(From our issue dated 9th July, 1994)
MOHRA, as predicted, has created history all over India. Its first week’s business has surpassed that of all the hits to-date, in most of the centres. Its bumper initial has brought a new confidence in the trade and has made it qualify as the fastest money-spinner. It has created new records at almost every centre.
Mohra proves A1. 1st week Bombay 27,67,428 (99.63%) from 17 cinemas (15 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 10,05,512 from 9 cinemas, Patan 1,63,750 from 2 cinemas, Visnagar 1,09,454, Surat 2,14,623 from 2 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Baroda 100% from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 2,29,030 from 2 cinemas, Jamnagar 1,37,339 (95.83%) from 2 cinemas; Pune 5,91,528 from 6 cinemas, Kolhapur 63,896 (100%), Solapur 100% from 2 cinemas, Nasik 82,313 (100%), Nasik Road 88,452 (100%); Hubli 1,68,755 (99.17%) from 3 cinemas, Belgaum 1,30,920 (100%) from 2 cinemas, Nippani 54,634, over-capacity; Delhi 36,65,077 (99.99%) from 16 cinemas; Kanpur 5,53,412 from 3 cinemas, Lucknow 1,99,595 (100%), Allahabad 1,20,770 (100%), Meerut 2,64,076 from 2 cinemas, Bareilly 1,32,528, Aligarh 1,36,000 (100%), Dehradun 1,24,768, Deoria 65,297; Amritsar 100%, Chandigarh 90,720; Calcutta 19,10,416 (99.22%) from 22 cinemas; Bihar 11,36,532 from 18 cinemas (10 cinemas 100%); Nagpur 7,75,627 from 7 cinemas, Amravati 78,280 (100%), Akola (30 shows) 97,155 (100%), Raipur 1,69,070, over-capacity, Bhilai 1,32,425 (1 cinema unrecd., both records), Jalgaon 1,03,887, Khandesh record, Chandrapur 1,02,530, Bilaspur 2,03,800 from 2 cinemas; Indore 3,75,412 from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 4,01,306 from 3 cinemas, Ujjain 1,04,634 (1 unrecd.); Jaipur 10,34,670 from 5 cinemas, Jodhpur 4,75,000 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad (6 days) 21,24,838 from 15 cinemas, share 11,50,388, Aurangabad share 1,61,012 from 3 cinemas.
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YOU ASKED IT
If all stars insist on complete scripts before signing films, don’t you think that the content of films will improve?
– Several stars insist on the scripts before signing on the dotted line and this is a healthy sign. Yes, the content of films will improve in this way.
To what do you attribute the phenomenal opening of Mohra?
– The ‘Mast mast’ song, the presence of action heroes, the banner and the publicity.
Who are the busiest playback singers today?
– Among males, it is Kumar Sanu, and among females, Alka Yagnik.
BJP DISRUPTS ‘AATISH’ SCREENING
BJP activists disrupted the screening of Sanjay Dutt starrer Aatish at several centres of Maharashtra this week, following the arrest of Sanjay Dutt. It is reported that the film had to be discontinued from Bombay (Liberty cinema), Pune, Jalgaon, Dhulia etc.
SANJAY DUTT TO MOVE SUPREME COURT
Sanjay Dutt, who was arrested under the TADA Act when his bail application was rejected on July 4, and subsequently lodged in the Central Jail, Thane, will be shifted to the Arthur Road Central Jail, Bombay on July 14 when the bomb blast case hearing begins. Sanjay has been ordered to be held in custody till the final hearing of the case.
In the meantime, Sunil Dutt is expected to move the Supreme Court on 11th to appeal against the TADA court’s order.
Sanjay is allowed to eat food brought from his home.
NAZIA HASSAN SUFFERING FROM CANCER
Pop singer Nazia Hassan, who had created waves in the eighties with her ‘Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aaye’ song of Qurbani and other songs, is suffering from cancer. This was revealed by her mother in a Pakistani daily.
STARS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH SANJAY DUTT
A meeting of prominent film personalities, mostly stars, was held at the office of the Cine Artistes Association on 5th July to consider the course of action to be taken following Sanjay Dutt’s arrest on 4th July. Resultantly, the stars met at Hotel Rang Sharda on 6th July and proceeded to the Central Jail at Thane, where Sanjay is lodged, to express their solidarity with him. They waved posters and placards expressing support for the star.
The demonstration lasted for 45 minutes. Nobody was, however, allowed to meet Sanjay Dutt. Besides many stars, G.P. Sippy, Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai, Yash Johar and Raj Sippy were a part of the demonstration.
‘MOHRA’: NATION-WIDE SENSATION
1st Week Records
* About 9 to 10 additional prints of MOHRA have been taken out in the second week. There were 215 prints in circulation in the first week.
BOMBAY
* Creates a city record by drawing all shows full in all the 7 cinemas of Ahmedabad.
* Creates an all-time record by collecting 1,88,000/- at Drive In, Ahmedabad, in spite of rains.
* Creates a city record by collecting 1,65,000/- at Shalimar, Gandhinagar.
* Creates a record by drawing all shows full at both the cinemas (Sagar and Alpana) of Baroda.
* Collects 2,40,128/- (all shows full) at Relax, Bharuch.
* Creates a city record by collecting 90,900/- at Jayshri, Jamnagar and 46,439/- at Galaxy, Jamnagar. 21 out of 28 shows were full at Jayshri, and 10 out of 14 shows were full at Galaxy.
* Creates a record at Vaishali and Shree cinemas of Vapi.
* Creates an all-time city record by collecting 1,63,850/- from two cinemas – Neelam (92,354/-) and Krishna (71,496/-) – of Patan.
* Creates a record by collecting 1,09,454/- at Krishna, Visnagar.
* Also draws all shows full at Jehangir, Navsari.
* Draws all shows full at Bardoli.
* Collects 54,634/- against a capacity of 44,134/- at Geetanjali, Nippani, thereby creating a record.
DELHI U.P.
* Creates a record by collecting 1,24,768/- at Krishna Palace, Dehradun.
* Creates theatre records (despite rains) at: Menka, Gorakhpur (1,34,098/-), Rangmahal, Bhadohi (1,55,000/-), Vishal, Azamgarh (75,440/-), Laxmi, Deoria (65,297/-).
* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,37,998/- in 1st week at Anurag, Meerut. Also creates a theatre record by collecting 1,26,078/- at Nigar, Meerut.
* Created an all-time city record by collecting 5,53,352/- in Kanpur as follows: Nishat 2,00,730/-, Deoki 2,06,195/-, and Deep 1,46,427/-.
* Creates a city record by collecting 1,32,528/- (against a capacity of 1,35,207) at Imperial, Bareilly.
* Creates a new record by collecting 76,696/- (all 28 shows full in advance) at Minerva, Jhansi.
* Breaks the theatre record of 40 years at Mansarovar, Allahabad by collecting 1,20,770/- (all shows full).
* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,99,595/- at Leela, Lucknow.
* Creates a city record by collecting 1,36,777/- (all 28 shows full) at Seema, Aligarh. 2nd week first day: 19,540/-, full.
EAST PUNJAB
* Creates records at all the stations of East Punjab. Collects 4,21,000/- at Narendra, Jalandhar, 1,23,000/- at K.C., Jammu, 90,000/- at Neelam, Faridabad, and 1,00,690/ at Sagar, Faridabad, 90,720/- at Neelam, Chandigarh, 7,50,000/- at Malhar and Manju, Ludhiana, and 2,25,000/- at Harchand, Bhatinda.
WEST BENGAL
* Drew all shows full in all the cinemas of Calcutta!
* Creates theatre records at the following cinemas of Calcutta: Ananya (79,097/-), Jaya (59,630/-), Ragini (87,152/-), Vaishali (85,504/-), Chandan (90,657/-), Pushpashree (65,897/-), Parijat (69,573/-), Rajkrishna (54,163/-), Jayanti (1,02,599/-), Mini Rathindra (56,942/-), Chalchitra (55,120/-), Tatini (34,305/-), and Chitra (1,13,663/-).
BIHAR
* Creates a theatre record by collecting 100% at Diana, Danapur.
* Creates theatre records at both the cinemas of Jamshedpur – by collecting 100% at Jamshedpur Talkies as well as Star.
* Creates theatre records at both the cinemas of Dhanbad – collects 61,100/- at Kumar, and 41,300/- (100%) at Panchsheel.
* Creates a city record by collecting 63,429/- (100%) at Laxmi, Hazaribagh.
* Collects 1,16,140/- at Jawahar, Muzaffarpur, thereby creating a theatre record.
* Creates a theatre record by collecting 57,998/- at Shankar, Sitamarhi.
* Collects 48,449/- at Payal, Motihari and thereby creates a theatre record.
* Creates a theatre record by collecting 48,423/-(100%) at Amardeep, Begusarai.
C.P. BERAR
* Creates a record by collecting a total of 2,03,855/- from 2 cinemas at Bilaspur: Gangashree 1,23,169/-, and Balram 80,686/-. 2nd week first day at Gangashree was 13,333/-.
* Creates a Khandesh record by collecting 1,03,887/- at Natwar, Jalgaon. 2nd week first day: 10,180/-.
* Creates a new theatre record by collecting 97,155/- (100%) in 30 shows at Uday, Akola.
* Created a district record by collecting 1,32,425/- in 1st week at Uttam, Bhilai. Also created a theatre record at Geet, Bhilai.
* Created a city record by collecting 1,69,070/- (against a capacity of 1,26,663/-) in 1st week a Prabhat, Raipur!
* Creates a new record by collecting a total of 7,75,627/- from seven cinemas of Nagpur: Jaswant 1,48,648/- in 30 shows, Smruti 1,46,591/- (28 shows), Panchsheel 1,09,395/-, Sangam 1,30,455/-, Alankar 97,479/-, Jayshree 79,774/-, and Natraj 63,305/-. First day collections of 2nd week: Jaswant 13,718/-, Panchsheel 16,159/-, Jayshree 10,258/-, Natraj 8,901/-, excellent.
C.I.
* Creates theatre records by collecting 1,56,085/- at Bharat, Bhopal, 1,26,757/- at Sangam, Bhopal and 1,23,694/- at Jyoti, Bhopal.
* Created theatre records at all cinemas of Indore: Premsukh 1,46,665/-, Sangeeta 1,22,747/-, Alka 1,06,000/-, other cinemas on fixed hire.
* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,02,600/- at Metro, Ujjain. Also creates a theatre record by collecting 1,02,000/- at Sundaram, Ujjain.
RAJASTHAN
* Creates theatre records at all the five cinemas of Jaipur. Collects 2,30,405/- at Gem (29 shows), 2,43,527/- at Motimahal (in 29 shows), 2,18,849/- at Laxmi Mandir (29 shows), 1,62,038/- at Paras (30 shows), and 1,80,851/- (nett) at Saroj (30 shows).
* Creates a record by drawing all shows full at Nasrani, Jodhpur.
Garma-Garam
** After Mohra, the trade expects 1942 A Love Story to take a bumper opening. If it does, the credit will once again go to a song. Like ‘Mast mast’ in Mohra is a rage, the ‘Ek ladki ko dekha’ song of 1942 is also a super-hit number. Reports of bumper advance booking for 1942 have filtered in from Prabhat cinema, Amravati. The advance booking window (for stalls only) opened on Thursday (7th July) and over Rs.13,000 worth of tickets were sold on the first day, a record.
** It’s shocking that several banners of 1942, put up by HMV, don’t have the name of R.D. Burman. R.D. Burman ka naam nahi dekha to aisa laga…..
** Just a week before its release, the Bihar & Nepal distributors of 1942 A Love Story backed out of the deal. Anjani Pictures walked in only too happily. They’ve acquired it for Bihar, leaving Nepal. Aisa bhi hota hai….
** A producer-director has sold his film for Bihar & Nepal to two different parties. The BMPA has registered the film in favour of the first buyer. The second buyer claims, the film is his. The producer-director, too, made an elaan (via trade papers) that the film belongs to the second party. Aisa bhi hota hai….
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Sanjay’s Films
With Sanjay Dutt’s arrest, the progress of a whole lot of films has been stalled. While Amaanat is ready and due for release on 29th July, one doesn’t know whether the producer and distributors would risk releasing it, looking to the volatile atmosphere and anti-Sanjay lobby of BJP and ABVP activists. Sultan Ahmed’s Jai Vikraanta is complete but Sanjay’s dubbing for it isn’t. Quite a lot of shooting of Sanjay remains to be done to complete Mahaanta, Safari and Anil Rathi’s Vijeta. For the last-named film, all the songs remain to be picturised, the climax and talkie portions having been completed. Sanjay had shot for Trimurti in only a single schedule last month. Likewise, he has shot for only one schedule of Ramgopal Varma’s Nayak. A few days of shooting with him remains to be done to complete Sajid Nadiadwala’s Andolan. Several of his other films like Kasoor, Zameen etc. were not making progress even otherwise.
Vinod Khanna’s New Role
Vinod Khanna will not just be the namesake producer of his home production, yet untitled, which he has launched to introduce his son, Akshaye Khanna, as hero. And this, one surmises from the fact that Vinod Khanna was present all through its first song recording held on 6th July at Sunny Super Sounds. What is notable is that the recording went on till the early morning hours of 7th. And yes, Vinod – sorry, producer Vinod Khanna – returned home at 4 a.m. on 7th.
A Story Of Love……
……. For The Film
Cinegoers going to Metro, Bombay from Thursday (14th July) onwards will be in for surprises galore. There will be a real vintage car on display in the foyer. There will also be huge arches, and long-flowing satins dropping from the first floor to the ground floor foyer. And there’ll also be a balcony set on display. All these are parts of the set/settings used in the making of 1942 A Love Story. That’s not all. Two mannequins – one of Anil Kapoor and another of Manisha – will greet cinegoers and there’ll be photographers with polaroid cameras to click the photographs of the enthusiastic ones who would be able to poke their faces into the mannequins and ‘become’ Anil/Manisha for posterity! There will be a stall in the cinema, which will sell 1942 A Love Story T-shirts (for Rs. 150/-) and 1942 brochures (containing 16 colour pages and information on the making of the film) at Rs. 50/-. HMV will also market special audio cassettes of 1942 as a collector’s item. Most of these novel publicity gimmicks are the brainchild of Shravan Shroff of Shringar Films, the film’s Bombay distributors.
It may be added here that convinced about the “unprecedented craze” for the film, Shringar have hiked the admission rates at Metro to Rs. 75 (Dress Circle), 40 (Balcony) and 30 (Stall). Not only that, special permission has been obtained for printing special tickets with a class touch. Special permission has also been obtained to open the advance booking for 7 days at a stretch. Incidentally, Metro is the only cinema in Bombay which will screen the film in Dolby Stereo sound. In the circuit, Prabhat cinema in Solapur and Mangala in Pune will screen it in Dolby sound system.
Dhirubhai’s New Association
Dhirubhai Shah of Time is at his wits’ end with, what he calls, “the unresponsive attitude of IMPPA/FMC” and has, therefore, broken up with the associations. He has reportedly formed a new association – Movie Makers Association – and is mustering the support of like-minded producers. At least two incidents led Dhirubhai to take this step. Says Dhirubhai, “I wanted the title Gambler for my film and, although it was available, my repeated communications have been stone-walled by the FMC. There is simply no reply from them.” The other incident relates to the clearance of Akshay Kumar. Dhirubhai was to start a film with Akshay but the FMC “neither gave me the clearance nor any reply”. This, when Dhirubhai wrote several letters to the association.
Coming To Naaz
Normally, one of the main concerns of a distributor is of shifting film prints. But at present, some of the important and heavy-weight distributors in Bombay are preoccupied with another kind of shifting i.e. shifting of their offices. And the focal point is Naaz building. BRA (Ramesh Sippy), VIP (Bharatbhai Shah) and Tolu Bajaj (who is opening a distribution office in Bombay) are hunting for appropriate office premises. Not surprisingly, the real estate prices in Naaz building have jumped up. Pahlaj Nihalani has already acquired (and partly shifted in) an office on the second floor of Naaz. It appears that Naaz building is all set to regain its lost glory.
