The Parts And The Whole

Take his latest film, Game, that opened feebly at the box office last week. The tepid thriller, made on a budget of Rs 40 crore, could only muster an all-India net collection of Rs 4.3 crore in six days (figure courtesy Super Cinema). Another trade magazine, Box Office India, pitches the entire first week collections at a mere Rs 4.8 crore. Game, it seems, has even overtaken Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey for delivering Abhishek’s worst opening ever. What has made its failure more galling is the success of a newbie like Jackie Bhagnani. His silly Rs 20-crore comedy, F.A.L.T.U, released the same week, managed to rake in an admirable Rs 16.25 crore in comparison.

Game follows quick on the heels of Abhishek’s two well-meaning, ambitious but colossal disasters last year—Raavan and Khelein Hum.... The former, made with a budget of Rs 130 crore for all versions, could only muster Rs 25 crore in Hindi. KHJJS, a Rs 38-crore film, “grossed only Rs 16 crore”, says Vinod Mirani, ex-editor of Box Office India. No wonder trade analyst Amod Mehra says “he is at the lowest ebb of his career”. Abhishek himself admitted to being disappointed in a recent interview in People magazine. “There is a huge loss of confidence,” he said, adding that it wouldn’t, however, stop him from facing the audiences again.

So does his forthcoming film Dum Maaro Dum come with the burden of redemption weighing too heavy?—we ask at a press conference. He’s quick on the uptake: “I wouldn’t call it a burden but a responsibility. Every film is made with a lot of love and effort so the pressure to perform is always there. If my previous films had been blockbusters, the pressure would have been even bigger.”

But no doubt there’s still pressure at the bottom. In a fickle industry and a whimsical box office, the pendulum clearly has been swinging the wrong way for Abhishek. Sceptical distributors and tradesmen are no longer sure about his capacity to get in the crowds. In fact, they no longer see Abhishek as a “solo hero” who can pull a film along on his own steam. “He only seems to work in multi-starrers,” says a trade pundit.

It’s only ironical then that he seems to be scoring better as an ad icon. The Idea commercial has been his biggest, and only, success story of late. It has kept him in circulation, created an overall buzz and given him an instant recall. So much so, he is identified as the Idea man (“What an idea, Sirji!”)

So why is the box-office race proving to be such an obstacle course? “He seems to be the chosen one for a jinx,” says Ghosh. But that isn’t a new thing. Indeed, most stars go through phases of bad luck. Hrithik Roshan delivered seven turkeys after a mega start. But eventually they consolidate and build a base. Abhishek hasn’t managed to do that as yet. “Everybody settles into a groove. With him you don’t seem to get a perspective on what his aim or quest is, no sense of who he is,” says Desai. Year after year, there have been an alarming string of flops—Delhi 6, Drona, Sarkar Raj, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Umrao Jaan with just a few stray successes like Paa, Dostana or Guru thrown in between. His only big successes were way back in the early 2000s with Bunty Aur Babli and Dhoom and a widely appreciated performance in Yuva. “It’s been 10 years in the industry...he needs to get on and get going now,” says a trade pundit.

So what’s the problem here? Is it his laid-back persona, the perceived lack of aggression/killer instinct or is he not as media-savvy as his compatriots? The biggest culprit seems to be the bad choice of films. “He’s yet to understand the audience’s pulse,” says Mehra. “He has to learn to say no to certain films like the ones he’s been doing for friends.”

That said, some things are not in his hands. Like the constant comparisons with father, mother and wife. If his Naach was compared to Abhimaan, his ACP Vishnu Kamath in DMD is being equated with Inspector Vijay of Zanjeer. Media has turned his into what Desai calls a “hyphenated existence...he’s always been attached to someone else”.

But still, there are those not willing to write him off yet. “His performances in Antarmahal and Yuva show that he has potential, that he is a director’s actor,” says Ghosh. For Visvanathan, what works in his favour is that he can be himself on screen. “He is the only one in the Bachchan family who is not caught in an image or a cliche,” he says. Ghosh feels that he doesn’t quite fit in with the typical Bollywood school of acting. “His father and wife excel in that mode but he is more like his mother,” she says. According to her, Abhishek would do very well in slightly different, middle-of-the-road films. “He would have been great in Hrishikesh Mukherjee films but that kind of cinema isn’t made in Bombay anymore,” she says. For Visvanathan, Abhishek works wonders in roles and films which are cool, stylish, conversational, modern. Like a Naach or Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.

This cool air, though, also has a flip side. “At times there’s a vague, casual passivity and sloppiness in his approach to roles,” says filmmaker-writer Paromita Vohra. Desai thinks his performances are now marked by a lack of self-belief. “The cheekiness and energy I like seem to be fading away gradually,” he thinks.

For now, all hopes are pinned on Dum Maaro Dum, which seems to have the required style and smartness quotient. “I enjoyed the character’s attitude, his unique sense of humour. Lines like tension lena ka nahin, dene ka,” admits Abhishek. “It will be crucial in him bouncing back, coming back into the reckoning,” thinks Mehra. We only have to wait till Friday, April 22, to know.