Global Bollywood ?? Global SRK ??

How important it is to have the patronage of a Hollywood studio giant for a Bollywood film to get the kind of visibility of MNIK has got? The answer, as the box office results come pouring in from overseas, is clear: whatever its creative genious, K Jo’s newest film, which marries such incongruent subjects as disability and religious identity to raise the flag of world peace, has attained the distinction of being the biggest Bollywood release till date.. Truly, Indian films are no more confined to Indian territories or Asian borders…it has become a global entertainment service … a perfect example which I was compelled to quote to my students while delivering a lecture on Global Marketing, yesterday evening.

MNIK made Rs 25 crore on opening day and the box office results suggest that, finally this may be the big fat Bollywood movie which really cross over. From the zealous embrace of NRI loyalist, for whom SRK has godlike status, to the non-traditional audience which may finally be willing to experiment with full blown Bollywood film, (thanks to TV channels, I get to see more of SRK these days than my family members) to holding out, as blandishments, the biggest Indian star, unabashed emotional moments, in a subject which had universal appeal. Who doesn’t want world peace? … Again a Global Issue

The film has been slammed in several quarters as being opportunistic, of being made simply to succeed in the west. It needed to be different, so K Jo (director-producer) dreamt up a central character who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a kind of autism which makes brain cells work in superb order, but leaves the person socially inept… Here I am compelled to imagine how a socially inept Rizwan (SRK) could woo Mandira, played by the bong beauty Kajol… guyz need to take some tips from him.… US audiences will probably not accept anything too Indianised or too alien, thus a familiar location… K Jo is known for mounting his films extremely lavishly with foreign locales and MNIK looks lovely all painted up warmly on screen. SRK is both more or less normal than average Asperger’s person, but that’s because it is next to impossible for a normal person to get what is like to be an autistic person. Hats off to SRK’s acting competence !!

However, the box office frenzy over the weekend usually does drop after a Monday, but trade analysts say the film lost out a huge, nearly Rs 5 crore as it was not released completely in Mumbai on its opening day, thanks to Shiv Senas. However, what is noteworthy is the film’s global takings : if it can hold on till next week. MNIK will be the film to bang in the global mart. Shall have to wait and watch..