Winds of change in Bollywood

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript" src="Config?Configid=43376741"></script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="62.2%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:=""><a href="javascript:popUp(&quot1;photopop?msid=273993&type=0&quot1;)"> <img border="0" align="left" src="/cms.dll/thumb?height=217&width=217&photoID=273993" hspace="12"" /></a></span></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">Click to enlarge</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">The dream factory is currently in make-over mode, desperately trying to clean out the cobwebs from its creativity, without actually caring about the box-office.<br /><br />In every field - be it direction, acting, story-telling - the big and small Bollywood moghul has only one obsession: Experimentation. <br /><br />Sometimes they fail, sometimes they succeed. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Sunday Times</span> passes through Bollywood''s lab to find out what worked, what didn''t... <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Everyone wants to be a filmmaker </span><br /><br />Any and everybody wants to be a director now. Quite easy. All you need is a paper-thin story, a modest budget and any out-of-use, albeit highly-talented actor to transform your dream into reality. <br /><br />Most of the films released this year were by first-time directors: <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Armaan</span> (Honey Irani), <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Oops</span> (Deepak Tijori), <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Samay</span> (Robby Grewal)...But the winner among the bratpack is Anant Balani. <br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />With three films in a year - <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jogger''s Park</span>, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Mumbai Matinee</span> and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Ek Din 24 Ghante</span> - Balani''s untimely demise spells doom for the innovation industry. Specially since <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jogger''s Park</span> rewrote all the rules of commercial cinema. <br /><br />Keeping it company was <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jhankar Beats</span>, another lively tribute to India''s Prince of Pop, R D Burman. <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Everyone wants to be a film star </span><br /><br />So, you''ve got average looks but loads of charisma. Your calling? Bollywood, naturally. The boulevard is becoming overcrowded with a new face every week. <br /><br />But our pick of the year is Shahid Kapoor: the brand new archetype for the boy next door. Shahid''s a natural as his boyish charms in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Ishq Vishk</span> amply proved. <br /><br />For a generation bred on the MTV Enjoy mantra, Shahid with his lazy charms and urbane air, pitches in as the perfect alter ego. Get ready for loads of bubblegummer stuff from him. <br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal"><br />Among girls, it was Tanisha who scored over Celina Jaitley and Katrina Kaif. So what if <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Ssssh</span> crept away silently from the box office. Tanisha''s shrieks will go a long, long way. <br /><br />Her''s was simply a case of bad choice for a debut film. Wait for the right director to pick her up and she could do another Urmila Matondkar to the industry. <br /><br />Katrina is archetypal eye candy and Celina is pure SSSskin. Ask them for heavy-duty emotions and the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Khel</span> might just <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Boom</span>-erang. So give them the gyrations and sit back and swerve...<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Everyone wants to be a producer </span><br /><br />If you are a film star who doesn''t have too much work and is fast aging, you have one last chance to cling on to Bollywood. Become a film producer. <br /><br />So what if Sunil Shetty''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Khel</span> ended as a losing game and Raveena Tandon was truly <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Stumped</span> at the box-office. There was Shah Rukh who made a killing with <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chalte Chalte</span>, Milind Soman who changed the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Rules...</span> and Manisha who hopes to do so with <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Paisa Vasool</span>. <br /><br />Of course, there was another ashen story: Aishwarya Rai produced <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dil Ka Rishta</span> and failed to bond with the box-office. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Koi baat nahin</span>. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Koi Mil Gaya naa</span>? <br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section4"><div class="Normal"><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Everyone wants to be a hero, but...</span><br /><br />...Only Ajay Devgan can. Here''s an actor who is growing with each new release, so much so, the trade pundits have already begun to murmur about a shift in the Hero No 1 crown... From Shah Rukh Khan to Big Gun Devgan. <br /><br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bhagat Singh</span>, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Company</span>, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bhoot</span>, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Gangaajal</span>: Need we say more. <br /><br />But the most refreshing change at the hustings was the birth of the heroine as hero. <br /><br />Both Perizaad Zorabian in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jogger''s Park</span> and Sushmita Sen in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Samay</span> have laid the new ground rules. <br /><br />Henceforth, women will not run around the trees alone. They will run the story too. Welcome to the brave new breed of power women! </div> </div>