The euphoria that kick started the year has petered out as quickly as it arrived and Lollywood has once again returned to its panic ridden days with new releases flopping by the wayside with alarming regularity. The boom in business over the Eid period appears now as a distant, faded memory.

Tere Pyar Mein has been an exception, packing in steady crowds all over the country. It has even been hailed by some as a "classic" and its polished production and classy sets have been much appreciated by the starved masses. The film continues to draw steady crowds and is heading for at least a silver jubilee run.

Of the other Eid releases that had started off with such a bang - none of them really proved to show significant legs and one by one have been departing cinema halls. Jug Wala Mela which sizzled for its first couple of weeks, petered out rather quickly and has already ended its run in Lahore. The film remains a commission earner even if a lot more was expected after the explosive start. Ghulam likewise continued to show a steady decline after a bright start and has also departed cinemas completely. Aag Ka Dariya has fared a little better and continues to run in a couple of cinemas and has more than recovered its investment. Rukhsati was a stinging super flop all over the country incurring massive losses for anyone concerned with it.

Badmash Puttar, yet another Shaan-Saima starrer was another that flattered to deceive - taking a bright opening but belly-flopping subsequently. Then came the wave of big releases for the next Eid among them the hugely anticipated and massively publicized Musalman. Another in similar vein was Hakumat and there was also Syed Noor's big multi-starrer Dacait. On the Punjabi front, Shaan reprised his Sultan Rahi impersonation for Parvez Rana's blood-soaked Allah-Badshah.

Initial reports for Musalman have been exceptional claiming the film to be a resounding nationwide success. Apparently the film has gone down a storm all over and has been packing them in and got the cash counters ringing overtime. The film opened in two large cinema's in Lahore where the initial response has been tremendous. Clearly the massive advertising campaign that had kicked off at least six months ago is paying dividends as there is a massive awareness of the movie and somehow the public have seemed almost duty bound to see this movie, cajoled and persuaded by the name of the film and all it implies. The film is showing an 80% capacity in its 4th week of release which is very potent business indeed.

The other Eid releases haven't fared half as well. Masood Butt's much touted Hakumat featuring Saima as a Mujahida (freedom fighter) met with initial interest but that has tapered off alarmingly leaving the film as an average prospect at best - way below expectations. Apparently Reema's late withdrawal from the movie left serious problems with continuity and the script had to be chopped and changed beyond the eleventh hour. The biggest loser of all however has been Syed Noor's expensive multi-starrer Dacait which was apparently ripped off rather badly from some Hollywood movie. The film initially stunned the publicc and Syed Noor's brand of action comedy left people wondering what had hit them yet the film has slowly managed to maintain and is showing signs of staying power. The novelty of the film is beginning to work in its favour having initially worked against it.

Shaan's Allah-Badshah was the lone Punjabi release recently and has managed to take good advantage of the situation. The film has opened solidly in the Punjab region and is scoring about 80% of capacity in its 3rd week of release. Time will tell whether this film does an alarming nosedive like most of the other recent releases. Films that have managed to display remarkable "legs" and longevity at the Box-Office and are still found in cinemas include; Ishtahari Gujjar and Billo 420 - both are legitimate silver jubilee's with Billo 420 well into its 7th month in cinemas. Sultana Daku, Sangeeta's smash hit is another legitimate 6 month runner and is still to be found playing in cinemas across the Punjab circuit. Another to add to Syed Noor's growing list of flops was yet another Choorian clone, Dil Kachh Da Khadona - this film barely lasted a month in the main cinemas in Lahore but has managed to keep going in the second and third rung theatres and in the interior which has resulted in it being at least a commision earner in the Punjab circuit.

Awaited films include Ajab Gul's Khoye Ho Tum Kahan, which is carrying excellent advance reports. Saima's home production Uff Yeh Biwian will also be opening at the end of April. Watch this space to see if they could follow in Musalman's steps or not.

Meanwhile some casting news and morsels of gossip:
New film Dewaa has been launched to be directed by Syed Noor. The film is "inspired" by the story of the current hit Musalman and naturally Shaan is set to star.

Zara Shaikh has been replaced by Saima in Shaan's home production Moosa - no doubt as a result of Ms. Shaikh jacking her price from Rs. 2 lacs to Rs. 10 lacs overnight.

Syed Noor has signed Reema opposite Shaan for his Khuda Qasam adding weight to the rumour that Shah ji (Noor) and Saima have fallen out big time.

Prince is to be directed by Syed Noor with Shaan in the title role.

Tezaab is being directed by TV's Asif Ali Pota with Shaan, Sana, Meera, Reema and Moammar Rana starring.

Shooting has begun for Iqbal Kashmiri's Aman de Dushman starring none other than Shaan with Babar Ali in the cast as well.

Sangeeta, keen to cash in on the Kashmir bandwagon following the success of Tere Pyar Mein and Musalman, has announced Jeena Yahan, Marna Yahan with Saud, Meera and Babar Ali in the cast so far. Sangeeta has meanwhile just wrapped up Dal Dal which stars Sana, Saud among others. She has also been in the news for a serious falling out with a director who used to be an understudy of hers, Shehzad Rafiq. It appears that both have chosen the same Bollywood film to rip-off (Daag) and thus have identical scripts! Sangeeta's Dekha jo Chehra Tera and Rafiq's Jia are identical and both directors are trying to complete their films in a super hurry for obvious reasons.

Meera is in deep depression these days following the disaster that was Rukhsati - it has had a crushing effect on her career and Iqbal Kashmiri wasted no time in axing her from his Sangram where she was replaced by Nirma of all people. Musalman's success has had no positive effect on Meera's career as her role was like that of an extra and all the credit has gone to Sana instead. The producers of Khoay ho Tum Kahan are also very nervous as Lady bad-luck Meera has a major role in the film, and the way things have been going for her…. Meera has apparently reacted by getting one of her superwealthy admirers to cough up the money for her sink-or-swim venture for which she has roped in none other than Syed Noor to write and direct the project. This in turn has incensed Saima causing a massive falling out with Syed Noor. Word has it that when Saima heard of Shah ji's plans to collude with Meera on her personal project without her permission - an unpardonable offence. Lady Saima blew a fuse and decided to retaliate. Saima contacted many of her old admirers making overtures and mending fences that had been damaged due to her close association with Syed Noor. She has been in contact with producers Masood Butt, Parvez Rana and Iqbal Kashmiri in the hope of nabbing some juicy roles now that Zara Shaikh appears to have gone off her rocker with her 10 lac demands. Saima also returned to her origins, performing a series of scintillating private mujra's in Faisalabad, Multan and Sheikhupur for five days in succession, raking in the cash for her jhatka's. When news of the mujras jiltered through to Syed Noor, he reacted by making a pledge to exclude Saima from all his forthcoming productions. How times change…just a few days ago it was all hunky dory and now its all out Jihad!

Making good mileage out of all these upheavals is Reema - proving her mettle and survival instinct. While Meera and Resham are consistently flopping, producers are beginning to turn to Reema as a far better option despite her serious clashes with Masood Butt over Hakumat. Nirma, having been abhorred by the public in No Paisa is desperate to cash in on her role in Dacait and has been blabbering to one and all about how powerful her role is…….even though if you blink twice, you might miss her altogether! Likewise the equally desperate Resham has gone on record to say that her role in Dacait was the most memorable of her career ( doesn't say much for her career does it?)

Zara Shaikh they say has gone totally mad and her head has expanded to the size of a hot air balloon. Her demand of Rs. 10 lac per film has met with disdain and she has already been dropped by Shaan and Shamim Ara who was about to cast her for her new production has now decided that Ms. Shaikh's demand is way beyond her means. Ms. Shaikh may find herself without too much work if she continues to behave as though she was Aishwaria Rai. That's all folks!

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