THE MUSIC OF AETBAAR (2004)+++

Aetbaar was initially launched by veteran actor Sujit Kumar. However, shortly after the launch and with one song picturised, the financier of the film withdrew.

- H. S. Billimoria

Cutting Edge Entertainment moved in and took over the production duties. Two talented youngsters, Mandeep Singh and Khushroo Bhadha were roped in to oversee operations. It did help that both had a media background. Mandeep was also a regular on the Delhi stage scene. The movie was launched with a starcast consisting of Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham and Bipasha Basu. The director, Vikram Bhatt was fresh from his success with Raaz. Nadeem Shravan had been initially announced as music directors by Sujit Kumar; however, Nadeem quoted an astronomical price for the music and Rajesh Roshan walked in. Aetbaar had everything going for it. Territories were closed even before the film was completed. The music hit the charts in the first week after it was released. Yet, the movie met with a lukewarm response at the domestic box office. Its performance abroad and on the TV/ video circuit was somewhat better.

What were the reasons?

Firstly, the director, without informing the producers, made a quickie called Inteha with the same story. Inteha was released a few months before Aetbaar. The industry was abuzz with stories about this and a couple of distributors backed out at the last moment. Since Inteha tanked badly, not many people had seen it. So the similar stories could not be the only reason but it was certainly one of the main reasons. Of course, ethics in Bollywood was always an issue.

Second, Bipasha Basu was completely miscast in the role of an innocent college girl. She had the Jism and Raaz image of a sexy siren. The audience therefore did not empathise with her character at all. A Preity Zinta would have been the right choice.