LAGAAN
Aamir Khan Productions’ Lagaan, set in India under the British Raj (year 1893), is the story of a farming village in central India. The villagers are greatly disturbed due to drought conditions in their village for the second consecutive year. To add to their miseries, they are burdened with double the usual land tax. When they go to the Rajah to ask for exemption from tax, the arrogant British commander, under whom the village falls, throws a challenge to a young and bold man of the village, whom he detests for his forthrightness. He asks him to defeat his British team in a game of cricket. As a bait, he offers to abolish the killing tax for three years if the villagers win. And the abolition would apply not just to the village but to the entire province under the British commander. But if they lose, they’d have to pay thrice the normal tax.
The young man, harassed by the drought conditions, sees an opportunity to save the province from the burdensome tax. He accepts the challenge, much to the horror of all the villagers who see no chance of winning against the Britishers. For, cricket was a British game and the villagers had never ever held a bat or a ball in their hands. The young man, however, slowly wins over the agitated villagers one by one and succeeds in forming his team of eleven. The British commander’s sister, believing in justice and fair play, teaches the game of cricket to the villagers, much to the ire of her brother.
The D-day approaches. Battle lines are drawn. The British team bats and makes an impressive score, though much less than it seemed they would. The villagers show brilliance in bowling and fielding. It is then their turn to bat and chase the English score. The match becomes a nail-biting and indeed a do-or-die game. One by one, the villagers’ wickets go down till….
The story (Ashutosh Gowariker), inspired in parts by the English film, Escape To Victory, and the Hungarian film, Two Half Times In Hell, is unique for the Indian audience. It, nevertheless, has drawn inspiration from the Hindi film, Naya Daur, too. Although it has a lot of cricket, the brilliant job by screenplay writers Ashutosh Gowariker, Kumar Dave and Sanjay Dayma, ensures that the film has a good dose of drama and emotions woven around the game and the match. The patriotic fervour comes across abundantly and, therefore, the cricket match does not remain merely a game for entertainment but actually becomes one which arouses high-voltage tension besides patriotic feelings in the audience. It also draws tears of joy at more places than one. Dialogues (K.P. Saxena – Awadhi; Ashutosh Gowariker – English) are superb and absolutely natural. The Awadhi language, the village and period atmosphere, costumes and sets add greatly to the film’s authenticity. But the film is lengthy and does drop at places.
The first half is light in parts and dramatic in parts. If the drama is remarkably engaging, the comedy punches are hilarious and raise a lot of laughter. The second half is more serious and dramatic. The last one hour and twenty minutes are simply marvellous. The cricket match has the excitement of an actual match between an Indian and a foreign team and also has a deep patriotic feel to it. The typicalities of the ten players (barring Aamir) of the Indian team, whether bowlers, fielders or batsmen, have been excellently thought of and deserve full marks for their conceptualisation and execution. They are extremely enjoyable. The match is so exciting that the viewer will not realise that it goes on for so long. The audience applause in the auditorium for the match will be deafening.
What the film lacks, however, is an appropriate romantic track. Too much of English dialogues (several of them, punch-packed) would be a disadvantage for the smaller centres where they would not be understood. However, this drawback is sought to be rectified at places by a Hindi voiceover (translation), excellently rendered by Amitabh Bachchan in his inimitable style and resonant voice. The track of the commander’s sister falling in love with the hero has been handled very ably and is very, very appealing.
Aamir Khan excels as the young man who accepts the commander’s challenge, forms a team of eleven and then gives a tough fight to the English team. He lives the character of Bhuvan and delivers an award-winning performance. His Awadhi dialogue-delivery is flawless. His dances are unbelievably graceful. In drama, he shows that he is one of the finest actors India has. In short, his is a memorable show of talent in every department of acting. Gracy Singh looks simple and attractive and acts brilliantly. She also dances very, very beautifully. Rachel Shelley is gorgeous and does a splendid job as the commander’s sister in love with Aamir Khan. Raghuveer Yadav is fantastic and natural to the core. Rajendra Gupta lives his role. Rajesh Vivek is mind-blowing. Srivallabh Vyas, playing the village vaid, is pretty effective. Raj Zutshi impresses. Akhilendra Mishra stands out with a restrained performance. Dayashankar Pandey excels. His unique style of bowling will bring the house down. Pradeep Rawat is fabulous as the Sardar. Amin Hajee plays the mute temple drummer with aplomb. Yashpal Sharma (Lakha) leaves a mark. Aditya Lakhia, playing Kachra, is absolutely wonderful. Amin Gazi is cute, confident and lovable.
Paul Blackthorne is perfect in the role of the arrogant British commander. Suhasini Mulay is fair. Kulbhushan Kharbanda shines. Javed Khan leaves a mark. A.K. Hangal, John Rowe, David Gant, Jeremy Child, Ben Nealone, Anupam Shyam, Raja Awasthi, Pramathesh Mehta, Bhim Vakani, Anu Ansari and Parveen Bano lend fabulous support.
Ashutosh Gowariker deserves kudos for a beautiful script, for extracting great work out of the cast and for his masterly direction. He has taken care of both, the mass and the class audience. If there’s cricket for the males (and a good part of the female audience too), there are some emotions for the women audience. Although the subject is dated, the game of cricket and its terrific patriotic appeal make it one that will find immense acceptance in modern India and the even more modern Overseas, too.
Besides the script, direction and performances, yet another super-ace of the film is the music. A.R. Rahman’s tunes and Javed Akhtar’s lyrics are mind-blowing. ‘Mitwa sun mitwa’ is sheer musical and lyrical genius, and its picturisation (Ganesh Hegde) is simply electrifying. ‘Radha kaise na jale’ has terrific appeal for ladies and its picturisation (Saroj Khan) is also fabulous. ‘Chale chalo’ is one of the finest examples of inspired writing in recent times. The award-winning lyrics’ rendition by A.R. Rahman is extraordinary. ‘O ri chhori’ is supremely melodious, and the English lines in it (brilliantly rendered by Vasundhara Das) are beautiful. Its picturisation (Vaibhavi Merchant) is heavenly. ‘Ghanan ghanan’ is magical, its picturisation (Raju Khan), fabulous. ‘O paalanhare’ has emotions, but, being the climax song, should have been far more dramatic. All in all, A.R. Rahman, Javed Akhtar, the playback singers and the choreographers are all in great form.
Anil Mehta’s cinematography is first-rate. He captures the cricket game, the landscapes and the characters with the same ease and love. Bhanu Athaiya’s costumes deserve special mention. Ballu Saluja’s editing is very sharp. Sync-sound quality is remarkable. Background music is one of the best ever! A lot of effort has gone into the sound and it adds to the overall impact. Action (Abbas Ali Moghul) is natural. Sets are too real to be true!
On the whole, Lagaan has length (running time: 3 hours and 41 minutes) and tremendous strength. A feel-good patriotic historical, it has emotional and patriotic value, veritably great performances, super-hit music, fabulous game of cricket, brilliant narration and edge-of-the-seat thrill to create box-office history in several circuits. Its business will range from class A (in North India) to AA in (Bombay and South). It will do roaring business in Overseas, too. The film will also make the international audience sit up and take note of Indian cinema. The film, a commendable effort and a lesson in perfect team-work, deserves tax exemption for its patriotic flavour.
Released on 15-6-2001 at Eros and 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru UTV – Shringar Films. Publicity: extraordinary. Opening: historic. …….Also released all over. Opening was good but not great everywhere. The film will pick up in such circuits by word of mouth.
GADAR EK PREM KATHA
Zee Telefilms Limited’s Gadar Ek Prem Katha (UA) is a love story between a Sikh boy and a Muslim girl in the highly volatile time of Partition of India. A simpleton Sikh loses his entire family when it is massacred while fleeing from Pakistan to India. Like lakhs of disgruntled and disillusioned Indians, he, too, sets out on a mission of killing Pakistanis in India. But when he sees a helpless Pakistani girl (whom he has known) missing the train to Pakistan while her entire high-status family is fleeing to the neighbouring country in that train, he feels sorry for her. Not only does he save her from the wrath of the frustrated and fire-spitting Indians but also gives her shelter in his house. News comes in that the girl’s entire family had been killed in the train to Pakistan.
Defying all social dictates, the Sikh boy finally marries her when she proposes to him. They become the parents of a kid and after some years, the Pakistani girl learns that her family is alive in Pakistan. When she contacts them, her influential father arranges for her return to Pakistan while ensuring that her Sikh husband and son are left behind in India.
Once in Pakistan, she realises the game her ambitious father had played. He forces her to forget her past and get married to a Muslim boy in Pakistan. Despite protests, her marriage is about to be solemnised. But her husband in India, on not hearing from her, realises that all is not well with his wife and sets out for Pakistan to fetch her back. All hell breaks loose when he enters Pakistan illegally and reaches his wife’s house on the day she is to be married. From there on, it is high-voltage drama of the Sikh guy’s escape with his family. How he fights the Pakistanis and runs away to save his own life and the lives of his family members forms one of the most exciting climaxes of recent times.
Writer Shaktimaan has padded the romantic and patriotic drama with mind-blowing dialogues which will elicit electrifying response from the public from North to South and East to West. The first half is a bit slow but it has plenty of heart-warming moments and some entertaining songs. Comedy may not be hilarious but it, nevertheless, entertains.
After interval, the film is sheer dynamite. It takes off like a rocket, and the viewer gets uninterrupted entertainment in the form of heart-wrenching emotions, great action, greater dialogues and the greatest patriotic flavour. The portion after the hero lands in Pakistan, especially, is earth-shattering. So extraordinary are the dialogues in the last about 40 minutes of the drama that it would be difficult to hear many of them above the roar of audience applause. The public would go wild with excitement, and the scene in cinemas would be one of absolute hysteria. The maximum (and deafening) public applause will come on the dialogues of ‘Hindustan zindabad’, ‘Beta baap ke andar se nikalta hai’, ‘Toddi to’ (when the hero gets up to avenge his friend’s murder on the running train), etc.
Emotions are excellent and they will draw in the women audience in large numbers.
Sunny Deol is mind-blowing as the simple Sikh who puts his life at stake to get back his wife from Pakistan. He breathes fire into the role and delivers an award-winning performance which will be remembered as one of his best ever. His dialogue delivery is just too wonderful. His expressions are fabulous. He is great in dramatics. So extraordinary is his acting that not once does his fighting an entire army appear unrealistic. The guy needs to be complimented for such a show of talent! Amisha Patel shows the stuff she is made of. Looking pretty as the Pakistani girl, she gets into the skin of the character and does an excellent job. Her histrionics are very appealing. Amrish Puri, as Amisha’s father, is first-rate. The scene in which he runs to the telephone to speak to his daughter is marvellous. Vivek Shauq does exceptionally well as Sunny’s friend. Master Utkarsh Sharma deserves distinction marks for his innocence and wonderful expressions. He wins over the audience’s hearts instantly. Suresh Oberoi (in a superb get-up which makes him unrecognisable) is suitably restrained. Madhu Malti leaves a mark. Lillete Dubey is so-so. Mushtaq Khan is effective. Pramod Moutho, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Dolly Bindra, Rakesh Bedi, Kanika Shivpuri, Malvika Shivpuri, Ishrat Ali, Asha Bachchani and the rest lend admirable support.
Anil Sharma’s direction is fabulous. He plays to the gallery but also takes care to cater to the women and class audience. His balancing of fiery action and emotions is par excellence. He has extracted great performances out of his cast. His mob scenes in the start of the film and in the last part are simply remarkable. The period atmosphere has been well created.
Uttam Singh’s music is very good. ‘Udd ja kaale kanwa’, ‘Main nikla’, ‘Musafir jaane waale’ and ‘Hum juda ho gaye’ are very melodious. The ‘Udd ja kaale kanwa’ song comes as a good surprise in the second half when the hero comes to Pakistan. The picturisatons of ‘Main nikla’ and ‘Hum juda ho gaye’ by Jay Borade are masterly. Anand Bakshi’s lyrics are lovely. Camerawork (Najeeb Khan) is very beautiful. Production values are grand. Action scenes, by Tinnu Verma, are great and lend terrific thrill. Sanjay Dhabade’s art direction is of a high standard. Costumes are fantastic. Background music is good. Special effects are tacky.
On the whole, Gadar Ek Prem Katha has patriotism, superb action, fire-brand dialogues, emotions and great performances to score throughout India as well as abroad. It will do AA business in East Punjab and Delhi-U.P. and A to A1 business in the rest of the country. It deserves tax-exemption.
Released on 15-6-2001 at New Excelsior, Maratha Mandir and 23 other cinemas of Bombay thru Tilak Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. Publicity: very good. Opening: excellent. …….Also released all over. Opening was historic in all the other circuits.
LATEST POSITION
The fabulous reports of both the releases of this week have made June 15 a red-letter day in the history of Indian cinema in 2001.
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Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai 3rd week Bombay 36,56,700 (78.63%) from 11 cinemas (7 on F.H.), total for 3 weeks 1,28,05,106; Ahmedabad 2,62,962 from 2 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Jamnagar 56,376; Pune 12,05,231 from 4 cinemas, Kolhapur 100%, Solapur 3,04,152 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Satara (14 shows) 92,532 (98.60%), Sangli 1,96,875; Dharwad 52,318, 2nd week Bijapur 1,24,488 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon); 3rd week Delhi 30,80,715 from 9 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,41,661 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 5,33,278, Agra 3,30,000, Varanasi 1,64,841, Bareilly (6 days) 83,298; Calcutta 5,59,381 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 4,27,703 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,75,609, Amravati 2,04,696, Akola 1,83,515, Raipur (6 days) 1,36,340, Durg 1,09,557, Jalgaon 33,886, Wardha (6 days) 58,463, Chandrapur 1,14,002, Yavatmal (5 days) 32,621; Jaipur 2,57,017 (40.20%), Jodhpur 4,31,467, total 18,42,224, Ajmer (gross, 28 shows) 1,25,124, Bikaner 66,748; Hyderabad (gross) 8,21,925 from 3 cinemas; 1st week Mangalore 1,87,439.
Ek Rishtaa The Bond Of Love 4th week Bombay 20,03,780 (48.31%) from 10 cinemas (6 on F.H.), total for 4 weeks 1,97,90,174; Ahmedabad 4,60,326 from 5 cinemas (2 unrecd.); Pune 8,06,876 from 4 cinemas, Solapur 1,13,704; Delhi 7,56,392 from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,87,336 from 3 cinemas, Lucknow 3,15,557, Agra 1,52,000, Varanasi 1,61,361, Allahabad 1,63,573, Bareilly (6 days) 39,395; Calcutta 6,34,483 from 4 cinemas; 1st week Puri 58,396 (100%); 4th week Nagpur 1,89,572 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,01,424, Balaghat 45,490, Amravati 1,57,352, Akola 86,042, Raipur (6 days, gross) 1,81,071, Jalgaon 82,392, Gondia (gross) 77,481, total 4,25,637, Wardha 45,896, Yavatmal 57,090, Sagar 39,448, total 2,11,987; Jaipur 2,91,688 (36.84%), Ajmer (gross) 1,51,000, total 9,33,748; Hyderabad (gross) 4,09,792.
SUBHASH GHAI INAUGURATES PRODUCTION BANNER
A new banner, S.K. Entertainment & Creation, was inaugurated at the hands of Subhash Ghai on 10th June in Bombay. An announcement of a film under the new banner was also made.
The film will be produced by Parvez A. Khan and directed by Vinod Sinha who was associated with Subhash Ghai as chief assistant director for 10 years.
TWO NEW CINEMAS
Two new cinemas are coming up in Ajmer (Rajasthan). Both are likely to open in December this year.
MUKTA ARTS OPENS DISTRIBUTION OFFICE IN BOMBAY
Mukta Arts Ltd. opened a distribution office in Bombay on 14th June under the name and style of Mukta Movies Distributors, at Naaz building. Mukta Movies Distributors will release Yaadein in Bombay (on 27th July) in a joint venture with Metro Films, Bombay.
SERVICE CHARGE DOUBLED IN CHHATTISGARH
The tax-free service charge in cinemas in the newly formed Chhattisgarh state has been increased to Rs. 2 per ticket from the existing Re. 1. The new rate was announced by Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi during a meeting with representatives of the Chhattisgarh Cine Association this week in Raipur. The minister also assured the CCA delegation of a reduction in the show tax rate (currently Rs. 100 per show) in due course of time. He also asked the state finance minister and concerned bureaucrats to formulate a proposal so that reduction in the rates of entertainment tax as well as compound tax could be considered.
The Chhattisgarh Cine Association has decided to felicitate the chief minister and ministers Ramchandra Singh Dev and Md. Akbar, for taking the right measures to foster growth of the film trade in the state.
The delegation that met the chief minister comprised CCA president Inderchand Dhariwal, general secretary Gurmeet Singh Gurdatta, Tarachand Kanuga, Sunil Bajaj, Navin Lodha, Prasanna Gattani, Dhanya Kumar Jain, A.J. Kawde, Lavanya Tiwari, Narendra Jaiswal, Vedprakash Tiwari, Jeetendra Nahar, Rajubhai, Girdharilal Agrawal, S.R. Soni, Deepak Sakarkar and Gyan Kalani.
D.S. MITTLE & SONS WINS RAPA AWARD
D.S. Mittle & Sons won the RAPA award for technical excellence in film category for their radio programme of Boney Kapoor’s Pukar. Devesh Mittle received the award from Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at the 26th RAPA awards function held at Nehru Centre, Bombay recently.
SARIKA HOSPITALISED
Former actress Sarika, wife of Kamal Haasan, was operated upon on 13th June at Lilavati Hospital for serious injuries she sustained after falling down accidentally from the terrace of her Madras residence on 10th. She suffered grave injuries on her spine and had to be flown to Bombay for the operation. She is reportedly out of danger.
SANGRAM SHIRKE NEW WIFPA PRESIDENT
Sangram Shirke was elected president of the Western India Film Producers’ Association (WIFPA) at the first meeting of its newly constituted executive committee, held on 14th June in Bombay. Mahavir Jain was elected senior vice president, Anjana Ramesh, vice president, and Munir Khan, honorary treasurer. The other office-bearers elected were Ravi Kumar (honorary joint treasurer), Prabhat Pandey (honorary general secretary) and Javed R. Khan and Sajid Ali (honorary joint secretaries). The rest of the executive committee comprises Subhash R. Duragkar, Dineshwar Sinha, Mukesh Chouksey, Lalji Gupta, Rajesh Mittal, Dnyandeo Aroskar, Omkarlal Sharma, Dr. K.K. Sharma, Chandni Gupta and Kuldeep Kaur. Jagdish Sharma was co-opted to the executive committee.
YOU ASKED IT
Will Lagaan appeal to the audience in the UK as it is anti-British?
– It is not an anti-British film as it shows a few Britishers (like the film’s second heroine) in very good light. A screening of the film in London on 14th June for the British press and other top personalities drew a thunderous response despite its length and songs. The technical values and the film’s content came in for high praise. Aamir Khan was present at the screening.
Can one make an ‘A’ grade film on a lavish scale and recover its entire cost from one territory alone?
– Yes, if the territory is Overseas! Music, satellite and the all-India territories can be the producer’s profit then.
Who was the first woman music director in India?
– Jaddan Bai (mother of Nargis) and Saraswati Devi were the pioneering women. Jaddan Bai made a film, TALASH-E-HAQ, and composed its music herself in 1935. In the same year, Saraswati Devi scored the music of Bombay Talkies’ JAWANI KI HAWA.
DO YOU KNOW?
* Not just in India, the two releases of this week seem to have caught the fancy of the audience in Overseas too. In Toronto, both, LAGAAN and GADAR, were full in advance on the first three days! Unprecedented!!
* The East Punjab distributor of GADAR sent his first cheque of overflow to the producers on the day of release itself. People queued up outside the cinemas at 4 a.m. on the opening day for the 6 a.m. show!
* GADAR EK PREM KATHA has created a theatre record by collecting 49,190/- (100%) on its opening day (6 shows) at Vasant, Akola. The craze for the Sunny Deol starrer was very much in evidence before the first show at 6 a.m. itself! As many as 100 Sunny Deol fans arrived at the cinema at 5 a.m. in a procession, complete with a music band! Once there, the fans garlanded the star’s posters and distributed sweets to all the patrons. They lit fireworks and danced. Needless to add, the film is expected to draw all shows full in the 1st week at the cinema.
* Police had to be called in on the opening day at Bhopal and Lily Talkies, Bhopal to control the crowds for GADAR.
* GADAR has created records on the first day in Jaipur at Gem by collecting 95,602/- in 5 shows and at Saroj by collecting 56,860/- in 5 shows. Total from 3 cinemas (including Raj Mandir, full): 2,73,444/- (92.61%).
* GADAR has created city records on the opening day at New Majestic, Ajmer (full), Minerva, Bikaner (81,544/-, full) and Gopal, Alwar.
* Internet booking of tickets started for the first time in Solapur this week with LAGAAN at Prabhat cinema.