One Main Cinema, One Distributor, Two Films
It’s Problem Time
What happens when two big films, coming within a gap of two weeks of each other, are booked at the same main cinema in Bombay by the same (common) Bombay distributor? There’s tension, commotion, allegations and counter-allegations!
That’s exactly what’s there presently. The two films in question are Vinod Khanna’s Himalay Putra, released this week, and Rakesh Roshan’s Koyla, due for release on 18th April. The common main cinema: Minerva. The common distributor: Bharat Shah (VIP Enterprises).
Although the main cinema for Koyla was announced in trade papers before that of Himalay Putra, the tension started only last week. Vinod Khanna and Rakesh Roshan met at the CBFC office in Bombay where the actor-producer is said to have asked the actor-producer-director to shift his Koyla to another main cinema and thereby make way for a longer and uninterrupted run of his own Himalay Putra. Not the one to get into controversies, Rakesh Roshan matter-of-factly informed Vinod Khanna that Minerva had been finalised for Koyla several weeks ago and that the cinema had also agreed to install DTS sound system for the film. Anyway, it was a matter for the Bombay distributor to decide, felt Rakesh Roshan and told so to Vinod Khanna.
Obviously then, Vinod Khanna contacted his distributor, Bharat Shah, and told him, he couldn’t do injustice to his maiden film which was also his son, Akshaye’s launch vehicle. At the time of going to the press, the main cinema of Koyla in Bombay yet stands as Minerva although there is a chance of a change.
When contacted, Bharat Shah told Information, “The issue is not as big as the hue and cry over it in the trade.” Explaining how the mess arose, Bharatbhai continued, “Himalay Putra was to have released in February. In all, it has been delayed by seven weeks, and Minerva was the best bargain we could get for it. Rakesh Roshan, on the other hand, had planned the release of Koyla on 18th Apri, months in advance. So, he is absolutely not at fault.” When asked, how he would get out of the sticky situation, Bharat Shah replied, “Let us see, we will monitor the public reports of Himalay Putra till Monday and then take a decision. If the film does well, we will definitely change the main cinema of Koyla, and continue Himalay Putra at Minerva. We yet have time to decide.” But with Ziddi due next week at Maratha Mandir, Hero No. 1 running at Novelty, Judwaa poised for a 15-week run at Liberty (the distributor of Bombay has been sent the letter for 100 days to Liberty), Sapnay booked at Metro from 2nd May, Judaai running at New Excelsior, and Mrityudaata booked at Eros from 25th April, which main cinema would be available for Koyla? Bharatbhai is unperturbed and replies, “Some solution will emerge. It is not as if Koyla will not get a good main cinema. Everything will be alright by Monday or Tuesday.”
F.C. Mehra, owner of Minerva cinema, on the other hand, is eager that after Himalay Putra, his cinema should also screen Koyla. “Himalay Putra can be shifted in matinee shows at our cinema,” he said, “and Koyla can be screened in regular shows from 18th April. We’ve installed DTS sound system specially for Koyla.” Unlike Bharat Shah, who is confident of a solution to the problem, F.C. Mehra feels, there can be no solution for the simple reason that “there are no main cinemas available”. “Collections,” explained Mehra, “have picked up and are picking up further, due to vacations and so, nobody would like to discontinue his film from the main cinema.”
Confusion breeds rumours. One such rumour born out of the confusion prevailing over the matter of main cinema of Koyla was that Vinay Choksey of V.I.P. Enterprises was refused permission to screen the trailer of Koyla at Minerva earlier this week for exhibitor-friends, as F.C. Mehra demanded that the film’s publicity material be put up at the cinema before the trailer could be screened. When asked to explain, F.C. Mehra laughed and dismissed the rumour as “baseless”. He explained, “Vinay arrived 8 minutes late at the cinema, by which time our regular show had started. I and he did not think it fit to disrupt the just-started show for the trailer. Vinay immediately contacted the nearby Novelty cinema and since the main show hadn’t started there, the trailer was screened at Novelty. There was no question of not screening the trailer of Koyla due to non-arrival of its publicity.”
That explains about the trailer. But will Koyla come at Minerva? Or won’t it? And if it won’t come at Minerva, where will it? At Liberty? Or Novelty? Or Metro? The days ahead will tell.
– Gautam Mutha
NEW CINEMA IN BOMBAY
A new cinema, Madhuban, will open at Dombivli (Bombay) shortly. It is owned by Vira Theatres Pvt. Ltd. which also owns Tilak Talkies at Dombivli. A cocktail-dinner party will be held this evening (5th April) at the cinema to celebrate the opening.
ORIYA FILMMAKER DEAD
Noted Oriya film producer-director Banabihari Patnaik died of a heart attack this week at his residence at Puri. He was 67. He had been associated with the Bhubaneswar Centre of Doordarshan.
BHUSHAN JEEVAN DEAD
Actor Bhushan Jeevan, son of late actor Jeevan and younger brother of Kiran Kumar, died of heart failure on 2nd April at Hinduja Hospital, Bombay. He had been hospitalised over a month back for kidney failure and other complications. He had also slipped into a coma. Even as doctors had almost given up hopes, he came out of coma but soon passed away due to heart failure.
Bhushan had acted in several films. He was also acting in quite a number of television serials when the end came. Among the serials in which he played important roles were The Great Maratha, Tara and Sailaab. He was only 36 years old and single. He is survived by his mother, two brothers and a sister.
His funeral took place on 3rd. Chautha will be held today (5th April) between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. at his residence (Jeevan Kiran, Bandra, Bombay).
FILM MUSEUM NEAR BANGALORE
Filmmaker M. Bhaktavatsala is planning a film museum near Hesarghatta on the outskirts of Bangalore. The Rs. 25-crore project has attracted the appreciation of Karnataka chief minister J.H. Patel, who has asked the departments of tourism and information to look into the project profile immediately. A 100-acre land area has been set aside for the museum which would take four years to complete. The Heritage Museum has been planned on the lines of the Museum of Moving Image, London, and the American Museum of the Moving Image, New York. It is expected to be a main draw for tourists.
CINEMA MANAGER, OPERATOR ARRESTED
The manager and operator of Laxmi Talkies, Navsari, were arrested recently for screening uncensored portions (bits) in the English Film Woman’s Play. The police also unearthed a racket of bogus admission tickets at the cinema. The management was also permitting non-adults for films which were meant for adults only. Investigations are on.
DTS IN C.P. CINEMAS
Five cinemas of C.P. Berar, viz. Panchsheel and Smruti in Nagpur, Prabhat in Amravati, Raj cinema in Raipur, and Abhay in Chandrapur will be installing DTS sound system for Koyla.
DTS SOUND
DTS sound system has been installed at Krishna, Padra (district Baroda). DTS sound is also being installed at Apsara, Baroda. Koyla is due at Apsara from 18th April.
In Bombay, Marathi Mandir cinema will instal DTS for Ziddi.
CINEMA OWNER DEAD
V.P. Dubey, proprietor of Shyam Talkies, Bilaspur, expired on 29th March at Delhi Hospital. He was 77.
YOU ASKED IT
Why have the South film actors — Chiranjeevi, Rajinikanth and Nagarjuna — stopped acting in Hindi films?
– Maybe, they’ve realised that they have limited appeal in North India. Incidentally, Kamal Haasan is acting in two Hindi films — LADIES ONLY is complete, and another has just started.
Don’t you think, the film industry should have its own film awards?
– It can have, but the awards would be worthwhile only if they are given on the basis of merit alone and without fear or favour.
Why has a new star-cast film, Himalay Putra, got a good opening all over when star-cast films like Judaai and Lahoo Ke Do Rang opened to dull houses?
– HIMALAY PUTRA has the advantage of starring a star-son.
DO YOU KNOW?
* Mani Ratnam’s wife, Suhasini, who had directed INDIRA (in Tamil), will play the title role in NANDINI (Tamil), to be directed by Manobala and produced by V. Natarajan of Pyramid Films International. NANDINI is a woman-oriented film.
* How strict contract laws in France are can be gauged by this instance. The Dior Fashion house has decided not to renew its contract with actress Emmanuelle Beart after she appeared in protests without make-up. Beart had joined in demonstrations against the conservative government’s new law aimed at limiting immigration. Although Dior did not object to her politics, it let her contract with it lapse because of her appearance in the news media ‘Au Naturel’ without having gone to the hair-dresser. Beart had recently starred in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.
* It has become quite usual for Hollywood films these days to show executives working in tobacco companies as villains. A number of books and television series also threaten to plunge the corporate nicotine behemoths, collectively known as Big Tobacco, into the category of celluloid shame. In fact, there are few screen heroes who smoke, apart from Bruce Willis in the DIE HARD films.
* Plus Channel paid an annual telecast fee of Rs. 8 crore (net) to Doordarshan upto March 1997, perhaps, the highest paid by any independent production house in the country.One Main Cinema, One Distributor, Two Films
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
First 3-D Film In DTS Digital Sound
Navodaya’s Malayalam film, My Dear Kuttichathan, will be the first 3-D film in the world in DTS digital sound. The film, which was also the first 3-D film of India, will be re-released shortly. DTS and its agent, Real Image Pvt. Ltd., will present DTS plaques to the many cinemas releasing the 3-D film in digital sound in Kerala. Another Malayalam film, Chemeen, is being revived in Kerala in DTS digital sound. It wound not be out of place to mention here that DTS digital sound system was launched over four years ago with the release of the English film, Jurassic Park. Today, DTS has approximately 9,000 installations worldwide. DTS received a technical achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its contribution to the motion picture industry.
CVO, The Dangerous Movie Channel
CVO, the cable movie channel of the Hindujas, is giving the film industry sleepless nights. And if anybody is to be blamed for this sleepless state, it is only the producers themselves. For, the channel shows films after just six months of their theatrical release, that too with the legal rights to do so. Earlier, the channel had its reach only in metropolitan cities but its reach is now fast spreading to other places too.
Man Of His Words — In Gold
Bobby Anand, the Delhi-U.P., Rajasthan and Overseas distributor of Judaai, had promised gold chains to the staff of producer Boney Kapoor if the film clicked. Keeping his promise, he gave the staffers beautiful gold chains last week to celebrate the film’s success.
Bold And Beautiful
If novelty is the name of the game, producer-director Prakash Jha should be pretty excited because if his Mrityudand is anything first and foremost, it is novel. A preview of some scenes and portions of songs of the film gave the impression that the film is bold and blunt in its message, besides being new. It shows rather dramatically how women in an ultra-orthodox Bihari society revolt against the male domination and exploitation. To say that Shabana Azmi and Madhuri Dixit have excelled in their respective roles would be an understatement. Both the heroines vie for top acting honours in this purposeful film. The censors, one hopes, would not come down harshly on the dialogues in the film because the words used, though raw and hard-hitting, are too appropriate to be true.
Incidentally, Madhuri Dixit, who attended the special screening, has shed weight now and is looking slim and beautiful once again.
‘Border’ Brochure
Producer-director J.P. Dutta has brought out a beautiful brochure of his Border. It gives the film’s story in brief, illustrated by colourful pictures from the film. Incidentally, the Sandeshe song of the film is rising in popularity day by day and should become a hit soon.
Odd Man Out
This incident took place at Indore’s Regal cinema recently. A man who had taken a ticket for the balcony for Judaai, went and occupied his seat before the film could start. A couple of minutes before the show could begin, he went back to the manager’s cabin and requested him to take back the balcony ticket and issue him a stalls ticket instead. The manager found the request quite unusual and asked the gentleman the reason for it. The man replied that he was embarrassed sitting in the balcony because he was the only male. All the other seats had been occupied by ladies! The manager smiled and obliged. Maybe, the manager was reminded of the hit song from the old Judaai (starring Jeetendra and Rekha) — Charon taraf gopiyaan, beech mein Kanhaiya.
Exposing Reply
Here’s a contribution from one of our readers:
Mamta Kulkarni was asked to comment on her alleged involvement in the Bihar Fodder Scandal. Her assumed reply: “Where is Bihar, I don’t know. Fodder, I’m sure, means chaara and when main mere producers ko chaara nahin dalti hoon, where is the question of involvement in any other chaara. As for the Scandal, I am used to reading all sorts of scandalous writings about me by gossip magazines. And let me tell you, had I been involved, I would never have hidden the fact. The world is aware of my spirit of exposing all things which are close and personal to me.”