Bollywood ends 2006 on a high note

Mumbai, Dec 20 (UNI) The year 2006 was remarkable for Bollywood not only in terms of money earned at the box office but also the quality of movies made.

Not only did the industry witness a plethora of hits, but also did gross business of about Rs 500 crore this year, trade analyst Amod Mehra said.

More than 200 films were released this year out of which ten were box office success.

This was the year not just about big star line-ups, but of meaningful story lines and smaller budget films which trade pundits felt as a sign of good times ahead.

The most remarkable movies were "Rang De Basanti" and "Lage Raho Munnabhai". Both films were entertainers and at the same time delivered powerful messages to the youth. While one drew inspiration from revolutionary Bhagat Singh, the other succeeded in introducing Gandhiji and his philosophy to the younger generation. Both blockbusters explored the themes of patriotism, honesty and righteousness.

Hrithik Roshan starrers "Krrish" and "Dhoom 2" created "Dhoom" at the box office catapulting the charismatic actor to a super hero status due to his dare devil stunts. They became the biggest grossers this year followed by "Rang De..." and "Lage Raho...".

The year belonged to Hrithik who reaffirmed his superstardom with two back-to-back hits. He overshadowed his co-stars in terms of his sheer screen presence in both the films.

Bollywood continued to churn out formula films with huge star cast and many of them actually hit the jackpot. Some of the top grossers were "Fanaa", "Malamal Weekly", "Phir Hera Pheri", "Taxi No 9211" and "Vivah". "Don" and "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna" were above average.

Films like "Aksar", "Gangster", "36, China Town", "Chup Chup Ke", "Golmaal" and "Jaan-E-Mann" also had a fairly good showing.

Sequels to hit the marquee this year were "Krrish", "Dhoom 2", "Lage Raho.." and "Phir Hera Pheri".

However, there was no such luck for remakes ''Don" and "Umrao Jaan". Even though Farhan Akhtar's version of 1978 Amitabh starrer recovered all its costs and was an average hit, critics and masses alike felt the film was badly made irrespective of the comparisons with the earlier movie. Similarly, Aishwarya starrer "Umrao..." failed to meet the expectations of the audience and live up to the standards of the classic original made in 1982 which featured Rekha.

The Ash-Abhishek Bachchan pairing also did not save it from disaster at the box office despite the speculations of the lead actors off screen romance which again gained prominent headlines when Ash participated in a family pooja of the Bachchans in Varanasi in November.

Industry veterans like Saira Banu and Lok Sabha member Vinod Khanna felt that the surge of remakes was due to the paucity of good script writers. "Good writers need to be encouraged. Classics should not be remade," they said.

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