A prominent producer called to enquire the 'haal-chaal' of the industry and as the conversation veered towards this week's EK SE BADHKAR EK, he opined that the film hadn't worked primarily because comedies aren't embraced as warmly as action flicks.
That set me thinking! Was he right to jump to this conclusion? Priyadarshan's HERA PHERI and Rajkumar Hirani's MUNNABHAI M.B.B.S. didn't take a flying start when they hit the marquee. But David Dhawan's MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI did.
In the 70s and 80s, films made by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee weren't released as widely as DHARAM-VEER, SHOLAY and NASEEB. But there did exist a sizable segment of moviegoers that appreciated that cinema. If CHUPKE CHUPKE, ANGOOR and SHAUKEEN worked then, I don't see any reason why a good comedy wouldn't work today.
Talking of EK SE BADHKAR EK, there were two factors that resulted in its dull opening -
- One, the star cast wasn't exciting at all.
- Two, the film wasn't publicized enough prior to its release. The makers did make an attempt to woo the cinegoers by beaming funny promos, but barely two weeks' promotion isn't enough.
Even the audience feedback was far from funny -
- The script was so juvenile that you often wondered what time and age the writer[s] of the film lived in.
- Besides, the actors weren't able to pull off the frivolous act. Resultantly, the outcome was tedious and boring.
The opening of a majority of [weak] films has touched rock bottom these days. PHIR MILENGE, RAKHT, HUM KAUN HAI? and DIL NE JISE APNA KAHAA opened to an alarmingly low response. EK SE BADHKAR EK followed a similar pattern throughout the country, with its opening ranging from 10% to 20% at certain cinema halls.
Despite being sold at throwaway prices, this comedy has only proved to be a tragedy for its distributors!
