The end of 'jubilee' films Why Bollywood has not seen a superhit in 2002

Kshama Rao

Here is some interesting trivia:

* Gyan Mukherjee's Kismet (1943) was the first Hindi blockbuster which ran for three consecutive years in Bombay Talkies, Kolkata. It catapulted late Ashok Kumar to stardom.

* The late Rajendra Kumar was called 'Jubilee Kumar' as most of his films celebrated silver and golden jubilees.

* Two films released in 1975: Ramesh Sippy's Sholay and Vijay Sharma's Jai Santoshi Maa. Both were superhits. Sholay set a record by running for 250 weeks at Mumbai's Minerva Theatre. It was broken only recently by Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (which celebrated 300 weeks at Maratha Mandir, Mumbai).

Although silver and golden jubilees were not uncommon occurences in Hindi cinema, very few films over the past few months have been fortunate enough to have such succesful runs. After last year's Lagaan, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham the industry has not seen the box office set afire. Could 'jubilee films' be a thing of the past?

Today when a film sinks and fades away into obscurity, the director and the cast promptly point fingers at its publicity, or rather the lack of it. What they fail to see it that a film fails, more often that not, because it has nothing new to offer. Barring the occasional Lagaan, Chandni Bar or Dil Chahta Hai, Hindi films harp on the same tried-and-tested formulae. Even producers with the right financial backing are reluctant to experiment --- they would rather feed the viewer with a Switzerland ka sapna sequence.

But their beliefs, as filmmaker Vijay Anand puts it, are not without reason. "I will not blame the filmmakers because they simply try to make their ends meet. It is difficult to gauge the changing tastes of the audience. In the olden days, there were barely any theatres and very few banners. If the film was good, the audience would queue up to watch it. Naturally, the film would enjoy a longer run. These days there are so many theatres that in the very first week, the filmmaker recovers his money. The returns are immediate."

Director Govind Nihalani agrees with Anand. "Today, with the increase in the number of theatres and multiplexes, the number of prints of any film on an average is 150 to 200. For a big film, the prints are as many as 500. Today, recovery of money happens simultaneously through many theatres in the very first few weeks," he says.

"The real test for any film is the second week and the weeks to come. Today, the publicity that accompanies any release is enough to get the viewer initially into the cinema hall, but what next? Why don't these films sustain later?" Nihalani asks.

Trade Guide Editor Taran Adarsh says, "Jubilees are no longer a barometer to measure whether the film is a hit or flop. If Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham can recover its investment by running for only five weeks, then it is a superhit."

Adarsh blames the limited run of today's films on video piracy, movie channels on televison and the easy availability of DVDs and VCDs.

Though publicity and marketing helps, they alone cannot make for a hit film. Says Anand, "The audiences of the earlier generations were a simple lot. Today because of the increasing influence of western films, the audience's standards of judging a Hindi film have gone up manifold. They are a discerning, intelligent lot."

Yesteryear actresses Asha Parekh and Padmini Kolhapure feel solid scripts and good music are absent in the recent films. Says Parekh, "Listen to the film soundtracks today --- they all sound alike. The individuality of the music director does not come through."

Adds Kolhapure, "I worked in the times of Raj Kapoor, Nasir Husain and B R Chopra when stars did not have a say in filmmaking. It was these veterans who wielded the baton and made films from their heart. Today's star system also determines the way films are made and that is a bad sign."

Adarsh begs to differ. He feels that Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan can still hold their own at the box office. "But stars alone cannot assure success. Publicity and good performances also contribute to make a good film. Today the audience has become very sharp. They can smell a good film by its poster."

India News Feature Service