Posts tagged Sajid Nadiadwala

Mumbai: Days before Hrithik Roshan’s much-hyped film Kites hit screens, it was declared a flop on social networking sites. “Sabse mehngi patang kat gayi’’ and “zindagi do pal ki, kati patang ke peechhe kyon bhaage?’’ were some of the posts that sealed its fate. The film bombed, and Hrithik later tweeted about “sabotage’’ and hinted that some people were deliberately running down his film.

With Twitter’s popularity increasing, the industry made full use of it during the release of Mani Rathnam’s Raavan. Twenty-four hours before the first show, there were nasty tweets: ‘Now for the next five years, Mani saar will not direct a film’, and ‘Why is Sita made to be this wimp who goes to Raavan as soon as Ram dumps her?’

A few years ago, Akshay Kumar had blamed his rivals for nixing his career via SMS after his two films, 8×10 Tasveer and Chandni Chowk To China, flopped. Amitabh Bachchan, too, had alleged that his world tour was being deliberately disrupted. “I am shocked and covered in disbelief at being privy personally to a design by certain sections of the media and the fraternity to bring down this show,’’ he wrote on his blog. Ajay Devgn, too, felt the same about some of his films.

Trade analyst Amod Mehra, known for sending out SMSes on the eve of every film release, says he is often accused of sabotaging a film. “My sms reviews upset producers, but an SMS cannot make a film a hit or flop,’’ he says. “I didn’t like Raajneeti at all, but the film became such a big hit.’’

Producers also blame peers for their films’ poor performance, but not producer-director Karan Johar. “Nobody can bring down a good film,’’ he says. “It is the insecurities and complexes of certain people in the film industry that make them do such things, but no one can harm a good film.’’

E-PHOBIA GRIPS MOVIE INDUSTRY ‘Audience in 14-35 age group key to film’s success’ Mumbai: Film-maker Sajid Nadiadwala was one of the first to develop Twitter phobia before the release of his last film, Housefull. “Had I shown the film to people before release, I am sure business would have been affected by 15% as there are some people always working against you,’’ he says. “The verdict on a film is out within seconds. People get influenced and it is quite damaging. I plan to get people to sign a non-disclosure agreement if I show them my film before release.’’

“What used to happen in two days is happening in two shows,’’ says an industry insider. “You can actually see the impact of the audience after each show gets over. The age group of 14 to 35, which is key to a film, is very much present on social networking sites, and their status messages are very often about films they have just watched.’’

Salman Khan had once said on television that people in the film industry celebrated when their colleagues’ films flopped. Film writer Dilip Thakur says this has been a reality for decades. “Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker was declared a flop even before its release as Dev Anand starrer Johnny Mera Naam was also being released,” he says.

Thakur says there were times when black-marketeers were asked by people from the industry to sell tickets of the film at a lower price and badmouth it. In the 1980s and ‘90s, when single-screen theatres were the norm, people were sent to the theatre to ‘hoot’. Jaiprakash Chokse, a Raj Kapoor confidant, agrees that Gulshan Rai tried to create trouble for Mera Naam Joker by buying tickets and selling them at a lower price.

Industry insiders insist the crowd was often sent by people from the opposite camp. Thakur said, “I remember witnessing something like that on the first day of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Kareeb. This practice has gone down since multiplexes came in.’’

Manoj Desai, managing director of G 7 multiplex, reaffirms this. He said, “A lot of producers used to buy tickets of each other’s films and sell them at a lower price so that the other film flopped at the box office. Producers also send their people to hoot, which affected audiences. Now, hooting does not happen as there are so many cinema halls all over the city—how many people can the producer possibly send to sabotage the other one’s film?’’

Producer Raaj Grover cites the example of Yash Chopra’s Daag and Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay. In the first week of the films’ release, they were declared flops. The Sippys were blamed for the rumours about Daag, and BR Films for Sholay. At that time, trade papers played a big role in declaring films hits or flops. But ultimately, it was the audience that decided a film’s fate.

One of Bollywood’s biggest hits, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, was derisively termed ‘Chhayya Geet’ before its release. A source said, “The industry was calling it a flop and a shaadi ka video, (yet) it became a historic success. The producers only released one print each in the 36 cities so if bad reports (leaked), the film had no chance at the box office.’’

Mughal-e-Azam took 11 years to make but, again, was a historic success. Then there were films that were declared flops before release because the actor’s previous outings were box office disasters. After Ganga Jamuna Saraswati, both Amitabh Bachchan starrer Jadugar and Toofan failed. And despite good songs, Rajesh Khanna’s Prem Kahani fell prey to sabotage.