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Braving the odds in November
Filmmakers seem to have overcome their fear of the traditional lean season
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Subhash K Jha
If I can brave the World Cup [cricket], why not Ramzan?" producer Vashu Bhagnani declares. He is singleminded about releasing Jeena Sirf Mere Liye, starring Tusshar Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor on the first day of November, plumb in the middle of Ramzan.
He had released his Biwi No 1, with Salman Khan and Karisma Kapoor, at a time when the World Cup series had held the nation captive.
It seems filmmakers in Mumbai have finally overcome their fear of the traditional lean season.
This October, for the first time, filmmakers 'dared' to release new films during the mourning period of shraddh. Though neither Rajat Mukherjee's Road nor Manoj Punj's Zindagi Khoobsoorat Hai performed particularly well, the trade seems to have overcome its fear of ostensibly forbidding periods in the Hindu and Muslim calendar.
Taking a cue from Bhagnani, at least four other filmmakers are set to release their films November 1, braving what is traditionally known to be a period of abstinence for Muslim viewers. Vying for box-office attention with director Talat Jani's Jeena Sirf Mere Liye are, producer-turned-director Manoj Aggarwal with his Govinda-Raveena Tandon-Preeti Jhangiani comedy of errors Wah Tera Kya Kehna and Milan Luthria's long-delayed Ajay Devgan-Rani Mukherjee-Sonali Bhendre love triangle Chori Chori.
And action director Ravi Dewan turns to feature film direction with Annarth. Dewan's USP is the fact that his is the only non-romantic film of the week. Whether the audiences turn up in large enough numbers to watch a gut-ripping gore fest during Ramzan is a debatable point.
The Rajshris have always chosen to release their films during Diwali. Though the illustrious banner's scion Sooraj has no film ready this Diwali (Sooraj's Main Prem Ki Deewaani Hoon is now being readied for release in August 2003), one of his assistants Mohan Singh Rathore has done the needful for the Barjatya banner.
The Barjatyas have quietly completed a small film with a large title: Hum Pyar Tumhi Se Kar Baithe, the love story featuring Jugal Hansraj with newcomer Tina Rana will release November 5 at selected theatres, only in North India.
So far, the movie trade has treated the glamour capital Mumbai as the mecca of movies. The Barjatyas could break this rigid mindset if their small love story performs well in what is known as the 'cow' belt before moving towards the metros.
November is significant for the film trade for various other reasons. Sandwiched between Diwali and Eid are a plethora of semi-experimental films like Nagesh Kukunoor's (Hyderabad Blues, Bollywood Calling) first Hindi film 3 Deewaarein, with Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah and Kukunoor cast as three prisoners locked in a dramatic cul de sac.
The film's small but sleek intentions are unmistakable. The film is produced by Metalight, which recently produced Dil Vil Pyar Vyar.
Jackie Shroff also figures in the cast of another sleek, aesthetic film in November. Sandhya produced by Shroff and written by the late Amjad Khan's son Shadaab, is a dark thriller directed by cameraman-director Santosh Sivan's brother Sangeeth Sivan (who earlier directed Sunny Deol and Sushmita Sen in Zor).
The music score of Sandhya reveals that the film falls into a distinctively urban groove of entertainment.
Many November releases have yet to establish their musical credentials in the market. The soundtracks for Ravi Dewan's Annarth, the Barjatyas' Hum Pyar Tumhi Se Kar Baithe, debutant director Rahul Dholakiya's Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar (a Jimmy Shergill-Kim Sharma starrer which has been repeatedly postponed and now scheduled for November), and 3 Deewarein are either not out as yet or barely gasping for breath in the market.
In fact, Novembers only musical 'hit' is Vashu Bhagnani's Jeena Sirf Mere Liye. It is the only movie soundtrack that has sold a decent number of copies in recent weeks.