Box Office: Why Should Bollywood be Wary of Its American Big Brother?

Hardly a week back, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra threw a bash in Mumbai to celebrate PK’s unprecedented success in China – an unconventional and largely untapped territory for Hindi films. The event was attended by a visibly beefed up Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma and other cast and crew of the film. Around the same time, in the same bustling and humid Mumbai, the members of the fabled Bhatt Camp were huddling and wondering what exactly went wrong with their ambitious Hamari Adhuri Kahani. Like they say, every Friday fortunes fluctuate in Mumbai and few would know it better than the Bhatt brothers – Mahesh and Mukesh – who produced the Emraan Hashmi-Vidya Balan starrer. So while PK has taken Bollywood to dizzying new heights (in terms of business) by grossing over a staggering 100 crores in China, back home in India, things do not look so bright for a film that’s backed by one of the most reliable and profitable film production houses.

But, what went wrong with Hamari Adhuri Kahani? Bad reviews? Not really, because it’s not rare for a Bhatt camp film to be panned by critics. In fact, Mahesh Bhatt and his ilk have a firm grip over the mood and nerve of the masses. They know what works in huge swaths of India that resides outside metros and big cities and that’s precisely the formula behind their production house’s roaring success in the last decade, irrespective of how the critics receive the film. Then, what killed Hamari Adhuri Kahani? Apart from its own glaring misgivings, the film was seemingly chomped down by rampaging dinosaurs of Jurassic World who rode straight into the hearts of the Indian masses, leaving behind a weeping Vidya Balan and a shocked Emraan Hashmi. Yes, you read it right.

Here are some facts that tell us how Hollywood is slowly but surely posing a serious challenge to Bollywood:

1. With the super success of films like Fast and Furious 7, Avengers: The Age of Ultron and now Jurassic World, the writing is clear on the wall for our desi producers. They do not just need to watch out for potential box office clashes with ‘Khan Films’, but they also need to be wary of big Hollywood releases – especially films that are successful franchises or fall in the action/sci-fi genre. Sample this – Fast and Furious 7 released on the same day as Detective Byomkesh Bakshy and easily trumped it to emerge the winner at the box office. The first week collection of Detective Byomkesh Bakshy was a paltry 19.75 crores. Contrast it with Fast and Furious 7, which grossed around 70 crores in week 1 and then went on to become the highest grossing Hollywood film ever in India with lifetime business of a remarkable 110 crores. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, already a niche multiplex film, was swept away by the rampaging F&F franchise.The history seems to have repeated itself with Hamari Adhuri Kahani and Jurassic World. While the Hindi film could only mint 16 Crores in its opening weekend with virtually no growth and a poor trend, the Dinosaur franchise went from strength to strength and garnered close to 30 crores in its opening weekend with a very healthy trend.
2. While Bollywood producers are rightly vying for more and more overseas business and going into foreign territories that no one ever imagined before, back home the domestic audience also seems to have matured and developed a definitive, distinct taste. Any Bollywood product with mediocre content (Bombay Velvet, Hamari Adhuri Kahani) is summarily rejected and only films with good content (Piku, TWMR) are accepted. With ticket prices soaring, the audience is not ready to compromise on content until and unless the film is spearheaded by a massive star (read the Khans). Interestingly, the same junta is taking up to ‘event’ Hollywood films with disaster, sci-fi and action themes in a big way. Even content driven Hollywood films like Gravity, Life of Pi and Inception have started to make a mark at the Indian box office with collections going well into tenth and eleventh weeks!
3. Hollywood films have the great advantage of big studio backing which allows them to dub in regional languages. This ensures that the overall business of these films in India goes up significantly. Imagine this – more than 50% of Jurassic World’s business in India is driven by dubbed regional versions. On the other hand, growing number of multiplexes in the country has encouraged the Hindi filmmakers to make films that cater only a niche segment of the audience. For example, although Zoya Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do should manage to earn profits, most of its revenue is coming only from 4-5 big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune. The film’s collections in mass belts like Bihar, CP and Rajasthan is very low.So, while Hollywood is solidifying its net collections through dubbed versions, Hindi films are losing out their pan-India appeal. There are hardly four to five Hindi films every year that can boast of healthy all India business. A point to ponder for the producers?

It can be easily said that Hollywood is at its strongest best at the Indian box office right now. With continued flow of mediocre Hindi films, very few big-budget and star-driven films and more and more niche films in the offing, the time is ripe for the big American Daddy to conquer the Indian market which has so far proved to be elusive. Not suggesting that the dinosaurs and the ETs are going to run riot in India and throw the Hindi films out of the window, but there’s a definite nudge, or rather a push, from the high and mighty Hollywood. And the push is big enough for Bollywood to sit back and notice.

Hamari Adhuri Kahani: Shockingly Regressive and Melodramatic

There are good films and there are bad films. And then there are some films that are so unbelievably bad that you feel like shouting - why did they make this film!!? Hamari Adhuri Kahani, the latest melodramatic overdose from the Bhatt camp, is so regressive, unbelievable, over-the-top and nauseating that you stop expecting anything within half an hour into the film. Mohit Suri, the film's director, has a reasonable track record with good little films like Kalyug, Awarapan and Woh Lamhe under his belt. In fact, Suri has also been at the helm of affairs for three consecutive blockbusters for the Bhatt Camp in the recent past - Ek Villain, Aashiqui 2 and Murder 2.

Apart from a credible director, the film boasts of three fine actors in form of Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi and Rajkumar Rao, but the end product is so mediocre, pointless and boring that even you, as regular moviegoer, would like to hang your head in shame. Hamari Adhuri Kahani's biggest lacuna is its kahani itself. Mahesh Bhatt and Shagufta Rafiq's story is so contrived, half-baked and dipped with horrendous dialogues that it can make 80s cinema look like sparking pieces of art. In fact, some of the dialogues are so cheesy and loaded that you silently giggle in your mind and think how they would become a rage once the dubsmash milieu laps them up!

Both Emraan and Vidya mouth some of the worst written lines that one can remember in recent times, but the cherry on the top is saved for Emraan's mother who looks at Vidya and asks his son, "Kaun Hai Ye Banjaran?" Not just that, she even goes on to lecture her on how its time she stopped being 'Sita' and became 'Radha'! Phew! Such rhetorical verbal stone pelting may have been 'cool' in the 80s but is definitely out-of-date and bogus for current times. It is annoying when none of the characters in the film talk to each other in simple words. They are all perennially grim, look heavily constipated and thrash each other with verbal and metaphorical bricks. There is a constant and disturbing imagery of flowers and a VFX-enabled climax in a "valley of flowers" near Bastar (I am sure no place like that excists near Bastar) that looks so odd that it makes special effects of Mallika Sherawat's Hisss look pretty cool.

For those of you who are still interested in the film's story and plot - Vidya Balan plays Vasudha Prasad, a young mother of a 5-year, old whose husband Hari, played by Rajkumar Rao, leaves her an year after the marriage. We are told that Hari is a really bad guy because he has forced Vasudha to get his name tattooed on her arm, and constantly evokes their saat janam ka rishta, sanskaar and peedhiyon se chali aa rahi sanskriti. Vidya, on the other hand, is the lady in distress who always clutches at her mangalsutra as if it were a trophy, but eventually is serenaded by Aarav, played by Emraan Hashmi, the billionaire hotelier who has his own sad past.

It's tough to digest how the film's writers reinforce regressive mindset and beliefs by investing too much in symbolism of a mangalsuktra, pati parmeshwar, sanskaar and then foolishly try to fake feminism towards the climax with an artificial Durga imagery. The principal characters in the film are mere caricatures and lack soul, motive and purpose. You never really take up to Vidya's tears or understand Emraan's fetish fatale with her. Strangely, you do not even hate Rajkumar Rao's character and pity him for landing up a role that lacks layering and conviction.

From Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani in 2012 to Mohit Suri's Hamari Adhuri Kahani in 2015, life seems to have come full circle for a certain Vidya Balan. Be it the traditional yet poignant Lalita in Parineeta (2005), the chirpy RJ Jhanvi of Lagey Raho Munnabhai (2006), the hysterical but effective Avni of Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), the shrewd Krishna of Ishqiya (2010), the spirited and seductress Silk in The Dirty Picture (2011) or the feisty Vidya of Kahaani (2012) - Vidya Balan has given us some of the most memorable female characters in recent times. With Hamari Adhuri Kahani, Balan nosedives to a new low in her career, so much so, that it not just hurts but even shocks you to believe that she gave her consent for a film as regressive, ridiculous and nauseating as this. Emraan Hashmi looks disinterested and the film does little justice to his acting potential or even his kissing caliber! Rajkumar Rao is wasted magnificently and it is painful to see an actor as brilliant as him to do a poorly written role as this. The film's support cast borders on being incompetent with the actor playing Emraan Hashmi's mother looking naive in her dialogue delivery and younger than Vidya Balan even with those fake grey strands.

The film's music does not live up to the melodious reputation of the Bhatt camp. Except for "Humnava" none of the songs have that repeat value or a humming quality that sticks on to you. The film's cinematography (Vishnu Rao) is below par, so is the background score that uselessly tries to build up tempo in this lethargic, boring film.

Overall, Hamari Adhuri Kahani will easily qualify as one of the biggest letdowns of recent times; specially for Vidya Balan who has wowed us with stellar performances in the past. This is one film that you can definitely miss and thank this reviewer for saving you your hard-earned money. 

Rating: * (Poor)