Star? But Where’s The Pulling Power?!?

The unexpectedly unexciting opening of Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai this week has sent shivers down the spines of trade people. Salman Khan has had a hit in Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, and this is his first release after that. One would have expected JPKHH to open to bumper houses. Why, PKTDK has had a fantastic initial. But JPKHH did not draw full houses on the opening day or even in the opening shows in Bombay, parts of U.P., Bengal, C.P.C.I. and Nizam. In East Punjab and Rajasthan, even the main cinemas weren’t full! The opening of JPKHH once again underlines the fact that today, no stars — repeat, no stars — are worth their prices. Two weeks back, Duplicate had opened to houses which were way below expectations. The high expectations were born out of the super-success of DTPH and the success of Pardes, the two releases of Shah Rukh Khan prior to Duplicate. So, the conclusion is: no star deserves the price he is demanding, whether he is Shah Rukh or Salman or Sunny Deol. The second conclusion, which is a corollary to the first one, is: producers are pricing their films too much on the higher side, on the assumption that stars sell. But the openings of the recent releases show that stars do not sell as far as the paying public goes. The importance of both, super-hit music and ‘hot’ titles to ensure good openings, cannot be under-estimated