Summer 2002 hasn’t been as good as the previous one – for whatever reasons. Lack of quality is a perennial issue, yet last years crop of hit films could hardly be lauded for their quality either. Whatever the reasons, 2002 has lagged way behind 2001 signified by the fact that last year’s number one smash Hamayun Gujjar has continued its run (which began on the 31st of August 2001) until present and could be counted as one of the biggest earners of 2002 as well. So far in the first half of the year 26 films have been released of which 8 were in Urdu, 12 in Punjabi and 6 in Pashto.

Syed Noor, former Ace director continued his horror run with a further three duds, though admittedly, one didn’t fare so badly. His Khuda Qasam was a bomb and Behram Daku also came out firing blanks. His tit for tat cold war drama Sholay managed reasonable business, if only just. Seasoned hack Iqbal Kashmiri had two releases in Shikari Haseena and Border – of which the latter managed reasonable business while poor Shikari Haseena sank without a trace and the Haseena introduced in the film, has gone back to her trade. The big budget, highly touted (DTS surround sound!!) Chalo Ishq Larain arrived after several hiccups and barely caused a ripple at the box office causing further gloom. 12 Punjabi films were released in the first half of the year namely; Jeeo Jatta, Dada Badmash, Baboo Khan, Jagga Tax, Dosa, Wehshi Jat, Rano Phadebaaz, Badmash te Qanoon, Chiragh Bali, Majho Da Vair, Lahori Ghunda and Aik Gujjar Sau Badmash. Of these, Dada Badmash was a runaway hit while Baboo Khan managed to stay afloat and Chiragh Bali just managed to recover its costs and Majho Da Vair has done average business considering the low cost product that it is. Otherwise it’s been pretty much a disaster.

May – July 2002

Chalo Ishq Larain – the great expectations of this film had been somewhat dampened by its recurring rescheduling. Rumours started flying around of a troubled shoot involving temper tantrums, bad vibes and rotten chemistry. Finally the film limped into theatres amid fatigued fanfare and though there was some initial interest…soon word got out about what a rotten egg the film was and the rest is history – the films collections started nose-diving after the third day and though the film is still being screened in one cinema in Lahore – rumour has it that its merely a face saving stunt by the producers – who knows.

For a low budget film, Shaan’s Badmash the Qanoon took a steady 70% - 80% in its initial week but this good form didn’t last as business quickly dried up – the film would have done well to have recovered its costs if it manages even that.

Megha’s effort to plunge headfirst into stardom met with disaster as her “star vehicle” Rano Phadebaaz was a goner right from the opening day. Collections were a miserable 20% and below in the opening week and the film didn’t survive long beyond that. We are flattered and disgusted (depending on mood swings) at various websites for thieving from us without giving due credit - Anyway, those who matter know that they read this report at thehotspotonline.com before it re-appeared elsewhere.

Wehshi Jat – recorded solid business for its opening burst until it ran into censor trouble and apparently two of its saucy dances were forcibly snipped off for “vulgarity”. Business tailed off rapidly as shorn of its raunchy numbers the film was basically just another Shaan vengeance drama.

Dosa – had an encouraging start considering its low costs, but even that proved a mirage as the film’s collections came crashing down in subsequent weeks rendering it a rather sizeable flop.

Dada Badmash – Madame Sangeeta continued her hot streak (with Punjabi films) as Dada Badmash scored a bulls-eye all over the country becoming a smash hit. The film also resurrected Yusuf Khan who, at an advanced age approaching 70, suddenly became hot property once again. Naseebo Lal’s winning streak also continued and she virtually cornered the Punjabi market like Madame Noor Jehan used to do in her prime. Though she certainly has many detractors (jealousy?) there is no denying her success rate all over the nation at the moment.

Baboo Khan - yet another Shaan starrer somehow managed to elevate itself from the rot as according to some trade estimates, the film might qualify as one of the very few that has managed to recover its costs.

Sholay - another crude Cold War pot-boiler managed to draw big crowds but only for the first three days or so of its release. The collections plummeted after a strong first week and the film was a losing proposition for its investors.

Majhoo Da Vair – considering the film is a low budget venture it has managed to cover its costs and even show a marginal profit in some circuits. It would be going too far to declare the film a hit, but it has certainly managed to recover its costs which in itself is a quite an achievement considering all other releases appear to be biting the dust on a regular basis.

Badmash te Qanoon – had an almighty struggle just to get past the censors who forced the producers to remove a hefty 200ft from the final product. Shorn of its oomph and spectacular violence, the film had little left to offer and therefore sank rapidly to join the heap of flops for the year.

Ghazi Ilm Din Shaheed – a film starring Moamar Rana, supposedly based on fact managed to arouse some initial interest resulting in a solid first weeks take. However from the second week onward the collections registered a steep decline as the film failed to click.

Chiragh Bali – much was expected from this follow up to last years smash hit Asoo Billa and in the first week it looked as though the new film might even surpass the original. However after a huge 100% opening week collections started spiralling downwards alarmingly and by the third week the film was running to empty halls. According to some estimates the film, due to its explosive opening week, might recover its dues – even if that is the case, the end result has to be considered a huge disappointment.

Lahori Ghunda – yet another badmash formula film with Shaan in the lead role. This film met with a lukewarm response right from the outset suggesting that audiences had had enough of Shaan in his auto-pilot Sultan Rahi mode.

Ishtehari – sounded like a Punjabi film but was in fact in Urdu – not that it made any difference as the film proceeded to collapse all over the country from its very first week. Collections started dropping from the opening week at an alarming rate. A resounding flop, this one.

Kaloo – Madame Sangeeta managed to buck the trend with her hat-trick forming third Punjabi success in a row. Last autumn there was Sher-e-Lahore which was a bumper hit despite the Afghan related stress and strife in the country. She followed that thumping success with another massive hit in Dada Badmash which kept the cash registers ringing all around the country while most other new films fell flat on their face. Now with Kaloo’s collections showing a high success rate all over the country, Madame Sangeeta can legitimately claim to be arguably the number one director in the land.

Tohfa Pyar Da – a stale product with b grade stars (i.e Resham) – the film has crashed from the very first day resulting in disastrous losses for is investors.

Meanwhile the most awaited film of the year Jawed Shaikh’s Yeh Dil Aap Ka Hua (affectionately known by those who prefer to aspire to everything Bollywood as YDAKH) opened supposedly “all over North America and Europe” on the 19th of July as well as all over Pakistan. The advertising billboards (supposedly especially imported from Singapore) proudly declared the film recorded in DTS surround and therefore “the first digital film” made in Pakistan. The boards also serenaded the fact that the film was going to match those recent Bollywood hits by opening simultaneously “all over North America and Europe”. We take it that means the citizens of cities such as Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Madrid, Rome, Prague, Copenhagen etc must have been queuing up for tickets of this film as it was after all due to be screened all over Europe.

One would have thought London would have been an obvious choice what with its massive ex-pat Pakistani community. So, when I arrived precisely on the afternoon of the 19th, I excitedly got together all my friends and relatives and informed them that I would treat them all to a sensational new film called YDAKH. They were totally bemused and more than that, utterly bewildered. “Isnt that the new film that has songs by Indian singers and has tried its damnest to “be” a Bollywood film – forget the songs, even the locations are those typically ghastly picture postcard snow-capped mountains of “Swizzerland”? some smart Alec remarked.

Anyway, undeterred by the cynicism of some of my guests I valiantly flicked through all the entertainment guides hoping to find one of the many cinemas that would be showing the film. The filmmakers had mentioned that there would by a Premiere in London’s Leicester Square – I wonder if they invited the Queen or Prince Charles...I am sure Chuck would be quite enamoured by Sana’s bewitching thumka’s. The film wasn’t on at the Odeon, or the Empire, or the Warner Complex, so where in Leicester Square could it be? We checked Time Out and all the daily papers and even the evening papers…………..all we found were tens of listings for the Bollywood film Devdas and a few for another Bollywood film Om Jai Jagdish, however there was no sign of YDAKH – could it be that this was yet another conspiracy against the Islamic world by those nefarious Zionists, clearly feeling that their own Hollywood films would be soon upstaged by the digital brilliance of YDAKH.

Finally, exasperated at not even finding a single screen that was showing the film in places such as Southall, Wood Green, Leicester, Birmingham, Manchester and even Bradford we called up our friend Billy at Famous Video – the world’s largest importers and distributors of Lollywood films. He informed us, much to my great embarrassment, that the film was not being screened anywhere at all in Britain let alone Europe or North America – it was all just typical hogwash. He also mentioned that the producers were pleading with him to buy their film for the overseas market but Billy was sceptical having suffered heavy losses with his investment in Tere Pyar Main. Billy premiered Tere Pyar Main in the UK to have barely a handful of people show up especially as the film had just been screened on cable TV for the UK. Anyway, a fortnight later I felt pretty resentful when I returned to Pakistan to find the newspapers still carrying ads that proclaimed ever so proudly that Mr. Shaikh’s film was running simultaneously all over North America and Europe. I suppose it out grossed Signs and XXXX and Goldmember in the US while in Europe it must have destroyed all opposition. Expect the local press to be declaring the film to be a bigger hit than Spider-Man in 2002. Shouldn’t there be a law against blatantly false advertising.

By the way, the film Yeh Dil Aap ka Hua has opened to a resounding response and apparently such a rush hasn’t been seen at local cinemas since the days when Titanic was released! Collections have been above 90% country wide and the film has been declared as the year’s first super hit. Lets see if it shows the legs of a Humayun Gujjar which is set to complete one year of regular shows in Lahore’s main cinema’s on the 31st of August. Figures for the overseas market (for YDAKH) have not been disclosed – hmmm one wonder why!

Finally on a happy note, we would also like to chime in with a hearty Happy Birthday to Bahar Begum who by her own recognition turned 35 on the 1st of August, 2002. Wonders never cease!

E-mail OAK your Lollywood comments and questions