Cinema screens to go "Black"

Article Updated 25 January, 2005 01:58:46 PM IST

Cinema screens to go "Black"

Don't worry and no need to get panicky. It is not going to be one of those nation-wide theatre strikes. This time around it is the filmmakers calling the shots, with four movies with either the title or the theme being "Black".

The most happening one is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Black'. No special introduction needed for this Amitabh Bachchan-Rani Mukherjee starrer intense drama that has raised immense curiosity among moviegoers. Add to it the statements by the director and the Big B, who have been vocal enough to put 'Black' as one of the best works of each other. Also the industry has been unanimous in saying that 'Black' is the finest work of Rani Mukherjee. Now this should give her a big leap over Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, in order to contest with Preity Zinta for the numero uno slot!

Another movie that has caught the fancy of the lovers of reality cinema is 'Black Friday'. Anurag Kashyap who has the dubious distinction of one who had the longest wait for his debut venture Paanch to be seen in theatres directs the movie. Ready with his second bold venture produced by MidDay, Anurag Kashyap's 'Black Friday' again deals with a 'dark' theme - this time on the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts. Starring Kay Kay and Pawan Malhotra in major roles, the innovatively cut promos have been simply stunning, while the Indian Ocean's background score breaks new paths. One only has to hear it to get into the mood of gloom, fear, suspense and excitement!

Scheduled to release this Friday, one hopes that the release happens peacefully with no unnecessary controversies. If the movie manages to depict the truth a la Moore's masterpiece 'Fahrenheit 9/11', then it should break new grounds for Bollywood cinema. Regarding its box office appeal, it should only be boosted due to the unprecedented response garnered by another "reality" movie - 'Page 3' by Madhur Bhandarkar. Those who have seen the movie haven't stopped raving about it and the word of mouth has been picking up fast. Now that is something exceptional, as it was slotted against the biggie by Subhash Ghai - 'Kisna'!

Coming back to 'Black', another movie that can be termed as the only hardcore Bollywood product, is the Ajay Devgan-Sunil Shetty-Priyanka Chopra starrer 'Blackmail' that came out of nowhere when the publicity began. Thankfully, the promos have been cut stylishly so that it gave the movie a better chance at the box-office. ‘Blackmail’ is the second directorial outing of director Anil Devgan, who made a good but highly expensive 'Raju Chacha' few years back. Though the promos give the impression of a plot driven thriller, the recent average response to thrillers like Vaada, Elaan and Insan would definitely make an regular viewer wait for the 'first day' response before bringing the entire family along!

And if everyone thought that this was the last one would see of 'Black', then know that last but not the least in the fray is 'Ho Sakta Hai'. One may ask, how does it relate to 'Black'? The answer is that this Wilson Louis directed film is - as claimed by the makers - India's first film on BLACK Magic! And now you know how 'Black' comes into picture. All said and done, the 'not-so-great' responses to recent flicks on super-natural dilute the chances of this film that also suffers from the lack of any known faces, with the exception of Victor Banerjee.

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