Flop directors’ surprise BO magic!

Last week, Barfi! weaved its magic on critics with Anurag Basu’s sensitive tale being termed as his best work yet. It made us wonder in disbelief – is THIS the same man who made Kites? Sometimes a filmmaker who makes a terrible movie stuns his naysayers with a brilliant new project. At other times, the reverse is true – a director who makes an impressive film the first time makes absolute trash the next. Check out some recent films that either made you go wow or eww even though they were helmed by the same director!

Anurag Basu

Sucked with...

Kites
It was a disaster of epic proportions. The hype about this cross-border love story between Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori, was heightened by allegations of an affair between them. However, the limp script, terrible performances and an implausible story made it a bad watch. Anurag blamed the debacle on factors ‘beyond his control’ but these days he is more magnanimous – in recent interviews he has accepted that Kites is as much his film as Barfi!.

Stunned with...

Barfi!
Barfi! is being hailed as a masterpiece and Anurag calls it his ‘most personal film’. He is sure to be the frontrunner for the Best Director award next season. His earlier films like Gangster and Life… In A Metro too showcased his ability to portray relationships beautifully but no movie has won him as much acclaim as Barfi! has. What changed Anurag?


Sujoy Ghosh

Sucked with...

Aladdin
Sujoy’s debut film Jhankar Beats was fun but his next two ventures Home Delivery and Aladdin were pure nightmares. Especially Aladdin, considering it starred Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Riteish Deshmukh! Bad music, bad acting, terrible make-up… nothing was right in this film. The industry was quick to write Sujoy off.

Stunned with...

Kahaani
What a comeback! The gripping Vidya Balan starrer is one of the best films this year and has been praised for its taut plot and fantastic performances. Sujoy apparently worked on the script for three years, perfecting and shaping it. Currently, he is the toast of T’town and his next film with Vidya, Naseer and Big B is already creating a buzz. That’s what success does for you!


Reverse Gear
While most directors learn from their mistakes and improve with their next project, one man has gone in the opposite direction…


Shirish Kunder

Stunned with...

Jaaneman
The Akshay-Salman-Preity starrer was a sweet and simple love story that impressed solely because of the way it was presented. Great music and very innovative editing and narration made the critics go gaga though it wasn’t a big box office hit.

Sucked with...

Joker
A film that made a joke of everyone involved in it. Need we say more?