Hollywood
has been bold enough to go forth with the
release of a big budget action flick, of
course it is not exam time in major Hollywood
territories.
Kollywood’s characteristically slow
summer policy is here once again. The small
timers have taken full advantage of this,
giving their products a chance of being
in theaters without being asphyxiated by
big releases. A long delayed Thotta and
this weekend’s Vellithirai are the
only movies with a semblance of star presence.
Vambuchanda, Akku and the likes have made
or have attempted at making hay while the
sun (quite literally) has begun to shine
bright and hot. With what degree of success?
Well, that’s a comment that can be
reserved for the first week of April because
the playing field seems fairly clear till
that period.
Bollywood’s defense against summer
has been along the lines of the strategy
adopted by Kollywood- stay low and let the
bad days tide over. With nothing of note
for nearly a month (we are not forgetting
Jodha Akbar) this weekend witnessed Subhash
Ghai’s Black and White hit the screens.
The only thing big about the movie is the
Subhash Ghai banner, everything else is
just like a medium budget summer flick.
Black and White has received some positive
critic response but the possibility of that
translating into good box office response,
especially at this time of the year seems
slim, let’s hope for the best. This
means that Jodha Akbar has hit a purple
patch of nearly a month’s unopposed
reign at the box office and there seems
to be none coming until Race in early April.
By that time, the makers of Jodha Akbar
would be either holidaying or counting their
profits. Even the smaller players would
benefit from this fairly less crowded period.
Hollywood meanwhile has taken a big swing
at the box office. Maybe for the first time
since I am Legend there has been a movie
that has managed to grab some pre-release
hype. There was National Treasure some time
in February but that was not able to do
much. 10000 B.C., the highly promoted pre-historic
action flick which could be close to an
epic has hit screens this Friday. Hollywood
continues its fascination with the times
when man was not the dominant form of life
on earth- when he had to fight pretty much
with sticks and stones with the physically
superior forces of nature. The fate of the
movie, especially in India is too early
to predict but there is relief that at long
last there is something to talk about. Otherwise
we would have been left with just the Oscars
to discuss.
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