veteran that he is, Ghai has seen many ups and downs and can judge a success from a failure when he sees one. All reports of a flop notwithstanding, Subhash Ghai has quite confidently stated that Black and White is a success in its own terms. It is not a typical Subhash Ghai entertainer but many people have judged by the usual yardsticks and thus the faulty appraisal of a brave attempt.

It is true that Black and White collections when compared to Jodha Akbar’s look like David before Goliath; but one has to consider the budget of the movie too. Black and White is not a movie in which Subhash Ghai has lavished money in sets, lighting, special effects and flashy songs. He has invested in talent and story telling and in his good old ally Anil Kapoor and the returns certainly seem to be coming. No one, however skeptical is able to overlook the talent of Anurag Sinha on display here and that is half the battle won. For those still interested in numbers, Subhash Ghai has revealed that the movie was shot in a span of 40 days in and around the Chandni Chowk area in Delhi at a budget of 6.5 crores and that money by any means is definitely coming back. Apparently, Subhash Ghai had calculated only too well what he was attempting and kept all factors proportionately low to cut out any risk factor.

True, Black and White won’t be remembered by distributors, exhibitors or the viewing public as a great work of cinema, commercial or otherwise. But in terms of what it set out to achieve, Black and White has done enough to be spared the label of a failure. And, if there are doubts about Subhash Ghai’s big movie potentials then he is coming back to the box office with a typical Bollywood fare this Diwali. Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Rahman’s music- Yuvaraj. We can postpone debates to that time.