Its raining flops at the box office with big films like Aaja Nachle, Dus Kahaniyan and Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal all struggling to strike a chord with audiences. That's why everyone is counting down to the 21st of December. Why? Because it sees the return of two of the most bankable stars in the industry.
Release #1
Welcome
Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif
Directed by Aneez Bazmee
Release #2
Taare Zameen Par
Aamir Khan
Directed by Aamir Khan
Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Nana Patekar, Dino Morea, Arbaaz Khan, Dia Mirza and others
Directed by Hansal Mehta, Meghna Gulzar, Sanjay Gupta, Rohit Roy, Apoorva Lakhia, Jasmeet Dhodi
Produced by Sanjay Gupta and Sanjay Dutt
Weeks out: 2
Weekly gross: 1.96 crores
Total gross: 9.79 crores
Box Office Verdict: FLOP
A Forgettable Year
After Fanaa and Dhoom 2 went on to be monumental hits in 2006, Yash Raj Films seemed invincible. Whatever they touched turned to gold. And when they revealed their 2007 line up audiences and critics expected more of the same- Yash Raj would continue its dollar-ridden march. But this year has been anything but successful or memorable for the production house. Ta Ra Rum Pum was dismissed as escapist and unbelievable, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom an over-hyped music video, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag an insufferable weep-a-thon and Aaja Nachle a monumental disappointment.
What went wrong? Perhaps looking at their sole success of the year, Chak De India will provide the answer. Despite featuring the industry's number 1 actor in Shahrukh Khan the film was written off from the outset. There was little hype surrounding the film leading up to its release and its opening numbers were well below that which we have come to expect from a Yash Raj release. So how did the film succeed? Word of mouth. It succeeded because it was a film that was driven by a compelling story and that was executed with considerable panache. And Shimit Amin ensured that the film was believable, convincing and captured the audience. The problem with films like Ta Ra Rum Pum was that they were simply unbelievable. How can we believe that this family is desperate when Saif and Rani walk around in trendy outfits? We struggled to feel for their characters because we perceived their world to be constructed rather than real. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom despite significant curiosity was let down by the absence of a story. Also Amitabh's ridiculous get-up surely didn't help. Laaga Chunari Mein Daag had nothing new to offer audiences. And Aaja Nachle, a movie based around song and dance, lacked the chartbusting music that such a movie requires. Madhuri was stunning. But that was about it.
That is not to say that bad movies with strong casts don't succeed. Films like Fanaa have proven that stars can make hit movies out of shockers. But the audience won't fall for it time and time again. The reality Yash Raj films have to face up to is that after being overwhelmed with success they have begun to take their audiences for granted. They must return to the basics- a strong plot, good acting and appropriate music and discard their current formula of stars + hype = hit.
The numbers
Ta Ra Rum Pum
Total BO Gross: 34.4 crores
BO Verdict: AVERAGE
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Total BO Gross: 27.0 crores
BO Verdict: BELOW AVERAGE
Chak De India
Total BO Gross: 53.8 crores
BO Verdict: SUPER HIT
Laaga Chunari Mein Daag
Total BO Gross: 18.11 crores
BO Verdict: FLOP
Aaja Nachle
Total BO Gross: 10.26 crores (after 1 week)
BO Verdict: FLOP
Shahrukh Khan
Deepika Padukone, Shreyas Talpade, Arjun Rampal
Directed by Farah Khan
Produced by Gauri Khan
Weeks out: 6
Weekly gross: 1.68 crores
Total gross: 85.31 crores
Box Office Verdict: BLOCKBUSTER
Madhuri Dixit
Kunal Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Akshaye Khanna, Divya Dutta
Directed by Anil Mehta
Produced by Aditya Chopra
Weeks out: 3
Weekly gross: 1.54 crores
Total gross: 15.65 crores
Box Office Verdict: FLOP
Shahid Kapur, Kareena Kapoor
Pawan Malhotra, Dara Singh
Directed by Imtiaz Ali
Produced by Dhillin Mehta
Weeks out: 8
Weekly gross: 1.01 crores
Total gross: 29.95 crores
Box Office Verdict: SUPER HIT
John Abraham, Arshad Warsi
Boman Irani, Bipasha Basu
Directed by Vivek Agnihotri
Produced by Ronnie Screwvala
Weeks out: 4
Weekly gross: 0.66 crores
Total gross: 16.51 crores
Box Office Verdict: BELOW AVERAGE