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Films in 2008: Year of some hits but lots of misses

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Press Trust of India Mumbai
Last Updated : Jan 19 2013 | 11:03 PM IST

The world's most prolific film industry, Bollywood which churned out more than 200 films during 2008, saw not more 10 per cent of them registering success although there were some films that could be remembered for good scripts and breathtaking performances.

The year opened grandly to Ashutosh Gowarikar's much hyped "Jodhaa Akhbar". Released after it had generated a lot of curiosity and controversies, the film was not a flop but neither a hit.

Abbas-Mustan's 'Race' was perhaps one of the top grosser of the year. A pacy thriller with a good story line backed with lots of twists and turns, starring actresses like Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy and some groovy numbers by music director Pritam did good business.

Among small budget films veteran director Shyam Benegal's 'Welcome to Sajjanpur', a satire on the current social set-up was received well by the audience. The film dealt with various social issues with a comical twist.

Rajat Kumar Gupta with his debut film 'Aamir' got some rave reviews from both critics and audiences. Actor Rajeev Khandelwal too earned accolades for his performance in this film.

But the dark horses of the box-office this year were Abaas Tyrewala's film 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa' and Abhishek Kapoor's 'Rock On'.

'Rock On', marked the debut of director Farhan Akhtar who made hit films like 'Dil Chahta Hai' and 'Don'. It also launched the career of television actress Prachi Desai whose character in 'Kasam Se' became a household name.

The movie was noted for its out of the league approach. The unique storyline about four rocker friends and good music by Shankar-Ehasaan-Loy clicked with the audience.

Although the film 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' repeated the usual themes of love and friendship in Bollywood its fresh approach to the oft-repeated theme worked wonders at the box-office.

Vipul Shah's 'Singh Is Kinng' directed by Anees Bazmee, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif too did decent business. The no-brain comedy was very high on entertainment, mixed with some very good music.

Comic caper 'Golmaal Returns' directed by Rohit Shetty with its huge starcast comprising of actors like Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Amrita Arora, Kareena Kapoor was perhaps this year's surprise hit.

It has been a very good year for Madhur Bhandarkar, his film 'Fashion' may have sparked controversies for all reasons but its realistic portrayal of the fashion industry struck a cord with the audience.

'Dostana' by Dharma Productions directed by Karan Johar's assistant Tarun Mansukhani infused humour while dealing with the theme of homosexuality.

Aamir Khan's film 'Ghajini' too broke all records of advanced booking and is doing good business.

The biggest disappointment came from the Yashraj productions whose slew of films were box-office duds.

'Tashan' failed to create any magic despite the much-talked about chemistry between Kareena and Saif, Rani could not transform herself into a real life fairy and create magic at the box-office with her 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic'.     Even Ranbir Kapoor failed to woo the audience in 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'.

Although Yashraj after string of flops got some relief with King Khan's 'Rab Ne Bana De Jodi'.

Ram Gopal Varma too struggled with 'Sarkar Raj', a sequel to his earlier film 'Sarkar'. The film was one of the most eagerly awaited movie of the year. The curiosity was further intensified with the inclusion of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead along with Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan.

'Drona' directed by Goldie Behl was one of the most eagerly awaited film of this year but unfortunately the story of a superhero rooted greatly in Indian mythology and mystery flopped miserably. Even the special effects could not act as a saving grace for the film.

Even sci-fi romantic tale 'Love Story 2050' by director Harry Baweja which marked the debut of his son Harman Bewaja could not impress the public. Similar was the fate of 'Kismet Konnection' directed by Aziz Mirza who after a long time returned to the silver screen.    

Director Subhash Ghai whose not one but two films released this year were box-office disasters. His film 'Black and White' which was released earlier this year dealt with the theme of terrorism starred Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah. Ghai's next film multi-starrer 'Yuvraaj' which had some big names from the industry like Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, Anil Kapoor and Zayed Khan also fared lower than expected.

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First Published: Dec 30 2008 | 11:50 AM IST

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