Not Govinda, it's Nakul Kapoor!

Subhash K Jha

Star-studded films seem to be in trouble.

Friday, April 26 saw two films, one with established stars and the other with newcomers being released. While Keerti Kumar's Govinda-Rani Mukherji starrer Pyar Diwana Hota Hai went downhill from day one, Deepak Anand's small musical romance Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai with newcomers --- Nakul Kapoor, Kim Sharma and Arti Chhabria --- has been growing in popularity by word of mouth.

It comes after the shocking box office fall of the latest Hrithik Roshan-Amisha Patel starrer Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage, which failed to secure a decent opening (a mere 69 per cent in Mumbai) in its first week. This was in spite of two hot-and-saleable stars and director Vikram Bhatt who delivered a slammer of a hit Raaz two months ago.

The box office equations in Mumbai do seem to be undergoing some crucial upheavals. Why do big-budgeted star-studded films fail to get an opening, let alone a sustained spell of success? Industry sources draw attention to the fact that every star-centric film in 2002 has so far bitten the dust.

The only exception was Ram Gopal Varma's Company which had big names. Except for Ajay Devgan, no star --- not Malayalam superstar Mohanlal (a virtual unknown in the Hindi speaking belt) and not Vivek Oberoi (whom no one had seen) --- pulled audiences into the theatres.

On the other hand, Vipul Amrutlal Shah's Aankhen which came a week before Company, crammed the stars. Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Sushmita Sen and Bipasha Basu had audiences clamouring at the ticket counters. Three days later, collections plummeted. Finally, the film was declared a success only in Mumbai. In the rest of the country, Aankhen is a washout.

Ditto the other films of the year so far. The year's first release Mahesh Manjrekar's Pitah which failed in spite of Sanjay Dutt's box office draw --- audiences apparently don't like to see him in bucolic roles. On the other hand N Chandra's Style released a week earlier, collected decent returns at the BO in spite of four very ordinary newcomers.

Chandra --- whose big cast duds like Shikari (Govinda-Karisma Kapoor-Tabu) and Humlaa (Dharmendra, Anil Kapoor) nearly wiped out his career --- has now sworn off stars. He has launched a sequel to Style called Excuse Me with the same cast.

On the other hand, Suneel Darshan who produced the lavish love triangle Haan… Maine Bhi Pyar Kiya with his favourite actor Akshay Kumar sharing screen space with the talked-about couple Karisma Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan, is not in a hurry to write off the star system.

For his under-production film Talaash, Darshan reportedly paid Kareena Kapoor over Rs 10 million just for a handful of songs and four major scenes. Darshan feels stars guarantee distribution exhibition and initial audiences' support.

How then does one explain the success of the two biggest grosssers of 2002 so far? Neither Vikram Bhatt's Raaz nor Mani Shankar's 16 December boasted of star value. Shankar's film cast Milind (Tarkieb) Soman and newcomer Dipannita Sharma. The film is an out and out winner.

Raaz featured Dino Morea of Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi with Bipasha Basu, the siren of Ajnabee. Made at an estimated Rs 40 million, the film is expected to rake in four times its investment.

Vikram Bhatt's Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage, made at Rs 150 to Rs 200 million has put distributors all over the country in the red. In Bihar there is panic over the fate of forthcoming biggies like David Dhawan's Hum Kisise Kam Nahin (which features the star-packed cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgan).

Then there is producer K C Bokadia's Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (featuring the two Khans --- Shah Rukh and Salman with their Devdas/ Hum Aapke Hain Koun costar Madhuri Dixit, with Aishwarya Rai thrown in for a special appearance) .

The question that every exhibitor is asking is, are the stars worth the money that producers demand from exhibitors for their presence in films?

Hrithik Roshan's next release Na Tum Jaano Na Hum. The miserable failure of AMALL seems to have scared off buyers. The Bihar distributor is ready to buy the film only on condition that the producer lowers the film's price.

Vikram Bhatt says reflectively, "I have learnt my lesson well. I will make my films only the way I want to." What he is saying, in effect, is that he will only work with actors who give him dates at a stretch and who don't carry the baggage of their stardom on their shoulders.

And what of the box office? Could it be that audiences are tired of watching the same stars and are dying for a change? "What nonsense!" says director Ram Gopal Varma who has worked with a bevy of newcomers from Manoj Bajpai to Vivek Oberoi. "You mean to say 16 December would not have worked if Akshay Kumar played the lead? Or that a bigger audience would not have come for Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai if Hrithik Roshan were in the cast?

"The audience isn't tired of stars. They are tired of the same old themes and stories. By chance some recent films with no stars have impressed audiences with their themes. Big stars were scared off by the offbeat quality of these films. Given a chance all the successful non-star films of 2002 would have featured big stars."

But for now, the film trade seems to have become wary and weary of stars. The coming weeks, with a handful of crucial star-studded films like Hum Kisise Kam Nahin, Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, Chori Chori, Khullam Khulla Pyar and Kya Dil Ne Kahaa, will prove crucial to the star system in the Hindi film industry.

If the non-star films due for release like Hansal Mehta's Chhal, Govind Nihalani's Deham and Anurag Kashyap's Paanch do reasonably well, stars would have some reason to get insecure about their glamour hegemony.

If more people are interested in Nakul Kapoor than Govinda during the same week, it is time to question the millions that go into paying star fees.