Post by Amz on Jun 27, 2006 16:50:43 GMT
The number one question
The box-office success of Fanaa is credited as much to its lead pair of Aamir Khan and Kajol being cast together for the first time, as to it being Kajol’s comeback film. “Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta… they all may be at the top, but none of them are crowd pullers in their own right, leaving aside a Kajol, who is perhaps the only actress today who can make some difference to a film’s box office fate,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
But can Kajol lay claim to Bollywood’s top slot, a position lying vacant after Madhuri Dixit’s exit? Sadly, ‘no,’ is the unanimous refrain. The Number 1 era ended in the nineties with Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit, with no chance of a revival today. Hema Malini, the longest reigning actress at the top spot, said, “The aura associated with the heroines of our era is gone today, with actresses being everywhere and anywhere from stage shows to shop inaugurations. That exclusivity and indispensability is missing.” The end, according to veteran journalist Rauf Ahmed, could be traced to Madhuri Dixit’s reign. “The last convincing number one was Sridevi. A diffusion occurred with Madhuri Dixit first because she carried the singing-dancing star tag for a long time and when she finally did establish herself as an actress, she had Kajol making a strong second both as an actress of calibre and as a box-office draw,” he says.
The number one fixation has primarily been a box-office determined tag, depending on a hero ine’s ability to prolong her film’s success run. “The ranking is not on the basis of how much money you make, but how much filmmakers and distributors earn by casting you in their projects,” says veteran distributor Vinay Chowksey. “There is no heroine in Bollywood today for whom the distributor-producer combine would stand up and say ‘I want this heroine in my film’,” he adds.
That was something they would probably do for a Hema Malini, whose relatively low-profile projects in the 1970s also had a silver jubilee run at the box office. “Women-oriented roles wou ld be written because there was a Hema Malini, Rekha or Sridevi to carry them, but none of the heroines today can generate that level of confidence in a filmmaker,” says director Pankaj Parashar. Even after the negative press Rekha received after husband Mukesh Agarwal’s suicide, pro ducer-director KC Bokadia, confident of her box office popularity, went ahead with his heroine-oriented Phool Bane Angarey (1990), which became a big hit. “Chaalbaz was written keeping Sridevi in mind, the project would have been shelved had she said no. Today replacements are quite com mon, no actress is indispensable,” says Parashar. “How many heroines today can lay claim to a producer’s confidence like Bokadia’s on Rekha or get author-backed roles like Sridevi’s Chaalbaz, Nagina or Mr India?” he adds.
Heroine-oriented projects are now a distributor’s nightmare, since all current claimants to the top slot have consistently flopped in solo films – Kajol (Dushman), Kareena Kapoor (Chameli), Aishwarya Rai (Raincoat, Chokher Bali), Sushmita Sen (Chingari), and Preity Zinta (Dil Hai Tumhara).
Aishwarya Rai Last hit Devdas (2002) HAD she worked more in Hindi films rather than spending her energy on international projects, she could have made it to the number one slot, with her market price crossing the Rs 2-cr mark. A series of flops and her preoccupation with serious cinema has knocked her off the pedestal today, but she has the biggest projects in her kitty.
Rani Mukerji Last hit Bunty Aur Babli (2005) SHE is yet to sign a film outside the big banners (Yash Raj) where it is natural for actresses to work at a price far below their going rates. Professionally, for every Black and Bunty Aur Babli, she also has had consistent punctures to her victory run like Paheli. Her earnings shuttle within the Rs 1-1.5 crore bracket at present.
Preity Zinta Last hit Salaam Namaste (2005) SHE may be the latest entrant to the Rs 1-crore plus per film bracket, but with her recent successes all being projects from big ban ners, it could also mean a cut in her hiked market rates as the big banners are known to make actors work at rates lesser than their market earnings.
Kajol Last hit Fanaa (2006) ONE of the highest paid actresses in the current lot with earnings rumoured at Rs 2-crore plus per film, she’s also the only actress of late to guarantee some box office success. However, critics say it’s courtesy her exclusivity and the day she starts doing 3-4 films a year, she too would be vulnerable to losing that Midas touch.
Kareena Kapoor Last hit Aitraaz (2004) SHE debuted with an A-list price tag, but her consistent solo turkeys at the box-office have now limited her takings to the Rs 1-crore bracket. All her success stories so far have been multi-starrers. Besides, she is known to drastically cut her prices for films that have the potential to fetch awards Priyanka Chopra Last hit Krrish (2006) THE buzz is that she plans to hike her asking price to Rs 1.25 crore after the release of Krrish. Currently in the Rs 80-lakh bracket, the credit for her last few hits (Aitraaz, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Bluffmaster) can largely be credited to very savvy pairings with successful actors.
Source : HT
The box-office success of Fanaa is credited as much to its lead pair of Aamir Khan and Kajol being cast together for the first time, as to it being Kajol’s comeback film. “Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta… they all may be at the top, but none of them are crowd pullers in their own right, leaving aside a Kajol, who is perhaps the only actress today who can make some difference to a film’s box office fate,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
But can Kajol lay claim to Bollywood’s top slot, a position lying vacant after Madhuri Dixit’s exit? Sadly, ‘no,’ is the unanimous refrain. The Number 1 era ended in the nineties with Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit, with no chance of a revival today. Hema Malini, the longest reigning actress at the top spot, said, “The aura associated with the heroines of our era is gone today, with actresses being everywhere and anywhere from stage shows to shop inaugurations. That exclusivity and indispensability is missing.” The end, according to veteran journalist Rauf Ahmed, could be traced to Madhuri Dixit’s reign. “The last convincing number one was Sridevi. A diffusion occurred with Madhuri Dixit first because she carried the singing-dancing star tag for a long time and when she finally did establish herself as an actress, she had Kajol making a strong second both as an actress of calibre and as a box-office draw,” he says.
The number one fixation has primarily been a box-office determined tag, depending on a hero ine’s ability to prolong her film’s success run. “The ranking is not on the basis of how much money you make, but how much filmmakers and distributors earn by casting you in their projects,” says veteran distributor Vinay Chowksey. “There is no heroine in Bollywood today for whom the distributor-producer combine would stand up and say ‘I want this heroine in my film’,” he adds.
That was something they would probably do for a Hema Malini, whose relatively low-profile projects in the 1970s also had a silver jubilee run at the box office. “Women-oriented roles wou ld be written because there was a Hema Malini, Rekha or Sridevi to carry them, but none of the heroines today can generate that level of confidence in a filmmaker,” says director Pankaj Parashar. Even after the negative press Rekha received after husband Mukesh Agarwal’s suicide, pro ducer-director KC Bokadia, confident of her box office popularity, went ahead with his heroine-oriented Phool Bane Angarey (1990), which became a big hit. “Chaalbaz was written keeping Sridevi in mind, the project would have been shelved had she said no. Today replacements are quite com mon, no actress is indispensable,” says Parashar. “How many heroines today can lay claim to a producer’s confidence like Bokadia’s on Rekha or get author-backed roles like Sridevi’s Chaalbaz, Nagina or Mr India?” he adds.
Heroine-oriented projects are now a distributor’s nightmare, since all current claimants to the top slot have consistently flopped in solo films – Kajol (Dushman), Kareena Kapoor (Chameli), Aishwarya Rai (Raincoat, Chokher Bali), Sushmita Sen (Chingari), and Preity Zinta (Dil Hai Tumhara).
Aishwarya Rai Last hit Devdas (2002) HAD she worked more in Hindi films rather than spending her energy on international projects, she could have made it to the number one slot, with her market price crossing the Rs 2-cr mark. A series of flops and her preoccupation with serious cinema has knocked her off the pedestal today, but she has the biggest projects in her kitty.
Rani Mukerji Last hit Bunty Aur Babli (2005) SHE is yet to sign a film outside the big banners (Yash Raj) where it is natural for actresses to work at a price far below their going rates. Professionally, for every Black and Bunty Aur Babli, she also has had consistent punctures to her victory run like Paheli. Her earnings shuttle within the Rs 1-1.5 crore bracket at present.
Preity Zinta Last hit Salaam Namaste (2005) SHE may be the latest entrant to the Rs 1-crore plus per film bracket, but with her recent successes all being projects from big ban ners, it could also mean a cut in her hiked market rates as the big banners are known to make actors work at rates lesser than their market earnings.
Kajol Last hit Fanaa (2006) ONE of the highest paid actresses in the current lot with earnings rumoured at Rs 2-crore plus per film, she’s also the only actress of late to guarantee some box office success. However, critics say it’s courtesy her exclusivity and the day she starts doing 3-4 films a year, she too would be vulnerable to losing that Midas touch.
Kareena Kapoor Last hit Aitraaz (2004) SHE debuted with an A-list price tag, but her consistent solo turkeys at the box-office have now limited her takings to the Rs 1-crore bracket. All her success stories so far have been multi-starrers. Besides, she is known to drastically cut her prices for films that have the potential to fetch awards Priyanka Chopra Last hit Krrish (2006) THE buzz is that she plans to hike her asking price to Rs 1.25 crore after the release of Krrish. Currently in the Rs 80-lakh bracket, the credit for her last few hits (Aitraaz, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Bluffmaster) can largely be credited to very savvy pairings with successful actors.
Source : HT
kajol has never been second after madhuri. she is the first and the best.
We're still waiting for Rani's and Preity's (and Aish's) first release of the year. So that's a moot point IMO.
