Bollywood smells success in collective courtship

Mumbai, Feb 9 (IANS) In Bollywood, skirt chasing is in and how! After "Masti" and "No Entry", a cluster of men lusting after one damsel seems to be the potion for box-office success.

If "Masti" had Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh and Aftab Shivdasani having the hots for Lara Dutta, in "No Entry", Bipasha Basu gets more than her fair share of male attention.

And no one, not even the ladies in the audience, seems to mind this new seductress who gets the adrenaline rushing into male veins.

Sure, sometimes in vain. The formula failed in Sanjay Gupta's "Musafir" where Sameera Reddy was trapped in a sexually forthright liaison with Anil Kapoor and Mahesh Manjrekar. But that was a relationship gone too far.

Dino Morea, who's part of such a new film, says: "Audiences love the idea of Eve being wooed by several Steves...like Saira Banu was courted by Sunil Dutt and Mehmood in 'Padosan'.

"The trick is to keep the tone light. That's what we are doing in 'Tom Dick & Harry' where Jimmy Shergill, Anuj Sawhney and I play three guys panting after Celina Jaitley."

Deepak Tijori directs what could possibly be a follow-up success to "No Entry", depending on how long audiences remain interested in the theme of collective courtship.

Several directors are planning projects where one girl becomes the object of multiple amorous adorations.

Manoj Bhatia, who directed the candy floss romance "Uff....Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai", is planning a film called "Tom & Jerry" about two guys wooing the same girl, all stops pulled out. He wants Sammir Dattani and Vatsal Seth to play the leads in this modern day interpretation of the hare-and-tortoise fable.

Remember how Deepti Naval shrivelled and recoiled at the attention she got from Farouq Sheikh and Naseeruddin Shah in "Katha"?

Akshay Kumar and John Abraham play photographers with a roving eye in "Garam Masala". Three new girls - Neetu Chandra, Nargis and Daisy Bopanna - happily and unapologetically run riot with flirty wisdom.

The guys in our new fables are far more aggressive and explicit about their intentions. And the ladies are loving it!

Says "Garam Masala" heroine Neetu Chandra, "You can't be Sati Savitri on screen any longer. It is certainly the era of making an impression. You cannot let nature takes it course. You have to make it happen for yourself. And now."

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