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Why Jyotika needs a hit
The Malayalam film Sita Kalyanam will determine the star's BO clout
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Tulika
For Jyotika Sadanah, the Malayalam industry could bring sought-after redemption.
The Tamil star will shortly appear in Sita Kalyanam, a commercial effort by director Rajeev Kumar whose previous film, Nhan Sundari received critical, and public, acclaim.
Produced by Suresh Kumar and based on a story by Mundoor Krishnamurthy, the film stars the likes of Jagadeesh, Siddiq, Geeta Mohandas, Sukumari, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Inderjit (son of late Malayalam character actor Sukumaran) and Manorama, the record-breaking character artiste of Tamil cinema.
A talking point for the film, shot in Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore, is the debut of singer Srinivasan as music composer.
In Kerala, there is much debate over Rajeev Kumar's helming of a flat-out commercial property, but the director remains unimpressed. Cinema, he says, has to blend artistic elements and commercial viability.
But more than Kumar, it is Jyotika who has metaphorical fingers crossed over this one, given the recent spate of flops that brought her down from the high-flying days as Tamil cinema's reigning success symbol.
On the plus side, she has had big hits like Vaalee (her maiden appearance, in a small role), Poovellaam Kettu Paar, Kushi, Mugavaree , et al, not to mention the cachet of having made it opposite Kamal Haasan (in Tenali, helmed by K S Ravikumar) even ahead of Simran.
But against that, she has had a string of flops like One Two Three (opposite the dancing brothers headed by Prabhu Deva and Raju Sundaram); Little John, the multilingual fantasy costarring Bentley Mitchum and, notably, two successive flops with Ajith in Poovellaam Un Vaasam and Raja.
The big time bombing of the latter film proved the last straw, Jyotika went on record with her determination not to costar with Ajith in the foreseeable future. The audience, she explained, had gotten too used to seeing the two of them together. Familiarity, she felt, was breeding box-office contempt.
That does not explain why her foray in Kannada --- in the Upendra-starrer Nagara Haavu, the remake of Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Baazigar that saw her in a double role, playing the parts essayed in the Hindi original by Shilpa Shetty and Kajol --- crashed at the turnstiles.
Other big time busts included Snehgithiye , the Priyadarshan-helmed film also starring Tabu, Srabani Mukherjee and singer Ila Arun's daughter Ishita that was noted for the fact that it had only women on screen, with nary a male around. Priyadarshan also directed her opposite Akshaye Khanna in Doli Sajake Rakhna, the remake of the Malayalam superhit Aniyathipraavu.
Turning her face from a rather dismal past, Jyotika pins her hopes on the upcoming Sita Kalyanam, and on interesting projects like Dhool, opposite Vikram.
Dhool's director Dharani is a story in himself. Under his given name Ramani, he debuted with the ill-fated Ethirum Puthirum, featuring Mammootty in the lead and loosely based on the story of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. Though the film won him a state award, it crashed at the turnstiles thanks to the fact that cassettes and CDs of the film made it to the market months before its official release.
Ramani then transformed into Dharani, under which name he debuted, yet again, with Dhill, a Vikram starrer that hit box-office gold. Dhool, pairing the same male lead opposite Jyotika, has raised enormous expectations even as it nears completion.
Then, there is producer Dhanu's (Abhay) film Kaaka Kaaka, opposite Surya, her first male lead in Poovelaam Kettu Paar, directed by Gautam Vasudev. Another interesting project is Three Roses, produced by erstwhile screen siren Rambha. Inspired by Charlie's Angels, the film stars Jyotika, Rambha and Laila as the three femme fatales.
Finally, there is director Vikraman's Priyamana Thozhi for the AVM banner, costarring Jyotika with reigning teenybop icon Madhavan.
Sita Kalyanam will be first off the block, and slated to answer the question of whether Jyotika can arrest what, till date, has been a disastrous slide at the box-office.
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