Gangster vs Darna Zaroori Hai - Gangster expected to win box-office battle

[Ashok]

Ram Gopal Varma’s horror flick Darna Zaroori Hai and Mahesh Bhatt’s crime thriller Gangster are set to collide at the box-office on Friday. They are also expected to end more than a month of box-office monotony created by dud comedies and high voltage dramas — Malaamal Weekly, Pyare Mohan, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, Shaadi Se Pehle and Saawan — The Love Season that hit the screens and tumbled one by one. Going by the pre-release curiosity that director Anurag Basu’s latest Gangster has created, the Emraan Hashmi starrer is expected to win the race at the box-office. Any kind of love story lures people. “If the audience really has a sixth sense, as they claim to have, then they will definitely come to see my film,” producer Mahesh Bhatt said.

The audience is curious about Gangster because it is loosely based on don Abu Salem’s affair with actress Monica Bedi, who was seen romancing Sanjay Dutt in Jodi No. 1. However, Varma’s Darna Zaroori Hai faces an uphill task in enticing viewers despite its high powered cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh and Bipasha Basu. Darna Zaroori Hai, a prequel to Darna Mana Hai, is a horror film and the genre is not very popular in India.

Indian movie buffs might have matured in last few years and applauded films like Black and Page 3, but they have yet to match Varma’s weird thought process.
Produced by Varma’s Factory, Darna Zaroori Hai is a joint effort of seven directors. It has seven stories woven into one thread with each one directed by a different person. Commenting on Darna..., Bhatt said, “They are not offering anything new. We must remember the public wants to see new things.” His film does not boast of the same cast though. Besides Bhatt’s nephew Emraan, the film stars Shiney Ahuja and introduces Kangana Rawat who is playing Monica Bedi’s part in the film.