HAPPY DIWALI WITH ‘HAHK..!’ ON STAR PLUS
The greatest blockbuster of all times, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, will reportedly be telecast on Star Plus on Diwali day. The deal, it is reported, has been finalised by the Barjatyas for Rs. 5 crore!
A while ago, Sholay had been telecast by Doordarshan on a national holiday. It helped DD recover about Rs. 2.5 crore through the sale of 83 time slots to advertisers.
MALAYALAM FILM ACTOR SURRENDERS
Malayalam film comedian Jagathi Sreekumar surrendered before the judicial first class magistrate, Ernakulam, on 8th October in connection with the case of sexual exploitation of a minor girl a few months ago. The actor had remained in hiding for over a month. He is one of the 40 suspects in the serial raping of a teenager of Vithura. Sreekumar had a non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him.
The court remanded him to judicial custody till October 22. The court had thrice rejected the anticipatory bail of the actor.
Incidentally, the actor has been put in the same cell in the Ernakulam sub-jail where he had been locked up a few months ago for a scene in Punnaram. In the film, he played an innocent man charged with a crime.
DIWALI HAT-TRICK!
Believe it or not, but all the three big films — Ghatak, Raja Hindustani and Sapoot — scheduled for release on Diwali are being distributed in Overseas circuit by Kishore Lulla. While the former two are his acquisitions, Sapoot was acquired by ABCL but will be released thru Lulla’s office.
DO YOU KNOW?
* Aamir Khan and Sunil Shetty’s careers will be managed by ABCL now. Into celebrity management now, ABCL has taken up the work of these two heroes as its first assignment. More actors are likely to hand over their careers for management to ABCL, it is rumoured.
* Johnny Walker campaigned for H.D. Deve Gowda’s party in Hardoi on 5th October and regaled the audience in his famous filmi style. He even delivered some of his famous dialogues from popular films of the ‘sixties and ‘seventies.
YOU ASKED IT
Will the Bombay distributor of Khamoshi lose money in the film?
– No way. The tax-free advantage will see him through. Even otherwise, the film did reasonably well in major cities of Maharashtra. The share from Liberty cinema (Bombay) alone has crossed 25 lakh.
When South films are being dubbed by the dozen, what is the point in buying their Hindi remaking rights at fancy prices?
– Sometimes, South film producers do not sell dubbing rights and offer only remaking rights. Then, a South film may need to be changed to suit Hindi film audience tastes. There’s also the fear that the South Indian artistes may not be accepted by the Hindi film audience.
What is the future of non-star cast films in general?
– Considering the high admission rates in cinemas and consequent high theatre rentals, it is rather difficult for completely new star cast films to be able to stand their own, generally speaking. Exceptions, of course, cannot be ruled out.
MIX MASALA
ZORDAAR IDEA?
Perhaps, with a view to making the film not appear as stale as it actually is, the makers of Zordaar did away with the faces of the heroines completely in many of the street publicities of the film. Govinda and Aditya Pancholi are shown prominently on the publicities but Neelam and Mandakini are conspicuous by their absence!
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
A Question Of Strength, Not Weakness
So, the question which still remains is: will they or won’t they? And, more important, should all the three films come together on Diwali?
While the benefit of the Diwali period doesn’t need to be emphasised, it is also true that if all the three — Ghatak, Raja Hindustani and Sapoot — came together, they would cut into one another’s revenues. The loss because of this may more than offset the gain due to the festival period. If this happens, the very purpose of releasing the films on Diwali will be defeated.
Besides, will the all-India distributors of all the three films get the requisite chains of cinemas for their films? What do they think of the triple releases?
Ideally, the producers of all the three films should do some rethinking. Ego hassles should take a backseat. One producer must definitely postpone his release by two weeks. He should not fear that his postponement will be misinterpreted as his film’s weakness. In fact, it should be interpreted as the concerned producer’s strength. Who will be the strong one? Or will there be one at all?
To The Point
The dispute over the price of Ghatak for the Eastern circuit defies solution. The producer has gone to the court (Bombay high court) and the hearing is fixed for 25th October.
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Ram Gopal Varma, whose Telugu horror film, Dayyam, did not do well at the box-office, has reshot portions in the second half and dubbed the film in Tamil. Let’s see, how it fares in Tamil.
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Ram Gopal Varma is leaving no stone unturned to make his Daud a worthy successor to Rangeela. A ‘hot hot’ song was being picturised for the film earlier this week at Mehboob Studios on a jungle set on Sanjay Dutt and a skimpily clad Urmila Matondkar. The Zahreelay Zahreelay song sounded like a hit. Yes, the music is by A.R. Rahman.
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There’s high talk of the fiery dialogues in Ghatak. And of Sunny Deol’s role as well as performance. And yes, the folders of Ghatak, which came along with the copies of Film Information last week, were in news as well as in demand.
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The Shaher ki ladki and Sundara Sundara songs of Rakshak are going great guns. Their popularity should ensure the film a terrific opening.
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Yet another song that’s bound to top the popularity charts is Chappa chappa charkha chale from Gulzar’s Maachis. Not only is Vishal Bhardwaj’s music excellent, its picturisation is also wonderful.
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– Komal Nahta