Source: MSN India
Critical acclaim can make your day, but for most of Bollywood, a positive review has never ever put food on the tables; it is commercial success that the film fraternity yearns for. And there are those who hold important places where it matters the most: The Box Office.
The engimatic/evergreen Bachchan, the big Khans, choclate boy-turned-hunk Shahid Kapoor, Indian Adonis Hrithik Roshan, the Khiladi Kumar, Nawabzaada Saif, the Small B and the super-sexy John Abraham... These are the names that bring in the buck. The gods of Bollywood! The Superstars.
Here is a comprehensive list of Bollywood's most happening superstars of the decade. Choose you favourite. Vote now!
Hrithik Roshan
Roshan Jr. made his debut in 2000 with 'Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai', and triggered off what came to be known as "Hrithikmania". A series of flops followed. Just when his detractors were planning to crown him a "one-film-wonder", came respite: multi-starrer 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' became a blockbuster.
It was 'Koi... Mil Gaya' (the highest grosser of 2003) that resurrected Hrithik Roshan.
2004 saw 'Lakshya' and 'Krrish', followed by 'Dhoom 2'. 2008 saw him as Emperor Akbar, in the period love story, 'Jodhaa Akbar'. The film did very well both in India and abroad.
Hrithik Roshan's enormous screen presence is enough to pull fans into the theatres. Trade Pundits are unanimous in their opinion that Hrithik is one of Bollywood's biggest crowd-pullers to date.
This has been a decade of consequence, for Bollywood. It witnessed the coming-of-age of the great Khan trio. It saw Amitabh Bachchan reinvent himself and win over the critic and the layman, alike. It saw the emergence of neo-parallel cinema in Bollywood. It saw bold erotic spectacles braving the prude's frown to land on the B.O Red Carpet. New faces were launched, new box-office records were set and new tales have started getting told.
Here is a comprehensive list of the major box-office hits of the decade. Choose your favourite. Vote Now!
'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai' (2000)
What a way to start an acting career: Hrithik Roshan's dual role in 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai' was the flavour of the year, the music rocked and Y2K gave Bollywood one of its currently most bankable stars. The film was vintage Bollywood, frame by frame, made for mass consumption. As they say, dad knows best!
'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' (2001)
Laugh at it, if you may, but the Karan Johar school of cinema works big time at the box office. Some ten years later, he says he has matured with 'My Name is Khan', and let us see how far he has grown. It had sheen and shine, but a soul of plastic. But can family sagas go wrong in India?
'Lakshya' (2004)
From 'Dil Chahta Hai' to the hills of Kargil, from drifting youth to the glory of accomplishment, 'Lakshya' was Farhan Akhtar's coming of age, in a way. And the cast of Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta had a believable chemistry. The film related to the young urban audience, and they took it on their shoulders to the hit pedestal.
'Koi Mil Gaya' (2003)
India's own ET; although Jadoo looked half as cute as Speilberg's loveable alien, Hrithik Roshan took the movie through with the bubbling enthusiasm of Preity Zinta to boot. For all practical purposes, Bollywood hasn't been able to create another of such sci-fi melodramas. Another bumper hit from the Roshan stable.
'Dhoom 2' (2006)
One success need not necessarily deserve another but 'Dhoom 2', the sequel, had a few twists and aces up its sleeve. One was the casting coup of having Hrithik Roshan as the antagonist - of course, he is a good man just up to some little armed robbery and stuff, you see; and Aishwarya Rai, as his flame. Roshan was as agile as he could get and although the movie looked silly at times with its action mode (even when you copy and hire Hollywood technicians, why can't you get it right?), it found favour among millions.
'Krrish' (2006)
After the success of 'Koi Mil Gaya', it seemed the Roshans needed a bit of supernatural flourish to sell their movies. Not that anyone was complaining - the kids and those with child-like sensibilities, that is. Roshan's superhero story was not exactly Superman in its appeal but for Indian film lovers, who had to wait for decades (remember Jackie Shroff's 'Shiva'??) 'Krrish' gave them the adrenaline rush.
'Jodhaa Akbar' (2008)
No one will ever whisper behind Ashutosh Gowariker's back that 'you know, actually Aamir Khan directed Lagaan!' No sir, this man, knows his business and 'Jodhaa Akbar' was proof enough
There is no man in Bollywood who has not reported the "Friday Fright". Friday spares none!
If you ask a Bollywood filmmaker, he would pick Friday to be his Sabbath. For it is on this day of the week that his destiny unveils itself to him. It is a day of fasting and prayer. By the time the sun sets every Friday, lives in Bollywood change, forever. There is no man in Bollywood who has not reported the "Friday Fright". Friday spares none! Here are some of Bollywood's biggest Friday shocks of the decade.
May the flops RIP.
'Yaadein'
Subhash Ghai wanted us to remember this film but he obviously forgot what this pedestrian, too-candy floss, try-hard-to-be-feel-good film's debacle should have taught him: "Never take the audience for granted." Much hyped, the film starring Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Jackie Shroff, marked the start of the low-patch in Ghai's career - something he still can't shake off.
So where did this film go wrong? Definitely not in the star cast: In fact, Jackie won a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor award. Hrithik wasn't at his peak form alright, and Kareena wasn't expected to act. But 'Yaadein' suffered not because of the actors; it failed to take off because it was just too self-indulgent and boring.
'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!'
Look back on all the hype that went with this Kunal Kohli movie starring Hrithik Roshan, Rani Mukherji and Kareena Kapoor! 'MDK' was promoted to be the best thing to happen to Bollywood. And what a colossal disappointment it turned out to be! Inexcusable that the film's wafer-thin story-line escaped the attention of Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra!
But then, as subsequent years proved, the Chopras - their past successes notwithstanding - are totally out of depth about what today's youth think or feel. Isn't that why they went ahead and made movies like 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom'?
'Na Tum Jaano Na Hum'
Riding a wave of flops, Hrithik Roshan let the audiences down yet again with 'Na Tum Jaano Na Hum', a film with Esha Deol and Saif Ali Khan, directed by Arjun Sablok. As Bollywood continues to prove to us, to this very day with films like 'Kurbaan', what takes one phone call to solve has to be dragged for three-odd hours before the tired viewers leave the halls echoing the sentiments raised by the title: "Naa Tum Jaano Na Hum." Yeah, nobody has a clue!
'Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon'
What a mighty fall! Sooraj R. Barjatya's surefire hit turned out to be a damp squib. The star power of Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan could not resuscitate this mindless romance. Such debacles, however, should be thanked for forcing Bollywood to think beyond their formula; not that Barjatya learned the lesson though!
Bollywood, they say, is a man's world: a place where tales are spun to fit the male(ego); where actresses are seldom elevated beyond the status of a glorified set prop.
Here's our list of 10 top B'wood actors of the decade, who impressed the critics with some stunning portrayals. Choose your favourite!
2000-2001: Hrithik Roshan for 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai'
No other actor, except Amitabh Bachchan, has captured the imagination of a nation the way Hrithik had with 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai'. He became a megastar overnight, and gave jitters to even the King Khan. 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai' showcased Hrithik's Adonis physique and dancing skills to the hilt that it became extremely tough for him to emulate the feat in the movies that followed. After a terrible landslide at the B.O, which saw him feature in seven consecutive flops, Hrithik emerged victorious with the superhero flick, 'Koi Mil Gaya'. It has been a bed of roses, ever since.
'KNPH' is a classic debut vehicle for any actor under the sun, provided he acts, dances and fights like Hrithik Roshan. Roshan scored in all three departments and took home all the award statuettes of the year.
Hrithik's notable performances of the decade were in 'Dhoom2', 'Koi Mil Gaya', 'Krish' and 'Jodhaa Akbar' (2009).
Says Hrithik: "Do I look like a sex-symbol or a pin-up boy? It's just that my father presented me like a dream. I am going to reach the top. Now there's going to be no looking back."