GHAJINI producer: RNBDJ responsible for audience comeback?

MADHU MANTENA

GHAJINI has embarked on a historic start all over and the debate is on whether RAB NE BANA DI JODI too has been responsible to a huge extent for bringing audience back into theaters. Super success of RAB NE BANA DI JODI has ensured that people have started visiting theaters all over again after a gloomy and depressed mood across the nation till about a fortnight back.

Madhu Mantena, producer of GHAJINI, doesn't deny the fact that RNBDJ has got what it deserved. However, he has a different take on the theory.

"Yes, RNBDJ did bring in people to theaters but that's because it was a good film. Otherwise one can't say that people were not willing to come out of their homes because the fact is that even before the release of RNBDJ, they were going to malls. The reason theaters were empty was because there was nothing worthwhile playing that they could see", argues Madhu.

"My thought is that if you have a big film which is promoted well and has good credentials to boast, audience will come", continues Madhu, "India is such a resilient country that however big the tragedy is, people here do recover fast. Even when 9/11 had happened in US, people went back to theaters because they wanted a break after being subjected to all the bad news on TV. Cinema gives you a dream world to get entertained and for Indian audiences, watching movies is a part of their culture. It is difficult to keep them away from theaters for long."

While this line of thought does hold good to an extent, the fact still can't be denied that after spending mega bucks in RAB NE BANA DI JODI, if audience would have disliked the film, they would have been hesitant to venture into theaters again in hordes within just a fortnight. Now with a record breaking opening week almost a reality, the countdown begins to assess if GHAJINI indeed turns out to be Bollywood's first film that would go on to cross the 100 crore Net collections mark in India alone.