Fanaa's 90 crores & why it doesn't surprise me !

I read an ad in Bombay Times last week:

Fanaa - Worldwide collections Rs.90 crores (excluding Gujarat & still counting)

Fanaa may well be the highest grossing Hindi Film ever in Bollywood history (I am not too sure of the collections of HAHK & DDLJ, but i think Fanaa has far surpassed them).

It makes you wonder that How, an average scripta at best managed to fool so many people worldwide to watch the movie more than once. ( i believe you have to watch a film atleast twice for it to make mind numbing collections) & i came up with a few answers.

1. Aamir , after RDB is as HOT as he was after DCH & Lagaan, if not more. Also, Aamir has a thing for huge openings. Even the much maligned Mangal Pandey opened to a 19 crore opening weekend, which was the biggest ever, till Fanaa came along with an outrageous Rs.32 crore opening weekend. Also RDB was a universal hit, loved by all generations and highly influential for the youth.

2. Kajol returns ! ! ! . DDLJ, Ishq, Baazigar, KKHH, K3G . . disappearance . We all loved her. Film makers sweared by her. Karan JOhar called her the best heroine of this era, the next one coming 10 spots down. she was sweet, effervescent, bubbly, lovable and so not a typical Bollywood heroine .... AND SHE WAS RETURNING ! ! !

3. KAJOL WITH AAMIR ! ! !.Aamir post RDB ... Kajol, post retirement and weight loss - a match made in heaven. Never paired before, as fresh as ... well, themselves ... and both astounding actors, able to hold the fort on their own ..

well, if all this wasn't enough, along came the Narmada controversy ...Aamir has a thing for timing ...
i ask - his stand on the narmada issue had to do with his experiences while shootng in Bhuj, right. well, Lagaan released in 2001. Why was he silent for 5 years ?. and , where is he now ?

Movie made money. that's it. that's his cause.

anyways, it was good he stood up for it, coz whatever his intentions might be, it led to a movement culminating in a righteous Supreme Court Order.

Well, after so much pulicity, including free publicity through the news channels due to Gujarat controversy, the movie got the response it wanted, deserved or not. the Gujarat govt, by banning Fanaa in their State, enabled it to generate curiosity leading to collections elsewhere more than it would have garnered in a normal scenario.

so, Fanaa races to rs. 90 crores in a month. Its still huge. Well, not many must have hated the movie like i did. After all only the script was BAD. Acting was superlative and it was a trear for shayari lovers like me ... and then there was KAJOL .... i love her.

anyways, Fanaa's record wont remain a record for long, i believe.There is a spate of Big Budget, Big Banner movies lined up this year.
Krrish (see next post)
KANK
Don
Omkara
Corporate
Saanwariya
Sholay

although only Krrish, Kank, Saanwariya and maybe Don will be able to match Fanaa and go beyond.

Lets hope for a Bumper year for Bollywood, as that will increase more corporates to enter the industry and we will get better made films.

for now, ho jaao Fanaa . . . .