Players will do moderate business.

Abhishek Bacchan, Bipasha Basu in Players Abbas Mustan’s crime thriller film Players that had been released on 6th January will do moderate business. Pritam had composed the music of the film. The film was made with a budget of 45 crores. The main roles were given to Abhishek Bacchan, Sonam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Vinod Khanna. There were supporting roles played by Bobby Deol, Omi Vaidya, Johnny Lever and Sikander Kher. The film had been related to theft of gold from a train in Russia. The hackers, the magicians and others’ help was required. Everyone contributed in the operation. But Neil Nitin Mukesh betrayed. He killed Bobby Deol. Bipasha Basu pretended to have been shot by Neil Nitin Mukesh, but later colluded with him. At the end Abhishek Bacchan identified them in New Zealand with the help of Sonam Kapoor, Sikander Kher and Omi Vaidya. Johnny Lever, a car maker helped them for getting cars made of different materials. Sonam Kapoor killed Neil Nitin Mukesh at the end of the film. The music of Pritam in the film had not been impressive. Excepting the song “dil yeh bekarar kyun hai” sung by Mohit Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal, none of the other songs impressed the viewers. Vinod Khanna lost weight, yet impressed with his performance. Bipasha Basu and Abhishek Bachhan did well. But Sonam Kapoor did not rise up to the occasion to match the stylish character. Abbas Mustan had given super hit films in the past like Soldier and Ajnabee with Bobby Deol. It was very surprising that this time he had underused Bobby Deol. Bobby Deol had always given quality performances in stylish roles. The other factor was that the operation was too technical. There are chances of the film doing well oversees. But the Indian audience had not adjusted themselves to too technical subject matter. The plot was good and the execution very stylish. Even after the great effort the film is likely to do moderate business.

Starscreen awards do not prove excellence.

Starscreen awards do not prove excellence.

Starscreen awards were given in 2010. Although some good awards were given for the performance of films in 2010, Some of the other categories surprised the viewers.

Raj Kumar Hirani received the best director award for his film The Three Idiots. The film did business of more than 100 crores and the best director award was justified. The Three Idiots was also adjudged the as best film.

But to everyone’s surprise AR Rehman received the award for the best composer for the music of the film Delhi 6. The film’s music was very ordinary compared to the music of the films Saathiya or Roza, etc. On the other hand Pritam having nominations in three films did not receive any award. In fact the film Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani did great business due to the brilliant music of Pritam. It is very strange that Sonu Nigam did not receive a nomination for the best singer inspite of singing brilliantly the song “zubi zubi” in The Three Idiots. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan received the best singer award. Shantonu Moitra did not receive even a nomination for his music in the film The Three Idiots. Kavita Seth also won the best female singer award surpassing Shreya Ghoshal to everyone’s surprise.

Amitabh Bacchan and Vidya Balan won the best actor and actress award for the film Paa. These days Big B wins awards due to only his brand name. It is very sad. Ranbir Kapoor did not win best actor award inspite of giving versatile performances in the films Wake Up Sid and Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani. Salman Khan was not there is the nomination also inspite of Wanted doing a business of more than 70 crores. Vidya Balan is a very natural actress. But in respect of her box-office, she is neither a competitor of Priyanka Chopra, nor Katrina Kaif, nor Kareena Kapoor. These days it has been a fashion that the moment an actress acts in a film with Big B or Abhishek Bacchan, she automatically wins an award.

Starscreen thinks that Shahrukh Khan requires an award even if he does not perform in any particular film. None of his films were released this year. Yet he won the award for the Jodi of the decade with Kajol. Similarly Big B and Abhishek Bacchan won the award for the best Jodi. These days it has been a fashion to give best awards to two male performers. Raj Kapoor Nargis, or Dilip Kumar Vaijayantimala would have fainted to see the best Jodi award. Boman Irani’s award for best villain for The Three Idiots is well justified. Also Omi Vaidya’s award for the best comedian is well justified.

Rishi Kapoor’s award for the best supporting actor in the film Luck By Chance is well justified. At the same time Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan should have an award in some category for their best performance in the film The Three Idiots. Neither the awards proven any level of excellence, nor the awards show popularity. Kareena Kapoor won the award the most popular actress for her performance in the film The Three Idiots. Katrina Kaif won the best entertainer award.

If filmfare also follows the same trend it will be a very sad precedent. The awards do not mean anything when stalwarts like Om Puri or Naseeruddin Shah are neither nominated nor receive anything, the hit films like Wake Up Sid, or Wanted, or Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani are left behind.