Boney, Ghai, Zee clash at box-office

Mumbai, Aug 26 (IANS) Three films with big producers backing them - Boney Kapoor, Subhash Ghai or Zee Telefilms - have been released this week, all as different as chalk from cheese.

For a while it seemed unlikely, if not altogether impossible, that Kapoor's riotous multi-starrer "No Entry" would be released on schedule this Friday.

Boney's debts amounting to tens of millions of rupees were possibly responsible for the predicament. The postponement of a big multi-starrer that could bail Boney out of his financial crisis would've augured unfavourably for the harassed producer.

The loss of a precious Friday would have meant Boney's distributors and exhibitors would have to book theatres all over again. With Hriday Shetty's romantic comedy "Pyar Mein Twist" and Sanjay Daima's cultural comedy "Ramji Londonwale" already booked for Sep 2, "No Entry" would have had serious difficulty getting back into the release queue.

But Boney was able to get "No Entry" untangled from his terrifying financial snarl.

This week he has gone raunchy. What made him turn to a veritable stag party with his brother Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan and Fardeen Khan doing a pssst-pssst boys-will-be-boys stag party? Desperate times?

Apparently the producer owes bit time money because of his unbroken string of flops, from Raj Santoshi's "Pukar" in 1999 to Dharamesh Darshan's super-thud "Bewafaa" in 2005.

"For Boney a successful film is a matter of survival," says someone who has been closely associated with him. "He seems to lack sense of what works at the box-office. It would be a while before he can get back on his feet... if at all.

"But, yes, if 'No Entry' clicks he can at least feel some of the financial pressures get off his back."

The clientele for Subhash Ghai's production "Iqbal", which also releases this week, is far more sharply defined. Its theme about a physically challenged boy's determination to make it into the Indian national cricket team echoes the triumph-of-the-human-spirit theme so dear to neo-classics like Ashutosh Gowariker's "Lagaan" and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Black".

Will the film featuring young Shreyas Talpade as a village boy courting the arc lights get the kind of audience it deserves? Director Nagesh Kukunoor has the reputation of telling it like it is, and delivering niche successes, like "Hyderbad Blues" and "3 Deewarein".

"Iqbal" will be an acid test for both producer Ghai (whose last venture "Kisna" kissed the dust) and Kukunoor. Hopefully the cricket theme from "Lagaan" and the theme of overcoming physical handicaps from "Black" will mingle in an audience-friendly synthesis.

This week's third release is again an experiment in form and content. Ashok Kaul's "Bhaggmati" recreates the legendary love story of Hyderabad's Nawab Quli Qutub Shah and the beautiful commoner "Bhaggmati". Kaul blends both animation figures and live footage featuring Milind Soman and Tabu in the two principal roles.

Fortunately Kaul and his producer Zee Telefilms aren't over-selling this quaint love story to the public. The brilliant Tabu, who has been undergoing a dark patch in spite of stupendous performances in "Maqbool" and "Silsiilay", needs to get back on her feet. Her pairing with Milind Soman - the two were linked in real life as well - came a cropper in the whodunit "Tarkeeb" which had launched the model hero's film career.

Can't see a clamour of audiences to watch Tabu recreate mythic magic with Milind. Like "Iqbal", "Bhaggmati" needs to find its audience... and fast.

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