BOLLYWOOD KE BADE DILWALE BAHUBALIYON NE CORONA KO KINARA KARKE APNA STHAAN PHIR GRAHAN KIYA - By Ali Peter John

Till three months ago, it looked as if there was no hope for the world, which included Bollywood because a little virus called corona had taken complete hold of the whole world.

In Bollywood, all work had come to a halt for more than two and half years and every mighty star, filmmakers, technicians and even every spot boy was without work and single screen theatres, multiplexes and other kinds of theatres had turned into godowns because there was no audience coming and people were busy watching films on the OTT platforms and on their mobiles which became the only source of entertainment for people who had nothing else to do.

And people were waiting for some relief and they knew that the only hope for relief they had was cinema and they kept waiting. And Bollywood kept waiting for corona to leave it in peace….

And now, three months later it looks as if corona had not struck the world and not even touched Bollywood because all things are okay with Bollywood and things are almost back to normal.

The great fight back started when a big film like “Sooryavanshi” was released in theatres all over the country and opened to a bumper response. It was a sign that people were willing to come back to the theatres if they were given good entertainment.

This film was followed by other films like “Pushpa: The Rise” which broke all records and made a regional star like Allu Arjun a national star first and then a global star; “83” which was an average affair but stood out because of the film being exempted from tax in different states.

But the big break-through came with “Gangubai Kathiawadi” which made Alia Bhatt a super star which was followed by the most unexpected success of “The Kashmir Files” and which was followed by “RRR” which is roaring at the box-office all over and has given birth to two big stars like Junior N.T Rama Rao jr. and Ram Charan. These successful films have raised the hopes of Bollywood which is hoping for many more successful films to come in 2022.

The stars are back in big business. The three Khans, Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir are all set to strike it big in the time to come with the time of their releases fixed and their fans all excited to receive their films like they always have.

Akshay Kumar have had one big hit and one flop, but he has no reasons to panic because a star like him have the playground to play and the game in his hands. Ajay Devgn has just seen new success even though it is in a cameo in “RRR” and he is looking forward to “Runway 34” which he has also directed besides being the leading man.

All the other male stars are fighting their own battles to hold on to their grounds and now that corona is said to be officially leaving at least in India we may see the rise of many new male stars. Of the female stars, Alia Bhatt has taken her place at the top with successful films like “Gangubhai Kathiawadi” and “RRR” to her name.

She has other big films like “Brahmastra” coming up. Deepika Padukone continues to be in the big race with films like “Pathan” and “Fighter” and Kareena Kapoor Khan may strike back with Aamir Khan’s “Laal Singh Chaddha”. The other girls have still to make that big difference to the scene.

Of all the directors, S.S. Rajamouli seems to be the player winner with “RRR” and running a close race with him is Sanjay Leela Bhansali and coming up in the race are Ayan Mukerji (“Brahmastra”) and Siddharth Anand (“Pathan”). There are many other directors, but we shall talk about them when it is really time to talk about them.

The one writer who has made a very big difference to the industry is K.V. Vijayendra Prasad, the father of S.S. Rajamouli, who had written the scripts of “RRR”, “Baahubali: The Beginning”, “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” amongst many others and who also wrote the scripts of Kangana Ranaut’s “Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi” and “Thalaivi”.

And the one big sign of Bollywood coming back to normal was the grand wedding of Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif and if all goes well, we may soon get news about the long awaited wedding of Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.

And if there is one good sign about Bollywood being in good health again, it is the returning of stars to studios and locations for the shootings of their films which have been stalled because of Corona like Shah Rukh is back to shoot for “Pathan” and has even completed a major spell of shooting in Spain and will soon start shooting for Rajkumar Hirani and Atlee from the South.

And the other good news is that the last film of Rishi Kapoor “Sharmaji Namkeen” has received very good reviews and even the audience is appreciating it.

ISHWAR KARE, ALLAH KARE, GOD KARE, PHIR KABHI KOI CORONA ISS DILWALI BOLLYWOOD KO HAATH NAHI LAGAYE AUR ISS PAR KABHI KOI AANCH NAHI AAYE