Six months into 2007, a record number of flops is casting a dark shadow on Bollywood, which has yet to register a single big hit movie this year.

With a crop of pitiful moves like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Shakalaka Boom Boom, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Salaam E Ishq, Fool N Final and Guru hitting the screen this year, it’s no surprise that Bollywood’s cash registers have stopped ringing.

That starpower is no longer a guarantee of success for producers has been proved by the failure of movies like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Guru and Salaam E Ishq.

Even veteran director Mani Ratnam’s Guru, based on the life of the late industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani and featuring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in lead roles, turned out to be a damp squib.

The last decent film from Bollywood was Dhoom 2, which came in November 2006.

Besides the absence of decent scripts, Bollywood is also plagued by lack of competent actors.

In a tacit acknowledgement of their limitations, unimaginative directors like Ram Gopal Verma are now stooping to remake hits from the 1970s like Sholay.

Based on their pathetic performances in recent movies, youngsters like Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol and Shahid Kapoor would have a hard time finding roles as extras in films if it were not for their family connections in Bollywood.

In movie after movie, these “star kids” go through the motions of acting and seem to be investing little effort in improving their acting capabilities.

Even senior actors like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Rani Mukerji have been unable to deliver a big hit this year so far.

Barring a miracle, the second half of 2007 will be as rotten as the first half and the year will most likely turn out to be annus horribilis for Bollywood.