Fenil and Bollywood

TIMES NEWS NETWORK (BOMBAY TIMES; June 30, 2009)

Ordinarily, the advance booking for Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kambakkht Ishq would have opened today. But the filmmaker, who believes that an outand-out entertainer made with conviction will always generate euphoria amongst viewers, had the booking office windows thrown open on Sunday itself. The result? Serpentine queues at multiplexes. It was as if the film by Eros International had taken Bollywood back to the 70s and 80s, when fanatical film buffs would excitedly crowd around the ticket window waiting for the counter to open.

A trade analyst called up Nadiadwala within an hour on Sunday of the booking opening, to complain that he couldn’t get tickets… all shows for the entire weekend were sold out at the PVR cinema, Juhu. “That,” chuckled a delighted Nadiadwala whose brand of cinema has mastered the art of catering to popular palates, “was expected.” Perhaps it was, because the hype surrounding this film since the day it was launched has been unprecedented in Bollywood.

Consider what audiences have to look forward to: Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor on screen, both sizzling hot entertainers, and this time kissing as well; Akshay’s stunts and Kareena’s oomph; the God-like presence and action of Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone; the roles of Brandon ‘Superman’ Routh and former Bond girl Denise Richards (whom also Akshay gets to kiss, lucky man!), the chartbusting music…

Added to this hype was the sixweek long wait caused by the producers versus multiplexes strike. And you have audiences thirsting for a real entertainer after this drought-like situation. Nadiadwala, whose earlier releases include hits like Jeet, Judwaa, Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Heyy Babyy, has always gone beyond past achievements. “The audience expects this. After all, they too are growing with time and technology. I feel only if we respect our audience’s expectations to be entertained convincingly, can we connect with them completely in the cinema halls.”

And so, Kambakkht Ishq opens on 2,030 screens worldwide this Friday, July 3. That is almost 20 per cent more than the screens that played Ghajini. Trade pundits calculate that even at an average of Rs 5 lakh per cinema collections, the film has the potential to gross more than Rs 100 crores worldwide in its very first week. That’s a kambakkht hit!