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2004: Year of mixed fortunes in Bollywood
20th Dec 2004 23.38 IST
By N K Deoshi

It was an year of few fortunate Fridays and many flopped flicks for Bollywood with some movies ruling the box-office while others biting the tinsel dust.

The biggest film producing industry in the world saw all the action and drama of the movies, as fortunes dwindled for some while others made hay whenever lady luck shone bright in 2004.

Shah Rukh Khan ’s Main Hoon Na proved once again that the flamboyant Khan real superstar hain na. The movie also kickstarted choreographer Farah Khan ’s career as a director and gave a widespread recognition to the two relative rookies Zayed Khan and Amrita Rao .

Salman Khan ’s resurrecting career was further consolidated by hit comedy Mujhse Shaadi Karogi , but then his lucky stars again bid him goodbye with the film aptly titled Phir Milenge .

Even as the brawny Khan’s fortunes dipped, it was the ‘dark horse’ Abhishek Bachchan who galloped past the jinx of a flop hero to emerge as a dependable star with his first career-hit Dhoom . Junior Bachchan also proved his acting mettle in Mani Ratnam ’s Yuva and Revathy ’s Phir Milenge . Ironically, both films sank at the box office.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was relegated to marginal roles in a number of inconsequential films, although Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Khakee proved to be his most noticeable film in this year.

2004 turned out to be a disappointing year for Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai whose Kyon, Ho Gaya Na , her first film with beau Vivek Oberoi , left movie buffs wondering about the chemistry between the two lovebirds. Later on, Ash’s Bollywood bride act in Bride and Prejudice , Gurinder Chadha’s celluloid version of Jane Austen’s classic novel, too was debunked by the unprejudiced movie lovers.

On the other hand, Rani Mukherjee reigned supreme with hit Hum Tum followed by the relative good run of Yash Chopra’s ‘love legend’ Veer Zaara . The most eligible spinster of Bollywood gave exhilarating performances in both films and lived upto her name.

Kareena Kapoor too emerged out of her lovey-dovey roles to play a prostitute in Chameli , a vamp in Fida and a trusting wife in Aitraaz . Of the three, only last two became average grosser at the box-office.

The year also saw a spate of skin flicks like Murder , Julie , Tauba Tauba and ‘Ab Bas’ all of which showed the rise of uninhibited Bollywood babes dressed in skimpy clothes.

Previous year closed on a good note for Sanjay Dutt when his Munnabhai MBBS laughed all the way to the box-office. This year, too, is ending finely for Dutt with his Musafir doing well. However, the credit for the movie’s success is being given to Anil Kapoor who, some say, has given an incredible performance in the film.

As the year 2004 draws to a close, it seems that another jolt to the industry comes from the trusted Ashutosh Gowarikar , whose saga of ‘We, The People’ Swades , is being rejected by people and looks like going down at the box office with every passing day that marks the countdown to the New Year which hopefully will be yet a renewed beginning for the dream merchants of this amazing film industry that is fast catching the fancy of the world.