CHINA GATE

Santoshi Productions’ China Gate (UA) is the story of ten honest armymen who were dismissed for an error they had committed. They meet after 17 years of their dismissal and set out on a mission — to rid a village of the clutches of a sadistic dacoit who has made the life of the villagers hell. The story is heavily inspired from Sholay and the Japanese film, Seven Samurai. Yet, the novelty of ten old men on a mission is interesting and even enjoyable in the first half. The drama takes a serious turn after interval and that’s when the film loses grip. The incidents from the personal lives of the oldies don’t have the desired emotional effect. The Hindu-Muslim sentiments also look contrived. The interaction of some of the armymen with the little girl in the village also looks forced and has no impact on the viewer. In short, several portions of the second half look fake. The climax, abounding in action, is once again impressive. Even other than the climax, the film has plenty of action. But it moves on a single track with hardly any interesting diversions. As a result, ladies patronage will be limited. Devoid of star value and romance, the film relies on light moments and gags in the first half and drama in the second. Dialogues are good but only at places.

Performances of almost everybody are wonderful. Naseeruddin Shah does a marvellous job and shines as one of the most important members of the team. Om Puri is also fantastic as the leader of the group. Danny Denzongpa is superbly restrained. Amrish Puri is lovable and deserves kudos for a brilliant job done naturally. Jagdeep’s comedy is very good. Anjan Srivastava is effective. Viju Khote is quite good. Kulbhushan Kharbanda lives his role. Tinnu Anand acts ably. K.D. Chandran gets the least scope but is good. New villain Mukesh Tiwari does well but is definitely not brilliant enough to match the force of the ten-man army. His voice is not up to the mark for the character he plays. He is bound to be compared to Amjad Khan of Sholay and that won’t be good for him. Mamta Kulkarni does fairly well in a brief role. New hero Samir Soni impresses with a confident debut. Paresh Rawal infuses life in the second half with a performance that’s extraordinary. Ila Arun, Harish Patel, Jeetu Verma, Anupam Kher, Shivaji Satam and Girish Karnad (in a special appearance) lend the desired support. Urmila Matondkar’s dance is a highlight.

Rajkumar Santoshi’s shot takings are splendid and he has been able to keep the audience’s interest alive even without stars. His direction is excellent, but the same cannot be said of his choice of the subject. Although the screenplay (Rajkumar Santoshi, Anjum Rajabali and K.K. Raina) is well-written, the heavy inspiration from a classic like Sholay for a big canvas film as this is unpardonable and it will limit the prospects greatly. More so, because the film lacks star power. The expenditure incurred on the film warranted (i) a more promising subject with scope for romance, music etc. and (ii) star value. Besides, the writers have not been able to come up with a single novelty in the entire film!

The theme song is passable but ‘Chhamma Chhamma’ is very well-turned and has a lovely picturisation. The background score is effective. Tinnu Verma deserves high praise for his stunts; the action scenes are fantastic and those involving horses are mind-boggling. Camerawork (Piyush Shah) is fabulous. Production values are grand. Technically, brilliant. The titles in the film are not only novel but they are also beautifully done.

On the whole, China Gate is a well-made action film but suffers on account of its similarity to Sholay. Besides, there’s too heavy a price which doesn’t quite go well with the lack of star names and also a below-the-mark opening. Even if it picks up, its heavy price will spell danger for its distributors. It will prove to be a loser in most circuits, with some chances in Bombay and Maharashtra.

Released on 26-11-’98 at Metro and on 27-11-’98 at 19 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity & opening: good. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull in some circuits and poor in some others.

DOLI SAJA KE RAKHNA

Ram Creations’ Doli Saja Ke Rakhna is a love story with a difference. As in many previous love tales, in this film too, the girl and the boy in love elope because both their families are against the marriage. But, unlike in other romance dramas, the boy and the girl in this case decide (just when they are about to get married) that they would be cheating on their families if they got married against their wishes, and, consequently, they sacrifice their love for each other because of the love for their parents. The families of the two start searching for matches for their respective children, but in the end, they realise that the two lovers are the best match for each other. They then get the two of them married.

The concept of the families uniting the two lovers is novel in thought as well as execution. The whole unity drama has been executed with such aplomb and sensitiveness that it would make people cry. The first half is a bit slow but what makes up for the slow pace is the genuineness of the hero. His character is that of an honest and forthright young boy, something that endears him to the audience instantly. A few reels after interval (the portion involving the fisherfolk of Goa) are boring. But once that chapter of the drama comes to almost its end, the pace picks up and so does the emotional content. The story (Fazil) is new and par excellence, but the screenplay is weak and loose at places. The girl’s family opposing her relationship with the boy does not appeal because the reason for the opposition has not even been attempted to be explained. Further, the Malayalam film remake has too much of a South flavour. In the initial reels, the behaviour of two (Paresh Rawal and Tej Sapru) of the three brothers of the heroine is irritating because their deeds do not befit their social status. Dialogues are appropriate.

Akshaye Khanna endears himself to the audience not only because of his characterisation but also because of his brilliant performance. But the masses will miss his heroism because there is not much scope for heroism in the usual sense of the word. Jyotika Sadanah lacks glamour and considering that the film is a love story, this turns out to be a major drawback; she, however, performs naturally in her maiden venture. Moushumi Chatterjee and Aroona Irani are excellent. Their scene in the climax is fantastic. Anupam Kher also delivers a good performance. Paresh Rawal is impressive in emotional scenes. Tej Sapru also acts well. Mohnish Bahl makes a mark. Innocent’s comedy is ordinary. Amrish Puri is alright but his portion of the drama needs to be edited; the editing will help, and if the producer and director don’t reduce his scenes, distributors/exhibitors are bound to do so. Ninad Kamat and Umesh Shukla, as Akshaye’s friends, are lovable. Suresh Menon is average as the third friend. Mink’s dance is sexy. Viju Khote, Darshan Bagga and Nandu lend the desired support.

Priyadarshan’s direction is good but he does falter at places and has not been able to make the narration racy enough for a love story. In fact, the slow pace is the film’s undoing. A.R. Rahman’s music is a letdown as the love story needed a hit or super-hit score. ‘O kissa hum likhenge’, ‘Chal khewa re khewa’ and ‘Yeh khoya khoya rahta hai’ are fair numbers. The ‘Bol sajni mori sajni’ number needs to be deleted. Song picturisations are a treat for the eyes. Camerawork is masterly. Sabu Cyril’s art direction is terrific. Action scenes are lovely, especially the one in the campus.

On the whole, Doli Saja Ke Rakhna has a slow pace, an unglamorous heroine, ordinary music and a shockingly slow start as its biggest drawbacks, and emotions as the only strong plus point. It will, therefore, entail losses to its distributors. It will do somewhat better in Bombay and Maharashtra.

Released on 27-11-’98 at Central Plaza and 8 other cinemas of Bombay by Mark Films International thru Balaji Enterprises. Publicity: very good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. The opening was very poor everywhere (in the region of 15%-20%!) except Bombay.

LATEST POSITION

SOLDIER has done pretty well everywhere and is the best in Delhi-U.P., Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan and Nizam.

Soldier 1st week Bombay 48,95,824 (88.55%) from 13 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 11,44,114 from 5 cinemas, Padra 2,14,206, Rajkot 1,85,205; Pune 12,66,446 from 4 cinemas, Kolhapur  2,37,909, Solapur 3,41,501 from 2 cinemas; Belgaum 1,27,890 (100%); Delhi 61,00,133 (94.39%) from 13 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 7,57,039 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,59,368, Agra 3,91,889, Allahabad 2,04,932, Meerut 2,33,002 (100%), Bareilly 2,61,892, Hardwar 1,15,544; Amristar 55,270; Calcutta 27,15,055 from 15 cinemas (11 on F.H.); Nagpur 8,20,453 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,24,865, Amravati (6 days) 1,75,624, Raipur (6 days) 2,22,586, Bhilai 2,68,664 from 2 cinemas, Durg 1,53,299; Indore 2,09,623 (85.90%, 4 on F.H.), Bhopal 4,70,426 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 44,89,210 from 14 cinemas, highest ever.

……………

Mehndi is doing well in C.I. 2nd week Bombay 4,01,538 (65.91%) from 2 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 79,129, Baroda 60,641, Rajkot (matinee) 7,070, Jamnagar 44,985 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 61,610, Solapur (matinee) 21,384; Delhi 2,81,260 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 72,776, Lucknow 46,530, Allahabad 30,000, Meerut 44,996, Bareilly 23,495; Calcutta 4,42,713 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 37,489, Jabalpur 41,447, total 1,00,345, Amravati 76,996, Dhule 22,195, Raipur 41,410, 1st week Bhilai 41,107, 2nd Bilaspur (6 days) 26,403; Bhopal 45,433; Jaipur 1,93,998 from 2 cinemas, Jodhpur 85,000; Hyderabad 1,37,910.

Fire (dubbed) is excellent in Bombay city. 2nd week Bombay 10,18,882 (97.25%) from 2 cinemas, English version 3,49,197 (100%) from 2 cinemas; Ahmedabad 1,11,245; Pune 2,60,055; Delhi 3,55,361, English version 2,62,624; Lucknow 93,249, Agra 55,000, Allahabad 34,132; Calcutta 1,15,382; Nagpur 1,36,146; Hyderabad 1,39,190 from 2 cinemas.

POOR OPENINGS OF ‘DOLI…’ & ‘CHINA GATE’ SEND SHOCK WAVES IN TRADE

The disastrous opening of this week’s Doli Saja Ke Rakhna has stunned the entire trade. One had expected it to open to ordinary houses but an initial of just 15% to 20% (except in Bombay) was unthinkable. What seem to have gone against the film (for initial) are its weak music, cold title and heroine who is not glamorous. Even hero Akshaye Khanna has yet to prove his mettle in a solo starrer and, therefore, does not, perhaps, have the initial pulling power although he is liked by youngsters.

The dull opening of China Gate has also saddened the trade people. Lack of star value (the film has 10 oldies, one new hero, Mamta Kulkarni, and Urmila Matondkar in a special appearance) is the biggest culprit. Besides, publicity was not up to the mark, in the sense that it was started too late. Just one Chhamma Chhamma cannot do the trick. Nor can 20 hoardings put up hurriedly on the streets of Bombay without matching back-up publicity in the rest of the country ensure a bumper opening to a film with a super-bumper price.

Moral of the story: Don’t under-estimate the power of music and marketing. In their absence, you need at least saleable stars!

JAINS DEMAND BAN ON ‘FIRE’

Members of the Jain Vahini Samiti, an organisation of the Jain community in Bombay, met Maharashtra’s minister of state for cultural affairs and education, Anil Deshmukh, on 25th November and demanded a ban of Deepa Mehta’s Fire, now running in the city. The minister promised to see the film and said that if he found it objectionable, he would recommend the central government to ban it. The Jain Samiti alleged that the film was a blot on traditional Indian values.

INDORE TO HAVE 7 NEW CINEMAS

Seven new cinemas are coming up in Indore and they all should be operational in the next two years. Of these, five will be deluxe cinemas — three in the Geeta Bhawan area and two in the mill area. Two more cinemas are under construction and nearing completion in the west side of the city.

DELEGATION CALLS ON ASHA PAREKH: CBFC GUIDELINES DISCUSSED

A film industry delegation, led by Film Federation of India president Santosh Singh Jain, called on CBFC chairperson Asha Parekh on 25th November and discussed a number of key issues pertaining to censorship of films in India. The delegation comprised producer-distributor N.N. Sippy, FFI vice president K.G. Dossani, FFI general secretary K.D. Shorey, producer Raj Tilak, Marathi film producer Satish Kulkarni, Uday Singh of Columbia Tristar, Blaise Fernandes of Warner Bros., and FFI secretary S. Sen. At the meeting, it was decided that a number of workshops, consisting of representatives of the film industry as well as CBFC members, would be organised to discuss CBFC guidelines with an aim to arrive at a more uniform and logical interpretation of the same. The first workshop would be held some time in late January after the conclusion of the IFFI.

MANOHAR SHETTY’S SONS TO WED

Mohit and Hemant, sons of Manohar Shetty of Quality Cine Labs, will wed Mona (daughter of dubbing co-ordinator Leela Ghosh) and Smita respectively on 13th December at Tutkuk’s Lilac Garden, near Chandan cinema, off Lokhandwala Circle and Juhu bus depot, Juhu, Bombay.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

One Print, Two Cinemas, Three Intervals

How print shuttling can become a bane instead of a boon was brought out on Friday last week when Soldier opened at Satyam cinema alongwith others in Bombay and the rest of the country. The 6 p.m. show at Satyam started around 6.45 p.m. because the print, which was being shuttled between Satyam and Ganesh (Lalbaug), reached Satyam late. Instead of one, there were three intervals — one, the regular interval, another before it and the third, after it. While the regular interval was understandable, what agitated the audience were the other two breaks — one of about 10 minutes, and the other, of nearly 20 minutes. By the time the show got over, it was some minutes past 10 p.m. A couple of people, irritated by the triple intervals, even left before the film got over. One can well imagine when the last show would have started and when it must’ve got over, hopefully without extra intervals. A house-full capacity crowd had been waiting outside the cinema from 9.15 p.m. — waiting to be let in. The cinema management couldn’t let them in for no fault to theirs (cinema management’s) or the audience’s! Distributors need to take care that such lapses do not occur. For, the gain by way of saving on print cost could sometimes be less than the loss due to adverse public reaction and negative publicity.

Govinda, Gags & Gimmicks

As if one needed proof that Govinda’s films run more because of the star’s unique brand of humour than because of a sound story-line! Govinda’s track record in the last five years or so is evidence enough, for, it clearly reveals the fact that the only Govinda-starrers to succeed during the period are the ones which stressed on the typical Govinda gags and gimmicks rather than on a strong story. Each of Raja Babu, Coolie No. 1, Saajan Chale Sasural, Deewana Mastana, Hero No. 1, Aunty No. 1, Dulhe Raja and, more recently, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan were a success not because they had great stories, but because they were all made in — what may now be safely called — the true ‘Govinda mould’. On the other hand, during the same period, Govinda-starrers like Achanak, Do Ankhen Barah Haath, Maharaja, Pardesi Babu and some others, which were touted as having strong or, at least, reasonably good stories, fared badly. It seems, the audience wouldn’t care two hoots whether Govinda’s films have stories or not as long as they hold Govinda’s usual brand of comedy (even when dragged to a nonsensical extreme) as a primary ingredient.

It is pertinent to note here that out of the abovementioned eight Govinda successes, as many as six have been directed by David Dhawan! You may draw your own conclusions….

Suranas’ Modern Cinemas

The Suranas of Pushpa Pictures, Bhusawal have the largest chain of cinemas in the Khandesh region — 18, to be precise (6 owned by them and 12 controlled). And they’ve managed such an enviably large chain in a relatively short span of seven-eight years. Thy have cinemas in Dhule (3 cinemas), Amalner (3), Chopda (2), Bhusawal (2), Malkapur (2), Bodhwad (1), Edlabad (1), Khedjigar (1), among others. Of the 18 cinemas, three have been newly constructed while 12 have been fully renovated. Moreover, three more cinemas are already under construction, one each at Edlabad, Bodhwad and Faizpur. Several of these cinemas boast of modern urinals with an automatic handwash, Spartek flooring and cushioned chairs in the balcony class. A highlight of some of these cinemas is their unique music-light systems which enhance the viewing pleasure during song and dance sequences. A single-channel active DTS sound system has been installed at Prabhakar, Dhule (700 seats, minimum admission rate: Rs. 10), Tamboli, Amalner (160 seats, Rs. 6) and Shri Hanuman, Malkapur (700 seats, Rs. 6).

Sleeping His Blues Away

So depressed has the Delhi-U.P. distributor of a recent debacle become after burning his fingers in the disaster that he is seen sleeping most of the time, in his office. One has heard of success going to one’s head. But what do you say to this? Failure taking one to bed?!?

For Your Kind Information

Going by the recent utterances of the minister of state for information and broadcasting, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the film industry must be regretting why it hosted a party in his honour a few months back in Bombay. Naqvi is so disturbed by the portrayal of politicians as vicious men in films that he has threatened to even review the Cinematograph Act in such a way that filmmakers are suitably persuaded to clean up their act and project politicians in a better light. Phew! Should film makers be cleaning up their act or should Naqvi be concerned about having politicians clean up their act? Every Indian knows that politics is the last resort of scoundrels, and the newspapers give enough evidence of what levels politicians these days have stooped down to. Then why does Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi want filmmakers to show politicians and netas as nayaks and not khal-nayaks? The industry has far too often been accused of influencing impressionable minds into doing wrong things. Shouldn’t the I & B minister have the courage to admit that it is real life that has influenced reel life this time? Come on, Naqvi, be a sport — and an honest one at that!

KAREEB

Vinod Chopra Productions’ Kareeb is a love story set in a small town of Northern India. A poor girl and a rich boy fall in love with each other but the boy’s father will not let his son get married to a girl who doesn’t bring dowry. The boy, in order to fool his father, robs his money and gives it to him as if it were the dowry sent by the girl’s maternal uncle. All hell breaks loose when the theft comes to the notice of the father right on the day of the wedding. The marriage is stalled, which gives a heart attack to the girl’s widowed mother. She is shifted to a city hospital but the boy can’t do much because his enraged beloved has asked him to keep away. The boy, nevertheless, goes to the city and keeps tab on the mother’s progress. Finally, when over a lakh of rupees are required for the mother’s heart surgery, the boy comes to the rescue of the poor girl, but again, by unfair means. This not only wins him back his beloved but also prevents her marriage to the doctor attending to her mother.

While the first half has very interesting light moments between the boy and the girl, there is absolutely no romance in the post-interval portion. Not only that, the pace is very slow in the second half, and the drama seems to almost not move. One reason for this is that almost the entire second half has been shot in the hospital and the laundry which is opposite the hospital and in which the hero camps. Further, there’s no heroism of the hero in the whole film. Merely because the heroine has sworn him to keep away, his not coming to her aid in the hospital does not appeal. What’s more, there arises a feeling that he isn’t even trying hard enough to collect money for the mother’s treatment until towards the end. It is for this reason that the emotions simply do not come across because one doesn’t feel sorry for a hero who is not doing his best. The hero being conned by a couple also fails to have the emotional impact, if only because it is not the hero’s hard-earned money that’s lost. Even in the climax, the hero resorts to stealing, and his family members and friends also lie about his winning the lottery, further downgrading the character of the hero.

As against the abovesaid weak points in the story and screenplay, what is appealing is the comedy. While some scenes are hilarious, there are a few which bring a smile to the lips. But the fact remains, the drama after interval is weak. Also, the comedy is more of the kind that will be appreciated by the gentry and city audience. Climax is ordinary.

Bobby Deol does well in the light scenes but is not really good enough in the dramatic ones. His long hair rob him of Indian looks. Neha makes a confident debut and endears herself to the audience with a cute performance. She, however, needs to improve a lot in dancing, the awkwardness showing in the solitary and small dance piece she does in a song. Saurabh Shukla and Manav Kaushik are fantastic and evoke laughter at several places. In fact, they are the best performers in the film. Amit Phalke also impresses with a performance that’s natural to the core. Moushumi Chatterjee does an able job. Johny Lever’s comedy is enjoyable. Abhay Chopra gives a restrained performance but his dialogue delivery is not only too fast, it is also unclear at places. A star figure would have been a better choice for the role. Shammi Kapoor and Sushma Seth lend formidable support, and the change in the character leaves the audience quite shocked. The other artistes provide good support.

Director Vinod Chopra’s handling of the subject is sensitive and he also makes the film a visual delight. But his script sense leaves a lot to be desired. Anu Malik’s music score is good. All the songs are very melodious. Song picturisations do not befit a love story; they are too ordinary. Binod Pradhan’s camerawork is remarkable; the exotic locations have been fabulously captured by him. Editing is loose and the film could do with several deletions. Mixing is improper at places. Production values are fair.

On the whole, Kareeb remains a film for cities and the class audience and can be expected to do well in good cinemas of ‘A’ grade centres. For the distributors, therefore, the going will prove tough. Business in Bombay and South may be better.

Released on 17-7-’98 at Liberty and 10 other cinemas of Bombay thru Yashraj Film Distributors. Publicity: excellent. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was good in Delhi and Calcutta but average in almost all the other places.

LATEST POSITION

The week that went by was normal.

Dulhe Raja has done very well. In Bihar, it has done exceptional business, breaking several records, and is expected to cross the crore mark there soon. It picked up in C.P. where the opening was below the mark. 1st week Bombay 48,92,947 (83.67%) from 14 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 8,15,242 from 5 cinemas, Padra 1,78,772, Jamnagar 1,17,244; Pune 7,69,496 from 5 cinemas; Delhi 39,57,727 (74.08%) from 11 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 5,60,425 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,23,043, Allahabad 1,95,000, Bareilly 1,85,403 (85.82%); Calcutta 15,26,093 from 12 cinemas; Nagpur 6,37,267 from 5 cinemas, Amravati 1,65,535, Durg 1,23,540, Jalgaon 1,53,808, Yavatmal 1,58,879, Bilaspur 1,78,877 from 2 cinemas; Indore 4,62,291 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 3,93,684 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 13,30,631 from 4 cinemas; Hyderabad 18,17,765 from 8 cinemas (3 on F.H.).

Satya (tax-exempted in Maharashtra from 12th July) is doing wonderful business in Maharashtra. It is steady in Gujarat, Delhi-U.P., East Punjab and the Eastern Circuit. The Telugu version is fantastic. 2nd week Bombay (TF) 37,03,878 (95.29%) from 7 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 99,949 (2 unrecd.); Pune (TF) 10,30,344 from 4 cinemas, Solapur (TF) 1,76,320 (100%); Delhi 4,65,355 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.); Kanpur 1,19,407 (1st 3,07,661), Lucknow 1,75,026, Allahabad 72,000, Dehradun 79,416; Calcutta 2,02,373; Nagpur (TF) 4,37,576 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 53,095, total 96,524, Amravati (TF) 1,62,561, Akola (TF) 85,611, total 1,62,026; Jaipur 1,49,542, Ajmer 65,808 (1st 62,516); Hyderabad 4,39,391.

Major Saab continues to do well in Gujarat, U.P. and Bihar. It has been granted tax-exemption in Maharashtra (from July 15). 3rd week Bombay (TF) 17,09,693 (57.52%) from 8 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 73,760 from 2 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Vapi 2,03,660, total 8,17,880, Jamnagar 74,014, total 3,48,126; Pune (TF) 3,35,361 from 2 cinemas, Solapur (TF) 93,748; Bijapur 2 weeks’ total 1,63,000; 3rd week Delhi 22,37,619 from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,23,462 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,23,065, Allahabad 1,14,000, Bareilly 45,743 (23.98%), Hardwar 25,000; 3 weeks’ billing of Delhi-U.P. is over 1.30 crore; Rohtak 15,088; Calcutta 3,48,363 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur (TF) 76,531 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,23,749, total 5,32,788, Amravati (TF) 66,276, Akola (TF from 15th) 43,559, total 2,44,040, Jalgaon 54,854, Chandrapur 1,58,084, Yavatmal 17,633, Bilaspur 51,281; Indore 1,12,251, Bhopal 72,035; Jaipur 2,28,100 from 2 cinemas, 2nd week Bikaner 1,62,546; 3rd week Hyderabad 3,61,377 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

Ghulam 4th week Bombay 29,39,613 (75.33%) from 10 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,40,150 from 2 cinemas; Pune 5,89,806 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,23,202 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee and 1 in 14 shows); Bijapur 3 weeks’ total 3,20,000; 4th week Delhi 7,53,746 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 1,31,247 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,21,238, Allahabad 45,000, Dehradun 61,000; 1st week Rohtak 20,077; 4th week Calcutta 1,72,406; Nagpur 72,012 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,44,723, total 7,58,836, Amravati 1,22,245, total 7,28,741, Akola 72,053, total 4,52,362, Jalgaon (6 days) 84,303, Bilaspur 58,064; Indore 87,218, Bhopal 86,312; Jaipur 1,35,705; Hyderabad 6,10,504 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

SHAH RUKH DISCHARGED

Shah Rukh Khan was earlier this week discharged by a court in Ajmer in a case field against him by a group of lawyers for using allegedly derogatory words for lawyers in Ram-Jaane. The defence argued that Shah Rukh, being an actor, speaks and acts according to the script written for him and he should not be held responsible for words spoken while acting.

ENTERTAINMENT TAX IN RAJASTHAN REDUCED

The Rajasthan government has reduced entertainment tax to 50% on nett admission rates of less than Rs. 10. The earlier rate of entertainment tax (100%) continues on tickets, the nett rates of which are over Rs. 10.

‘SATYA’ TAX-FREE IN MAHARASHTRA

Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya has been granted tax exemption in Maharashtra for a period of three months from July 10.

‘MAJOR SAAB’ TAX-FREE IN MAHARASHTRA

ABCL’s Major Saab has been exempted from payment of entertainment tax in Maharashtra for a period of three months from 14th July.

‘PARDES’ GOLDEN JUBILEE

Subhash Ghai’s Pardes is celebrating golden jubilee this week. Produced under the banner of Mukta Arts (Pvt.) Ltd., it stars Shah Rukh Khan, Mahima Chaudhry, Apoorva Agnihotri, Amrish Puri, Alok Nath and others. Music: Nadeem Shravan. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi, Cinematographer: Kabir Lal.

YOU ASKED IT

Why are state governments like those of Uttar Pradesh suddenly becoming sympathetic towards the film industry?

– Thanks to the efforts of the industry leaders as well as star-MPs like Shatrughan Sinha, the state governments are realising the seriousness of the precarious situation in which the film industry finds itself today. Further, the industry status granted by the central government is acting as a good starting point for states to act.

The Govinda-starrer, Achanak, did not take a decent opening whereas the other Govinda-starrer, Dulhe Raja, opened to excellent houses. Why so?

– DULHE RAJA boasted of a hit song, Ankhiyon se goli maare. ACHANAK had no hit number. Thus the difference in initials of the two films.

Has J.P. Dutta started shooting his Aakhri Mughal? Who is Abhishek Bachchan’s heroine in it?

– J.P. Dutta has reportedly decided to make another film, not AAKHRI MUGHAL. One hears, it will star Jackie Shroff and Sunil Shetty, besides Abhishek Bachchan.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Now, cinema tickets can be booked on fax. West Bengal distributor Pritam Jalan has introduced the booking-on-fax system with KAREEB in Calcutta. Perhaps, this is the first time anybody has tried this. The response is said to be tremendous. The film, released in three cinemas of Calcutta, drew all shows full on the opening day.

* Music directors Jatin Lalit seem to have taken it upon themselves to make stars sing. Having tasted great success by making Aamir Khan sing Aati kya Khandala in GHULAM, the duo has now gone ahead and recorded a song in the voice of Sanjay Dutt. The song, Ae Shivani, was recorded for writer-turned-director Sanjay Chhel’s film, KHUBSOORAT.

* Amit Kumar created a record of sorts on 14th July by recording four songs in a single day. A song each was recorded by music director Viju Shah and duo Jatin Lalit for David Dhawan’s BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN and Dharmendra’s as yet untitled film respectively. The remaining two songs were composed by music director Nilu Gavankar for Super Hit Cinema’s untitled film. 

* A vinyl 20′ x 20′ hoarding of SATYA is the first of its kind in Malegaon. Displayed by Bombay distributors VIP Enterprises at Sandesh cinema, it is attracting the public in large numbers.

MIX MASALA

SILVER COINS FOR SILVER JUBILEE

The silver jubilee of Gunjan Cinema, Vapi, is being celebrated with the distribution of silver coins. The cinema had opened on 12th July, 1973. Perhaps, after 25 years, the cinema’s golden jubilee will be celebrated with the distribution of gold coins.

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Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

‘Penalty’ For Over-Spending?

While the Maharashtra government’s decision to allow the unspent service charge to be carried forward for a period of two years is laudable, what one fails to understand is why the government has not permitted exhibitors to carry forward the excess spent in a year (more than the amount of service charge collected in that year) to the next year. For instance, if an exhibitor spends Rs. 10 lakh in a year but collects only Rs. 3 lakh, he is not allowed to carry forward the difference (Rs. 7 lakh) to the next year. He will have to spend the service charge collection of the following year in that year or, now, can carry forward that amount for 2 more years. A typical case of an exhibitor being allowed to make a virtue out of not spending enough in a particular year but being penalised for spending more on the cinema in another year! But that’s how the government ‘thinks’.

Competitor Se..

The music of Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se.. is fast receiving both, critical acclaim as well as public appreciation. Released by Venus last week, the audio cassettes and CDs of the film are already so much in demand that Pravin Shah (of Time Audio) remarked that he had never before seen such a tremendous initial craze for any other film cassette in his showroom! Coming as it does from the boss of a rival music company, this compliment must hold a special meaning for Venus. Perhaps, it is time for whizkid music director, A.R. Rahman, to add a few feathers to his cap.

Distributor’s Confidence And Producer’s Magnanimity

Delhi-U.P. distributor Tolu Bajaj, who was to release Gordhan Tanwani’s Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha in Delhi-U.P. on commission basis, has gone ahead and changed his agreement to that for purchase on MG Royalty. Quite rare, one might say, considering that it wasn’t Tanwani’s intention to sell the film on MG royalty basis. Usually, a distributor, who is given a film on pure commission basis, would only too happily release it since he doesn’t have to take any risk. But Tolu’s confidence in the film prompted him to acquire it on MG. In all fairness to Tanwani, it must be mentioned here that he asked Tolu Bajaj to see the film’s first copy and then decide on whether or not he should pay an MG royalty amount for the film, but Tolu thought, it was more graceful to take a ‘blind’ decision. Incidentally, Gordhan Tanwani, who believes in spending lavishly on publicity, has despatched ten times more than the usual quantum of publicity materials, of his film to his various distributors. But the distributors have been told, they’ll be charged only for the usual or normal amount of publicity materials, the cost of the rest to be borne by the producer himself.

Zee To Produce Films

Zee TV is stepping into film production is a big way. Its first venture will be directed by Anil Sharma and will star Sunny Deol. Nitin Keni is incharge of the administrative side of Zee’s production division, and Shyam Gupta (who has directed a film, besides writing the dialogues for films like Ghatak) will head the creative side. The first venture will go on the sets later during the year.

INFORMATION MEETS

“Previously, songs would invariably come from the story. They were not fitted into a story as it is done today.”

– ANAND BAKSHI

RAJ VAIDYA

How can one best describe Anand Bakshi? Calm, collected and soft-spoken, Anand Bakshi’s persona is reflected in the songs that he writes. “Kya karoon, meri tabiyat hi kuchh romantic hai,” says Bakshi in response to a query about his preference for writing romantic lyrics. Having spent 42 years in the film industry, he remains one of the very few vanguards of the older school of lyricists, still very much in business today. He has been able to adapt his writing style to the changing times and, as a result, he remains a much sought-after song-writer, even now. That the younger generations still love his style of poetry has been comprehensively proved by the tremendous popularity of his songs from two hit films last year, viz. Dil To Pagal Hai and Pardes. From being in the Indian Army to becoming an award-winning lyricist, Anand Bakshi has traversed long distances in his career, delivering one classic song after another over the years. Yet, it is his modesty that prevents him from talking about his achievements. He would rather have his songs speak for himself, as they do — in volumes. In this interview, Bakshi allows us to take a peep into the mind of one of the most prolific song writers of our times.

At the risk of asking an oft-repeated question, how did the transition from Army to writing songs for films take place?
– When I was in the Army, I used to love singing — a passion that has refused to leave me even today. During the Army days, I had earned quite a reputation about my singing abilities. But, somewhere along the line, singing gave birth to poetry in me. I don’t know how this happened. Even today, I cannot say why or how I turned to poetry. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was fully consumed by the desire to write poetry while still in the Army. As both could not be done side by side, I decided to quit the Army and came to Bombay in ’56. After a brief struggle, I began to get a few song writing assignments through which I was able to prove myself.

What, according to you, is the essential difference between literary poetry and film lyrics?
– The basic difference is that as film lyrics are written primarily for mass-appeal, it is very vital that they have simplicity of thought and language. They must be easy for every film viewer to understand. It is a compulsion each film lyricist faces every time he writes a song. In contrast, a literary poet faces no such compulsion. He writes on an independent level without any qualms about the sensibilities of those who read his poetry. In other words, he writes for himself. A film lyricist, on the other hand, must be able to cater to the lowest common denominator through his songs.

Who has influenced you the most as a poet?
– While I was in the Army, I was deeply influenced by the work of D.N. Madhok who had earned the title of Mahakavi back then. Later, I was also influenced by some great film lyricists of yesteryears, like Shakeel Badayuni, Rajinder Krishen and Shailendra.

You are continuing in the 43rd year of a prolific song-writing career in films. How, in your opinion, has the music in films changed over the years?
– All the songs are dances nowadays. You can rarely see songs where heroes and heroines are not dancing with 50 other people. And what kind of dances do they picturise nowadays? Fifty-sixty dancers, all standing in straight lines, with the hero and heroines in front, and moving their hands and legs about in rhythm! It really takes me back to my Army days when we used to exercise in a similar manner every morning. Anyway, the days when a love song or a romantic song was picturised on just the hero and the heroine alone, seem to be over. This is the reason why that intensity, that passion, which was there in the songs of the olden days, is missing today. The very intensity and passion behind each song lent it an individualistic feel in the days of yore. Today, you will find it hard to differentiate between one song and the other. The individuality, or call it the uniqueness, of the older songs is lost today.

What about the process of creating a song — has it changed, too, over the years?
– Of course, it has. Previously, songs would invariably come from the story. They were not fitted into a story, as it is done today. Since the songs emanated out of various situations within the story, the story-writer was able to put in some germs, which were later developed into full-fledged songs by the lyricist. Nowadays, the lyricists and the music directors are asked to compose songs between them and are told that they would be fitted into the story somehow.

Do you feel, the quality of film lyrics has deteriorated in today’s times?
– It depends on how you look at the issue. I will certainly say that the lyrics of songs nowadays are different from those of the earlier times. I think, the main reason why this has happened is because the changing times have brought about the change in the style of lyric-writing. In my opinion, the lyricists of today are okay. You can’t really expect them to continue writing in the same way as before, simply because they — and more importantly, the younger generation of film viewers — haven’t been exposed to the songs of the earlier films.

What do you think about the recent controversy between lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri and producer Mukesh Bhatt over the song Aati kya Khandala from GHULAM?
– Since I do not know much about the controversy, I cannot comment on it. But as far as the lyrics of the song go, I personally feel that there is nothing wrong with them and hence I do not feel offended by them.

To change tracks, tell us something about your legendary association with Laxmikant Pyarelal…
– I first got acquainted with Laxmikant Pyarelal when they were still assisting Kalyanji Anandji. I had already become a lyricist by then. We used to talk a lot to each other and later, when Laxmikant Pyarelal became music directors, I became their natural choice to pen their songs. We became a team after a couple of our hit songs in the initial years. As we worked more and more together, we were able to develop a very good rapport among ourselves. Another thing that worked in our favour was that all the three of us were nearly of the same age. But the most important thing that made us survive as a team was the fact that we were able to give hit songs at regular intervals. I say this because in our film industry, nothing succeeds like success. Success makes the teams, and failure breaks them.

In recent times, your association with producer-director Subhash Ghai has resulted in a number of memorable songs. What makes you both so formidable as a team?
– Having written all the songs for all of Subhash Ghai’s films, I can say that I understand the style of his filmmaking very well. Similarly, he understands my style of lyric-writing. So, there is a perfect understanding and tuning between us. We think nearly along the same lines on a lot of things. Moreover, apart from being colleagues at work, we also share a warm personal and family relationship. These and, like I said earlier, our successes together are the main reasons why we have been able to continue together for so many years.

Creative people, especially poets, are considered to be eccentric in one form or another. How does the statement apply to you?
– I don’t know about my eccentricities, but I do have this awful habit of chewing paan since a very long time. The habit has affected my health very badly and my doctors have warned me against continuing it. I have succeeded only to a small extent, in kicking the habit so far. Another habit that I have had, right from the time I made my foray into films, is that I am always punctual. In fact, I developed this habit during my Army days when we had to do everything at the appointed time. Sadly, punctuality is not exactly a virtue for the people in the film industry as nobody gets anywhere on time here. Very often, I find myself arriving at filmi functions before anyone else and end up waiting a long time for the functions to start.

Who are your favourite singers?
– Among my all-time favourites, I must include Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. I also like Kishore Kumar, Mukesh and Asha Bhosle. Among the current lot, I like the voices of Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan.

Recently, veteran lyricist Kavi Pradeep was awarded with the Dadasaheb Phalke award — the highest honour in the field of cinema in India. Any reactions?
– I would like to say that I am very happy that the contribution of the film lyricists has been appreciated by the government of India. Earlier, Majrooh Sultanpuri had also received the same honour. Kavi Pradeep has given the country some of the most inspirational songs ever written, and rightfully deserves the award.

What is your opinion on the increasing trend of Hindi pop music. Would you consider to write the lyrics of a pop album, if offered ?
– I can neither condemn pop music nor appreciate it for the simple fact that I cannot understand it. As regards the other question, I have already refused a number of offers of writing lyrics for pop albums.

You have seen a lot in your 42 years in the industry so far — be it fame, fortune or happiness. Is there still something that you have always wanted to do but still haven’t been able to?
– Yes, in fact, there is. As I mentioned earlier, I love singing. It is more than a passion with me. Sadly, I haven’t had much of a chance in this direction so far. It is true that Laxmikant Pyarelal gave me a break as a singer in Mom Ki Gudiya, where I sang a duet with Lata Mangeshkar, but after that, I was able to sing only three or four songs over the years. I hope, some day, I will be offered the song that would do justice to my singing abilities. I want to be remembered at least for one memorable song that I have sung.

Finally, what keeps you going so strong even after completing four decades in the industry?
– My need to work. That is the single most important reason for my consistency in films. I firmly believe that necessity pushes people to give their best in whatever fields they are. Those who have all they want, become lax in their work as they do not care whether they would get work the next day. For me, writing poetry is the only source of income I have. My children are yet not well-settled. So, I need to work in order to run the household. In turn, this need pushes me to give off my best in my songs.

Any poetic words, in parting…?
– Tadbeeron se phir jaayen,
Woh taqdeeren nahin hoti.
Jo taqdeeren na badal dein,
Woh tadbeeren nahin hoti.

LATEST POSITION

The pre-Diwali days are pathetic for the box-office, and the collections this year, as in all previous years, are dismal.

Heeralal Pannalal is disastrous. 1st week Bombay 10,78,288 (34.63%) from 8 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 99,458 from 2 cinemas (6 unrecd.), Rajkot (matinee) 13,500; Solapur 60,288; Delhi 6,44,919 (25.09%) from 6 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 98,141 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 67,380, Varanasi 94,739, Bareilly (6 days) 50,264 (14.40%); Calcutta 1,13,473 (figures of other cinemas not disclosed); Nagpur 1,47,240 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 45,992, Amravati (6 days) 53,987, Raipur (6 days) 43,487; Bhopal (6 days) 85,000; Hyderabad (gross) 6,46,614 from 8 cinemas (1 in noon).

Mother proves a bother for all concerned. 1st week Bombay 3,95,542 (14.13%) from 5 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 56,735 from 2 cinemas (2 unrecd.); Delhi 1,55,133 (20.73%) from 2 cinemas; Kanpur 32,038, Varanasi 22,586, Bareilly (6 days) 12,898; Nagpur 48,536, Jablapur (TF) 47,964; Jodhpur 1,25,000.

………….

DELHI HC CLEARS ‘SHAKTIMAAN’

Justice Goel of the Delhi high court on 27th October accepted the findings of the committee appointed to look into the pros and cons of the telecast of the TV serial, Shaktimaan, and opined that the committee report strongly favoured its telecast on Doordarshan.

TILAKBHAI PASSES AWAY

Leading exhibitor and distributor of Bombay, Tilakbhai B. Shah, passed away at his residence at Wadala, Bombay, at 5.30 a.m. on 29th October following a prolonged illness. He was 67 and is survived by his wife, a daughter and three sons, including exhibitors Hemant and Laxmichand.

Tilakbhai was the owner of three cinemas viz. Amar (Miraj), Alankar (Karjat) and Victory (Igatpuri). He used to control many cinemas in Bombay and Thane district, including Amar (Chembur), Sharad (Chembur), Sheetal (Kurla), Sangam (Andheri), H.M. Deluxe (Bhayandar), Prince (Bhayandar), Santok (Bhayandar), besides cinemas in Maharashtra.

Prarthana sabha to mourn the demise is being held today (30th October) at Narayan Shyamji Wadi, Matunga (Central Railway) between 3 p.m. and 4.30 p.m.

SAMSUL HUDA NO MORE

Leading Assamese film producer and Assam distributor and exhibitor Samsul Huda (S.H. Film Production, Nagaon), expired on 25th October at his residence due to a cardiac arrest. He was 58 and is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

SUBHASH GHAI ANNOUNCES THREE VENTURES

It was as if the industry’s who’s who had descended upon Audeus in Bombay on the afternoon of 24th October. Subhash Ghai was celebrating his wedding anniversary and, as is customary, announcing his new venture. This time, it was ventures. Three ventures, to be precise! One was the formation of a new company — Mukta Arts International Pvt. Ltd. — and the other two were films to be produced under the new banner.

The new company was formally launched by the lighting of the traditional lamp by Dilip Kumar, Javed Akhtar, Bharat Shah and Ashok Amritraj. Both the films will be produced by Ashok Ghai. While the first production will be directed by Subhash Ghai, the second will be directed by Satish Kaushik. The casts of the two films were not announced.

A book, Woh Mera Chand, written by Ghai’s London-based aunt, Pratibha Davar, was released at the party at the hands of M.F. Hussain and Shabana Azmi. The occasion also marked the celebration of the success of Ghai’s Taal with presentation of trophies to the film’s artistes, technicians and unit members.

Among those who attended the celebrations were Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, M.F. Hussain, Ashok Amritraj, Shatrughan Sinha, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Bharat Shah, Yash and Karan Johar, Boney Kapoor, Sridevi, Aamir Khan, Anupam Kher, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor, Rajkumar Santoshi, Rakesh Roshan, Ramesh Sippy, David Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, Rajiv Rai, Amrish Puri, Anu Malik, Jackie Shroff, Akshaye Khanna, Shravan, Indra Kumar, Ashok Thakeria, Manmohan Shetty and Amit Khanna.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai’ In Delhi

S.K. Films Enterprises and Boney Kapoor’s Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai will be shot in Delhi from Nov. 10 in a 15-day spell. Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and Sonali Bendre will participate. The film, being directed by Satish Kaushik for producer Surinder Kapoor, co-stars Anupam Kher and Smita Jayakar. It was shot a couple of weeks back in the USA. It is written by Jainendra Jain. Music is scored by Sanjeev Darshan and lyrics are written by Javed Akhtar.

‘Tarkieb’ Unit Returns

The unit of producer Jay Mehta’s Tarkieb, being directed by Esmayeel Shroff, returned on Oct. 25 following a 32-day marathon shooting schedule in Bhopal and on locations in Panchmarhi. Many dramatic scenes and two songs were picturised on the entire cast. The film stars Nana Patekar, Tabu, Shilpa Shetty, Aditya Pancholi, Milind Soman, Raghuvir Yadav, Tiku Talsania, Akhilendra Mishra and Ashutosh Rana. Written by Moin-ud-din, the film has music by Aadesh Shrivastava. Cinematography: Mazhar Kamran. Action: Sham Kaushal. Audiography: Buta Singh. Art: Vimlesh Lal. The film is now 65% complete. The second and last shooting schedule will be held from Nov. 15 to Dec. 10 in Panchamarhi. It is being made under the banner of Jay Movies. Pranlal Mehta presents the film.

10-Day Schedule Of ‘One Two Ka Four’

Glamour Films’ One Two Ka Four, being produced by Nazir Ahmed and directed by Shashilal K. Nair, will be shot in a 10-day schedule from Nov. 1 at Madh Island, Band Stand, Kohinoor Hotel and at Strike Ten. Shah Rukh Khan, Jackie Shroff, Juhi Chawla, Nirmal Pandey and kids will participate. Music: A.R. Rahman. Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri. Screenplay: Manoj Lalwani and Rajkumar Daahima. Dialogues: Sanjay Chhel. Cinematography: S. Kumar. Action: Mahendra Verma.

YOU ASKED IT

Which film has yielded the highest share from a single cinema in the country?

– HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..!, which fetched Rs. 3 crore in three years from Liberty, Bombay. This also means that the film recovered 70 per cent of its production cost from Liberty alone!

Which cinema has the highest capacity in India?

– Metro cinema of Bombay. Its nett capacity for 21 shows is Rs. 12,06,429.

Which films were cinematographed by Dilip Gupta who passed away in Madras on 16th October?

– Dilip Gupta, who had started his film career as an actor with New Theatres, Calcutta, joined Bimal Roy later and became a top cameraman. He cinematographed PARINEETA, DEEDAR, JAB PYAR KISISE HOTA HAI, DIL DEKE DEKHO, DO DOONI CHAR and many other films.

MIX MASALA

‘MY FOOT(WEAR)’!

One evening, after completing a day’s shooting for Tarkieb at Panchmarhi, director Esmayeel Shroff and the film’s lead man, Nana Patekar, got into a debate. While director Esmayeel Shroff opined that the film, when released, would be a super-hit, Nana Patekar said that it would be only a hit. To end the debate, they came to laying a bet. Esmayeel Shroff said, “If I win, main aapko do joote maroonga!. If you win, aap mujhe do joote maarna!” Nana agreed at first, but later backed out saying, “Jooton ko apni hi jagah rehne do.”

DO YOU KNOW?

* The Bombay regional office of the CBFC created a record of sorts last week and this. It cleared as many as 16 feature films, besides a number of trailers, between October 23 and 28. Despite Saturday (October 28) being a holiday for the CBFC, it cleared half-a-dozen feature films that day.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Today’s Status Symbol

Today, everybody’s claim to fame is that he/she was invited to see Rajshri’s Hum Saath-Saath Hain and that he/she had seen it and had loved it immensely. But the fact is, nobody from the film trade has been invited by the producers to see the film which has generated a lot of expectations all over the country. It’s because the Barjatyas have decided not to have any trial shows for people not connected with the film. The only trial show they kept for people unconnected with the film was on 28th October. For whom was the show? Well, our lips are sealed. Otherwise, those who’ve managed to see the film are the ones who’ve gone as guests of the cast/crew of the film.

Anyway, among the yarn-spinners, who claimed to have seen the film, was a bragging music man who said, he had seen the film, “just the other day” with his wife and had gone bonkers over it. The fact is, this man hasn’t seen the film to-date.

Coming back to the film. Its reports that are filtering in are that it is yet another grand Sooraj Barjatya show — an extraordinarily written, magnificently mounted, beautifully shot and fabulously enacted masterpiece of a film. But till the coming Friday, hold your horses!

One (Main) Cinema Too Many

Despite Liberty being the main cinema in Bombay for Hum Saath-Saath Hain, two other main cinemas, Novelty and Minerva, were also keen to screen the film for the first two weeks. But that did not work out. No saath-saath with the main cinema! But the film will be saath-saath at some suburbs of Bombay. At Thane (station), a film usually gets released in two cinemas. This time, HS-SH will be screened at three cinemas. At Mulund, a new film is normally released at one cinema, but HS-SH will be released at two. In Bombay city and suburbs, HS-SH will see release at 28 cinemas. In the entire Bombay circuit, as many as 100 cinemas may screen it in its premiere week.

Tabu Under Fire!

While shooting for Tarkieb in Bhopal, some Youth Congress leaders met Tabu and requested her to attend a function of theirs the following day in Bhopal. But Tabu, who was not interested in taking part in any political gathering, did not attend. Enraged by her absence, the Youth Congress activists burnt an effigy of the actress!

Bad Diwali For Many Exhibitors

Exhibitors all over the country are in a terrible position. With almost no releases of big and/or star cast films owing to pre-Diwali period, their cinemas are thirsting for films. What has worsened the situation for them is that even the films, which were released in August and September or, for that matter, early October, have mostly proved damp squibs at the ticket windows. Many cinemas have been forced to continue their running programmes, despite dismal collections, because of lack of alternatives. Consequently, films like Hello Brother, Dil Kya Kare, Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain, Mast, Vaastav and Heeralal Pannalal are being continued despite their abysmally low collections. With just one big release (alongwith some small films, of course) on Diwali, the position in the festival period too is not going to be any better for several exhibitors. For, after all, how many cinemas will be screening Hum Saath-Saath Hain? Had Dillagi also come on 5th November, at least the exhibitors would have had a reason to smile.

JUDAAI

S.K. Films Enterprises’ Judaai, remake of the Telugu super-hit Shubhlagnam, has an unusual story of a greedy lady who, despite being happily married, sells her husband to another girl for the lure of luxury. The other girl is filthy rich and madly in love with the greedy lady’s husband and initiates the deal (of buying the husband) when she learns of the lady’s greed. At first, the first wife revels in her new riches, but slowly, as the second wife starts taking her place in the day-to-day life of her ex-husband, she realises the blunder she has committed. All hell breaks loose in the lives of the three people when both the wives want the husband exclusively. The first wife repents; the second wife refuses to relent. Finally, the tension is resolved in a tear-jerking and moving climax.

The film’s first half is light and full of fun. The drawback is that except for the wife’s comedy track, all the other comedy tracks (yes, there are several comedy angles) are completely unrelated with the main story. Further, there is an overdose of comedy and hardly any seriousness. The film takes a serious turn a little before interval. The initial part of the second half is once again very comic but slowly, the drama becomes tense and, to an extent, even emotional. Overall, it is the second half of the film which is its mainstay due to the scenes of the two wives and the helpless husband together. The best part of the film is its Indian ending which justifies the unusual story too. Some scenes like the one in which the second wife applies teeka to her husband, the sarcastic comments directed towards the first wife by her mother, her friend, her children, her husband and even an outsider are a highlight.

Performances of the entire cast are first-rate. Anil Kapoor does an excellent job in a role that is very difficult. He plays with feeling the silently suffering husband, ruled by the emotions of his two wives, both of whom forget that he too is a human being. Sridevi is mind-blowing as the money-hungry wife and mother of two kids. She shines in light scenes and excels in emotional ones. So brilliant is her performance that it is impossible to imagine another actress who could have done such justice to the role. Urmila Matondkar proves that she too is a performer par excellence. As the moneyed girl, she looks gorgeous, her entry being very mass-appealing. Her changeover to an understanding wife in the post-interval portion is so remarkable and her performance, so sincere that one can’t help falling in love with Urmila’s character. This girl is bound to go places. Paresh Rawal’s comedy is simply hilarious; his poker-faced dialogue delivery is terrific. Johny Lever plays to the gallery and entertains a lot. Kader Khan is superb. Upasna Singh is very good and her ‘Abba dabba jabba’ dialogue should be liked by front-benchers. Farida Jalal shines in a brief role. Saeed Jaffrey, Junior Mehmood, master Omkar Kapoor, baby Alisha Baig, Dharmesh Tiwari, Shehzaad and Dinesh Hingoo lend admirable support. Poonam Dhillon, in a guest appearance, comes as a pleasant surprise and performs ably.

Raj Kanwar’s direction is superb. Not only has he extracted excellent work from his team of artistes, he has also handled the subject with maturity. Nadeem Shravan’s music is good but a couple of super-hit songs were very necessary. ‘Allah miya’ is the best number, followed by ‘Judaai judaai’ and ‘Pyar pyar karte karte’. Song picturisations are heavenly. Foreign locations are beautiful and they’ve been ably captured by cameraman Harmeet Singh. Dialogues (Jainendra Jain) are wonderful. Production values are rich.

On the whole, Judaai may meet with initial resistance due to its offbeat story but can be expected to pick up by word of mouth and ladies’ patronage to keep its investors of most circuits happy.

Released on 28-2-’97 at New Excelsior and 15 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity: excellent. Opening: below average. …….Also released all over except in Mysore. Opening was poor in C.P.C.I. and Punjab, and excellent in Bihar and Rajasthan.

AUZAAR

Tips Films Pvt. Ltd.’s Auzaar (UA) is the story of two friends, one a CBI officer and the other, son of an underworld don. The don’s son has murdered another don and the latter’s son now wants to wipe out his father’s murderer and his entire family. The CBI officer comes to the rescue of his friend and, together, the two of them succeed in killing the villain. There is nothing new by way of story. Even the screenplay, especially in the slow first half, is routine. But what makes the film somewhat interesting is the brilliant action, particularly in the lengthy and exciting climax, the racy music and eye-catching song picturisations, and the big canvas of the film. The pre-interval portion is not only routine, it also sometimes moves at a terribly slow pace unnecessarily.

Salman Khan does a splendid job as the college boy who later becomes a CBI officer. Sanjay Kapoor shows improvement and does quite well. Shilpa Shetty is alright and she dances very gracefully. Paresh Rawal is fair. Nirmal Pandey, as the eccentric son of the murdered don, is the film’s surprise packet and he leaves a mark in every scene he comes. Johny Lever provides the much-needed light moments but such moments are few and far between. Asif Sheikh is effective. Kiran Kumar is okay. Jeetu Verma impresses with his Rajasthani dialogues. Vishwajeet Pradhan, Tiku Talsania, Ila Arun and the rest lend adequate support.

Sohail Khan’s approach to the scripting seems to be a bit too casual. For a debut effort, his direction is fair, but more concentration on the writing is necessary if he is to really make a mark. Dialogues are good only at places. Anu Malik’s music is very catchy. ‘Masti ka aalam aaya hai’, ‘I love you’, ‘Chalte chalte mila ladka deewana’ and ‘Dhoondhte reh jaaoge’ (good lyrics) are extremely well-tuned numbers. Picturisation of ‘Masti ka aalam’ is the most mass-appealing. ‘I love you’ has tremendous visual appeal. Camerawork (Kaka Thakur) is very nice. Production values are rich. Action (Mahendra Verma) is excellent. Background music should have been better.

On the whole, despite being a routine film, Auzaar has good initial value, action and music to sail safe in majority of the circuits.

Released on 28-2-’97 at Maratha Mandir and 18 other cinemas of Bombay by Tips Films P. Ltd. thru R.G. International. Publicity: excellent. Opening: good. …….Also released all over. Opening was excellent in Delhi-U.P. and Rajasthan, and very good in other circuits except C.I. where it was below the mark.

LATEST POSITION

Hero No. 1 started declining from 5th/6th day onwards everywhere. Should prove to be, at best, a commission-earner/overflow film. 1st week Bombay 51,76,378 (95.21%) from 16 cinemas (11 on F.H.); Baroda 2,81,300 from 2 cinemas, Bharuch (gross) 2,33,868, Rajkot 1,63,376 (1 in mat. unrecd.), Jamnagar 1,19,341 from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.); Kolhapur 1,86,400, Solapur 1,75,207 from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.); Delhi 48,20,530 (90.65%) from 13 cinemas (1 unrecd. and 3 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,15,514 (2 unrecd.), Lucknow 2,45,951 (100%), Agra 2,21,000, Varanasi 1,82,209 (88.55%), Allahabad 1,46,100, Aligarh 1,84,288, Gorakhpur 1,53,000 (72.40%); Amritsar 52,350; Calcutta 20,96,561 (82%) from 17 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Nagpur 6,00,240 from 4 cinemas, Akola 1,19,754, Raipur 2,16,881, Risali 78,982, theatre record, Bhilai 2,24,217 from 2 cinemas, Wardha 77,587, Chandrapur 1,08,912, share 83,912; Indore 4,70,626 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 3,96,842 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Bikaner 1,71,123; Hyderabad 37,73,978 from 20 cinemas, share 18,95,295.

Judwaa proves overflow in some circuits and class A in other circuits. 3rd week Bombay 19,52,953 (80%) from 8 cinemas (5 on F.H.); 1st Padra 1,31,502, 3rd Rajkot 1,47,971 from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.), Jamnagar (mat.) 7,080 (1 unrecd.); Solapur 85,824 from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.); Delhi 15,67,094 from 8 cinemas; Kanpur 2,57,542 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,96,136, Agra 1,35,217, 2nd Allahabad 1,00,000, 3rd Varanasi 96,225, Bareilly 53,153 (29.15%), Aligarh 64,299, Gorakhpur 57,000; Calcutta 6,82,941 from 8 cinemaas; Nagpur 2,49,163 from 3 cinemas, Amravati 66,700, Akola 48,516, total 2,32,784, Raipur (6 days) 81,237, Bhilai 50,960, Jalgaon 52,997, Bilaspur (6 days) 55,974; Bhopal 1,14,045; 2nd week Hyderabad 7,60,040 from 5 cinemas.

Yeshwant is also an overflow film. Class A in Maharashtra. 3rd week Bombay 16,78,317 from 11 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Baroda 1,35,672, Jamnagar 90,862, total 3,46,206; Solapur 1,42,571 from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.), 1st week Miraj 70,400 (96%); 3rd Delhi 8,49,451 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 1,41,800 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,32,827, 2nd Agra 1,38,000 (1st 1,86,000), 3rd week Allahabad 84,600, Varanasi 1,13,880, Bareilly 52,183 (29.15%), Aligarh 78,655, Gorakhpur 99,000, theatre record; Calcutta 10,00,199 from 14 cinemas; Nagpur 1,67,344 from 3 cinemas, Amravati 1,41,218, total 4,82,761, share 3,54,413, Akola 97,327, total 4,32,497, Raipur 1,24,809, theatre record, Bhilai 51,110, Durg 59,981, Jalgaon 1,00,016, theatre record; Indore 1,30,898, Bhopal 1,04,050, Ujjain 72,983; 1st Bikaner 60,856; 3rd Hyderabad 5,92,263 from 3 cinemas; 1st Vijayawada 2,97,718.

Raja Hindustani 11th week Bombay 21,23,741 (73.73%) from 8 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Solapur 1,21,906, 10th Barsi 14,562; 15th Delhi 9,27,923 from 5 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 1,58,021, Agra 1,10,820, 16th Allahabad 63,000, Varanasi 77,686, Meerut 1,18,326, theatre record; 15th Bareilly 56,898 (30.57%), Aligarh 1,06,200, 16th Gorakhpur 56,000, city record; 15th week Calcutta 1,33,631; 12th Nagpur 1,77,978 from 2 cinemas, 13th week Jabalpur 1,48,593, total 24,29,238, 11th Akola 58,320, total 12,48,576, 15th Raipur 55,041, 16th Bhilai (6 days) 29,970, 11th week Wardha 31,548; 15th Indore 1,97,006, 14th Bhopal 1,19,297; 15th Jodhpur 91,000; Hyderabad 3,47,995 from 2 cinemas.

KAVIRAJ INDEEVAR BIDS GOODBYE

Veteran lyricist Indeevar passed away on 28th February in Bombay at Lilavati Hospital due to a cardiac arrest. He was 73 and is survived by his wife and a son. He had been admitted to hospital on 17th on account of a heart ailment.

Kaviraj Indeevar, as he was respectfully called, had written over 2,500 songs for almost 450 films. Among his evergreen and popular hits are such songs as Chandan sa badan (Saraswatichandra), Kasme vaade pyar wafaa sab (Upkar), O laal duppatte wali (Aankhen), Suraj kab door gagan se and Jaati hoon main (both from Karan Arjun). Almost 50 films for which he has penned lyrics are currently in various stages of production.

Shyamlal, which was the real name of Indeevar, came to Bombay in 1941 from a village in Uttar Pradesh. He got his break in 1946 in Shyambabu Pathak’s Doubleface. He had completed half a century in the film world just last year. During his 51 years as lyricist, he worked with almost all the music directors. Perhaps, the only notable music director for whom Indeevar never wrote lyrics was Naushad. Even for Naushad, he did write a song in Kishore Sharma’s Chanakya Aur Chandragupta, directed by B.R. Chopra. That song was rendered by Lata Mangeshkar, but the film got shelved mid-way. He also composed the music for the 1996 Miss World contest in Bangalore.

If Indeevar’s lyrics could move a listener to tears or bring a grin on one’s face, they could also irritate the Britishers so much that the lyricist was put behind bars for a year. His ‘crime’: he had written anti-British songs.

A typicality of Indeevar’s songs was that they were almost always written in chaste Hindi and were simple, yet meaningful. Like his lyrics, Indeevar too was simple in his thoughts and living. He had a smiling face and a down-to-earth nature.

Among the hundreds of films Indeevar penned lyrics for are Nirmoy, Madari, Bhool Na Jana, Badbaan, Himalay Ki Godmein, Safar, Purab Aur Pachhim, Mohra, Qurbani, Karan Arjun, Khudgarz, Koyla (unreleased).

It is difficult to imagine what the film music scene will be like without Indeevar. His sudden death has left the industry shocked. The genius lyricist, who had a song for every occasion and mood, didn’t even give a hint that he was going. Even if he had said, “Jaata hoon main….”, the industry could have pleaded to the Gods up there with a line from Indeevar’s own song. “Jaldi hai kya?”

‘JUDAAI’ RELEASE IN KARNATAKA POSTPONED

Boney Kapoor’s Judaai has not been released in the state of Karnataka this week. While Mysore circuit comprises many parts of Karnataka, Bombay circuit also consists of a part of the state. A couple of stations of Karnataka also fall in Nizam circuit. While Judaai has been released in other parts of Bombay and Nizam circuits, it has not been released in Mysore circuit at all.

The Kannada version of the Telugu super-hit, Shubhlagnam, of which Judaai is a remake, is due for release next week in Karnataka. It stars the son of matinee idol of Kannada films, Rajkumar, as hero. Because of the immense power Rajkumar wields there, he saw to it that the release of Judaai was stalled till after his son’s film hit the screens. At first, Mysore distributor Pal Chandani is reported to have refused to postpone the release of his Judaai, but he relented later.

Another reason for the stalling of the release of Judaai seems to be the controversy which Anil Kapoor landed himself in recently with Kannada film actress Malashri who is the heroine opposite Rajkumar’s son in the Kannada film due for release next week. It is learnt that Malashri had wanted Anil Kapoor to make a special appearance in Lady Commissioner, being produced by Ramu (who is now her husband) and starring herself. Anil had initially agreed to act in the film but later decided against it. This seems to have agitated Malashri who, it is likely, may have pulled the strings on the eve of release of Anil’s Judaai. Before that, she had also filed a case against Anil Kapoor in her Association.

DHANNALAL THAKURIA NO MORE

Dhannalal Thakuria, owner of Regal cinema, Indore, expired on 21st February in Indore. He was 95. Thakuria was also a distributor and, in fact, the oldest living distributor.

DILIP KUMAR TO ATTEND HIS RETROSPECTIVE IN JODHPUR

Dilip Kumar will attend the opening of a retrospective of his films in Jodhpur on 7th March at Girdhar Mandir cinema. The retrospective is being organised by the Film Society of Jodhpur with a week-long festival of Dilip Kumar starrers.

Dilip Kumar will be publicly honoured at a function on 7th. According to the secretary of the Film Society, Mohan Swaroop Maheshwari, two shows each of 14 Dilip Kumar starrers will be held in the week-long festival. Among the films to be screened are Amar, Andaz, Aan, Devdas, Babul, Mughal-E-Azam, Ram Aur Shyam, Udan Khatola, Madhumati and Mashaal.

U.A. THADANI HOSPITALISED

Veteran Bombay exhibitor and distributor U.A. Thadani took ill on 26th February while he was attending to his work in office and was rushed to the ICU of Hinduja Hospital. He is recuperating at the hospital and his condition is reported to be steady now.

MALASHRI WEDS RAMU

Kannada film heroine Malashri announced at a press conference in Bangalore this week her marriage with producer Ramu. The wedding took place at her Bangalore residence.

Malashri became close to Ramu during the making of his Muttinantha Hendthi some years ago. She is currently working in two forthcoming films of Ramu, CBI Durga and Lady Commissioner.

‘AUZAAR’ PROMOTION IN BOMBAY

Tips Films has worked out an innovative advertising and promotion plan for Auzaar in Bombay. The message of the film’s release is being reached out to people in a rally of uniformed motor-cyclists who are doing the rounds of the city. The rally was flagged off by Salman Khan.

A contest for viewers is also currently on in cinemas screening the film, where over 10,000 prizes can be won.

URMILA BHATT MURDERED

Urmila Bhatt was murdered at her residence in Bombay on the night of 22nd February. Although the identity of the murderer is not known, the motive behind the killing seems to be a dispute over money. According to the police, there was a transaction of about Rs. 8 crore between Urmila Bhatt and somebody for whom the police are on the lookout. Urmila Bhatt’s husband was not in Bombay when the murder took place.

The police suspect that the TV serial, Zee Horror Show, may have inspired Urmila’s murderer because she was murdered in the same way as she was killed in the said serial which was telecast just four days prior to the murder.

Urmila Bhatt had received a telephone call at around 7 p.m. the same day, and the caller threatened to kill her. The actress told this to an undisclosed friend who also was reportedly threatened over the phone on Sunday night. Urmila Bhatt was cremated on Sunday evening.

The murder came to light when a relative visited the veteran actress. When nobody answered the door-bell, he got scared and, alongwith Urmila’s daughter and son-in-law, opened the door, only to find her dead body. Her throat had been slit with the help of a sharp instrument. The rear door of the house was partly open.

Urmila Bhatt had acted in a number of Hindi, Gujarati and Rajasthani films. Among her Hindi films are Phir Bhi, Tapasya, Toofan, Preetam, Pratiggya, Koshish, Dhund, Jheel Ke Us Paar, Pyasi Nadi, Sankoch, Chattan Singh, Call Girl, Chhatis Ghante, Vardan, Dharam Karam, Geet Gata Chal, Jaan Haazir Hai, Pratikaar, Touheen, Dosti Ki Saugandh, Izzat Ki Roti, Zakhmi Rooh etc.

PRODUCTIONS NEWS

‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’

A week-long shooting stint of G.S. Entertainments’ Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya began on Feb. 26 at Madh Island and on Bombay locales. A song on Salman Khan, Kajol and a huge crowd is being picturised under the supervision of choreographer Ganesh Hegde. The film co-stars Arbaaz Khan, one more heroine, Asif Sheikh, Kunika, Tiku Talsania, Rajoo Kariya, Kiran Kumar, Shakti Kapoor and Ashish Balram Nagpal who has been recently signed. It is being directed by Sohail Khan from his own story and screenplay, and produced by him jointly with Bunty Walia. Music: Jatin Lalit. Lyrics: Sameer. Vashu Bhagnani presents its.

‘Barood’ Unit Back From Europe

Producer and director Pramod Chakravorty and the unit of Pramod Films’ Barood returned to India this week after completing a 20-day shooting schedule in Europe. Action and other scenes as well as songs were picturised featuring Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon, Mohnish Bahl and fighters. The film co-stars Raakhee, Gulshan Grover, Mohan Joshi, Aroona Irani and Amrish Puri. It is being co-produced by Bharat Shah, and has music by Anand Milind and lyrics by Sameer.

YOU ASKED IT

Big banners pay low prices to their artistes and technicians but charge double the price while selling their films to distributors. Are they justified in doing so?

– Who are you and I to talk about justification when the price is governed by the laws of demand and supply? The big banners charge a big chunk for their goodwill.

When music has always been an important part of Hindi films, why is it said that ‘today’, hit music is very necessary?

– Hit music generally ensures good opening, and since the prices of films these days are phenomenal, a good opening is very essential. Hence the importance of hit music these days.

What happened to Sudhakar Bokade’s Kalinga? Its director, Dilip Kumar, had over a year ago said in a press conference that differences between him and Bokade had been cleared.

– But the film is incomplete as yet. Maybe, another press conference would have to be called to clear matters again.

DO YOU KNOW?

* For Naaz cinema, Parbhani (Nizam circuit), it is double celebration time. While RAJA HINDUSTANI completed 100 days at the cinema in regular shows on 19th February, TERE MERE SAPNE completed 50 days in morning shows.

* Producer Surendra Bohra seems to be a lucky mascot for his artistes as far as awards are concerned. When his SAAJAN KA GHAR was being made, Juhi Chawla bagged her first Filmfare award (for HUM HAIN RAHI PYAR KE). This year, Chandrachur Singh and Arbaaz Khan have bagged the Filmfare awards and both of them are acting in Bohra’s films.

MIX MASALA

RECORD CUTS!

One has heard of censors banning a film completely but Mohan Sulibhavi’s Duniya Ki Rangeen Raatein may, perhaps, be the film which has been passed with the maximum number of cuts in the history of Hindi cinema. Believe it or not, it has been cleared for adults after the deletion of 4,046.14 feet (1,233.49 metres) which is almost of a running time of 45 to 50 minutes! And these cuts have been offered by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal. The total length which has been passed is 2,286.43 metres. The producer, it may be mentioned here, has accepted the cuts, and the censor certificate has also been issued. Incidentally, the producer (Mohan Sulibhavi) is a censor script writer who does the liaison work of producers in regard to censorship of films.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Unusual Twists Are The Real Challenge

It is not for nothing that Rajkumar Santoshi is considered a director of great standing. Some of his views are truly worth appreciating. Like, for instance, he says, while talking of film stories: “When we sit for story discussions, I never get put off by such remarks as ‘…..But how can this be possible? Who will do such a thing? Nobody can do such and such a thing.’ Rather, such reservations inspire me to take up the challenge because that is the unusual twist in the story. Yudhishtir in Mahabharat put his wife at stake while gambling, which no human being would dream of doing. But because Yudhishtir did it, Mahabharat was born. And if Mahabharat can appeal to mankind, a film story with some unusual twist, which is least expected, can surely be lapped up by cinegoers.”

And while on Santoshi, the best compliment anyone must have paid him was the one paid by financier Bharat Shah. This was when Santoshi was making Damini. He was planning a film with a top South actor, but everybody kept dissuading him, saying that the project wouldn’t be financially viable since the hero, despite being a great actor, doesn’t sell in the Hindi belt. When Rajkumar Santoshi asked Bharatbhai Shah whether he would finance the project, the latter told him, “Even if you make a film with my peon as hero, I’ll back the project!” Rajkumar Santoshi even today cherishes this compliment as the most valued one.

Sorry For The (Leg) Break

That Mamta Kulkarni fractured her leg in the recent shooting spell of Rajkumar Santoshi’s China Gate at Gangavati (near Bangalore) is common knowledge. But not many know that another actor also fractured his leg in the same shooting spell. The only difference is that while Mamta got hurt while getting off the horseback, this actor — Mukesh Tiwari — fractured his leg while doing stunts on horseback for the film. Action director Tinnu Verma must be feeling doubly sorry for the leg breaks! Mukesh Tiwari, it may be mentioned here, is a new villain who is being introduced in China Gate. He is from the National School of Drama. Incidentally, the Gangavati shooting schedule, which remained incomplete due to the leg breaks, will be continued once the two artistes recover — that is, after quite a long break!

Big Bengali Hits

If Raja Hindustani is doing roaring business in West Bengal (it is expected to do a business of 2.5 to 3 crore!), so are two Bengali films. Ravi Agarwal’s Lathi, inspired from Mohan Kumar’s Avtaar, is expected to touch the 2-crore mark. Dhanuka’s Swami Keno Asami, imported from Bangladesh, is also doing very good business. This hit stars Chunkey Panday, Rituparna and others. So even if Chunkey doesn’t have exciting Hindi films on hand, he has reason to celebrate all the same.

From Clerk To ‘King’: What A Success Story!

The life story of Nizam distributor and exhibitor B.G. Upadhyaya would read like a fairy tale. Son of a post-master, he started out as a booking clerk in Krishna cinema of Parli Vaijnath (Maharashtra). He rose to the post of a manager in the same cinema and then became its controller. He then purchased the cinema and another cinema too (Gopal Krishna) at Parli Vaijnath. His enterprising activities didn’t stop there. He also acquired the other two cinemas, Shree and Shreenath, of Parli Vaijnath, on lease. All of which makes him a monopolist at Parli Vaijnath. Not content with being only an exhibitor in Nizam, Balaprasad Gangadhar Upadhyaya then decided to dabble in distribution. And dabble he did. In a short span of some years only, he has released (distributed) as many as 40 films in Nizam circuit, including many of K.C. Bokadia and Anil Ganguly. In fact, he started his distribution office, Aruna Enterprises, with Anil Ganguly’s Dil Ki Baazi. Having become an exhibitor and distributor, Upadhyaya is now trying his hands at production. He has started out by dubbing a Tamil film (Sangotte which means ‘Red Fort’) which is now ready for release in Hindi as Kalyug Ka Arjun. A bold political film, Upadhyaya is confident that it will be exempted from entertainment tax, at least in Maharashtra. And not just because Maharashtra deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde was his classmate, but also because the film, he feels, deserves tax exemption. Upadhyaya will now be producing a Hindi film. He has acquired the remaking rights of the Malayalam hit, King.

CBFC Hits Back At Ratnam

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in Madras has taken exception to Mani Ratnam’s critical comments on its functioning and on the procedure adopted by the censors in clearing his recently released Tamil film, Iruvar. The CBFC has described a recent interview of Mani Ratnam as “misleading”. In the said interview, Mani Ratnam is said to have cast aspersions on CBFC members and officials, according to regional officer of CBFC (Madras), G. Rajasekaran. The celebrated filmmaker, who is known as much for his controversial films as for his films getting stuck up at the censors, said in the interview that censors lacked guts to take decisions on their own and tended to pass the buck to curry favour with politicians. It may be recalled here that Ratnam’s Iruvar has two main characters bearing striking resemblances to Tamilnadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi and late M.G. Ramachandran. The film was referred to the state home department before it was cleared by the CBFC, with cuts. Mani Ratnam has wondered whether the censors had the legal right to refer the film to the home department. He has alleged that the censors seemed to have a prejudice against Iruvar even before seeing it. In a three-page statement issued by the regional officer (RO), the RO has noted that the CBFC had acted in accordance with the rules. He has explained that in certification of a film, the CBFC had to ensure that the public order was not endangered. The state home department, which was responsbile for law and order, had been asked to review the film in view of the possibility of it provoking a clash between rival political groups. That was in order, according to G. Rajasekaran, who has noted that the entire procedure adopted by the CBFC was recorded in writing, and nothing prevented Ratnam from going to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal or even the court of law if he considered that the CBFC had violated the law in referring his film to a committee of the home department.

Quite A Mouthful

When it comes to coinage of certain film trade phrases and terminology, you can’t beat West Bengal distributors. For them, drop in collections means ‘droppage’. Kitna droppage aaya?, is the common question among Calcutta distributors. Of course, it’s a different thing that there is no such English word as ‘droppage’.

And when it comes to seeking advice on which film to buy, a Calcutta buyer is sure to ask: Kya yeh picture main kha loon? So, next time, if a West Bengal distributor asks you “Kya kha loon?”, don’t give him a list of delicacies. Instead, give him a list of probable hits — films, that is.

LATEST POSITION

The holiday of Maha-Shivratri was the only saving grace of an otherwise dull week — dull because of the poor films.

Saat Rang Ke Sapne is a washout. 1st week Bombay 13,32,656 (64.32%) from 7 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,02,363 from 2 cinemas; Kolhapur 51,871, Solapur 32,693; Delhi 7,82,042 (37.12%) from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 48,367, Lucknow 49,561, Allahabad 34,136; Amritsar 52,160; Calcutta 3,09,978 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 1,17,689 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 88,628, Amravati (6 days) 61,351, Raipur (6 days) 55,958, Bhilai 59,836; Indore 1,18,695 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 1,81,814, Jodhpur 1,50,000; Hyderabad 4,40,197 from 2 cinemas.

Saazish is also a disaster. 1st week Bombay 18,80,478 (41%) from 14 cinemas; Ahmedabad 71,172 from 2 cinemas (2 cinemas unrecd.), Rajkor 47,900 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Kolhapur 68,734, Solapur 59,525; Delhi 10,74,696 (35.01%) from 8 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 66,294 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 75,529, Allahabad 33,900; Calcutta 10,70,672 from 17 cinemas; Nagpur 1,76,589 from 4 cinemas, Chandrapur 75,062; Jaipur 1,86,161 from 2 cinemas.

2001 dropped badly after a reasonable start. 1st week Bombay 22,56,890 (54.70%) from 12 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 93,038 (2 cinemas unrecd.), Rajkot 1,55,240 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 5,60,816 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,09,127; Hubli 1,02,065, Belgaum 1,01,874; Delhi 13,22,661 (51.09%) from 7 cinemas; Kanpur 1,37,590 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,75,714, Allahabad 57,800, Meerut 77,368, Bareilly 70,282 (31.46%); Calcutta 12,49,980 from 17 cinemas; Nagpur 1,29,548 from 2 cinemas, Amravati (6 days) 1,06,356, Akola 1,00,248, Raipur (6 days) 71,788; Bhopal 1,49,010 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 3,80,471 from 4 cinemas; Hyderabad 12,80,205 from 9 cinemas (4 unrecd.).

………..

LALITA PAWAR DEAD

Famous character actress Lalita Pawar passed away probably on 23rd February in her flat in Pune where she lived alone. Although she died on 23rd, it was noticed only on 25th when neighbours complained to the police. It is believed that she died of a heart attack.

Lalita Pawar, who was 82 years old, was known for her squint-eyed persona of the wicked mother-in-law or step-mother. But she also played emotional roles with aplomb. She was, perhaps, best at portraying the role of a strict lady but one who had a soft heart.

An unfortunate incident in Lalita Pawar’s life affected her left eye. While shooting for the silent film, Jung-E-Azadi, director Bhagwan (the well-known comedian) got annoyed with her over some mistake and slapped her hard. It was this which resulted in the bursting of a vein and maimed her left eye. With this deformity, the actress continued to work, and she acted in over 500 films.

She started acting in silent films when she was just nine years old. Her first film was Patitoddhar after which she worked in a number of other silent films too. In 1928, she acted in a silent film, Aryamahila. Then followed such adventure films as Thaksen Rajputra and Chatur Sundari. The first talkie film in which she acted was Himmat-E-Mard (1935), directed by G.P. Pawar who she eventually married. She also acted in his Duniya Kya Hai. Among the other films she had worked in were Anari (in which she palayed the famous Mrs. D’sa), Shri 420, Jayshree, Sajni, Suraj, Baarish, Sant Raghu, Bal Yogi Upmanyu, Karigar, Kabhi Andhera Kabhi Ujala, Mahasati Behula, Grahasti, Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Sau Din Saas Ke, Gharana, Humrahi, Khandaan, Aankhen, Sampoorna Ramayan and many, many others. Deepak Shivdasani’s Bhai was one of her last films. Lalita Pawar also worked in a number of Marathi films such as Netaji Palkar, Jaymalhar, Ramshastri and Limited Manuski.

Lalita Pawar’s original name was Ambika Sagun.

OM PRAKASH NO MORE

Veteran character actor Om Prakash breathed his last on the afternoon of 21st February at Lilavati Hospital at Bandra, Bombay, due to cardiac arrest. He had been admitted to the ICU of the hospital two days earlier and had slipped into a coma.

He was 78 and is survived by a daughter. He had no children of his own, and had adopted the daughter of his brother, producer-director Pachhi. In fact, Om Prakash had lost interest in life to a large extent, after Pachhi’s death a few years ago and the death of his wife seven years ago. One could always find him at Rooptara Studios.

He had acted in over 300 films in a career spanning four decades. Among his well-known films are Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, Dhake Ki Malmal, Ek Jhalak, Miss Mary, Sadhu Aur Shaitan, Dus Lakh, Buddha Mil Gaya, Amar Prem, Baghi Sipahi, Karigar, Police, Zanjeer, Aandhi, Sharaabi, Namak Halaal, Padosan, Guddi, Khandan, Kanyadaan, Bhoot Bangla, Chupke Chupke, Malik, Julie, Dil Daulat Aur Duniya, Parivaar, Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare, Pyar Kiye Jaa, Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati, Around The World and Gopi. His first film, Daasi, was released in 1944. Before that, he worked in All India Radio. He was born in Lahore.

His funeral was held on 22nd at the Chembur crematorium. It was largely attended. The chautha ceremony was held on 24th and that too was largely attended.

Om Prakash was well-known for comic and emotional roles. He played comedy roles with as much ease as he did emotional or dramatic roles. His typical sing-song dialogue delivery was his trademark. Om Prakash was also a producer and director. His production banner was called Light & Shade. Among the films made by him were Kanhaiya, Chacha Zindabad, Sanjog (directed by Pramod Chakravorty) and Jahan Ara (directed by Vinod Kumar). He had his production office at Famous, Mahalaxmi. He also owned a cinema — Prabha — in Bareilly, which he sold off a few years ago.

BABY BOY FOR ANEES BAZMEE

Writer-director Anees Bazmee’s wife, Fatima, gave birth to a baby boy in Bombay on 25th February. This is Bazmees’ third child, the first two being daughters.

PADMINI KOLHAPURE’S ACTING SCHOOL

Padmini Kolhapure will open the Padmini Kolhapure School of Acting Modelling & Grooming today (28th February) in New Delhi at 29, Hauz Khas Village. Besides Padmini herself, professional tutors from various fields of performing arts will take classes in the acting school.

RAGHUNATH JHALANI NO MORE

Director Raghunath Jhalani expired in Bombay on 23rd February due to cancer. He was 64 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Born on 22nd August, 1933, Raghunath Jhalani started out as an assistant to Bimal Roy in 1956. He assisted Bimal Roy in Apradhi Kaun, Sujata, Bandini, Prem Patra and other films. He got his break as a director with J. Om Prakash’s Aye Din Bahar Ke in 1966. Among the other films he directed were Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke, Aankhon Aankhon Mein, Anamika, Uljhan, Badalte Rishte and Be-Reham. Jhalani had also produced and directed some television serials.

YOU ASKED IT

How many cinemas are there in the country?

– 9,033 permanent cinemas, besides 3,744 touring cinemas. That is to say, there are a total of 12,777 cinemas in India.

When high admission rates are killing box-office collections of film after film, why don’t producers and distributors do something to correct the situation?

– They’ve tasted blood (high admission rates) and it’s difficult to give up the taste so easily.

Is the trend of dubbing Hollywood films in Hindi likely to make the censors stricter for English films also, in view of the fact that no additional cuts can be ordered in the visuals of a dubbed film?

– Don’t give ideas to the censors! There is the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal and the court too, for aggrieved producers.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Yash Johar’s DUPLICATE is being booked by exhibitors of U.P. at fantastic prices. It’s the magic of Shah Rukh Khan’s earlier starrer, Yash Chopra’s DIL TO PAGAL HAI, which is responsible for the fancy terms being offered by exhibitors, many of whom are those who did not get a chance to screen DTPH at their cinemas. A case of one Yash film helping another Yash film? Yash boss!

* The months of April and May will have double-role starrers hitting the screens. QILA, due on 10th April, has thespian Dilip Kumar playing a double role. JEANS, due on 24th April, has hero Prashant and character actor Nassar playing double roles. In DUPLICATE, due on 1st May, Shah Rukh Khan plays a double role. Amitabh Bachchan will be seen in a double role in LAL BAADSHAH which is to hit the screens in May.

* Two fathers are sparing no efforts to launch their sons into films, and, coincidentally, both the dads are abroad for scouting locations for the films of their respective sons. While Rakesh Roshan is in Dubai for KAHO NA PYAR HAI, in which he will introduce son Hrithik, Yash Johar is in Mauritius to scout locations for son Karan Johar’s debut directorial venture, KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI.

Ability And Stability

There’s panic in the film industry. And not because of the political scenario in the country or because one doesn’t expect any single party to get an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha elections. The fear in Bollywood is born out of the ‘deaths’ of so many films.

Although it may sound mean, it wouldn’t be wrong to describe the falling at the box-office of film after film as their deaths. Not only are films flopping, they are also taking distributors closer to their doom.

One may ask, what’s new about debacles. We’ve always had flops amidst hits, and disasters amidst blockbusters. But the failures of the last couple of years have been major because film prices have been sky-high. Earlier, distributors could bear the shocks of flops because the stakes weren’t so high. But today, one big debacle can force a distributor to close down shop forever.

If the scene in the last couple of years has been bad, that in the last two or three months has been alarming. Films have not even been taking respectable openings, what to talk of registering handsome collections.

What then must be done? Rather than blaming it on bad times, the industry must try to put its own house in order. Directors and writers must work harder on scripts because content is the backbone of any film. Without a solid backbone, no film can hope to stand. And with prices being what they are today, films need to not only stand but stand firmly for weeks together. A Zor opened to bumper houses but what happened after four days? It fell like a pack of cards. The losses to distributors of major circuits will reportedly be in the region of half or three-quarters of a crore, not to talk of the heavy losses which over-enthusiastic exhibitors (who paid fancy terms) will suffer. That the film was bad is indisputable, but that’s the reason for the losses. The reason for the losses being so HEAVY is that the film’s price was worse than the film itself! Aflatoon and Banarasi Babu were other recent releases which were priced too heavily.

Coming back to the content in a film, it is rather shocking that such little attention is paid to a matter of so much importance. The audience today is far more smart than that of yesteryears. It is exposed to a multitude of satellite channels and can distinguish between the good and the bad. So, it’s all the more necessary that script-writers and directors pull up their socks now instead of being socked down forever.

Stability in prices and ability of makers and writers will be the new catchwords now.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Familiarity Breeds Contempt?

The trailer of Tutu Sharma and David Dhawan’s Gharwali Baharwali, being aired on satellite channels, is both, innovative and entertaining. It shows Anil Kapoor surfing channels on a television set, with a remote control. Addressing the viewers, Anil says something to the effect that change is fun — whether it is changing channels or the ladies at home! He then goes on to introduce his gharwali — Raveena Tandon — and baharwali — Rambha. The trailer is surely very different from the familiar ones we are used to seeing.

Love In The Air

The film industry seems to have become a ‘love’ly place. Only that could explain the spate of love films under production. We have Love Today, Loveria and Love You Hamesha. There’s also Love Station and if that’s not enough, there’s a junction too — Love Junction. There are at least two love stories by the names of Love Story 98 and Jungle Love Story. And what does love translate in Hindi into? Pyar! So we have several pyar films also being made. Like there’s Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Hum Deewane Pyar Ke, Pyar To Hona Hi Tha, Silsila Hai Pyar Ka, Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya, Tumse Pyar Ho Gaya, Pyar Koi Khel Nahin, Paraya Pyar etc.

PARDESI BABU

K.B. Pictures’ Pardesi Babu is a love triangle with the tried and tested turns and twists. A simple and poor village boy falls in love with a rich girl, but the latter’s father asks him to earn a crore of rupees in one year if he wants his daughter’s hand in marriage. The boy takes up the challenge and also succeeds, but he has achieved his target because of an unintentional windfall which has made a girl and her father extremely poor. This girl silently loves the boy who, because of the windfall, feels obliged to marry her instead of the girl he loves. Several misunderstandings later, the boy and his rich girlfriend unite in matrimony.

The story has no novelty and reminds one of a number of love stories like Maine Pyar Kiya. But what is more shocking is the screenplay which is one of utmost convenience and which resorts to too many cinematic liberties. For instance, there is a thief who comes as an important link in the story in the pre-climax. This thief is first seen in Bombay, and in the pre-climax, in Darjeeling. This cinematic liberty is sought to be covered up by showing the thief to be an “all-India chor”! Similarly, the Darjeeling girl, whose father has lost lakhs of rupees he was carrying in a suitcase, has not even bothered to open the suitcase she gets in exchange for their own suitcase, for one full year — not even to try and locate the owner of the exchanged suitcase for a possible clue. Besides the main story, even the incidents are of the kind seen in earlier films.

The romance between the village simpleton and the rich city girl has not been developed properly. Emotions touch the heart only at one place. Comedy is a bit too loud. Dialogues (Aadesh K. Arjun) are good at several places but the sermonising by the hero in the end is a bit boring.

Govinda does a good job but one misses his crazy comedy. Raveena Tandon is fair but looks extra weak. Shilpa Shetty is reasonably good. Satish Kaushik is too loud at many places, but entertains when not loud. Shashikala is ordinary. Rajeev Verma, Mohnish Bahl and Avtar Gill lend fair support. Virendra Saxena is irritating, more because his character is not very convincing if only because what he is doing doesn’t appeal. Asif Sheikh, Deepak Qazir, Gavin, Aroon Bakshi, Charlie and the rest fill the bill.

Debut-making director Manoj Agrawal has faltered in the selection of the story and has not really worked on the script but he seems to be good at the technique of direction. Music (Anand Raaj Anand) is quite entertaining. ‘It happens only in India’, ‘Chingari’ and a couple of other songs are well-tuned. Action scenes are effective. Camerawork is good. Production and other technical values are fair.

On the whole, Pardesi Babu is an ordinary fare.

Released on 13-11-’98 at Minerva and 23 other cinemas of Bombay thru Mahalakshmi Film Distributors. Publicity: very good. Opening: quite good (affected due to Sharjah cricket final). …….Also released all over.

MEHNDI

Aftab Pictures (P.) Ltd.’s Mehndi (UA) is a film on dowry and about a woman’s fight against the curse of dowry. A law graduate gets married only to be ill-treated by her in-laws and husband, for dowry. She bears a lot of humiliation but finally resolves to seek revenge when she is called a prostitute by her in-laws and when her husband files a divorce petition in the court. It is then that she dons the advocate’s robe and pleads her own case. She wins the support of the villagers too.

The first half is ordinary. It shows the bride being tortured for dowry and does not impress very much. The drama becomes lively after interval when she decides to pay back her in-laws for all their torture. Once she sets out on her revenge mission, there are some scenes which entertain and a few which win audience sympathy. Dialogues are good and even clapworthy at places.

Rani Mukerji does a good job as the wronged daughter-in-law. Faraz Khan is wooden and, therefore, does not impress. Shakti Kapoor is fair. Arjun acts ably. Himani Shivpuri is convincing as the wicked mother-in-law. Pramod Moutho is so-so. Joginder entertains a bit. Ushma Rathod, Shashi Sharma, Mahavir Shah, Shagufta Ali, Ashish Nagpal and Mukta provide ordinary support. Shahbaaz Khan leaves a mark in a guest appearance. Other guest artistes — Gulshan Grover, Asrani, Raza Murad and Yunus Perwaiz — pass muster.

Direction is fair. Music should have been much better. Two songs are alright but what was needed was one or two hit tunes. Even the songs which appeal do so more for their lyrical value. Song picturisations are ordinary. Camerawork is okay. Other technical aspects are alright.

On the whole, Mehndi has some appeal for womenfolk and can do well in small centres only.

Released on 13-11-’98 at Dreamland and 10 other cinemas of Bombay thru Friends Movies. Publicity: good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over.

TELUGU FILM INDUSTRY FEELS IGNORED IN FORTHCOMING IFFI

The Telugu film industry lodged a strong protest with the organising committee of the International Film Festival of India against their ignoring the contribution of versatile actress Bhanumati Ramakrishna and woman director Vijayanirmala.

The 30th IFFI will commence in Hyderabad from 10th January, 1999. The first meeting of the 30th IFFI, held on 11th November with Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in the chair, evoked angry protests from personalities of the Telugu film industry such as Akkineni Nageswara Rao, D.V.S. Raju, U. Visweshwar Rao, Dasari Narayana Rao and T. Subbirami Reddy, who took exception to the organising committee for ignoring the Telugu film actress and director. The issue cropped up when festival director Malati Sahai informed that in honour of the contribution made by women to the film industry, the IFFI had decided to screen five films of Hindi film actress Shabana Azmi to commemorate her completion of 25 years in cinema. It was pointed out that Bhanumati had completed 50 years in Telugu cinema, and Vijayanirmala was the only woman director to have directed over 100 films.

The meeting also expressed displeasure with the organising committee for not providing representation to the Telugu film industry in the various sub-committees constituted by the Directorate of Film Festivals and the I & B ministry to oversee and organise the festival.

Malati Sahai informed that about 75 films from 33 countries, produced in the last two years, would be screened at the festival. Santosh and Sapna cinemas would screen mainstream cinema films.

CENSOR NEWS

Santoshi Productions’ China Gate, seen on 9th, has been passed with UA certificate, with 14 minor cuts.

Ram Creations’ Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (length 4833.24 metres in 17 reels), applied on 9th and seen on 10th, has been passed with U certificate, with minor cuts.

Pali Films’ Bhoot has been refused certificate.

NFDC Ltd.’s Hanste Hasaate (revised) has been passed with U certificate, with cuts.

Bhalla Productions’ Tune Mera Dil Le Liya has been passed for adults, with cuts by the revising committee.

Tension Marks ‘Pardesi Babu’ Deliveries
Release Plans Disturbed

The release of Pardesi Babu on Thursday (12th November) in U.P., Orissa, C.P. Berar, C.I. and Nizam (Aurangabad) had to be cancelled following delivery problems. The film opened all over only on Friday. In some centres, even the first shows of Friday had to be cancelled as the prints could not be reached there on time.

The hassles in the delivery of Pardesi Babu were one of the worst in recent times. The Bihar territory was in dispute since a long time due to double-sale by producer Kulbhushan Gupta. While that matter was resolved in the court in favour of the first distributor (Pawan Dhanuka) and did not result in delay in effecting deliveries, what did cause delays were some developments during the week. Even before that, financier Madan Kapoor of Jalandhar obtained an injunction order from the Jalandhar court, staying the all-India release of Pardesi Babu. The stay order was vacated when Kapoor was paid interest on monies lent by him to Gupta and he agreed to the refund of principal amount at the time of release of Vidroh.

The negative of Pardesi Babu had during its making been transferred in the name of Jumani who had financed the film. It was the recovery of his monies and those of some other financiers alongwith him that was creating a problem. The recoveries from the various distributors fell short of the claims of the financiers and this was brought to light too late in the day. The Overseas delivery was effected as late as on Tuesday (10th November) evening, only after a legal notice was served on the producer by Overseas distributor Mohan Chhabria.

The distributors of Bombay, C.P. Berar, C.I., Rajasthan and Nizam even decided to go to court to get deliveries at the contracted prices. Even while the matter was about to be moved in court, frantic efforts were being made for an out-of-court settlement. Distributors of the various circuits were being prevailed upon by both, Jumani and Kulbhushan Gupta, to agree to price hikes, but most of them were in no mood for it. The West Bengal distributors are said to have even threatened to cancel their release if the producer/financier insisted on a price hike.

Ultimately, it took the intervention of CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain to make the producer, financiers and various distributors as also the laboratory arrive at a settlement. Santosh Singh Jain was in Jaipur and following an SOS message sent to him, he flew to Bombay on Wednesday night. He drove straight from the airport at 9 p.m. on Wednesday to Dharamsi Savla’s (one of the financiers) office where the warring parties had assembled. By the time Jain Sahab stepped in, the concerned parties had spent several sleepless nights and undergone hours and hours of tension and uncertainty. An amicable — if one may use the word — settlement was first arrived at at 5 a.m. on Thursday! Prices were hiked.

Prakash Advani of Shree Bableshwar Films, Indore, sighed after the settlement, “This has been my worst experience ever. The producer was simply not bothered about us and our commitments. On Wednesday night, a day before the film was to have opened in C.I., Mr. Kulbhushan Gupta, instead of being bothered about our deliveries, told me, ‘Why are you so tense? Sab thheek ho jaayega.’ But time was running out. We had already lost Thursday, did he want us to lose Friday too?” According to Advani, had Gupta told the distributors in advance about the price hike, they would’ve come prepared to take delivery. “Mr. Gupta did not even tell us of the price hike, it was Jumani who conveyed the news to us. When we distributors told Jumani that we had dealt with Kulbhushan Gupta and not him, he told us, he was the negative rights holder. We were shocked.”

Kulbhushan Gupta told Information, “We went over-budget because of the many outdoor shooting schedules and the delay in completing the film. We also suffered a loss of about Rs. 50 lakh in just the music rights sale when they were transferred from Big B Music to Super Cassettes.” But couldn’t the last-moment tension have been averted? Replied Gupta, “The accounts revealed a heavy deficit only this week.” He denied rumours that he had burdened Pardesi Babu with the liabilities of his other two under-production films, Vidroh and Shivam.

Many Questions!
Any Answers?

Some pertinent questions arise out of the entire delivery tamasha of Pardesi Babu.

(1) How did Adlabs transfer the film’s negative in Jumani’s name when it had already issued lien letters on various territories to various financiers? If it did so, wasn’t the transfer subject to clearance of the liens?

(2) When negative rights are transferred in a person’s name after liens on various territories have been created, doesn’t the negative rights holder step into the producer’s shoes and become responsible together with the laboratory to clear the liens?

(3) Why were distributors asked to get clearance from the new negative rights holder, Jumani, when they had dealt with producer Kulbhushan Gupta and had not even interacted with Jumani before the time of delivery?

(4) Reportedly, Manmohan Shetty tried to dilly-dally the effecting of deliveries till Jumani’s money was received in full. Can a laboratory owner insist that all distributors take deliveries together? Why couldn’t one distributor take delivery on one day and another on another day?

(5) Why were the distributors asked — or rather, forced — to pay Rs. 10,000 extra per print? This is nothing short of cheating!

(6) There was one financier who had a first-release claim but even his money was not sought to be returned before Jumani’s money. Is this legally correct?

(7) When the Bombay, C.P., C.I., Rajasthan and Nizam distributors had almost knocked the doors of the court to have their deliveries effected as per agreements, why did they retract at the last moment? Why did they opt for out-of-court settlement and thereby agree for hiked prices when the chances of their victory in court were bright?

“This is extortion – my distributors have paid 70 lakh as extortion money,”
Cries SANTOSH SINGH JAIN

Santosh Singh Jain may have succeeded in making the parties to the Pardesi Babu dispute arrive at a settlement, but he is very unhappy with what happened in the case. Information spoke to him and obtained his version.

“It is very sad, the way things are going. We cry about extortion but this arm-twisting at the last moment is nothing short of extortion. The Pardesi Babu distributors have been forced to pay Rs. 70 lakh by way of ‘extortion money’.

“I blame the producer first for not managing his affairs properly. Next to be blamed are the various financiers like Jumani, Pramod Rai (of Hyderabad) etc. who were not prepared to see that the film had simply no strength to bear the burden of their unreasonable interest. They should not have lent money on the project if they were so concerned about its safety. Perhaps, at the time of lending, they were lured only by the high interest rate. I am also very disillusioned by the behaviour of Manmohan Shetty of Adlabs. In the first place, he should have been careful when he realised that the negative was being transferred in another name. Shetty also brought the claim of Kulbhushan Gupta’s earlier film, God And Gun, on Pardesi Babu. My question to him is, ‘Why should the distributors always bear the burden of everything — past, present and future? Why are they made the bakras always?’ I was so agitated at one point during the settlement talks that I told Manmohan Shetty, ‘I have a good mind to complain to the police commissioner about this extortion racket.’ I’ve known Shetty for many years but I’ve never seen him so uncooperative and stubborn.”

MANMOHAN SHETTY:
“It is only when things reach a boiling point that negotiations start.”

Adlabs boss Manmohan Shetty, when contacted, told Information, “Well, the film has released and I’m happy for that.” Explaining why such delivery dramas take place, Shetty said, “Normally, the producer, financier and distributors play the wait-and-watch game to see who will increase/reduce the price/interest. Things reach a boiling point and then they become too hot to handle. Then, negotiations start but it is invariably too late.” When asked to comment on why Santosh Singh Jain was so agitated by his role in the dispute and settlement, Manmohan Shetty replied, “Santosh Singh Jain is not important. He is nobody in the Pardesi Babu case. I had to go by what the film’s financiers, producer and distributors wanted, not by what Jain wanted me to do. If what settlement was arrived at by Santosh Singh Jain was not implemented and remained merely on paper, how am I expected to effect deliveries?”

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

A Fitting Reply

Apropos our survey of distributors a few weeks ago, in which Dreamland was cited as one of the worst-maintained cinemas in Bombay, here comes the clarification from the cinema owner himself. Says Yunusbhai Sopariwala, “Actually, over the past 3-4 months, we have brought in a number of improvements at Dreamland at a cost of over Rs. 35 lakh. We have installed Dobly DTS sound system. Besides, two additional air-conditioning plants have been added to the existing one. Moreover, the entire balcony area has been renovated with new seats and granite flooring while the stalls area is currently under renovation. All these improvements have certainly been appreciated by the family audience. Otherwise, Dulhe Raja, a family film, couldn’t have fetched a share of Rs. 11.35 lakh in its 9-week run at Dreamland.” Distributors may please take note.

Lovely Chhamma Chhamma

Rajkumar Santoshi should thank Bharat Shah and Anu Malik. For, while it was financier Bharatbhai who insisted that there be at least two songs in China Gate, it was Anu Malik who composed those songs. The result is the racy Chhamma Chhamma song which is fast becoming popular and, by the looks of it, seems, it will be the relief-providing item in the action drama. Urmila Matondkar has danced beautifully to the beats of the foot-tapping number. Maybe, now even Rajkumar Santoshi must be thanking his stars for having heeded the request of Bharat Shah. For, had it not been for Bharatbhai, China Gate would have remained a songless film. Incidentally, the film’s promotional trailer screened at the China Gate party held on 12th November at Hotel Centaur, Bombay, gave enough indication of the film’s grandeur. And the excitement of those distributors of the film who’ve seen its trial gives an indication how well it must’ve shaped up. In the meantime, the public is waiting for the China gate to open — on 26th/27th November.

Me Badshah, You Ghulam

As if the telecast of new films on cable TV channels is not bad enough, producers have started selling satellite TV rights of their successful films a bit too soon. Distributors of Mukesh Bhatt’s Ghulam are pretty agitated with Bhatt for having sold the telecasting rights of Ghulam to Star TV, that too when the film was released less than just six months back. The film will be aired on the satellite channel very shortly. This, when even its first run in the various circuits is not as yet complete. It is truly a selfish move on the part of Mukesh Bhatt to be ignoring the interests of his distributors like that. It’s not done, Mr. Bhatt.

FLAVOUR OF THE WEEK

TENSION OF THE WEEK

Deliveries of producer Kulbhushan Gupta’s Pardesi Babu for all-India circuits.

HERO OF THE WEEK

CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain who intervened in the dispute between the producers, financiers and distributors of Pardesi Babu just in time to ensure its release this week.

JOY OF THE WEEK

Excellent trial reports of Xavier Marquis’ Doli Saja Ke Rakhna.

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

The Rajshri website (www.rajshri.com). Rajat Barjatya, with the assistance of Ravi Database, has done a very good job of the site. Net surfers, visit it.

KUDOS OF THE WEEK

To Deepa Mehta, Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das for making/working in a bold film, Fire, with unimaginable conviction.

HOARDING OF THE WEEK

Of Chine Gate, put up at Heera Panna shopping centre, Haji Ali, Bombay. It stands out beautifully.

DEEWANA MASTANA

M.K.D. Films Combine’s Deewana Mastana is a laugh-riot about two guys who love the same girl. While one tries to woo the girl (who is a psychiatrist) by holding himself out to be a multi-millionaire, the other feigns mental imbalance so that he can come close to her by becoming her patient. No sooner do the two realise that the other is his competitor, the game of one-upmanship between them begins. This leads to hilarious situations and funny incidents. The ending is totally unexpected and even though it would have not, in normal circumstances, gone down well with the audience, it is so unexpected that not only will the audience accept it but even enjoy the unconventional ending.

There are a few weak points too in the film. For one, there is hardly any movement in the drama and, after a point of time, the story becomes stagnant. The film begins with a guy trying to woo a girl and this wooing by him and the other guy goes on till the very end. It is as if an episode of a drama has been stretched too far. Secondly, and because of the above, there is a lot of repetition in the proceedings. Nevertheless, the feeling with which one leaves the cinema hall is one of joy.

Anil Kapoor does well but since there are two heroes, comparisons are bound to be made. And in comparison to Anil, it is Govinda who is the real scene stealer. Govinda has an extraordinary sense of timing and complements this with an absolutely effortless performance which will be adored by the audience. Of the two roles too, it is Govinda who has a meatier one. Juhi Chawla looks pretty and acts pretty well. Johny Lever is remarkable as Anil’s sidekick. Satish Kaushik is also truly funny in a comparatively brief special appearance but his language is of the kind which may not win him fans outside Bombay. Anupam Kher is alright; he gets limited scope. Shakti Kapoor has been hopelessly wasted. Saeed Jaffrey, Reema, Avtar Gill and Guddi Maruti lend able support. Shiva is okay. Upasna Singh and Himani Shivpuri deserved better roles. Pratibha Sinha impresses in a solitary dance sequence and a couple of scenes. Kader Khan is fair. Salman Khan gets a mind-blowing response from the audience on his sheer entry because of the drama that leads to his entry in the picture. Raveena Tandon, too, gets loud applause for the same reason.

Director David Dhawan is in great form while picturising the one-upmanship scenes. Even otherwise, he does a praiseworthy job. In particular, the latter part of the second half is extremely enjoyable when both the heroes try to prevent the other’s marriage with the heroine. But David and writer Anees Bazmee should have avoided stretching the drama so much that it stops moving for a while. Dialogues are witty and enjoyable. But background music needed to be better in a comedy film like this.

Music is quite a letdown, considering that there’s not a single hit number. ‘O mummy mummy’ is fairly good. Another drawback is that most of the songs are dream sequences and, therefore, lose their impact.

On the whole, Deewana Mastana has the merits to keep its distributors smiling, although it will have to contend with a bad period ahead. Business in cities will be better. It can prove to be class A in Bombay.

Released on 9-10-’97 at Metro, on 10-10-’97 at 20 other cinemas of Bombay and on 11-10-’97 (today) at Plaza, Bombay, thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity: very good. Opening: good. …….Also released all over. Opening was not quite satisfactory in East Punjab, C.P.C.I. and Nizam.

MR. & MRS. KHILADI

D.M.S. Films’ Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi is a comedy film. It is the story of a good-for-nothing guy who has blind faith in the predictions of an astrologer. A rich girl falls in love with the guy and forces her father to get her married to him. Although the father relents, he will not let the marriage be consummated till his son-in-law earns a lakh of rupees and gives the same to him. The eager son-in-law does all the wrong things to collect Rs. 1 lakh but ultimately learns a lesson in life — that there’s nothing wrong in working hard.

The story is silly and some of the anecdotes in the film are sillier. For instance, the father-in-law keeps slapping his son-in-law, something which the Hindi film-going audience would find it hard to digest even if it is a comedy film. For, comedy too must be within some parameters and not above all norms. What’s worse is that the son-in-law being so slapped is Akshay Kumar who may be playing a comic role in the film but whom the public views as a rough-and-tough hero and will, therefore, not like him being beaten so often. The heroine’s romance is not established and the post-marriage scenes between the couple and the father/father-in-law even border on vulgarity at times and stupidity at other times.

Of course, the film has its good moments too. Some incidents are hilarious and evoke thunderous laughter. In this category are the goat scene, the heroine’s rash driving scene, the insult-in-good-humour of the heroine’s father by the heroine’s uncle, and some others. The climax fight with the Sumo wrestler falls short of the expectations its publicity has generated.

The casting of Akshay Kumar in a comedy film is quite a tragedy. For, in many scenes, Akshay is like fish out of water. In the early part of the film, he seems to be under the mistaken impression that the audience will laugh if he cries. In short, Akshay does not impress, although, it must be said, he looks very fresh and handsome. Juhi Chawla is cute, looks good and acts ably. Kader Khan gives a spirited performance but is not at his best. Paresh Rawal entertains with his one-liners aimed at Kader Khan. Satish Kaushik’s comedy is good at times and falls flat on its face at other times. His kissing Akshay doesn’t raise laughter after a while. Gulshan Grover is okay. Johny Lever is very good in a special appearance. Himani Shivpuri and Prachi hardly have any substantive scenes. Rakesh Bedi, Anil Dhawan, Baban Yadav and the rest lend the desired support.

David Dhawan’s narration bears the stamp of his racy style but the film looks like a job hurriedly done and, what’s more, David’s choice of the subject leaves a lot to be desired. Writer Rumi Jafri seems to have taken the audience too much for granted. Even his dialogues aren’t as good as they should have been in a film of this kind.

Anu Malik’s music has the quality of mass appeal but there’s not a single song that’s a chartbuster. The title song, ‘Aaloo’, ‘Jumma’ and ‘Bangla’ songs are the better ones. Song picturisations are all so similar that they dilute the impact. Moreover, most of the songs have no proper situations and/or are dream sequences. Action scenes have been ably composed. K.S. Prakash Rao’s camerawork is of a very good standard. Production values are nice.

On the whole, Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi does have anecdotes to make the audience laugh but only at a few places. Further, even the hilarious scenes pale into insignificance when considered in totality. Considering the high price, the dull period ahead, the lukewarm opening and the weak merits, this comedy may prove to be a tear-jerker for its distributors.

Released on 10-10-’97 at Novelty and 24 other cinemas of Bombay thru Dilsa Distributors Combine. Publicity: excellent. Opening: average. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull everywhere.

LATEST POSITION

Save in some centres of some circuits, the two big releases of this week have not opened to impressive houses. …Collections of all the films are very poor due to Navratri festival.

Udaan is extremely dull. 1st week Bombay 17,61,824 (50.13%) from 12 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,02,241 from 4 cinemas; Pune 3,87,492 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 8,08,363 (35.01%) from 6 cinemas (1 unrecd.); Kanpur 1,01,261, Lucknow 1,00,125, Allahabad 58,200, Varanasi 1,37,269, Bareilly 73,015 (36.73%), Gorakhpur 1,00,200; Amritsar 52,300; Bhopal 1,00,568 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 2,18,376 from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad 10,32,090 from 10 cinemas.

Dharma-Karma proves a disaster. 1st week Bombay 2,28,750 (32.33%) from 2 cinemas (3 on F.H); Delhi 5,34,607 (36.74%) from 5 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 90,225 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 52,588, Varanasi 35,892, Bareilly 32,000 (16.78%), Gorakhpur 35,000; Amritsar 61,270; Calcutta 1,05,106; Nagpur 78,306 from 2 cinemas, Raipur 51,046 (21.66%); Jaipur 95,141, Jodhpur 90,000; Hyderabad 76,732 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

……….

Pardes 9th week Bombay (TF) 17,70,016 (67%) from 7 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,98,669 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.); Pune (TF) 3,18,069 from 2 cinemas, Kolhapur (TF) 93,000, Solapur (TF) 1,37,685; Delhi 10,58,644 from 5 cinemas; Kanpur (6 days) 56,111, Lucknow 1,54,995, Allahabad 39,035, Varanasi 65,670, Bareilly (6 days) 37,743, Gorakhpur 24,000; 8th week Jabalpur (6 days) 33,324, 9th week Amravati (TF, 6 days) 60,655, Akola (TF) 74,700 (8th 1,06,155), Raipur (6 days) 37,619, 8th week Jalgaon (TF) 78,000; 9th Bhopal 56,288; Jaipur 1,38,062; Hyderabad 4,54,269 from 2 cinemas 1 (in noon).

TRAGEDY OF MYSORE: BOTH COMEDIES NOT RELEASED

Both, Deewana Mastana and Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi, did not open in Mysore yesterday (10th October). Sudhir (Vasupradha Enterprises, Bangalore) is the common distributor of the two films.

Sudhir had reportedly decided to release Deewana Mastana a week later, on October 17. But although he had booked cinemas for Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi, he failed to turn up for its delivery, presumably due to shortage of funds. The cinemas, which had been so booked, had to undergo a lot of inconvenience due to the cancellation of release.

KEY MAN IN GULSHAN KUMAR CASE ARRESTED

The Bombay police on 9th October nabbed a key conspirator allegedly involved in the killing of Gulshan Kumar. The accused, Zafar Sharif alias Nawaz Mohammed Inayatuallh Sheikh (45), was remanded to police custody till October 22.

PLAZA, BOMBAY REOPENS

Plaza cinema of Bombay, which was closed since March 1993 when it was one of the targets of the serial bomb blasts, reopened on 10th October. A day earlier, a puja was held in the cinema.

Smita Thackeray was the chief guest, and Jeetendra, the guest of honour, at the formal reopening on 10th. Anil Deshmukh, Maharashtra’s minister of state for cultural affairs, and Prabhakar More, Maharashtra’s minister of state for home, also attended the reopening.

The cinema has been restarted by Madhura Pandit Jasraj, Vinayak P. Mayekar and the executors of the will of late Dr. V. Shantaram. It is being controlled by V.I.P. Exhibitors.

BIPIN WARTY PASSES AWAY

Well-known Marathi film producer-director Bipin Warty died of a heart attack on 7th October at his residence in Bombay. He had produced and directed Sage Soyare, Changu Mangu and Khara Warasdar and had directed Ek Gaadi Baki Anadi, Fasvafasvi and others. He had also produced Maay Baap which was directed by Sachin. Bipin was the associate director with Sachin for the TV serial, Tu Tu Main Main.

He was 40 years old and is survived by his father, mother, wife and a son.

SAMAR CHATTERJI NO MORE

Producer-director Samar Chatterji passed away on 7th October at his residence in Bombay. He had produced and directed Pyar Deewana in 1972 and had also acted in films like Teesri Kasam, Milan and Mashaal.

SHRINGAR FILMS ENTER EXHIBITION SCENE

Leading Bombay distributors, Shringar Films, have jumped full-fledged into exhibition. Shringar Cinemas, a division of Shringar Films, have acquired two new cinemas on long leases.

Cinemax is the name of the first cinema, which is coming up at Goregaon, Bombay, where once stood Samrat cinema. A 650-seater, this will be the first cinema in Bombay to be equipped with a video wall. It will have Dolby digital and DTS sound, Christie projectors and xenon lamps. Cinemax is expected to open on 21st November with Kamal Haasan’s Chachi 420. Patrons would be offered the facilities of booking tickets on telephone, home delivery of tickets and acceptance of credit cards.

The other cinema — Cinestar — will open on 5th December at Kandivli (West), Bombay, where once stood Sona, Kandivli. It will have 281 seats and will also be equipped with Dolby digital and DTS sound systems.

Both the cinemas will be air-conditioned and are being built by Kanakias. Every seat in both the cinemas will have popcom holders.

Shravan, son of Shyam Shroff, will be incharge of Shringar Cinemas which plan to have an entire chain of cinemas. All the new cinemas will start with the world ‘Cine’ where service of high quality to patrons will be the catchword.

‘PARDES’ TAX-FREE IN DELHI TOO

Subhash Ghai’s Pardes has been exempted from payment of entertainment tax in Delhi. It is already tax-free in Maharashtra.

‘DDLJ’ 100 WEEKS

Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge enterted 100th week of its combined run at Maratha Mandir, Bombay, on 10th October. Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Anupam Kher, Farida Jalal, Parmeet Sethi and Amrish Puri, it is produced by Yash Chopra and has music by Jatin Lalit.

VIKAS BHALLA WEDS PREM CHOPRA’S DAUGHTER

Actor Vikas Bhalla got married to Puneeta, daughter of Prem Chopra, on 10th October at Prem Chopra’s residence at Bandra, Bombay.

‘GUPT’ 100 DAYS

Rajiv Rai’s Gupt is celebrating 100 days of its run today (11th October). Produced by Gulshan Rai, it stars Bobby Deol, Manisha Koirala, Kajol, Raj Babbar, Sadashiv Amarapurkar and Ashok Saraf. Music: Viju Shah.

YOU ASKED IT

Why did both the releases of this week not take bumper opening?

– Firstly, the period is not too conducive for a new release. Besides this: DEEWANA MASTANA does not have hit music, while MR. & MRS. KHILADI stars Akshay Kumar who is far from ‘hot’ among the audience today.

What should producers look for in a distributor, and what should a distributor look for in a producer?

– A producer should look for the genuineness of a distributor and the latter’s ability to honour his commitments. If a distributor meets these requirements, there is no harm in selling a film to him at a slightly lower price also. A distributor should gauge the capacity of a producer to complete his film and deliver it at the contracted price.

Can the industry expect a happy Diwali this year?

– It depends on your definition of happiness. When would you call it happy — if all the releases of Diwali click, or a couple of them succeed? I’d say, even if one becomes a major hit, Diwali would be happy.

MIX MASALA

‘D’ GROUP

This week’s release, Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi, has several ‘D’ connections. Its director is David Dhawan (double ‘D’), its Bombay distributor is Dilip Dhanwani (double ‘D’), its Bombay distribution concern is Dilsa Distributors Combine (double ‘D’), it has released on Dassera festival and its banner is D.M.S. Films.

FILMWALI RAVEENA, BAHARWALI MANISHA

For a 2-minute special appearance in Deewana Mastana, producer Ketan Desai and director David Dhawan were considering several heroines, one of whom was Manisha Koirala. But Manisha couldn’t cancel her shooting in Madras to reach Hyderabad where the shot with her was to be picturised. As both, Ketan and David, were keen on completing the film (that was the last shot of the film and also the last shot to be picturised), they opted for Raveena Tandon who was in Hyderabad, shooting with David for Gharwali Baharwali, rather than postponing the shooting to accommodate Manisha Koirala. And when Manisha saw Deewana Mastana in a trial show, she regretted, she couldn’t do the special appearance, and even requested Ketan to reshoot the scene with her. But Ketan politely refused to do so. After all, Raveena had very graciously accepted to do the brief special appearance role without thinking twice.

BROTHER AFTER ‘MOTHER’

When Rakesh Roshan learnt that Sooraj Barjatya’s new film is the story about three brothers, he joked to somebody, “Please tell Sooraj, I’ve started acting again. I can play one of the three brothers.” Hearing this, a wag remarked. “Acting in Mother is one thing and playing a brother is quite another!

DO YOU KNOW?

* The last shooting day of Yash Johar’s DUPLICATE will be 20th October and his son, Karan, will begin the shooting of his maiden directorial venture, KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI, on 21st October. That’s synchronisation, Johar style!

* So realistic was the robotic model of a crocodile used in a recent crocodile fight scene picturised at National Park, Borivli, Bombay, for Jyotin Goel’s SAFARI that a group of Israeli tourists, who were watching the shooting, thought that a real crocodile had attacked Sanjay Dutt and Juhi Chawla!

Drama, Tension….. Exciting Climax
How ‘Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi’ Almost Did Not Release In West Bengal

History repeated itself in West Bengal this week. And the repetition was pretty fast, considering that a similar thing had happened twice in the recent past — once in the case of Hameshaa and the other time in the case of Mohabbat. This time over, it was in the case of Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi. The interesting part is that the party in two of the above three cases is the same — Kanu Anchalia and Neru Anchalia of Shree Ramdevji Art International. As in Hameshaa, the Anchalia brothers pleaded inability to take delivery of Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi at the contracted price.

The Anchalias struck the deal for Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi for West Bengal a couple of weeks back. They paid the signing amount agreed upon, but, according to the producers, they refused to pay up the balance amount at the time of delivery. Perhaps, their intention was to put indirect pressure on the producers at the eleventh hour so that they would agree to a price reduction which the Anchalias were looking for.

On the other hand, Neru Anchalia claims that Time people were playing dirty with him by going back on their word and demanding a higher price than that agreed upon.

According to Hasmukh Shah of Time Audio Video, which presents the film, the Anchalias were not serious about releasing the film but rather interested in reducing their price. Neru Anchalia came to Bombay on Wednesday and, according to Hasmukh Shah, conveyed to the Time people that he hadn’t been able to collect enough monies from exhibitors to take delivery at the contracted price. That started the tension.

The Time people, having no time on hand, approached their Association, the AMPTPP, which forthwith faxed a letter to the EIMPA, the Association of West Bengal distributors, explaining the default of Shree Ramdevji Art International. The Time people also conveyed to EIMPA their desire to sell the film to Anjana Movies P. Ltd.

Hasmukh Shah alleges that the EIMPA did not act fast enough even though its member was in the wrong and despite Time depositing Rs. 6 lakh received from Ramdevji with the EIMPA.

Reportedly, the Anchalia brothers were being harassed by exhibitors in Calcutta who had paid advances/MGs etc. for the film when they learnt that Ramdevji would not be in the picture soon.

Confusion was compounded as Ramdevji moved out of the picture but Anjana did not get the green signal from the EIMPA. Nor was Anjana able to arrange the funds for taking delivery. In Calcutta, the EIMPA leaders were working overtime to arrive at some solution, and in Bombay, it was AMPTPP president Pahlaj Nihalani trying to ensure that the film was released in West Bengal. The efforts of Wednesday and Thursday bore no fruits till Friday morning.

It almost appeared that the film would not be released in West Bengal. But to Time’s good luck, the matter was settled only insofar as the film was released by Anjana in some cinemas of Calcutta in the 6 p.m. show on Friday. The monies from Anjana have yet to come to Time, it is learnt.

As said above, this is not the first time, the Anchalias have behaved this way. And definitely, not the first time in the last few weeks. Why do the Anchalias buy films when they are not sure that they’d be able to take deliveries? Or rather, why do they buy films when they are sure that they’ll not be able to take deliveries?

Neru Anchalia’s version of the Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi episode is that the Time people wronged him by asking for Rs. 10 lakh more than the agreed price, at the time of delivery. He claims to have paid a substantial part of the signing amount in cash, on Time’s request. This is being denied by the Time people.

Whatever the outcome of this entire drama, the tension it caused to the producers cannot be described. It is to be seen what happens to the claim of Ramdevji, alleged to have been paid by them in cash to Time. It also remains to be seen how the shares from the film are adjusted. What will be the stands of the EIMPA and of the AMPTPP?

If Time are blaming Ramdevji for backing out of the agreement, they must also own responsibility for committing a blunder. For the lure of a few lakhs more, Time did not verify the antecedents of the distributor to whom they were selling their film. In the process, they did not even recover what they would have, had they sold the film cheaper to a more reliable distributor.

This is a malady afflicting many producers and distributors. Producers often tend to overprice their films for a circuit or two, simply because an eager and excited buyer comes their way, without thinking of the possibility of that distributor not being able to take delivery. And distributors often agree to any fancy price in the hope that they will be able to pressurise the producers into reducing the price at the time of delivery.

The whole thing boils down to this: Producer’s bhookh and distributor’s badmaashi.

Hats Off!

My hearty congratulations to Akshay Kumar for not commanding even a decent initial, what to talk of a bumper opening, and yet demanding a sky-high price. Keep it up, Akshay.

My felicitations to Anil Kapoor and Govinda, who should have together ensured a 200% opening but are satisfied with a 60% opening to their Deewana Mastana. I say ‘satisfied’ because only a contented person lets the status quo prevail. Had they not been satisfied with the dull opening, they would have taken corrective measures like reducing their price. But no, they will not do anything of the sort. Bravo, boys. You deserve pats on your thick-skinned backs.

And Chandrachur Singh, you are bound to go places. You know how to behave like a true star, so what if you have no star pull whatsoever. Remember your Betaabi and how it caused unbelievable losses to all its distributors? Like a true star, you will continue to stick to your unrealistic price even as your distributors bear the brunt of the losses.

Oh, Shah Rukh. You are the darling of the public. But have you bothered to verify what happens to most of your films in circuits like Bihar or in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres? Don’t ever venture to do that. You will get a shock of your life. And stars should not be subjected to shocks. It is in the destiny of producers and distributors to suffer shocks. So you keep holding on to your price line even as your distributors continue to get shocked by the figure of your remuneration on the one hand and the box-office figures of your films, on the other.

Sunil Shetty, the industry must felicitate you. You’ve shown producers, distributors and exhibitors that a star doesn’t require hits to survive. Flops can leave you unscathed so long as six ‘fools’ are ready to invest in your starrers. And finding six fools is not a difficult job, so you continue to demand six — sorry — eight-figure remuneration. How lovely!

Bobby Deol, you are brilliant. You’ve followed in your successful brother’s footsteps without even giving a tenth of what he has given. You’ve actually done a great deed to the distributors of your …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya by giving them a chance to adjust their huge profits. What did smart Alec say? That where are the profits? No Bobby, no, don’t get involved in business figures. Instead, check up other star-prices and ask bhaiyaa Sunny if you, too, can further hike your price.

Hey, Aishwarya and Sushmita. You are the beauty queens and isn’t it said that beauty and brains don’t go hand-in-hand? So why should anybody blame you for your brainless prices? Go ahead, hike your prices after every flop you give.

Sanjay Dutt, you must’ve forgotten what success means. Distributors of your starrers have indeed forgotten what it means. But they can’t forget that your price contributes to their pathetic condition. Hats off!

Arshad, Sharad Kapoor, Mukul Dev — try starring solo and then try finding buyers for the film. And you will know your true worth. Wonderful — you are the industry’s tomorrow!

Yes, Amitabh Bachchan. If the youngsters can charge so much, why not a veteran like you? You must charge five times what they charge. And see, if people say, you look old, just tell them, ‘Old is gold’. And oh, what am I giving you a lecture on pricing of a brand name? You run a company like ABCL, so you know much better than I do.

But listen, all you stars — those abovenamed as well as all others. Distributors are crying tears of blood, exhibitors of your films are panicking.

Can you let them die? If yes, go ahead and don’t give your price a second thought. If not, give this piece a second reading. It might help.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

The Religious Touch

Nana Patekar did the dubbing of the portion in Ghulam-E-Musthafa in which he offers namaz to Allah, on a Friday, 3rd October, that too, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. It is common knowledge that Muslims consider Fridays as the most auspicious day and offer namaz on Fridays between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

And while on Musthafa, rumours are rife that the film has been postponed and will now be released after Diwali. But this is far from true. With the film already having been censored (for adults), its release on 31st October is now a certainty.

The Voice Connection

Sudesh Bhosle, who can imitate Amitabh Bachchan’s voice and has rendered several songs for Bachchan, has very appropriately asked him to do the inauguration honours for his recording room — Shruti Recording Studio — tomorrow (12th October) at Goregaon, Bombay. After all, what better person to inaugurate a recording theatre than the one whose voice you’ve imitated so often in so many other recording theatres.