Can films work without stars?

doweshowbellyad=0; Rajeev Khandelwal (TOI photo) More picsRaj Kumar Gupta���s directorial debut has wowed audiences.
The thriller featuring Rajeev Khandelwal as the lead character has been hailed by many critics as an ���outstanding movie���. In recent times there have been other low-budget movies that have also managed to do well though they���ve had little or no star presence in them.Movies like Bheja Fry, Superstar, Dor and Parzania have all managed to make a mark at the BO. In contrast, mega-star flicks like Tashan, U Me Aur Hum, Halla Bol and Bhoothnath left many disappointed.
It���s the same with multi-story movies; while Life in a... Metro and Dus Kahaaniyan worked, Salaam-e-Ishq was a box office disaster despite having some of the biggest names of Bollywood. So is star power less important now than ever before?
���Having a superstar still matters,��� says Vikas Behl, executive vice-president of the production company for Raj Kumar Gupta���s movie. ���But now the story and script get equal importance. We are a country of great stories and at times we lose track. But a good story always works,��� says Vikas. That���s why he was confident of the movie���s success even if the cast was all newcomers. ���We did consider the risks but then we were sure about the story and the cast,��� he says.
But actress Mandira Bedi maintains that the number of low-budget movies that make it big at the BO is still small. ���While there are movies that have succeeded without a big star cast, there have been many that have failed as well. I just hope the recent trend of small movies making it big continues,��� she says. She points out that Taare Zameen Par might not have been that big a hit without Aamir Khan. ���It had a great concept, but Aamir Khan being in it added to the movie. Movies like Bheja Fry and Parzania are great movies, but they never were blockbusters,��� Mandira says. ���The reason star-backed films make it big is because the stars still attract the audience. Small movies have to be totally dependent on the story and the performances,��� Mandira explains.
Gul Panag, who has acted in hits like Dor and Manorama... Six Feet Under, says that eventually it���s the script and performances that determine the fate of a film. ���Besides, how many movies can these superstars do? They can���t do all the movies released in a year. Finally, it���s the story and the performance that counts more than star power,��� says Gul.
LEENA GHOSH
leena.ghosh@timesgroup.com