Saturday

Bollywood’s Back in Business!

After two months of suffering, Bollywood fans and cinegoers can finally rejoice! After two months of bickering, multiplex owners and producers in India have finally put an end to all the arguments and stressful meetings. The infamous “strike” in tinseltown is over. We can all stop worrying now because our prayers have been answered: Bollywood is back in business!

It all started back in January when Mukesh Bhatt, chairman of the United Producers and Distributors Forum (UPDF), was not satisfied with the way he was treated by the multiplexes upon the release of his film, Raaz: The Mystery Continues. The profit was not being shared equally, and that was when Bhatt said enough is enough. He called for a meeting among all producers to set things straight. They all agreed that it should be 50-50 between theaters and distributors/producers. Holding a strike seemed to be the only option. So they made fans suffer, they injured the economy both in India and abroad, and they got our very own Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan involved! The actors have been “media-fighting” for the past couple of months, but this dilemma made them put their measly differences aside and fight for a bigger cause.

Unfortunately, not even the two Kings of Bollywood helped. The producers and multiplexes came to a consensus on Friday, June 6, 2009 at 3am at Yash Raj studios. Mukesh Bhatt claims that “the end of the strike is just the beginning of the film industry’s recovery.” He had a meeting with the Prime Minister in Delhi recently. The strike may have angered people for the past few weeks, but it was necessary for our industry in the long run. Mukesh Bhatt’s next venture is the fight against piracy.

Now that we’ve gotten business out of the way, it’s time to bring back some long overdue and much-needed masti into our lives! What movies can we look forward to in the near future? Well, for starters, there are only about four movies that have been promoted heavily before the strike and some even during the strike. These include New York, Kambakkht Ishq, Love Aaj Kal, and Kaminey. Personally, the latter two are going to emerge bigger hits than the first two, but that’s juts my opinion. Who knows, it could be the complete opposite. It all depends on how each of these films, and other smaller-budget ones, will be promoted in the upcoming days.

New York is the story about three best friends (John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Katrina Kaif) living in the Big Apple post 9/11. Director Kabir Khan (of Chak De India fame) portrays the lives of three young Muslim friends and their journey through the horrific event. The promo is a very intense watch, especially John’s nude scene in a jail cell.

After New York, which releases on June 26th, we have the highly anticipated Kambakkht Ishq, starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. Almost immediately after the strike, producer Sajid Nadiadwala and first-time director Sabbir Khan held a press conference for the film. Both Akshay and Kareena attended and left the media in splits with their comments. Akshay’s joke about working with the Kapoor khandaan is not one to miss, nor is this movie! The famous UK Punjabi group, RDB, has composed one of the chart-topping songs (Om Mangalam). Akshay recommended RDB to the director, and Sabbir Khan couldn’t say no. Akshay has been a fan of RDB since Namastey London and Singh is King. He even performed to their song, Aja Mahi, at the IIFA awards in 2007! July 3rd is D-day for Akshay and Kareena. Their films haven’t been doing so well in the recent past (CC2C, 8×10 Tasveer, Tashan, Golmaal Returns). They need KI to work at the BO!

Next in line are Love Aaj Kal (July 31st) and Kaminey (August 14th).  The first-time pair of Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone is looking fantaaabulous in the theatrical promo of Love Aaj Kal. The story about romance in the past and present has been given a fresh spin by Jab We Met director, Imtiaz Ali. I don’t know about you guys, but this movie is at the top of my list for movies to watch this summer! And finally, there’s Shahid Kapoor’s Kaminey. This one’s going to be a very big film in his career because it has been directed by Vishal Bhardwaj (of Omkara fame) and he’ll be seen playing a double role—one of bad guy and the other of a stutterer (er-er). Shahid will be seen opposite Priyanka Chopra in the film. The two were dating during the making of the film and afterwards, but apparently have recently broken up. So sad—they make such a cute couple!

And there ya have it! We all need to come together as fans and flock the theaters in the coming weeks to bring life back into Bollywood! These films won’t watch themselves!!

Sources: http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090612/914/ten-the-strike-was-a-fight-for-survival.html

http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/trade/releasedates/index_in.html