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Time and again we have written articles which spoke about the achievements of Dharmendra and Sunny Deol. The Box-Office collections of their films from the past is enough for the two to find a place in the list of the biggest superstars that the Hindi film industry has seen since its inception. Dharmendra and Sunny Deol are known for their loyal mass fan following, who have come out in huge numbers to watch their films years after years in the good old days. But this century or rather last 10 years in particular have not been very fruitful for the Deols.
Apart from Yamla Pagla Deewana and Apne to a certain extent, none of their films have managed to get acceptance from the audience and flopped at the Box-Office. And the only people to be blamed for this are the three Deols. The USP of their films together this century has been “The Deols Are Back Together”, and nothing else. While Apne and Yamla Pagla Deewana worked because the films had some substance apart from the mere USP of the three actors from the family coming together, the two other films i.e. Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 and Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se sank without a trace.
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In-fact, the opening day collections of Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se took everyone by shock as the film just didn’t open at the Box-Office with several shows getting cancelled on the opening day. The reason for disastrous opening goes to the unplanned marketing campaign and lack of awareness. Sunny Deol and Dharmendra still have a set audience base that would buy their film tickets provided the content is promising, but this film looked dud from the word go. The theatrical trailer had put a seal on the fate of the film, as the jokes seemed to be highly unfunny and tacky whereas even the production values were not great either. The only selling point of this film was the reunion of Deols and in today’s time and age wherein content is slowly taking over the concept of stardom, this isn’t enough. The Deols are loved by the audience, but this doesn’t mean that the audience would invest a certain amount of time and money to watch them on the big screen in a film that doesn’t even look promising from the trailer.
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Its’ about time that the Deols start taking them seriously and take up films that does justice to the legacy created by them over the years. Signing on for films like Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, Poster Boyz, Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se will do nothing but tarnish the goodwill that they have among the audience (although damage has already been done). Its about time the Deols realize that making fun of themselves time and again would not do any good to their standing in the industry. Its time for them to break the stereotype and create a new image rather than continuously banking on an image created around 2 to 3 decades back. It still isn’t late to rectify the errors and come up with stuff that looks exciting and not tacky from the trailers itself. It still isn’t late to cope up with the environment that exists in the industry today and adapt modern means of promoting the film in a smart manner. Merely giving interviews and making an appearance in TV Shows is not enough. In today’s time and age, it is essential to place the product at the right time and place to ensure footfalls. Here’s hoping that the Deols learn from their mistakes and make films with established directors and production houses rather than working with just family and friends from the industry. If a film like Ghayal Returns can open around the Rs 7.00 crore mark, it just shows that the audience is still willing to invest provided you serve them with wholesome entertainment.
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