Strange things happen in showbiz. And you don't know how to explain it.

How do you explain the fact that Abhishek Bachchan's next three films all have titles beginning with the letter 'd'....drona, followed by Dostana and Delhi 6.

How do you explain the fact that last month Madhavan was shooting for two films simultaneously both beginning with the number '3'....3 Patti and 3 Idiots.

How do you rationalize the revival of interest in the supernatural? Eerie -fairies are flying around filmdom. The fur hadn't even stopped flying over Phoonk...after a ceaseless string of homages to the underworld Ram Gopal Varma's ode to the other-world.

Now last week it was Vikram Bhatt's turn to turn on the terror-faucet full-blast. I saw a lot in common between Ramu's Phoonk and Bhatt's 1920. Both play on primeval fears of the audience. Vikram has no nimbu-hari-mirch in his storytelling. In fact I found the spice in 1920 terribly bland.

But the critics in Mumbai have chosen to be kind to 1920. It's the law of proportions. He's been blasted for his last six films, so why not praise him this time? There is no other logical reason for the generous spirit displayed for this film on spooks and spectres.

I wonder if Phoonk and 1920 will spawn a never-ending spate of these spook fests. The last thing we need in this country of endless superstitions and blinkered blind faith is green-chillie red-faced flicks with women possessed and flying around the rooms looking for nirvana

Give us a break, yaar! So far this year we've had plenty of quality products. But not too many that have succeded. The surprise success among the spate of terrorist films is Wednesday which has shocked analysts by making some profits.

But let's not get carried away. We've this nasty habit in this country of dancing around the turnstiles at the smallest pretext. Wednesday has made more money than Rohit Shetty's Sunday.

But it has made less profits than the big moolah rakers of the year. There aren't too many of those around this year. The year started with Jodhaa Akbar. So far the only other profiteering projects are Race and Singh Is Kinng.

Goldie Behl's Drona will be the next big one It's prospects are boosted by the fact that it looks very different from anything we've seen before. Then there's Subhash Ghai's Yuvraj and Karan Johar's Dostana. Any of these 3 films could prove a blockbusters. God knows, we need one of those desperately this year.

Every week a bouquet of film are being released and they are flopping. Last Friday's Last Lear proved to be purely a case of elitist auto-eroticism. It was appreciated by a small section of the super-discerning audience and a minuscule section of the critics who gave more praise to 1920 than the Last Lear.

Randeep Hooda made one more bid at hero-giri in Ru-ba-ru. And failed miserably. His leading lady was Shahana Ghosh who was seen a couple of weeks ago giving an all-new dimension to the embittered wife's role in Rock On. Just goes to prove.it's not about actors. It's about where you put them.

Star Of The Week: Amitabh Bachcchan in The Last Lear. He's a cynical half-blind totally-eccentric homophobic theatre actor who keeps peering at peeing passersby from his window. He recites Shakespeare at breakneck speed. And finally breaks his neck and goes into a coma. He's a marvel of craft anf spontaneity. He is Amitabh Bachchan - Subhash K Jha