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How much
do they add to the till?
 AAMIR
Khan looks as good with Juhi Chawla as he does with Manisha Koirala or
Urmila Matondkar. Shah Rukh Khan gels well with Madhuri Dixit but after Koyla
bombed, no one wants them without an able supporting cast. Salman Khan
does not like any of his heroines and his dislike shows on screen when
he is busy concentrating on his steps rather than on his leading lady.
Does this mean that pairs
like Raj Kapoor-Nargis, Amitabh Bachchan-Rekha, Rishi Kapoor-Neetu
Singh, who created magic on screen, are history?
Amitabh-Rekha,
Dharmendra-Hema Malini, Rajesh Khanna-Mumtaz stand as symbols of an era
when star pairs formed an integral part of the filmmaking process. In
the good old days, you could easily guarantee a successful film if the
lead pair was hot.
Raj Kapoor-Nargis, Dilip
Kumar-Madhubala or even Rishi Kapoor-Neetu Singh immortalised romance on
celluloid with their crackling chemistry that both entertained and
excited the audience. It wouldn't be wrong to say that in today's world
of fast food films and popcorn romance, somewhere the magic of romantic
pairs has faded.
Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla
definitely make a good pair but the filmmakers haven't repeated them too
often. Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol have chemistry but haven't done more
than two films with each another. One of the reasons is the lack of
chemistry between the co-stars, which transcends a professional bond and
gives an undercurrent of romantic camaraderie.
Filmmaker Raj Santoshi
feels this has to do with today's attitude towards cinema. "Unlike
the past, today's stars treat films as a profession. The commercial
aspect of the business has overtaken the artistic aspect. In the olden
days filmstars poured their hearts into their roles. While doing a
romantic scene, there have been several instances where the heroine has
actually fallen in love with the hero and vice versa. Today everything
is treated with competence and clinical professionalism that takes away
the magic of the moment. So the pairs have nothing to offer except
technically correct performances!"
While this could be true,
it comes as a surprise that a pair like Ajay Devgan and Kajol, whose
off-screen romance is at its peak, make a very poor pair on screen. Out
of the three films they have done together, two (Hulchul and Goondaraj)
have been miserable failures.
Hits are often used as a
yardstick for ascertaining a successful pairing, but filmmaker Yash
Chopra feels otherwise. "Sunil Dutt and Nutan had a string of hits
in their time and so did Ashok Kumar and Nirupa Roy. But they were never
a popular pair. In fact, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, who were known as
a hot duo, had only two hits to their credit!"
That probably explains the
success of several Govinda-Karisma Kapoor starrers when they don't match
each other in anything besides dance steps.
Most directors feel it's
the fun of watching two romantically involved co-stars on screen that
causes the audience to rush in. But more often than not, this turns into
a disadvantage. At the peak of their careers, Raj Babbar and Smita Patil,
who were involved with each other off screen, signed several films
together so that they could spend a lot of time on outdoor shoots.
Eventually, all those films bombed, making their pair ineffective.
Instances of pairs being
signed in a hurry because of their romantic involvement are many and as
many are the stories of producers in the red because of the rift in
their relationship during the making of the movie. Raj Santoshi had to
shelve his movie with Bobby Deol and Pooja Bhatt when they split
immediately after the movie was announced. Several producers are ruing
the day they signed Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon for their films
because today they don't see eye to eye.
Then of course there are
filmmakers who do not believe in the star pair theory. Mahesh Bhatt
feels there is no such thing as chemistry between male and female stars.
"A pair can be script writer-director (Salim-Javed and Ramesh Sippy),
producer-director (Gulshan Rai and Yash Chopra) or even a star-secretary
(Madhuri Dixit and Rikkoo)! As long as two people as a pair can make
money, everyone will surround them. The day they stop being the
money-making machines, they are over!"
With such diverse
viewpoints and examples, it's difficult to pinpoint the exact nature of
successful onscreen pairing. But what can definitely be concluded is
that in today's world where economics come before emotions and
professionalism is placed before passion, it will be a long time before
one sees a successful star pair...
A Bollywood eye view of
star pairs
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Amitabh-Rekha
Films: 9
Hits: 5
Flops: 4
Amitabh-Jaya Bhaduri
Films: 8
Hits: 5
Flops: 3
Dharmendra-Hema Malini
Films: 28
Hits: 14
Flops: 14
Anil Kapoor-Madhuri Dixit
Films: 8
Hits: 4
Flops: 4
Hrithik Roshan-Amisha Patel
Films: 1
Hits: 1
Flops: 0
Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai
Films: 1
Hits: 0
Flops: 1
Aamir Khan-Juhi
Chawla
Films: 5
Hits: 3
Flops: 2
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Govinda-Karisma
Films: 8
Hits: 6
Flops: 2
Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol
Films: 4
Hits: 4
Flops: 0
Shah Rukh Khan-Aishwarya Rai
Films: 2
Hits: 2
Flops: 0
Shah Rukh-Juhi Chawla
Films: 4
Hits: 3
Flops: 1
Ajay Devgan-Kajol
Films: 3
Hits: 1
Flops: 2
Hrithik Roshan-Preity Zinta
Films: 1
Hits: 1
Flops: 0
Akshay Kumar-Raveena
Films: 4
Hits: 2
Flops: 2
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