Thursday, July 15, 2010

A Lost Cause!

By Anant Mathur (July 15, 2010)

If you want to know how to convince filmgoers that your flop film is a hit there's no better example than Boney Kapoor & Milenge Milenge.

Boney Kapoor is using the media and trying to convince anyone who’s listening, that Milenge Milenge, which will barely make 8 crores at the box office (if it's still running next week), is a hit. The film has cost approximately 14 crores which is funny in itself because it was being said, before its release, that the film cost 30 crores.

The status of a film is determined by its box office performance. Going by the box office performance of Milenge Milenge so far, it’s safe to say the film is a super flop. But Boney Kapoor, who has given us entertaining films (Woh 7 din, Mr. India, Company, No Entry) in the past, is still fighting for this lost cause. Why? Only he knows.

It’s being reported by the media that Boney Kapoor has sold the satellite right of the film for 8.5 crores, the music rights for 2 crores and home video rights for 1.5 crores, etc. etc. So, it appears, the dumb media jumped on the band wagon and started saying the film will make 4 to 5 crores in profits for Boney Kapoor and are ready to declare it a hit.

I just want to add that, if this is how they're measuring success nowadays, then My Name Is Khan, Kites and Raavan are hits too. Because Fox (My Name Is Khan) and Reliance (Kites and Raavan) both made profits when you take satellite, music and home video rights into account.
 

But realistically folks, everyone in the industry knows this is not how the success of a film is measured. It's the box office performance that counts in order for a film to be declared a hit or flop. And in the case of Milenge Milenge there's no hope for the film. It's a super flop no matter what Boney Kapoor's figures say, besides it’s a known fact that figures are manipulated in the industry all the time. We don't even know if Milenge Milenge is doing the kind of business they're saying it’s doing. The truth could also be that it has only made 2 crores in total at the box office and the 8 crores figure is being tossed around just to improve the prospects of the film. It won’t be the first time this has been done and I’m sure it’s not the last.

Until Boney Kapoor shows us how each rupee was spent and exactly how many movie tickets have been sold, one can't help but feel Milenge Milenge is a flop.
 

If I may be so bold as to give Boney Kapoor some advice, I would suggest that he count his losses and forget this film. Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor haven’t had many hits in the last few years and I doubt their box office value will improve unless they both start giving one hit after another.
 

Boney Kapoor has a sweetheart of a girl (Sonam Kapoor) in his own backyard, so instead of worrying about the failure of Milenge Milenge he should make a movie with Sonam (miss hot property right now) and laugh all the way to the bank. Or better still, go the RGV way (who remade James) and remake Milenge Milenge with Sonam Kapoor and Imran Khan and call it Serendipity (Oops! Sorry just slipped out), that has a better chance of being a hit than the current version.

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

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