the people it’s intended for likes it, the battle is won.
you should skip it watching it in theatre as it’s shittiness will be even more magnified.
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August 18, 2014 at 12:35 PM
I do skip SRK films in the theater, but since this one has Abhishek I will be watching it.
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August 18, 2014 at 12:57 PM
Q: Have you seen any Tamil/Telugu films as of late (BTW I do remember you mentioning that you didn’t really care for Angadi Theru…I haven’t seen this film, but I did like the director’s earlier Veyil. His upcoming Siddharth and Prithviraj starrer Kaaviya Thalaivan also looks interesting, Rahman is doing the music here. But among the Angadi Theru ‘kind’ of films, the ones I quite like are Kattradhu Thamizh and Vazhakku Enn 18/9…Balaji Sakthivel has made 3 pretty good films- Vazhakku, Kadhal and Samurai).
BTW since you are in Bombay, you should check out Rajeev Ravi’s (who was the d.o.p of Dev D, GoW etc) “Njan Steve Lopez” (I have heard this terrific things about it- apparently it is a ‘darker’ version of Udaan. It is supposedly playing with subs in most metros though it sadly hasn’t yet released in Delhi). Ravi’s debut effort “Annayum Rasoolum” (starring Fahadh Faasil, his younger brother Farhaan debuts in Njan Steve..) was a stunning film- easily the best Indian romantic film since Kadhal (I actually find it better than Kadhal). This is a simpler film than Rathnam’s Kadal (I am comparing both because both are coastal romances), but I think it also a better film.
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August 18, 2014 at 2:28 PM
Thanks Saurabh — I haven’t seen these films, but will try and check them out! Recently got DVDs for the Malayalam films Dhrishyam, 1983 and Ustad Hotel, and will be checking those out over te next week…
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August 18, 2014 at 3:11 PM
Q: I haven’t seen Ustad Hotel (though I do want to, I do like Dulquer), so would love to know your thoughts on it.
I liked Drishyam, but I also found it grossly overrated. The thriller portions are excellent (they should have really cut down the length of the first half though, the 2 halves seem to belong to different films) but they didn’t have the same impact on me because I had read Keigo Higashino’s superb novel “The Devotion of Suspect X” (the film does filch its most important plot-points from the novel though it’s not a rip-off) just a month earlier before I saw Drishyam- would still love to know your thoughts on it
I actually preferred 1983 to Drishyam. For someone who always wanted to understand the myth of our ’83 World Cup win, this one proved to be a small little charmer of a film (this isn’t really a cricket film, but it’s how cricket shapes the protagonist’s life)- I wish Bollywood did films like these.
I also have Shaji Karun’s new film “Swapaanam”, but haven’t yet gotten around to watching it.
The truly brilliant Malayalam films from last year IMO were “Annayum Rasoolum’ (I have already said enough on this, but let me just said this is a visually enriching work on many levels), Artist (this again has a very sort of romance and the 2 leads here are fantastic. Fahadh Faasil, who was also in Annayum Rasoolum and is my favourite contemporary Indian star-actor by quite a mile, stars in this), “Amen” (this one is hard to be boxed in a genre- I don’t think there is another Indian film where they have used ‘magic realism’ as the central mode to tell the story. And I am surprised how they have a ‘mainstream Malayali film’ inspite of giving the film this sort of directorial treatment. It has some truly funny moments BTW. And yes, this too stars Fahadh), and finally “Mumbai Police” (I found myself completely riveted to the screen throughout the running time. It is a thriller with the a very unique climax twist- that someone like Prithiviraj decided to play such a character is commendable in itself. And Prithvi, with his sneering looks, really fits the part. Also I liked some of the night-time shots of Kerala, reminded me of Mysskin’s sense of visuals in Yuddham Sei).
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August 18, 2014 at 4:08 PM
Thanks Saurabh, this is a very helpful comment — especially because it is much easier to get Malayalam films with subtitles in India than Tamil films. Will try and track some of these down (I didn’t realise shaji karun had a new film out…
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August 18, 2014 at 4:06 PM
I loved the first half of Drishyam. I thought it did an excellent work in setting the characters. I liked the way they established the miserly character of Lalettan and then the same person will go to any length to save his family. Whats your views on Nivin Pauly. I think this guy is someone who has got good potential too. I loved him in Neram too.
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August 18, 2014 at 12:15 PM
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August 18, 2014 at 1:10 PM
Satyam: OT, but are you aware that Ramesh Sippy is directing a film with Hema Malini and Rajkummar Rao (the Shahid actor) in the lead (with another younger actress)- the rumour is that it might be a remake of a French film (and this rumour might be true considering his son’s Nautanki Saala itself was a loose remake of Apres vous) where a mother (Hema might be doing this part) and daughter, who run a cafeteria in a hill station, fall in love with the same man (Rajkummar Rao). Do you recall any such French film?
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August 18, 2014 at 1:58 PM
yes have heard of this film though didn’t know the plot. On the French film there was a famous 80s work called L’annee des meduses which also featured the ‘nymphette’ charms of Valerie Kaprisky in more ways than one! She then went on to do far more ‘daring’ stuff along the same lines. Can’t say I’m very excited if this is Sippy’s film. The same was true of Nautanki Saala. Don’t know why they’ve got this bug all of a sudden!
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August 18, 2014 at 2:10 PM
Actually I always felt Ramesh Sippy didnt direct enough for him to be talked about among the great directors of his time. Yes he had Sholay and thats a timeless master piece but then he directed only around 10 other movies over a 25 year time frame. Thats too less. Shakti was his other movies I liked a lot. Shaan had some memorable music but overall was just time pass. Andaz and Seeta and Geetha were much better efforts. Saagar was quite good but after that it was all down hill. I thought he should have worked more….
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August 18, 2014 at 2:22 PM
I have a great weakness for Shaan. It hasn’t lost any of its cool. But yes it doesn’t quite have enough substance to it (incidentally I must be the only person on the planet who prefers Shakaal to Gabbar in a weird sort of way!) but I’d take it over Shakti.
I wouldn’t agree with the rest though. There are directors or writers or what have you who come up with the one great work and then never quite live upto that. I think most Bollywood careers can be exchanged for that one Sholay! So he should have done more but on the other hand what do you do after Sholay?! But in any case there are enough figures in various artistic fields like Sippy. of course the latter was the whizkid of his age. Started off with hits in Andaz and Seeta our Geeta and then there was Sholay. But yes it’s true that he lost interest after Saagar and what he made was pretty poor. Including the truly awful Zamana Deewana.
For all these reasons I have no hesitation in saying that he’s a greater director than for instance Yash Chopra. The latter has many many more films but he’s never been great in that more profound sense barring with the Salim-Javed scripts (and this automatically raises some flags for me.. actually Lamhe had promise but Yash Chopra didn’t quite have the integrity for it though I still like the film), which is to say he isn’t a tenth as accomplished in terms of the medium (either in a formalist sense or as a visionary) as Sippy. Again with the latter I wouldn’t include Saagar either. It’s technically proficient but too stale a story otherwise (watchable though). His three Bachchan films are to my mind really his oeuvre as all three do something different even if Sholay is in a different league. Seeta aur Geeta was very iconic in its time, Andaz too, specially for the Rajesh Khanna guest appearance but these films cannot be compared with what followed in any sense.
On a related note the other film that released roughly the same time as Shaan and is still cool is Feroz Khan’s Qurbani. Very few films can manage to be cool outside their immediate age but I believe these films are among those exceptions.
By the way there’s a certain irony in saying all of this because I would take Yash Chopra’s Salim-Javed films over Sholay (all three!). I couldn’t argue this as a critical matter but for some very strange reason and much I am always impressed by Sholay and don’t find it surprising that it is considered the ‘greatest’ it has never been a personal favorite.
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August 18, 2014 at 6:02 PM
2
3
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August 18, 2014 at 6:04 PM
SRK talks about Abhishek’s performance here (part 2)..
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August 18, 2014 at 6:12 PM
also here at the 2.30 mark..
http://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainmenttags/abhishek-bachchan/exclusive-watch-what-happens-when-srk-abhishek-and-hny-team-rela
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August 19, 2014 at 7:57 AM
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August 18, 2014 at 2:25 PM
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August 18, 2014 at 2:51 PM
I had mentioned this fe days back.
I still think they’re giving away too much in thesse interviews.
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August 18, 2014 at 3:30 PM
didn’t notice then.. but don’t know whether all of this is serious..
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August 19, 2014 at 9:24 AM
I’ve heard this in 2 different interview about triple role.
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August 19, 2014 at 11:22 AM
Not sure if it’s a triple role.. could be a double with one guy doing a BB kind of act.. triple in that sense.. but with this circus who knows?!
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August 19, 2014 at 8:49 AM
No Shah Rukh-Deepika romance in Happy New Year
August 19, 2014 14:21 IST
Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh KhanFor those expecting a full-blown Chennai Express styled romance between Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in Farah Khan’s Happy New Year, here’s some surprising news.
Deepika does not have a full-fledged romantic track with SRK in the film.
Says a source close to the project, “Deepika is like one of the boys in the film. She plays a bar dancer, who is called by Shah Rukh to teach his team of robbers how to dance in a global dance competition. The mutual attraction between SRK and Deepika is hinted at very gently. There is no attempt to cash in on the Chennai Express chemistry between the pair.”
More than romance, Deepika is the comic element.
“She feels she’s an artiste and therefore superior to the male actors, whom she has been called to teach how to dance,” says the source.
According to sources, this was Shah Rukh Khan’s idea.
“He wanted Farah to focus on the caper, and tone down the romantic element with Deepika,” says the source.
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August 19, 2014 at 11:31 AM
this is a bit of a risky strategy.. If a film is to trend well or well enough it needs an emotional anchor of some sort. OSO had it as did MHN. if you take that away you should be sure you’re making an ‘excellent’ film. Or at least one where all the comedy and all the songs and whatever else the circus offers is enough for the audience to not mind the lack of a proper romantic angle (and another emotional hook of some sort). Of course these days a film crosses 200 and everyone says it’s a big hit or whatever. But to get some sort of significant trending you need more than ‘sound and fury’. Even in Hollywood the ‘blockbusters’ usually have this sort of masala or an emotional angle. From Ocean’s 11 to Italian Job these sorts of films still do a fraction of what blockbusters do even when the latter do mediocre business and the former do very well. It’s certainly not going to be TMK or anything but this obsession with trying to create the biggest deal and so on can make one miss the forest for the trees. Farah Khan claims in her interviews that she hasn’t done this and yet nothing here so far suggests any kind of drama or anything that can keep the film a bit more grounded. This wasn’t true for MHN or even OSO, debased as the latter might have been for large sections.
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August 19, 2014 at 12:21 PM
This looks like another circus. Farah seems to have disintegrated from a fairly promising/entertaining debut film (and musical score) in MHN (very much in keeping in the SRK of Dharma/Yashraj at least a cousin of sorts) to making progressively “bigger” and “hyped” films which feel eccentric and far too spoofy. There is not a single “normal” character in the trailer…they all seem to present some kind of oddity in their behaviour. Everything is over the top. Akshay Kumar would fit in better in this kind of film. Think SRK looks great in the first shot, but after that shot the trailer falls apart.
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August 19, 2014 at 12:29 PM
The big films are really disappointing for the last couple of years. A year like 06 with RDB, Fanaa, Don, KANK, Krrish, D2, LRM, Omkara is totally a miss. Not to say all the big films “performed” but they did provoke conversation to some extent. Here, big films like all the Salman ones, CE, D3, Krrish 3 are all coming and going…sure they are making decent to good business in some instances, but they are al playing safe in a certain way. Bluntly they are not interesting, or when they are they miss out on execution.
HNY and Bang Bang feel much the same. I’ve not got a great feeling about P.K. although that is purely based on the outrageous first look. Without that poster I’d be gung ho still. Bang Bang trailer leaves more than HNY. Technically better put together.
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August 19, 2014 at 12:54 PM
Jay
How did CE JUST play it safe. a national film in Tamil (almost). How is that safe ?
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August 19, 2014 at 1:14 PM
Is that a trick question? Or is this the moment we turn CE into some kind of risky art-house film and lay claim to it being some kind of path breaking moment in Indian film history or that it invoked some kind of national pride like no other film has done that before. Or maybe it broke the boundaries of India.
It was a safe film. What more does one expect from Rohit Shetty? Sure it may have had a bit more substance than Golmaal and may have had some “clever” moments, but being safe does not mean you are without substance. Did it not have both leads in crowd pleasing roles, with lots of commercial elements like action/humour/romance? And that “chartbusting” type music expected of commercial films. The Lungi dance type song using Rajnikant to further the commercial prospects of the film. Big marketing on TV. Big prices. A plum Eid release.
Rohit Shetty’s films are Golmaal, Sunday, All the Best, Singham, Bol Bachchan etc. Singham is the closest on paper to making something that does not infuse comedy. The rest, CE included have all elements of action/comedy/romance. Hardly what one would call path breaking or cerebral or hatke and pretty damn safe.
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August 19, 2014 at 1:36 PM
Jay
If you dismiss or trivialize what makes CE different then yes under that restricted condition CE is NOT safe.
But, I don’t buy your logic.
If I say somebody is not short, I am not saying he is a giant. So let’s not start having a debate on issues that you seem to have attached to me. I am just trying to restrict it to whether it is short or not.
Never has there been a movie from Bollywood which had that much Tamil in it. This factor makes it different, as in risky, as in not safe.
Now you can dismiss the presence of Tamil in CE as not a big deal but then at some level everything is not a big deal.
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August 19, 2014 at 1:49 PM
If you can dismiss everything else that makes CE a safe film and pin all your hopes on Tamil than go for it.
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August 19, 2014 at 1:53 PM
Your logic is it had more Tamil than any other film so it is not safe. My logic is it had srk, deepika directed by rohit shetty. A big budget, decent marketing, a big release date…action, romance, dance, comedy, pleasant enough soundtrack. The directors previous films are all comedies and commercial bar one. So it is safe. You don’t have to agree. But the list on my side is bigger.
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August 19, 2014 at 1:55 PM
Its entertainment is risky because it has a dog playing one of the main characters. Yet it is called entertainment.
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August 19, 2014 at 2:03 PM
Ha!
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August 19, 2014 at 2:00 PM
Bandra NRI, with all due respect to call anything made my Rohit shetty any kind of risk for any star is more than ridiculous. There is nothing in it that is risky in a commercial sense. Not even remotely. Zilch. Zippo. And if one believes otherwise every other commercial film is a risk. This isn’t up for debate. You’re simply wrong.
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August 19, 2014 at 2:14 PM
Jay
I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.
Let me restate in a different way.
Let’s say there is a tonic with a long (very long) list of ingredients that make it very good for health.
Not let’s say it also has arsenic. As you can well understand that the presence of arsenic makes it unsafe.
As soon as I present to you evidence that the tonic contains arsenic, your long laundry list becomes null and void.
Sure Vis a Vis CE you have a long list. Just saying it has SRK would have been sufficient. But it takes just one element (Tamil) to declare it unsafe.
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August 19, 2014 at 2:28 PM
Ek Duje Ke Liye roughly 35 years ago had an unknown hero (for the North) who did not speak more than broken phrases of Hindi (he was a Tamilian in the film). This was a big hit. All these decades later the idea that a caricaturing of Tamil and Tamil culture (even if it is done affectionately in the film) makes the film risky is one of the most bizarre things I have heard.
And saying SRK is in it is not enough given how most or all of his high profile films performed between OSO and CE. This is the problem. A debate cannot get started if there isn’t a basic admission on the facts. If you want to be a SRK fan that’s fine but you don’t need to come up with such claims (or the kind of thing you did on Aamir sometime back.. where somehow a desperate star becomes Aamir!). If it doesn’t matter whether SRK had the Don gross or the CE one, the RNBDJ gross or the CE one, so on and so forth, then why is anyone celebrating CE at all?! And it’s a hopeless claim to make when a SRK fan suggests ‘oh he was at the top all along which is why CE eventually happened or CE eventually happened’. Why? because these are not the standards used for anyone in any industry. When a star who’s been struggling for a while (as SRK was relative to where he was prior to this) gets a big one you might say the star has had a bounce or ‘come back’. You don’t pretend nothing ever happened!
This is not about debate or opinions but about simple honesty. Somehow Salman getting these big numbers every year or twice a year and Aamir doing it in all sorts of genres regularly and SRK doing so once after seven years suddenly means the playing field is level?! This is such bull. And what is being celebrated here? The ultimate circus in HNY where SRK doesn’t really have to carry the load the way Aamir and Salman do in their films. Or CE with an actress on an amazing run and certainly a director who gave 100 crores with every conceivable star combo? Is this the same as Salman appearing in nothing films with rarely even a significant actress and getting those numbers?
And let’s also not get into this top 3, top 4 stuff. I don’t think SRK spent most of his career saying ‘hey I’m one of the top 3 or 4’! Gimme a break. This is like the ‘Khan club’. No such club when SRK was at his peak in the 90s. Aamir and Salman didn’t get to be in this club then. Suddenly the tables are turned and it’s a club! Yeah right!
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August 19, 2014 at 2:19 PM
Rohit Shetty’s riskiest film relatively has been Singham. That kind of cop drama hasnt done well for some time since AB hung his cop boots. There was a Kurukshetra from Dutt somewhere but that didnt do too well. I will give it to Shetty for not diluting the impact of a cop drama by having unnecessary comedy elements or unnecessary songs..
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August 19, 2014 at 2:29 PM
agreed.. everything else he’s done has been in the comedy genre. So yeah if you want to talk about relative risk in a commercial genre Singham is a lot moreso than CE!
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August 19, 2014 at 2:22 PM
Jay
There is precedence for an animal as lead in a movie (worldwide).
Sorry you are trying to be glib.
Tell me, will you drink a tonic with arsenic ?
Will you eat a donut sprinkled with a few rat droppings ?
Nope, never, I assure you that you will not
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August 19, 2014 at 2:30 PM
Do you know how insulting this sounds? The analogies you’re constantly using for the ‘Tamil’ in CE? I am the severest critic of multiplex audiences but this is the worst kind of fantasy!
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August 19, 2014 at 2:52 PM
Yup i think bandra is mistaking the indian public here…anyway not worth the debate. The debate is rather thin from one side
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August 19, 2014 at 2:49 PM
Satyam
You are twisting it in a direction that is a stretch.
Tamil in CE is like Cayenne Peppers in a the food of someone who has always had bland food.
Tamil in CE is like dairy in a duet prepared for a Japanese.
Now neither Chillies nor Dairy by themselves are horrible/bad or offensive, but they won’t sell. These things will kill the business.
A thing need not be offensive to kill the market. Imagine selling a near Hindi movie to an English Only audience ? Yes, only those that understand will see it.
Now Vis a Vis EDKL, let’s not mix theme and language.
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August 19, 2014 at 4:36 PM
Jay
OFCOURSE the argument from one side is think 🙂
OFCOURSE the language barrier is a non issue, just see how well French Language movies do in the US
OFCOURSE, otherwise it will not fit your narrative.
Surely if the argument was not thin you would gave argued the case. 🙂
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August 19, 2014 at 6:04 PM
Your analogy is not a comparable one at all. Leaving this aside I guess you are saying that CE is a film in Tamil. This is why you used the French film analogy. You know Bandra NRI you’re in a hole here and you should stop digging. I’m trying hard not to be rude but this is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard on a forum!
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August 19, 2014 at 4:37 PM
*thin
*have
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August 19, 2014 at 6:57 PM
Satyam
If you are wondering whether I am using a sledge hammer to squat a fly, then don’t wonder. Yes I am, and I have to go that route only because you are missing obvious facts.
To disprove a positive, I have to only show evidence of the existence of a negative. However inconvenient this theory may be the world accepts it. The courts also accepts it.
Now French film sure is testing the limits, and but my hope is that if you can see this issue at its limits then least you will then get the gist of my position. Sure CE Vs French Movies, do not match on all four legs. But it does illustrate a similar reluctance. People stay away from movies that are in a language that they don’t understand. This is a fact that is self evident.
Even Rohit pitched SRK “Angior”. When SRK liked Rohit’s work, he told him about CE which for the reasons I have stated here was rejected by multiple producers. To Rohit’s surprise SRK liked the risk.
We don’t know each other, perhaps never will, hence the only influence I have is the integrity of my thoughts. You can agree or disagree, but they are sincere.
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August 19, 2014 at 7:34 PM
I again hate to be blunt but there are only degrees of absurdity in certain responses.
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August 19, 2014 at 7:05 PM
Multiple a string of a thousand numbers by one negative number, the result is negative.
No one argues that we just did the same exercise with a thousand positive numbers, and hence as a mark of respect the result should remain positive.
No one can be the “fly in the ointment”.
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August 19, 2014 at 7:10 PM
* Just one bug can be the “fly in the ointment”
Rest
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August 20, 2014 at 1:15 PM
IMO Rohit Shetty has made only one good movie; All the best (and to certain degree Golmaal 1). Rest are trash. But then I call many other Bollywood movies trash as well.
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August 19, 2014 at 9:36 AM
Wow Satyam you are really keeping up with HNY updates and taking the movie seriously. Few days back you had summarized it very well when you called this more of a ‘stage show’ than a movie.
I fear this has a good chance of going into TMK and Joker type zoning.. Just look what Farah has done to Deepika’s act and if she stays like that with that accent throughout the movie which reviewers will notify us in advance, very difficult to touch this movie with a barge pole. There is no connection between that vernacular slang and the dress she is wearing….so those are the standards!!
There are times when you can forego the track/story line etc but there is no escape to hammy sequences / acting when you are shown that in advance through trailer.
There is limit to itemized items!!
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August 19, 2014 at 10:21 AM
MSDhoni
Satyam is trying to make sure that WHEN HNY break all records, Abhishek gets he due credit (read all credit)
Z in the meantime is trying to make sure that WHEN those records start falling ONLY. SRK gets all credit.
Both Satyam and Z are two sides if the same coin.
God bless them. 🙂
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August 19, 2014 at 11:24 AM
you might have missed some of my earlier comments on all of this! Ultimately who gets credit or now is not really dependent on anything I say or not say? I might have an opinion on what’s happening in a film but at the end of the day what matters is what people think in general (as a pragmatic matter).
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August 19, 2014 at 11:38 AM
SRK I must say seems to have extraordinary praise for Abhishek in the two clips I put up yesterday. In one he claims he wanted to do Nandu as he felt this was the best character but he didn’t think he could pull it off. In the other he said that whether it’s a drunk scene or a dramatic one or a comic one or whatever every actor who did this stuff one way or the other referenced Bachchan Sr but that Abhishek had been absolutely brilliant without quite being Bachchanesque in that easy sense. He said that was the biggest compliment that could be offered to Abhishek, that he could even be spoken about in the same breath. Now of course while films are releasing people say all kinds of things but let’s say SRK (or for that matter anyone) doesn’t usually say this about his co-stars. He certainly seems to have a fondness for Abhishek (I’ve always said this) and what he says about Abhishek’s part doesn’t surprise me inasmuch as I would have expected as much when the film began. But the theatrical trailer has nonetheless been lopsided. If the advertising continues this way Abhishek would have to make quite an impression to reverse this sense. It’s clearly not going to be D3 by any stretch. Whether it’s a BB remains to be seen. Either way not my kind of thing. I very much doubt Farah Khan can ever make a film that I can like. In terms of Abhishek I might get a comic performance that I like (though I’m hardly surprised he can do this well) but that’s about it. If the film truly turns out to be fun that would be a pleasant surprise. But this sort of ‘excess’ is something I always recoil from. This kind of thing, contra Abhishek, is un-Desai. Just a very weak misreading of what Desai was about even if Farah Khan absolutely adores Desai.
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August 19, 2014 at 1:19 PM
I think SRK appreciates the class and sophistication that Bachchans represent. I am sure he also finds Abhishek talented.
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August 19, 2014 at 1:57 PM
He actually does have a high opinion of Abhishek. More than this I cannot say here.
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August 19, 2014 at 12:29 PM
My take on it is,
SRK gets all the credit if the film is a hit because his last film also did super business with him being the lead in it and it’s like the other actors in this film are salman/aamir/HR/akshay/ranbir, they’re bunch of nobody.
If the film fails, SRK should get all the blame because he is the producer and the main star in it.
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August 19, 2014 at 12:32 PM
Meant to say it’s “NOT” like the other stars in HNY are salman/aamir/hr/akshay/ranbir.
sonu/abhi/vivan/boman are not solo main leads material type of stars.
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August 19, 2014 at 2:02 PM
that’s a classic ‘red herring’ argument. In more ways than one. That you have to keep clubbing Abhishek with the rest indicates your anxiety! You’re in any case Jekyll and Hyde on this. One day you show up saying Abhishek has a great role, the film will relaunch him and so on and the next day you say he’s like Vivaan or Boman. You might want to make up your mind!
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August 19, 2014 at 3:17 PM
I guess you didn’t read my comment(s).
Please show me a post of mine where I said abhi is a star like salman/aamir/hr/akshay/ranbir?
my point in the above comment is regardless of how big others role is in HNY, if the movie fails, it’s all SRKs fault.
Than on same token, if it’s a success, SRK gets the credit for producing it and being the main star (you can say only star in it if you look at males only) in it.
Which last solo starrer film of vivan, sonu, abhi, boman was a huge hit?
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August 19, 2014 at 6:01 PM
one doesn’t follow from the other.. there can be a hit where someone steals the show from a star. There can be a flop where the lead star is nonetheless appreciated. The responsibility might be greatest on the main star specially when he’s also producing it but this doesn’t mean that the moment it’s a hit there’s no question about where the credit goes. Again it’s obvious that SRK benefits if it’s a hit. But Abhishek can benefit too if he has enough to do here. The scale for success in each case is rather different. SRK could be a winner overall even if Abhishek got more credit. So there are any number of scenarios here. It’s not as simply as you pretend it is.
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August 19, 2014 at 6:52 PM
also in my experience those who pretend to be so very generous when it comes to the stars they’re completely partisan about it usually means they don’t expect the worst — ‘oh it will be on SRK if it fails’ and so on! How do we know this? because folks like yourself have a 1000 excuses when the films of those stars (in this case SRK) fail or underperform.
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August 19, 2014 at 9:43 AM
And just few week back I was hoping ,with this one SRK-Farah combo is entering Naseeb zone……….lol
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August 19, 2014 at 12:40 PM
Z
LOL
Both you guys have the same objective. You are Tom & Jerry.
🙂
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August 19, 2014 at 1:56 PM
Not really.. it doesn’t depend on ‘me’. The rest is about analysis.
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August 19, 2014 at 4:32 PM
While I am greatly impressed by SRK’s attitude towards Abhishek (he does seem genuine while praising Abhishek), this is not even close to how Abhishek was treated by Devgn (I am not even talking about the fact that Devgn pretty much served him a hit on a silver platter, coupled with the fact that he gave Abhishek almost akin to a central role in the film…forget Bollywood, this sort of gesture is hardly shown by anyone in any film industry. This was Devgn after the super-success of Singham, he didn’t need to do a BB, he could have very easily gotten a hit in a different comedy with him in central role or in a multistarrer like Golmaal). I very clearly remember some of the BB interviews where he not just allowed Abhishek to take the centrestage, but also took care of him- he kept defending Abhishek’s choices of films etc. And Abhishek himself said that while doing the film, he always felt that he was working in a film of his own production house. Now admittedly Devgn and Bachchans are really close, but still Devgn didn’t need to be half as ‘generous’ here.
BTW whatever Rohit Shetty’s merits are as a director, he is a far more reasonable voice than the likes of Farah and Sajid (I think it is also because unlike the others, Shetty is a chip of the old block). In one of the BB interviews, when asked to why did he choose to cast Abhishek considering he had a spate of flops back then (Raavan, D6, KHJJS, Players, Game), he said that Abhishek was plain unlucky that some of those films flopped as he considered quite few of them as very good films.
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August 19, 2014 at 6:02 PM
I don’t disagree with anything here.. all I meant there was that coming from SRK that was a lot.
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August 19, 2014 at 10:16 PM
I agree that Devgn was being generous but I want to put it that Rohit shetty always owed to Abhishek as he was part of his debut film(Zameen) and wanted to give it back when he is down. Rohit shetty was sure he didn’t wanted Ajay as leading actor in his Golmaal remake and fortunately twisted Utpal Dutt’s role to fit in Ajay as well and got Abhishek on the board.
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August 19, 2014 at 7:19 PM
you won’t see me defending a flop film. a flop film is a flop film no matter who is in it. let’s not forget how you defend countless abhi flop films by giving some weird excuses. i think the umrao jaan was the best one you had “Not enough people showed up for it”, really???
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August 19, 2014 at 7:20 PM
lol, this reply fell under incorrect response.
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August 19, 2014 at 7:33 PM
yes because you change the terms of the debate when it’s a flop! On UJ I’m flattered you’ve been following me for such a long time and hanging on to every word but to say that I was euphemistic about the film is absurd. There are a number of Abhishek flops that I haven’t called anything but that.
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August 19, 2014 at 10:56 PM
the other one was “RGV ke sholay”, that it was a spoof.
The producer, director, actors (including bachhan), nobody involved with that film claimed it to be.
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August 20, 2014 at 1:27 AM
Many srk fans dont admit ra1 is flop isnt it.mnik is also flop.
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August 20, 2014 at 7:37 AM
It is if you take india collection only, it’s another story that ra1 and mnik made more than 90% akshays films.
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August 20, 2014 at 2:27 AM
I think that Devgan has always been very close to Abhishek.
I remember right after Refugee and when Abhishek’s Tera Jaadu Chal Gaya had flopped, Devgan was full of praise for Abhishek in an interview. He was very appreciative of Abhishek’s performance in Refugee and was saying that he saw a very good actor in there.
I think when it comes to SRK, we should be wary about his praises. I remember he was prasing Zayed Khan to the skies before MHN’s release while the latter was playing very much second fiddle to him. Incidentally it was a role earmarked for Abhishek and it’s a good thing Abhishek didn’t sign for it when you look at the scope of the role.
Look at the scenes edited out from KANK and you would find that on paper at least initially, SRK had a much longer role. KANK worked for Abhishek because his performance and character were less hammy than SRK’s.
It’s a case of the underdog stealing the thunder from the main man. But what’s certain is that SRK wasn’t as magnanimous as that. He had embarked on a venture where the director was a big fan of his, the production house was one he had worked with several times, the movie was one where he very much was the main man and with by far the lengthiest role. He also got most of the songs and he got the women. But Rani and him hammed too much and the underdog in the role of cuckold was more appreciated.
Remember Darr’s making. Aamir was honest enough to step away when he felt something was not right and that someone is being taken for a ride but SRK was quite unscrupulous there during his early days. And while the likes of Aamir and Salman work with various people and production houses, SRK chooses to work mainly with directors very close to him and he always ensures that he very much is the main man in his movies. He rarely works with directors outside of his camp and I feel that if he is doing an ensemble movie he is going to ensure he gets the lion’s share of whatever is on the plate.
So, I won’t be too much carried away with his praises.
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August 20, 2014 at 6:57 AM
Well said. When a big star praises, it is not unadulterated.
Meethi churi types.
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August 20, 2014 at 7:35 AM
SRK, at the time of Darr was in no position to make demands. He was still fairly new, not like aamir/salman.
What would you call the amount of scope abhi got in D3?
Zayed khan in mhn was fine, who else gave him a role and a hit film like that?
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August 20, 2014 at 9:17 AM
Bandra NRI:
As a professional you have to praise your team mates and colleagues. Also as a professional you have to show support for the product. This is all good form. SRK is just doing his job and saying what he is supposed to say and do.
To jump to conclusions about someone’s state of mind ( or “real intent”) based on an expression of professional courtesy, is not just conjecture but in itself predisposed to similar conjectures.
Ajay on the other hand along with the same professional courtesy was perhaps also extending a neighbor’s courtesy. Perhaps he genuinely feels for Abhishek because they live/lived next to each other.
You need to go beyond the mundane, par for the course, professional minutiae to establish SRK’s probable evil intent. Maybe you need to say what really bothers you about SRK.
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August 20, 2014 at 9:46 AM
I am somewhere between you and Rahul on this.. every actor looks out for himself, there’s nothing odd about this, SRK is hardly unique in this respect. But sometimes there are relationships in the industry because of which people do things. Now it’s much more common to do a film for someone for this reason rather than do one where one takes some sort of backseat or at least allow the other to be dominant in the film (or whatever). The latter is rare in any age and when this sort of thing happens usually the star has been taken by surprise. But with Devgan it’s true that it’s the rare case of someone actually doing so willingly. The families have been very close for more reasons than one. Devgan and his father both feel that they owe Bachchan for certain reasons. Rohit Shetty himself feels this about Bachchan. Now having said that there is a closeness there that by now transcends some of this stuff. Shetty took exactly those two actors even for Zameen. The larger point about BB though is that Devgan had the kind of part that was itself a crowd-pleaser and where he had lots of footage too and so on. He wasn’t really second fiddle here though it seemed that way to the reviewers and so on because again he gave away not just the double but also the symbolic bit to Abhishek.
What’s happened with HNY is that once again SRK has a certain fondness for Abhishek and if anything has often gone out of his way to praise him for his refinement and so on (this again isn’t something he’s said for anyone else). I also believe (and have good reasons to believe this) that SRK genuinely appreciates the actor in Abhishek (this is not something he believes for all of his peers, younger or older). You put it all together and it might well be the case that Abhishek has a special part here. However the difference is that SRK will always do enough to look out for himself and hence the advertising bit and so forth. But Abhishek might still have something very significant here. So it’s a question of temperaments. Devgan once he decides he’s ok with doing a certain deal with Abhishek (he wouldn’t do this for everyone by the way) is also quite happy to go along with a certain advertising parity and so forth (he could have done this deal too.. why? Because the bigger star even when he doesn’t have the better role can always make it up with the symbolic stuff.. this is exactly what SRK has done so far). I am quite confident SRK too wouldn’t have given this role to just any star, again for multiple reasons. But it works out for him to the extent that it will still be seen as his film and the advertising supports that narrative. Now unless people watch the film and feel this is BB (much harder given the circus here) SRK’s ok. Even if the latter did somehow happen SRK would still mind it far less I think given it’s Abhishek at the other end and at any rate the box office would still work better for his narrative than Abhishek’s. So there is all this built-in safety for SRK in this film. The same holds for Devgan too except that when you give away the symbolic stuff you’re at least relaying to the audience who the more central star might be for that film. Forget everything else that film even had the BB title which wasn’t necessary at all. One could have done everything the same way without that title.
You put it all together and I’d say Devgan’s was an extraordinary gesture all things considered. SRK’s I’d say is remarkable (assuming that Abhishek has something remarkable here.. obviously this doesn’t hold if he doesn’t.. what’s the standard? the footage of course and more or less Abhishek having that sort of impact.. so footage and the kind of part it is..) given the kind of star and frankly person he is. Ultimately this is an industry not a charity and one must look at those relative things stars do given their history and their inclination. Will say that Farah Khan was desperate to get Abhishek for this part and tried for a very long time (Abhishek didn’t sign on easily here). SRK too was keen on it. As for saying things to promote the film that’s absolutely true but he doesn’t say these things for others. And I don’t remember what he said about Zayed but I very much doubt he was saying this sort of stuff! This time around in any case he’s not saying much about the others anyway beyond the fact that it was all one happy family and that he hopes everyone has done better than their best here and so on.
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August 20, 2014 at 11:45 AM
I think Bollywood is becoming more and more professional. I think what Ajay did is indeed remarkable, because he gave Abhishek an opportunity to rise and shine, but what he did was also stay true to the requirements of the movie/subject.
Yes in ages past, the lead would edit out the competition. But these days everyone gets it that those tactics are counter productive.
Also it is not as if Ajay played the second fiddle. Ajay made sure that he had the better female star opposite him. Ajay also made sure that he had the Masalla Math in his favor.
As you said, this is business not charity.
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September 2, 2014 at 1:10 PM
[added to post]
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September 2, 2014 at 2:44 PM
Farah’s miserably failed attempt to recreate magic of “Rang jama ke jayenge, chakkar chala ke jayenge” from Naseeb again …
Farah seems too much in Awe of Naseeb .. First Johny Janny .. Now this.
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September 2, 2014 at 9:17 PM
“Farah seems too much in Awe of Naseeb..” I’m not sure if Farah is in awe but certainly someone’s here! 🙂
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September 2, 2014 at 9:19 PM
Farah has very often talked about Desai and some of these song situations.
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September 2, 2014 at 11:36 PM
Yakula,
This is the Bachchan hangover to you which is talking like this.Anyway, song seems good, D.P is the scene stealer here and Abhishek looks terrible in Arabic costumes.
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September 3, 2014 at 8:29 AM
Samal …. kache chawal dekh ke samajh aa jata hai kis khet se hai .. its not hard to figure out the thought process behing any movie of these siblings (Farah, Sajid) .. Farah’s next will be inspired from “Chal mere bhai tere hath jodta hun”/”Zindagi Imtehaan leti hai” .. and tribology will complete.
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September 2, 2014 at 5:10 PM
This is better. I don’t mind it.
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September 2, 2014 at 8:55 PM
Mega scale, rich colors, and well picturized. The entire cast has got some individual moments to rise & shine.
If this song is any indication, this movie is going to be BIG.
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September 2, 2014 at 9:20 PM
Looks like Abhishek will have the scene stealer role.. full on comedy and fun types. Like Deepika had in Chennai Express.
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September 2, 2014 at 10:10 PM
Farah does not seem to be the type who will add extra scenes for anyone. Her loyalty is always is to the movie. She will use everyone to their capacity (to the extent of the movie’s requirement).
But I have to admit that from the trailer (voice over by SRK), and now with this song, this seems less and less ensemble and more and more the usual SRK tour de force.
Abhishek comes out a winner just being attached to this venture. I am sure he will get a better deal than Dhoom 1 & 2. I am expecting a lot from Abhishek.
Sonu Sood appears to me to be the one who will gain a lot from this movie.
The kid, I am not impressed yet, but it ain’t over yet. Who knows, he may pull a Tahir Bhasin.
DP looks amazing. The best I have seen in years.
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September 3, 2014 at 8:53 AM
“Farah does not seem to be the type who will add extra scenes for anyone. Her loyalty is always is to the movie.”
For that to happen one needs to be principled and disciplined which she is not. With so much filmy background, goodwill and available resources from the top guns in film industry to both the siblings they should easily be making at least better stuff than a Rohit Shetty.
Currently bollywood is so badly infected with ‘bhai bhateejawaad’ that it is getting obnoxious and insufferable.
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September 3, 2014 at 9:11 AM
You may have a bigger point, but she is known to be a ball breaker (disciplined task master). She seems to be a detail person.
Farah’s best is way better than Shetty’s worst. Farah’s average is better than Shetty’s average. The question then is what about CE ? I think Shetty was influenced by Farah in CE.
Sure Shetty’s is more successful, he also has the pulse of the people (for the time being), but Farah is more resourceful and has more depth.
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September 3, 2014 at 9:17 AM
I actually disagree with that. I don’t believe OSO barring certain portions is a better film than CE or BB. And so far HNY looks a lot worse than OSO. MHN might still be her best film relative to what she was attempting. Not a Shetty fan by any means but this idea that one just does ‘grand’ and it becomes better is one I completely reject too, specially when the ‘grand’ is in as bad taste as that on display here.
She’s just a bread and butter filmmaker at this point with a big budget at her disposal. Otherwise there isn’t the least bit inspiring in her films by any stretch. Now HNY might turn out to be better than the advertising but how many times do films surprise us in this sense in Bollywood?!
Finally I don’t even find this debatable. With some kinds of films and advertising I can understand the appeal and so forth even if it’s not my kind of thing. But HNY seems subpar even by those standards. Find it impossible to believe that there are too many even SRK fans out there who find this film fine based on the advertising. Counting crores is a different matter. A number of films can do that these days. That too is hardly the biggest yardstick around.
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September 3, 2014 at 9:38 AM
Satyam
It is emotion rather than substance that makes you rate BB that high. BB was good but not even as good as Singham 2 .
OSO set records for its time. The songs were a rage. All this while facing competition from Day 1. For me that is all it takes to believe it was good.
Of course you have another fake science, aka “trending theory” to discount OSO. I am positive some day you will simultaneously apply both, trending theory, and inflation adjustment to show how worthless SRK is. How about applying inflation adjustment to a trending multiple ?
For the moment, it is safe to say that, for you, none of SRK movies are good enough, and none of Abhishek’s movies are devoid of some redeeming feature (for you).
But your opinion or my opinion has to be weighed against the opinion of the BO.
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September 3, 2014 at 9:46 AM
MHN is her best film and it was a fun film that entertained. I found OSO a bit Jekyll and Hyde. Not had the guts to watch Tees Maar Khan but I wouldn’t be surprised if that one was OK as audiences just don’t get spoof. On OSO my fav was Dhoom Taana. I agree the album was peppy and had chartbusters plus melodious songs too. But the film in some parts was a bore and SRK’s looks fell apart from that film onwards. I think it worked for a lot of the audience but this is the first film I found where even SRK fans felt robbed and the first time I found that they did not like his film. Since then numerous instances, but thought this was the first.
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September 3, 2014 at 9:52 AM
In essence whether it Aditya Chopra, Yash Chopra, Karan Johar or Farah Khan…they all got a big success with SRK early on (DDLJ, Darr, KKHH, MHN) but they never managed to recreate that early success or magic to that extent even though they promoted it as such. They seem to get the big one early and continue to chase that success. Farah has her chance now. It wouldn’t be off surprise if DDLJ/Darr/KKHH/MHN remained the more “polished” films than anything subsequent.
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September 3, 2014 at 9:55 AM
I knew you would say some of this stuff. Actually OSO trended pretty well. It wasn’t extraordinary by the standards of its age but it doubled its week 1, something hardly any film does these days. RNBDJ also has good trending in the same way. So you clearly haven’t been reading me. On the ‘fake science’ yup.. just like the Big Bang.
On the ’emotion’ bit yes one of these days I’ll have to take lessons from you on how to be dispassionate towards a star (SRK in this case.. of course I am also guilty of citing Abhishek’s CE.. thanks for telling me you didn’t find BB even as good as Singham Returns.. here we finally have a scientific statement..). In the meantime I’m still trying to learn how you find HNY grander and more impressive than Moulin Rouge..
Finally the box office is about what the audience likes which I would think is not the only expression of ‘value’. But if it is wonder what you’ve been complaining about when it comes to Modi. A far bigger ‘audience’ gave him a huge majority!
Will say though that it’s good you’ve come out in the open more or less. There was no need for this pretense from day 1. You’re just another SRK fan, there’s nothing wrong in admitting it. You needn’t have said what you did about Aamir or Bachchan or whoever in the bargain though all of this is still excusable given you find Farah Khan more impressive than Baz Luhrmann.
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September 3, 2014 at 10:01 AM
OSO doubled its first week and RNBDJ too, probably a bit more than double in the latters case. By the standards today, they were definitely liked films. But I’d lean towards the latter as being better received overall, OSO had a lot of hype and the big OSO song sequence too. Sure it had competition but that was dead inside 2 days as Saawariya plunged really quickly. RNBDJ did well for 2 weeks and even when Ghajini released, it still did decent business. In a nutshell OSO owes more of its success to the size of the film, its “event” nature much like D3 whereas RNBDJ succeeded more as a film.
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September 3, 2014 at 11:01 AM
well-argued all round..
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September 3, 2014 at 9:45 AM
Farah and depth??
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September 3, 2014 at 11:29 AM
Jay
You say none have been able to repeat the success.
I think you forgot K3G (can provide more but one is sufficient to disprove a positive)
Now with OSO you can see for your self that even you fake science say it was great but then you add subjective parameters to discount it I ask why ?
You claim Sawariya was squashed in 2 days, NOW now now do you really need anyone to debunk this ? Did OSO get all the screens after 2 Days ?
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September 3, 2014 at 11:46 AM
Gently read my comments, in any case they are opinions. I said “they never managed to recreate that early success or magic to that extent” – the key words being to “that extent”.
For Johar, KKHH is a “bigger” success than K3G – not a bigger film. For the size of film K3G was it should/could have been historic and better told as a story…
Same goes with OSO in a different context i.e. I believe MHN to be a better film, showing more promise for Khan as a director.
I am not saying neither OSO nor K3G were not successful. They were, but in my opinion they fell below the expectations of the cast, ambition of film etc. vs. KKHH/MHN.
Or simply put Darr/DDLJ/KKHH/MHN overachieved as successes vs. subsequent films.
And this is not a surprise. Typically after a big success, expectations rise, cast sizes rise, hype rises. To fall under some of these pressures but still get a success is a success. Consider Hirani. His path has been far more “linear”. One could say MBBS is his best film or LRM or 3 Idiots. The box office of those films has grown as the market has. The other directors don’t have a “graph” or filmography that suggests that. One could say it is more bumpy.
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September 3, 2014 at 12:08 PM
er… saawariya collapsed.. which means no one showed up for it beyond a point.. elementary.. no? I saw it in a utterly empty theater on day 3. But hey that’s still some competition..!
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September 3, 2014 at 11:32 AM
Satyam
I am a fan of Bollywood, which means I am also a fan of SRK.
But by your yardstick, I am sure even Mr Bachchan is a fan if SRK
In any case are you suggesting that being SRK’s fan equates to a lesser status ?
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September 3, 2014 at 12:09 PM
you’re not as a confused as you pretend to be. this act was already stale more than a decade ago when many before you tried it.
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September 3, 2014 at 12:01 PM
Jay
I read it as gently as you would have liked me to be. I think you would have proud if how gentle I was.
I found no reason for your abstract opinion that K3G was a lesser success than KKHH.
Sure your comment suits your narrative and that makes it a vested opinion. When you can support that with facts we will buy that snake oil.
With the example if OSO this absurdity becomes further clear. A movie that had competitor from Day 1 , yet managed to set new highs. Even your fake science agrees that it is a big success, yet you introduce subjective opinions to deny it it’s hard earned success. Why ?
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September 3, 2014 at 12:16 PM
This is a nice tactic, again rather stale. Insult the other person and then ask for their agreement. So keep saying ‘fake science’ (hey there are flat earth folks out there!) but then also say ‘even you agree with this’.
The funny thing is you go after Modi all the time. You allow yourself the whole dirty bag of tricks that you claim to dislike when politicians employ it. There are all sorts of rhetorical strategies one can use to pretend to be confused, to keep twisting things, to not give a straight answer, to avoid responding clearly, etc etc. The thing is life would be easier for you if you just owned up to things. Because it’s not as if anyone is fooled. It’s transparently obvious. There’s a reason I questioned you the first time you said something about Aamir. Not because I care whether anyone attacks Aamir or loves him or whatever. It’s because your claim was a dishonest one. But even dishonest claims ought to display a little more sophistication than you seem to be able to muster up.
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September 3, 2014 at 12:37 PM
Satyam
How does the collapse of Sawariya by itself help OSO.
It is all about the screen count. Less screens means less revenue. If at Day 2 they had removed Sawariya and given those screens to OSO then that would have helped.
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September 3, 2014 at 12:45 PM
Bandra lets learn to move on. I don’t want to start another argument where you are constantly chasing my tail.
Saawariya collapsing SHOULD help OSO trending. Did it? Or did it still trend worse than D2/RNBDJ?
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September 3, 2014 at 12:52 PM
er.. no because films like OSO have all the screens they need and they’re not running at 100% capacity. So you wouldn’t get the Saawariya gross added on to it if it were the only release. You also have to account for audiences that will watch both films one way or the other. When one film gets bad reports they will probably skip out on this but watch the other one in any case. It’s like saying JTHJ would have had the entire gross of the competition if it had released alone. that’s absurd. And there’s another way of looking at it. RNBDJ was a solo release and still only managed the OSO opening (more or less). Two weeks later Ghajini was in a different stratosphere altogether. Don released with JeM. It had an anemic start and trended ok, did better than the latter. But years later the second Don at Christmas still had a sluggish start all things considered and trended worse. Competition matters but that doesn’t mean you crudely add on the other film’s gross. And in any case if one is going to talk about this one should also highlight the opposite. So if OSO is somehow over performing (let’s accept your logic) then RNBDJ is massively underperforming! Can’t have it both ways. Plus it’s also about WOM, beyond a day (actually these days even on day 1) or so it’s the response kicking in. If it’s not strong enough extra screens don’t save the film.
Of course wonder why you believe in ‘competition’ at all. This too is a ‘fake science’ idea much like trending. Here too you pick and choose!
anyway it’s pointless with you.. I think most fair people have figured out by now what’s going on with you.
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September 3, 2014 at 12:43 PM
Satyam
Your inability to stick to the debate cannot be credited to any tactic of mine.
For the moment we are talking about Jay’s new theory that SRK never repeated success with his directors (subjective words left out for the sake of clarity).
If you want to discuss Aamir or Modi, we will do so but later.
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September 3, 2014 at 1:04 PM
“For the moment we are talking about Jay’s new theory that SRK never repeated success with his directors”
LOL – selective reading.
I think you enjoy creating a debate in your mind. I suggest you leave it to your mind.
NEVER did I say SRK did not repeat success. K3G, DTPH, Mohabbatein, OSO, RNBDJ are all successes. I just don’t think figuratively they are as successful “directorially” as the directors previous films.
From what was an observation about Farah/Yash/Karan/Aditya…you have quickly turned into “Jay thinks SRK never repeated success with his directors”.
LOL you got THAT from my comment? You GOT the SRK bit. I think I was willing to give some benefit with the “my opinions are fair, I battle in good faith” innocence. Now I think you are simply after credit for SRK.
OSO say 800 screens/Saawariya 600 screens. OSO opening weekend 23 crore, first week 40 crore total 80 crore odd. It trended with 50%.
RNBDJ 42 crore first week, total 85 crore, it trended 49%.
D2 35 crore first week, total 85 crore, it trended 41%.
RNBDJ had competition from week 3 which would impact its factor. OSO’s week 2 onwards is more advantageous than its first week as Saawariya is NOW a dead horse.
All this should mean OSO should have a “better” trend. It does not. Why?
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September 3, 2014 at 1:03 PM
Jay
You are free to listen to your own advice.
I would like to probe a little further.
So OSO sets records, beat competition, did well even when meSured through your fake science, BUT lost to RNBDJ and hence it has to be discounted ! !
Did I get that right ?
Ergo it did not repeat MHN’s magic.
That is too convoluted, it would be simpler if you just said I don’t like SRK
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September 3, 2014 at 1:08 PM
Actually OSO set no records at all. even BOI downgraded the initial some weeks after release. And not sure what ‘beating competition’ means when the competition tanked on its own. These are all desperate excuses though you are only the millionth SRK fan to attempt it. And somehow you guys mysteriously vanish between OSO and CE! But here’s a history factoid (not that I mean to bully you with facts) — BMCM and KKHH released on the same day. The former had a bigger week 1 but the latter trended much stronger and had a much bigger final gross. When films are doing well these excuses are not needed. When one starts losing out to the competition that’s when all of this stuff comes in. Or let’s look at Lagaan and Gadar. The latter was historic in smaller centers, very good in bigger ones but Lagaan, a 3 hr 45 min period piece with far fewer shows per screen still did very well in its main metro markets (here one could even make a case it might have done more in other centers if that Gadar wave, something that doesn’t happen every day, weren’t on.. but maybe you think Saawariya was like Gadar). When films are genuinely liked by enough of a cross-section they tend to hold up pretty well. When it’s about a film built on hype which most of the audience finds just passable it usually goes down pretty fast after a week or two (these days faster than this).
But again you can keep spinning stuff. You’ve become the latest casualty in these matters (a person who loses all credibility other than with those who have the same low standard in these matters!). You just don’t know it yet.
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September 3, 2014 at 1:37 PM
It would be simpler if you just said you like srk and only him. As you don’t argue nearly as enough for anyone else.
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September 3, 2014 at 1:30 PM
Satyam
Are you introducing a new factor in this fake science ?
“If occupancy is less than 100%, then screen count does not matter ? “
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September 3, 2014 at 1:51 PM
First of all it’s a bit amusing to see you constantly argue with those who are somehow practicing ‘fake science’. But then of course you don’t believe that anyway.
On the rest my comment speaks for itself. You’ve taken one sentence out of context. let me put it this way, OSO could have had a much bigger total in week 1 with exactly the screens and the competition it did. The ‘slippage’ here (not that you or anyone else does it innocently) is suggesting that the existing initial is close to the ideal one, taking all factors into account. But this is bull. It’s like saying Kick could only have opened exactly the way it did, not 10 crores higher or something (competition or no competition a film that is liked with do better than one that isn’t.. but with the latter one can easily chalk it down to competition or whatever..SRK whether he had competition with Son of Sardar or he didn’t with Don 2, the films more or less grossed the same.. a bit more here, a bit less there.. it’s the very same range.. but if Don2 had released with SOS you would have pretended it was about the competition..). In any case all of these debates can be had where there’s some integrity, not utter dishonesty and the crude arguments to go with it.
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September 3, 2014 at 2:38 PM
Satyam,
It pains me to watch you expend so much time and effort in arguing with someone who doesnt operate in good faith.
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September 3, 2014 at 4:00 PM
yes I know, I’ve been truly stupid today.
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September 3, 2014 at 2:54 PM
Real Science Vs Fake Science
Pi i.e. 22/7 is a result of real science. Proven and tested by respected scientist all over the world. No one disagrees with Pi. It’s discovery helped humanity.
Trending Theory & Co is a result of fake science. It is not endorsed by renowned scientists. There exist no consensus. It is trotted out to undermine a star (shall remain unstated).
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September 3, 2014 at 3:08 PM
It is amusing to see somebody who I thought is a crusader for minorities turned out to be an SRK fan.
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September 3, 2014 at 3:03 PM
Bandra.NRI- Actually it’s not that simple- No amount of ‘real science’ or scientists have been able to find out the precise value of Pi since it’s a series of neverending recurring decimal values…so you see how you have tied yourself up in knots.
Satyam: Debating with these folks reminds me of that scene in Mahaan where Bachchan is flogging himself 🙂
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September 3, 2014 at 3:32 PM
Surabh wants to discuss Pi
Rajen my intent
Santana my status
I am just addressing fallacies.
The degree of accuracy of Pi is a concern but not the science behind fake science.
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September 3, 2014 at 4:47 PM
If you can write the number Pi in its fullest you win
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September 3, 2014 at 3:59 PM
LOL, you have the comment of the day! And actually that flogging would be easier to get through than this!
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September 3, 2014 at 5:18 PM
How can you insult a poster of comments on your own blog, is a mystery to me. Reading through all the commenst Bandra seems more cultured than all of you put together collectively attacking him.
Opinions contrary to the clique here not accepted Mr Bandra. I stopped giving them long ago.
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September 3, 2014 at 5:35 PM
Oldgold, there’s a certain game that people often play in politics. You never say or do anything in the formal sense but otherwise you’re guilty of a great deal. Civility is always desirable but it cannot become a weakness. If I keep arguing with someone at NASA on what the best path for a satellite is at some point he or she would be justified in telling me I’m an idiot! I could turn around and say ‘I’m being polite, why are you get upset’?! Or to bring it closer to home I could very politely keep arguing with someone that Rajesh Khanna actually wasn’t as a big a superstar as everyone thought he was, jeetendra was bigger. These propositions sound absurd right? Yes exactly.
I’m all for civility but don’t say completely absurd things (let alone dishonest ones) and then pretend it’s a debate. I’ve pointed out many of Bandra NRI’s examples here. Somehow you conveniently miss these! No matter how dishonest or absurd the other person gets you are never quite able to ‘see’ this. Then it’s only about crushing one set of opinions or something.
I’ll say this again — civility is desirable but it’s not an absolute. One can do terrible things always maintaining this guise. And by the way people are given a chance to clarify things. If they keep becoming more and more dishonest they can’t blame others for losing their patience. The same goes for those who indulge in utter nonsense 99% of the time. Go to a SRK forum or something and just say very polite things about him that are even mildly negative and then report back to me on the kind of treatment you get! You can entertain any opinion you like but your comment here is simply not a fair one. People criticize Abhishek here in the harshest terms all the time, they ridicule him and what not. As an Abhishek fan I should have greater problems there but all those comments are let through. But there’s a difference between the harshest such criticism and saying something totally absurd or dishonest. And doing so routinely.
To bring it even closer to home I don’t have issues with anyone who likes SRK’s films. I do have an issue when someone finds Inception more of a problem than Ra One. It simply seems tone a very unreasonable view though one is free to hold it. Similarly one doesn’t have to be an Aamir fan at all but if one thinks Aamir and SRK have more or less done the same sorts of films over the past 15 years I don’t consider that a reasonable position either. At some point one must wonder whether any opinion is about ‘anything goes’. One has a democratic right to say anything I suppose (not that a blog ought to be confused with a democracy) but at what point do others have the right to point out the absurd? With respect to Bandra NRI though it’s not just this but the blatantly dishonest. And if one doesn’t believe this what with what right does one criticize all sots of politicians? Why not show some civility there? Why assume the worst? What evidence does one rely on when one thinks one ‘knows’ what Modi is about? So on and so forth. So the moment it’s about other things we give ourselves the right to say and do the very same things that we otherwise criticize when it comes to certain stars or whatever.
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September 3, 2014 at 5:41 PM
OldGold
Thank you
The problem is everyone want to redirect the debate elsewhere.
If that fails, then it is personal attacks.
If that fails, then it is the age old accusation, “SRK Fan”. As if somehow that is a shameful thing to be.
Now how does being SRK fan or not change the issues ?
How will my stating Pi to some desirable decimal point change anything.
If you cannot back absurd statements like, “SRK never repeated success”, then why make such statements.
Anyway, today I am a SRK fan, tomorrow I will be accused of being a Hritikh Fan, then a Salman Fan, but why won’t they just stick to reasons and logic. Why this constant dodging.
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September 3, 2014 at 6:17 PM
Satyam u make some worthy comments here for a change!
I personally don’t believe in being a “people pleaser” @ all..and don’t really value civility!
beyond a point since it simulates fakery usually.
Having said that, are you competing with “those srk forums”?
The “power” u seem to wield here by “blocking” or “letting comments in” is actually eroding your own intellect and creativity. It’s got nuisance value for you. U have become a shadow of your potential self. I’m telling u this as a ‘genuine well wisher’…
As for bandra –u do make some good points but theres a skewed vision. To give you some examples your sense of justice suddenly goes for a toss when ISIS are making yazidi women sex slaves or there’re beheadings goin on; so engrossed u are in alternate theories of 9/11. So there’s an inherent bias.
Unfortunately u coudnt get my key replies due to Satyams insecurities who knew u won’t be able to cope with me …now I don’t usually bother.
Bandra–U do have tried to rediscover and reconfigure yourselves after your “karankumar” avataar and your previous unceremonious exit from here (if I’m not wrong lol)
Above all, the “yes men” who surround Satyam need to give him (& themselves) a break and let Satyam unleash his true potential.
It’s sometimes disappointing to see a stalwart like Satyam fighting over petty arguments and the same usual suspects lining up to say ‘yes sir’…
I know u have compulsions and have to survive on this blog (besides having some genuine likes or dislikes)
C’mon guys n gals y’all are much better than that.
Cheers
Disclaimer : I have no affiliations towards any caste creed or color and nor am I fan of anybody….
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September 3, 2014 at 7:08 PM
I don’t like blocking anyone but I am forced to. If you drown the forum with silly comments I have no choice.
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September 3, 2014 at 8:21 PM
Satyam
I am happy to discuss Modi, but let’s do it in its own thread. On this thread since the direction has taken a certain slant, let’s put that to bed first.
Now with regards to NASA etc, well they are a known and respected institution, with more experience in their field than perhaps anyone else. A person has to be out of his mind to think he knows better. In my life, when I come across a NASA, I too shut up and listen, but we don’t have a NASA here on this blog do we ?
I am open to listening to anyone. You said, Netflix does not buffer as much for you, well I listened and followed up with my Cable Co, thanks to that “listening” the problem is fixed. I am once again enjoying interruption free Netflix, thanks to you.
BTW, I am predisposed to take the side of any under dog. Here on this thread, SRK is the under dog, hence I jumped in. On another thread, you will find me defending Pink Panther or Bang Bang. But I recognize, you don’t want to debate, you rather fight the straw-man. On the other hand, I am Sun Tzu’s Reluctant Warrior, I rather not fight at all.
Hence, I will stay away. If someone wants to debate, post something and ask for me, if I catch it, I will jump in. I like discussions. I love discussion. If I have offended anyone I am sorry.
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September 3, 2014 at 9:53 PM
you don’t need to be sorry. you need to be honest. and you need to stop playing rhetorical games. You have a right to be anyone’s fan but you yourself are not taking that right by indulging in these very tactical rhetorical games.
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September 2, 2014 at 9:21 PM
Terrible song and video. One couldn’t be more unimaginative than this even if one tried! The video is still better than the song in the sense that it’s run of the mill but hard to believe they couldn’t have come up with a better song than this.
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September 3, 2014 at 8:56 AM
Yeah the song is quite terrible. I get the vibes that this is one of those filmy scene where a group of foreigners in brazil insults india and is culture and our 6 guys start singing this song on protest or something like that. At least that initial party sets says that. I am not going to be liking this movie if it is going to be this run of the mill. The dance sets etc are much better and the song might play much better as a dance show song though. Abhishek is also looking out of place in that turban thingy.
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September 3, 2014 at 9:19 AM
“this is one of those filmy scene where a group of foreigners in brazil insults india and is culture and our 6 guys start singing this song on protest or something like that”.
But isn’t all that stale stuff…bring something new if you are angling patriotic angle. Look at Vishal Shekhar marketing this song as some kind of genius –
Shekhar of composer duo Vishal-Shekhar says their song “Indiawaale”, which they composed for Shah Rukh Khan’s forthcoming film “Happy New Year”, will become a dance anthem.
“‘India waale’ is a song to be sung with a lot of pride. It has been an honour for us to get an opportunity to make a song on this situation. Our first ever!” said Vishal-Shekhar.
The song hits the right chord and you will want to hear it over and over again. Trust me, it will give you goose bumps.“‘India waale’ is the first of its kind song. A dance anthem for sure! It gives you goose bumps and also forces you to get up and dance. It was truly the most difficult song to crack as not only I but Vishal-Shekhar and Irshad Bhai (Kamil) had to think of today’s patriotism and make a song around that. Today what we feel for our country is so different from the sentiments of the 70s and 80s. It’s really a song that encapsulates all that makes us uniquely Indiawaale,” said director Farah Khan.
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September 3, 2014 at 12:04 PM
So true. Honestly the way this movie is shaping up, I think very few would have expected it. Even the biggest haters expected a couple of hit songs and a great trailer, TMK even had this. But so far none of this has happened. Also not that the number of youtube views matter, but the Trailer has gotten a terrible response, and this song even worse. The Tu Meri song from Bang Bang hit like 2million by now while this is stuck at 200K
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September 3, 2014 at 12:39 PM
Diwali release is its only trump card otherwise it would struggle for a 100 cr run if you consider how difficult it is to add daily net for few of these movies in the past. At the moment this is more in Ra1 category.Srk seems to have exhausted much of his fan base in these genre and it was rightly pointed out here OSO was a first.
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September 3, 2014 at 8:58 PM
Yeah true. But then again all of us including SRK fans never expected CE to be as big as it was since that too had bad songs/trailers etc
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September 3, 2014 at 10:20 PM
Raj: Don’t tell me you are serious with those youtube hits. Those can be manipulated easily. Also depends on how many different accounts the same video is launched. Truly BB might have got lot more hits but thats not really any criteria to judge the buzz IMO.
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September 3, 2014 at 11:49 PM
Not serious about the youtube hits, that’s why I prefaced it with “Also not that the number of youtube views matter…”. Of Course given that its India, youtube views don’t matter but at the same time, which recent blockbuster didn’t have a large number of views? D3, Kick, ETT, YJHD, K3 (and their respective songs) had “record breaking views” (as Taran/Komal would say). CE’s trailer didn’t but Lungi Dance did. Better way to put it would be that: large number of youtube views do not equal a blockbuster movie, but a blockbuster movie does have a large number of youtube views
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September 2, 2014 at 9:25 PM
Vishal-Shekhar are done, not sure why SRK still went ahead with them after the lame Chennai Express songs. CE songs sucked until SRK got in Honey’s Singh Lungi Dance and saved the movie and to think of it, Vishal-Shekhar were mad with SRK for adding item song to their album. I think Farah wanted them as she’s been using them regularly from OSO, TMK and HNY now.
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September 2, 2014 at 10:53 PM
What is wrong with Vishal-Shekhar, they either make bad songs or ruin the good songs by having bad singers like Vishal himself sing them. And it’s been a Vishal Dadlani overdrive these past few weeks and not in a good way- Tu Meri, the Mary Kom songs, Haider, and now this. But Vishal’s voice and SRK, really? And KK for Boman? Shankar for Sonu/Abhi? Just ridiculous and backwards. The 3 singers are fine, its just who they are pictured on is messed up. Clearly Shankar M should be for Boman being the oldest, KK for SRK and Vishal for the rest. The first part of the video is so tacky, especially with the clothing- and having Abhi in a turban reminds me of some song in that crap movie No Problem. The SRK-Deepika bit is good although they have 0 chemistry in this song for some reason which is odd. The last part on stage was good. The choreography is too basic but that makes sense given that the characters are non-dancers. Is there a Honey Singh song in this? He’s going on the SLAM tour with them and given that you start the music trailers by launching your best song first, the music of this album is going the CE way. I won’t be surprised if SRK pulls another Lungi Dance (Or Dubai Dance) for this.
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September 3, 2014 at 2:26 PM
Very underwhelming video and song.Production values seem good but the song lacks energy.Atleast on first veiwing.
Has Farha lost her touch?
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September 3, 2014 at 2:50 PM
Listening to this terrible India Waale song reminded me of this fantastic energetic number from a decade and a half back which had the same patriotic vibe, but was FAR FAR better (I remember it was a rage back then. Sadly the film got shelved)-
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September 3, 2014 at 4:00 PM
yes agreed..
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September 3, 2014 at 10:40 PM
@ Saurabh– thanks for sharing this oldie goldie. Lovely song! Great beat, words and dance moves frpm Salman, Shilpa, Sunjay Dutt, all. It’s a pity that ‘Dus’ got shelved, due to the director’s death. Why didn’t they try to revive the project? That terrific song deserves a great film. and Farah Khan should see this song. HNY song has a decent beat, but that’s it. The song is ok, not spl.
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September 4, 2014 at 12:33 AM
Makdee and Iqbaal actress in prostitution.
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/actress-goes-from-national-award-winner-to-prostitution/20140904.htm
Shweta Basu Prasad, the 11-year-old lead actor in Vishal Bhardwaj’s 2002 film Makdee — a performance that won her the National Film Award for Best Child Artist — was arrested on Sunday after the police caught her in a prostitution racket at a Hyderabad hotel.
A senior police official from Banjara Hills police station said, “Shweta Prasad was arrested on Sunday, and has been sent to a government rehabilitation home. She will be in remand for some time now. The chargesheet will be filed within the next 10 days.”
Shweta reasoned for getting into sex racket, “I have made wrong choices in my career and I was out of money. I had to support my family and some other good causes. All doors were closed and some people encouraged me to get into prostitution to earn money. I was helpless and with no option left to choose (from), I got involved in this. I’m not the only one who faced this problem and there are several other heroines who have gone through this phase”.
Shweta, who is now working in Telugu films, has acted in Ekta Kapoor’s hit serial ‘Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki’ where she played the role of Sakshi Tanwar’s daughter.
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September 4, 2014 at 4:05 PM
Please notice, the name of the businessman is not mentioned but the woman’s name is being bandied about by the media.
Shameless.
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September 4, 2014 at 4:09 PM
Agree with that Oldgold
I mentioned earlier when people were dissing poor sunny leone!
Who are the ‘consumers’?
“I’m not the only one who faced this problem and there are several other heroines who have gone through this phase”.
Hmm wonder who all she is alluding to ?
I don’t know really. Any guesses or any info, folks…
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September 5, 2014 at 8:01 AM
I thought Sunny Leone was a porn star, not a prostitute.
Anyway to try and find out all the ‘consumers is not practical, just mentioning the name of the person caught with Shweta would have been enough, and fair, but the Indian media is so sold out.
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September 5, 2014 at 8:21 AM
Indian media is shameless. In every edition, I found the poor girl’s photo displayed with voyeuristic pleasure. In these days when even rapists’ faces are covered and protected, a young girl’s picture is used indiscriminately. This same media shouts during night times during news telecasts against crimes. Where is that shouting crusader now? Cant he take to task his own paper? Where is judiciary?
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September 5, 2014 at 8:40 AM
At the very least they should release the names and photos of the guys also.
At the surface, it appears that she was a victim of her necessities whereas the guys were just being animals flexing their baser instinct.
The media it appears is just making hay while the sun shines.
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September 5, 2014 at 8:46 AM
Indian media is absolutely the pits. That client, the businessman, whoever…got away with it, while the poor girl is being paraded.
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September 4, 2014 at 1:14 PM
This song is terrible…sounds like something from the 80s
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September 4, 2014 at 3:17 PM
>If I keep arguing with someone at NASA on what the best path for a satellite is at some point he or she would be justified in telling me I’m an idiot! I could turn around and say ‘I’m being polite, why are you get upset’?!
..this means;
you arguing with Nasa about something ‘they’ are expert in = Bandra arguing with you (NASA) about something you are expert in 😉
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September 4, 2014 at 4:01 PM
“you arguing with Nasa about something ‘they’ are expert in = Bandra arguing with you (NASA) about something you are expert in ;-)”
Though this is a ‘civility’ trap I shall nonetheless not avoid it — the gulf is at least as great in the second instance! Which does not mean I am an ‘expert’. I don’t consider myself one in anything. But this is certainly a reflection on the other side!
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September 5, 2014 at 9:07 AM
This trap, that trap, civility trap, rhetorical question trap, trap, trap, trap…….. Perhaps it is not a trap, perhaps it is just simple obvious truth.
An expert is one who provides facts not discredited subjective conjecture. Hence a step towards the sainthood of expertdom would be to stop subjective conjecture. Start using objective yardstick and apply that evenly. Hence if you claim that a star is irrelevent even if he produces 200 CR (for example) worldwide then use that same yardstick for others also. You cannot annoint that someone is relevant when he does not even produce 100 Cr worldwide.
From one of the comments I gather that it is believed (rightly or wrongly) that you once could argue. You were once a Lion who could hunt. Today you just build straw-man ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man ). You have forgotten (even if you once knew) how to argue. You forgotten how to hunt. You have become a man eater.
To argue would mean to stick to the subject, not divert and distract. To argue would mean to make your case not misrepresent the opposition. To argue would be debate the issue not debase the opposition.
If you think you are a NASA like expert on films, then you are delusional. Clearly if you think you can argue then you are delusional.
This is an attempt to make you spring back to your former (as stated by someone) self.
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September 4, 2014 at 3:24 PM
SRK forums are exactly that, SRK forums. You should declare whose forum this is, then one would stop praising SRK here. One mistakes this as a ‘general’ blog where the admin likes the Bachhans and Amir and hates SRK, but that the blog functions differently to that of forums.
Calling everybody dishonest when not on your side or of your view has become a chronic disease.
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September 4, 2014 at 4:00 PM
So you’re saying it’s ok to lose all civility as long as one calls it the forum of a certain star?!
On the rest I am going to say this as a general matter — those who think that the problem is with people who praise SRK or those who dislike Bachchan or whatever else has either not been on this forum long enough or is too obtuse to figure out what is said and meant by all sides. Unless of course one too participates in an agenda where ‘what’ is said is less important than ‘who’ it is said about. So maybe one doesn’t mind utterly dumb things as long as the a certain star is served or not served.
Speaking for myself I find this criticism (not for the first time) rather ridiculous when I have otherwise been so highly critical of Bachchan in so many contexts on his blog (to his ever-lasting credit he never minds it.. can’t think of another star who wouldn’t) including those that have nothing to do with his films. Even if one knows that a critic is a fan it’s not easy to hear some of this stuff, specially when one is otherwise worshipped everywhere else. I have put up many of my comments on this blog in the past. I don’t mean this comment to be self-serving but it really is ridiculous to be accused of bias in this regard when one goes to the actual star and says rather harsh things.
Secondly it also takes obtuseness and/or an agenda to not see that I like or dislike certain stars based on a personal response but this is very different from liking or disliking certain movies for larger reasons of personal taste and/or ideological issues. What’s the difference? I don’t like Salman Khan at all. This has nothing to do with the politics of his films about which I might have a different opinion. On the other hand even when I liked watching SRK films I still didn’t like the politics of those films. Or I don’t like the politics of many films that Bachchan has done in the last 15 years or so. Leaving this aside even when it’s just about personal taste I don’t start loving certain kinds of films just because Abhishek shows up in them. Nor do I start loving everything that Aamir shows up in. Again one has to be willing to read carefully. I had problems with RDB from day 1. Even when it was the most celebrated film around. But there’s a difference between saying this and pretending RDB is just like MNIK! More recently I said Talaash might be my favorite Aamir film since Lagaan. I wasn’t calling it his ‘best’ film in a critical sense but my favorite. So once more one has to be willing to read things carefully and honestly. I have forever praised Dil Se here, even said I like it than all of Ratnam’s Abhishek films with the possible exception of Raavan. So whether it’s the director, a set of political concerns, a kind of cinema (in general) there is absolute consistency here. But this is precisely what one doesn’t get from the other side a lot of times. Including yourself by the way. My problem again isn’t about the fact that you like SRK or anything. But I’m not sure by what measure and in what universe one can like Ra One more than Inception. Or I don’t understand how it’s possible to think SRK and Aamir have the same kind of work just because one likes one of these stars more. That’s my problem here, not that you like SRK. Much as when you say the Don story was done in earlier films and hence isn’t original and try to ‘save’ SRK this way this is again not an ‘honest’ argument in my book. Why? It’s a bit like saying that someone who copies or rewrites Shakespeare’s Hamlet is doing what Shakespeare himself did since he borrowed the Hamlet story from elsewhere. That’s just a technicality. The canonical effort is Shakespeare’s much as the canonical such film is Don. It is even more bizarre to make this objection when songs and actual lines from the original film are used and when everyone associated with the remake calls it a tribute to Bachchan and so on. I didn’t want to get into these examples but I brought these up because not for the first time you choose to side with the ‘worst’. The ‘worst’ in my book is someone who simply sacrifices all reason, all logic, all honesty to pushing a preference. But you pretend not to see this.
And it’s not just about myself either. The people who are otherwise attacked here for doing the same have supported all kinds of films and have certainly not supported their favorites in all contexts. From a personal response to the box office I can recall them questioning very many films in all sorts of ways. And I could quote all these examples too. Again you somehow never notice this. But you immediately sympathize with the other side where someone can put up 25 comments trying to avoid saying something. And why does this happen? Because one doesn’t really want to debate anything. One simply wants to push forward an agenda. And the moment you say this openly you can be deconstructed by others. Why? because again it’s not a well thought-through position. It’s simply a preference. One then picks and chooses what one likes. One never has the courage to face the obvious. Some folks in this camp are just fanatics who don’t care how they sound. Others try to be more subtle about it. Sadly not with much more success because it’s very easy to spot certain kinds of arguments.
I’m not saying all of this to persuade you. I am not so foolish. But I know there are others who come here to just read stuff and so when this issue comes up I am quite happy to explain things. which is more than can be said for the opposition.
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September 4, 2014 at 4:15 PM
” It’s a bit like saying that someone who copies or rewrites Shakespeare’s Hamlet is doing what Shakespeare himself did since he borrowed the Hamlet story from elsewhere”
Good line there, Satyam-agree
Though I will be kinder to the likes of vishal bhardwaj who seems to have done a swell job in Haidar again (though the lead actor is underwhelming)
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September 4, 2014 at 5:45 PM
Yes but Bhardwaj in any case says he’s interpreting Shakespeare. Much as the guys who remade Don said as much.
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September 4, 2014 at 4:04 PM
No it wasn’t about civility, it was about discussing SRK.
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September 5, 2014 at 1:10 PM
Terribly flat song.. Vishal Shekhar are among the lamest music directors today. No creativity, no interesting song!
The song itself is picturised like a music video. How can v continue watching such pedestrian stuff?
Yawn..
—–
about shweta prasad, two cents:
I dont trust the Indian media. first of all, prostitution circles among Bollywood circles might be a reality, but no names have been disclosed by the media before? Why this sudden focus on Shweta Prasad?
and even if she is, its no one’s business to point fingers at her if she does this out of choice.
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September 5, 2014 at 1:57 PM
they were good on BM with all the sampling and so on. But somehow they lost that edge very soon. Even by the already lowered standards of OSO (MHN was much better) HNY is so far quite poor. Of course these days you just need enough of a jingle that you can advertise to death and stuff down everyone’s throat. But it’s amazing how for some of these biggest movies these directors either don’t have the ability or don’t care enough to ensure more of a soundtrack.
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September 7, 2014 at 4:46 PM
http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-revealed-shah-rukh-khan-s-smouldering-eight-pack-abs-for-happy-new-year-2016980
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September 7, 2014 at 5:25 PM
CGI abs…just like we saw in OSO. These are just gimmicks for publicity. In the real life, their abs just disappear.
Srk and salman are the kind of persons who flaunt every thing little they have in public. Srk and salman are close to 50 now. Do they want us to believe they have perfect abs now while on tv shows they find excuses to remove t-shirts even after requests from their fans.
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September 7, 2014 at 5:26 PM
Better if these stars spend more on CGI/special effects of action sequences in their movies.
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September 7, 2014 at 5:29 PM
They look unreal.
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September 9, 2014 at 12:04 PM
Manawa Laage song promo
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September 9, 2014 at 12:08 PM
Very very average song, I liked Titli from CE and Ajab Si/Main Agar Kahoon from OSO much better. But the video is nice. Although Abhi looks sidelined, I like what he’s doing in the few scenes that we can see of him. Also don’t like the Beard + 18 pac look for SRK – choose one King Khan
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September 9, 2014 at 12:30 PM
seems to be a private video at this point.
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September 9, 2014 at 12:51 PM
Oops, it came up on my twitter feed- I guess someone must’ve leaked it or something. Should be up “officially” soon I guess.
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September 9, 2014 at 3:08 PM
It’s working now:
[added to post]
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September 9, 2014 at 3:26 PM
Not a bad song at all.
By the way, the 8 pack looks pretty close to the image that was out yesterday. It’s not like a Gajini type of deal where the image was The Rock and in movie it was nothing like that body.
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September 9, 2014 at 3:34 PM
Agreed, either SRK actually has an 8-pack or his Red Chillies VFX is amazing, either way it’s SRK’s win
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September 9, 2014 at 4:36 PM
It’s not even a 6-pack.. can’t say more!
the song and video are much better than the previous one though SRK looks a just released prisoner from a camp of some sort (barring that 8-pack or 10 pack or whatever the deal is)! The CDI look worked for him. He should have stuck to this. Simply looks too gaunt here.
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September 9, 2014 at 4:47 PM
though on the 6-pack or 8-pack he’s not the only one. Digital manipulation or other kinds of ‘additions’ are perhaps worse but I don’t see much of an ethical difference between doing this sort of thing and overdoing the steroid bit. So many stars suddenly develop these massive frames. No amount of gym activity can suddenly make you big in this sense. Most do this (I’ve even posted the link here a couple of times with trainers talking about pretty much all the stars), then there are weight reduction drugs and/or digital manipulation from erasing wrinkles to constructing bodies like this and so forth. Hard to say anything is worse than any other beyond a point, specially when it’s so near-universal. Having said that the aesthetic question still remains and some of these guys start looking sick.
The whole deal nonetheless works whether it’s plausible or not because it conveys to the younger multiplex audience a certain sense that the star, specially an aging one, is with the program. Or values the same things.
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September 9, 2014 at 8:19 PM
Agree with this: “So many stars suddenly develop these massive frames.” After a point I don’t think it’s possible and plus factoring in that the 3 Khans are 50. However every single actor we have in the industry can be accused of digital manipulation/steroids for bodies-SRK for digital manipulation of his face and Aamir/Salman for using steroids/digital manipulation for their bodies. Actually only Abhishek is innocent here but he’s just unfit. Also, surprised you don’t like the OSO songs! And as far as I know there’s supposed to be a romantic song with Sonu Nigam but given the whole royalty issue either this was that song or there’s 2 love songs in the movie.
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September 9, 2014 at 8:50 PM
liked the love song on OSO and the climax song to a degree but that was about it. The rest were passable but nothing special. The song with 33 stars or whatever was awful. MHN was far better in this respect.
According to Farah Khan there isn’t an actual romance in the movie but just the suggestion of something. Maybe we get this through a couple of songs or something.
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September 9, 2014 at 4:49 PM
on your earlier comment I’d take Titli over this but not Ajab si. Found that to be a dull song at the time.
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September 9, 2014 at 4:39 PM
This is a beautiful song. Somehow the funniness is not working for me.
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September 9, 2014 at 4:51 PM
OK on second viewing I found the ‘pose’ scene funny when everyone does it easily and SRK has to be directed. LOL
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September 9, 2014 at 4:40 PM
Satyam, is my email address visible? Somehow I don’t remember seeing it earlier when commenting?
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September 9, 2014 at 4:41 PM
I mean now I see it.
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September 9, 2014 at 4:42 PM
No it’s not..
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September 9, 2014 at 4:52 PM
Thanks.
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September 9, 2014 at 5:28 PM
ent to Happy New Year trailers (updated):
Just saw bits of this latest song- this may elicit a longer comment later
But agree with oldgold – this seems a good song finally after meh promos.
After getting a public spanking from me on the fanny video trailer thread ; deepika responds and delivers. It’s uncanny and seems the PR publicity team of hny (amongst other films ) are following my comments to modulate their campaign lol (because they know the ‘truth’ in them lol )
And finally we get to see some traces /remnants of the super stardom (albeit reduced and subdued) of the phenomenon caller srk…
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September 9, 2014 at 7:06 PM
Sweet song, pleasing to the ear, shot with imagination. I like the structured dichotomy inherent in this song. On one hand, the melody evokes nostalgia, while on the other hand, the visual makes it contemporary, not the harsh contemporary but the genteel contemporary.
From a pure business perspective, another smart move by Red Chillies, this song, like the Indiawalle song, has the whole ensemble involved.
But comming back to the song, one can see that Farah, like all good Bollywood directors, knows how to pick winners.
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September 9, 2014 at 7:53 PM
A lot of people think SRK/Kajol are Bollywood’s best ever romantic pair, but after CE and after this song I am inclined to think SRK/DP
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September 9, 2014 at 8:03 PM
“A lot of people think SRK/Kajol are Bollywood’s best ever romantic pair”
yeah, for those who’ve only seen Bollywood between ’95 and ’98!
Now don’t give me a Goodyear tire analogy or something..
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September 9, 2014 at 8:36 PM
Satyam
Perhaps in ages past, there might have been others. One hears about Dilip/Madhubala; Dilip/Meena Kumari; Raj/Nargis; Dharamendra/Hema; etc etc
My respect to Dilip, Dharamendra, Raj, …….but hopefully you will understand that I belong to the era of The Burning Man and hence that is my reference not Woodstock.
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September 9, 2014 at 8:48 PM
Using that logic one could say Obama is the greatest president ever and then add ‘I didn’t live in the time of Lincoln or FDR’! What else? ‘I didn’t live in the age of the Beatles’?! ‘I didn’t live in Kishore Kumar’s age so I’ll call Kunal Ganjawala the greatest’?!
The SRK-Kajol pair though had zero chemistry even otherwise. I mean in the erotic sense. The media sometimes joked that they looked like siblings. Not sure if I’d go that far but it was an Archie-Betty kind of deal at best. Hardly the model for a great romantic pair. Having said this was probably in keeping with the plastic and anodyne age this pair occupied.
here again Ratnam probably created the best SRK pair in Dil Se. On Deepika there’s simply too great an age gap. He looks positively haggard in these pairings. and HNY is really the worst in this regard.
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September 9, 2014 at 9:17 PM
They are a perfect Father-daughter pair!
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September 9, 2014 at 9:41 PM
Star Pairs Vs Presidents / Apples Vs Oranges. Let’s stick to stars for the moment.
This chemistry is like the old inflation adjustment. Tweak the base line and or the inflation rate a little, and the chemistry will equal or surpass whatever threshold you want.
But there has been (and will continue to be) a definate evolution in the relationship between couples. The other day a friend called and said that he was worried that he and his girl friend (a school mates of ours), were drifting apart. I asked him a simple question, I asked, “When she is driving back home, and on the spur of the moment decides to take a detour to do an errand, who does she call for directions ? ”
My friend replied that she can easily use the car’s navigation but always without fail calls him.
Well I said, “You are OK, don’t worry, ALL IS WELL”. In our age we communicate in our own ways. We may not recite poetry to each but find ways to express our deepest feelings.
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September 10, 2014 at 8:53 AM
>He looks positively haggard in these pairings.
From this woman’s POV he has a thin face in the first scene, which looks good anyway (not haggard) and thereafter he looks really good. Both SRK and Deepika are looking good together in this song.
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September 9, 2014 at 9:27 PM
WTF is Abhishek doing here ..reduced himself to a Zayad Khan….NOT Done !
Even in the very last frame, it is first SRK, then Deepika, then Abhishek !!
ab yeh din aa gaye innke !!!
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September 9, 2014 at 9:31 PM
This might go the “Shalimar” Way !!
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September 9, 2014 at 9:49 PM
Omi
Farah is applying a progression principle. She is taxing everyone to the extent of their ability.
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September 10, 2014 at 9:57 AM
Are you suprised? What led you to believe that SRK had the role of Zayed Khan and Abhi had the role of SRK?
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September 10, 2014 at 10:19 AM
would advise some of you guys to wait a bit before celebrating..! For at least two reasons. One related to the film itself, one related to Abhishek’s part.
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September 10, 2014 at 11:39 AM
I think the movie will be Outstanding (I like the ensemble kinds) and Abhishek will have a status appropriate part.
On both counts, movie and significance of Abhishek’s role, Farah will do justice. If Farah wanted Zayed, she would have taken Zayed. This role fit Abhishek, she got Abhishek.
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September 10, 2014 at 11:52 AM
Celebrate what? I never thought otherwise on both parts.
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September 10, 2014 at 11:36 AM
Since this hardly seems like a content based movie and more of ‘get my popcorn movies’ in line with the Kicks and Dhooms of the bollwyood world, movie needs to be sold to audience as srk’s big ticket offering coming after CE success. So the advertising is focused in this way to get max eyeballs and work as competition tool between the fans of the top 3/4 stars. Now considering the low ebb in abhi’s career this is not such a bad move and reasonable as this movie needs big opening / people in the theater first.
Secondly the expectations from audience will now be low from Abhi for screen time but with a full fledged role he will come out hogging all the limelight considering the underdog tag attached to him. He benefited tremendously in KANK due to this.
But, SRK! Come on. What on earth are you doing in this kind of movie ! He literally has the ability to do any script he wants, produce any movie he wants, be any character he wants, and what does he do? The same old stuff, Ra One, Chennai Express, and now this. I would love to see him in something totally offbeat. Barring the 8/10 packs yuckiness, he looks great for his age but at the same time has the maturity to portray really substantial characters. Doesn’t he get bored of doing the same stuff? What does he need? More blockbusters and money?
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September 10, 2014 at 11:39 AM
As per past interviews we have read Abhi took a lot of time to confirm this movie and then Farah had her own take later in some interview again, that srk was magnanimous in letting the limelight shift to other actors in this movie.
As per the promos until now, he clearly seems a sidekick but knowing his equation with Bachchans now above are two reasons I can think of…..
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September 10, 2014 at 11:56 AM
The thing is that if SRK isn’t going to keep even the ‘symbolic’ part for himself he really has nothing left to do in the movie! In other words a star who becomes part of an ensemble cast needs to have something going for him. I made this point earlier. You become the leader of the team, you get the girl, you have a few key moments otherwise and that’s all you need. The film of course will be sold on your name. The thing is that the director and SRK have both made a number of statements about the film and about Abhishek which are either totally false (a bit hard to believe for a variety of reasons, specially since they don’t say these things otherwise.. SRK went to the extent of saying that he initially wanted to do Abhishek’s part but didn’t feel he could do justice to it and that he’d be willing to compare Abhishek’s act here with some of his father’s work, that while no one could be the father the fact that Abhishek was doing something that wasn’t a copy and was nonetheless good enough was the greatest tribute.. then there were lots of things the director said.. both have not otherwise said this stuff about other stars and so on in their films) or else what you and I are arguing for has some merit to it. Ultimately it’s not a charity. SRK won’t show up if there’s nothing in it for him. Alternatively if he just wanted a solo for his home production presumably he would have done it! Of course I could be wrong. Not for the first time! LOL!
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September 10, 2014 at 1:40 PM
Maybe I’m thinking with too much logic but I just don’t see how a producer will make one of the most expensive movie with Abhi in the central role.
Producing it is one thing than think of downstream effect, who is going to buy it? Which distributor will spends crap load of money on buying it with knowing that fact? Especially when the distributor is Aditya Chopra.
Abhi could have a very good role like Rishi did in Naseeb or Coolie but Bachhan was the lead in those movies.
Nowhere have I seen SRK or Farah say that Abhi is the main lead or has the most important role in the movie.
Let’s think about it this way, if Abhis role is so great and so important/big, why would he take a lot of time to sign the movie? It’s not like he has a line of producers waiting for him.
This could all be wrong and Abhi truly is the main lead in this movie but I just don’t see it happenning. There’s just too much money involved. Bollywood is too star driven, it has always been like that.
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September 10, 2014 at 2:02 PM
don’t think anyone is suggesting he’s the ‘main’ lead. You’re setting up a straw man here. The point is he just needs to have a central role. And sometimes top stars can do films where they don’t necessarily have the most footage but the ‘best’ kind. There’s a difference. The distributor doesn’t have a problem with this. Every such person worth his salt knows that films which are liked last and vice versa. Stars only get people in. So as long as SRK gets people in the distributor isn’t too concerned about how the spoils are divided. Of course SRK has enough to do here. It would be quite absurd to suggest anything else. No one was saying this even for BB. It’s always relative significance and who grabs the audience’s attention more. Abhishek was clearly ‘supporting’ in KANK. But because he was going through a hot phase he got a lot of attention in the trailers and so on. And then people liked him more too. And if Abhishek took time, he might have had his reasons, but this doesn’t contradict anything I’ve said. Because it’s never just about footage but ‘kind’ of footage. If it’s D3 it’s more about length of role. In other cases it might be about quality of footage. My only point here is this — if he has a proper part here (as both Farah and SRK seem to keep saying, in fact they say more than this.. so the argument really isn’t with me but them!) I think he’ll do fine. One could also make the argument that the ‘only’ thing SRK can truly rely on in an ensemble cast is the symbolic stuff. Look at the trailers. He’s never alone except in the song situations. So the ensemble thing doesn’t seem incorrect. And who makes such a fuss about all this stuff if it’s just a SRK film? The amusing thing here is that far more than the Abhishek fans (who at least have a better reason to be concerned) the SRK fans are much more anxious about all of this! The thing in life is that we always reveal more than we intend to in the ways we talk about stuff!
But yeah this could be BB, it could be D3, or something in between. Let’s see. Obviously because Abhishek doesn’t have the symbolic bit in the advertising it cannot be the first. It doesn’t seem to be the latter based on everything we know. But whether the double is the kind of part where Abhishek can attract the most attention, be liked the most, is certainly not an unreasonable question to ask nor an unreasonable expectation to raise! And you and other SRK fans know this. There is this constant anxiety to say ‘he will have a good part’. One wishes to circumscribe things this way. But why even a ‘good part’. Maybe he has nothing! So there are lots of such examples. if the SRK fans believe everything they say they have nothing to worry about! They don’t need to keep asserting it. What’s the anxiety all about? Maybe it’s another D3 and you guys can go home happy!
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September 10, 2014 at 2:33 PM
I should also add some more slippage on your part here (Z). otherwise you say or suggest things like ‘oh the Desai films were multistarrers, it was’t just Bachchan’. Now you’re saying ‘Abhishek will be like Rishi Kapoor, in those films Bachchan was still the main lead’. Which is it? or ‘Abhishek is nobody’ but then ‘Rishi Kapoor was a big star’. A lot of completely contradictory positions that simply cannot be integrated into coherent argument. And the reason is a simple one — one can take all kinds of positions but there has to be some conviction to the argument. You can’t have conviction if you make it up as you go along and/or if the claims are completely absurd. Getting back to HNY I would have thought a SRK fan wouldn’t have seen anything so far to worry about? Why even get into a debate if one is certain about something and the evidence seems to back it up?
And again this whole ‘I think Farah Khan will give Abhishek a good role, I trust her’ is followed up by ‘actually Abhishek is just like Zayed Khan here’! Of course one evidently doesn’t trust Farah Khan (or SRK) enough because one doesn’t take their own statements seriously, even though neither one indulges in such kinds of claims normally. Once more it’s not about what the truth here is but that the positions are completely incoherent. To repeat one shouldn’t be in a war with the facts. Or be willing to accept them either way. An argument cannot stay exactly the same if the evidence clearly points in another direction. I thought D3 would be better than D2 for Abhishek but just after the first trailer I saw I was wrong and there wasn’t anything else that I knew about the film to make me believe that the trailers weren’t doing justice to Abhishek’s part. With BB I believed something else. I wasn’t wrong (Devgan was still one of the main leads here irrespective of however much attention Abhishek got). And so an argument has to be coherent internally but then certainly take account of the facts. If you say that Bachchan was acting in multistarrers and therefore had his hits this way one is simply not a serious person. If one says Aamir did Lagaan (though you didn’t say this particular thing) out of desperation because he couldn’t match SRK one is again not a serious person. If one says the same sorts of things about Abhishek when it’s BnB or Guru that one did when it was Raavan or whatever one is once again not a serious person. of course one can still keep saying this stuff. Sunil or one of the Samars here regularly treats us to that sort of ‘anything’!
You have a Jekyll and Hyde deal going incidentally. Certain days you’re rather reasonable, other days you say absurd stuff. One gets the sense you want some sort of ‘deal’ here. ‘If the Abhishek fans accept he’ll be supporting no matter what I’ll accept he has a good part that will help his career’!
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September 10, 2014 at 2:31 PM
” if the SRK fans believe everything they say they have nothing to worry about! They don’t need to keep asserting it. What’s the anxiety all about? Maybe it’s another D3 and you guys can go home happy!”
There is no worry, like I said, I never thought otherwise. It’s just you keep asserting abhis importance to hny so i’m stating what i see and feel it will be.
There’s no way this is another D3 type of deal for Abhi. At least I hope not.
Let’s look at it this way, Shryas role in OSO was no where near Zayed Khan in MHN. I think Abhis role will be as important as Zayed was in MHN or more. Only thing that confuses me is if his role is bigger than what Zayed had in MHN and SRK has his than what does that mean for other 4 (depeeka, boman, and the other 2).
Also, I think gone are the days where directors were able to etch out a role or scenes where a side actor with a 2 minute role can leave impact. Think of Iftekhar in Don, Mazhar khan in Shaan, Dr. ShreeRam Lagoo in Lawaaris, etc…(not saying Iftekhar or Mazhar had 2 minute role but you know what i’m trying to say)
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September 10, 2014 at 2:36 PM
You’re still oscillating in this response and you’re still anxious in this response but I’ve said enough for today. By the way there is this old thing about ‘only responding’ to something I’m saying. Otherwise all’s well. Yeah right! Because even relative to other stars you are not exactly ready to face facts about SRK! I’ll keep it simple. I never believe in runner-up prizes. Either Abhishek has an important part here and gets a lot of attention or he doesn’t. End of story. That’s the only standard I have! This should be easy to prove or disprove!
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September 10, 2014 at 2:53 PM
^^otherwise you say or suggest things like ‘oh the Desai films were multistarrers, it was’t just Bachchan’. Now you’re saying ‘Abhishek will be like Rishi Kapoor, in those films Bachchan was still the main lead’. Which is it? or ‘Abhishek is nobody’ but then ‘Rishi Kapoor was a big star’. ^^
LOL!! Great comment Satyam. You caught the slippage and how! Juggling between bringing down the father and the son turns out to be quite difficult task one must say!!
And for the other ‘brilliant’ opinion/fact [statistic?], regarding AAMIR turned superstar after always turning out second-rung to SRK, here is a ‘raddi’ evidence {to paraphrase Samar} regarding Aamir’s thinking and tendency wayyy before LAGAAN happened to him..
Check out what Vikram Bhatt and other directors say about him way back in 1996/1997..
http://tanqeed.com/filmfare-interview-with-directors-on-aamir-khan-from-1997/
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September 11, 2014 at 8:28 AM
There is no slippage or any thing contradictory in my post, it’s just couple bachhan fans chose to make it something which it’s not, nothing new there.
So, let’s give it a one more try.
Abhis role in HNY could be that of Zayed Khan in MHN, which is not bad at all or it could be as big as what rishi had in AAA, Naseeb but no matter which one it is, MHN was SRKs and AAA/Naseeb was bachhans.
Maybe I should use bachhan movie for both example, Navin Nischol role in Desh Pramee was no where near what Rishis role was in Naseeb but eitherway, both were bachhan movie.
Of course the world knows whose movie is HNY but couple bachhan feels othewise just like how they felt Abhi had a huge role in D3.
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September 11, 2014 at 8:57 AM
The way I see it is that years ago, emotions & relations played a role in how much screen time one got. Today that does not play that big a role.
Likewise today an actor like John Abraham will refuse even HNY because it does not enable the professional journey he would like to currently chart for himself.
In Desai’s days, the film were really ensemble. If he gave one actor a bigger role then he also made sure he made that role subservient in other ways so as to not offend the other actors. At the end, a multi starer was a multi starter not a solo hero movie.
In this age, HNY no matter what you call it, at the end of the day will be just the same old SRK wine in new bottle. There is so much money riding on today’s movies that the choice to be emotional does not exist. A ensemble like HNY will be a SRK tour de force garnished by the presence of other stars.
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September 10, 2014 at 11:54 AM
Dhoni, please watch the Desai interview, you’ll get your answer.
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September 10, 2014 at 10:00 PM
MSDhoni
You seems to know enough to become a producer yourself
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September 10, 2014 at 8:43 AM
I liked this song. Also liked the way how everything DP touches takes fire. SRK looks weird but abhishek is funny in that bhajan scene. Good song but the movie needs a chart buster item number to get everyone hyped.
Satyam u might want to create a new thread. This ones too long.
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September 10, 2014 at 8:46 AM
I think the fire represent that magic when she gets too close to SRK. The fire only happens (in the song) when she touches SRK.
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September 10, 2014 at 9:58 AM
Correct, this in the line of MHN where the men playing violin appears every time SRK sees Sushmita Sen. It went very well.
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September 10, 2014 at 8:49 AM
yes didn’t notice it had this many comments earlier. will do so.
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September 10, 2014 at 11:51 AM
One thing SRK fans need to fear is the timing of this release. Normally SRK and Aamir movies are all staggered so a real comparative analysis is never done on both as each is forgotten by the time next one has a release. But Srk got a royal beating by Aamir during Ghajini / RNBDJ days which not only was a better movie but put the box office on fire…
Here again it is going to be a direct comparison between HNY and PK when the year end analysis is done. Personally, I am really looking forward to PK with the entire tidbits we have got on movie plot line circulating on PV and other sites. I cannot wait for aamir to speak in ‘theth bhojpuri’
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September 10, 2014 at 9:57 PM
Royal Beating ?
Yes Ghajini did better but a Royal Beating seems extremely overstated.
Needless to say when someone resorts to such exaggeration then the questions is why ?
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September 11, 2014 at 9:57 AM
RNBDJ was a much smaller film compared to Ghajini which was more a mass driven masala movie. Even the promotions of RNBDJ was quite understated which went well with the profile of the movie. Ghajini was always expected to get a monster start but no one would have expected RNBDJ to become the second biggest grosser ever after Ghajini beating the likes of Dhoom. And I say this even though the movie was directed by Adi Chopra.
If both Aamir and SRK act in mass oriented movies, both will get almost equal initials, maybe Aamir’s will be slightly better but the disparity will not be on the lines of Ghajini and RNBDJ. Infact between HNY and PK i think HNY will get a better initial due to the timing of the release but PK might be the better movie with better legs due to the track record of the director.
On a related note, some years back Ram jaane and Akele Hum Akele Tum released on the same day and Ram Jaane was a bigger success simply because it was more mass oriented even though Akele Hum akele Tum was a wonderful wonderful movie even better than Kramer vs Kramer.
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September 11, 2014 at 9:59 AM
What I said above can be seen by the openings of CE and D3. One opened to 100 crores for 3 days and other opened to 105 crores and differential was around 10 crores taking into account the pre-screenings and that can be explained by a bigger brand name of Dhoom and a better star cast all around.
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September 11, 2014 at 10:13 AM
Royal beating would be if the difference betweeh RNBDJ and Gajini was like Jai Ho and Kick.
Chopra at the time had said that RNBDJ was thier most profitable film, the whole movie was made on low budget with the whole movie taking place in the House, dance studio and garage.
Sounds like MSDhoni is taking lessons from Taran 🙂
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September 11, 2014 at 11:05 AM
lol , okay I do feel ‘royal beating’ is a bit exaggerated and take my word back but I genuinely mean the narratives / perceptions part here since SRK was the top shot for those days and was coming with adi chopra /yrf combo , and the genre was romance / home turf……its just that the movie turned out to be small , hammy & kindergarten stuff with those hum hain rahi pyaar ke phir milenge chalte chalte crap.
You need to give credit to Aamir here who was coming in an action avatar with that diminutive structure and largely unknown director in bollywood in a masala set up which a lot of people were ignorant to till that time…. I am not talking about the box office numbers but the sheer impact/ hysteria this movie created compared to RNBJ a bigger movie on paper and the thanda response it got in those days…. even an adi chopra was caught sneaking to a theater to get a glimpse of this mass hysteria….one of the first movie to jump from max 75-80cr market cap to
100-120cr…..
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September 11, 2014 at 11:19 AM
Royal Beating is perfect word .. 30% more gross, all time first day, first weekend, first week and second week record.
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September 11, 2014 at 11:46 AM
than what would you call the beating the bachhan movies has been taking for past 20 years?
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September 11, 2014 at 3:11 PM
Oh Amitabh still matters in the space occupied by SRK, Salman, Aamir w.r.t. box office? I thought he was a goner, so why even give him respect bringing him for comparison when the 71 year old is not even in the competition???
And wonder why inspite of being a flop for 20 years, Kashyap or Shoojit or Vidhu or Balki or Nambiar still want to work with him..Really crazy logic of these guys wanting to work with a guy whose movies have taken an incomparable ‘beating’ for the last 20 years..
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September 11, 2014 at 4:06 PM
Let me be blunt and say this that every half-important director in Bollywood will easily give an arm and a leg to work with Bachchan.
Kashyap, not long back, had some really terrible things to say about Bachchan. A couple of years later he is told to make one of the films for Bombay Talkies. Guess what! He pays an explicit tribute to Bachchan in that film. He then follows it up by writing and producing a TV show starring AB.
And it’s not just about top directors wanting to work with him, but also the new age, cutting edge Gen-Y guys like Bejoy Nambiar- that says a lot. Nambiar hasn’t taken Bachchan because he is going to give the box-office some major fillip (though even at this stage, given the right role Bachchan isn’t a lesser box-office force than Farhan; yes, Farhan had a big hit with BMB but we just saw the fate of Shaadi Ke Side Effects which also had Vidya) but simply because he knows that once you work with Bachchan your prestige becomes something else! Bachchan is still the final frontier for these directors- to put it differently, you can’t be considered a truly important commercial/mainstream director till you work with Bachchan.
And Bachchan’s detractors should be a little careful- with Balki, Shoojit and Nambiar (he hasn’t had this sort of line-up in the past some years) releases lined up for next year, 2015 might just turn out to be a very strong year for him. The Balki film with Dhanush should have strong legs at B.O. itself though all I am interested in is that we get 3 good films.
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September 11, 2014 at 8:43 PM
I think most people know this except the looney tunes crowd (which has had some representatives of late)!
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September 11, 2014 at 9:00 PM
An Jo / Saurabh
Is there a chance we can address the questions/issues you have raised and also leave Bachchan immune from the fall out of this exercise ?
I would love to answer the questions. Please suggest how we go forward without making this something anti Bachchan.
Your questions/issues are silly. The answers are very simple and straight forward. But I don’t want to be disrespectful to Bschchan while addressing your comments
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September 10, 2014 at 10:37 PM
Satyam: I remember reading from you .. something about Abhishek won’t be doing Dhoom 3 unless he had a great role. It totally made sense.. as YRF and Abhishek drifted apart after D2( he didn’t sign any new movie after D2’s release though he had couple releases signed earlier) and finally when signed Dhoom 3, he was expected to do it on his own terms.
I guess you realized you were wrong beyond words. Everyone knows how much his role turned out. What was the reason for comeback to YRF for such a role? Why couldn’t Abhishek reject the film saying there is not much role for him? That was the only movie where he could have shown some resistance as YRF had no choice but to please him with a better role. Getting a Blockbuster film to the credit without any role will not help anyone’s career. YRF would have given him better role if he had shown some resistance as doing a replacement in a franchise is not beneficial to YRF either.
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September 11, 2014 at 6:32 AM
Regarless of how fans feels about how things should be or could be, the industry is very pragmatic about all this.
This is a business’s which is as ruthless as any other business.
Hence I think that in the HNY ensemble everyone will be given his due. Farah will not waste anyone’s presence. But SRK is SRK if the others are stars, then he is the sun (considerably higher wattage). Here Z is right on the money, in this ensemble don’t expect SRK to play Abhshek’s role and vice versa.
Now how much anyone was woed, well this is show business, everything is for show & tell. It makes good copy.
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September 11, 2014 at 6:32 AM
I think he did this more for Aamir than Yashraj..
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September 11, 2014 at 6:36 AM
At least some foot dragging got him more “footage” than D2. Good for him.
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September 11, 2014 at 7:35 AM
he certainly didn’t have more footage than D2 here but it was qualitatively better.
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September 11, 2014 at 8:05 AM
“YRF had no choice but to please him with a better role”
I think they would have just replaced him with anybody else if abhi had made any demands.
Bollywood is too star driven andimage driven. I remember back in the 80s, if there’s a multi star film and theres a fight sequence between two main lead even how many punches are thrown and landed were counted.
If I’m Abhi, I do not sign D4 at any cost unless somehow he gets the role of the bad guy.
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September 11, 2014 at 8:32 AM
Yes, they would have replaced Abhishek with a far bigger and far better star. Then just to spite him, would have given the replacement some clap worthy dialogues and scenes. These guys put the great Raj Kapoor in his place.
When you are a small fish, almost chum, you don’t mess with the sharks.
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September 11, 2014 at 9:42 AM
“These guys put the great Raj Kapoor in his place” ?
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September 11, 2014 at 9:47 AM
Mera Naam Joker.
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September 11, 2014 at 10:08 AM
still not following, what does Chopra has to do with Mera Naam Joker?
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September 11, 2014 at 12:52 PM
Maybe Joker= Aamir Khan’s character in D3? He was a clown their/joker in the movie I guess…
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September 11, 2014 at 1:18 PM
“Maybe Joker= Aamir Khan’s character in D3”
Nah, doubt it.
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September 11, 2014 at 3:29 PM
^Then I have no idea
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September 11, 2014 at 11:07 AM
‘ Why couldn’t Abhishek reject the film saying there is not much role for him? That was the only movie where he could have shown some resistance as YRF had no choice but to please him with a better role. ”
Very fair comment.
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September 11, 2014 at 11:49 AM
LOL, are you quoting yourself and then saying it’s a “Very fair comment”?
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September 11, 2014 at 11:58 AM
There is a difference between MASTER & MS DHONI as far as I can understand..
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September 11, 2014 at 5:19 PM
I think he’s quoting satyam. hehe
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September 11, 2014 at 11:58 AM
Z , I am referring to comment made by Master and the whole comment makes a lot of sense to what we have been discussing on Abhi and HNY.
Master Says:
September 10, 2014 at 10:37 PM
Satyam: I remember reading from you .. something about Abhishek won’t be doing Dhoom 3 unless he had a great role. It totally made sense.. as YRF and Abhishek drifted apart after D2( he didn’t sign any new movie after D2’s release though he had couple releases signed earlier) and finally when signed Dhoom 3, he was expected to do it on his own terms.
I guess you realized you were wrong beyond words. Everyone knows how much his role turned out. What was the reason for comeback to YRF for such a role? Why couldn’t Abhishek reject the film saying there is not much role for him? That was the only movie where he could have shown some resistance as YRF had no choice but to please him with a better role. Getting a Blockbuster film to the credit without any role will not help anyone’s career. YRF would have given him better role if he had shown some resistance as doing a replacement in a franchise is not beneficial to YRF either.
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September 11, 2014 at 1:15 PM
My bad.
On D4, I hope YRF takes Salman. Looking at how Salman looked in Kick, he would be awesome in Dhoom series. Would love to see him bold, like Van Diesel.
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September 11, 2014 at 1:38 PM
I agree .. Devgan is man of words .. He promised to Give Abhishek meatier role in BB and he even fulfilled. Abhishek was very happy with outcome of his role and success of movie.
But these two khans are Kaminey No 1 … they can not afford to appear in lesser/equal position .. otherwise likes of Amitabh showed them that even few minutes appearance can dilute other’s 3 hours of screen capture .. just because of complexes of these khans we have not witnessed solid confrontation scenes since so many years now ..
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September 11, 2014 at 1:05 PM
There is low buzz for hny,hny might only get a good weekend.Farah Khan is unpopular.
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September 11, 2014 at 1:15 PM
agree, 50 crore weekend and life time 55 crore 🙂
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September 11, 2014 at 1:52 PM
The song is decent and seems to have hit the right notes. On Abhi the final outcome is still to be seen..but whatever I have seen from the trailers he seems to be out of place trying those comedy styles. Actually most of the star cast seems to be trying over the top comedy..don’t know how bad this Farah’s product is going to be. This would have looked more confident having only SRK and Deepkia…or at most Abhi..but with all those 5-6 extras this looks bad…really bad.(Not sure why they are getting so much of footage as they aren’t even small stars who can bring any audience..except Abhi offcourse) It could be laugh riot…not in a good way though but how bad the movie turns out to be.
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September 11, 2014 at 2:18 PM
Music launch seems to be Sept 15
Happy New Year-Movie @HNY 42m
“Musafir hoon mein door ka,
____”
Complete lyrics of this verse & win tickets for music launch on Sept 15 in Mumbai! pic.twitter.com/3MtWhdAssz
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September 11, 2014 at 2:56 PM
Too many comments. Unconnected and amusing. Will it become the longest thread?
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September 11, 2014 at 6:43 PM
http://www.india-forums.com/bollywood/film-reviews/46274-finding-fanny-movie-review.htm
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September 11, 2014 at 7:02 PM
I dont know why Dimple is doing such voluptuous roles letting down Bobby lovers?
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September 12, 2014 at 1:31 AM
dimple is turning out to be an embarassment to Akshay.she doesnt have to act in films now.
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September 15, 2014 at 9:28 AM
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