April saw the releases of Bollywood films such as Maidaan, Bade Miya Chote Miyan, Do Aur Do Pyaar, Ruslaan and Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2. None of them packed a punch at the box office. Here’s looking at the hits and misses of last month!
Rewind: Revisiting The Dips And Curves In Movie Theatres In April 2024
April would be remembered as the month of Do Aur Do Pyaar. That it didn’t get the audience it deserved, speaks volumes for the vicious times our movies are going through. April was one of the worst months at the movie theatres, with many releases opening to near-zero attendance.
The critical situation could be best summed up by asking, “Yeh ho kya raha hai, Bhai?”
Is it time to down the shutters? The two Eid wannabe blockbusters Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan fell by the wayside with a trembling plonk.
One of these Twin Towers of April deserved to crumble. But what about Amit Sharma’s masterpiece Maidaan? A handsome sports drama, almost flawless in its execution with football matches that had us screaming in the theatres…what went wrong? What happened to the Devgn magic?
Nothing, nothing really except the audience is not in the mood. This brings us to Shirsha Thakurta Guha’s enchanting Do Aur Do Pyaar, a richly tapestried marital drama, a lighthearted fusion version of Mike Nichols’ Who Is Afraid Of Virginia Wolf and Basu Bhattacharya’s Aavishkar, I am convinced Do Aur Do Pyaar will be acknowledged as one of out modern classics fifty years from now.
In the meanwhile, there is the void that we cannot avoid, not when films promising to make a mark like Maidaan, Bade Miya Chote Miyan, Ruslaan, Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 and in the South, The Family Star and Rathnam plunge into the dark when in fact they were expected to hit the ball out of the park.
Who absorbs the losses for the above? Interesting question, that considering Maidaan’s setback is being shouldered entirely by Zee Studios although they co-produced the film with four other producers.
Ironically, silly downright stupid comedies like Madgaon Express, and Girish A.D’s Malayalam romcom Premalu performed better at the turnstiles than genuinely estimable films like Do Aur Do Pyaar and Maidaan.
Premalu which has broken records in the South (records, like hearts, are meant to be broken), is one of the silliest films I’ve seen in recent times. The writing is constantly winking at love conventions while trying to remain superior to the characters. The attitude is patronizing to people who don’t conform to the screenwriters’ definition of young-and-smart. If Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai were pretending to be smart and cocky, it would be Premalu.
No, all the best work is not happening in Malayalam. And inversely, all the worst films are not being made in Filmistan. Premalu and Do Aur Do Pyaar proved it April. Come what May.
