BLAME GAME SYNDROME IN BOLLYWOOD
Rishi Kapoor slamming Anurag Basu over the failure of Jagga Jasoos is an industry scenario that keeps playing out
Actor Rishi Kapoor’s tirade against director Anurag Basu (inset) for the failure of Jagga Jasoos puts the spotlight on the blame game that happens in Bollywood after a film flops. Similar bitterness was left in the wake of poor box-office results of Mohenjo Daro (2016) and Humshakals (2014).
In a recent interview, Rishi called Anurag “irresponsible” with the film; Rishi was more affected because his son Ranbir was not just the lead actor but also the producer.
Actor Saif Ali Khan had reportedly been unhappy with the way director Sajid Khan’s venture Humshakals — the plot had three sets of doppelgängers — had shaped up; Saif called it “a mistake”. However, Khan says that it’s a team effort. “The director is the captain of the ship. But, to sail smoothly, a huge crew is needed. When things don’t go as expected, the blame game starts. The director, like any captain, must own up to failure, but must also magnanimously share credit for success,” says Sajid.
According to some reports, Hrithik Roshan had a row with filmmaker Ashutosh Gowarikar after the debacle of Mohenjo Daro. Hrithik’s father Rakesh Roshan blamed the bad visual effects of the last 20 minutes of the film.
However, Hrithik feels that passing the buck cannot be a solution. “Making a film in itself should be a fulfilling process. If you don’t enjoy that, then you only have yourself to blame. So, I’m not a person who ever blames another; neither do I complain, nor explain,” he had said in an interview.
In an earlier instance, Amitabh Bachchan had lashed out at the makers of Raavan (2010), starring his son Abhishek Bachchan, and blamed the poor editing of the film, directed by Mani Ratnam, for its slump.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh finds it very natural for people to point fingers. “The stakes are very high in a film and it’s a very natural thing to blame someone if the film doesn’t do well,” he says. “[Rishi] Kapoor has said it out in the open, but otherwise, too, people do tend to blame in [Bollywood]. It has been happening for years.”
Such is Bollywood — people fight, but after some time, they laugh over it, and hug and praise each other TARAN ADARSH, TRADE ANALYST