By Sameer Wadekar, Bollywood Trade News Network

Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone’s ROCKY was not just a movie about Boxing but a story, a mesmerizing and convincing saga about realizing your dreams and striving to make them a reality. The movie won the Best Picture Oscar and also cemented Stallone’s Action hero status in Hollywood and made him an instant star worldwide. The film was basically an Action flick in the league of numerous others of its kind. And stating the obvious, Bollywood got hooked on to the Rocky syndrome and its Desi version was crafted in the form of BOXER that starred the talented Mithun Chakraborty in the title role. The film did good business and cemented Mithun’s star status and the audience well connected with the story. Then there was Amitabh Bachchan in NASEEB essaying not exactly a boxer but a cage fighter more or less on the same lines; only in cage fights the rule is, ‘there are no rules’! But about cage fights we’ll talk later, now let’s talk about boxing.

Sohail Khan starrer ARYAN is up for its theatrical release soon. The movie shows Sohail playing a boxer. Sohail Khan portrays the central character ‘Aryan’, who is a born fighter. Boxing serves as the life-blood for Aryan’s existence. The movie is about how Aryan battles off all the obstacles in his way and ultimately emerges the winner. Well, not a fresh plot but still a film tackling with the brutal art is on the plates after a long time. If the movie clicks it may well revive the genre in Bollywood and pave the way for its future clones. One thing that is more interesting is that the movie highlights the lead hero as an intuitive fighter much like last year’s over-hyped Action dud JAMES. Ram Gopal Varma claimed JAMES (he’s now remaking it) would be the rising of a real Action star in Bollywood but the movie failed miserably at the box-office and all of Varma’s claims withered away in thin air. Hope he gets it right this time with his much determined remake of JAMES but it could well be in a tight spot if ARYAN hits the chord with the audience.
 
Secondly, it could be revitalizing the action trend in Bollywood all over again. Such strong roles with a lot of substance to it can catapult an actor to stardom if it is written ingeniously and the film made inventively. Just recall Sunny Deol in GHAYAL in which he essayed a boxer, though it had nothing to do with the film’s ground but still he was portrayed as a guy who is acquainted with Boxing. This blockbuster by Raj Kumar Santoshi with its taut screenplay and superb performance by Sunny Deol was an overnight sensation. Sunny established himself as a first rate actor and was a favorite with many of the Producers and Directors thereafter. Sohail might be hoping ARYAN to do some similar kind of a miracle and uplift his acting career, but as they say it remains to be seen. Sohail has got the gesticulation to be an Action star and fits the bill perfectly when it comes to rendering the bucolic form on-screen. Incidentally, he’s also playing an Action hero in the upcoming FIGHT CLUB though not as a boxer; the film still has him engaged in a lot of bashing and thrashing around. FIGHT CLUB though an Action flick has been tinged with slice of comedy and also involves a romantic circumference to it.
 
So a lot of Fists of Fury’ flying across in the coming times that are ready to take a shot at your guts. Though the subject is not all that new to the audience, it is coming along after quite a gap with those family dramas and candyfloss romantic frolics knocking a dent in recent times. But now the adrenaline rush and high voltage stunts could well be felt again. Action genre is a different fashion in itself and will not go out of fashion, be it Hollywood or Bollywood. People love to see the Action fare, to see the clash of the gladiators on-screen, it’s ‘paisa vasool’ for the public! Only that the films must be able to pack a punch at the box-office and not just pack it, pack it real hard!