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- By Parinda News Bureau, December 23, 2006, 17:06 IST
An average bollywood buff, given the huge amount of media space devoted to Amitabh Bachchan, may believe that the big B is still hot. The reality, however is that there are no takers for Bachchan's solo films.
Amitabh Bachchan solo starrer, Ram Gopal Verma's Nishabdh inspired by Lolita with 18 year old Jiah Khan playing the female is complete and lying in the cans for want of buyers.
Another movie that has been in the making for years, S Ramanathan's 'Zamaanat' has yet to be released for the same reason.The movie expected to be released this month may hit the screens next month, some ten years after it was started. Industry sources say there is no audience for Amitabh Bachchan's solo films and he no longer has the pull at the box office he once had. At his peak a single signature of the Big B expressing willigness to work with a producer was enough to close all territories of the project.
Last year Approva Lakhia directed 'Ek Ajnabee'starring Amitabh Bachchan was a major box office debacle. The movie released immediately after Bachchan's brief hospitalization made national news for days. In an interview immediately after the movie was released, Apoorva Lakhia said he was absolutely stunned by the opening.
'Ek Ajnabee' collected about $200,000 from the entire overseas market. This is about as much as an average Karan Johar movie collects at a single suburban multiplex cinema in Suburban Mumbai. To further put it in perspective, Shahrukh Khan's 'Don' collected over $7 million from the whole of overseas. Ram Gopal verma's 'Sholay' a remake of the blockbuster of the same name has yet to make progress as financiers are shying away sources say.
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