Earlier this week, news filtered through that Taal 2's sequel is in the works. A collective groan rippled through the net - esp by those who know of the industry.
At age 81, once a prominent film maker (both as producer and director), Subhash Ghai (born January 24, 1945) hasn't had a hit film since...
Taal (1999), so a late sequel is unsurprising, if not unwarranted.
A big commercial success in India and overseas, after that, Ghai has been behind one mega flop after another, including, Yaadein (2001), Kisna (2005), Black & White (2008), the painful Yuvvraaj (2008), Kaanchi (2014), and Hero (2015), all were mostly flops or disasters at the box office. Some might say otherwise about Hero - but really, no.
Ghai has largely stepped back from directing big theatrical films since then, regaling others on recent podcasts and interviews of his glory days in the 1980s and 90s. The magical Midas touch, the showman tag he earned... all but gone, as he lives of the faded glory of being once the most powerful producer in India. Famously ill-tempered, who spoke in a rather unique manner with his broken English. It didn't matter because he was fluent with the idiom of Hindi cinema, particularly commercial cinema. Great music, great show-piece song and dance routines, aesthetics, and even choreographed violence. He knew what mattered; mothers, mother India, and music! Throw in some sensuality, iconic characters with catch phrases and a pacing that glossed over any errors or logic.
His more recent involvement has been as a writer/producer, notably with 36 Farmhouse (2022), which sort of succeeded on OTT (described as a "silver jubilee hit" in terms of viewership)... but really, who can tell? Those numbers are not open to public or accounting scrutiny! Anyone at an online platform can state a film or show got more views than Superbowl - how can one corroborate it?! The film was almost universally panned (apart from the performances of the underpaid Sanjay Mishra and Vijay Raaz!) but the PR insistence that it was a ratings bonanzas makes one... suspicious.
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| Ghai always had a great sense of music. Now he's gone the SLB way! |
Ghai relying on the IP and leaning heavily on the memories of his last blockbuster, by announcing a sequel to Taal is... a shoulder shrug. Sure, its making a few headlines now, but as a director, Ghai has had a string of theatrical flops in the 2000s–2010s (roughly 4–6 consecutive underperformers in big releases from Yaadein onward, depending on how you count producer-only credits or smaller films).
He has not had a major theatrical directorial success in over 25 years. Ghai remains active in the industry as a producer, mentor, and occasional writer, and he is still respected for his earlier blockbuster era (e.g., Karz, Hero, Ram Lakhan, Khalnayak, Pardes)... but he is so out of touch now, and his constant denial of his fiascos when the writing is on the wall... is pitiable.
We celebrate the man for his vast achievements of days long gone. He needs to pass the mantle on, perhaps as mentor and let new gen write, direct (a physically taxing job and Ghai has been looking all of his eight decades). Even Rakesh Roshan hung up his boots - and he hasn't had a flop in eons!
Ghai is stepping on the ignoble footsteps of Dev Anand (who famously had only flops the last four decades of his life, who made films that got progressively or should we state regressively worse)... that might all but eclipse his legacy.
Taal worked for the magic of its music, Aishwarya Rai's epic beauty, the casting, writing and direction of Subash Ghai. Did I mention music? But he was 54 then, is the octogenarian willing to take on this new gen? Not only the new gen of audiences but new gen cast and crew who are no longer willing to work unethically long hours for nominal pay?! We're about to find out!
The significance of Aishwarya Rai and her power at the box-office has been underreported - people went to movies (some terrible ones) just to see how she looked, danced, and sometimes performed. She took every critic's note on the chin and strove ahead. As she herself, in her first film, she was being coming to the first lady of Bollywood. She was sensational in Taal - a film of incredible ingredients not the least of which was the music. 
