– REEMA CHHABDA
At the box office, The Kashmir Files made history. The film, which is directed by Vivek Agnihotri is one of the most successful films of 2022. The Kashmir Files, starring Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Pallavi Joshi, and Mithun Chakraborty, is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits during the conflict in Kashmir.
The blockbuster success of The Kashmir files created a myth that any film which will suit the current regime of our country and appease the majority population of the country, will do wonders at the box office. But washout business of Kangana Ranaut’s Dhaakad and back-to-back failures of Akshay Kumar’s Bachcchan Paandey and Samrat Prithviraj have left a lot of people confused.
For the uninitiated, Dhaakad, directed by Razneesh Ghai, had a slow start at the box office, grossing less than 1 crore on its first day. Dhaakad also stars Arjun Rampal and Divya Dutta, in addition to Kangana Ranaut. Kangana was going to Varanasi to Tirupati to promote a film which has nothing to do with religion or country – it was outdated action potboiler!
Samrat Prithviraj, on the other hand, starred Sanjay Dutt and Sonu Sood apart from Akshay Kumar. Manushi Chhillar, Miss World 2017, made her Bollywood debut. In the film, Akshay plays the warrior king Prithviraj, while Manushi plays his love interest, Samyukta. In a few states, including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the film has been deemed tax-free.
When we talk about The Kashmir Files, it was inspired by events of the recent past and it was the center of anger and disappointment of a lot of people in this country and that’s why that film resonated with the audience – political patronage was a small part of it (Gadar and Jai Santoshi Maa are similar examples in the past when social reasons resulted in boosting the film at the box office).
In the case of Kangana and Akshay Kumar, the audience saw it through them as they were looking for political patronage in order to encash the box office prospects of their films. The audience also felt cheated as their films were substandard products in addition to twisting facts, and confusing statements (Akshay’s interview from Oh My God days resurfaced).
It’s better to focus on films as entertainment products and don’t make them vehicles for political ambitions/political patronage.
No one can question Samrat Prithviraj as a personality or subject but if an actor will work only for 40 days on such a big film along with his 5-6 other films with half-baked knowledge of subject, a director who has never directed a big screen spectacle then this sort of failure is bound to happen.
Prabhas starrer Baahubali directed by SS Rajamouli was made in 5-6 years with actors’ total commitment and that’s what we need for films of such a scale. And as far as political leanings are concerned, every fruit (mango) or actor has its season and season/taste changes sooner than later!
