Rarely are there any movies that are female centric when it comes to Bollywood. And when as many as 4 movies are released on a single Friday that have a female as a central protagonist, eye brows are bound to be raised.
Yes, that indeed is the scenario this entire week as 'Chand Ke Paar Chalo', 'Ho Sakta Hai', 'Madhubaala' and 'Naughty Boy' compete at the box office. Though each of the four movies belong to different genres, what's common between them is the budget that is on the lower side. With not much to boast about in terms of banner or star cast, the only factor that help the makers' cause is the varied subject of the films that set them apart and make them cater to different segments of audience.
The 'biggest' of all (if one can afford to call it that way) amongst the four is Preeti Jhangiani starrer CKPL that features her in an author backed central protagonist role. With no other notable name in a lead role for this film directed by Mustafa Engineer (who earlier made his directorial debut with a forgettable 'Kuchh Kaha Aapne'), it doesn't come as a surprise when producer Babar Chopra decides to focus his entire publicity on his female star.
The film about a small time dancer who rises from a hamlet to being a star in her own right in the city of Mumbai, CKPC marks the debut of Saahib who plays the male lead. In comparison the film has a huge supporting cast in the form of Himani Shivpuri, Alok Nath, Sanjay Narvekar, Razzak Khan, Tej Sapru and Upasna Singh. What works most for the film is its pleasant score by newcomer Vishnu Narayan who churns some old fashioned though melodious tunes.
The other notable release of the film is extremely-long-delayed 'Ho Sakta Hai' that has seen a limited release with a very few prints. A film belonging to horror genre, it is the first ever that goes into the details of black magic. With this film, its the turn of a director to make his debut. Though not new to the world of special effects [Wilson has been reputed special effects master], with 'Ho Sakta Hai', Wilson gets to sink his teeth in a film that has ample potential of special effects. The film was ready for release around a year back but it is only now that it has seen the light of the day. In case of 'Ho Sakta Hai', the lady in question is Mohini, a middle aged woman, who aims at acquiring the wealth of Victor Bannerjee by practicing black magic. Though the film is reasonably well made, sadly it comes at a time when film lovers are not really charmed by the idea of watching a horror flick!
The other two releases of the week, 'Madhubaala' and 'Naughty Boy', have one more thing in common than just the female factor - THE SLEAZE FACTOR - hence restricting their reach only to the small centers. While makers of 'Madhubaala' claim that the film is 'inspired' by the real incident of Madhur Bhandarkar and Preeti Jain, 'Naughty Boy' has a comical angle involved too as the father son duo of Rahul Roy and Hitesh Kriplani try to outwit each other to woo the love (or is it lust) of their lives! Kanishka is the 'aspiring actress' to maker her debut with 'Madhubaala' while Mona Chopra, who was just in news for a nude MMS that is rumored to be featuring her, is the center of attraction in 'Naughty Boy'.
With several biggies round the corner (there are at least two planned for every week starting April till Diwali this year), the makers of these small films have no other option but to release their films when there is no biggie for competition. Though none of the 4 films promise any big fortunes at the box office, it would be interesting to see which of them would come up with the best results as the week goes by!