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 When 'Raavan' opened to below average houses on Friday, it was mauled
by the audience as well as the critics and showed no improvement over
the weekend, it was certain that this Mani Ratnam film won't even become
a respectable disaster like 'Kites'. Respectable? Because 'Kites',
despite all its negatives and nothing much to write home about, still
managed a good first weekend for itself that helped it come closer to
the 50 crore mark as the lifetime total. This means that the film had
the ignominy of being the biggest disaster ever with the highest total
for a disaster/flop tag. Before 'Kites', the 'position' was held by
'Chandni Chowk to China', 'Delhi 6' and 'Tashan' which were the 'highest
grossing flops' ever with a final total managing to cross 30 crores.
However, for Abhishek Bachchan, it would be a painful experience to
see his 'Raavan' not reaching even the 30 crore mark. If the poor start
to the film wasn't enough, the film nosedived over the week. This meant
that the first week stood in the vicinity of 25 crores. However, it
would be challenging for the film to gain even the 5 crores mark if the
trends had been any indication. With no takers for the film in the
second week as well, the film would wrap up well under 30 crores.
Does that mean the end of the road for Abhishek Bachchan? Certainly
not. Though the world has held him responsible for the failure of the
film, if one thinks objectively it's the character which has failed
here, not the actor. This is the reason why Abhishek can still look
forward to the future is because he has some prestigious projects like
Ashutosh Gowariker's 'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se', Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh
Sidhwani's 'Game' and Rohan Sippy's 'Dum Maro Dum' lined up in next nine
months. Of course these are crucial months but one hit should change
the equation for the actor who has survived for a decade now.
Next nine months would indeed be looked at quite carefully by all
Abhishek followers. And of course the detractors!
Joginder Tuteja/ Sampurn Wire
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