Is a movie’s worth decided by the amount of money spent in its making and publicity? Most of you would say an emphatic “no” to that one; but there does seem to be such a feeling at least in some parts of the Indian film industry that a big budget or at least a claim to it can raise the stakes of a movie.

Sometimes one can’t help feeling that money is being blown in needless pursuits of pomp, grandeur, splendor and other whatnots that while not helping a movie in any way in some cases tends to draw the focus away from the main theme of the movie itself. It is like concentrating the spotlight on something that is actually nothing in the movie. This is not being said without any proof or just off the cuff. This is based on observations that have been made over the past year or so, especially in Bollywood and in some cases Kollywood too. Here are some instances where money, time and a hell a lot of publicity was wasted on a figment of a feature film that had nothing to do with the plot of the movie. 1. Bhagam Bhag Even those who have seen the movie in theaters might not be aware of such a song. It is the Bhagam Bhag theme song and it is shown on screen when the end credits begin to roll. And it is not a song that was made out of deleted scenes, bloopers, ‘in the making’ videos and things like that. It was a song that was shot after all other portions of the film had been completed, almost like an afterthought and finding nowhere in the movie to place it they decided to put it at a place where it would not affect the narrative, right at the end. And, believe it or not, the song, shot on Govinda and Akshay Kumar cost the producers a cool Rs. 1 crore and for all practical purposes the song did not help the movie in any way, except for a few news bytes that the movie has a Rs. 1 crore song. Call it lavishness, thrift or plain madness - it just doesn’t make any sense.

2. Kya Love Story Hai This was a movie that was released fairly recently starring Tushar Kapoor and Ayesha Takia but the movie came to be known for a reason quite far removed from this. That reason was an item song featuring Kareena Kapoor. Kareena did the item song at the special request of the director who happened to be her long time friend. But one feels it would have been a far greater favor had she not done the song; her presence and the heavy promotion surrounding that drew all the attention away from the main story that the only people who ended up in theaters were a few assorted Kareena crazed guys. Result, the movie sank without a trace. The producer had spent a cool sum on this song too. Now something from Kollywood

Aran This was a movie that was supposed to be based on the life, bravery and sacrifices of the men guarding the frontiers of our nation and yet in a very appalling manner, an item number, exclusive front bencher stuff, featuring Ragasiya was added to the movie for reasons that cannot be fathomed. One thing is for sure, the director, Major Ravi, an ex-military personnel himself would certainly had not been in favor of this item number. There seems to have been some serious pushing done by the producer who felt insecure with the offbeat theme. The presence of such an unwelcome diversion further weakened the chances of this movie. As an ending note: the same movie was released in Malayalam titled Keerthi Chakra without this obtrusive addition and was a huge hit there. The producer was the same but there seemed to be no insistence upon an item number in Malayalam. Then, did the producer underestimate the taste of the Tamil audiences, is there a feeling that Tamil audience need a fair share of masala before they can accept a movie. Think again, think Mozhi…… good, unadulterated cinema always wins. Gimmicks not required. Finally, one hears that the shooting of Bhool Bhulaiya (Hindi remake of Chandramukhi is over) but the producers and director are planning to shoot an extra song featuring Akshay Kumar. The cost - Rs. 1 crore … And they will be using it principally to promote the film (and maybe add it on at the end)… Not again!