(From our issue dated 14th January, 1995)

Film Kraft’s Karan Arjun (UA) is a tale of reincarnation, told against the backdrop of a village. Both the sons of a widow are murdered brutally right in front of her eyes, by a greedy family member. The widow firmly believes that her sons will be reborn and will come to avenge their murders and the atrocities perpetrated on her. After twenty years, two young men, resembling her dead sons, come to the village and seek revenge, killing all the evil-doers.

Director Rakesh Roshan and writers Sachin Bhaumick and Ravi Kapoor have intelligently padded the reincarnation plot with a lot of masala to entertain the ladies and mass audiences, in particular. There are beautiful songs, superb comedy, a few emotional touches, the supernatural power and a good dose of action.

The first half has a tight screenplay. After interval, some repetitive scenes do hamper the flow of the drama, but yet, the audience interest is kept alive. Climax is stretched a bit too much.

Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan have both acted wonderfully. While Salman underplays, Shah Rukh is his usual bubbly self. Salman looks handsome and his physique has been well exploited. Shah Rukh should guard against his twitching of the lips, which is beginning to look monotonous. Raakhee lives her role as the widow. Kajol does a fine job. Mamta Kulkarni looks pretty and acts well. Amrish Puri is superb as the villain. Arjun and Jack Gaud support him ably. Ashok Saraf and Johny Lever are at their comic best and it is difficult to say who among the two is better. Asif Shaikh is good. Ranjeet does a fair job. Dinesh Hingoo and Vishnu Sharma are alright. The rest of the cast lends the desired support.

Direction is intelligent. Rakesh Roshan has given the film a big look and has succeeded in enthralling the audience with the main plot as also the various other elements. Rajesh Roshan’s music is super-hit. ‘Jaati hoon main’ is a fantastic song and the dance steps in it are lovely. ‘Ranaji maaf karna’ has superb audio and visual appeal. ‘Bhangda paale’ has been well picturised. ‘Yeh bandhan toh’ has a haunting tune and its picturisation serves to establish the strong emotional ties between the mother and her two sons.

Photography is remarkable and locations are beautiful. Production values are appropriate. Technical aspects are of good standard.

On the whole, Karan Arjun has taken a fantastic start and will prove a definite overflow film. Looking to the craze, chances of it proving classA are good.

Released on 13-1-’95 at Minerva and 25 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity: excellent. Opening: bumper. …….Also released all over to extraordinary houses. 1st day Jaipur 1,50,172/- from 4 cinemas, Bikaner 100%, Jodhpur 100%, Kota excellent, U.P. 100%, Hyderabad 100%.

AMITABH BACHCHAN TO RETURN TO ACTING

Will Amitabh Bachchan return to acting or won’t he?  The answer to this question, which has been haunting the industry for more than two years now, is finally out. Amitabh will return to acting.

The superstar has floated a company called Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd. (ABCL). According to a contract between Amitabh and ABCL, the actor will be available to ABCL for a guaranteed 120 days every year and will follow a fixed engagement schedule and undertake to act in one feature film per year. He will be paid Rs. 3 crore by the company for acting in the film.

The actor can also continue to act in other films so long as they do not conflict with his schedule with ABCL.

Kotak Mahindra Finance Corporation have structured a deal whereby ABCL will encash brand equities of saleable stars. The contract between Amitabh and ABCL is binding for the next 10 years. Amitabh and his family will hold 87% equity in ABCL.

Dream Merchant

The morning papers of today screamed that Amitabh Bachchan would once again act in films. I always knew that he would return to acting and that it was only going to be a matter of time. I also read with interest the details of the company formed by Bachchan. It is called ABCL — Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd.

Having had a late night yesterday, I was fast asleep after I had finished with the newspaper. And yes, I was dreaming about Amitabh and corporations unlimited.

I dreamt that Amitabh Bachchan’s Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd. had announced a film titled Amitabh Bachchan As Corporation Dada. A big muhurt party had been planned. But, unlike other film parties, this one wasn’t being held in a 5-star hotel. Instead, ABCL had decided to throw it in its board-room. Instead of stars and people from the film industry, the launching was to be attended by top industrialists like Tatas, Birlas, Modis, Hindjuas, Ambanis etc.

The day of the muhurt arrived.

The muhurt rituals were also different. Dhirubhai — Ambani, not Shah — cut the ribbon on the bound film script, beautifully wrapped in silver foil. There was no cracking of auspicious coconuts, switching on of camera and sounding of clapper-board. In fact, there wasn’t any muhurt shot, too. Instead, the elite gathering was treated to an audio-visual show of ABCL’s plans, projects in the pipeline etc. A brief outline of the story of the film was also given to the select gathering which included the board of directors of ABCL.

The muhurt was followed by a press conference. Amitabh Bachchan had to answer a line of questions. One journalist asked him how ABCL would pay him Rs. 3 crore for a film? Amitabh asked, what was wrong in that? The journalist shot back, “But, earlier, on your own admission, you used to charge less than Rs. 25 lakh. How come this much rise now?” Amitabh attempted to dodge the reference to his previous remuneration “Oh, I don’t remember having said this,” he said, adding, “It must have been a printer’s devil in some newspaper.”

Another journalist from an eveninger rose and queried, “Why do write-ups in the media about ABCL refer to Ethnic Enterprises as your distribution concern in Bombay? You have gone on record to say that you have nothing to do with Ethnic.” Amitabh smiled mysteriously in reply to that one.

“Who will be your heroine in ABCL’s film?”, asked a third journalist. “My company’s press release will follow in the days to come,” was Bachchan’s cool reply. The journalist wouldn’t give up. “Would it be Sridevi? Or Madhuri? Or Juhi Chawla?”, he continued. Amitabh smiled, “It could be Aishwarya Rai also.”

“And who will direct the film?”, shouted another journalist. “It is usual to announce the director’s name on the muhurt day, isn’t it?” Amitabh looked at the journalist and said, “It may be usual in the film industry but now I am also a corporate personality. If I announce everything together, the stock exchange may experience a tremor. The share prices of ABCL may shoot up so much that it may not be advisable.”

Another member of the fourth estate got up and said, “If your price can shoot up more than 10 times, can’t the company’s share price go up?” Amitabh looked at the guy in disbelief. “Hey, you must get used to the fact that I’m a corporate dada now. Don’t ask me personal questions. I’ve answered enough of them when I was in the film industry only. Now, I have a dual personality. I am first a corporate man and then an actor.”

“What is your holding in ABCL?”, came another query from one corner of the room. “I and my family hold 87% of the shares,” came the reply. “The company virtually belongs to us.” The journalist shot back, “So, you will be paying yourself for acting in your own film to be produced by yourself?”

“That’s right,” replied Bachchan. “Any problem?”

The journalist looked sheepishly. “None at all,” he said. “Only one thing, though. Why don’t you ask all the other heroes to hold the balance 13% shares in ABCL? They’d love to associate themselves with you and your corporation.”

“What purpose would be served by that?”, asked Bachchan.

“To you, then, would go the credit for making the biggest multi-star-cast corporation, Sir,” answered the journalist. “And then, you could also call the company ‘Artistes Corporation Unlimited’ instead of Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited.”

– Komal Nahta

TOO MUCH!

The 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. shows of Karan Arjun in Muzaffarpur (Bihar) on 13th January had to be cancelled due to uncontrollable crowds. There was such a large number of people at the cinema that those who did not get tickets began to create problems. Finally, the shows had to be suspended.

In Houston, the film has been released in four cinemas to packed houses. So fantastic is the response that Houston Radio will present Rakesh Roshan live on telephone tonight (14th January) at 10.15 p.m.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Englightenment

The Heat In The Cold

A good film knows no opposition. This has been proved once again, this time by Karan Arjun. Even as the cold wave in various parts of the country saw box-office collections dip alongwith the mercury, Karan Arjun recorded full houses with hundreds of people braving it out in the cold, outside the cinemas, waiting for tickets. In a city like Jaipur, which is shivering in the cold, the morning show at 6 o’clock on Friday at Paras cinema recorded house-full collections. That’s the heat of a hit — the winter cold notwithstanding!

Impractical Resolution

Although legal video cassettes of Teesra Kaun? were released two weeks after its theatrical release, pirated cassettes had flooded the market at the end of the first week itself. Quite understandably, these very pirated cassettes were also shown on cable TV all over India all through last week. The FMC-FDC joint resolution seeks to restrict the producer from selling cable TV rights for at least six months from the date of theatrical release. While producer N.N. Sippy has, in fact, not sold the cable TV rights, his Delhi-U.P. distributor has served him a legal notice, alleging that Sippy had sold the cable TV rights and claiming damages from him. All of which prompts one to wonder: isn’t the joint resolution of the FMC-FDC impractical?

Authentic Set

The huge set put up at Kamaal Amrohi Studios for F.C. Mehra’s Ram-Jaane is the talk of the industry. Besides being very costly, the set which is a creation of art director Nitish Roy, has a very authentic look about it. It houses a theatre, two tall buildings, a hutment basti etc. Since the entire film will be shot on this set, it has been made of stuff that will last. For instance, real steel girders have been used.

DO YOU KNOW?

* While the industry’s plea to remove the compulsion for cinemas to screen Films Division newsreels has fallen on deaf ears, there is at least one bureaucrat — Bhasker Ghose, secretary, I & B ministry — who is not in favour of forcing cinema owners to show FD films. “It is morally incorrect to make documentaries compulsory,” said Ghose in Bombay recently.

* Doordarshan, which currently has fifteen channels, is not likely to add any more in the near future.

* Hema Malini will reportedly campaign for Sharad Joshi’s Shetkari Sanghatana party in the ensuing assembly elections in Maharashtra.

* FARAAR QAIDI (dubbed) has been released this week at Naaz, Bombay under a new title, YEH MERA KANOON HAI.

* Dinesh Salgia’s Chhotubhai Dresswala has been appointed by the NFDC as the costume co-ordinator for the national film museum set up at Nehru Centre, Worli, Bombay on the occasion of 100 years of cinema. An  exhibition of costumes used in films down the years, has been put up in the museum by Chhotubhai Dresswala.

* In the forthcoming assembly elections in Gujarat, at least two industry people will be in the fray. While Naresh Kanodia will contest from Jamnagar on a BJP ticket, Mehboobbhai (of Yen Movies, Bombay-Ahmedabad) will contest from Mehamdabad on a Congress-I ticket. Bombay exhibitor Gul Achhra may contest, also on a Congress-I ticket, from Ulhasnagar in Bombay.

* Aamir Uliah, who is working at Akriti cinema, Rewa, as  a booking clerk, has been elected mayor of Rewa.

* Police had to be called in to control the crowds on the opening day of KARAN ARJUN at Ramakrishna 70mm, Hyderabad. Looking to the crazy crowds, the second week’s advance booking at the cinema had to be opened on the film’s first day (13th), and the entire second week was also full in advance! The first day’s advance booking (9th January) saw a record collection of 90,000/-! At Aurangabad also, the crowds are uncontrollable and absolutely crazy.

* KARAN ARJUN was released at Sapna cinema, Indore on Wednesday (11th January) in the 9 p.m. show, without announcement. The house was full. A morning show at 8 a.m. was held on Thursday (12th) at Neelkamal, Indore. Even that was full, with a heavy rush of people waiting outside the cinema without tickets.

YOU ASKED IT!

To what do you attribute the terrific opening of Karan Arjun?

– To music, Shah Rukh Khan and Rakesh Roshan in that order.

In the article on stars and their worth, published in your issue last week, why have you put Shah Rukh Khan in Class IV?

–  The classes have been numbered as I, II, III and IV according to the prices charged by stars. Since Shah Rukh’s price is much lower than that of all the other top stars, he would definitely merit a listing in Class IV only.

Is it true that Sultan Ahmed will be releasing his Jai Vikraanta in an incomplete form?

–  These are rumours which are baseless. The film is complete and is being readied for Idd release.

‘DILWALE’ GOLDEN JUBILEE

Harry Baweja’s Dilwale entered combined golden jubilee week on 13th January at Swastik, Bombay. It stars Ajay Devgan, Sunil Shetty and Raveena Tandon. Music is scored by Nadeem Shravan.

‘HAHK..!’ SILVER JUBILEE ALL OVER

Rajshri Productions’ Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! will celebrate silver jubilee on 20th January all over. It will enter 25th week at all the 29 cinemas where it had a premiere release. Silver jubilee at other cinemas will follow in the weeks to come. The film stars Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan, Mohnish Bahl, Renuka Shahane, Alok Nath, Reema, Ajit Vachani, Bindu, Sahila Chaddha, Dilip Joshi, Priya Arun, Satish Shah, Himani Shivpuri, Laxmikant Berde and Anupam Kher. It is produced by Kamal Kumar Barjatya, Rajkumar Barjatya and Ajit Kumar Barjatya and directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya who has also written the screenplay and dialogues. Music: Raamlaxman. Lyrics: Ravindra Rawal and Dev Kohli. Cinematography: Rajen Kinagi. Editing: Mukhtar Ahmed. Choreography: Jay Borade. Art: Bijon Dasgupta. Audiography: C.S. Narayan Rao.

MUSIC DIRECTOR KAMALKANT DEAD

Music director Kamalkant died on 21st December due to heart failure. He was 60. He was music arranger of Shankar Jaikishan and Kalyanji Anandji and had also scored music for Punjabi and Hindi films, including Sarpanch, Batwara, Aasra Pyar Da and others. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

‘BOMBAY’ STILL NOT CLEARED

No decision has been taken by the CBFC with regard to Mani Ratnam’s Bombay. As such, the releases of both, the Tamil and Hindi versions, have been postponed. It may be recalled that the Tamil version of Bombay was seen by the Madras regional office of the CBFC and sent to the Bombay office for decision. In Bombay, it was seen by top police officials and other dignitaries, besides the CBFC officials.

HEAVY CUTS IN DUBAI

Karan Arjun was literally butchered in Dubai. Scenes of the temple as also in which Johny Lever appears have been deleted in the prints being screened in Dubai. And since there are plenty of such scenes in the film, it has not been appreciated there for obvious reasons.

‘KARAN ARJUN’ PRINTS RELEASED

Circuit                         No. of prints

Bombay                              58

Delhi-U.P.                           48

West Bengal                       21

Bihar                                 19

Assam                                 4

Orissa                                 5

East Punjab                        12

C.P. Berar                           21

C.I.                                    9

Rajasthan                           7

Nizam                                 8

Mysore                               4           

Andhra                               4

Tamilnadu                           5

Overseas                           26

Total                                251

COMPARATIVE CHART SHOWING NO. OF FILMS (LANGUAGE-WISE) CERTIFIED IN 1992, 1993 & 1994

Language                           1994                               1993                           1992

Telugu                                174                       148                         154

Hindi                                  155                        183                        189

Tamil                                  153                        168                        180

Kannada                             70                       78                         92

Malayalam                          69                          71                          90

Bengali                               44                         57                          42

Marathi                               22                        35                          25

Oriya                                  14                        20                          13

Punjabi                               12                        14                           12

Nepali                                 10                       07                            09

Gujarati                              06                        03                            05

Assamese                           06                        09                            04

Bhojpuri                              04                        02                            08

English                               04                        02                           05

Rajasthani                           03                        05                            03

Tulu                                    02                      01                             –

Bundeli                                02                       –                               –

Manipuri                              02                       03                             01

Haryanvi                              01                      01                             02

Kodava                                01                      01                              –

Gujjar                                  –                       01                              –

Garhwali                              –                        01                             01

Kok Borok                            –                     01                             

Urdu                                    –                        01                             01

Nagpuri                              –                         –                     01    

Sanskrit                               –                         –                             01

Total:                                754                     812                           838  

(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.

*      *      *

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.

*      *      *

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.

(From our issue dated 9th July, 1994)

MOHRA, as predicted, has created history all over India. Its first week’s business has surpassed that of all the hits to-date, in most of the centres. Its bumper initial has brought a new con­fidence in the trade and has made it qualify as the fastest money-spinner. It has created new records at almost every centre.

Mohra proves A1. 1st week Bombay 27,67,428 (99.63%) from 17 cinemas (15 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 10,05,512 from 9 cinemas, Patan 1,63,750 from 2 cinemas, Visnagar 1,09,454, Surat 2,14,623 from 2 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Baroda 100% from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 2,29,030 from 2 cinemas, Jamnagar 1,37,339 (95.83%) from 2 cinemas; Pune 5,91,528 from 6 cinemas, Kolhapur 63,896 (100%), Solapur 100% from 2 cinemas, Nasik 82,313 (100%), Nasik Road 88,452 (100%); Hubli 1,68,755 (99.17%) from 3 cinemas, Belgaum 1,30,920 (100%) from 2 cinemas, Nippani 54,634, over-capacity; Delhi 36,65,077 (99.99%) from 16 cinemas; Kanpur 5,53,412 from 3 cinemas, Lucknow 1,99,595 (100%), Allahabad 1,20,770 (100%), Meerut 2,64,076 from 2 cinemas, Bareilly 1,32,528, Aligarh 1,36,000 (100%), Dehradun 1,24,768, Deoria 65,297; Amritsar 100%, Chandigarh 90,720; Calcutta 19,10,416 (99.22%) from 22 cinemas; Bihar 11,36,532 from 18 cinemas (10 cinemas 100%); Nagpur 7,75,627 from 7 cinemas, Amravati 78,280 (100%), Akola (30 shows) 97,155 (100%), Raipur 1,69,070, over-capacity, Bhilai 1,32,425 (1 cinema unrecd., both records), Jalgaon 1,03,887, Khandesh record, Chandrapur 1,02,530, Bilaspur 2,03,800 from 2 cinemas; Indore 3,75,412 from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 4,01,306 from 3 cinemas, Ujjain 1,04,634 (1 unrecd.); Jaipur 10,34,670 from 5 cinemas, Jodhpur 4,75,000 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad (6 days) 21,24,838 from 15 cinemas, share 11,50,388, Aurangabad share 1,61,012 from 3 cinemas.

…….

YOU ASKED IT

If all stars insist on complete scripts before signing films, don’t you think that the content of films will improve?

– Several stars insist on the scripts before signing on the dotted line and this is a healthy sign. Yes, the content of films will improve in this way.

To what do you attribute the phenomenal opening of Mohra?

– The ‘Mast mast’ song, the presence of action heroes, the banner and the publicity.

Who are the busiest playback singers today?

– Among males, it is Kumar Sanu, and among females, Alka Yagnik.

BJP DISRUPTS ‘AATISH’ SCREENING

BJP activists disrupted the screening of Sanjay Dutt starrer Aatish at several centres of Maharashtra this week, following the arrest of Sanjay Dutt. It is reported that the film had to be discontinued from Bombay (Liberty cinema), Pune, Jalgaon, Dhulia etc.

SANJAY DUTT TO MOVE SUPREME COURT

Sanjay Dutt, who was arrested under the TADA Act when his bail application was rejected on July 4, and subsequently lodged in the Central Jail, Thane, will be shifted to the Arthur Road Central Jail, Bombay on July 14 when the bomb blast case hearing begins. Sanjay has been ordered to be held in custody till the final hearing of the case.

In the meantime, Sunil Dutt is expected to move the Supreme Court on 11th to appeal against the TADA court’s order.

Sanjay is allowed to eat food brought from his home.

NAZIA HASSAN SUFFERING FROM CANCER

Pop singer Nazia Hassan, who had created waves in the eighties with her ‘Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aaye’ song of Qurbani and other songs, is suffering from cancer. This was revealed by her mother in a Pakistani daily.

STARS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH SANJAY DUTT

A meeting of prominent film personalities, mostly stars, was held at the office of the Cine Artistes Association on 5th July to consider the course of action to be taken following Sanjay Dutt’s arrest on 4th July. Resultantly, the stars met at Hotel Rang Sharda on 6th July and proceeded to the Central Jail at Thane, where Sanjay is lodged, to express their solidarity with him. They waved posters and placards expressing support for the star.

The demonstration lasted for 45 minutes. Nobody was, however, allowed to meet Sanjay Dutt. Besides many stars, G.P. Sippy, Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai, Yash Johar and Raj Sippy were a part of the demonstration.

‘MOHRA’: NATION-WIDE SENSATION
1st Week Records

* About 9 to 10 additional prints of MOHRA have been taken out in the second week. There were 215 prints in circulation in the first week.

BOMBAY

* Creates a city record by drawing all shows full in all the 7 cinemas of Ahmedabad.

* Creates an all-time record by collecting 1,88,000/- at Drive In, Ahmeda­bad, in spite of rains.

* Creates a city record by collecting 1,65,000/- at Shalimar, Gandhinagar.

* Creates a record by drawing all shows full at both the cinemas (Sagar and Alpana) of Baroda.

* Collects 2,40,128/- (all shows full) at Relax, Bharuch.

* Creates a city record by collecting 90,900/- at Jayshri, Jamnagar and 46,439/- at Galaxy, Jamnagar. 21 out of 28 shows were full at Jayshri, and 10 out of 14 shows were full at Galaxy.

* Creates a record at Vaishali and Shree cinemas of Vapi.

* Creates an all-time city record by collecting 1,63,850/- from two cinemas – Neelam (92,354/-) and Krishna (71,496/-) – of Patan.

* Creates a record by collecting 1,09,454/- at Krishna, Visnagar.

* Also draws all shows full at Jehangir, Navsari.

* Draws all shows full at Bardoli.

* Collects 54,634/- against a capacity of 44,134/- at Geetanjali, Nippani, thereby creating a record.

DELHI U.P.

* Creates a record by collecting 1,24,768/- at Krishna Palace, Dehra­dun.

* Creates theatre records (despite rains) at: Menka, Gorakhpur (1,34,098/-), Rangmahal, Bhadohi (1,55,000/-), Vishal, Azamgarh (75,440/-), Laxmi, Deoria (65,297/-).

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,37,998/- in 1st week at Anurag, Meerut. Also creates a theatre record by collecting 1,26,078/- at Nigar, Meerut.

* Created an all-time city record by collecting 5,53,352/- in Kanpur as follows: Nishat 2,00,730/-, Deoki 2,06,195/-, and Deep 1,46,427/-.

* Creates a city record by collecting 1,32,528/- (against a capacity of 1,35,207) at Imperial, Bareilly.

* Creates a new record by collecting 76,696/- (all 28 shows full in advance) at Minerva, Jhansi.

* Breaks the theatre record of 40 years at Mansarovar, Allahabad by collecting 1,20,770/- (all shows full).

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,99,595/- at Leela, Lucknow.

* Creates a city record by collecting 1,36,777/- (all 28 shows full) at Seema, Aligarh. 2nd week first day: 19,540/-, full.

EAST PUNJAB

* Creates records at all the stations of East Punjab. Collects 4,21,000/- at Narendra, Jalandhar, 1,23,000/- at K.C., Jammu, 90,000/- at Neelam, Faridabad, and 1,00,690/ at Sagar, Faridabad, 90,720/- at Neelam, Chandigarh, 7,50,000/- at Malhar and Manju, Ludhiana, and 2,25,000/- at Harchand, Bhatinda.

WEST BENGAL

* Drew all shows full in all the cinemas of Calcutta!

* Creates theatre records at the following cinemas of Calcutta: Ananya (79,097/-), Jaya (59,630/-), Ragini (87,152/-), Vaishali (85,504/-), Chan­dan (90,657/-), Pushpashree (65,897/-), Parijat (69,573/-), Rajkrishna (54,163/-), Jayanti (1,02,599/-), Mini Rathindra (56,942/-), Chalchitra (55,120/-), Tati­ni (34,305/-), and Chitra (1,13,663/-).

BIHAR

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 100% at Diana, Danapur.

* Creates theatre records at both the cinemas of Jamshedpur – by collecting 100% at Jamshedpur Talkies as well as Star.

* Creates theatre records at both the cinemas of Dhanbad – collects 61,100/- at Kumar, and 41,300/- (100%) at Panchsheel.

* Creates a city record by collecting 63,429/- (100%) at Laxmi, Hazari­bagh.

* Collects 1,16,140/- at Jawahar, Muzaffarpur, thereby creating a theatre record.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 57,998/- at Shankar, Sitamarhi.

* Collects 48,449/- at Payal, Motihari and thereby creates a theatre record.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 48,423/-(100%) at Amardeep, Begu­sarai.

C.P. BERAR

* Creates a record by collecting a total of 2,03,855/- from 2 cinemas at Bilaspur: Gangashree 1,23,169/-, and Balram 80,686/-. 2nd week first day at Gangashree was 13,333/-.

* Creates a Khandesh record by collecting 1,03,887/- at Natwar, Jal­gaon. 2nd week first day: 10,180/-.

* Creates a new theatre record by collecting 97,155/- (100%) in 30 shows at Uday, Akola.

* Created a district record by collecting 1,32,425/- in 1st week at Uttam, Bhilai. Also created a theatre record at Geet, Bhilai.

* Created a city record by collecting 1,69,070/- (against a capacity of 1,26,663/-) in 1st week a Prabhat, Raipur!

* Creates a new record by collecting a total of 7,75,627/- from seven cinemas of Nagpur: Jaswant 1,48,648/- in 30 shows, Smruti 1,46,591/- (28 shows), Panchsheel 1,09,395/-, Sang­am 1,30,455/-, Alankar 97,479/-, Jay­shree 79,774/-, and Natraj 63,305/-. First day collections of 2nd week: Jaswant 13,718/-, Panchsheel 16,159/-, Jayshree 10,258/-, Natraj 8,901/-, excellent.

C.I.

* Creates theatre records by collecting 1,56,085/- at Bharat, Bhopal, 1,26,757/- at Sangam, Bhopal and 1,23,694/- at Jyoti, Bhopal.

* Created theatre records at all cine­mas of Indore: Premsukh 1,46,665/-, Sangeeta 1,22,747/-, Alka 1,06,000/-, other cinemas on fixed hire.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,02,600/- at Metro, Ujjain. Also creates a theatre record by collecting 1,02,000/- at Sundaram, Ujjain.

RAJASTHAN

* Creates theatre records at all the five cinemas of Jaipur. Collects 2,30,405/- at Gem (29 shows), 2,43,527/- at Motimahal (in 29 shows), 2,18,849/- at Laxmi Mandir (29 shows), 1,62,038/- at Paras (30 shows), and 1,80,851/- (nett) at Saroj (30 shows).

* Creates a record by drawing all shows full at Nasrani, Jodhpur.

Garma-Garam

** After Mohra, the trade expects 1942 A Love Story to take a bumper opening. If it does, the credit will once again go to a song. Like ‘Mast mast’ in Mohra is a rage, the ‘Ek ladki ko dekha’ song of 1942 is also a super-hit number. Reports of bumper advance booking for 1942 have filtered in from Prabhat cinema, Amravati. The advance booking window (for stalls only) opened on Thursday (7th July) and over Rs.13,000 worth of tickets were sold on the first day, a record.

** It’s shocking that several banners of 1942, put up by HMV, don’t have the name of R.D. Burman. R.D. Burman ka naam nahi dekha to aisa laga…..

** Just a week before its release, the Bihar & Nepal distributors of 1942 A Love Story backed out of the deal. Anjani Pictures walked in only too happily. They’ve acquired it for Bihar, leaving Nepal. Aisa bhi hota hai….

** A producer-director has sold his film for Bihar & Nepal to two different parties. The BMPA has registered the film in favour of the first buyer. The second buyer claims, the film is his. The producer-director, too, made an elaan (via trade papers) that the film belongs to the second party. Aisa bhi hota hai….

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Sanjay’s Films

With Sanjay Dutt’s arrest, the progress of a whole lot of films has been stalled. While Amaanat is ready and due for release on 29th July, one doesn’t know whether the producer and distributors would risk releasing it, looking to the volatile atmosphere and anti-Sanjay lobby of BJP and ABVP activists. Sultan Ahmed’s Jai Vikraanta is complete but Sanjay’s dubbing for it isn’t. Quite a lot of shooting of Sanjay remains to be done to complete Mahaanta, Safari and Anil Rathi’s Vijeta. For the last-named film, all the songs remain to be picturised, the climax and talkie portions having been completed. Sanjay had shot for Trimurti in only a single schedule last month. Likewise, he has shot for only one schedule of Ramgopal Varma’s Nayak. A few days of shooting with him remains to be done to complete Sajid Nadiadwala’s Andolan. Several of his other films like Kasoor, Zameen etc. were not making progress even otherwise.

Vinod Khanna’s New Role

Vinod Khanna will not just be the namesake producer of his home production, yet untitled, which he has launched to introduce his son, Akshaye Khanna, as hero. And this, one surmises from the fact that Vinod Khanna was present all through its first song recording held on 6th July at Sunny Super Sounds. What is notable is that the recording went on till the early morning hours of 7th. And yes, Vinod – sorry, producer Vinod Khanna – returned home at 4 a.m. on 7th.

A Story Of Love……
……. For The Film

Cinegoers going to Metro, Bombay from Thursday (14th July) onwards will be in for surprises galore. There will be a real vintage car on display in the foyer. There will also be huge arches, and long-flowing satins dropping from the first floor to the ground floor foyer. And there’ll also be a balcony set on display. All these are parts of the set/settings used in the making of 1942 A Love Story. That’s not all. Two mannequins – one of Anil Kapoor and another of Manisha – will greet cinegoers and there’ll be photographers with polaroid cameras to click the photographs of the enthusiastic ones who would be able to poke their faces into the mannequins and ‘become’ Anil/Manisha for posterity! There will be a stall in the cinema, which will sell 1942 A Love Story T-shirts (for Rs. 150/-) and 1942 brochures (containing 16 colour pages and information on the making of the film) at Rs. 50/-. HMV will also market special audio cassettes of 1942 as a collector’s item. Most of these novel publicity gimmicks are the brainchild of Shravan Shroff of Shringar Films, the film’s Bombay distributors.

It may be added here that convinced about the “unprecedented craze” for the film, Shringar have hiked the admission rates at Metro to Rs. 75 (Dress Circle), 40 (Balcony) and 30 (Stall). Not only that, special permission has been obtained for printing special tickets with a class touch. Special permission has also been obtained to open the advance booking for 7 days at a stretch. Incidentally, Metro is the only cinema in Bombay which will screen the film in Dolby Stereo sound. In the circuit, Prabhat cinema in Solapur and Mangala in Pune will screen it in Dolby sound system.

Dhirubhai’s New Association

Dhirubhai Shah of Time is at his wits’ end with, what he calls, “the unresponsive attitude of IMPPA/FMC” and has, therefore, broken up with the associations. He has reportedly formed a new association – Movie Makers Association – and is mustering the support of like-minded producers. At least two incidents led Dhirubhai to take this step. Says Dhirubhai, “I wanted the title Gambler for my film and, although it was available, my repeated communications have been stone-walled by the FMC. There is simply no reply from them.” The other incident relates to the clearance of Akshay Kumar. Dhirubhai was to start a film with Akshay but the FMC “neither gave me the clearance nor any reply”. This, when Dhirubhai wrote several letters to the association.

Coming To Naaz

Normally, one of the main concerns of a distributor is of shifting film prints. But at present, some of the important and heavy-weight distributors in Bombay are preoccupied with another kind of shifting i.e. shifting of their offices. And the focal point is Naaz building. BRA (Ramesh Sippy), VIP (Bharatbhai Shah) and Tolu Bajaj (who is opening a distribution office in Bombay) are hunting for appropriate office premises. Not surprisingly, the real estate prices in Naaz building have jumped up. Pahlaj Nihalani has already acquired (and partly shifted in) an office on the second floor of Naaz. It appears that Naaz building is all set to regain its lost glory.

(From our issue dated 2nd July, 1994)

MOHRA

Trimurti Films Pvt. Ltd.’s Mohra (UA) is an action and suspense film. The suspense is revealed mid-way. A lady journalist initiates an attempt to get a young man who is undergoing life imp­risonment, released by proving him not guilty. The attempt bears fruit and the young man is released from jail. But he is exploited by a man for his (the latter’s) personal gain. When the young man realises that he is being used as a pawn in somebody’s hand, that too, for an illegal cause, he revolts. Supporting him is a police inspector.

The film has a big canvas and, al­though the story and screenplay are not free from flaws, the presentation is both, fast-paced and sleek, thereby making up for the negative points. Action is in abundance. Romance and songs come at the appropriate places. The turns and twists are interesting and the climax is a suitable finale to the entire drama. To top it all, there is the ‘Mast mast’ song which is already a veritable rage. Dialogues (Dilip Shukla) are weighty.

Naseeruddin Shah comes up with a winning performance and uses the perfect amount of restraint for a role that has various shades. He is superb. Akshay Kumar gets lesser scope but he does full justice to his character. His ‘Mast mast’ dance is lovely and so are his action scenes. Sunil Shetty scores in action as well as emotional scenes and has some clapworthy stunts to perform. His entry is brilliant. Raveena Tandon looks very glamorous and shines in this male-dominated set-up. Her dances are good. Paresh Rawal does an excellent job, playing to the gallery and entertaining with his comedy. He provides relief at various places. Sadashiv Amrapurkar is good. Gulshan Grover impresses; his ‘dirty mind’ dialogue is catchy. Raza Murad is effective. Harish Patel’s stretched ‘hain’ is enjoyable. Tej Sapru, Yunus Perwaiz, Vinay Sapru, Kunika and Sonali Singh lend good support. Poonam Jhawer does not impress. Dinesh Anand, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Avtar Gill, Priya Tendulkar, Gavin, Aparajita (she has slimmed down), Anil Nagrath and the rest are adequate.

Rajiv Rai scores in direction and makes the film a visual treat. Viju Shah’s music has the super-hit ‘Mast mast’ number. ‘Pyar karo’ is very well-tuned and its picturisation is superb. The other songs are okay. Background music is effective. Locations are wonderful. Camerawork (Damodar Naidu) is top class. Production values are lavish. Other technical aspects are of a high standard.

On the whole, Mohra has taken an extraordinary start and will keep everybody amply satisfied. It has the potential to do ‘A’ class business, thanks to the wonderful start. First week’s business is destined to be historic.

Released on 1-7-’94 at Novelty and 31 other cinemas of Bombay thru Modern Movies. Publicity: excellent. Opening: un­precedented. …….Also released all over. Opening was breathtaking everywhere; police had to be called in to con­trol the crowds at several places.

YOU ASKED IT

On the basis of the first half of 1994, how do you look at the second half of the year?

– It should be exciting.

Which film is Mahesh Bhatt busy with these days?

– He is shooting for GENTLEMAN and a Telugu film down South.

How is the film market currently?

– Films are being announced aplenty. Deals are being concluded briskly.

Are action films in again?

– When were they out?

MIX MASALA

TOP TOUCH!

It started at the hands of the superstar. And it is concluding at the hands of the thespian. That’s Saawan Kumar’s Chaand Kaa Tukdaa. Amitabh Bach­chan had sounded its clapper-board for the muhurt shot. And its first negative was cut on 1st July by none other than Dilip Kumar.

REPEAT REACTION

Good music never dies. Even in its repeat-run at Metro, Bombay, the audien­ce watching Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke go berserk during the screening of the super-hit song, ‘Ghunghat ki aad mein’. They shower coins and even start dancing to the beat of the tune.

PERFECT TIMING

Some distributors of Waqt Hamara Hai have taken advantage of Mohra and re-released it this week. Besides Mohra, Waqt Hamara Hai is the only film starring Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty to­gether. A mast mast planning, this!

DO YOU KNOW?

* The Madras regional office of the CBFC is functioning without a head for almost ten months now. It has no full-time regional officer since September ’93.

* Jimmy Nirula’s SAZA, directed by Dayal Nihalani and starring Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty, is closed for all-India even before the commencement of its shooting.

* Mehmood, who directs Canmore Cinema’s DUSHMAN DUNIYA KA, also stars in it and plays ‘Bakriwala Baba’. In keeping with the mood of the character, he will record a qaw­wali for the film on 9th July with goats participating in the recording. Mehmood himself will render the qawwali, penned by Ravindra Jain and tuned by Anu Malik. The goats will provide the alaaps.

* Not only has MOHRA, directed by Sonam’s husband, Rajiv Rai, been released this week, Sonam’s film, DO FANTOOSH, has also hit the screens simultaneously.

* MOHRA has created a theatre re­ cord by collecting 19,431/- on the opening day (6 shows) at Uday, Akola. All shows were full.

* MOHRA has created a theatre record by collecting 28,000/- on the 1st day (6 shows) at Gangashree, Bilas­pur. 1st day Balram, Bilaspur 18,392/- in 5 shows.

* MOHRA has created a C.P. Berar record by collecting 38,915/- on the opening day at Prabhat, Raipur.

* MOHRA has created a city record by collecting 20,064/- (full) on the 1st day at Sapna, Chandrapur.

* MOHRA has created a city record by collecting 32,664/- (all full) on the opening day at Uttam, Bhilai. It has collected 18,877/- on the 1st day at Geet, Bhilai. Total: 51,541/-, all-time city record.

* CHEETAH has created a theatre record by collecting 69,048/- (cap. 80,029/-; 86.27%) in 1st week at Jagat, Bareilly.

* LOLA has created a city record for English films by collecting 8,069/- (nett) on the opening day at Arti, Wardha, in spite of the opposition of AATISH in two cinemas.

* WAQT HAMARA HAI was released in its second run at Amrit, Raipur on 10th June in 6 shows, in spite of opposition of MOHRA. Six shows are usually held for new films. WAQT HAMARA HAI collected 1,513/- in the 6 a.m. show.

IMPDA TO COLLECT RS. 10 PER PRINT FOR FFI

The Film Federation of India is on a drive to augment its financial strength. It has appealed to all its member-associations to contribute to its coffers.

Towards this end, the IMPDA has de­cided to collect Rs. 10 per print from every distributor-member on the film prints they take from the laboratory. The existing levy of Rs. 50 per film at the time of registration, which was introduced to augment the funds of the FFI, stands withdrawn.

The new levy (of Rs. 10 per print) will have to be deposited with the Association (IMPDA) which would credit the amount to a separate head for onward transmission to the FFI. It would apply to all prints of new films taken out on and from 1st July, 1994.

AMRAVATI CINE CLUB HALL INAUGURATED

The newly constructed hall of Amra­vati Cine Club in Walkat compound, Amravati, was inaugurated by CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain on June 27. The function was presided over by the mayor of Amravati, Govind Agarwal. It was followed by dinner.

‘LAADLA’ 100 DAYS

Nitin Manmohan’s Laadla, directed by Raj Kanwar, completed 100 days of its run all over today (July 2). It stars Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Raveena Tandon, Anupam Kher, Farida Jalal and Aroona Irani. Music: Anand Milind.

‘KHUDDAR’ 100 DAYS

Ratan International’s Khuddar completed 100 days of its run today (July 2). It stars Govinda, Karisma Kapoor, Shakti Kapoor and Kader Khan. Producer: N.R. Pachisia. Director: Iqbal Durrani. Music: Anu Malik.

‘SALAAMI’ 100 DAYS

Sharukh Sultan’s Salaami completed 100 days of its run last week.It stars Ayub Khan, Samyukta Singh, Raushni Jaffrey, Saeed Jaffrey, Goga Kapoor, Kabir Bedi, Beena and others. Music: Nadeem Shra­van.

ARJUN ESCAPES UNHURT

Actor Arjun escaped unhurt on the night of 1st July when some unknown assailants fired shots at him on the road. The identity of the assailants is not known.

VEERU DEVGAN’S DAUGHTER TO WED

A reception to celebrate the marriage of Neelam, daughter of action director Veeru Devgan and sister of Ajay Devgan, with Kiran, will be held on 3rd July, at Hotel Sun-n-Sand in Bombay.

ATMARAM’S DEATH MOURNED

A meeting of the trustees of the Junior Artistes’ Retirement Fund, Bombay, was held on 28th June at the residence of Dilip Kumar to mourn the demise of producer-director Atmaram, founder chairman of the Fund. The meeting was presided over by Dilip Kumar.

Two minutes’ silence was observed at the start. Dilip Kumar paid glowing tri­butes to Atmaram who, he said, dedicated his life for the upliftment of the industry, especially of the junior artistes.

Dilip Kumar proposed that Atmaram’s TV serial, Bhai Hamne To Suna Hai, be dedicated to him. The proposal was sec­onded by Yash Chopra. The resolution was passed unanimously.

MANOHARLAL MAKHIJA NO MORE

Manoharlal Makhija, managing director of Liberty Enterprises (Pvt.) Ltd., Bombay and son of Nandlal Makhija, ex­pired in Bangalore on the morning of 1st July.

‘MOHRA’ CAPS

Cinegoers all over Maharashtra are being given free Mohra caps (made of thick paper) with the words ‘Mohra mast mast’ inscribed on them. And the audience is thrilled to wear the caps while watching the film. The caps have been made by Venus Offset who had earlier made Jurassic Park caps.

‘Prem Granth’ Major Spell On Huge Set 

Editor-director Rajiv Kapoor commenced a 25-day major shooting schedule of R.K. Films & Stud­ios’ Prem Granth on July 1 on a huge set of a palatial house erected at R.K. Studios. Many dramatic and emotional scenes are being filmed on Rishi Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Om Puri, Prem Chopra, Reema, Suresh Bhagwat and Anupam Kher.

Shammi Kapoor heads the cast of the film which also features Arun Verma, Dinesh Anand and Ghan­shyam. In the meanwhile, Aroona Irani has been signed to play an important role. The film has cine­matography by Jal Mistry, sound by Anoop Mishra, art direction by Sur­esh Sawant, lyrics by Anand Bakshi and music by Laxmikant Pyarelal. It is being jointly produced by Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor.

Samantha Fox To Participate In
‘Rock Dancer’ Shooting

S.B. Films’ Rock Dancer will be shot from July 6 in Bombay. A song will be picturised on Britain’s fam­ous pop singer, Samantha Fox. The film stars Kamal Sadanah, Ronit Roy, Ritu Shivpuri, Sharon Prabhakar, Shammi Kapoor, Deb Mukerji, Jalal Agha and Javed Jaffri. It is being produced by Shubir Mukerji and directed by V. Menon from a screenplay by Devjyoti Roy. Dialogues by Tahir, music by Bappi Lahiri and lyrics by Nawab Arzoo, Maya Govind, Indivar and Deepak are the other major credits.

J.P. Dutta Turns Producer With ‘Border’

J.P. Dutta has turned producer with J.P. Films’ Border. The film stars Vinod Khanna, Sunny Deol, Naseer­uddin Shah and Sunil Shetty. One more hero and four heroines are to be fina­lised. It will be presented by Bharat Shah. Music by Anu Malik, dialogues by O.P. Dutta, cinematography by Nirmal Jain, action by Bhiku Verma, editing by Deepak Wirkud, art by Ratnakar Phadke and sound by Vinod are the other major credits. The film will mount the sets soon.

‘SOUND’ FEVER

More and more cinemas are installing the optical stereophonic sound system (and not Dolby stereophonic sound system, as inadvertently mentioned in the ‘Garma Garam’ column of our issue last week). Raghunath cinema, Agra, Woodland, Mysore, Nishat, Kanpur and Sangam, Loni are the latest names to go in for the optical stereo sound system.

Garma-Garam

* *Strange is the film industry. It is so unpredictable that one can never say what the future has in store for whom:

* * Sunil Shetty was scoffed at when he entered films. ‘He can never make it’ was the general opinion. Today, he is a star. He is sought-after. He is hot among distributors and public alike. Hardly any Sunil starrer is open for Punjab.

* * Raveena Tandon was nicknamed the jinxed heroine. Her name spelt failure. Today, Raveena and success are partners. Dilwale and Laadla starred her. Mohra also has lucky Raveena.

* * When Mohra was announced, the trade thought, something was wrong with Gulshan Rai. The title was described as “thanda”, the project was at best a ‘B’-grade set-up. When he quoted 60 as its price, the trade laughed. “60 for what?”, they asked. Today, Mohra is not thanda, it is hotter than heat itself. It is not ‘B’-grade, it is super-‘A’-grade, at least as far as its opening is concerned. Why, it has surpassed even Khal-nayak, in terms of the opening response. And 60 was a reasonable price. So they say – NOW!

* * Jurassic Park was taboo. ‘The Hindi dubbed version can never run’ was the unanimous opinion. Then, a few distributors mustered courage and acquired it for their circuits. They became the butt end of all jokes. Today, they are having the last laugh as they count crores.

* * Saif Ali Khan had all the horrible adjectives attached to his name. His entry in films was counted as the biggest folly. His claim to fame was that he was Amrita Singh’s husband. Today, Amrita is Saif’s wife. And who is Saif? He is a star in his own right. Ole ole ole….

* * Shah Rukh Khan was just not taken seriously. Nobody from the small screen had made it big on the big screen, and Shah Rukh was never considered an exception. One of his earlier films, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, had to literally go hunting for distributors. Today, Shah Rukh has proved to be an exception as also exceptional. He is the rage, the heart-throb, the darling and what not!

* * Distributors used to crib that prices of films were prohibitive. Today also, they crib and complain. But, while a year ago, they used to pay 35 and 40 with caution, they don’t bat an eyelid before paying 60 to 70 today.

* * Mithun Chakraborty was almost considered as gone. His line of flops made distributors wary of touching his films – and producers, wary of touching him. One Dalaal did the trick. Today, Mithun is again a busy hero, acting in some good films. And distributors are showing interest in him and his films.

* * Double-meaning songs and vulgarity/obscenity were the in-thing. An­daz changed the trend and so did the public hue and cry. Today, music companies run miles away from vulgar songs. A few months back, some music companies used to insist on double-meaning lyrics.

* * Vinod Chopra made 1,942 tongues wag when he quoted 1 crore as the price of 1942 A Love Story. Nobody showed interest in his project (at that price). Vinod Chopra didn’t show any interest in selling the film either. Suddenly, the ‘Ek ladki ko dekha’ song  became a super-hit. Distributors went running to Vinod Chopra. Vinod smiled, “1 crore”. Distributors also smiled, signed and shook hands. What was dismissed as ‘1942 A Documentary Story’ is today: 1994 A Sensational Story.

* * Not very long ago, admission rate of Rs. 25 was considered too high. Today, talks are that the admission rate at Metro, Bombay for 1942 A Love Story may be as high as Rs. 75 in the highest class. Mohra could have benefitted with such high rates.

* * The entire industry had dismissed R.D. Burman as a spent force. Till 1942 came along. After the songs of the film were recorded, the 1942 team said, a new R.D. Burman was born. Barely had they said this and R.D. died. Had R.D. been alive today, he would have been a force to reckon with – not a spent force.

* * Business was dwindling. TV and video, it was feared, were finishing the industry. But today, sky seems to be the limit for business. The crore-mark was an achievement not long ago. Today, one talks in terms of 2 crore and more. Mohra collects 50,000/- in one station in one day!

* * So, never say die…..

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Tension Takes Its Toll:
Govinda In Shah Rukh’s Role

Ketan Desai’s untitled film, to be directed by David Dhawan, was to have starred Anil Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan. But that is not to be. Shah Rukh has opted out of the project. In his place has come Govinda. Reportedly, Shah Rukh is said to have backed out of the project as he did not want to do a film with Anil Kapoor. It is whispered that there was high-voltage tension between the two heroes at the recent stage shows abroad. While Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor were presenting shows on the one hand, Shah Rukh Khan and others were also presenting shows on the other. Tension between the show promoters led to tension between Anil and Shah Rukh abroad. The tension was seemingly brought to India in the personal baggage of the two stars. Why else is it still there and refusing to come down from the boiling point? Well, Shah Rukh’s refusal to act in the film seems to be a consequence of the ‘imported’ tension….. Shah Rukh’s loss has become Govinda’s gain…. It is heard that Shah Rukh will be acting in the film to be directed by Ketan himself.

‘Mohra’ Mania

Rarely has such mass hysteria been generated as witnessed when Mohra was screened for the trade on June 29 at Novelty, Bombay. Though the screening was not a public affair and not even publicised as such, news travelled like wild fire. Result: at the end of the show, hundreds of fans had assembled outside the cinema to have a glimpse of their favourite stars (there were Naseeruddin Shah, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Kajol, Raza Murad, to name a few). The ardent fans paid scant respect to law and order and in the general chaos, the police had no option but to resort to a lathi-charge. But the fans would just not budge. There was a virtual traffic snarl with a bumper-to-bumper jam extending right from Novelty cinema to Girgaum Court, which is no small distance. The police and traffic cops may have had a tough time but the day of the devout fans was made. And so was Rajiv Rai’s! Because it was an indication of the unbelievable craze that Mohra and the ‘Mast mast’ song had generated.

Khan Dost: No! Khan Dushman: Yes!

The two hot-headed Khan heroes are at it again. One of them is reported to have threatened a press photographer this week at Mehboob Studios. And the other Khan hero is said to have threatened a journalist of a film glossy, again at Mehboob Studios. Both these Khan heroes were shooting for the same film when they behaved in the same questionable manner. Same same – rather, shame shame!

Missing Miss Version

Although the music cassettes of Mohra have two versions of the super-hit ‘Mast mast’ song (one, a duet, and another, a solo female number), the film has only the duet. And why is the solo female version missing, when the song has virtually become a national anthem? To quote Rajiv Rai (a day before the film’s release), “A film’s length is very important to hold the attention of the audience. The goings-on should be fast-paced and crisp. We have picturised the female version and even got it censored. I don’t know when I will incorporate it in the film. Maybe, I’ll wait for the audience reaction to the film and then add the song on a trial basis in some cinemas to guage the public reaction.”

Veeru Devgan’s ‘Action’

Rakesh Roshan is terribly disturbed with action director Veeru Devgan’s ‘action’. Veeru was earlier composing the fights for Rakesh’s Karan-Arjun but due to some date problems, Rakesh opted for Bhiku Verma instead. In the meantime, Veeru had done some work for Karan-Arjun. Rakesh Roshan alleges that Veeru has pinched his (Rakesh’s) idea and used the same in Vijaypath, starring son Ajay Devgan. In Karan-Arjun, Shah Rukh Khan always carries a katty (a small weapon made of rubber and wood) with him and the katty is also used in the climax. Says a hurt Rakesh, “Veeru Devgan has used the katty in Vijaypath, and the film’s banners also show Ajay on horseback with the reins in his mouth and a katty in his hand. This is lifted from my film. The katty idea was mine. Even if it had been Veeru’s idea, he was not justified in using it for another film.”

‘Karan-Arjun’: Action Now

Rakesh Roshan completed the last song picturisation of Karan-Arjun this week on a huge temple set (art director: R. Verman) at Mehboob Studios. Besides the two heroes (Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan) and the two heroines (Mamta Kulkarni and Kajol), the others who participated in the song-dance (choreographed by Chinni Prakash) were Raakhee, Amrish Puri, Ranjeet, Arjun, Vishnu Sharma, Aasif Shaikh and a crowd of junior artistes. Rakesh is now picturising scenes on the set. After this spell, about 40 days’ shooting will remain to be done, mostly of action scenes. Talking of production today, Rakesh Roshan lamented, “Everything has become so costly. Cost of production has shot up.” Karan-Arjun will be released in 1995 – either in February or else in April after the examinations. It would not be out of place to mention here that Rakesh Roshan was among the first few who had predicted that Shah Rukh would be a top star. And this, when Shah Rukh was a nobody.

Down Sonam Lane

Destiny, they say, plays an important part in every person’s life and so it was with Raza Murad. He made his debut in the Amitabh starrer, Ek Nazar. Sonam (his niece) was not even born then. In fact, Raza’s sister was pregnant with the possibility of delivering Sonam who was to later become a star. As Raza goes in flashback mode, he remembers how, when he attended the premiere of Ek Nazar at Novelty, Bombay, with his pregnant sister, he would hardly have imagined that 252 films later, he would be attending (on 29th June ’94) a trade show of a film made by none other than Sonam’s husband, Rajiv Rai, at the same Novelty cinema. And this time, in the company of Sonam herself! Yes, Mohra is Raza’s 252nd film. Time flies and how! But such quirks of fate make for pleasant memories.

(From our issue dated 3rd December, 1994)

Prince & Prince International’s Gopi Kishan (A) is an entertaining tale in which the hero plays a double role. Comic situations and dialogues evoke laughter a number of times. Other ingredients of a masala film, viz. romance, action, sentiments and drama make it a mass entertainer. A simpleton, honest and timid police constable dreams of becoming an inspector. His dream is realised when his twin brother takes his place and bravely fights single-handedly a group of villains. But the simpleton police constable-turned-officer thinks, it is Lord Hanuman who has come to his rescue. There are a number of sub-plots which make the proceedings a bit confusing towards the end. Action is limited but good. Dialogues are witty.

Sunil Shetty does well in both the roles — of a tough man (Kishan) and the timid police officer (Gopi). The story gives him full scope and the situations endear his timid self to the audience. Shilpa Shirodkar is simply superb. Her English dialogues and rustic performance are a pleasure to hear and watch. Karisma Kapoor does a good job. Mohan Joshi is effective as the villain. Suresh Oberoi is adequate. Aroona  Irani leaves a mark. Shammi is natural. Master Imran is quite nice. His confusion about his father brings the house down with laughter. Kishore Bhanushali, Mushtaq Khan, Abhimanyyu and the rest lend the desired support.

Direction is quite good. Editing should have been sharper. Music is excellent. ‘Hai hukku’ is already a hit. ‘Batti na bujha’ and ‘Chhatri na khol’ are also very well-tuned. All of them have eye-catching picturisations. The other songs also have appealing tunes and good picturisations. Action scenes are well-composed to provide thrill. The timid Sunil Shetty coming to the rescue of the brave Sunil Shetty in the climax is a clapworthy scene. Camerawork is good.

On the whole, Gopi Kishan has taken a very good start and has the merits to keep its distributors happy. Its high price is sought to be offset by the delay in the release of its video cassettes which itself is a noteworthy advantage.

Released on 2-12-’94 at Dreamland and 22 other cinemas of Bombay thru Sadaf Enterprises. Publicity & opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was very good at most of the places. 1st day Jaipur 1,02,983/- from 3 cinemas.

VINOD DOSHI’S SON TO WED

Gaurang, son of financier-producer VInod Doshi, will enter into matrimony with Madhuri on 4th^h December in Bombay at Jhulelal Temple, next to G.D. Somani School, Cuffe Parade.

MAZHAR, SON HOSPITALISED

Mazhar Khan and Zeenat Aman’s son has been admitted to the ICU of Breach Candy hospital. He was reportedly hurt in a freak accident on the playground. Mazhar himself is also at Brench Candy, undergoing treatment.

ANIL KAPOOR IN ‘TRIMURTI’

The choice has finally fallen upon Anil Kapoor. He has been finalised for Subhash Ghai’s Trimurti, to play the role which was earlier being played by Sanjay Dutt. The date adjustments are reportedly being worked out.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

‘Aladdin’ Magic

The super-success of Jurassic Park has virtually opened the floodgates for top-grossing English films to be dubbed in not only Hindi but even regional languages as is the case with Aladdin, the film which has notched an impressive $500 million worldwide and is listed as one of the all-time top grossers. In the USA alone, it has triggered the cash registers to jingle to the tune of $217.40 million. Not surprisingly, the film has so far been successful in securing 60 million admissions. Interestingly, it was not the runaway success of Jurassic Park which prompted Modi Films to dub and distribute Aladdin in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. As Rajiv Sahay, CEO of Modi Films puts it, “The ground work for the dubbing and other technical details were being worked out much before Jurassic Park hit the screens. However, it is heartening to see Jurrassic Park succeed. It proves that well-made films with novel themes have an audience even when dubbed.”

Aladdin is a musical animated film, so will the songs in the film be a boon or a bane? “It will definitely prove to be a plus point because Hindi films give a lot of weightge to songs. The Hindi film audience are used to it,” says Sahay. Any specially thought-of release strategy? “We will hit 100 screens to start with, of which 10 to 12 will be in English and the rest in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu,” informs Sahay, who is also not worried about the fact that some other English films like Universal Soldier and Speed failed to make a significant mark at the box-office. He has full confidence in his product.

Novel Promotion

While Aladdin is slated to be released all over India in its four avtaars on 23rd December, special shows of the film will be held in Delhi and Bombay. On 6th December, the Siri Fort lawns will be converted into an 18th century bazaar as it appears in the film — fire eaters, genie, caricatures et al. The film will be screened for special invitees. The same sort of bazaar will be recreated at the Nehru Centre in Bombay where the film will be screened on 13th^h December.

Foreign Invasion

More and more foreign and multinational companies are entering the entertainment industry in India, whether it is the big-screen or the small-screen entertainment. While most of them have started out on the small screen, either as producers of software or owners of satellite channels, and some have dubbed Hollywood films in Hindi for the Indian market, the ultimate aim of many of them is to produce Hindi films. How will the Indian film industry benefit from this? Hopefully, their presence will introduce discipline and system, besides big money, in the industry. And maybe, our stars will learn to become more professional due to the professionalism of the invaders.

A Secret Mission

If Yash Chopra is very secretive about his film and does not like to show his rush print to anybody, his son, Aditya Chopra, who is making his bow as a director with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, is one step ahead. Not only does he ever show his rushes to anybody, he even does not give an audio cassette of his recorded songs to the film’s music directors (Jatin Lalit). Why, even dad Yash Chopra does not have a copy of the songs. If he feels like hearing them, he has to get the cassette from beta Aditya. The rushes of DDLJ in the editing room are kept in a cupboard which is locked as soon as the work is finished. And the lock has two keys. One is kept by Aditya and the other….. that’s also kept by Aditya. Just in case, the first one gets lost. What do you say to that? Baap toh baap…. beta hai baap ka baap!

Compliments Of A Different Kind

Ketan Desai received compliments for his first song of Deewana Mastana even before it has been recorded. The audio tape with the tune of the song was inadvertently sent by music director Laxmikant to Randhir Kapoor whose song recording is also due soon. Randhir not only liked his own song (of Prem Granth), he also fell for the Deewana Mastana tune and told Laxmikant to use it for his own film. On being told by Laxmikant that the tune had been finalised for DM, Randhir couldn’t, obviously, force him to use it for Prem Granth. So he did the next best thing. He picked up the telephone and congratulated Ketan Desai for it.

Booked For Weeks And Weeks

With Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! releasing at Ganesh (Lalbaug) and Shreyas (Ghatkopar) in Bombay this week, exhibitor U.A. Thadani’s is the only chain of cinemas in Bombay which is screening only HAHK..!. Gaiety (Bandra) and New Era (Malad), besides Ganesh (Lalbaug) and Shreyas (Ghatkopar), are also showing the greatest blockbuster of all times.

Madhuri’s First

Even before his Karan Arjun is complete, Rakesh Roshan has finalised the lead artistes of his next which is titled Koyla. Sunny Deol and Madhuri Dixit will play the hero and heroine in Koyla. This is the first film Madhuri has signed after the release of Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!. Koyla will go on the sets in February ’95.

What’s In A Date?

Plenty, you are apt to say after reading what follows. Two mega hits of the Hindi screen have been released on 5th August. Way back in 1960, Mughal-E-Azam hit the screens on 5th August. And in 1994, August 5 saw the release of Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!.

YOU ASKED IT

What is the difference between satellite rights, pay channel rights and cable TV rights?

– Opinions differ. The producers’ associations are trying to conclusively define the three rights.

This industry is known for bhed chaal. Then, why has nobody attempted a film on the pattern of Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!?

– Because nobody has the conviction and confidence of the Barjatyas. Nobody is sure whether he would succeed in making the audience sit through a dozen songs. Or rather, everybody is sure, they wouldn’t succeed!

No dubbed Hollywood film has clicked in India as Jurassic Park. What is the future of such films now?

– If there is an element of novelty in such films, it stands a chance, otherwise not.

BHALJI PENDHARKAR NO MORE

Veteran Marathi film producer-director Bhalji Pendharkar passed away in Kolhapur on 26th November. He was 97 and is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

Bhalji Pendharkar had been admitted to a private nursing home in Kolhapur two days before the end came, following a kidney ailment. His funeral took place at Panhala near Kolhapur city on 27th. He was the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke award.

ACHA ANAND DEAD

Producer Acha Anand died in Delhi at the AIIMS Hospital on 26th^h November due to cirrhosis of the liver. He was in Delhi for the shooting of his film, Amar Vijay.

Acha, who was nephew of Chetan Anand, Dev Anand and Vijay Anand, started his career as a production controller in Navketan Films. He then worked as secretary of Shabana Azmi and Rajesh Khanna. He is survived by his mother, wife and two daughters.