LOVE STORY 2050
July 04 2008: Birth of a New Bollywood Star – Harman Baweja
by Vishal Verma
Banner: Baweja Movies
Genre: Sci-Fi - Romance
Target Audience : Family
Producer: Pammi Baweja
Story&Direction: Harry Baweja
Shooting Locations (City & Country): Adelaide (Australia), New York (United States Of America).
Shooting Studios: Filmcity, Filmistan & Sankraman Studios
Star Cast: Harman Baweja (debut), Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani& Archana Puran Singh
Lyricist: Javed Akhtar
Music Director: Anu Malik
Background Music: Amar Mohile
Cinematography: Vijay Arora
VFX Supervisor: Merzin Tiwari
VFX Studios: Weta Digital(Wellington), Rising Sun Pictures, John Cox, Prime Focus International, Frantic Films.
Action: Allan Amin
Art: Omung Kumar
Editor: Hemal Kothari
Sound: Dwarak Warrier
Dialogue: Anurag Kashyap & Mayur Puri
Publicity Designs: Marching Ants
Media Promotion: Sanchita Dubey (Image Smiths)
Technical Analysis
Sci-fic is not a routine exercise of Bollywood, the recent movies you remember in this genre are Krrish & Koi Mil Gaya.
Both the films worked because of the balance in the tone of emotions and technology which struck its chord amongst the common audience.
Before Love Story 2050 it was foolhardy to compare Hollywood’s animations with India but Harry Baweja has kept no stone unturned in the launch of his son Harman and ropes in Merzin Tiwari who does a commendeble job in supervising the renowned names in VFX like Weta Digital( Wellington), Rising Sun Pictures, John Cox, Prime Focus International, Frantic Films both from india & abroad.
It may not be in sync with the current special effects seen in the west but certainly marks a new beginning in the sci-fi movies in bollywood. If some efforts in the story & narration provided with an extra pack of scissors to the editor Hemal Kothari then 4th July 2008 would have seen more fireworks at the residence of the Baweja’s & cinema halls then in the US.
But Harry Baweja can certainly feel proud and distribute sweets considering the fact that with Love Story 2050, he has introduced a star to the industry in the name of Harman who fulfills all the criteria of a bollywood actor – good looks, decent in emoting (considering his first film) & a fantastic dancer ( a must for any wannabe bollywood star).
The reason why there will be no fireworks at the box office for Love story 2050 is the story itself. It is a story about Karan (Harman Baweja), a young, spirited, sporty boy who lives life off the rules and Sana (Priyanka Chopra), a young petite, shy girl who lives life by the rules. Love blossoms and one fine day Sana expresses her wish to travel ahead in time in Karan's uncle, Dr. Yatinder Khanna's (Boman Irani) time machine to Mumbai in the future. But she mets with an accident and dies. Uncle takes his grief stricken nephew to 2050 in Mumbai hoping to meet Sana as it was her wish to be in 2050 & we meet the reincarnation of Sana, who is clueless about love and his punar janam.
No need to be a Newton to guess what happens in the end.
Unfortunately, all this exercise takes as much as 20 reels & it drags & drags. Director Harry Baweja fails in keeping the audience engrossed while narrating his own story. Till interval, the highly talked about VFX are not to be seen.
The second half is completely sci-fi but that too drags in the end which has already taken the audience toll. Even the stupendous production values, Harman’s promising debut, good support from Priyanka and a hit number (Kaho Na Kaho) fails to keep the audience engrossed.
Promotion
The movie is a living example & a lesson to others in how a film with a new comer should be promoted. The promotion has been all out in keeping no stone unturned and has successfully created the awareness.
Media Promotion by Sanchita Dubey (Imagesmiths) has also been apt both in the print and satellite considering the tough competition.
Business analysis
This 60 crore film is aiming higher with 550 prints & is expecting more patronage in the single screens. It must be noted that Jodha Akbar – the 40 crore project somehow managed to recover with 1,500 prints.
But to recover 60 crore from 550 odd prints is a really tough task & it will only be possible if the film has a repeat value which unfortunately is not the case.