Posts Tagged ‘trade analyst’
Let’s talk about Sex baby!
Posted on: September 30, 2009
BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL: (From top) Stills from Luck By Chance, Kaminey, Love Aaj Kal
DEEPALI DHINGRA Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; September 29, 2009)
Did you cringe with discomfort when a seemingly innocent child woman Isha Sherwani seduced Farhan Akhtar into bed in Luck By Chance? Or, more recently, when a salwar kameez-clad Priyanka Chopra managed to convince a reluctant Shahid Kapoor to have sex with her in Kaminey, by telling him that she knows ‘homescience’ and that it’s ‘safe to do it’? More likely than not, you smiled at their boldness and prepared for more to come. Seduction was a game played by vamps in Bollywood in the 70s and 80s. Much later, lead actresses like Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra were sexually charged in Jism and Aitraaz respectively. But even then, they were the ‘bad girls’. Well, times have changed — even the ‘good’ girls are taking a turn for the ‘bad’ and the audiences are lapping it up!
Watch newcomer Mahie Gill throwing herself in full abandon at Abhay Deol in a mustard field in Dev. D and you’ll know what we’re talking about. Trade analyst Komal Nahta says he isn’t surprised at this change. “Films, after all, are a reflection of today. Girls are proposing to guys, they are using seduction as a tool even in real life. The major composition of the audience comprises youth, so they have to show what the young generation identifies with,” he says. So Kareena Kapoor playfully hands Akshay Kumar her bra in Tashan and Konkona SenSharma suggests a quick bout of love-making to Rahul Bose in Dil Kabaddi before they turn in for the night and Deepika Padukone has no qualms with Saif Ali Khan kissing her full on the mouth in the car in Love Aaj Kal. Agrees Mahie, “Reel life follows real life. Women today are more vocal about their sexual desires than what they were about a decade back. The audience today wants to see characters they can identify with. That’s why the boldness depicted by the newer lot of actresses has been accepted.”
According to film director Onir, a growing section of audiences in urban centres are accepting this change. “Independent working women watch these films with their male friends and colleagues who treat them as equals and therefore, accept their portrayal on screen as well,” he says. Also, the younger generation of filmmakers who have grown up seeing women as friends and colleagues, are showing female characters as they are, says Onir.
deepali.dhingra@timesgroup.com
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!
Fenil and Bollywood 