Subhash K Jha

Filmmakers who look back on Diwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge as the illustratively illustrious Diwali release don't want to take any risks. Though this Diwali has no Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar or Sanjay Bhansali to offer, there are David Dhawan and Priyadarshan to brighten up our lives. They may not be in the same league as K. Asif who visited theatres last year Diwali. But both filmmakers have a proven track record of hits.

Vashu Bhagnani who teams up with David Dhawan after a long break is all set to unleash his new comedy Shaadi No.1 this Diwali. The film has a huge ensemble cast of Sanjay Dutt("the only actor besides Amitabh Bachchan that I really wanted to work with all my life," says Vashu), cousins Fardeen and Zayed Khan, besides Sharman Joshi who was last seen N. Chandra's sex comedy Style and its sequel Excuse Me . Sharman, on the lookout for commercial success has just been blessed with a baby.

He rightly thinks David Dhawan came give his career that headstart which N Chandra's comic conceits in Excuse Me couldn't.

Interestingly producer Bhagnani and director David Dhawan had a fall-out after their last collaborative comedy Biwi No.1 in 1999. Even more interesting Bhagnani had defiantly ignored all warning to release his prestigious parody at an ostensibly inopportune time when audiences were supposedly stationed at home watching the World Cup Series at home.

When the film clicked Bhagnani triumphantly declared he had no patience with absurd insecurities that prevailed regarding the release of films.

So now why the return to superstition? Explains Vashu, "It isn't just superstition. Diwali is a time when people like to spend money, have a good time. And that's what my film will hopefully provide. It's a fun film with 4 heroes and several young girls."

Pooja Bhatt who raced ahead in Goa with her second directorial venture Holiday with Dino Morea and newcomer Onjolee Nair in the lead, also releases her film in Diwali.

Dimples Dino, "Our film is the odd one out...Not only because it's the only film by a female director this Diwali. But also also because we've done something entirely different."

But do Diwali releases actually work as effectively as they seem to?
"I should think so," volunteers Vashu. "I remember I had released David's Chote Miyan Bade Miyan along with Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai on Diwali . Both the films were major hits. So I'd like to believe that Diwali does have a bearing on the boxoffice. This year there're the two big festivals Diwali and Eid. And Ramzan doesn't fall in-between."

But the most interesting postponed positioning this Diwali is that of Suneel Darshan's Dosti: Friends Forever. Instead of Friday 4 November, Suneel intended to release his film on 1 November. But he has now opted out, what with Akshay Kumar already occupying the ceetee of honour with the spicy Garam Masala.

Says Suneel, "It's unfortunate that I couldn't release Dosti for Diwali. It wasn't really a marketing strategy to be one-up on the other Diwali releases. It's just my faith. I wanted to coincide the release of my film with Laxmi Pooja. Whether it's a boxoffice hit or not filmmakers are happy to come during a time when the world is filled with positivity."

Does this positivity really pay at the box-office? Last year during Diwali there were 4 releases. Of them, K Asif's Mughal-e-Azam and Yash Chopra's Veer-Zara were big successes. Abbas-Mustan's Aitraaz did well enough. But Ram Gopal Varma's Naach did the dance of death at the box-ffice.

So here it is again. Does Diwali work at the box-office? It would be interesting to see which of Priyadarshan's two releases this Diwali—Garam Masala or Kyun Ki both scheduled for Wednesday 2 November—the audiences takes to with festive warmth.

The only other occasion when a director pitched two of his own films against one another was in 1997 when David Dhawan unleashed two of his comedies Mr & Mrs Khiladi and Deewana Mastana against each other.

Reasons Kareena Kapoor, "Yeah, but my film Kyun Ki is very different in mood from Priyan's Garam Masala. There's no clash of interests here. So what if the directors are the same? I'd say Garam Masala is more competition for Shaadi No.1 than Kyun Ki.."

Get set for a Dhawan-Priyan battle at the box-office this Diwali.