It might have sounded like a great idea at the time, considering that its star Hrithik Roshan had not had a movie release for two years before this one and was banking on it to be a blockbuster. The movie though has done nowhere as expected and there is consensus that it is not a hit.
It is not unusual for those who were part of a movie to be bewildered when it flops. They cannot comprehend that what they all had mutually agreed was going to be a big hit found no favour at all from the audience.
Ashutosh Gowariker though seems to have found a reason for the failure, according to a report in a newspaper soon after it dawned that the movie had flopped. The report, quoting sources, said that he blamed the failure on the film’s trailer.
He had wanted to cut the trailer himself, but the production house which was backing the movie was firm on outsourcing it. The trailer had actually led to some accusations of shoddy research, like it showed a scene with horses when there is a strong opinion among many archaeologists that the animal didn’t exist in the Indus Valley.
But a trailer really can’t do much to the fortunes of a good movie because with a star like Hrithik Roshan there is really no need to build up interest beyond a point to get the initial numbers in. It is in how the movie is received by the initial crowd that the later business follows.
There is one more rumour, claiming that the relationship between Gowariker and Hrithik is also strained. Apparently, Hrithik had been sending the director some caustic messages holding him responsible for the movie’s failure. Ashutosh is also said to have replied in kind. It is hard to tell whether there is any truth to this but hopefully it is not true. The two go back a long way having made Jodhaa Akbar together in 2008. That movie had clicked and there is no reason for one failure to change relationships.
3 Idiots 2?
One of the most popular Indian movies of all time might just get a sequel. Before 3 Idiots was released, Rajkumar Hirani had made the super successful Munnabhai series that had gone to become cult movies and it would have been a tough ask to better them. But 3 Idiots went on to be an even bigger hit from the day it hit the theatres becoming one of the biggest grossers of all time.
And now Hirani has hinted that he might be thinking about making a sequel to it. In an interview to a newspaper, he said that they had come up with a great idea for the plot and while it had not been fleshed out at all, it had excited them so much that they immediately told it to Aamir Khan who is now keen to follow up on it. That does make the movie a very real proposition. But before that, Hirani has to wrap up the Sanjay Dutt biopic.
Leak victim
Radhika Apte is slowly turning out to be an actress in the Kangana Ranaut mould, taking on commercial and art movies and doing justice to both in equal measure. She was recently seen opposite Rajnikanth in Kabali, one of the biggest blockbusters of the year in India.
Before that there was the small budget psychological thriller Phobia, in which she got unanimously rave reviews from critics even if the movie itself didn’t do much revenue-wise. She also makes news for some unusual reasons. Some time back, a clip was leaked of a short film directed by Anurag Kashyap which showed nudity on Apte’s part.
And recently it happened again when lovemaking scenes of her movie, Parched leaked and suddenly went viral on social networking. This time however Apte says she was not that affected. In an interview to a television channel, she professed her inability to understand film journalists who kept reporting on it with insensitivity and turned it into a bigger issue.
But she also spoke about these experiences making her more comfortable with her own body. There was however an odd sidelight to the whole issue. In the lovemaking scene actor Adil Hussain plays the male part and he said that he was slightly miffed that the leak was termed as the Radhika Apte leak when he also was in the scene. His analysis was that it reflected the inherent sexism in society.
Breakup adjustments
Ranbir Kapoor’s next movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is going to be released in October. The publicity for it has begun, which means Ranbir must once again start giving interviews to the media. Which in turn means that he will be asked that all important question of how are things going with Katrina after the breakup.
He, of course, tries to sidestep it as he did in one interview to a popular news channel. While refusing to confirm that there was even a break up, he had very nice words for Katrina saying that she was a thorough professional and they gave their best together in the interest of the movie.
One would think that they are becoming successful in trying to deal with the tension of the breakup but there are other rumours that suggest otherwise. In a diary item of a tabloid, it was said that Katrina was not so happy with Ranbir because he had been showing her private text messages to his friends.
On the other hand, there was also news that the two had decided to keep their differences on hold and together promote their movie Jagga Jasoos whenever it releases. And that too is not surprising. Both of them do need some movies to become hits desperately to maintain their position in the A list of Bollywood.
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