(From our issue dated 4th February, 1995)
Actor-producer-director Roopesh Kumar died of a heart attack on 29th January in Bombay. He suffered a stroke at the Screen-Panasonic awards function at the Film City helipad around 7 p.m. and was rushed to Bombay Hospital in an ambulance, but died on the way. Accompanying him in the ambulance were Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar.
His body was taken to Pune where his family lives. The funeral, held the following day, was attended by a number of government dignitaries.
Among his notable films were Sapnon Ka Saudagar, Do Raha, Seeta Aur Geeta and others. He had acted in about 125 films in character roles. He had produced and directed Hai Meri Jaan and Meri Aan.
A prayer meeting will be held on 5th February at 5 p.m. in Pune at Irani Imam Bara, near Geeta Society.
RAKESH ROSHAN, TIME STRIKE A DEAL
Video Cassettes Of ‘Karan Arjun’
Not To Be Released
Looking to the tremendous collections of Karan Arjun at the box-office, Rakesh Roshan and Time (who holds its home-viewing video rights) have mutually decided not to release its video cassettes now. The video cassettes had earlier been planned to be released after four weeks of the film’s theatrical release.
When the collections in the first two weeks were rock-steady and remained so even at the start of the third week, Rakesh Roshan approached Dhirubhai and Pravin Shah of Time to withhold the cassettes for some more weeks. It took a lot of pleading to get the Shah brothers to agree to Rakesh Roshan’s suggestion. According to Pravin, they had already booked the advertisements for inclusion in Karan Arjun cassettes, and not releasing them now would have an adverse effect on their advertisements in cassettes of other forthcoming films as bookings of advertisements were done for several films together. Fearing huge losses on this count as also because of the advertising loss in Karan Arjun cassettes, the Shah brothers were initially reluctant to further postpone the release of the film’s cassettes.
Rakesh Roshan will pay Time a handsome sum of money to compensate for the losses on the above counts. In return, Time will not release the cassettes for as long as Rakesh Roshan desires. This may be six months or more or less. Whenever the video cassettes will be released, they will be released through Time and that will be in Rakesh Roshan’s account.
This will be the second film in recent years, the video cassettes of which will not be released. The first, of course, is Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!.
SNAPSHOTS
GOVIDA SUMMONED
Govinda was reportedly interrogated earlier this week under TADA. Reliable sources reveal that the star was summoned by the authorities at 6 o’clock in the morning. He was accompanied by his mother and another family member. The actor was allowed to go after several hours of interrogation.
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KINGLY RECEPTION
The music cassettes of Raja have been released in the market. And the response from all corners of the country is the same — terrific.
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ALL-TIME HIGH
Another album that’s selling like hotcakes is Mani Ratnam’s Bombay (Hindi). A.R. Rahman’s music has clicked in a big way. Little wonder then, Amitabh Bachchan, Jhamu Sugandh and Kirit Trivedi are quoting a ratio of 70 for the Hindi dubbed version of the film. What’s more, there are offers at this price from distributors of several circuits.
* * *
PRETTY HOT
After the stupendous success of Karan Arjun, Gujarat and Saurashtra sub-circuits have become oven-hot again. Angrakshak is luring sub-distributors from the two sub-circuits. Fancy prices are being offered, but distributor Harsh Manchanda and his son, Niraj, prefer to hold on. They’re confident, they’ll get even more fancy prices!
* * *
PRICE HIKE
A price increase in the case of Vicky Kumar’s Angrakshakis on the cards. The guy has gone over-budget.
* * *
OVERSEAS RIGHTS
Bharatbhai Shah seems to be having a fancy for Raja. Not satisfied being a partner in its Bombay distribution, he plans to acquire its Overseas rights, too.
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Success Makes The Difference
What is the difference between Rakesh Roshan of pre-Karan Arjun release and the Rakesh Roshan of today? Ask producer Gava for whom Rakesh Roshan is directing Karobaar. “Earlier, I used to have to plan about how I should suggest something to Rakesh so that he would be receptive to the idea. This is because he used to invariably be on the defensive. Maybe, the failures of his King Uncle and Khel had taken their toll on him. But after Karan Arjun, Rakesh is game for anything. He doesn’t have to be cajoled. You can say just about anything and he is willing to try. Its success has given him tremendous confidence. I’m happy, my Karobaar has really taken off only now. I have shooting schedules every month now, and Karan Arjun is the best thing to have happened for all of us.”
Calamity Averted
A major calamity was averted by Providence on Sunday last after the Screen-Panasonic awards function got over at the Film City helipad. The driver of one of the many buses arranged to bring the people down to Film City from the helipad, lost control of his bus while it was coming downhill. For a good 15 to 20 seconds, the occupants of the bus thought that it would fall down the valley on the side and that would be their end. There was chaos and panic in the bus as the driver helplessly tried to regain control. Four or five cars were smashed in the process (one of the smashed cars belonged to actress Madhoo). Luckily, when the bus banged against the last of the row of cars, it automatically changed its direction and could be brought to a halt. Much to the relief of the passengers inside who included Rakesh Roshan and wife, Rajesh Roshan and wife, Dinesh Gandhi and wife, Bunty Soorma and wife.
The Dubbed Lot
Of the 754 Indian feature films certified in 1994, a total of 124 were dubbed versions of Indian films. Of these 124 dubbed films, 72 were in Telugu, 37 in Tamil, 10 in Hindi, 3 in Malayalam and one each in Gujarati and Nepali. Regionwise, 85 dubbed films were certified in Madras, 23 in Hyderabad, 9 in Trivandrum, 5 in Bombay and 2 in Bangalore. Besides the 124 Indian dubbed films, there were another 11 films which were dubbed from foreign films like Jurassic Park, Aladdin etc. Which means, there were a total of 135 dubbed films which were certified in 1994.
Addition Of Deletions
If all the cuts ordered and effected by the CBFC in 1994 in all films were to be totalled, they would add up to 24,384.55 metres. This is about 10,000 metres more than in 1993. The total cuts of 1994 could compare with the length of about 6 feature films!
YOU ASKED IT
What is the delay in the release of Venus’ Miss 420?
– Some portion of shooting still remains to be done to complete the film. The Venus people have done a lot of reshooting because they were not satisfied with the film and did not deem it fit to release it till they had made it to their liking.
Has Bombay been sold for all-India? What is its ratio?
– Although the producer has offers for many circuits, deals have not yet been concluded for most of them. The producers expect to sell it at 65 to 70 per major circuit.
When business of new hits has increased so phenomenally, does it mean that old hits will also do well in repeat-runs now?
– Business of new hits has shot up due to unprecedented high admission rates. Repeat-run films cannot bear the burden of high admission rates. New films do better business if their video cassettes are not released simultaneously with their theatrical release. On the other hand, old films are easily available on video cassettes.
PHOOLAN SEES ‘BANDIT QUEEN’
Phoolan Devi finally saw Shekhar Kapur’s The Bandit Queen, based on her life, on 1st February at the I & B ministry auditorium in New Delhi pursuant to a directive of the Delhi high court. The screening was arranged by the film’s producer, Bobby Bedi, after he had moved an application before the court, expressing his wish to show the film to Phoolan.
Phoolan did not answer any questions from media persons after the show. She was accompanied to the show by her husband, Umaid Singh, Arundhati Roy who is assisting her in this case, and her two lawyers, Indira Jaising and Praveen Anand. Bobby Bedi was accompanied by his wife, Varsha, and his two lawyers, D.N. Sawhney and Ashok Gurnani.
Mix Masala
PANASONIC THIEF
For producer-director Deepak Balraaj Vij, the Screen-Panasonic awards function on 29th January was a highly frustrating experience. No, it is not as if he expected an award and didn’t get it. Rather, a Panasonic cassette player, fitted in his car, got stolen from it while he was busy watching the show. Besides the Panasonic, the car lights, horn and other fittings too got flicked!
B. NAGI REDDI’S GRANDSON TO WED
Wedding of Rajesh, son of B. Venkatrama Reddy and grandson of B. Nagi Reddi, with Preeti will be solemnised on 10th February in Secunderabad at Imperial Gardens, Sikh Village. A reception to celebrate the marriage will be held in Madras on 17th.
