JAANWAR
Shree Krishna International’s Jaanwar (UA) is the story of a child who falls into wrong hands and grows up to be a ferocious criminal. He meets a girl, falls in love with her and is about to get married to her and begin life afresh, leaving his past behind like a bad dream. But his past will not leave him so easily. Not just that, by quirk of fate, a little child falls in his lap and his upbringing becomes the criminal’s responsibility. The child grows up with the criminal, and the two of them grow very fond of each other. In the process, the criminal turns over a new leaf. After seven years, the child’s parents learn of the child’s whereabouts and seek his custody from the criminal-turned-guardian. The latter refuses to part with the child for sentimental reasons and, therefore, law has to step in. Finally, the child’s love for the guardian prompts his parents to request the guardian to stay with the family for the sake of the child.
Inspired from Mere Lal, the film has a weak and slow first half which has songs coming in quick succession of one another. The drama begins after interval, and the emotions of the child make the appealing part of the second half. Although dialogues (K.K. Singh) are well-written, they are, at many places, too flowery for the mood of the film. The screenplay (Robin Bhatt) is dull and it has some flaws too. For one, the ferocity of the criminal (Akshay Kumar) doesn’t come across in the first half to justify the title, because he has been shown as a criminal with a golden heart. Secondly, the criminal’s refusal to hand over the child to his parents looks a bit contrived. Even more surprising is the pleading of the lawful parents before the criminal-turned-guardian to give them back their child! Also, the criminal’s partner (Ashutosh Rana), who would rather die in prison than reveal the whereabouts of his friend (Akshay) to the police, has a change of heart at the drop of a hat — he begins to thirst for Akshay’s blood after being released from jail.
Akshay Kumar does quite well. He looks handsome in the first half but his get-up after interval is not very pleasing to the eyes. Karisma Kapoor is effective in emotional scenes but she is missing in a major part of the second half. Shilpa Shetty also scores in emotional scenes, which is all she gets to do. Mohnish Bahl gets limited scope and is alright. Ashish Vidyarthi, as the inspector with a mission, is okay. Ashutosh Rana does not have a role to match his talent. Master Aditya Kapadia looks cute and does a fair job. Johny Lever is just about funny at a couple of places. Shakti Kapoor is so-so. Kader Khan and Jaspinder Narula, both in guest appearances, lend face value. Malay Chakravorty, Viju Khote, Huma Khan, Dinesh Hingoo, Dolly Bindra, Jeetu Verma, master Mohd. Shanu, master Manjyot Singh and the rest lend ordinary support.
Suneel Darshan’s direction is quite good. He shows a marked improvement over his previous film, Ajay. Anand Milind’s music is the best thing in the film. Songs are all very well-tuned and the pick of the lot are ‘Mere yaar dildar’, ‘Mere sapnon ke rajkumar’, ‘Tujhko na dekhoon toh’, ‘Kasam se’ and ‘Chhamak chham’. Song picturisations, however, definitely needed to be more eye-catching to do justice to the lovely tunes. Camerawork (Sameer Reddy) is reasonably good. Tinnu Verma’s action is fairly exciting. Editing is loose. Production and other technical values are alright.
On the whole, Jaanwar has appeal for the masses (action) and ladies (emotions) but nothing for the upper classes. It should do fair business where is has opened well as in Maharashtra, U.P., West Bengal, Bihar, C.P.C.I. Rajasthan, mainly in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres.
Released on 23-12-’99 at Metro and on 24-12-’99 at 19 other cinemas of Bombay thru Niraj International. Publicity: excellent. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was very good in U.P., Bihar, C.P. and Rajasthan.
LATEST POSITION
The good opening of JAANWAR this week in many parts of the country has brought joy in the trade.
Dahek is a complete washout. 1st week Bombay 12,56,070 (21%) from 11 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,97,465 from 5 cinemas; Solapur 78,948; Delhi 6,07,035 (19%) from 6 cinemas; Kanpur 98,028 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 62,878, Agra 98,000, Allahabad 60,360, Bareilly 34,918; Indore 32,864 (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 42,260.
………
Khoobsurat 4th week Bombay 19,49,893 (58.66%) from 7 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,07,587 from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 78,000; Solapur 91,387; Delhi 6,56,064 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 87,999 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,06,464, Agra 62,323, Allahabad 33,800, Dehradun 70,122; Calcutta 1,50,652; Nagpur 1,02,503, Jabalpur (6 days) 72,089, Amravati (6 days) 1,16,854, Raipur (6 days) 77,696, 3rd week Jalgaon (6 days) 77,515, 1st week Wardha 90,558, 2nd week Yavatmal 45,613 (1st 1,03,745); 4th week Indore 95,393, Bhopal 72,607; Jaipur 1,37,678; Hyderabad (gross) 3,34,810 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).
Collections of Hum Saath-Saath Hain have improved in 7th week over those in the previous week/s in East Punjab mainly. 7th week Bombay 10,23,043 (40%) from 4 cinemas (9 on F.H.), 3rd week Bhayandar (gross) 70,794; 7th week Ahmedabad 2,38,690 from 2 cinemas, Baroda 1,81,051, Surat 1,93,400, 3rd week Kadi 65,300, 7th Rajkot (14 shows) 73,488, Jamnagar 58,118, Bhavnagar 66,003, Surendranagar 34,385; Nasik 1,33,500, Solapur 1,69,931, Sangli 64,400, Ahmednagar 91,200; Hubli 93,893, Belgaum 91,234, 3rd week Nippani 51,144, Bijapur (6 days) 62,537; 7th week Delhi 7,47,461 from 4 cinemas; Kanpur 1,24,807, Lucknow 2,70,931, Agra 1,70,000, Varanasi 1,26,286, Allahabad 1,01,590, Meerut 86,000, Bareilly 68,108, Jhansi 64,948, Dehradun 1,07,681, Moradabad 53,779, Gorakhpur 66,549, Aligarh 62,436, 3rd week Hardwar 65,000; 7th week Ludhiana 2,46,050, Jammu 79,550, Patiala 83,845; Calcutta 6,39,098 from 6 cinemas; Patna 2,33,050; 4th week Guwahati 77,362; 7th Bhubaneswar 48,402; Nagpur 3,65,677 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (gross) 2,87,107; Amravati 1,60,902, total 17,55,463, Akola 1,19,213, Dhule 73,615, Raipur 2,27,497, Bhilai 71,626, 5th week Durg 58,542, 7th week Jalgaon 1,26,922, Bhusawal 87,777, 4th week Balaghat 68,317, 7th week Gondia 72,255, Wardha 35,207, Chandrapur 1,36,350, total 16,26,068, Yavatmal 68,018, Khandwa 1,12,856, total 13,96,222; Indore 1,61,037 (3 on F.H.), Sehore 43,750; Jaipur 5,95,480, Jodhpur (gross) 2,95,000 (6th 3,54,000), Ajmer 83,546 (6th 78,238); Hyderabad (gross) 7,87,254 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon); Aurangabad 1,58,836; Bangalore 4,06,389 from 2 cinemas; Madras 1,50,797.
Titanic (dubbed) was adversely affected due to Ramzan. 1 week Delhi 6,48,422 (32.79%) from 3 cinemas.
Maa Baap Ne Bhulsho Nahin (Gujarati; TF) 1st week Ahmedabad 7,19,175 from 5 cinemas; Rajkot 1,47,000. Very good.
Dariya Chhoru (Gujarati; TF) 3rd week Ahmedabad 1,66,873 from 2 cinemas; 1st week Bombay 5,56,077 (40.02%) from 3 cinemas.
‘HS-SH’: PRINT POSITION
Until two weeks back (that is, before the commencement of Ramzan), 316 prints of HUM SAATH-SAATH HAIN were in circulation in India. In the Ramzan period, about 100 prints were withdrawn in the last two weeks. The number of prints will be increased from Jan. 7 and brought back to the pre-Ramzan level on 14th Jan. A total of 130 prints have been taken out for Overseas.
MADHURI DIXIT’S WEDDING RECEPTION A SELECT AFFAIR
The wedding reception of Madhuri Dixit and Dr. Shriram Nene on 18th December at The Club was a select affair. Besides family member, relatives and friends, a limited number of people from the industry were invited for the reception in Bombay. Madhuri and Shriram had got married in Los Angeles on 17th October.
The couple, who had a short honeymoon soon after their marriage, were off on a trip to many countries on 22nd December. Madhuri will return to India in the second week of January 2000.
The actress, whose Pukar and Gaja-Gamini are ready for release, will continue to act in films. In fact, inside reports have it that she has already signed two films of top directors. In one, she co-stars with three heroes and in the other, she pairs with another heroine and a hero.
‘Q’ OF BOND MOVIE DEAD
Desmond Llewelyn, who played the eccentric inventor, Q, in 17 James Bond films, including the latest, The World Is Not Enough, died on 20th December in a car crash in South England. He was returning to London from a promotional campaign for a book about life, which had been released at the premiere of his film, The World Is Not Enough. He was 85.
AJAY DEVGAN GRANTED PERMISSION TO SHOOT
A division bench of the Madras high court, on 23rd December, granted permission to Ajay Devgan to shoot his Raju Chacha on the set he had constructed in the Udhagamandalam (Ooty) reserve forests. The bench, comprising Justice R. Jayasimha Babu and Justice P. Sathasivam, quashed the order of the district forest officer rescinding an earlier order, granting permission for putting up a huge set in the area.
YOU ASKED IT
Is Mela a rehash of Caravan?
– It draws inspiration from CARAVAN and MERA GAON MERA DESH. But, obviously, director Dharmesh Darshan must’ve added his touches.
How come, nobody has thought of registering titles like Y2K, Millennium, Saal 2000, and the like?
– You never know, enthusiastic producers may register the titles you’ve suggested before you even know it!
Can one buy the Indian remaking rights of a foreign film screened at film festivals here?
– Of course, if the foreign film’s producer is willing to sell them. If not, our producers have the knack of remaking them even without their rights!
PRODUCTION NEWS
‘Badal’ On Feb. 11
Mixing of Aftab Music Industries’ Badal is in progress. Produced by Salim and directed by Raj Kanwar from his own story, the film stars Bobby Deol, Rani Mukerji, Ashutosh Rana, Mayuri Kango, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Ashish Vidyarthi, Johny Lever, Upasna Singh, Shahbaaz Khan, Neena Kulkarni and Amrish Puri. Music: Anu Malik. Lyrics: Sameer. Screenplay: Robin Bhatt and Sutanu Gupta. Dialogues: Santosh Saroj. The film is scheduled for release on Feb. 11.
‘Mission Kashmir’ 15-Day Spell
Writer-producer-director Vidhu Vinod Chopra started a fifteen-day shooting schedule of Vinod Chopra Productions’ Mission Kashmir on Dec. 13 on a set at Film City. Many scenes are being picturised featuring all the artistes. Starring Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta and Sonali Kulkarni, the film has music by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonca. All the songs have already been recorded.
MULTIPLEXES IN GUJARAT
Government Clarification Causes Panic
The clarification, issued by the Gujarat government, in recent press advertisements regarding the tax exemption policy for new entertainment complexes in the state has sent shock waves among those planning such complexes. Although it is only a clarificatory notice and reiterates the position that already existed, people planning multiplexes in the state are panicking because they had interpreted the government policy on entertainment complexes insofar as it related to calculation of entertainment tax, differently.
The clarification mentions that the policy does not envisage that entertainment tax has been waived off but rather that tax exemption has been granted for the period of 10 years or till the investment in the multiplex is recovered, whichever is earlier. The clarification further provides for the maintenance of a pass book wherein the entertainment tax relief per week will be deducted from the total investment.
Since it is a tax relief, it implies that the multiplexes can neither collect entertainment tax from the paying public nor pay the same to the government treasury. This would imply that the admission rates charged by such multiplexes are the nett rates, and the tax to be deducted in the pass book would be calculated on the said rates. Multiplex owners would, on the other hand, interpret the policy to suggest that their admission rates were gross and only a part of that comprised entertainment tax collected but not payable to the government. In such an interpretation, the tax which is to be deducted from the investment in the pass book would be much lower every week.
At places like Gandhinagar, where tax is permitted to be compounded, the difference in the interpretations may not give rise to a very big difference in the tax calculations. But in places where tax is not allowed to be compounded, the entertainment tax calculated under the two interpretations would be very different — almost there times more by governmental interpretation than by multiplex owners’ interpretation.
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Y3K… Not Y2K!
With the new millennium around the corner, the most commonly used term this last month of the old millennium is ‘Y2K’. An intelligent producer, wishing to remain anonymous, quipped, “While the concern the world over is the Y2K problem in computers, our film industry has another serious problem. It is called ‘Y3K’! ‘Y3K’ stands for ‘Why 3 Khans?’ That is to say, why is the industry so driven by only the three Khans — Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh?” The producer further wondered, “Today, if you announce a film with any of the three Khans, music companies would fall over one another to acquire the music rights at crazy prices. Ditto, the Overseas distributors. But if your film does not have any Khan, no music company would even care to see who is your music director or how good is your music. For them, the three Khans are akin to sone ki khaan. But they would do well to remember that all that glitters is not gold! So, why so much importance to the three Khans? Y3K?” Any solution to the Y3K problem, anyone?!?
Out-Of-Tune Rumours
Rumours are rumours but they can sometimes harm the subject of the rumours badly. As the rumours concerning the singing career of playback singer Shailendra Singh are harming him. There was baseless talk of Shailendra having given up singing recently, but the singer, who shot to fame with Bobby, clarified, “I am shocked, and totally unaware about how these rumours emanated.” Rishi Kapoor telephoned Shailendra recently and expressed surprise that the singer did not partake in the Raj Kapoor celebration organised by Sony abroad last month. It is Rishi who told Shailendra Singh that he had heard rumours about him quitting singing. Surprised at the false talk, Shailendra informed Rishi that he could not participate, much as he would have liked to, because Sony had never contacted him for the same. “I’ve not quit singing,” the singer informed Information and added, “I’m lending my voice to a lot of songs for television serials and am also scoring music in films and serials.” So there!
Daddy Cool
Hrithik Roshan was a hit in Delhi among the youngsters on 22nd December during the screening of the songs of his launch pad, dad Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. A live show with Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel dancing to the film’s songs, was choreographed by the film’s choreographer, Farah Khan. The lead pair was cheered by the youth among the invitees. All the adulation that the pair got at the show made Rakesh Roshan feel cool enough to calculate the response his film would get.
A ‘Moving’ Performance
An ardent activist, she has always believed in raising a voice of protest against various ills and injustices.
Shabana Azmi on 22nd December raised her voice in the Rajya Sabha too, but in doing so, she was moved to tears following sharp exchanges between her and Shiv Sena member Sanjay Nirupam. Her objection to a statement against a minority community, made by the Sena member brought tears to her eyes as she rushed towards the chair of the House to lodge her protest. The chair later reprimanded the Sena member.
INFORMATION MEETS
“Today, I am completely focussed on my film career.”
– ANJAN SRIVASTAVA
The lovable Mr. Wagle from the tele-serial Wagle Ki Duniya, Anjan Srivastava, is down-to-earth in real life just like the character which he made immemorable on the small screen. Even today, years after the serial made its first appearance, he is unable to shake the image of Wagle off completely. “Yeh ek character ne mujhe itna pareshaan kiya hai ki bas, poochho mat,” he admits. On his part, he has constantly strived to do all kind of roles in order to prove his versatility, notable among which are his negative role in Boney Kapoor’s Santoshi-directed Pukar and another in NFDC’s Chhuti Kar Doonga, both unreleased films.
Information recently met this widely-respected film actor, television star and theatre stalwart over a chat. Excerpts:
Some good roles in the past year or so. How does it feel?
– Good, I guess. Both, Bandhan and Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, were successes. Khoobsurat has just released while the releases of Pukar and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani are around the corner. It is an exciting going right now. Yes, China Gate didn’t do too well, but I guess that happens sometimes….
Tell us more about your experience of working in CHINA GATE.
– If you were to describe China Gate in very simple terms, you can say that it was the fitoor (whim) of Rajkumar Santoshi. He realised that whenever one talks of the best films or the best actors, one invariably talks of Hollywood. It disturbed him that whenever we compare our films with those made in the West, we say, yes, they are the best films. Especially now, when filmmakers all over the world are looking to Eastern countries for subjects and actors. Sadly, the all too human tendency of not letting outsiders enter one’s own market is what prevents more Eastern talent from getting a break there.
Let me stray a little here. I remember working with Mira Nair in Mississippi Masala some years ago. She had to literally fight it out with her American colleagues in order to include Indian talent in the project. They used to often ask her why she insisted on casting Indian actors in the film. They went on arguing endlessly even after Mira explained to them that she needed Indian actors because her characters were Indian!
Coming back to the point I was making earlier, the Italian cameraman of Mississippi Masala used to often tell me how they had no fresh subjects in the West, especially woman-oriented ones. Given this, I quite appreciate Santoshi’s belief that Indian films had the necessary talent to compete in the world market. Of course, this talent had to be presented in a befitting manner. So, he took several good character actors and, regardless of their ages and looks, made them the heroes of his film. He made China Gate a commercial film with a twofold aim that it went down well with the audience here and yet, enabled us to show to the West that we had some of the best actors in India. All of us were very thrilled with Rajkumar Santoshi’s vision and the respect he gave us as actors. On my part, I thoroughly enjoyed working in China Gate and can say that this time, Raj gave full justice to my role — something he couldn’t do in Barsaat and Ghatak, where he was forced to chop down my roles as the films had become too lengthy. Raj also gave us actors the respect we deserved, treated us with a lot of maturity and made full payments to us, even when in doing so, he had to bear losses.
Why is it that even after leaving a mark in films like DAMINI and KABHI HAAN KABHI NAA, one doesn’t see you very often on screen? Is it because you are too selective or…
– …Actually, I have received a lot of appreciation for a number of roles that I have played before the ones you have mentioned. Even in my earlier films, be they Loha, Shahenshah, Main Azaad Hoon or K. Vishwanath’s Sangeet, my roles have been liked a great deal.
I have never had any qualms about acting in commercial set-ups. I have always accepted every role that has come my way. Of course, sometimes it so happens that I am offered a film, but can’t take it up — as it once happened with K. Bapaiah’s film — because I have already committed the dates required, to someone else.
Apart from that, one of the reasons I got fewer offers was the perception in the trade that I haven’t ‘struggled’ much, so to speak. Perhaps, that’s true. Another thing that may have gone against me is the fact that I couldn’t use the media to my advantage like other actors did to theirs. When I began to be appreciated in Damini, I couldn’t figure out how to use my new-found success to push my case forward. But, I guess, that is purely my fault.
Mr. Wagle’s is probably one of the most successful characters on Indian television. Comment.
– What can I say? I can only say that it was because of team effort. Everyone on the team worked very hard on the serial, and I have always believed that if every small person on a project gives his optimum inputs — like we did on Wagle Ki Duniya — then there is no way it will fail.
On the flip side, Wagle became a very strong image for me to break free from. I tried acting in a variety of roles, but the Wagle image continued to haunt me for some time. I even did negative roles in films like Yodha, Shahenshah, Ghar Jamai, Main Azaad Hoon and Ghulami just to shake off the image. In fact, only some time back, before Rajkumar Santoshi offered me Pukar, he told me that my character was developing into a negative one, and nobody seemed to want to accept me in such a role. But somehow, he decided on me eventually, and I am happy that both, the film and my character in it, have turned out very good.
And what else does the future hold in store for you?
– I am looking forward to doing films that — as you had mentioned earlier — I deserve. I had even said the same thing to Anil Pandit of NFDC during negotiations for the role of the Maharaja of Baroda in Babasaheb Ambedkar. I asked him why I should accept a film for Rs. 25,000 when I had, after years of hard work, succeeded in having my price hiked to Rs. 5,00,000 today. In spite of doing every film that the NFDC had offered me in the past, all I had been getting in return were lame excuses and very low remunerations, I argued. Finally, I said, “Aap log kab tak mujhe bewaqoof banaaoge?” Anil Pandit then told me that the NFDC was about to start a new film called Chhutti Kar Doonga, in which I would be given a role and remuneration suitable to my calibre. True to his word, Chhutti Kar Doonga, even though being directed by a new director, has given me ample scope for performance. What is so unique about the film is that it is made within the commercial format where even songs are picturised on me — one of them with my lip-synch! Needless to add, this is one release I am looking forward to at the moment. Besides Pukar and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, both of which should release soon, there is ABCL’s Loveria, which is complete too and awaiting release. Presently, I have signed Dr. D. Rama Naidu’s Aaghaaz, apart from Rajkumar Santoshi’s next and Kundan Shah’s next. I have also done a guest appearance in Mansoor Khan’s Josh. I play a key role in Parto Ghosh’s Dil Ke Aas Paas.
Today, I am completely focussed on my film career. IÂ am trying not to repeat the mistakes that I have made earlier. Yes, I will continue doing theatre and television, but very selectively. Right now, I am aiming to win the National Award for the best actor in a film. I know, I can do it, but I am depending on the makers to give me roles that justify my capabilities.
– RAJ VAIDYA
