A quick round-up of what all transpired in the Hindi film industry in the year gone by:
UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS FOLLOWED BY UNNECESSARY CONTROVERSY
If Pushpa: The Rule Part 2 had the nation mouthing Allu Arjun’s dialogue, Pushpa jhukega nahin, saala, the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh seemed to be hell-bent on making the star bow down to its high-handedness! The premiere of the Telugu version of the film gave birth to a controversy in which Allu was dragged when a woman died in a stampede during the premiere of the Telugu version at Sandhya cinema in Hyderabad a day before the film’s release. The deceased’s little son was seriously injured and had to be hospitalised. The stampede was caused by over-enthusiastic fans who had gathered at the cinema to attend the premiere and/or to have a look at the star. What should’ve actually been a fit case to expose the failure of the police machinery (to control the crowds) snowballed into a controversy where the film’s hero was accused of causing the death! Allu was arrested along with the cinema owner and others. Of course, they secured bail but the star had to spend a night behind bars. The case is still on. After the arrest of the actor, the deceased lady’s husband actually said that he wouldn’t mind withdrawing his complaint. Allu, the producers of the film and the writer-director of their own volition paid the lady’s family a compensation of Rs. 2 crore.
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BISHNOI UNWILLING TO LEAVE SALMAN KHAN: HUM SAATH-SAATH HAIN?
Even after 26 years of the unfortunate incident, Salman Khan continues to be under constant threat from gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who refuses to forget and forgive the actor for allegedly killing a black buck in Rajasthan during the shooting of Hum Saath-Saath Hain. The gangster and his gang have claimed responsibility for killing a Bombay politician because of his closeness to Khan. Bullets were fired at Salman’s house in April to underline that they were after his life. The gangsters have also threatened some others like singer A.P. Dhillon and actor Gippy Grewal, both in Canada, with dire consequences simply because of their proximity to the star. The actor has been moving with heavy security and even his sets are closely guarded venues.
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OLD IS GOLD… BECAUSE THEIR TICKETS SOLD
With many new films having had to bite the dust at the time of release, it was time for re-issue films to reap a good harvest. A number of old films were revived on an all-India basis and the surprising part was that a few of them did wonderfully well in their revival. Films like Tumbbad and Laila Majnu actually turned out to be profitable ventures only because of their repeat-run business as they had not done well when first released. Rockstar and Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein are other films which cast their spell on the public in 2024 more than when they first hit the screens.
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SONY-ZEE MARRIAGE CALLED OFF
In January, Sony India called off its proposed merger with Zee, ending two years of efforts from both the sides. The merger proposal was signed in September 2021 and had expired in December 2023, but both the parties agreed to a 30-day grace period. The stalemate started because Zee’s Punit Goenka was to be appointed CEO of the merged entity as per terms of the merger agreement. However, following the SEBI ordering an investigation against Punit and his father, Subhash Chandra, relating to the financial affairs of Zee, during the merger process, Sony insisted that its own nominee would head the merged company instead of Goenka. This was not acceptable to Punit Goenka. With the deal called off, the dream of a $10 billion media entity was dashed to the ground. Both, Zee and Sony, dragged the other to court over the cancelled deal, but later entered into a settlement agreement to terminate all disputes. They withdrew their petitions and relinquished their rights against each other relating to the merger deal.
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FIRST TIME IN 19 YEARS: GOENKA GOES
In a shocking development, Punit Goenka lost his Board seat in Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., something which happened for the first time in 19 years. He and his family have only a 4% stake in the company which was set up by his father, Subhash Chandra, in 1992. Punit had, before this, resigned from his post as the company’s managing director.
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MUKESH AMBANI’S RELIANCE OPENS VAULT TO BUY WALT
Reliance Industries Ltd., Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. and The Walt Disney completed their merger. RIL invested Rs. 11,500 crore into the joint venture, valuing it at Rs. 70,352 crore on a post-money basis. The joint venture is controlled by RIL, and owned 16.34% by RIL, 46.82% by Viacom18 and 36.84% by Disney. The formation of the JV is expected to herald a new era in India’s entertainment industry for consumers. It will be one of the largest media and entertainment companies in India. The JV operates over 100 TV channels and produces 30,000+ hours of TV entertainment content annually. The JioCinema and Hotstar digital platforms have an aggregate subscription base of over 50 million. The JV holds a portfolio of sports rights across cricket, football and other sports.
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ANIL AMBANI EXITS FILM INDUSTRY
While Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance was on a buying spree, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment was out on sale. Vistas Media Capital, a media content and technology company based in Singapore, began the process of acquiring Reliance Entertainment. The deal is reportedly valued at Rs. 700-800 crore. If all goes well, the deal may be sealed early this year.
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POONAWALLA BECAME BOLLYWOODWALLA, COURTESY KARAN JOHAR
After saving millions of lives with his COVID-19 vaccine, Adar Poonawalla made waves again last year when he acquired a 50% stake in producer Karan Johar’s production company, Dharma Productions. Of course, the price Adar paid for becoming a partner in Karan’s successful company was nothing compared to the humongous profits he made during COVID, but the reported price of Rs. 1,000 crore was a remarkable one. After Poonawalla’s Bollywoodwalla deal, there were murmurs of a couple of other production houses being in talks with outside investors, but there was no formal announcement of any further deal.
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NOT MUSIC TO THE EARS
In what could be an indication of the kind of problems one should expect in the days to come, involving the misuse of AI in matters pertaining to the entertainment industry, major music labels Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Records sued Artificial Intelligence companies Suno and Udio, accusing them of committing mass copyright infringement by using the labels’ recordings to train music-generating AI systems. The two companies are said to have copied music without permission, to teach their systems to create music which will “directly compete with, cheapen and ultimately drown out” the work of human artistes. Suno and Udio users have been able to recreate elements of songs and could generate vocals which were “indistinguishable” from musicians.
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THE POOR RICH ASSOCIATION
The process of shutting down the Indian Motion Picture Distributors’ Association started this year. The association of distributors of Bombay circuit, which once had a lot of clout and members, today has barely 40-45 members, many of them being distributors who haven’t released a film in years. Of the 40-odd members, about 25 haven’t even paid their annual fee of Rs. 200! After the Competition Commission of India (erstwhile Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission) held that orders passed by the IMPDA (or any trade association) are not enforceable on its members, IMPDA, lost its teeth. The managing committee has decided to sell the office, and donate the entire bank balance of Rs. 6-7 crore (including the money to be received from sale of property) to an organisation without political or religious affiliations.
‘ANIMAL’: SCREAMING IN COURT BEFORE STREAMING ON NETFLIX
Bhushan Kumar and Murad Khetani, the joint producers of Animal, had a fallout leading to a bitter court battle. After heated exchanges in the courtroom, Bhushan moved to settle the dispute out of court when he paid Khetani a huge sum of money (amount undisclosed) to relinquish all his rights. The settlement came about because Murad Khetani moved court to restrain the streaming of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s blockbuster Animal on Netflix till his dues were cleared.
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RAM GOPAL VARMA GAYAB AFTER INCITING AP SARKAR: DARNA ZAROORI THA?
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma went into hiding. The Andhra Pradesh police launched a multi-city search for him after he failed to appear for the second time for questioning before the police. The case related to his allegedly defamatory social media post with morphed images of AP chief minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, his son and IT minister Nara Lokesh, and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan during the promotion of his film, Vyooham. He was untraceable and his mobile phone was switched off. According to the filmmaker’s legal team, there was no need for Varma’s physical presence as Digital India has enabled “digital policing”.
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IMPROPER SEXUAL CONDUCT VERSUS IMPROPER CONDUCT OF COMPLAINANTS
Much like the #MeToo movement in Bollywood some years ago, the Justice Hema Report on sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry also prompted actresses to come out in the open and talk about improper sexual conduct of some top actors, filmmakers and others in the industry. FIRs were lodged against several tops in the Malayalam film industry, but the general reluctance of the victims to depose, sometimes in cases of very old times, seems to be coming in the way of anything fruitful coming out of the explosive report.
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THE PANGA WHICH WON THE STAR-MP ‘QUEEN’ A SLAP
Using the dialogue mouthed by Anupam Kher in Subhash Ghai’s Karma to describe the shocking incident, it was a thappad, the goonj of which, startled the nation. Actress and MP Kangana Ranaut was slapped by a CISF woman constable after a security check at the Chandigarh airport. The constable was angry with her over her remarks regarding women participating in the farmers’ protests during the COVID-19 lockdown. Following the slap, the lady constable lost her job while the star-MP lost face. In a video circulated on social media, the CISF cop said, “Iss ne (Kangana) bayaan diya tha na ki 100-100 rupaye ke liye baithi hain wahan pe (during the farmers’ protest). Yeh baithegi wahan? Meri maa baithi thi jab iss ne bayaan diya. (Kangana had said during the farmers’ protests that women were sitting there for Rs. 100. Will she sit there? My mother was also at the protest when she said that.)” This was the same comment on Kangana’s Twitter handle, which actor Diljit Dosanjh had chided Kangana for then on social media, forcing her to delete her post. The Queen actress may still be smarting under the impact of the slap which, after all, mustn’t have been so dhaakad.
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BIHAR BECKONS
The Bihar government announced a film policy to attract producers to shoot in the state. The policy includes, among other things, grant of subsidy for films shot in Bihar, and simplification of procedure to get permissions to shoot in the state.
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CINEMA-FRIENDLY STATE
The Uttar Pradesh government announced a cinema policy which offers concessions to encourage the growth of single-screen as well as multiplexes in the state. There are concessions for the upgradation of cinemas too. The policy will be in force for a period of five years.
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BONEY KAPOOR BEATS TWO KUMARS — AKSHAY, BHUSHAN
Producer Boney Kapoor and real estate developers Bhutani Group bagged the rights to develop the ambitious Film City project of the Uttar Pradesh government near the upcoming NOIDA international airport. Others in the race to bag the prestigious contract were Bhushan Kumar, a consortium backed by Akshay Kumar (Super Technobuild) and another backed by producer K.C. Bokadia (4 Lions Films). Boney Kapoor offered 18% share of revenue to the state government after a moratorium period of eight years. That means that the developers will start paying the Yamuna Expressway Authority 18% of its gross revenue from the ninth year.
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STARS SHINE IN LOK SABHA
Nine actors won the Lok Sabha elections 2024, and four were defeated by their rivals. The winners were sitting BJP MP Hema Malini, Kangana Ranaut, Shatrughan Sinha, Malayalam film actor Suresh Gopi, Arun Govil, Ravi Kishan, Manoj Tiwari, Bengali film and television actress Saayoni Ghosh, and Bengali film actor Dev. The vanquished were Raj Babbar, Smriti Irani, Bhojpuri film actor Dinesh Lal Yadav and Bengali film actor Hiran Chatterjee. Singer Hans Raj Hans also lost the election. Telugu film actor Pawan Kalyan romped home victorious in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections. Telugu film actor Balakrishna also won in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections. Actress R.K. Roja Selvamani lost the Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls.
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PADMA AWARDS
Vyjayanthimala Bali and Chiranjeevi were honoured with the Padma Vibhushan. Music director Pyarelal Sharma, actor Mithun Chakraborty, singer Ushu Uthup, actor-director Raj Dutt, West Bengal composer Ratan Kahar (of original Genda phool fame) and Tamil film actor Vijaykanth (posthumously) were given the Padma Bhushan.
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INTERNATIONAL GLORY
Cinematographer Santosh Sivan became the first Indian and Asian to be awarded the prestigious Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens in Cinematography honour at the Cannes Film Festival. Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light won the Grand Prix award at the same Cannes Film Festival. The award is the second most prestigious prize of the festival, after Palme d’Or. The film, which is Payal’s debut feature directorial venture, also created history when it became the first Indian film in 30 years and the first by an Indian female director to be showcased in the main competition section. Anasuya Sengupta made history by winning the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. She bagged the prize in the Un Certain Regard section for her role in Bulgarian filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov’s The Shameless.
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INDIAN MUSICIANS & GRAMMY AWARDS
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ACTORS’ ABDUCTION: SAME PINCH
Actors Mushtaq Khan, Sunil Pal and Rajesh Puri were kidnapped at different points of time, purportedly by the same gang operating in Uttar Pradesh. The modus operandi was the same in all the three cases: the actors were invited as chief guests for events which were never held. Lured by token payments in advance and free tickets to Delhi, each of them was abducted from the Delhi airport and forced to pay ransom money to secure his freedom. The gang was finally nabbed.
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LOTUS BLOOMS
The magic of the lotus seems to be working, whether in politics or elsewhere. Producer-distributor Anand Pandit announced that his real estate company, Lotus Developers, would be going in for an IPO of Rs. 800-1,000 crore. In a pre-IPO placement, Pandit has sold small stakes in his company to top Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgan and Hrithik Roshan.
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SHYAM BABU BIDS ADIEU
Shyam Benegal breathed his last, leaving behind a legacy of some landmark films which will continue to entertain public as much as evoke conversations around them.
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SAYANI SAYS SAYONARA
Ameen Sayani, the man with the golden voice, who ruled the airwaves for decades together, breathed his last in Bombay at the age of 91.
NO LONGER EK HO GAYE HUM AUR TUM…
Music director A.R. Rahman and his wife of 29 years, Saira Banu, announced their impending divorce. Saira’s lawyer attributed the divorce to “significant emotional strain” in their relationship. The couple has three children.
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TWO GOOD TO BE TRUE!
Like two negatives make a positive, two newcomers made a hundred crore at the box-office! Horror-comedy Munjya became the first debut Hindi film of a director and a hero to join the Rs. 100-crore club. The horror comedy, made at a cost of just Rs. 20-odd crore, netted Rs. 100-plus crore. Although Aditya Sarpotdar is a well-known director of Marathi films, Munjya was his maiden directorial venture in Hindi. Abhay Verma was introduced in this film as lead man.
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