Vi segnalo l'articolo Numero Unos - A survey of the top hit films: 1980s, di Rajiv Vijayakar, pubblicato ieri da Bollywood Hungama:
'The Top Guns
It was a toss between 1985's Ram Teri Ganga Maili and 1989's Maine Pyar Kiya as ten topmost grossers of the entire decade. The ten Numero Uno hits were:
1980 - Qurbani, directed by Feroz Khan - an action drama that was also a love triangle
1981 - Ek Duuje Ke Liye (K. Balachander) - a love story
1982 - Vidhaata (Subhash Ghai) - a crime drama inspired by Godfather
1983 - Hero (Subhash Ghai) - a love story against the backdrop of crime
1984 - Aaj Ki Awaz (Ravi Chopra) - a political thriller
1985 - Ram Teri Ganga Maili (Raj Kapoor) - a love triangle that was a social comment as well as an allegory
1986 - Nagina (Harmesh Malhotra) - a supernatural drama (...)
1987 - Hukumat (Anil Sharma) - an anti-terrorist thriller
1988 - Tezaab (N. Chandra) - also a love story against the backdrop of crime and
1989 - Maine Pyar Kiya (Sooraj Barjatya) - a musical love story
A decade of change
The '80s was a decade of change; generally perceived as shifts of a retrograde nature, though that is not completely fair. The exit or fading of giant singers (including Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar who passed away at their peaks), many of the lyricists and most of the legendary composers ganged up with factors like extreme social degeneration, political shenanigans in the country resulting in major angst and frustration along with an increase in violence and insurgency in many parts of the country. Significantly, while the love story Ek Duuje Ke Liye ended with violence and tragedy, Qurbani, Hero, Nagina and Tezaab were all romances against the backdrop of crime!
The third angle of this lethal triangle was the emergence of revolutionary new technology whose flipside became more dominant - like video piracy, audio piracy and the use of stereophonic sound to inculcate alien musical trends like disco, frenetic beats and a certain disregard for lyrics. Legal and illegal watching of films at home saw movie producers catering to the lowest common denominator of audience that could not afford to buy video players and formed the majority of the reduced theatre-going audience. And the anger towards the system resulted in violence-studded political thrillers galore.
Terrorism too reared its ugly head in certain states, adding to increased on-screen violence reflected in the first three anti-terrorist dramas - Karma, which missed the 1986 top slot because of its huge budget vis-à-vis Nagina, Mr. India (made with a comic-book tenor) and Hukumat (which actually topped 1987's films!). In fact, the '80s go down in history as the decade when four adult-certified films topped the years, whether because of sex (Ram Teri Ganga Maili), violence (Aaj Ki Awaz, Hukumat) or the supernatural element (Nagina)! Adult films automatically curtail a big chunk of viewers, but this was really an amazing and mysterious paradox!
Top names
It is a tangy coincidence indeed that Raj Kapoor's swan song Ram Teri Ganga Maili vied for top slot with Sooraj Barjatya's debut film Maine Pyar Kiya, which was almost a rehash of Kapoor's Bobby, the biggest hit of 1973. Maine Pyar Kiya, however, had its share of triumphs. (...) It was the first solo lead of Salman Khan, the man who was to become Numero Uno 20 years after his superstardom began with this film! Maine Pyar Kiya also completed the process of the return to the movie halls of up market audiences. This had begun with 1988's biggest hits Tezaab and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and was consolidated before Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989 by Ram Lakhan, Tridev and Chandni, the other top hits of the year. In fact, Subhash Ghai's Ram Lakhan lost the Numero Uno slot just two weeks before the year ended because of the release of this Barjatya whopper! (...)
Shifts in tastes and trends
Qurbani proved categorically that the audience was now open to fresh areas in cinema. It had the first combo of an NRI composer - Biddu - and Pakistani pop crooner based in London - Nazia Hassan stepping in for a specialized song - Indian cinema's first modern club number 'Aap Jaisa Koi'. This 'trend' of musical infiltration is endemic in today's times, but unlike today's tunesmiths, Kalyanji-Anandji matched the 'outside' chartbuster with four of their own, including another club song with even greater staying power, 'Laila Ho Laila'. (...) Choreography too saw a mix of traditional and new styles and a new generation of stars came in with an influx of star-sons. Kamal Haasan, (...) Sanjay Dutt, (...) Jackie Shroff, (...) Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor, (...) and Salman Khan featured in the top hits. (...) Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla narrowly missed the bus when their QSQT came in second to Tezaab in 1988. (...)
'Vital' statistics
Subhash Ghai was the only director to have two Numero Uno toppers (Vidhaata and Hero in consecutive roles) in this decade, narrowly missing a third film (Ram Lakhan). Both his films had Shammi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar as character artistes, and Shammi, with his role in Hukumat, actually had the highest score among all male artistes - three films! (...) But the stage, as indicated by Tezaab and especially Maine Pyar Kiya, was set for a sweeping change in the '90s'.
Vedi anche Numero Unos - A survey of the top hit films: 1950s. Il testo raccoglie i link a tutti gli articoli della serie.
