After Ashutosh Gowarikar?s Jodhaa Akbar and Abbas Mustan?s Race, the big release in the first half of 2008 was slated to be Yash Raj Films? Tashan, starring Akshay Kumar, who had delivered four hits last year, real-life couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, and Anil Kapoor.

There was a whole lot of hype surrounding the film, directed as it was by Vijay Krishna Acharya, writer of Dhoom and Dhoom 2. But the filmbombed at the box-office. No amount of publicity, not even the Tashan-branded dabbas that were delivered at various offices across Mumbai by efficient dabbawalas sporting Tashan shirts, helped the film. Bollywood, which has had a dismal run so far ? only Jodhaa Akbar, Race, Jannat and small budget films like Shaurya and Mithya have managed to do well ? is now looking to the next seven months to makeup.

After the Indian Premier League of cricket too played spoilsport by keeping people away from the multiplexes, a host of releases are coming up ? ?almost two every Friday for the next several months,? says an exhibitor ? starting with Ramgopal Varma?s ?comeback film? Sarkar Raj, which was launched on Friday. Says Tushar Dhingra, COO, Adlabs Cinemas: ?If you compare with the first half of 2007, January-May 2008 hasn?t been very strong. Tashan was expected to do well but did not live up to expectations. The success of IPL also contributed to Bollywood?s poor performance.?

But the players aren?t losing hope. Says Kishore Lulla, CEO, Eros International: ?The film business has been on the increase especially within the domestic market in India due to the mushrooming of multiplexes. The year 2008 too will see a growth of 16% approximately not only in box office sales but across the revenue chain including home video, music, new media and gaming.? Producers, distributors, exhibitors alike feel BO collections will pick up dramatically in the second half of the year when a slew of bigticket films are set for release. ?The next seven months will be exciting,? says Ranjan Singh, GM, PVR. ?We have films of all the big names from stars like Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan and directors like Aditya Chopra, Subhash Ghai, Vipul Shah, Kunal Kohli and they should deliver,? he adds.

But will SRK be able to reignite the magic of Dilwale Dulhania?? Shahrukh teams up with a young co-star, first-timer Anushka Sharma,for this comeback film of Aditya Chopra, who?s back to directing after eight years. ?We hope people like Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, releasing on December 12,? says an exhibitor. ?There hasn?t been a single universal hit till now and the business has suffered,? points out Singh.

With the mushrooming of multiplexes, there is a lot of variety in content, but often there?s a lot to be said about the execution, say analysts, giving the example of Tashan, ?which promised much, but delivered little?.

Adds Devang Sampat, senior VP, Cinemax India: ?Last year we had Guru and Namaste London as two major hits till June. This time it has been Race and Jodhaa Akbar. We are hoping this year is bigger than last year.?

In fact, most distributors had been waiting for IPL to get over before announcing big releases. For instance, Eros International released Sarkar Raj ?the haphazard second half spoils all the good work of the first half ? in the overseas markets this weekend and over the next three months will launch God Tussi Great Ho, Drona, and Subhash Ghai?s Yuvraj. ?We are all looking forward to the next seven months to produce some hits,? admits Ashok Ahuja, executive director, Intellectual Property Rights & distribution, Percept Picture Company.

According to industry watchers, since there are many more releases in the second half of the year, there?s going to be a clash of big-ticket films on Friday. For instance, October 2 will see the release of Aamir Khan?s Ghajini, a remake of a Tamil film, and Abhishek Bachchan?s much delayed fantasy film Drona.

From the UTV stable, which is releasing 18 films from June ?08 to March ?09, there?s M Night Shyamalan?s The Happening, which is releasing same day and date with the US next weekend. ?We are very excited about The Happening and a host of other films including Fashion, Shoebite, Mumbai Meri Jaan and so forth,? says Siddharth Roy Kapur, director, UTV Motion Pictures.

?Like every year,? points out Eros? Lulla, ?there could be a surprise winner in a small budget film like Hijack.? Starring Shiney Ahuja and Esha Deol and directed by Kunal Shivdasani, it releases on August 29. Industry watchers are also waiting to see how people react to Mumbai Meri Jaan, directed by Nishikant Kamat, who won rave reviews for his Marathi and Tamil film Dombivili Fast, and Aziz Mirza?s Kismet Konnection with Shahid Kapur and Vidya Balan. Mumbai Meri Jaan, starring Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon, Soha Ali Khan, Irrfan Khan and Paresh Rawal, explores the impact of serial bomb blasts on the local train service on July 11, 2006, and it?s slated for a July release.

Most of the players have huge releases lined up for next year as well. For instance, Eros is releasing 35 films in Hindi and Tamil in 2008-09. Says Bhumika Tewari, GM, cinema programming, Fun Cinemas: ?In 2009 we will have Rajkumar Hirani?s Idiot with Aamir Khan and Kareena, Rakesh Mehra?s Dilli 6, Karan Johar?s My Name is Khan, Ashutosh Gowarikar?s What is your Rashi?, Vishal Bharadwaj?s Kamina starring Shahid Kapur and Priyanka Chopra, Imtiaz Ali?s Agent Vinod with Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone and so forth.? Yes, it?s getting bigger.

We will have to wait and watch if it’s getting better.