Star Script 2000: Of Bollywood's heroes & zeroes

the rise and rise of hrithik roshan. for 2000, this is one story which has been in the news year in, year out. but one can't help not making a mention of the heartthrob no 1 before progressing to a roundup of the y2k hero hit-list. after all, if there's a silver lining in the dark clouds which have hovered over bollywood this year, it's the arrival of a rising star.come to think of it, shah rukh khan was probably the last actor who made such an impressive impression in his debut year, and that was a good 10 years ago. of course, hrithikmania spawned its share of speculation. one, whether baadshah khan would be able to survive the roshan jr onslaught and, two, whether abhishek bachchan's launch vehicle refugee would be as fiery as hrithik's. as for the khan-roshan match-up, the initial response to the mid-year release josh confirmed that despite all the theories about shah rukh losing his touch, his fan following was as strong as ever. and, as the year draws to a close, mohabbatein has only served to strengthen the khan's position at the top of the heap. but if shah rukh managed to hold his own in a year when tinsel-town hits can be counted on one's fingertips, salman khan's box-office appeal dipped to a new low. chal mere bhai, har dil jo pyar karega and kahin pyar na ho jaye received a rejection which was too much for the satisfactory showing of dulhan hum le jayenge to balance out. this brings us to the chhota b, whose debut film refugee was one of the most publicised films of the year. the curiosity to see bachchan jr in action ensured that refugee ran to chock-a-block houses in the first week of its release. in the final reckoning, the film was probably able to recover the moolah invested in its making, but it fell woefully short of the great expectations the audience had scripted in its mind. adding to abhishek's cup of woes were tera jadoo chal gaya and dhai akshar prem ke, films which lacked that something extra the box-office looks for. but if abhishek didn't exactly enjoy a perfect year, his father climbed back to the top of the charts thanks to the success of mohabbatein and kaun banega crorepati. in fact, with aks ready to be released early next year, the angry old man of bollywood, it seems, is warming up for bigger things. one star who didn't do his `stable' credentials any harm this year is bobby deol, who, despite the flop hum to mohabbat karega, was one hero the box-office learnt to rely on in y2k. with bichchoo and badal going down well with the audience, bobby has proved that he is right up there with the rest of the best, if not at the summit. all in all, bollywood's heroes have proved to be zeroes this year, more often than not. but then, all it takes for reel-life dreams to turn into real-life nightmares is one black friday.