Bollywood pins hopes on upcoming films in dismal 2008

By Shilpa Jamkhandikar

MUMBAI (Reuters) - It's been a gloomy year for Bollywood so far with several big-ticket projects foundering at the box-office but analysts say a host of interesting films releasing in the coming months may bring some cheer to the industry.

The list of big-budget failures this year is long: "Tashan", "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic" and "Love Story 2050", among many others.

"Bollywood has lost more than 300 crore rupees (3 billion rupees) in the first half of the year, and even films with big stars such as 'Jodhaa Akbar' and 'U, Me Aur Hum' haven't done well," trade analyst Amod Mehra said.

The industry, the biggest in the world in terms of the number of tickets sold, saw moderate success in niche ventures such as "Aamir" and "Mithya".

But the two box office front-runners for the year are "Race", a tale of greed, lust and betrayal and "Jannat," a film that explores the match-fixing scandal in cricket.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh estimates that "Jannat" made close to 13.8 crore rupees while "Race" raked in at least 47 crore.

A third film, "Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na," a coming of age tale about teenage love, enjoyed a good run in cinemas this month and looks set to be one of the biggest hits of the year.

"Even though the film had an all newcomer cast, it has done really well in smaller as well as bigger towns," Adarsh said.