Every movie releases with expectations; a movie with a big starcast, known makers and chartbuster songs comes with higher expectations. However, what happens when these expectations come soaring to the ground? The movies end up on this list! BollySpice brings you five of the biggest disappointments of 2007. These are the movies that you expected to go down in the history of Bollywood cinema as amazing, but instead they will be listed under the ‘disappointments’ section.
1. Saawariya
This movie literally crushed people’s spirits and belief in the magic of SLB. It was in-fact the most awaited movie since the day of its announcement. When promos came out, fans went crazy and Ranbir’s and Sonam’s fan books filled up before they could even say Saawariya! The hype for this release was bigger than any other and so was the disappointment. SLB was slightly carried away with the fantasy world he likes to create often in his movies. For once audiences were looking for logical explanations. What set out to be a love story that would go down in history became one of the biggest tragedies to ever happen. The saving grace of course was the brilliant soundtrack, Rani’s brilliant performance and Ranbir’s outstanding portrayal of Raj. Saawariya wasn’t all bad news but certainly a disappointment given the high expectations audiences had from the project.
2. Salaam – E – Ishq
Nikhil Advanni’s Kal Ho Na Ho went down in history as an outstanding piece of cinema. Something similar was expected to happen to Salaam E Ishq but unfortunately beginner’s luck seemed to be a vital part of Nikhil’ success. When posters of SEI released audiences went simply crazy at the sight of the gigantic cast made up of some of the finest performers of Indian cinema. Expectations were sky high from these fine actors and the maker of block buster Kal Ho Na Ho. Sadly within the first hour or so into the movie when audiences lost interest they realised their expectations had just been defeated. The movie was a four hour attempted epic of love that you just didn’t want to endure! Nikhil Advani’s poor attempt at linking up multiple storylines simply made the movie more of a disaster. With the exception of outstanding performances by Vidya Balan and John Abraham audiences even found superstars like Salman Khan abysmal in the film. Apart from Vidya and John’s performances and Shankar Ehsaan Loys music, SEI didn’t have much going for it as soon as word spread of its appalling direction, storyline and screenplay.
3. Laga Chunari Mein Daag
It seems like beginners luck is essential in Bollywood. Nikhil Advani suffered the consequences of it and now so does Pradeep Sarkar. The maker of box office blockbuster and critically acclaimed Parineeta delivered nothing but a pure disaster with his second project Laga Chunari Mein Daag. Once again a disappointing movie with an impressive star cast ends up on this list. The story line was so outdated that even the reigning queen at the BO, Rani Mukerji couldn’t save it. Sure the movie would have been a blockbuster if it had released twenty years ago! The subject was outdated and audiences simply found the movie illogical. Rani’s performance may have been impressive and so were Kunal’s and Konkona’s however not impressive enough to distract the audiences from the appalling storyline. The music wasn’t much of a chartbuster either thus LCMD had barely any assets to save it from drowning. In conclusion, a top notch disaster and disappointment.
4. Jhoom Barbar Jhoom
“Kajra Re Kajra Re Tere Kare Kare Naina!” Do those words sound familiar! Hell ya they do! They were the nation’s anthem upon the release of Shaad Ali’s blockbuster Bunty Aur Babli. The OST was a hit and Indian cinema found its perfect Jodi that could give SRK and Kajol a run for their money, Rani and Abhishek or as fans like to call this Jodi Ranishek! So all this from just one release. Now you do the math as to what the expections of Jhoom Barbar Jhoom! The calculation would have to equal to something like, huge! The coming together of two of the most popular actors, Preity Zinta and Abhishek Bachcan. Fans were over the moon to see two of the favourite stars together. The OST simply rocked the charts. The promos looked damn promising. And then “smash” all expectations come crashing to the ground. That would be the story of how Jhoom Barbar Jhoom ended up on this list. The movie had great potential as the storyline itself was quite impressive however the way of execution simply made the film unbearable. The pretentious characterisations, appalling use of French and overdone comedy was a recipe for a disaster. Still the star cast, music and director of a previous blockbuster were enough reasons to get the audiences to the cinemas for the first day first show but word spread like fire of the disappointment that accompanied JBJ and soon no one returned for the re-runs! That would be the tragic tale of “The Dissapointment that is JBJ”.
5. Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag
Last, but not the least, the most controversial movie of 07. On one hand audiences were thrilled to see what the genius Ram Gopal Varma does with a remake of Sholay and on the other hand people were scared to see a classic ruined. At the end of the day the people who were scared were rightly so. RGV simply didn’t understand the beauty of Sholay; and that beauty was the amazing characterisation of all minor and major characters, Surma Bhopali, Basanti’s Mausi and many more whose dialogues are still repeated after years of release. All characters were still in Aag however, not developed as well as they were in Sholay. RGV was carried away with the actions sequences and skin-show. Hema Malini couldn’t have been very impressed with Nisha Kotharis portrayal of Basanti or Ghungroo. Not only was she the absolute wrong choice for the role but the modifications made to the character simply took away the essence of Basanti. Most importantly, RGV forgot to pay particular attention to the everlasting friendship of Jay and Veeru that was not highlighted enough in Aag. To top off the list of disappointments, there was the not-so-impressive music as well as the poor picturisation of Mehabooba. All in all, a classic that was utterly ruined.
And thus ends the depressing list of disappointments that accompanied 2007. We hope these makers do read this thorough deconstruction of why their movie was a disaster and pick up some useful tips. Hopefully next year, there won’t be a need for such a list! Till then BollySpice wishes all its readers a very Happy New Year!
