PREM AGGAN
F.K. International’s Prem Aggan (UA) is a love story which doesn’t look like an F.K. banner film. Except for Feroz Khan’s unfailing eye for visuals, there’s no F.K. stamp whatsoever. The romantic tale has the oft-repeated rich versus poor angle, and the incidents in the drama are devoid of excitement. Even the screenplay has flaws. For instance, the heroine promises her father that she will never go back to her beloved, but she breaks her promise without any new development which would warrant a heroine to go back on her word. There is too much of verbosity and the lengthy dialogues between the girl and the guy and between their fathers are terribly boring. Yet another drawback — and a major one at that — is that there’s not a single comedy scene which can make one laugh or even smile (the comedy between Dinesh Hingoo and Rakesh Bedi is so poor, it’s a tragedy!) and not even one tear-jerking scene. Music, which is generally a highlight of Feroz Khan’s films, is not up to his standard this time. The film’s ending is abrupt and it almost appears as if there’s no climax.
Debut-making Fardeen Khan looks good and impresses in action scenes but needs to improve in acting and a great deal in dialogue delivery. Meghna Kothari makes a confident debut but lacks glamour and is very short. Sameer Malhotra, as Meghna’s brother, is okay. Shama Gesawant is fair. Sanjay Bhatia fails to create any mark. Anupam Kher is effective. Raj Babbar’s track (of military) has no relevance to the film; he performs ably. Beena and Smita Jaykar lend reasonable support. Kamal Chopra is average. Satish Shah is okay. Rakesh Bedi and Dinesh Hingoo are irritating. The rest of the cast pass muster.
Feroz Khan’s direction is limited by the poor script. But his penchant for shooting on breathtaking locations is evident in the film. Locales of Australia are fantastic and they’ve been captured marvellously by cameraman Kabir Lal. Anu Malik’s music, though good, does not befit a teenage love story starring newcomers and definitely not a Feroz Khan film. ‘Hardam dam bedam’, ‘Hum tumse mohabbat’, ‘Dekh ke tujhko’, ‘Khaate hain kasam’ and ‘Tere pyar’ are well-tuned. Song picturisations impress for the visual beauty (locations) more than the choreography. Dialogues (Sudarshan Faakir) are very good but only at a handful of places. Action scenes (S. Kammo and Javed Khan) are well composed. Production values are nice and so are the technical aspects.
On the whole, Prem Aggan will spell pain & agony — pain for the audience who’ve seen Feroz Khan’s hits earlier, and agony for the film’s distributors because it will prove to be a non-starter all over except in Bombay and South, where it will drop after taking a fair start. Considering its unduly high price, it will entail heavy losses to all its distributors.
Released on 30-10-’98 at New Excelsior and 14 other cinemas of Bombay by UTV Motion Pictures thru Shringar Films. Publicity: excellent. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was very dull everywhere except in Bombay and South.
VISHRAM BEDEKAR DEAD
Director and story-writer Vishram Bedekar passed away on the morning of 30th October in Pune. He was 93.
He had written the story for Prabhat’s runaway bilingual hit, Padosi (Hindi) and Shejari (Marathi), both directed by V. Shantaram.
Vishram Bedekar had directed three Hindi and six Marathi films viz. Thakiche Lagna Aani Satyache Prayog, Krishna Arjun Yudh, Narad-Naradi, Vasudev Balwant, Chul Ani Mul and Pahila Palna. The Hindi films directed by him were Rustom Sohrab, Ek Nanhi Munni Ladki Thi and Lakha Rani. In the last named film, Guru Dutt assisted Bedekar.
Vishram Bedekar was born on 13th August, 1906 and rose to become a towering personality in the literary and film circles. He is survived by his wife and son.
He was cremated the same day.
‘JEANS’ TO BE SENT FOR OSCARS
Shankar’s Jeans (Tamil) will be India’s entry to the Oscar Awards this year. The film, incidentally, has completed 200 days in Tamil Nadu and is the first Tamil film to run for more than 100 days in Malaysia and Singapore.
Jeans is produced by Ashok Amritraj and Dr. J. Murali Manohar and stars Aishwarya Rai and Prashant. Its music is scored by A.R. Rahman.
SUBHASH GHAI CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF MUKTA ARTS
Subhash Ghai celebrated the completion of 20 years of his Mukta Arts on 24th October at the plush Audeus Studio in Bombay. The well-attended function, which began in the morning with a pooja, was followed by a sumptuous lunch.
The function also marked the wedding anniversary of Mukta and Subhash Ghai.
Among the celebrities who attended the function were Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Bobby Deol, Aishwarya Rai, Mahima Chaudhry, Amrish Puri, Javed Akhtar, Mita Vashishth, Ramesh Taurani, Ashok Mehta, Ayesha Shroff, Alok Nath, Ila Arun, Naghma, Bharat Shah, Yash Chopra, Manmohan Shetty and Anees Bazmee.
As is his custom, Subhash Ghai announced his next film at the function and said, it would be a multi-starrer. The name of the film and its cast will be announced in January 1999.
‘PYAAR TO HONA HI THA’ 100 DAYS
Baba Films’ Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha completed 100 days on 30th/31st October at Bombay’s Metro and Cinemax cinemas. Written and directed by Anees Bazmee for producer Gordhan Tanwani, the film stars Ajay Devgan and Kajol. Music is scored by Jatin Lalit.
A.P. HIGH COURT FROWNS ON SOUND LEVELS IN CINEMAS
The Andhra Pradesh high court has issued directions which may force cinema owners in the state to tone down, or even turn off, their digital and Dolby sound systems as the decibel levels in the cinemas is affecting the hearing of audience, according to a report filed in by the state Pollution Control Board. The PCB had earlier set up a task force to study the sound intensity levels in selected cinemas in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad following the HC directive during a public litigation filed by one Gopala Krishna Kalanidhi in 1996. The task force, after conducting studies at Devi 70mm, Sudershan 35mm, Odeon Deluxe, Odeon 70mm, Sandhya 70mm, Sandhya 35mm, Maheshwari 70mm, Parmeshwari 35mm and Shanti, observed that in all the cinemas, the noise frequency levels varied between 74.5 and 96 decibels — far in excess of the standard level of 45 decibels set by the Central Pollution Control Board. The PCB also observed that the cinemas opting for sound systems like Dolby, DTS and Surround are creating the highest sound pollution. Following the PCBÂ report, a division bench of the high court ruled that cinemas be made to adhere to the norms set by the PCB. The court has also directed the PCB to send copies of the report to the Director General of Police as well as to all district collectors. The court has also directed the concerned authorities to ensure that the maximum permissible frequency of sound is incorporated as one of the essential conditions to be followed by exhibitors.
Hum Aapse Hit Chaahte Hain, Naidu Saab
KOMAL NAHTA
Papa, main papa ban gaya/Papa, main papa ban gaya blared the loudspeaker as we entered Rama Naidu Cine Village in Hyderabad last Saturday. On the set, Anil Kapoor was sitting on Anupam Kher’s lap, mouthing the lines playing on the loudspeaker. The set — interior of a house — was decorated with colourful balloons and the party mood was very much in evidence. The lines of the song being picturised said it all. Anil Kapoor was dancing with joy with his dad Anupam Kher. Occasion: Anil’s wife, Kajol, had delivered a child. Or so we thought. Only to be corrected. Kajol had not delivered a child as yet. News had come in that Kajol was expecting Anil’s child. Obviously, we thought, since Kajol was busy delivering hit after hit, where was the time for her to deliver kids?
Jokes and festivities apart, where on earth was Kajol? Why was the mother-to-be not partaking in the celebrations? Producer Suresh Naidu explained that Anil and Kajol are divorced. He continued, “Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain is a love story in which the romance begins after the divorce.” A novel concept, don’t you think? It is for a Hindi film, but the story has been seen in Telugu and Tamil. In fact, Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain is a remake of the Telugu super-hit Pavitra Bandham which was also earlier remade in Tamil. Venkatesh had played the hero in the Telugu version. Its heroine, Soundarya, won the National Award for the best actress for her role in this film.
And if Soundarya won it for the Telugu version, Kajol will surely pick up the National Award for the Hindi version, feels D. Rama Naidu. In fact, so impressed is Rama Naidu with Kajol’s performance that he says, “If Kajol doesn’t win the National Award for the best actress next year for this film, it will mean that the Awards are not impartial.” Saying this, Naidu gets down to relating scenes from the film, almost enacting them one by one. It shows how charged he is about the film. He reveals how he has been moved to tears in every trial show of the film’s rushes. Why, we see Naidu’s eyes moistening even while he is narrating scenes from the film. We’ve covered shootings of Rama Naidu’s earlier films too but we’ve never seen him so excited about any project as he is about Hum Aapke Dil…. And Naidu himself admits to this.
Coming to the long title of the film, Suresh Naidu chuckles, “Dad (Rama Naidu) was against this title. He could barely remember the title and so was adamant that we finalise an alternative title. But Satish Kaushik kept persisting for Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain till dad finally relented.” Papa Naidu smiles, “Today, I think, the title is better than the others we had thought of. It gives a feel of the film.”
Satish Kaushik bagged the film as director, thanks largely to Anil Kapoor. Besides, as Suresh Naidu explained, “It’s our policy at Suresh Productions, to give a chance to unsuccessful directors more than to successful ones.” In that case, Satish should thank Boney Kapoor for having given him a chance to make two disasters! Jokes apart, Anil Kapoor put in a good word and that’s how Naidu was prompted to make Satish Kaushik the captain of the ship. Satish revealed how Anil had broken the news to him at 3 o’clock in the night. “I was abroad for shooting, and one night, I was alarmed when my telephone rang in the middle of the night,” recalled Satish, adding, “It was Anil from India who telephoned me to give me the good news that I would be directing Naidu Sahab’s film.” Satish then revealed how he had felt demoralised after his Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and Prem had bombed but said that he never gave up hope. He felt, this film would be his ticket to fame as a director. Satish also plays a comic role in the film. The name of his character is German (!) because his father, while returning from Germany, had forgotten to get anything for him and so “he tells me to rename my self ‘German’!”
Whatever the comedy in the film, its mainstay will be emotions. Rakesh Bedi, who also plays an important role in the film, recalled how he had tears in his eyes when he was narrated the story by Satish Kaushik. With such brilliant actors as Anil Kapoor, Kajol and Anupam Kher in its cast, the emotions will be something to wait for, we’re sure!
The Naidus have taken care to not let the remake have any South touch whatsoever. Satish Kaushik, in fact, has given the film a very North Indian flavour. Why, even while this piece is being written, the film is being shot in Delhi. Rama Naidu explained that even the actor, who plays a beggar in the film and appears in just one scene, was brought to Hyderabad (for the shooting) from Bombay, such was the care they had taken to ensure that the film did not have a South Indian flavour.
Contrary to the general belief that Kajol is a difficult actress, the Naidus can only be heard singing the heroine’s praises. Why, Rama Naidu rates Kajol as the best among the 80-odd heroines he has worked with in the 90-plus films produced by him so far in South Indian languages and Hindi! No mean compliment, this. Suresh Naidu revealed how Kajol, at the time of signing the film, had requested them to complete the film fast and not go on with shooting endlessly as she loses interest in projects that take very long. Suresh explained, “This suited us fabulously because we believe in making films fast. Kajol allotted us 62 days and, believe it or not, her work has been completed in exactly 62 days!”
Although the Naidus are known to complete their films fast, this remake has taken “the longest time” — 10 months of shooting, according to Rama Naidu. But with shooting almost complete now and dubbing having begun already, Rama Naidu has plenty of time on hand to be ready for the release date — 22nd January ’99. Earlier, Rama Naidu had decided to release the film on 29th January but the release date has been advanced by a week to take advantage of the Idd festival.