Got Bollywood

Race Trade analysts unanimously agree that Abbas-Mustan's Race was the top grosser of the year so far. There were a lot of things going for it. Race was a good thriller, with a lot of action and twist; the film starred stunning actresses like Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy; and it had some of Pritam's best music. "It has been a very poor beginning for the year, as the industry has been slumping," Taran Adarsh, trade analyst, says. "The industry is in a critical condition. We have had a quantum of releases but unfortunately, most of them were flops. There were few hits." "The industry seems to have lost direction," Vinod Mirani, rediff.com's trade analyst tells us. "Creativity is nil. Most films are remakes of foreign movies and badly adapted. Local distributors, who dared to invest, lost money even if the producer did not."

Jannat Emraan Hashmi's Jannat came second on the hit list. Audiences seemed to love his boy-next-door appeal in the film. Besides, the film had a gripping second half, and a good climax. Pritam scored big on the music once again. "Only two films sustained: Race and Jannat," Mirani says. "Krazzy 4 did well too, despite having average content. They were feel-good, paisa vasool films." Taran Adarsh generously included more films in his hit list. "Race, Jannat, Jodhaa Akbar, Sarkar Raj and U Me Aur Hum were the only movies that did well because of their content and tight script," he said.

Jodhaa Akbar Ashutosh Gowariker's historical love story, Jodhaa Akbar, could not cash in on its big star cast: Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. One of the main drawbacks was the film's duration. If it could have been shortened by 30 minutes, it may have seen a better fate at the box office. Yet, the film can be listed in the top five hits of the year, thanks to the poor run of movies at the box office this year. "The industry this year has been worst than the last," Taran says. "The rise in inflation has increased ticket prices, so people don't want to buy a ticket worth Rs 200, only to watch a flop film like Haal-E-Dil, Khushboo and Jimmy."

Sarkar Raj Ram Gopal Varma seemed to want to revive his sinking career with Sarkar Raj, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The film had a good story, great performances and excellent cinematography by Amit Roy. And that seemed to work for the audience. "This year, movies flopped because of bad scripts and content," Adarsh says. "The biggest flop would be Tashan, which broke the all-time low record of Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag. After that was Jimmy, the debut of Mithun Charkraborty's son Mimoh, and then, Kumar Mangat's daughter Amita Pathak's launch in Haal-E-Dil." Komal Nahta, trade analyst and editor of Film Information claims that there are many good films to watch out for this year like Pokhiri, Ghajini, Singh Is Kinng and Rab Ne Bana De Jodi.

Khuda Kay LiyeNo one expected Pakistani low-budget film, Khuda Kay Liye, to do well at the Indian box office. Even though the film did not feature big stars, it did quite well. So why have there been no big hits in 2008 yet? Are we missing the Khans on the marquee? "It's not because there was no Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan or Aamir Khan release." Adarsh explains. "If that was the case, we would not have had a hit in Jannat. Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman do not weave a magic wand. It is the film that works, the subject, music, treatment and emotions." "Movies like Aamir were critically acclaimed. But then, movies are made for masses, not for multiplex audience. And the masses want entertainment,' Komal Nahta concludes.