'Dostana' rakes in box-office riches

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) While Subhash Ghai's "Yuvvraaj" is struggling to win over the audience, Karan Johar-produced "Dostana" has unexpectedly found the field open for it to rake in all the box-office riches. Since its release, its worldwide collections have already crossed Rs.500 million.

"The success of 'Dostana' has come as reassurance to the industry that the entertainment sector will be able to brave the negative impact of the economic slowdown if the changing tastes of audiences are carefully catered to, an opportunity which Ghai's 'Yuvvraaj' missed," said trade analyst Vinod Mirani.

Released Nov 14, "Dostana" has tickled the funny bone of viewers with its story about two strapping young men - Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham - pretending to be gay and their friendship with their landlady Priyanka Chopra. But Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor and Zayed Khan starrer that hit the screens a week later is about three brother fighting for their father's wealth. The audiences rejected the movie.

Only five weeks are left before the year 2008 folds up. The industry's hopes are now pinned on Yash Raj Films' "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" and Tamil director A.R. Murugadoss's "Ghajini," the last two major movies of the year.

Releasing Dec 12, "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" is the story of an odd couple played by Shah Rukh Khan and newcomer Anushka Sharma.

"Ghajini" is a romantic action thriller that revolves around the life of a rich businessman who suffers from memory loss after a violent encounter and Aamir Khan plays the protagonist in it. The film is schedule for Dec 25 release.

"Although, whether these two much-awaited films will be able to a 'Dostana' at the box-office is still a matter of conjecture, both have generated a lot of expectations in the industry because of their good advance reports," Mirani said.

"Hope, both the movies come up to the expectations. Because, just as Yash Raj Films sorely needs a hit after a series of flops this year, so is the industry eager to end the year on a promising note in order to regain its confidence as all the big-budget films released during the year so far came crashing at the box-office before 'Dostana' arrived," he added.

Meanwhile, in order to cash in the two-week grace period before "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" hits the screen, some distributors of medium-budget movies are scrambling to hire the cinemas that are available now.

Staring Friday, the period will see as many as eight movies released.

UTV Movies' "Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye" is released today. Also being released is Mumbai Mantra's "Sorry Bhai" after a minor hiccup when singer Rabbi Shergil had filed a case against it, alleging that the movie has used one of his tunes without his permission.

Following the complaint, the Delhi High Court had stayed the release of the movie, asking director Onir to respond to the petitioner's complaint before Dec 8.

"Instead of delaying the release, we decided to delete the 'objectionable' song as per the court's order," said Onir, who has also produced the movie along with Vashu Bhagnani.

Due on December 5 are "Dil Kabaddi", "Maharathi", "Meerabai Not Out", "Khalballi" and "Oh My God".

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Dostana