#Koyla #ShahRukhKhan Why it did not work. #Flop

In the nineties, Rakesh Roshan was riding high on the success of back-to-back hits starting from Khudgarz (1987) Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) Kala Bazaar (1989) Kishen-Kanhaiya (1990)  Khel (1992) King Uncle (1993) Karan Arjun (1995)

Post the super successful Karan-Arjun, the expectations from the next Rakesh Roshan directorial venture were sky high. The film had a grand launch. The star cast was also huge, Shah Rukh Khan was already a big star then and Rakesh Roshan's tag - guaranteed a super hit film. But alas it was not destined to be. 

KOYLA, released in April 1997 and got panned by the critics. Though the story line was simple - the larger than life characters of the film somehow did not connect with the audience. 

Drawbacks:

Huge Load of Expectations

The extra ordinary launch, the baggage of earlier hit films like Khoon Bhari Maang, Kala Bazaar, Karan Arjun created a big cloud of expectations on this film. To add to this already heavy baggage was the unique way the film was promoted on TV and media. The making of the film itself was a big hit on the National Television network. It was said that the making was filmed by the then Assistant Director Hrithik Roshan.

Outdated Story and Plot

That was the time when Karan Johar and other film makers were making contemporary films, modern films. Koyla somehow seemed to get trapped in the "thakur" and "gaon" scenario. To add to this the films characters had this weird looking long haired look, right from the hero Shah Rukh Khan to the villain Amrish Puri and the sub villain Salim Ghouse and even the comedian Ashok Saraf.

Shah Rukh Khan muted & a fading Madhuri magic

The plot of the story was that the hero of the film is mute. A typical masala bollywood pot boiler where the hero does not speak a word till the interval was not such a good idea. It was 1997, (though personally I am big fan of Madhuri Dikshit) the Madhuri magic was beginning to fade. The film was heavily dependent on these two characters which somehow did not get translated on screen.

Music

Rajesh Roshan's music was good. But was not liked by all...as the audience had moved in to more peppy numbers dished out by Jatin-Lalit in the form of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaygenge, Yes Boss et all.

An overdose of action 

Undoubtedly, this was the best department of the film. From the overall looks it seemed as if Shah Rukh Khan wanted to do break away from the lovey-dovey image and get into hard core action oriented films. The film saw SRK doing all kinds of things, dodging a helicopter, running over the train, setting himself on flames...but still was not enough to save the film.

Conclusion

Though this film cannot be termed as a Flop (as the trade records do suggest that the film did an Average business in the year 1997). It certainly did not match the hype it created before its release. 

Shot on the most exotic locations with the biggest of the stars, with an enchanting musical score and almost never seen before action sequences it failed to connect the right chord with the audience. 

After watching the film at Minerva (Mumbai) in the first week itself, I was not sure if I liked it or not. The film was big and grand and it served its purpose of entertaining.

Till we meet next time, this is 'bachpan se filmi' signing off.

Stay tuned for more on these films. If you can suggest any name which you feel should be included in this list, please comment.