![Kareena-Akshay in Talaash](09dec1.jpg)
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Will December break the jinx?
Though the last month of 2002 has a slew of interesting films, it is a toss-up as to which of them will uplift the box-office
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Subhash K Jha
In 2002 the film industry is plagued with an almost unbroken chain of flops. Nothing seems to work. Neither eyecandy romance (Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Jeena Sirf Merre Liye) nor mature love stories(Leela, Sur) unless you add a slice of sleaze to the cocktail, as Shashilal Nair did in Ek Chotisi Love Story.
After Raaz, everyone said, let's make romantic thrillers. And Humraaz did well. But Deewangee for all its finesse and fine performances by Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar and Akshaye Khanna, couldn't win the audience. As for Gunaah, from the same team that gave us Raaz, this year's only bonafide success after Devdas, it fell so fast it wasn't funny.
So what does the audience want? Why have they abandoned the pleasure of movieviewing? How do one explain the total lack of audience involvement in the two Sanjay Dutt releases last month Hathyar and Annarth which flopped on day 1?
How does one explain the non-performance of a big-budget Yash Chopra production like Mujhse Dosti Karoge or the failure of the love story Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, both of which starred Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan? With only two successes this year, three, if we stretch the analysis to include Nair's Ek Chhotisi Love Story, 2002 is fated to be the worst year in the history of mainstream Hindi cinema.
Unless, and here comes the eternal gleam of hope, the coming weeks throw forward some surprises. From Vishal Bharadwaj's exotic witch's tale Makdee to Shaad Ali's calibre-conscious love story Saathiya, there is a wide range of films lined for release for the rest of 2002.
The most crucial Friday for the film industry is December 6. The week of Eid brings at least three mega films to the audience. Chief among them is Sanjay Gupta's long-delayed, awaited gangster epic Kaante featuring stars from Amitabh Bachchan to Lucky Ali. Sold at an exorbitant rate, exhibitors in many parts of the country intend to hike ticket rates to cash in on the Kaante craze.
Kaante has stiff competition from Harry Baweja's Karz: The Burden featuring the snarling supremo Sunny Deol along with Suniel Shetty and Shilpa Shetty. Also on for December 6 is Suneel Darshan's Talaash with the ever-dependable Akshay Kumar with Kareena Kapoor. Says Suneel, "I might decide to postpone the release by a week or so. But Talaash is definitely on in December."
The Akshay-Kareena pair seems to have excited the film trade more than any other recent screen togetherness. According to Bihar exhibitor Suman Sinha, "No star pair has looked so charming together since Dharmendra and Hema Malini."
Any of these three biggies can bring hope for the ailing film industry at the end of the year. Akshay Kumar who is one of the lucky few to have survived this year's box-office holocaust says, "One or two hits just won't do. The film industry needs at least ten solid hits before it can be pulled out of the doldrums."
A tall order? But the trade isnt given up hope.