The defiant ones... Friday releases: A week of bitter reminders

This weekend’s releases come with some amount of baggage. Explosive baggage. While Ram Gopal Varma’s The Attacks Of 26/11 raises nightmarish memories of the gruesome incident of 2008 that changed the profile of terror attacks forever, this week’s other release brings us bitter memories of John Abraham’s last rom-com, writer-director Abbas Tyrewala’s Jhootha Hi Sahi. According to a trade expert who wishes to go unnamed, “Seeing John in the rom-com space and RGV (Ram Gopal Varma) in the get-real space is like reliving a nightmare. John’s bulky build and athletic image make him more acceptable as an action hero. He was a hit in Nishikant Kamat’s Force and he will be a hit in Sanjay Gupta’s Shootout At Wadala. But John in a rom-com?...nah. I don’t think it works for the audience. It’s an image challenger.” RGV’s The Attacks Of 26/11 carries a very strong pre-release buzz. Those who have seen it including the Big B Amitabh Bachchan say it us the director’s comeback to form, his best work since Company in 2002. However there is a sense of negativity to the film’s theme. A filmmaker who earlier worked under RGV said, “The very idea of re-visiting the events of 26 November 2008 is repugnant to the average Mumbaikar. And why just Mumbai? Who wants to revisit an event that shook the nation?” Surprisingly there is a great deal of hope within the film trade for Ramu’s film. Says Roshan Singh ,a leading distributor of Patna, “The Attacks Of 26/11 may not be a subject that people in Mumbai would relish re-visiting. But it all depends on how the events are treated in the film. Look at Ben Aflleck’s Argo! It’s so edge-of-the-seat. I am sure the real hostage situation in Iran was not half as exciting.” Ram Gopal Varma sees the film’s prospects with a great deal of clarity and humour. He narrates an experience this week with a chauffeur in Delhi who asked Ramu what his film was about. Says Ramu, “When I told him it was about the attacks on 26/11 he asked me, ‘Hero kaun hai?’. I told him it’s Nana Patekar. Then he asked me, ‘Heroine kaun hai?’ I said there is none. He was shocked, ‘Heroine nahin hai? Toh phir picture mein gaana kaun gayega?’ I didn’t have the heart to tell him my film has no songs.” The other release, I Me Aur Main, this week has plenty of songs, and music. And an untried pair John Abraham-Chitrangada Singh who look smashing together, with the petite Prachi Desai thrown in for added glamour. And the buzz is that the main self-obsessed character is modelled on Shah Rukh Khan. Also, with last week Kai Po Che doing well, the mood at the boxoffice is upbeat.