‘Nayak’: The Real Story (Of Postponement)
The postponement of the release of Shankar’s Nayak was received in the trade with disbelief. Scheduled for 24th August, it has been postponed by two weeks, to 7th September. Rumours are also rife that it may come on 31st August. But those subscribing to the theory that Nayak will hit the screens on 31st August believe that Rajkumar Santoshi’s Lajja will not come on that day. The reason advanced by such people, for the postponement of Lajja, is that it has gone grossly over-budget and things will take a while to be sorted out. Matters, they add, have only become more complicated since Bharat Shah, who presents and distributes Lajja in Bombay, is under arrest (incidentally, his bail application was again rejected by the Bombay high court on 17th August). Of course, people connected with Lajja dismiss these stories as totally untrue and insist that the film will make it on 31st.
Coming to Nayak, Shankar’s extravaganza itself has gone over-budget by several crores of rupees. While this is one reason for the postponement, there are several more. Its mixing is not yet complete. Some parts, sent abroad for special effects, have been delayed and will reach India only on 20th or 21st August. Distributors, who’ve paid a heavy price for the film, are in a mood to seek a price reduction in view of the tight financial position in the trade. If this happens, the problems of producer A.M. Rathnam will only be aggravated, not eased. Yet another theory has it that the Overseas distribution rights of Nayak are not fetching the price expected by the makers. While rights of part of the Overseas territory are with Chandrakant Mehta, another distributor for a major part of the circuit — USA and UK — is still to be identified, that too, at a price desired by the makers!
While the tentative date of release is being given as 7th September, the trade is not sure whether the film will, in fact, come on 7th. For, the inauspicious shraddh period begins on 3rd September and producers usually avoid releasing their films during the shraddh days.
Meanwhile, exhibitors across the country are again panicking as the postponement of Nayak has made them look out for alternative playing programmes where none exist. With recent releases having all fallen like nine pins, there’s nothing that is sustaining at the box-office. Lagaan has almost exhausted its run in the first chain, other than in Bombay and Delhi. Gadar is the only film which is steady at the box-office but even that will start being pulled out of cinemas in some weeks from now.
There has been no major release this week. Thanks to the postponement of Nayak, there won’t be any release next week too. All eyes are now, therefore, on Lajja and Nayak.
LATEST POSITION
Both the releases of last week failed to lift the pall of gloom in the industry. DIL CHAHTA HAI is good in Bombay and Mysore but that’s about all. In most of the other circuits, distributors stand to lose. Delhi was good but U.P. was bad. YEH RAASTE HAIN PYAR KE fared badly all over. The holidays of Independence Day and Janmashtami proved beneficial for the two films but not enough to help distributors tide over their tensions.
Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke has not been appreciated. Is somewhat better in small centres. 1st week Bombay 55,49,929 (70.83%) from 15 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Vapi 4,16,330, Rajkot 2,70,000, Jamnagar (matinee) 29,835; Pune 9,58,457 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 2,16,364 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 34,98,495 (55.52%) from 11 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,32,333 from 3 cinemas, Lucknow 4,44,872, Agra (3 days) 1,70,000, Allahabad 1,95,903, Jaunpur 60,000; Calcutta 14,62,049 from 9 cinemas; Nagpur 3,95,517 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,23,960, Amravati 2,06,678, Akola 1,74,400; Jaipur 7,28,368 (49.30%) from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 24,09,641 from 11 cinemas; Davangere 1,57,814.
Dil Chahta Hai is good in big centres of Bombay circuit and in Delhi and Mysore. But in the rest of the country, collections are not encouraging. 1st week Bombay 67,52,026 (94.28%) from 12 cinemas (9 on F.H.), Vashi 8,16,201 (89.41%); Ahmedabad 11,38,660 (88.37%) from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 4,39,633 (97.53%), Jamnagar 1,32,191, Adipur 2,30,965; Pune 23,16,769 from 4 cinemas, Solapur 2,13,871 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 99,83,604 (83.34%) from 13 cinemas; Kanpur 3,46,285 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 5,30,794, Agra 4,12,000, Allahabad 2,03,000, Bareilly 76,498; Calcutta 19,18,362 from 6 cinemas; Nagpur 8,45,896 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,71,129, Amravati 1,92,270, Akola 1,34,000, Jalgaon 1,60,751, Wardha (6 days) 81,325, Chandrapur 1,53,472; Bhopal 2,77,000 (1 unrecd.); Jaipur 6,42,084 (42%) from 3 cinemas, Ajmer (29 shows) 1,25,236; Hyderabad (gross) 44,53,570 from 14 cinemas (2 on F.H., 2 in noon).
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Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat gasps for breath. 2nd week Bombay 3,89,076 (29.67%) from 2 cinemas (8 unrecd.); Rajkot 1,95,000 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 58,841 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 2,22,616 from 2 cinemas, Solapur 42,727 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 2,56,843; Kanpur 70,774 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 67,729, Agra 1,40,000, Bareilly 32,042, Jaunpur 15,000; Calcutta 98,782; Amravati 37,084, Raipur (6 days) 26,162, Jalgaon 41,733; Hyderabad (gross) 1,75,215.
Yaadein… is on its way out. 3rd week Bombay 13,73,849 from 5 cinemas (4 on F.H.), total for 3 weeks 1,15,83,319; Rajkot 1,45,025, Jamnagar (noon) 35,700; Pune 2,04,744 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 25,393; Delhi 6,29,668 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 1,90,077 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,18,674, Agra 1,11,000, Allahabad 77,000, Bareilly 35,728, Jaunpur 12,000; Calcutta 4,14,561 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 1,01,843, Jabalpur (6 days) 94,862, Amravati 64,534, Dhule 18,000, Raipur (6 days, gross) 1,12,502, Jalgaon 60,626, Chandrapur 42,879, total 2,93,635, Yavatmal 33,551, total 2,06,553; Indore 75,000; Jaipur 4,52,211 (53.40%).
Lagaan (21 shows all over) 9th week Bombay 26,90,551 (78.06%) from 8 cinemas (7 on F.H.), total for 9 weeks 4,79,33,160; Pune 7,15,119 from 2 cinemas; Delhi (TF) 13,52,643 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 40,519, Lucknow 2,13,146, Allahabad 42,795; Calcutta 6,23,188 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 1,43,679, Amravati 78,222, Raipur (6 days) 54,434, 1st week Ballarpur 62,204; 9th week Indore 60,400, Bhopal 59,000; Jaipur 1,03,948 (16.26%); Hyderabad (gross) 5,06,731 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon); 1st week Mangalore 1,98,347.
Gadar Ek Prem Katha is better than all other running films put together. 9th week Bombay 39,24,800 (60.27%) from 15 cinemas (10 on F.H.), total for 9 weeks 5,33,14,638; Vapi 2,64,384, Jamnagar 1,57,395 from 2 cinemas; Pune 8,15,766 from 4 cinemas, Solapur 1,21,940 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 23,98,133 from 8 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,97,943 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,95,134, Agra 3,00,000, Allahabad 1,10,273, Bareilly (6 days) 63,719; 8th week Calcutta 3,12,722 from 2 cinemas; 9th week Nagpur 1,71,611 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,36,375, 7th week Balaghat 54,125, total 6,26,106, 9th week Amravati 1,23,867, Akola 1,09,639, total 16,55,615, share 13,34,550, Dhule 57,412, total 14,69,655, Raipur (6 days) 96,940, Jalgaon 1,31,626, total 20,04,187, 4th week Gondia 1,38,840, total 6,06,999, 9th week Wardha (6 days) 28,523, total 9,33,069, Yavatmal 43,935; Indore 1,41,576 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,86,439; Jaipur 2,66,235 (45.50%), Ajmer (gross) 2,00,842; Hyderabad (gross) 3,60,735 (1 unrecd.).
PRAKASH MEHRA BEREAVED
Pratap Mehra (Babboo), brother of producer-director Prakash Mehra, expired on 5th August in Bombay following a heart attack. He was 56 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
Babboo Mehra had produced Himalaya Se Ooncha (1975) and Jwalamukhi (1980).
FIRST CINEMA AT RAISEN
Singhal, owner of Rambha cinema, Bhopal, has purchased land at Raisen, near Bhopal, for construction of a cinema. Raisen, with a population of more than 40,000, has no cinema currently.
BANGALORE CBFC OFFICIAL HELD
A senior officer of the Bangalore regional office of the Central Board of Film Certification was caught red-handled on 14th August while accepting a bribe to issue a censor certificate to a Kannada film, Narahanthaka. The film is produced and directed by B.R. Keshava, proprietor of BRKS Mega Production.
‘GADAR’ TAX-FREE IN DELHI
Zee Telefilms Limited’s Gadar Ek Prem Katha has been granted exemption from payment of entertainment tax in Delhi.
The tax exemption will give a further boost to the film’s collections which are already historic.
KISHAN KANT SETH PASSES AWAY
Kishan Kant Seth, partner in Nishat and Gulmarg cinemas of Meerut, passed away in Meerut on 12th August after a prolonged illness. He was 81 and is survived by his wife and two daughters.
The oldest exhibitor of Meerut, Seth was highly respected and was popularly referred to as Bade Bhaiyya by everyone. Both, Nishat and Gulmarg cinemas, remained closed for three days.
ANOTHER DEATH ON ‘DEVDAS’ SET
A lightman on the set of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas fell to his death on 12th August at Filmistan Studios. Subhash Morkar (40) fell while he was handling the lights at about 8.45 p.m. He was rushed to Cooper Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 10 p.m.
This is the second freak accident on the sets of Devdas. In December last year, two unit members were injured in a freak accident. Of them, one died after his head got stuck in a huge storm fan and another unit worker, who tried to save him, sustained serious injuries.
SHABIR AHMAD DEAD
Shabir Ahmad of Sardar Talkies, Malegaon, expired on 10th August at Malegaon. He was not only one of the oldest exhibitors of Malegaon, but also a great social worker. He was the chairman of Sana Primary and High School of Malegaon, chairman of Nasik Zilla Haj committee and various such institutions.
‘LAGAAN’ WINS AUDIENCE AWARD AT LOCARNO
Aamir Khan’s Lagaan won the Prix du public (Audience award) at the Locarno film festival in Switzerland on 12th August. It was the first festival appearance of the period film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The award was collected by Gowariker. Lagaan now moves on to film festivals in Toronto, Chicago and Cairo.
The Locarno festival, in its 54th year, is the second-oldest film festival in the world (Venice is the oldest). Lagaan was screened at the fete on 5th August to an audience, numbering 6,300, which clapped and cheered. They applauded its dialogues and songs and even danced to its tunes in the aisles. Because of its running time of over three-and-a-half hours, the festival authorities waived its rule of two films per night. It screened Lagaan as a single film for that one night. Two additional shows of the film were held at the fete. It was also sold to eight countries including Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Finland.
MRTPC HOLDS FMC GUILTY
The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission has held the Film Makers Combine guilty of adopting restrictive trade practices within the purview of the MRTP Act, 1969. The Commission recently passed an ex parte order to the effect on a complaint filed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
It may be recalled that Vinod Chopra had carried on with the shooting of his 1942 – A Love Story in November 1993 despite a call for an indefinite strike given by the FMC. In retaliation, the FMC had written to distributors’ Associations, asking them not to register Chopra’s film. The FMC had also asked Film City authorities and members of the film’s cast to stop co-operating with Chopra. However, when he still continued with the shooting, the FMC slapped a fine of Rs. 5 lakh, following which the producer-director took the matter to the MRTPC.
YOU ASKED IT
You had a while ago mentioned that film negative exposed abroad (foreign shootings) was subjected to customs duty when the producers returned to India. Is customs duty still charged on such exposed film negative?
– The I & B ministry has informed the Film Federation of India that the finance ministry is issuing a directive to the effect that customs duty will not be levied on such exposed negative.
You keep writing in your reviews that the audience wants something new. When someone makes a fresh film like Dil Chahta Hai, you write that it will not run outside Bombay. Then what?
– Not only have I written so, but DIL CHAHTA HAI has indeed not run in most of the circuits. You’ve got to give the audience novelty but while remaining within the parameters of commercial cinema. DIL CHAHTA HAI came like a cultural shock to viewers in most circuits.
Besides D. Rama Naidu, has the IDBI financed any other producer?
– Rajshri has been financed for its films — one, being made by Sooraj Barjatya, and the other, to be directed by Mohan Singh Rathod.
MULTIPLEX POLICY OF MAHARASHTRA GOVT.
Single-Screen Cinema Owners To Move Court
The ire against the multiplex policy of the Maharashtra government is rising among single-screen cinemas owners. Not satisfied with a day’s token closure in Bombay last week to protest against what they term a “discriminatory policy” adopted by the state government, owners of single-screen cinemas in the state are now threatening to move the Bombay high court against the policy.
The Maharashtra government last week announced the decision to grant entertainment tax exemption to multiplexes for three years and a further 25% relief for two years thereafter. However, the entertainment tax rate for existing cinemas will remain the same.
Representatives of single-screen cinemas from all over the state met in Bombay on 14th August to decide on the future course of action. Among the Associations which met were the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association of India (CEAI), the Theatre Owners’ Association (TOA), the Pune Exhibitors’ Association, the Central Circuit Cine Association (CCCA) and the Marathwada Cinema Exhibitors’ Association. Earlier, on 12th August, exhibitors of Maharashtra (of C.P. Berar circuit) met in Nagpur to chalk out the plan of action (read report elsewhere in this issue).
Although the government resolution (GR) on the multiplex policy is not out so far, it is a mere formality now since the decision has already been taken. The meeting on 14th drafted a joint representation which will be submitted to the state government soon. The memorandum terms the government’s move as unfair and explains how it will ultimately affect the government’s earnings.
The fear in the minds of owners of single-screen cinemas is that they will be thrown out of business as distributors will want to release their films at the multiplexes because of the sops given to them by the government. According to single-screen cinema owners, the government will ultimately lose because it will not get any entertainment tax from the patrons visiting multiplexes.
The agitated cinema owners are pleading with the government to provide a level playing field. Instead of offering incentives to just one kind of cinemas, it would be better if the government laid down the technological upgradations it expects in cinemas and gave incentives to those cinemas which got themselves upgraded, feel the single-screen cinema owners.
Rajshri: The Empire That Experiments
It is no coincidence that Tarachand Barjatya commenced the operations of Rajshri Pictures (P.) Ltd. on 15th August, 1947 — the day India became free. For, the banner that was born on that auspicious day was to hold Indian values and traditions, more than anything else, at the centre of things. Fifty-four years later, having grown into an empire, Rajshri continues to propagate the same Indian values — whether in its style of doing business or through the films it makes — that Tarachand Barjatya had instilled in the company at the beginning. His three worthy sons, Kamal Kumar, Rajkumar and Ajit Kumar, alongwith grandsons Sooraj and Rajat, have kept the Rajshri flag flying high on the firmament.
The first fifteen years of Rajshri were spent distributing a number of films, both, in Hindi as well as regional languages. By the time Rajshri diversified into film production in 1962, it had cemented its status as the largest film distributor in the country. Today, Rajshri’s distribution operates through a network of 24 offices, spanning the length and breadth of India. No other film distributor in the country can even dream of getting anywhere close to Rajshri’s infrastructure, not for several years at least.
Rajshri Productions (P.) Ltd. has an enviable record of having produced 47 films in 39 years. The 48th, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, starring Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan, is currently being made. The 49th film, to be directed by Mohan Singh Rathod, will start later this month. What is remarkable about Rajshri’s track-record is that the banner has never, even in the worst of circumstances, succumbed to the lure of taking the easy route to the box-office — that of churning out titillating stuff. Be it Aarti (1962), Dosti (1964), Saudagar (1973), Geet Gaata Chal (1975) or the more recent Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) or Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999) — every film bears the stamp of Rajshri’s unique brand of Indian values. So much so that even the action films made by Rajshri, like Agent Viod (1977) in which Mahendra Sandhu played a Bond-like spy, did not rely on sex to sell. For Rajshri, the primary target audience has always remained the family.
Perhaps, this insistence on making only clean, family entertainers is what pushed Rajshri to major financial losses in the late seventies and eighties, a period when violence ruled in films. As many as twenty-one Rajshri films flopped at the box-office between 1979 and 1984, while only three emerged successful.
The banner rose like a phoenix with the arrival of Sooraj Barjatya on the scene with Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989. Sooraj followed it up with India’s biggest blockbuster of all times, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and the rest, as they say, is history. Incidentally, it was the pragmatic Tarachand Barjatya, respectfully called Sethji, who had been the first to spot potential in Sooraj and place on his young shoulders — he was only 24 then — the immense responsibility of pulling the prestigious banner out of its worst crisis.
To say that Rajshri is the most prestigious banner in the film industry would be stating the obvious. Over the years, it has given to the industry as much as it got from it, be it in terms of introducing new talent and technology, or new ideas in production and distribution of films. Many of Rajshri’s experiments proved successful while some didn’t. But the fact is that others in the industry benefitted a great deal from them. Given below are some of Rajshri’s major experiments down the years and how they turned out:
Jeevan Mrityu (1970): Rajshri tried something that had never been done in the history of Hindi cinema — that of releasing a star cast film in only matinee shows. The Dharmendra starrer, Jeevan Mrityu, opened in matinee shows at Bombay’s Alankar Cinema. The experiment proved successful as the film went on to run for 100 consecutive weeks there.
Chitchor (1976): While a few Hindi films had already been made in the Cinemascope format before it, Chitchor was the first that was duly promoted as one. The film’s success resulted in more and more films being made in the format. The release of Chitchor was another experiment. To prove his dictum ‘People would travel miles to see a film which has merits’, Tarachand Barjatya released it in only one cinema in a Bombay suburb — and not, as is customary, in any main cinema in the city. Tarachandji’s belief proved right as Chitchor enjoyed an unbroken run of 36 weeks at Amber Cinema in the Bombay suburb of Andheri.
Agent Vinod (1977): The film was released at a time when the government had revised excise duty on cinema prints. As things stood after the revision, eleven prints of a film were exempted from excise duty, after which duty had to be paid on every additional print taken out for a period of one year from the date of premiere release. After one year, every new print was exempted from duty. As if in protest against the levy, Rajshri took out only eleven prints of Agent Vinod — an out-and-out commercial entertainer which deserved a much, much wider release. Only after exploiting the film with eleven prints for a year were more prints made of the film. The end result was that not only did Rajshri save on excise duty but the film also went on to prove a hit.
Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye (1977): Tarachand Barjatya firmly believed that mouth publicity was the best publicity. To prove this, he took an unusual step with the release of Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye. As incredible as it may sound today, the film was released without any street and print publicity! The film, which expectedly took a dismal opening due to lack of promotion, indeed picked up by favourable word of mouth. It ultimately proved one of the biggest blockbusters of that year.
Coolie (1983): There was a lot of hype around the time of the release of this Amitabh Bachchan starrer, thanks to the near-fatal injury that the superstar suffered on the sets during its making. The film was produced and directed by Manmohan Desai and distributed by Rajshri in Bombay and a few other territories. It was on the insistence of Gopal Babu, then general manager of Rajshri, that the shot where Amitabh got hurt was frozen for a few seconds in all the prints. His reasoning was simple: going by the mass hysteria during Amitabh’s battle with death post-injury, people were extremely sentimental about the episode and very curious to know how he had got hurt. Needless to add, Gopal Babu was 100% correct in his assessment.
Maine Pyar Kiya (1989): Reeling under heavy financial losses due to the string of flops, Tarachand Barjatya placed his hope and trust on his 24-year-old grandson, Sooraj, to turn things around. The young director lived up to the expectations and delivered a blockbuster on debut. Rajshri introduced 4-track Optical Stereophonic sound for the first time in India with Maine Pyar Kiya. The sound systems at a number of cinemas across the country were upgraded following its success.
Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994): It became a landmark film not only for Rajshri, but also for Indian cinema. Remade from Rajshri’s 1982 film, Nadiya Ke Paar, HAHK..! showed the courageous side of Rajshri. Nadiya Ke Paar had been a success only in U.P. and Bihar while proving a disaster everywhere else. Yet, Rajshri decided to remake the film on a much grander scale simply because of strong belief in its subject. Research had shown that Nadiya Ke Paar had failed in other territories because of a very strong Bhojpuri flavour — a flaw rectified in HAHK..!.
Rajshri had such confidence in the box-office potential of HAHK..! that it released the film all-India with only 29 prints in the first week. New prints were added as its run progressed so that ultimately, over 400 prints of the film were in circulation in India alone, in addition to more than 100 abroad. This was because of the supreme confidence in the film. Even otherwise, initially, very few exhibitors would have paid the astronomical terms that Rajshri had in mind for the film.
Rajshri was so sure of the film’s success that if chalked out a year-long contract with Bombay’s Liberty cinema! The contract had to be renewed twice as the film’s run outlived it each time. Rajshri also had the cinema renovated at its own cost, complete with special lighting fitted around the screen. The colourful lights came on during some of the wedding songs and gave the audience a feeling of being at a shaadi ka mandap! The film is said to have earned a share of Rs. 2.75 crore from Liberty alone!
For the same film, it was Rajshri which, alongwith Liberty cinema of Bombay, filed a writ petition in the Bombay high court, demanding the right to increase admission rates without prior permission of the collector/licensing authority. The Maharashtra government fought tooth and nail against the plea for enhanced rates without permission, but the high court ruled in favour of Rajshri and Liberty cinema. It is because of this landmark ruling that we now see cinemas in Maharashtra changing admission rates according to the film screened and also for the same film on different days of the week.
Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999): In contrast to the limited print release of HAHK..!, Rajshri flooded the market with an exceptionally large number of prints of Hum Saath-Saath Hain. The film opened in a record 416 cinema halls across India. This was also clever strategy, considering that pirated VCDs of the film surfaced in the first week itself. Also, the wide release proved a boon because the film turned out somewhat below the usual expectations of a Sooraj Barjatya film. A large number of prints on release meant that the film was able to cover more than its cost in the initial few weeks alone, before the collections began dropping.
The one experiment that failed….: By the late seventies, Rajshri had developed a vast network of distribution offices across the country. Rajshri then expanded its production activities in a big way. The banner produced as many as seven films in ’79, and six films in ’80, a total of 13, of which only Taraana and Saawan Ko Aane Do proved successful. Resultantly, Rajshri slowed down its production activities in the subsequent years. It made only one film in ’81, four in ’82, three each in ’83 and ’84, and only one each in ’85 and ’86. When the drought of hits continued, Rajshri didn’t produce a single film in ’87 and ’88. Its next production was Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989. If anything, Rajshri’s failed experiment proved the fact that an assembly-line approach can never work in a highly creative field as filmmaking. Not till one can give enough time to all the projects.
– GAUTAM MUTHA & RAJ VAIDYA