Following in the footsteps of some really popular films like Devdas, Kal Ho Na Ho and Lagaan, Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar Raj is the latest Bollywood film to find a place in the prestigious Academy of Motion Pictures library (Oscar library).

The script of Sarkar Raj will be there permanently for the reference of students of cinema. Sarkar Raj, an intense film on politics which spoke about the power games people indulge in, featured all the three Bachchans i.e. Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan together for the first time.

The fire that Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag sparked off has been doused. What Babban of Aag or Vijay of Nishabd could not do for Ram Gopal Varma could well be achieved by an ageing Subhash Nagre, his family and foes in Sarkar Raj. Though trade experts aren’t calling the film a success, they are saying that it has helped Varma consolidate his position in Bollywood. So much so that people are waiting to see Varma’s magic unfold in his forthcoming Contract and Phoonk.

It's official! Bollywood minus cricket has no Tashan ... but throw in a good Race, some dynasty politics, an epic romance and a dash of match fixing and everyone — producer, director, actor, audience — will find Jannat at the box office. And that, dear reader, is the Bollywood round up for the first half of 2008.

Fortunes change every Friday. It is time to go beyond proclamations, claims, retorts and diatribe. The BO burrow is where all false gods falter. Fly-day or Fry-day..? It depends on which end of the Six Pack chart you are!

1. Abhishek Bachchan: The Young Lion
In ‘Sarkar Raj’, we see the emergence of Bachchan II. Small B has, finally, stepped into the shoes of Angry Young Man. The junior never for once flinches in the presence of his mighty dad. Nor is he overshadowed by his charming wife. Abhishek Bachchan, as Shankar Nagre, is one for the textbook.

If there is one director in the industry who is most immune to Box Office results, it surely has to be Ram Gopal Varma. He is the last person to play safe with the script and there is nothing that can stop him from experimenting. After the success of Sarkar Raj, RGV is all set to make a third part to the story of Nagre family. What's more the director will even cast Abhishek Bachchan in the movie.

SARKAR RAJ has turned out to be a success at the box office. Even though some media reports have been questioning the film's pull, especially after a huge number of prints that the film was released at, the fact remains that over 23 crores coming in the first week means that at the least SARKAR RAJ would prove to be an average success at the box office.

It seems the blogging bug is catching on in Bollywood -after the Big B, it's Bachchan bahu Aishwarya who's taken to cyber space to answer Abhishek's critics.

The only difference is, while Pa-in-law has his own blog and his take on things, Ash has only blogged in retaliation to a comment that apparently touched a nerve with her.