'Armaan',
a medical soap opera, & 'Haasil', a college
flick - Hoping against hope
The
film industry, hit by strikes and a series
of duds, pins its hopes on 'Armaan' and
'Haasil', released all over India on Friday
(May 16). The releases came as a breath
of fresh air to cine-goers, who are happy
that the new films have come up during
the summer vacation. "There should always
be new movie releases. The number of releases
was really less in the previous two to
three weeks. So it's really good that
new movies have come now," said Amit,
a cinegoer.
Honey
Irani's direction debut 'Armaan', a big-screen
medical soap opera about a son fulfilling
his father's dreams, stars Anil, Preity
Zinta and Gracy Singh and, of course,
Amitabh Bachchan. The film which is a
rip-off from hit American sitcom 'Chicago
Hope', evokes a kaleidoscope of colour,
style and substance. On the first day
of the show, people were ecstatic about
the film. "It (Armaan) was a very nice
movie. It is a different story and a very
good film. I liked Gracy (Singh). I think
she is doing very well," said Piya, a
cine-goer.
The
movie is about the "armaan" of Dr Sidharth
Sinha played by Amitabh Bachchan who wants
his son played by Anil Kapoor to make
his dream of building a state of the art
hospital devoid of any indiscrimination.
Kapoor essays the role of Akaash Sinha,
a neurosurgeon who plays love interest
of the two leading ladies Soniya Kapoor
(Preity Zinta), a rich, arrogant young
woman and Neha Mathur (Gracy Singh ),
a fellow doctor.
The
second movie that hit the floors was debutant
director Tigmanshu Dhulia's college flick
'Haasil', starring Jimmy Shergil and Hrishata
Bhatt in the leads. The film has the flavour
of a small town romance and is set against
the background of university students'
politics. Seventy five per cent of all
major films in 2003 crashed at the box
office, but the only saving grace being
the partial success of Sunny Deol's a
la James Bond 'Hero' and the controversial
'Jism'. But trade analysts are hopeful
of a positive response from viewers.
Sumanta
Bhargava, general manager of Delhi's Satyam
Cineplexes, said while 'Armaan' showed
signs of a hit, 'Haasil' was merely picking
up. 'Armaan' was full in the first show,
noon show was also full and we expect
it to be full in all other shows as well
over the weekend. So, I would imagine,
on an aggregate, the weekend should be
about 95 per cent plus. For 'Haasil',
the opening was not as good as we thought
it would be because the film had got very
good reviews but the word of mouth of
the film is very good. People who watched
it have liked the film. So, over a period
of weeks I think this film would pick
up," said Bhargava.
However,
'Armaan' and 'Haasil' are expected to
face tough competition from forthcoming
big banner films: 'Main Prem Ki Deewani
Hoon', iDream's 'Jajantaram Mamantaram',
Dharmesh Darshan's 'Andaaz' and Rakesh
Roshan's 'Koi Mil Gaya', which are almost
ready for release.
May
16, 2003
Khwahish:
Turning to the forbidden (Go
To Top)
Mumbai:
After a long dry summer, Bollywood's
drought is coming to an end. And the rain
goddess this time is skimpy beauty who
is oozing sexuality. Bollywood's latest
offering 'Khwahish', a steamy love story,
has caught the fancy of people and film
critics alike. Indian film makers, struggling
to cast off the demons of a miserable
2002, are turning to bold adult themes
with liberal dosage of sex and on-screen
kissing to lure back viewers to cinema
halls.
Model-turned
actress Mallika Sherawat teams up with
a former modelling colleague Himanshu
Malik in this erotic film shot in the
exotic beaches of Kerela. The storyline
treads on an unchartered territory for
the tradition-seeped Bollywood where the
lead actress, breaking away from the conventional
good girl image, portrays a sultry character
who has no inhibitions in kissing on-screen.
Film's director Govind Menon, whose first
film Danger' was a damp squib at the box
office, says he has broken all the conventions
of a typical Hindi film. "We've got details
into areas that people don't usually get
into. Pre-marital sex and the whole idea
of having a hero who is horny. It's very
strange for me that in Hindi cinema nobody
seems to be horny. Nobody's turned on
by anything. There's all this, except
for villains who want to rape everybody
in sight. Here you have a perfectly nice
guy, normal guy who is the hero of the
movie but he wants to get laid and he
gets married because of that. That's a
stupid reason to get married," said Menon.
Made at a moderate budget of a little
over 40 million rupees, the film was shot
in a start-to-finish schedule of 100 days,
another rare for Bollywood known for very
long schedules.
'Khwahish'
deals with the ups and downs in the relationship
of a married couple. It speaks about desires
of the young hearts and how their desires
drift the two away from each other. The
film also deals with a lot of social issues
like pre-marital sex and contraception.
Film's heroine, the sultry Mallika Sherawat,
says an unnecessary ruckus has been made
about her love scenes with her co-star.
"Are you trying to tell me that girls
these days don't kiss? What is this hulla
bulla being out of me kissing the hero
or the hero kissing me? What's the big
deal, look at the generation we are in
today. And every girl will relate to it,
I mean every college- going girl. I am
sure you've kissed your girlfirend, I've
kissed my boyfriend. Big deal? That's
how I look at it. It's the new age, it's
our new generation," said Mallika.
Even
the film's promos on various television
channels and its posters plastered across
the cities focus on its bold theme and
suggestive sexual scenes. Sex scenes in
Hindi films are largely confined to suggestive
poses with nothing more than the cleavage
of the heroine at display. Some small
budget movies made with an obscure star-cast
cater to a niche audience of such movies
in the smaller towns and villages. But
latest movies like 'Jism', 'Andaaz', 'Janasheen'
and 'Footpath' are trying to break the
niche. In India where showing a kissing
scene is considered "hot", what response
will 'Khwahish' evoke at the box office
will be seen when it is released at cinemas
across the country on June 6.
