Vivek vs AB Saathiya holds its own against Kaante at the BO

Subhash K Jha

Both releases this week, Kaante and Saathiya, have opened to huge crowds.

The film industry can't but heave a sigh of relief. In 1991, Yash Chopra's unconventional love story Lamhe and Kuku Kohli's Phool Aur Kaante starring newcomers Ajay Devgan and Madhoo had opened on the same Friday. To everyone's surprise, Phool Aur Kaante went on to smash box-office records and became one of the biggest hits of the year.

No other film thereafter had the word kaante in it as it was considered too negative. By a strange coincidence, the next film with Kaante in its title has again been pitched against a Yash Chopra film (Saathiya is a Yash Chopra production).

But this time, the equations appear somewhat different. Unlike Lamhe, Yash Chopra's Saathiya is being perceived as the small film kicking against Sanjay Gupta's Kaante. Like Phool Aur Kaante, Saathiya could perch its debutant director on top of the directorial heap.

Early trends indicate a surprising audience swinging towards Shaad Ali's "small" film.

Saathiya's director, however, begs to differ. "In what way is Saathiya a small film? It's produced by three of the greatest names in the movie business, Mani Rathnam, Yash Chopra and Bobby Bedi. It has music by A R Rahman and cinematography by ultra-selective Anil Mehta who has shot just three films -- Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Arjun Sajnani's Agni Varsha, and Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan -- in five years. Small? In what way?"

Kaante has undoubtedly had the most overwhelming opening since Devdas. But early responses to the film are guarded or bewildered. A large chunk of those who have seen it say it is too "Hollywood" in tone. Says a disappointed young actor, "No matter how technically slick, what the audience wants is a good, strong story. That's where Kaante flounders, specially in the second half."

Overwhelmed by the astonishing euphoria surrounding his film, Sanjay Gupta admits, "Audiences are expecting an all-out action film. But Kaante is more inward drawn. That could go against my film."

It is premature to pass a verdict on the film. The one factor that has clearly emerged from this Friday's war at the box-office is a sharply polarised viewership. While a majority of the audience for Kaante is male and mostly college students, the family audiences have taken to the Vivek Oberoi-starrer Saathiya in a huge way.

Bihar's leading exhibitor Roshan Singh, who has released Saathiya at his theatre, is surprised. "I never expected a sizeable crowd at the opening of Saathiya. I thought the film would catch on by word of mouth. But I seem to have overestimated the Kaante factor. On Friday morning there were at least 60 women queuing up for Saathiya at my theatre. In no other week have audiences for two releases been so sharply divided."

Whatever the final fate of Kaante and Saathiya at the box office, there's a definite lesson for the film industry -- two prominent films can get full-capacity openings, provided they are disparate in mood and genre, and well-made.