DUPLICATE

Dharma Productions’ Duplicate (UA) is a comedy film. It is the story of two guys, not related to each other but who look exactly similar. While one is a simpleton, the other is a crook and a killer. The police is after the killer but they arrest the simpleton twice by mistake. Ultimately, the crook is killed by his own girlfriend. The simpleton also has his girlfriend and the comedy of errors makes the two girls romance with the wrong partners at one point of time.

The film has a number of cute and light moments which make the viewer laugh. But like too much of anything is bad, even too much laughter gets tiring after a while. There’s just no romance, not much seriousness in the drama, and the comedy, at times, looks far-fetched too. After a point of time, even the crook and the police begin to behave like comedians. Nevertheless, for the class of audience, which doesn’t look for a well-defined story line but can do with good comic punches in its place, the film does afford good entertainment. Of course, some of the jokes are of the type which can be appreciated only by the educated/class/city audience. Climax is weak.

Shah Rukh Khan is splendid. As the simpleton, he shines with a perfect sense of timing and a performance that requires the greatest skill. He is not as good in the role of a crook, though. In fact, there’s so much of Shah Rukh in the film that his fans will take it as a feast but too much of Shah Rukh may irritate the ones who aren’t crazy about him. Juhi Chawla looks pretty and does a fantastic job. Her sense of comedy, too, is absolutely praiseworthy. Sonali Bendre looks glamorous and acts ably. Farida Jalal is excellent as the simpleton Shah Rukh’s mother. Mohnish Bahl is truly restrained and effective. Tiku Talsania lends good light moments. Gulshan Grover leaves a mark. Sharat Saxena, Rana Jung Bahadur, Vishwajeet Pradhan and the rest provide adequate support. Kajol’s friendly appearance is too brief to register in the viewer’s mind.

Given the comedy subject, direction is very appropriate. But the more discerning audience would have expected a more well-defined story and more variety of masala. Music is below the mark. Although the ‘Mere mehboob mere sanam’ song is well-tuned, there’s no hit number and some of the other songs are slow. However, song picturisations (Farah Khan) are eye-filling, and the foreign locales, on which most of them have been shot, are a treat to watch. Special effects and computer graphics (showing two Shah Rukhs even touching each other) are splendid. Photography is of a very good standard and so are the other technical and production values. Sets are opulent. Action scenes are so-so. Dialogues are very witty at many places.

On the whole, Duplicate will appeal mainly to kids and youngsters but there will be a section of the audience which will find so much comedy too difficult to digest. At best, it will remain a city fare which will do well in ‘A’ class centres, especially in Bombay, Maharashtra and South.

Released on 8-5-’98 at Liberty and 20 other cinemas of Bombay thru Modern Movies. Publicity: excellent. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was a little below the mark in Delhi, C.P. and C.I. 1st day Jaipur 2,39,670/- from 4 cinemas.

LATEST POSITION

It was a normal week. However, collections were adversely affected at several places on 7th due to Mohurram. On the other hand, collections were good on 1st May owing to Labour Day holiday.

Aunty No. 1 did well in the first 4-5 days but once the decline in collections started thereafter, it dropped rather badly. 1st week Bombay 33,19,247 (64.68%) from 13 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,42,138 from 5 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot 73,957 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar (matinee) 14,242 (1 in regular unrecd.); Pune 8,47,510 from 5 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,63,514, Solapur 1,33,598; Hubli 1,29,986, Belgaum 1,37,645; Delhi 29,31,904 (59.59%) from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H., 1 unrecd.); Kanpur 2,81,136 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,75,772, Bareilly 91,266 (42.25%); Amritsar 52,156; Calcutta 14,06,880 from 14 cinemas; Nagpur 5,92,665 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,18,453, Amravati 1,43,102, Akola 1,06,615, Dhule 1,06,013, Raipur 1,57,181 (57.91%), Jalgaon 1,39,395, Chandrapur 1,17,300; Indore 2,95,161 from 2 cinemas (4 on F.H.), Bhopal 2,71,565 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 7,61,508 from 4 cinemas; Hyderabad 20,85,007 from 11 cinemas.

Salaakhen crashed further in 2nd week. 2nd week Bombay 23,21,905 (61.11%) from 10 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 58,227 (2 unrecd.), Rajkot 1,06,750, Jamnagar 59,390; Pune 5,38,516 from 5 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,06,000, Solapur 1,51,348; Delhi 13,66,374 from 8 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,04,015 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,13,330, Bareilly 51,834 (23.20%), Hardwar 42,000; Calcutta 6,15,698 from 6 cinemas; Nagpur 1,33,162, Jabalpur 1,48,345, total 3,80,406, Amravati 1,34,963, total 3,80,922, Akola 80,042, total 2,86,017, Raipur 81,870, Jalgaon 1,13,442, Chandrapur 83,604, total 2,73,101; Indore 1,27,000, Bhopal 1,63,616 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 2,90,129 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 6,35,522 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon, 1 on F.H.); 1st week Vijayawada 1,93,186.

Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya 6th week Bombay 10,33,977 (46.11%) from 6 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,07,828, Rajkot 59,611, Jamnagar 32,845, total 4,59,548; Pune 4,27,174 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 77,600, Solapur (14 shows) 1,13,947; Delhi 5,21,013 from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,26,520, Lucknow 2,28,042, Bareilly 42,153 (18.73%); Nagpur 1,80,167 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 80,696, total 8,38,749, Amravati 1,03,304, Akola 90,037, total 7,29,000, share 5,48,026, Raipur 82,904, Wardha 45,868, Chandrapur 63,184; Bhopal (6 days) 1,29,993; Jaipur 2,04,027; Hyderabad 5,32,194 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

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Chhota Chetan (partly dubbed, revived, 3-D) 3rd week Bombay (TF) 21,32,004 (100%) from 3 cinemas; Ahmedabad 1,81,483, Rajkot 1,32,742; Pune (TF) 4,05,411, 1st week Kolhapur (TF, 6 days) 1,49,772, Solapur (TF) 1,85,193; 3rd week Delhi 9,14,840 from 2 cinemas; 2nd week Kanpur 62,871.

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Lakhtar Ni Laadi Ne Vilayat No Var (Gujarati, TF) 1st week Ahmedabad 2,22,791 from 4 cinemas (2 unrecd.), dull.

Shandhyug (Marathi, TF) 1st week Bombay 1,57,848 (36.01%) from 3 cinemas.

Tu Tithe Mee (Marathi, TF) 2nd week Bombay (matinee) 90,133 (65.54%).

Jeans (Tamil) is steady in Tamil Nadu and collected very well in 2nd week.

Jeans (Telugu) 2nd week Hubli 98,365, Dharwad 37,914 (1st 69,387); 1st week Tenali 1,40,750, Ongole 1,73,800, 2 week’s total from Vijayawada 8,84,461 from 3 cinemas, Machilipatnam 1,98,854.

Titanic (English) 9th week Bombay 38,70,042 (84%) from 8 cinemas; 2nd week Ahmedabad (14 shows) 2,94,204 (1 unrecd.); 8th week Delhi 14,38,640 from 3 cinemas; 2nd week Lucknow 2,80,434; 9th week Calcutta 3,50,210; 1st Nagpur 2,37,300 (100%); 8 weeks’ total at Vijayawada 26,37,140.

NEW MINI CINEMA OPENS IN BOMBAY

A new luxurious cinema house, Movie Time, opened on 8th May at Malad (West) in Bombay with Duplicate in two shows and Titanic in two. Situated at Jagdamba Complex, Kanchpada, the 330-seater has a beautiful exterior as well as interior and is equipped with imported Christie projectors, Xenon illuminator, QSC Dolby digital amplifier and 12 JBL speakers of 800 watts each. The seats are cushioned and comfortable and are fitted with cup-holders. There is only one class in the cinema.

Admission rate is Rs. 70. The capacity per show is Rs. 14,231.25, and the capacity for 28 shows is Rs. 3,98,475. Telephone nos.: 880-4022/4023/2164.

For booking tickets in advance, arrangements for telefax system upto Lokhandwala Complex and online booking on internet have been made.

Movie Time is owned by Lalit Kapur.

KOTA COURT DIRECTS SHAH RUKH, JUHI TO APPEAR ON MAY 21

Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and the story writer, director and producer of Ram-Jaane have been directed to appear in the court of the senior chief magistrate (1), Kota, Brijmohan Bansal, on May 21. The order was issued by the magistrate, rejecting Shah Rukh’s appeal to dismiss the case filed against him in 1997. The case was filed by pleaders of Kota — Mohammed Akram, Meghraj Singh Shaktawat, Kailash Bamania, Satyanarain Dhaman, Satyanarain Goel and others — objecting to the derogatory remarks against the pleaders in Ram-Jaane. Earlier, on an appeal by the defendants, the Jaipur high court had directed them to file their objections in the court of the magistrate, which was ultimately rejected by the magistrate.

Even Shah Rukh Khan Is Incomplete Without Hit Music

Everyone in the trade had expected Duplicate to take a bumper opening. It had Shah Rukh Khan, after all. And Shah Rukh had DTPH and Pardes behind him.

However, the opening of Duplicate on Thursday/Friday was anything but bumper. At places, it was good or very good, at other places, it was not even good.

What went wrong? Well, nothing actually. The only wrong thing was the industry’s assumption that Duplicate would command a fantastic initial. What the industry got taken in by was the presence of Shah Rukh and the excellent publicity. But what the industry forgot was that Duplicate did not have hit music. What it also forgot was that even Shah Rukh Khan must have the advantage of hit music to command an initial draw.

The music of Pardes became a rage only after the film was released. Therefore, despite the presence of Shah Rukh Khan and the name of Subhash Ghai, it didn’t open to bumper houses at many places. On the other hand, Shah Rukh’s DTPH and Koyla boasted of hit music, and both the films, therefore, recorded phenomenal opening day collections.

So, it is a fallacy to think that Shah Rukh alone is enough for a bumper initial draw. What is needed is Shah Rukh Khan plus hit songs. Without the latter, you can definitely hope for a decent opening but not a crazy opening.

Telephone Calls For Trustworthy Confirmation

Our office telephones rang endlessly yesterday (Friday, 8th May). Not as much for the reports of Duplicate, as for knowing which of Hitler and Mard would make it to the cinemas on 15th May, that is, next week. The reason for the hundreds of calls was the uncertainty over the release of Hitler and Mard. Both these films were scheduled to be seen by the censors on the same day (8th May). At around 2.30 p.m., news poured in that Hitler had not only been seen by censors in Madras but had also been cleared for universal exhibition. The other bit of news was that Mard would not be seen by the censors that day.

Desperate distributors and exhibitors all over India wanted to know the correct position from us. While it was certain in the afternoon that Hitler had won the race to the box-office over Mard, by 4 p.m., there was a rumour that Mard was also being seen by the censors in Madras. This brought the film back in the race. Matters became more complex because many exhibitors had booked both the films, assuming that they wouldn’t be released simultaneously. While distributors of both the films in almost every circuit claimed that it was their film which would come, and not the other, exhibitors didn’t know whom to believe and whom not.

Why, producer K.C. Bokadia, stationed in Madras, made it a point to himself telephone all his distributors and inform that Hitler had been censored and would be released on 15th. In the meantime, by the evening of Friday, it was clear that Mard had not been seen by the censors, as rumoured.

As one rumour led to another, the level of desperation of distributors and exhibitors went up. This became evident to us when we began to receive the strangest of all requests. Like this distributor of Mard, who literally pleaded with us to do anything within our powers, but to get Mard released first! “Aap kuchh bhi kijiye, lekin Mard ko 15th ko le aaiye!”, the distraught distributor said.

But no, Mard will now be seen by the Madras regional office of the CBFC on 12th May. The released date will be finalised only thereafter. It could be 22nd or 29th May or even 5th June.

YOU ASKED IT

When Chhota Chetan, in its 3-D version, is doing well in its repeat-run too, why did the 3-D technology not catch on in India?

– Because of the headache involved in distributing 3-D spectacles to cine goers. Literally also, the wearer of 3-D spectacles complains of a headache after a while!

When did the levy of entertainment tax on films begin in India?

– The first tax was levied in 1922 in Bengal, followed by Bombay in 1923. The rate was 12½%.

What is more important for a film — a hit star or hit music?

– Both are equally important for ensuring a bumper opening.

CENSOR NEWS

Varma Corporation Ltd.’s Satya was given C.C. No. CIL/3/22/98 (A) dt. 5-5-’98; length 5017.14 metres in 17 reels (cuts: 10.96 metres).

Jeans Productions’ Jeans (dubbed), seen on 8th in Madras, has been issued C.C. No. CIL/1/0422/98 (U) 8-5-’98; length 4746.38 metres in 16 reels (no cut).

B.M.B. Productions’ Hitler, seen on 8th in Madras, has been passed with U certificate, without cut.

Roopvati Pictures’ Mard and Makewell Films International’s Hatyara will be seen on 12th in Madras.

P.M. Films’ Sar Utha Ke Jiyo has been offered A certificate, with cuts.

Deepak Arts’ Iski Topi Uske Sarr has been offered UA certificate, with cuts.

Samna International’s Zanjeer – The Chain has been offered A certificate, with cuts.

Tips Films P. Ltd.’s Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai (length 4633.26 metres in 16 reels), applied on 6th and seen on 8th, has been reportedly okayed.

Pooja Bhatt Productions’ Dushman (length 4262.93 metres in 15 reels) was applied on 8th.

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

Mr. Vinay Choksey of VIP Enterprises, Bombay, is expected back from Australia after two weeks.

Mr. Ramdhan Mamoria of Shreedhan Enterprises, Jaipur, and Mr. Kishanchand Jain of Rekha Films, Jaipur, are at Hotel Neelkanth (649-5566/7/8).

Mr. Ajay Chudasama of Rajshri Cinema, Gandhinagar, left for Gandhinagar this morning (9th May).

Mr. Mohan Kasat of Mohan Chitra, Amravati, is in town.

Mr. Ravi Machhar of Sahyog Films, Hyderabad and Abhinay Cinema, Aurangabad, is in town.

Producer Mahendra Dhariwal will leave for Ooty on 10th for the shooting of his DADA and will stay at Hotel Monarch (44408).

DO YOU KNOW?

* Rival exhibitors of Baroda don’t seem to be too happy with the good collections at Sagar cinema, Baroda. Perhaps, that is why every time a new film is due for release at Sagar, either a rival exhibitor puts some legal or other hurdle in the way or ensures that the print to Sagar reaches late. One or the other problem cropped up at the time of release of ZIDDI, DEEWANA MASTANA, PKTDK. On 8th May, when DUPLICATE was due to open at Sagar, a rival cinema served Sagar a show cause notice and tried to obtain a stay on the film’s release. But the court dismissed the case, and the film opened to full houses in 5 shows!

* Producer-director Ratan Irani is shooting his MERE APNE in Kashmir. It is after nine years that a film unit is shooting there. A lot of film shootings used to be done in Kashmir till 1989 when militancy started there. After that, there was shooting in Kashmir but of a different kind. 

BOOM TIME IN GUJARATI INDUSTRY

* One Gujarati blockbuster, DESH RE JOYA DADA PARDESH JOYA, has given such a boost to the Gujarati film industry that there are about a dozen films either in the making or in the planning. These include films of Mundra brothers, Bhavchand Patel, Rambhai Bhimani, Dablabhai Tanna, Ashok Patel, Govindbhai Patel, Atul Rawal, S.J. Talukdaar, Rajendra Butala, Amar Kumar Jadeja etc. And the most-in-demand hero and heroine are Hiten Kumar and Roma Manik. Incidentally, DRJDPJ is expected to do a business of 10 crore!

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Despondent Exhibitors

Despite the regular flow of releases, exhibitors all over the country are panicking. Reason: no film is sustaining at the box-office. In the first four months of 1998, Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya is the only film which has done great business. No other film has so far really made any impressive mark at the box-office. Rather, some releases have put exhibitors to horrifying losses. Like, for instance, Salaakhen. It nose-dived in the second week and collected 50% of the first week’s collection or even lesser! Exhibitors, who had booked the action film on fancy terms, are still rubbing their eyes in disbelief. For, they stand to lose heavily, very heavily. With films falling like nine pins, exhibitors (and even distributors) are looking up to the heavens. For, it seems, only God can help this industry. Did you say, even God cannot?

‘Hitler’ Wins The Release Race

The race between the three Mithun starrers — Hitler, Mard and Hatyara — has finally been put to an end by the Central Board of Film Certification. While K.C. Bokadia’s Hitler was censored in Madras on 8th May, Surendra Bohra’s Mard could not be seen that day by the Madras regional office. Obviously, therefore, Hitler will hit the screens next week, while Mard will come later. Mahendra Dhariwal, the producer of Hatyara, had earlier last week decided on postponing his film by some weeks. Incidentally, all the three producers of the Mithun-starrers — Bokadia, Bohra and Dhariwal — hail from Rajasthan. While Bokadia is from Merta, Bohra and Dhariwal are from Jodhpur.

Professional Low

It’s a strange coincidence that whenever producer Sajid Nadiadwala starts a film, his director is, at that time, passing through a low in his profession. His Judwaa, directed by David Dhawan, went before the cameras on the day Yaraana, also directed by David Dhawan, was released and declared a loser. His Jeet (Raj Kanwar) had barely started than Kartavya, directed by Raj Kanwar, bombed. Now, Sajid will shortly start the Hindi remake of the Malayalam hit, Chandralekha, with Priyadarsan whose last two films (Saat Rang Ke Sapne and Kabhi Na Kabhi) have bombed. The remake will star Anil Kapoor, Tabu and Mahima Chaudhry.

Mithun’s Mantra — More The Merrier?

While there is an increasing breed of stars who prefer doing fewer films at a time, Mithun Chakraborty seems to tread a different path. He remains, so far, the star with the most number of releases in 1998. The year is only in its fifth month and already, six Mithun-starrers have seen release. These are Sher-E-Hindustan, Saazish, Military Raaj, Chandaal, Ustadon Ke Ustad and Gudia. While the next few weeks await the release of his Hitler, Mard and Hatyara (all ready for release), another lot of Mithun-starrers like Goondagiri, Sikandar Sadak Ka and Do Numri are being readied for release in the coming two months. Moreover, it is certain that Mithun’s Devta, Sabse Badhkar Kaun, Yamraaj and at least five or six of his other under-production films may be completed in time for release this year. Thus, if all goes well, Mithun’s tally of 1998 releases will add up to a whopping 15 or even 20 films! Among his other under-production films are Mafia Raaj, Aag Hi Aaag, Agni Putra, Arjun Raaj, Jaan Ki Bazi, Jwar Bhata, Phandebaaz, Balram, Sautela, Waqt Ka Faisla, Warrant, Dada, Love Station, Deepak Pawar’s Prod. No. 1, Sipahi Hindustan Ka and Balidaan. Well, didn’t we say, more the merrier?

Incidentally, South films’ hero, Prem Nazir, perhaps, holds the record for the maximum number of releases in a single year. He had — hold your breath — 39 releases in 1979! Prem Nazir may also be the hero with the maximum films to his credit. He has acted in 450 films.

INFORMATION MEETS

“Satya can make an intellectual mind think but it also has the substance to shock the masses.”

– RAMGOPAL VARMA

KOMAL NAHTA

That Ramgopal Varma has an eye for technical brilliance was evident in his very first film, Shiva. Of the ten Telugu and Hindi films which followed Shiva, some clicked and some bombed, but they were all technically far superior than many other films of their times. Ramu, as Ramgopal is affectionately called, has surpassed all his technical brilliance, in his latest film, Satya. We recently had an occasion to see the stark Satya which deals with the Bombay underworld — how it functions, the personal lives of gangsters, their humane side. The film is so realistic (it even has four-letter words being mouthed by the characters) that it leaves the viewer shocked; for the thinking mind, it provides good food for thought. Its principal artistes — Chakravorty, Urmila Matondkar and Majoj Bajpai — have performed so wonderfully that you can’t help singing their praises. Satya also boasts of excellent sound effects, of the kind not heard earlier in Hindi films. All said, it definitely leaves you with a hangover. Our hangover prompted us to sit with Ramu and get him to talk more on Satya. The engineer-turned-filmmaker answered all the questions except the one about, what we think, is too heavy a price fixed for the film (“that’s Bharatbhai Shah’s department,” he laughed), in an informal chat a little before his departure for Panvel (near Bombay) for the shooting of his next film.

What was the inspiration to make a film like SATYA?

– I was toying with the idea of making an action film, something like my first film, Shiva, but on a much larger scale, when I happened to meet a gangster. When I interacted with him, I was touched by the human element of a guy from the underworld. I discovered that we generally tend to treat them as gangsters and nothing more than that, but when you interact with them, they too come across as human beings. One is horrified when one reads headlines in newspapers about underworld dons and gangsters being shot dead or shooting others dead, but when the human element of these gangsters comes in, the whole perspective changes. You then start looking at these people as human beings. My film, Satya, is more about the psychology of gangsters, it tackles the human side of the strata which society shuns and is terrified of.

Having made the film, how far do you think, you’ve succeeded in striking a balance between commercial and good cinema?

– The clichéd definition of good or art cinema is that the narration should be very slow and that it appeals to the thinking mind. Whereas, commercial cinema is something which appeals to instinct rather than intelligence. I would say, in a commercial film, you try to give the audience what it wants. What does the audience want? Violence, sex, fear and emotions. These four ingredients in a film are bound to affect the cine goer, whether he is in Hollywood or Bollywood. In Hollywood, the line between commercial and good cinema has been removed. A film like Godfather offers a lot to the viewer to think about (like an art film would) but it also has the capacity to move him emotionally (like a commercial film would). Satya, too, can make an intellectual mind think, maybe raise an issue, but it also has the substance to shock the masses. They (masses) would feel for the characters even if they may not understand the intricate details and the film in its whole context. What I’ve basically done is to take the characters and locations on the realistic level and give the film a very real look but I’ve given it the pace of a mainstream cinema film. I’ve used the background score to dramatise the whole thing. The background music, sound effects and the cutting (editing) style are all of the kind used in commercial films. Art filmmakers have a very detatched way of showing things because of which the audience doesn’t feel involved.

How real have you tried to keep the characters of your story?

– As real as possible. I heard a lot of real-life incidents before beginning to shoot. But here I must add that a lot of credit for the realistic characters goes to my actors. For instance, Manoj Bajpai looks like a real gangster in the film. But I cannot deny that we also definitely had role models before us.

Except for Urmila Matondkar, there aren’t really well-known faces in the film. Why only Urmila among so many fresh faces? Or alternatively, why aren’t there other equally well-known actors, like Urmila?

– Right from the beginning, I had wanted to cast only new faces in the roles of gangsters. Had I shown known faces, it would have acted against the film’s authenticity. I also thought that if I would not include a love angle in the story, it may start looking like a documentary on the underworld, which my film isn’t. On the other hand, since the film basically deals with the underworld, I did not want to devote too much time to the love story. Since Urmila is the one in love with my hero, I could say a lot without giving too much footage to the love track. Besides, Urmila’s is the only character which is not from the police force or from the underworld, where I’ve used lesser known or new faces.

This brings me to my next question. Why was Mahima Chaudhry replaced by Urmila?

– When I signed Mahima for the heroine’s role, my script wasn’t complete. Once it was more defined, I realised that I needed a more established heroine. So, I wrote a letter to Mahima, explaining her the actual position and situation and informing her that I would want to replace her. Mahima wrote back to me to say that she, too, was not interested in doing my film.

How did you think of using four-letter words at so many places in your dialogues? Were you not scared of the censors or….

– …..Did I have an advance understanding with the censors, do you mean?

No, no, what I mean is, did you shoot with alternative dialogues too?

– No, I didn’t shoot the scenes with alternative dialogues. Right from the beginning, I and all the persons involved with the film were convinced that we were making an honest film. The four-letter words, used by the characters who mouth them, are a part of the language of such characters in real life. They (swear words) were never included to titillate the viewer. We were sure, our sincerity would be appreciated by the censors, and that’s what has happened. The censors have passed most of the four-letter words.

Where you somewhere driven by the fact that Shekhar Kapur got away with four-letter words in BANDIT QUEEN?

– I wouldn’t deny that this fact did cross my mind. I’m sure, Bandit Queen has influenced me as far as the four-letter words go, because I was also making a genuine film like Bandit Queen.

Who do you think is your target audience for the film?

– I sincerely feel, Satya will appeal to all. Its intellectual content may appeal only to the intelligentsia but its emotional appeal will be universal. I wouldn’t call it just an action film. It is also about what prompts the gangsters to take to action. In a film like Ardh Satya, there was a curiosity among the general public to know how the police functions. Satya takes a close look into the lives of gangsters. So the people will be curious to know about the functioning of the underworld, which they will be able to see in my film. Moreover, the love story in the film makes it one of universal appeal.

Notwithstanding the four-letter words?

– Yes, in spite of the four-letter words, the film has universal appeal.

What special care did you take for the fantastic sound effects in the film?

– We worked a great deal on the sound. I give a lot of credit for the excellent sound effects to Media Artistes. Shridhar and his team at Media Artistes have done a splendid job. Most of the sound effects in the film have been recorded specially for it, we haven’t used stock sound. Because the film is so realistic, the impact of sound gets enhanced. That is why the sound also looks so real in the film. We worked for a whole three months on the sound.

After taking so much pain on the sound, don’t you feel frustrated that many cinemas in smaller places do not have even reasonable sound facilities, what to talk of modern sound?

– Yes, it is frustrating, but that cannot be the reason for not working on sound. In our industry, people adopt new things, only after somebody tries it and proves successful. Like, Dolby sound became popular after Rangeela and DDLJ. If Satya becomes successful, more producers will insist on the sound effects of Satya. Without change, there can be no progress in any field.

Aren’t you scared of inviting the wrath of the underworld once your film hits the screens?

– No. I’ve neither glorified nor demeaned the underworld and so, I don’t think anybody should be angry after seeing the film. My effort is to make the underworld guys look inside themselves.

Did you have to show your film to the police?

– Not at all. The film doesn’t side with anybody — neither the underworld nor the police.

What is your next film?

– My new film will be a suspense thriller starring Manoj Bajpai and Urmila Matondkar. It is about a psychopath killer and a woman who is alone at home. The entire film has only two characters. It isn’t titled as yet. I’m planning to complete it in one schedule of less than a month. Mukesh Udeshi is presenting it.

SILSILA HAI PYAR KA

N.N. Sippy Productions’ Silsila Hai Pyar Ka (UA) is a love story with a routine script. The boss of a huge industrial empire is worried about his good-for-nothing son whose only passion in life is to flirt and womanise. To mend the ways of his wayward son, the father appoints a secretary for his son. The idea is that the secretary, with her simplicity, will bring a change in the boy’s life. Although the girl does manage to bring about a change in the boy, she can do so only after shedding her simplicity and instead becoming a glamour doll. The girl’s mission, though, she realises, is only half-complete. For, while the boy starts taking interest in his father’s business, he yet treats girls as playthings. This infuriates the secretary with whom the boy tries to act fresh. Meanwhile, there’s a business tycoon who lures the boy and his secretary to participate in a business venture with him. His aim is to get married to the sexy secretary. How the boss and her secretary escape from the clutches of the tycoon forms the climax. Ultimately, the boy realises that he loves his secretary, and the two of them are united in matrimony by their happy families.

The film meanders from here to there and appears directionless at several places. It is a sad mistake on the part of the writers (Shrabani Deodhar, Robin Bhatt and Akash Khurana) that the very simplicity of the girl, which is given so much importance to by the father, proves futile to improve the son. Again, the secretary seems to be working in two directions — one, in fulfilling her duties as a secretary, and secondly, in trying to win over the boss’ heart because she loves him since college days. Although not wrong, this does dilute the virtues of the secretary. Had she been shown as single-mindedly fulfilling her professional duties only, the audience would have been able to sympathise with her character. The track of the business tycoon does not go well with the rest of the story and seems to have been incorporated only to add some drama to a simple plot. The climax (with Johny Lever) is truly pathetic. Emotions fail to touch the heart. On the plus side are a couple of songs, beautiful foreign locations and, to some extent, the comedy track of Shakti Kapoor and Tiku Talsania. K.K. Singh’s dialogues are very good when he doesn’t resort to clichés.

Karisma Kapoor does extremely well. Although she looks very good in the glamorous role, she evokes sympathy with a sincere performance in the role of a simpleton. Chandrachur Singh has not been able to handle the roles of a playboy and a boss with ease. He is good at times but not up to the mark at other times. Danny Denzongpa performs ably but his character adds nothing worthwhile to the story. Aroona Irani is fair in a small role. Shakti Kapoor is entertaining. Tiku Talsania is really good. Alok Nath, as the hero’s father, is natural to the core. Johny Lever has been wasted; he has not been able to evoke much laughter in a role that is ill-defined. Mishkaa Khanna makes an average debut and so does Neelam Singh. Dina Pathak, Babban Yadav and the rest pass muster.

Shrabani Deodhar’s story relies too much on clichés and offers nothing new whatsoever to the viewer. Her direction is just about fair. Jatin Lalit’s music is good. The title song, ‘Dil to pagal hai’, ‘Padosan ke ghar’ and ‘Suno suno ladkiyon’ are appealing numbers. While the songs have been picturised on heavenly outdoor locations or rich sets, choreography could have been far better. Debu Deodhar captures the visual beauty of foreign landscapes ably. Editing is weak. Art direction (R. Verman) and production values are very good. Technically, okay. Action scenes are average.

On the whole, Silsila Hai Pyar Ka is a weak fare. Having taken a slow start, it cannot be expected to pick up as it has no novelty. However, it should do a bit better in Bombay.

Released on 16-4-’99 at Liberty and 12 other cinemas of Bombay thru Janata Film Distributors. Publicity: very good. Opening: ordinary. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull everywhere.

ZULMI

Chaudhry Enterprises’ Zulmi (A) is a vendetta drama. An honest thakur is gunned down by an underworld don, but before dying, the thakur asks his trusted lieutenant to take care of his grandson, the only living member of the family. The grandson grows under the guardianship of his grandfather’s trusted man. He (grandson) is a no-gooder and indulges in womanising. He once forces a girl to kill herself when she cannot escape his advances to rape her. The dead girl’s brother (hero) naturally is waiting for an opportunity to seek revenge. So is the grandfather’s lieutenant waiting to avenge his master’s death. By quirk of fate, the hero is picked up by the lieutenant. But once the hero realises that the one whom he wants to kill is the grandson, all hell breaks loose. Simultaneously, the grandfather’s killers join forces with the evil grandson to kill his own guardian. Ultimately, the grandson has a change of heart and sacrifices his life to save the hero’s. The hero then gets married to his beloved, the lieutenant’s daughter.

The story is replete with oft-repeated incidents, and the turns and twists in the drama barely manage to engage the viewers’ attention. The lieutenant shielding his ward only because he had given his word to the dying master to take care of him looks unjustified — more so because the ward is a rapist and a murderer. The hero sermonising (in the climax) about why he would not kill the grandson looks totally unjustified.

Screenplay is quite shoddy. Dialogues are good but only at places. Climax is not very believable. In fact, the entire second half is dull.

Akshay Kumar acts reasonably well. He excels in stunts. Twinkle Khanna looks pretty and does an average job. Amrish Puri is so-so. Milind Gunaji is not impressive. Dalip Tahhil does a fair job. Aroona Irani does not get much scope but acts well. Rakhee Malhotra leaves a mark. Ghanshyam is good. Dara Singh, Deep Dhillon, Aroon Bakshi and the rest lend fair support.

Kuku Kohli’s direction is hardly any better than his story. He takes recourse to clichés in both, writing and narration. Music is quite a letdown and song picturisations are dull. Only a couple of songs have hummable tunes but even they are not of the hit variety. Action scenes (Kala Singh) have been very well composed. There is a good dose of action for front-benchers. Camerawork is ordinary and so are the other technical and production values.

On the whole, Zulmi is a dull fare with not much of an initial value.

Released on 16-4-’99 at Dreamland and 20 other cinemas of Bombay thru Metro Films. Publicity & opening: so-so. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor everywhere.

BANK FINANCE FOR FILMS ON ANVIL?

A decision to finance film production has reportedly been taken by a committee of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), headed by Bank of Baroda chairman K. Kannan. The committee was constituted a year back expressly to examine the issues connected with film financing. The BJP government, it may be recalled, had granted industry status to film business in May ’98 and bank finance for films was assumed to be a natural corollary to the industry status.

It is expected that banks would finance film projects at a premium of 3% over their prime lending rates (PLR). Since the existing PLR of most commercial banks is 12%, it would mean that banks would lend to film projects at 15% p.a.

The final draft of the IBA committee’s report is expected to be submitted to the IBA once the committee members endorse it. The committee’s terms of reference cover the current status of the industry, including its present funding arrangements, the risk factors, bankability of filmmaking with reference to credibility of the borrower, viability of operations, security aspects and safeguards to be taken to insulate the banks from a high risk level. The committee, it is learnt, has also looked into the issue of collateral at length.

RAMESH PATEL DEAD

Laboratory owner Ramesh Patel passed away on 14th April in Bombay. He was 63 and had been ailing since some time. A bypass surgery of the heart on 26th March at Bombay Hospital in Bombay led to several severe complications. He underwent yet another major surgery on 12th April and finally died on the morning of 14th. His only son was in London when Ramesh Patel died. His funeral was held on 15th morning. He was cremated at the Chandanwadi electric crematorium. He is survived by his wife, a son, a daughter and other family members.

Ramesh Ambalal Patel, alongwith brothers late Kantilal and Shashikant and Indukumar, looked after Filmcenter, one of the premier film laboratories of the country, started by his father. He was the chairman and managing director of Filmcenter.

A genial gentleman, Ramesh Patel was very co-operative and helpful, too. It is an irony that the man who toiled so hard to establish Filmcenter should have passed away in the year in which the laboratory was celebrating its golden jubilee.

Ramesh Patel was also a director in PolyGram India Ltd. and Patel India Pvt. Ltd. He was a partner in Cine Film Distributors, the agency for Fuji color negative, and Recording Center.

Filmcenter remained closed on 14th and 15th. Besana will be held today (17th April) between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Filmcenter.

YOU ASKED IT

How much business has the Gujarati blockbuster Desh Re Joya Dada Pardesh Joya done in Bombay city?

– It has done over 9 lakh in Bombay city-suburbs and Thane. In fact, looking to its huge success in Bombay, another Gujarati film, LAKHTAR NI LAADI NE VILAYAT NO VAR, will be released in Bombay city next week.

Like our films, even our cricket team is faring badly. What would you say to that?

– In filmi style, let me put it this way: Without INTERNATIONAL KHILADI (Sachin Tendulkar), the Indian cricket team is ANARI NO. 1!

Why are veteran filmmakers failing these days? And what is the reason for several young directors, too, not making successful films?

– Veterans have the experience but many of them are out of synch with today’s generation and their requirements. The youngsters, on the other hand, may be in tune with the times but often, they lack experience.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Sooryavansham’ Towards First Copy

Padmalaya Combines’ Sooryavansham, presented by Krishna, is now in the mixing stage at Media Arts, Madras. The first copy is expected to be out by April 25. Produced by G.A. Seshagiri Rao and directed by E.V.V. Satyanarayana, the film stars Amitabh Bachchan (as father and son), Soundarya, Anupam Kher, Bindu, Shivaji Satam, Jaya Kapoor, Rachna Banerjee, Mukesh Rishi, master Anandvardhan and Kader Khan. Music: Anu Malik. Lyrics: Sameer. Story: Vikraman. Dialogues: Aadesh K. Arjun. Cinematography: S. Gopal Reddy. Choreography: Chinni Prakash and Saroj Khan.

‘Chal Mere Bhai’ In Bangalore

An 8-day shooting schedule of Neha Arts’ Chal Mere Bhai will commence in Bangalore on April 23. The entire cast, including Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Dalip Tahhil, Sushma Seth, Shakti Kapoor, Himani Shivpuri, Satish Kaushik, Asrani, Javed Khan, Ghanshyam, Suresh Bhagwat and Rajoo Shreshtha, will participate. Being produced by Nitin Manmohan and directed by David Dhawan, the film is based on a story by Ikram Akhtar and screenplay written jointly by Ikram Akhtar and Yunus Sejawal. Dialogues: Rumi Jafri. Music: Anand Milind. Lyrics: Sameer. Cinematography: Harmeet Singh. Art: R. Verman. Choreography: Ganesh Acharya. Editing: A. Muthu. Gaurav Digital presents the film.

MIX MASALA

GOOD ACTOR, GOOD PRANKSTER

Television actor Anup Soni’s answering machine on his telephone has a cute message. It first says: “Hello!” Then, after a small pause, the voice says, “Yes”. After another small pause, the same voice asks, “Who’s this?” Again a second’s pause. And then in Hindi: “Kaun?” And then, after yet another pause, the voice, amidst mild laughter, says, “Come on yaar, this is just an answering machine,” followed by the usual “leave your name and telephone number” etc. etc. Since the message doesn’t sound like a taped message, the more gullible caller (say, Rajesh) is likely to fill the pauses thus:
Tring Tring
Answering machine: “Hello!”
Rajesh: “Hello. Anup?”
AM: “Yes.”
Rajesh: “Anup, Rajesh here.”
AM: “Who’s this?”
Rajesh: “Rajesh, Rajesh”
AM: “Kaun?”
Rajesh: “Arre, Rajesh.”
AM: “Come on yaar, ……”

Try it out. But since you’ve been forewarned, don’t fall prey to Anup’s prank. And yes, his telephone no. is 632-8083. And yes again, the guy, besides being a good prankster, is also a good actor. But proof of that comes on the small screen, not on the small telephone or the smaller answering machine.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

No Male Chauvinism, This

Although it has been said umpteen times, it wouldn’t be out of place to repeat it here. That heroines rarely, if ever, command an initial. However popular may be the heroine of a film, she cannot ensure an opening to a film. For a housefull initial, the audience must see the name of a saleable/popular hero in the film’s cast. Otherwise, a film cannot hope to get a decent opening. As happened this week in the case of N.N. Sippy’s Silsila Hai Pyar Ka. With Chandrachur Singh’s career today being as exciting as the prospect of a teetotaller being offered a glass of whisky, there’s no hero figure in SHPK to lure the first-day audience. Therefore, despite two songs of the film being reasonably popular and in spite of the fact that the film’s heroine, Karisma Kapoor, has had a release after more than a year, the film has opened to houses ranging from dull to average. Silsila hai male figure ka, wot?

Publicity, Not Akshay, Does The Trick

If Silsila Hai Pyar Ka did not take a happy start, similar was the case of Zulmi. After the bumper opening of Akshay starrer International Khiladi, many in the trade were expecting Akshay’s Zulmi too to open very well. But what such people forgot to appreciate was that International Khiladi took a flying start not because of Akshay but rather because of the bumper publicity of the film. The stunts, glimpses of which were shown in the film’s promotional trailers, had created a pretty good impression on the audience and that ensured that International Khiladi opened to swell houses.

Dancing Hero Caught On Wrong Foot

The dancing hero has done it this time. Not satisfied with the collections of his recently released film, he resorted to, what in filmi parlance is called, ‘feeding’. That is to say, he had unsold tickets in several cinemas of Bombay city on the 5th, 6th and 7th days of the first week, torn. The irony is that the film was, even without the ‘feeding’, behaving well in Bombay and the rest of Maharashtra. The alarming drop in collections came in other parts of the country, particularly in East Punjab, Rajasthan, Bengal and Bihar, besides other circuits. But our dancing hero, obviously, couldn’t ‘feed’ there. Perhaps, he is under the impression that producers only see the collections of Bombay city and suburbs before deciding on a hero’s market price. Maybe, the dancing hero is in a mood to jack up his price and so this feeding. Or maybe, the hero simply wants to fan his ego by reading inflated collections of his film, in trade papers. But not all trade papers can fall prey to this feeding trick, what say Hero No. 1?

Release Postponed

Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai will not make it to the cinemas in August or September (as planned) because the shooting schedule in New Zealand this month has been cancelled. Rakesh Roshan reached New Zealand and was disappointed to see that the flowers he had expected to see in full bloom at the locations, which were finalised, weren’t there. Rather than shoot on the locations without the flowers, Rakesh preferred cancelling the stint. Obviously, therefore, the film’s completion has been postponed and, so, its release too. It will now be released in November.

Enough Of Prateeksha: Bank Now Wants ‘Prateeksha’

Rumours are rife that Canara Bank may attach the famous Prateeksha bungalow of Amitabh Bachchan at Juhu, Bombay. The bank has moved the Bombay high court, seeking permission to attach the bungalow to recover its dues. The bungalow is said to be worth Rs. 12 crore. The bank has charged AB Corp chairman Amitabh Bachchan and vice chairperson Jaya Bachchan for the non-payment of bank advances to the tune of Rs. 14 crore. The two of them had stood guarantee for the borrowing by ABCL. But Amitabh has told the Bombay high court that his bungalow is mortgaged to Sahara India. It may be pointed out here that the bank swung into action as AB Corp was referred to the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) on 22nd March this year. Once a company is in the BIFR fold, it need not pay back the owed funds to banks and financial institutions until the BIFR comes up with a rehabilitation package and this may take years to materialise. AB Corp is also said to be owing money to a host of other banks.

300 Films In 365 Days

Kishore Talkies, Burhanpur, may have set a record of sorts by exhibiting as many as 300 films in 1998. Sometimes, two films were screened at the cinema in a single day. Variety is the spice of life, after all!

Canteen Competition

Patrons of Novelty cinema in Bombay are getting the best bargain in intervals. Snacks, cold drinks and mineral water bottles are all available at very reasonable rates. This is so because the cinema has two canteens — one, run by the contractor, and the second, run by the cinema management itself. The management is keen to have a monopoly and is, therefore, desirous of cancelling the contract with the contractor. But the latter is in no mood to leave Novelty. To drive the contractor out of business, the canteen run by the management sells refreshments at truly reasonable rates. So while the management and the contractor fight it out, the cinegoer is happy about the low rates — that is, only if he reaches the right canteen!

VISHWA VIDHAATA

Shazeen Films International’s Vishwa Vidhaata (A) is an unusual story presented in a pathetic manner. An honest youth gets involved with traitors but refuses to join hands with them and, instead, revolts against them. The leader of the traitors orders his killing and to escape the inevitable death, the youth goes in for a face change by plastic surgery. He gets married to his old love but does not reveal his true identity to anybody (even though he has done no wrong). The couple gets a baby boy who grows up to become a police officer and who is a replica of his father before the face change operation. Very conveniently, while the police force as well as the villains smell a rat and set out to solve the mystery (of how the young police officer resembles the honest youth of yesteryears, who was dubbed a traitor), the officer’s mother is oblivious to the similarity in looks between her son and her beloved before marriage! Misunderstandings follow — the son first suspects his mother and later, on learning of his father’s face-change operation, suspects that he was a traitor. Finally, all misunderstandings are cleared but the police officer loses both, his father and mother.

The plot is of the kind which would confuse the viewer more than entertaining him. The concept of plastic surgery is not yet too well-known in India. Further, the pace of the film is so slow that the viewer loses all interest soon after it starts. Cinematic liberties have been taken liberally. For instance, the police records are shown to have video clippings of the actual bomb explosion operation of the traitors. If the police could videograph the operation, why did they not arrest the traitors? The writer and director seem to have been bitten by the bug to be different and, therefore, come up with strange and unpalatable twists and turns in the story. Many of the misunderstandings in the drama could have been avoided simply if the honest youth had confided in his wife, about his surgery. No explicable reason for his not doing so has been provided. Confrontation scenes between father and son and between hero and villain are dull. Emotions fail to touch the heart. The traitors seem to be only interested in exploding bombs all over the place without rhyme or reason.

Jackie Shroff is fair. Ayesha Julka does quite well but does not look like Sharad Kapoor’s mother. Sharad Kapoor gives a sorry account of himself. He needs to improve a lot on his dialogue delivery, voice modulation as well as acting. Pooja Batra is not one bit impressive in the brief role she has. Being so lean and tall, she needs to take great care of her costumes, some of which are rather bad in the film. Ashish Vidyarthi is okay. Vishwajeet Pradhan, Arjun, Rakesh Bedi, Shehzad Khan, Mushtaq Khan, Avtar Gill, Jatin Kanakia, Vikas Anand and the rest lend adequate support.

Direction is dull. Muisic is very slow and although two songs — ‘Kal nahin tha’ and ‘Kaliyon si palkein hain’ — are melodious, they are so slow and their picturisations, so routine that they will not appeal to the viewer. Action scenes are good. Photography is so-so. Editing leaves a lot to be desired. Production values are appropriate.

On the whole, Vishwa Vidhaata is a lesson in how not to make a film. It will prove to be a total loss at the box-office.

Released on 14-11-’97 at Alankar and 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru Dilsa Distributors Combine. Publicity: very good. Opening: average. …….Also released all over.

LATEST POSITION

DIL TO PAGAL HAI is continuing its victory march and has recorded extraordinary collections in 2nd week everywhere. Is ‘AA’ in Bombay.

Dil To Pagal Hai 2nd week Bombay 39,73,792 (99.64%) from 8 cinemas (6 on F.H.), Chandan, Juhu, Bombay 7,72,516; Ahmedabad 13,49,403 from 4 cinemas, Baroda 2,46,001, Padra (gross) 2,56,831, Rajkot 2,10,833, Jamnagar 1,52,507 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 8,27,648 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,92,332 (100%), Solapur 1,91,850 (100%), Satara 2,01,073 (98.64%) from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Sangli 1,82,035 (100%); Hubli 2,75,199 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), Belgaum 1,55,344 (100%); Delhi (6 days) 40,29,144 from 11 cinemas (1 unrecd., 1 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,48,696 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,50,635, Agra 2,31,677, Allahabad 1,60,100, Meerut (6 days) 1,70,214, Bareilly (6 days) 1,40,146, Dehradun 1,65,000 (1st 1,99,901), Gorakhpur 1,29,000, Hardwar 60,000; Calcutta 19,70,138 from 13 cinemas (1 unrecd.); Nagpur 7,63,239 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,02,142, total 4,15,214, Amravati 2,23,073, total 4,76,996, Akola (27 shows) 1,75,685 (100%), Raipur (6 days) 1,79,123, Bhilai (6 days) 1,42,169, Jalgaon 1,67,160; Indore 3,18,000, Bhopal 4,59,240 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 7,94,777 from 2 cinemas, Jodhpur 2,55,000, Ajmer 1,34,766, 1st week Bikaner 1,65,000, Bharatpur (3 days) 54,000, 2nd week Udaipur 2,95,972; Hyderabad 13,74,862 from 5 cinemas (2 in noon).

Ghulam-E-Musthafa 2nd week Bombay (6 days) 20,06,737 (63.37%) from 12 cinemas (5 on F.H.), now tax-free in Bombay and other parts of Maharashtra; Ahmedabad 4,06,207 from 5 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Jamnagar (matinee) 12,545 (1 in regular unrecd.); Pune 6,38,908 from 4 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,08,276, Solapur (matinee) 44,527 (1 in regular unrecd.); Belgaum 100%; Delhi (6 days) 12,92,361 from 8 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,75,913 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,70,726, Agra 1,35,629, Allahabad 99,500, Varanasi 1,39,590, Bareilly (6 days) 53,224, Dehradun 65,000 (1st 1,25,000), Gorakhpur 92,000, Hardwar 32,718; Calcutta 7,86,935 from 7 cinemas; Nagpur 3,55,078 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,05,855, Amravati (6 days) 1,11,177, Akola 95,309, Raipur (6 days) 69,660, Bhilai (6 days) 69,360, Wardha 62,416, 1st week Yavatmal 1,05,675; 2nd Indore 82,134, Bhopal 2,06,162 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 1,94,792, Jodhpur 1,00,000, Bikaner 37,972; Hyderabad 6,04,948 from 4 cinemas.

Bhai dropped at many places. 2nd week Bombay 28,39,632 (69.75%) from 13 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,37,106 from 6 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot 1,16,413 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 86,000; Pune 3,15,590 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,41,179 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 1st week Satara 1,53,142; 2nd week Delhi (6 days) 14,23,548 from 8 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,05,551 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,69,912, Allahabad 76,500, Varanasi 1,40,500, Meerut (6 days) 1,25,868, Bareilly (6 days) 66,227, Gorakhpur 1,15,000, 1st week Hardwar about 80,000; Calcutta 20,18,044 from 19 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Jabalpur (6 days) 70,358, 2nd Amravati (6 days) 1,24,393, Akola 69,032, Raipur (6 days) 1,01,705, Bhilai (6 days) 53,732, Jalgaon 1,34,070, Yavatmal 77,148 (1st 1,68,410); Indore 49,441, Bhopal 1,10,345 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 2,40,741 from 2 cinemas, 1st week Ajmer (29 shows, gross) 2,20,117, Bharatpur (gross) 1,59,550; 1st week Hyderabad 16,76,975 from 9 cinemas (5 on F.H., 1 in noon), share, including fixed fire cinemas, 11,00,000.

……….

BABY BOYS

Ajay Chudasama, partner in Rajshri cinema, Gandhinagar and Rajshri cinema, Bhavnagar, was blessed with a baby boy on 14th November at Gandhinagar. His brother, Dharmendra (Dharam) Chudasama, was also blessed with a baby boy on 8th.

Earlier, on 7th, a son was born to Manish Yagnik of Rajshri, Gandhinagar. These are the first issues of all the three.

‘VIRASAT’ SILVER JUBILEE

Mushir-Riaz’s Virasat is celebrating silver jubilee this week all over. Directed by Priyadarshan, the film stars Anil Kapoor, Tabu, Pooja Batra, Milind Gunaji, Govind Namdeo, Tiku Talsania, Neeraj Vora, Satyen Kappu, Dilip Dhawan, Sulbha Deshpande, Anjana, Reena, Ajay Ratnam, Ajit Kumar, Dev Sharma and Amrish Puri. Dialogues: Vinay Shukla. Music: Anu Malik. Lyrics: Javed Akhtar. Art: Sabu Cyril. Dances: Farah Khan. Action: Tyagarajan. Editor: N. Gopalakrishnan. Cinematographer. Ravi K. Chandran. Associate producers: Tanvir & Tauqir.

ADVANCED DOLBY SOUND AT JYOTI, JALANDHAR

The latest Dobly digital sound system has been installed at Jyoti cinema, Jalandhar. It has the unique advantage of giving Dolby results even in mono prints, which is not available anywhere in India as yet.

GETTING BACK LOST GLORY

Asha Talkies, Miraj, which once upon a time used to be sought-after for Marathi films but had later come to be known as a cinema for sexy English films, is trying to get back its lost glory. Its booking was taken over by S.A. Bagwan of Kolhapur recently and since then, the cinema is seriously being given a change of image. Besides, its maintenance has improved too. This has also resulted in collections going up because people have started frequenting the cinema. The Marathi film, Durga Aali Ghara, is running in its third week there and despite low admission rates, it has yielded a share of Rs. 26,000 in 2 weeks.

‘LAL DARJA’ NOT NOMINATED FOR OSCAR AWARDS

Bappi Lahiri’s Bengali film, Lal Darja, has not been nominated for the Oscar awards, as claimed by the producer and reported in our issue last week. Error is regretted.

‘PARDES’ CELEBRATES 100 DAYS AT 49 CENTRES

Subhash Ghai’s Pardes is celebrating 100 days of its run today (15th November) at 49 centres in India and abroad. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Mahima Chaudhry, Apoorva Agnihotri and Amrish Puri. Music: Nadeem Shravan. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi. Camerawork: Kabir Lal.

BABY BOY FOR SHAH RUKH KHAN

Shah Rukh Khan’s wife, Gauri, gave birth to a baby boy on 12th November at Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay. This is the couple’s first child and he has been named Aryan.

GULSHAN KUMAR’S FAMILY SEEKS TO BECOME PARTY IN NADEEM CASE

Family members of slain music baron Gulshan Kumar have sought to be arraigned in the extradition proceedings of the main suspect, music director Nadeem, which was to have come up for hearing in the London court of the Bow Street magistrate on 3rd November but has been postponed by three weeks, to November 24. The postponement had been necessitated because the Bombay police did not record the evidences of the various key witnesses in front of a magistrate. Evidence not recorded before a magistrate is not admissible in the London court. The Bombay police has since recorded them in order.

Gulshan Kumar’s family has written to the British crown prosecution office, which is handling the extradition of Nadeem on behalf of the Indian authorities, seeking to hire an eminent British lawyer to represent them in the extradition case, as a third party.

In the meantime, the British crown prosecution office has given its written opinion to the Indian authorities that they had found a prima facie case for extradition in the evidence placed before them by the Maharashtra government.

Meanwhile, the police have appealed to the Supreme Court against the bail order of Tips owner Ramesh Taurani.

INDORE DISTRIBUTORS DECIDE ON FRIDAY RELEASE

There will henceforth be no new releases on Thursday in C.I. All films will now be released on Fridays, as in most of the other circuits. This decision has been taken by the Indore Distributors Forum.

In keeping with the Forum’s decision as also because Pahlaj Nihalani so desired, his Bhai Bhai was released on Friday this week in C.I. So, films will now be released on Thursdays in C.P. and U.P. only.

YASHWANT DUTT DEAD

Noted theatre and film actor Yashwant Dutt died of a heart attack at his residence at Malad, Bombay on the morning of 11th November. He was 52 and is survived by his wife and son.

He had returned home around 4 a.m. that day after reshooting the ending for the recently released Marathi film, Sarkarnama. His sister found him dead in his flat at 10.30 a.m.

Top Marathi film personalities, including Nana Patekar and cameraman Debu Deodhar, reached his residence on hearing the news of his death.

MAHARANA, BHILWARA GOLDEN JUBILEE

Maharana Talkies, Bhilwara (Rajasthan) entered its 50th year on 9th March this year. To mark the golden jubilee, celebrations were held on Diwali. Huge display advertisements of the cinema were issued in all newspapers of Rajasthan and Bhilwara district, where glowing tributes were paid to all those who were responsible for the birth of the cinema. Tributes were also paid to 18 employees who are no more but whose services to the cinema and its patrons are memorable.

Sweets were distributed among cinema-goers in the evening show of Diwali day. A lottery was also held for the audience. Silver coins were awarded to the entire staff.

The cinema building was beautifully lit up on Diwali. Incidentally, the cinema won the first prize in three lighting competitions of Bhilwara during Diwali.

CCCA Puts Ceiling On Film Prices
C.P.C.I. Rajasthan Price Limit Is 72 Lakh

The new executive committee of the Central Circuit Cine Association has taken an important decision on film prices and put an upper ceiling of Rs. 72 lakh for the circuit — 20 lakh for C.I., 20 lakh for Rajasthan, and 32 lakh for C.P. Berar. This resolution of price ceiling will apply to films which are launched after 1st January, 1998. This information was given by CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain at a press conference on 12th November in Indore.

Jain observed that stars were not only ruling the film industry and devouring all the income of producers, distributors and exhibitors (which they weren’t investing again in the industry) but also ruining the industry. Producers and stars, he said, quoted examples of successful films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Border to fix the prices of their films and themselves in crores although 90% of the films which are made, flop, putting distributors in trouble. This was also adversely affecting the lot of producers, he added. Santosh Singh Jain lamented that stars diverted their monies earned from films, in real estate and other properties instead of investing at least a part in the industry.

Jain said that the film industry was in deep crisis and this ceiling was, therefore, a necessary weapon, like the CCCA’s earlier ceiling on stars’ assignments. This ceiling, he explained, would help in reducing film prices and star prices. Films would then be made within reasonable and affordable budgets, and it would also result in increase in number of productions.

Jain informed that the new Film Bhawan (extension) being constructed in Indore at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh would fetch an income of Rs. 20 lakh every year, which would be utilised in the services of distributors and exhibitors.

H.S.P. Rao, CCCA hon. secretary S.K. Surana, and hon. treasurer Ramesh Sureka were also present at the press conference.

Sound Tracks In India

Following is the content of the letter written by Mr. Tony Spath of Dolby Laboratories Inc., England, to Subhash Ghai. Although it deals with Ghai’s Pardes, it also talks of sound in Indian films. It is being reproduced hereunder so that our technicians, directors and laboratories may take tips from it.

Mr. Ghai,

Following our phone conversation, and my seeing Pardes, here are some of my personal comments on soundtrack.

In general, sound in India is getting more recognition as filmmakers like yourself go to new lengths in order to use and make use of sound quality in the soundtrack.

Dialogues are loud by Western standards but this is how people like to hear films in India. They are at least cleaner dialogues than were typically, say, two years back, but even so, little use is made of audio perspective on dialogues: by which I mean, treating the voice so that it sounds as if it comes from the distance/ambience that is shown on the screen. I must say that Pardes does make some use of some varying levels to suit different scenes.

Music recording has also improved. However, there is a tendency for there to be distortion at high levels, particularly on voices. Recordists need to be aware that once a voice is recorded in a distorted way, firstly, it won’t get any louder in the process, and secondly, it is distorted forever after. The music in Pardes I liked — ethnic with a hard edge and clean drums and percussion.

One of the biggest differences between a Western soundtrack and a Hindi one is in the amount and use of atmospheres. A good stereo atmosphere sets the scene and really adds to the “feeling” the image is conveying. If there was one thing I would suggest to you for the future, it is to make sure, your recordist makes stereo atmosphere recordings on each location, and to use these as the main atmosphere ingredient in each scene. Where it doesn’t work, use someone else’s (there are plenty available from CD).

Soundtrack printing and negative processing is still some way behind what we would call ideal. Some labs try to do a good job and monitor their quality but others just do not because they see no financial benefit in doing so — typically, their customers are long-standing producers who have always printed at their lab and won’t go elsewhere, so there is not the usual market-led incentive that if they don’t do a good job, they will not get the next film. This is our biggest problem at present — finding any way to make these particular labs take an interest in quality. The result — of their lack of quality control — is that analogue prints sound different reel to reel, occasionally very sibilant and “spitty” on the dialogues, sometimes dull by comparison. Dolby Digital prints with no proper quality control will be fine — until the reader cannot cope with the number of errors on the track, at which point, it reverts to analogue. We have equipment we supply, which will make it easy for labs to monitor their Dolby Digital sound track printing: we will supply these at a good price to labs. Do you have any ideas on how we can get them to understand the need to adopt quality control?

Well, these are my thoughts. I hope, they are useful. As always, it was a pleasure to talk to you when I was over there two weeks back. I have passed the plans of your studio on to one of our UK film sound consultants, who will be in touch with you to comment.

– Tony Spath

YOU ASKED IT

To what do you attribute the non-success of Ghulam-E-Musthafa outside Maharashtra?

– There are several reasons, the main being Nana Patekar’s character which was very different from his image of mouthing fiery dialogues and swear words. Too Muslim a title also kept a large chunk of the non-Muslim audience away.

When is Yash Johar’s Duplicate due for release?

– Rather than rush with the post-production work, Yash Johar has decided to go slow on it and get the film in April-end or early May.

Who is the most in-demand music director today?

– Anu Malik.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Sunny Deol made a touching gesture when, despite his busy schedule, he agreed to make a special appearance in a song-dance for Raju Mavani’s ISKI TOPI USKE SARR. He enthusiastically participated in the song picturisation in a 6-day spell in Hyderabad last week.

* Producer Salim was scheduled to shoot his MEHNDI in Jaipur but he did not get permission to shoot there in the nights due to a tourist festival. So he put off his Jaipur trip and instead had Jaipur recreated at Madh Island in Bombay where he is currently shooting for the film. A huge set of a haveli and a village has been created.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Mithun ‘Hottest’ And Shah Rukh ‘Coolest’ Star

Mithun Chakraborty is the hottest star today. Shah Rukh Khan is the least hot! Sorry, sorry! Mithun is the hottest donkey and Shah Rukh is the lowest priced donkey!! Surprised? Shocked? There’s no need for that. There’s the biggest ever Donkey Fair which began in Ujjain on Kartik Poornima day (14th November). Donkeys from all corners of India are brought to this fair by their owners. They (donkeys — not their owners) are, for the fun of it, nicknamed after famous Bollywood stars. So we have donkeys nicknamed Mithun, Shah Rukh, Sunny, Madhuri, Juhi, Akshay, Sunil, Anil etc. At this year’s fair, the donkey named Mithun fetched the highest bid — of over Rs. 5,000! The price range of other donkeys named Govinda, Sunny, Dharmendra and Akshay was between one and two thousand. The lowest offer was for the donkey called Shah Rukh.

‘Jeans’ Junction

Director Shankar (of Tamil films) should be feeling thrilled with himself. For, no less people than Bharat Shah, Subhash Ghai, Tolu Bajaj, Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria have, under the umbrella of Metro Films, Bombay, acquired the all-India rights of the Hindi dubbed version of his under-production film, Jeans. Yes, the office of Metro Films is the new Jeans junction! Shankar is making this Prabhu Deva and Aishwarya Rai starrer in Tamil, and dubbing the same in Hindi and Telugu. The three versions are being planned to be released simultaneously and if that happens, it will be the first time that a dubbed Hindi film will be released at the same time as its original version.

DAAG THE FIRE

Inderjit Films Combine’s Daag The Fire (A) is the story of a criminal lawyer who uses his intelligence to shield and save criminals from the clutches of law and judiciary. He uses his legal prowess to support the evil designs of his father-in-law and his cronies. In one such case, he proves in court an honest municipal commissioner to be corrupt and has him imprisoned. His father-in-law then has the municipal commissioner killed in jail. This infuriates the son of the deceased and he sets out to kill the lawyer. But instead, it is the lawyer’s beloved wife who falls prey to his bullets. The lawyer loses his mental balance and it takes a nautch girl, who is a look-alike of his wife, to bring him back to normalcy. The lawyer takes her to be his wife but soon learns of his real wife’s death and he gets married to the look-alike to repay her for her sacrifices to cure him. What’s more, the lawyer, after treatment, becomes a noble soul and sets out to correct the wrongs done by him earlier. So while the municipal commissioner’s son is thirsting for the lawyer’s blood, the lawyer himself tries to prove, in the court of law, the late commissioner not guilty. Ultimately, the son and the lawyer join hands to eliminate the lawyer’s father-in-law and his evil friends.

The film has an unusual story coupled with incidents that’ve been seen earlier. But it must be said to director Raj Kanwar’s credit that his narration is fresh and the film’s tempo is so fast that it doesn’t give the audience a chance to think. It is because of this that several cinematic liberties are overlooked by the audience. The portion in which the lawyer loses his mental equilibrium is, however, a bit loose but the comedy scenes there save the film from falling too much.

The film has all the masala for every class of audience — there’s romance, sex, emotions, action, comedy and hit music. Further, all these ingredients are quite well balanced to make the film a truly enjoyable fare. Dialogues (Jainendra Jain) are very good at many places. Robin Bhatt and Akash Khurana’s screenplay is good.

Sanjay Dutt shines in action scenes and draws loud applause in several of them. His entry is superb. He acts quite well. Chandrachur Singh impresses a great deal in the first half and is fair after interval. Mahima Chaudhry is first-rate in a double role. She gets into the skin of both the characters and delivers a performance that’s remarkably brilliant. As the nautch girl, especially, she is superb, never once going overboard. Considering that this is only her second film, Mahima deserves to be applauded for such excellence. Her confrontation scene with Raj Babbar is clapworthy. Raj Babbar makes an effective villain. Mohan Joshi, Deepak Shirke and Harish Patel lend just  about average support as the other villains. Shakti Kapoor is so-so. Sushma Seth is lovable. Himani Shivpuri impresses in a brief role. Sachin Khedekar is very appealing. Shivaji Satam excels as the municipal commissioner. Neena Kulkarni is natural to the core. Vishwajeet Pradhan, Achyut Potdar and Arpita lend able support. Johny Lever and Kunika’s comedy is entertaining and provides wonderful relief.

Raj Kanwar’s direction is intelligent. Not only has he extracted excellent work from his main cast, he has also balanced the script ably and given plenty of masala to the audience. Rajesh Roshan’s music is hit. ‘Pyar humein pyar tum’, ‘Dil deewana’, ‘Dil dhadke’, ‘Pardesiya’ and ‘Lucky kabootar’ are all hit/above average numbers. Song picturisations are pretty lavish. Both, Chandrachur and Mahima, have danced gracefully. Editing is crisp. Sets (R. Verman) are eye-filling. Action (Bhiku Verma) is superb. Background score is very effective.

On the whole, Daag The Fire may have quite a few oft-repeated incidents but its music, performances, action and wonderful narration will see it fetch bountiful returns to its distributors and producers. Class A.

Released on 12-2-’99 at Eros and 17 other cinemas of Bombay by Inderjit Films Combine thru Shringar Films. Publicity: bumper (and very appropriate). Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening outside Bombay was extraordinary.

BOMBAY BOYS
(Dubbed)

Film Works India’s Bombay Boys (A; dubbed from the English film of the same name) is the story of three guys who come to Bombay — one to become an actor, the second, to make it as a musician, and the third, to look for his lost brother. The film deals with their experiences in this crazy city. The drama is an exaggerated account of the happenings in the lives of the three guys. The story moves on three different tracks and skips between them at irregular intervals. The treatment is of the kind which would appeal to the class audience in big cities only. Obscenities are liberally thrown in and they could tickle the audience. The film is raw and that’s its biggest plus point. Comedy is subtle at times and hilarious at other times. The flavour of the film is totally ‘Bambaiya’.

Naveen Andrews is excellent. Rahul Bose, too, does a superb job. Alexander Gifford is quite nice. But Naseeruddin Shah takes the cake. As a film producer, he is splendid and immensely likeable. Tara Deshpande is natural to the core. Roshan Seth does fairly well. Other artistes lend good support.

Kaizad Gustad’s direction is excellent, given the theme he has selected. Music is appealing, again more for the Bombay audience. Camerawork is fantastic. Dubbing is very appropriate.

On the whole, Bombay Boys is good for Bombay, Maharashtra and Southwards mainly, but has dull chances in Northern and other parts of India.

Released on 12-2-’99 at Sundaram cinema of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity: so-so (for dubbed version). Opening: weak. …….Also released in Delhi-U.P. and Rajasthan.

LATEST POSITION

The bumper opening of DAAG THE FIRE this week has spread joy in the industry. Heavy rains in some parts of Maharashtra adversely affected the box-office.

…………….

Aa Ab Laut Chalen picked up in Delhi after tax-exemption. It is good in Nizam. 3rd week Bombay 22,78,564 (64%) from 7 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,46,691 from 4 cinemas, 1st week Patan 1,43,507, 3rd week Jamnagar 77,890, total 3,30,385; Pune 6,36,627 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 93,908; Delhi (tax-free from 8th Feb.) 18,40,558 from 6 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,11,681 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,02,229, Agra 85,250, Varanasi 81,676, Allahabad 68,600, Meerut 1,04,947, Dehradun 1,28,000, Hardwar 25,218; Calcutta (6 days) 4,15,709 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 1,30,182 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 82,280, total 2,04,446, Amravati 1,01,751, Raipur 89,049, Bhilai 36,063, Jalgaon 64,048, 1st week Chandrapur 1,50,170, 3rd Bilaspur 52,424; Indore 85,000 (1 on F.H.), 1st week Bhopal 1,21,000; 3rd week Jaipur 1,64,773, 2nd Bikaner 26,370; 3rd week Hyderabad (gross) 9,25,969 from 6 cinemas (2 in noon); 1st week Guntur (gross, 5 days) 95,866.

Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain is class A1 in Bombay and ranges from BB to A in other circuits except in Rajasthan where it is losing. 3rd week Bombay 36,36,373 (78.05%) from 10 cinemas (6 on F.H.); 1st week Vasai (gross) 3,08,329; 3rd week Ahmedabad 5,71,074 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Jamnagar 84,721, total 3,08,864; Pune 8,23,093 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,90,788; Belgaum 87,968; Delhi 19,25,519 from 7 cinemas; Kanpur 2,65,855 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,25,080, 2nd week Agra 2,10,000, 3rd Varanasi 1,14,776, Allahabad 1,12,216, Meerut 1,47,040, Dehradun 1,46,002, Hardwar 44,104, total 1,96,667; Calcutta (6 days) 6,37,611 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 4,02,733 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 90,401, total 3,67,665, Amravati 1,40,290, Akola 1,05,577, total 3,87,440, Dhule 76,151, total 2,98,017, Bhilai 1,11,826, 1st week Jalgaon 1,60,047, 3rd week Gondia (gross) 74,240, Chandrapur 1,09,193, total 4,37,501, Bilaspur 1,07,015; Jaipur 2,25,152, Ajmer (gross) 1,03,984, 2nd week Bikaner 93,914; 3rd Hyderabad (gross) 6,79,357 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon).

…………….

Tej Raftaar (dubbed) ran for 1 week at Dombivli (Bombay), now opened in city; doing well in Gujarat and Saurashtra; 1st week Dharwad 41,957; Delhi 2,77,435 (59.78%); Kanpur 71,953, Agra 1,02,000; Nagpur 1,05,972, 2nd week Amravati 38,328, 1st week Akola 1,32,850; 2nd week Indore 94,000; 1st week Jaipur 1,90,831.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai 17th week Bombay 13,41,995 (43.59%) from 5 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,48,203 from 2 cinemas, Baroda 88,507, 3rd week Cambay 79,543, total 2,52,232, 1st week Deesa 82,602; 17th week Pune 5,57,508 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 33,553; Delhi 1,97,296 (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,28,125 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,25,455, Agra 38,872, Allahabad 34,800, Dehradun 45,436; Calcutta (6 days) 1,37,310; Nagpur 68,491, 4th week Kamptee 38,282, total 2,38,533, 12th week Jabalpur 97,137, total 21,17,289, 17th week Amravati (6 days) 49,355, Akola 49,105, total 17,14,827, 4th week Durg (5 days) 33,082, 5th week Balaghat 40,384, total 3,16,206; 17th week Indore (6 days) 55,000; Jaipur 4,02,677; Hyderabad (gross) 4,40,999 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon, 1 on F.H.).

‘AA AB LAUT CHALEN’ TAX-FREE IN DELHI

Rishi Kapoor’s Aa Ab Laut Chalen has been granted exemption from payment of entertainment tax in Delhi. The collections in the capital city have shown a marked improvement following the tax-free rates of admission.

NEW CINEMA OPENS AT ANAND

A new cinema, Shivalaya, opened at Anand (in Gujarat) on 12th February with Tej Raftaar (dubbed). Air-conditioned and equipped with Dolby Stereophonic sound system, the cinema has a seating capacity of 391.

YOU ASKED IT

What, according to you, contributed to the bumper opening of Daag The Fire this week?

– Excellent promotion, hit music and Sanjay Dutt. The last few films of Sanjay Dutt may not have worked but if you remember, even his DAUD had taken a very good start.

Will Kajol continue to act in films after becoming Mrs. Devgan?

– Kajol is definitely committed to doing Rahul Rawail’s film. It will start some time in April.

Will Sarfarosh definitely be released in April? Any under-production reports?

– SARFAROSH is being readied for April release. John Mathew Mathan, an ad filmmaker of Bombay (not Delhi, as mentioned in an item in the 3-E column in our issue last week) has made a very good film, insiders say.

DO YOU KNOW?

* This is a strange coincidence. The Tamil film, UNNIDATHIL YENNAI KODUTHTHEN, was directed by Vikraman. And now its Hindi remake will be directed by Vikram Bhatt.

* For the first time in the history of Punjabi films, as many as 14 prints of a film — Manjit Maan’s SHAHEED-E-MOHABBAT BOOTA SINGH — have been released this week in Overseas (by Jupiter Enterprises). The film is doing very well in Punjab.

* The Gujarat-Surashtra distributor of TEJ RAFTAAR has been adding a fresh print every week. He started out with 7 prints, had 8 in the second week, 9 in the third week, and 10 in the fourth week. A rise every week with tej raftaar!

* Chandan cinema, Juhu, Bombay, has become the first cinema in India to install a 3-way Dolby digital sound system. It has been fully renovated and now has plush cushioned seats.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

‘Kachche Dhaage’, Pucca Record

Ajay Devgan’s distribution office in Bombay has plans to release Kachche Dhaage next week in a total of 101 cinemas simultaneously in the entire circuit. If the target is met — and it seems very likely that it will be — this would be the highest number of cinemas in which a film is released in the first week. Incidentally, Ajay Devgan has his hands full for 1999, as distributor. Besides Kachche Dhaage, he will be releasing Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, his own Dil Kya Kare, Nitin Manmohan’s Chal Mere Bhai and Aankh Micholee and J.P. Dutta’s Refugee.

Lucknow Exhibitors Trying Luck Now In Distribution

Two big-time exhibitors of U.P. have become distributors and have jointly acquired two big films for Delhi-U.P. The two exhibitors are Ajay Gupta of Novelty cinema, Lucknow, and Vijay Kumar Sahu of Sahu cinema, Lucknow. They’ve purchased the distribution rights of Venus’ Shah Rukh starrers, Badshah and Josh, in their partnership concern, A.V. Films Combine. Let’s hope, these two exhibitors of Lucknow prove lucky now in distribution too.

‘Daag’: A 100% Spotless Record

With Raj Kanwar’s Daag The Fire having opened to full and over-capacity houses this week and the reports also being extremely encouraging, the title Daag has proved to be lucky for the third time. The first time a film of this title was made was in 1952. Directed by Amiya Chakraborty, the B & W Daag starred Dilip Kumar, Usha Kiran and Nimmi. Like its music (Shankar Jaikishen), the film, too, was a runaway hit. The second Daag (in colour) was made in 1973 by Yash Chopra. It too proved to be a blockbuster. This one starred Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Raakhee, and had hit music by Laxmikant Pyarelal. While the earlier two Daags had two heroines each, the new Daag has one heroine (Mahima Chaudhry) but in a double role; heroes are two — Sanjay Dutt and Chandrachur Singh.

WAJOOD

N. Chandra Productions’ Wajood (UA) is the story of a guy in search of his own identity in the world of dramatics. He is madly in love with one of his co-artistes who is also his student. His love assumes obsessive proportions while the girl who he is in love with is completely unaware of this. She falls in love with another man but their marriage cannot take place due to circumstances. The obsessed lover, constantly criticised by his father for not earning anything, takes the short-cut to success and becomes a dreaded criminal who loots and even murders. He keeps informing his lady love (who is a journalist) of his future moves in the world of crime and she prints stories based on information supplied by him. When the police still can’t get their hands on him, they seek the journalist-cum-stage actress’ help to nab him.

The thought and story idea of the film, which has shades of Agni Sakshi, is good but its handling is abstract at several places, class-appealing in nature and even dull in parts. But alongside all this, there are moments that are brilliant — some because of the dialogues, some others due to the performances of the artistes and some more because of the originality of thought or all of the above together. Yet, the drama gets so boring and repetitive a few reels after interval that it even becomes irritating. Besides, there’s hardly any comedy or light scenes (except two or three small scenes of Johny Lever) to break the monotony of the tension. The character of the heroine — she becomes a journalist — looks contrived and, therefore, doesn’t go too well with the drama. Besides, the heroine not recognising her secret lover’s voice and even him when he comes in front of her, in disguise, looks unconvincing.

Nana Patekar excels as a performer and essays different roles — of an obsessive lover, of an unsuccessful son, of a mentally retarded man, of a thug etc. — with equal ease. But his style, it must be mentioned, is getting to become quite predictable. His dialogue delivery is splendid, especially the ‘Kaise bataaoon main tumhe’ monologue which is so lengthy, yet so beautifully delivered. Madhuri Dixit is generally good and excels in a couple of dramatic scenes like the one in which she wins the trophy for the best actress, confrontation with her father and showdown with her boss. Her dances are a delight to watch, as usual. Mukul Dev acts freely and naturally but is not too convincing in scenes of high-voltage drama. Ramya Krishnan is likeably subdued. Hemu Adhikari, as Nana’s father, is first-rate. His performance, dialogue delivery and expressions are just too fabulous. Shivaji Satam does an able job. Johny Lever is superb but has a brief role. Rajiv Verma leaves a mark. Jagdeep is quite nice. Tej Sapru is impressive. Gick Grewal, as Jagdeep’s wife, is effective. Kunika, Suhas Joshi, Parikshat Sahni (special appearance), Sanjay Mishra and Rajdutt provide fair support.

N. Chandra’s direction is good but his narration seems to be targetted more at the elite/city audience. Dialogues (Kamlesh Pandey and N. Chandra) are masterly at many places. Of the songs, ‘Ki toot gayee’ is mass-appealing. ‘Sanam tum hum pe marte ho’ is quite good but its lyrics are not easy to understand. Camerawork (W.B. Rao) is effective. Action scenes are well-composed. The film can do with plenty of chopping because of a loose script.

On the whole, Wajood is a city film, mainly for Maharashtra. It will be appreciated by the balcony-class audience. It needs to be heavily edited, though. A loser.

Released on 11-12-’98 at Eros and 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity: fair. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was good in Maharashtra but ordinary elsewhere.

KUDRAT

Film Enterprises’ Kudrat (UA) is a love story. At first, the heroine, a rich spoilt girl, looks down upon the hero but the latter ultimately wins her heart. Even the girl’s father agrees to the alliance and, in fact, it is he who asks his daughter to choose the hero as her life partner. But on the day of the engagement, the father insults the hero and his family members, calls off the engagement and cites old enmity as the cause for his action. He makes it clear that he had been playing a wicked game all along. The suspense about the enmity between the two families and what transpired thereafter is revealed later although references to the suspense are made earlier too. Ultimately, the father is made to realise his folly, and the lovers unite.

The love between the hero and heroine looks unreal and even the suspense angle has no shock value whatsoever. The change of face of the hero’s father, by plastic surgery leaves the viewer as uninvolved in the drama as he is throughout the rest of the film because of two reasons — one, the concept is not so common as to be easily appreciated and secondly, such a surgery has been seen in Vishwa Vidhaata earlier. Screenplay is dull and the lesson the heroine’s father is made to learn in the end (about outraging the modesty of a girl) looks fake. Emotions are absent except, maybe, in one scene.

Akshaye Khanna does a fairly good job but doesn’t look very dashing. Urmila Matondkar acts ably and looks pretty but the actress should change her mannerisms and facial expressions as they are tending to become repetitive. Aroona Irani does a fine job. Kader Khan is alright and so is Paresh Rawal. Ravi Kishan, Shalini Kapoor and Ashish Nagpal lend average support. Anant Mahadevan, Maya Alagh, Kiran Kumar, Achyut Potdar, Ghanshyam, Gavin and the rest of the cast fit the bill.

Direction is ordinary. The director has not been able to infuse feelings into the subject. On the music front (Rajesh Roshan), the ‘Chidi ki dukki’, ‘Aaj hoke rahe apna milan’, ‘Deewane do dil mile’, ‘Main hoon akeli’ and ‘Tujhe dene ko mere paas kuchh nahin’ are well-tuned numbers but the only mass-appealing one is the first-mentioned song. Song picturisations are fair. Action scenes are alright. Camerawork is good. Other technical values are okay.

On the whole, Kudrat is a dull fare and will put its distributors to heavy losses.

Released on 11-12-’98 at Dreamland and 10 other cinemas of Bombay by Raj Enterprises thru Shringar Films. Publicity: good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor almost everywhere.

LATEST POSITION

Except for SOLDIER, none of the new releases has been able to make a mark at the box-office.

Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate has not found acceptance. It is good only in parts of Bombay city, and disastrous elsewhere. 1st week Bombay 29,81,165 (73.11%) from 10 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,22,461 from 3 cinemas; Pune 6,56,618 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee) 47,818; Belgaum 1,05,267; Delhi 19,13,854 (38.84%) from 10 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,75,963 from 3 cinemas, Lucknow (6 days) 1,40,712, Agra 1,32,000, Allahabad 78,000, Bareilly (6 days) 57,818 (30.17%); Calcutta (6 days) 5,59,248 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 4,26,555 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 70,856, Amravati (6 days) 54,074, Akola 83,768, Raipur (6 days) 89,173; Indore 1,62,184 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,63,044 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur  3,60,629 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 8,55,728 from 4 cinemas.

………

China Gate is steady at some centres. 2nd week Bombay 37,00,420 (75%) from 10 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 8,42,539 from 7 cinemas, 1st week Padra 1,38,188, 2nd week Rajkot 1,33,730, Jamnagar 1,06,109 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 9,34,205 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,67,278, Solapur 1,31,265; Delhi 24,93,436 from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,52,863 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,64,025, Agra 2,25,000, Varanasi 1,46,281, Allahabad 1,67,411, Bareilly 78,811 (26%); Nagpur 2,89,053 from 2 cinemas, 1st week Jabalpur 1,71,576, 2nd week Amravati (6 days) 1,66,007, Akola 1,15,632, total 3,06,303, Raipur (6 days) 1,09,809, Bhilai 91,956, Gondia (gross) 68,216; Indore 65,275 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,98,733 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 2,60,234, 1st week Bikaner 2,17,686, Udaipur 2,27,428; 2nd week Hyderabad 8,38,991 from 5 cinemas.

Doli Saja Ke Rakhna 2nd week Bombay 8,28,084 (48.48%) from 5 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Baroda 54,067; Pune 2,14,535 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 90,365; Delhi 2,47,471 from 2 cinemas; Kanpur 54,922, Lucknow 1,07,952, Varanasi 47,252, Allahabad 37,000; Nagpur 52,500, Raipur (6 days) 47,123, Bhilai 44,075, 1st week Chandrapur 1,06,721; Indore 1,29,500 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.), 2nd week Bhopal 54,407; Hyderabad 3,68,081 from 2 cinemas (1 cinema for 4 days).

Soldier proves class A in some circuits and BB in others. In East Punjab, it is AA, equal to KKHH! 3rd week Bombay 22,75,545 (79.46%) from 7 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,15,967 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), 1st week Patan 1,48,142; 3rd week Pune 5,00,354 from 3 cinemas, Kolhapur (16 shows) 55,194, Solapur 98,990; Delhi 16,69,286 from 7 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,00,416 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,44,757, Varanasi 2,59,546, Bareilly (6 days) 1,27,021 (53.94%), Hardwar 48,887; Calcutta (6 days) 2,57,226; Nagpur 2,01,378 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,01,233, total 4,43,516, Amravati (6 days) 77,004, Raipur (6 days) 83,224, Bhilai 39,344, 2nd week Durg (6 days) 54,671, 1st week Chandrapur 2,02,800, 2nd week Yavatmal 73,834; 3rd week Jaipur 4,39,150 from 2 cinemas, 2nd week Bikaner 1,61,123, 3rd week Udaipur 1,27,735; Hyderabad 6,37,883 from 2 cinemas, excellent.

Fire (dubbed) has done remarkably well at several places due to the widespread publicity its discontinuance in Bombay and Delhi has got. Collections have shot up remarkably in Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad and Calcutta. 4th week Baroda (matinee) 20,328; Solapur 98,044; 2nd week Kanpur 1,62,743, 4th week Lucknow 1,68,324, Allahabad 58,750; 3rd week Calcutta (6 days) 1,56,961; 4th week Nagpur (17 shows) 78,462; 1st week Jaipur 4,17,719, excellent.

Armageddon (dubbed) 1st week Akola 1,35,893, excellent.

KAVI PRADEEP NO MORE

Noted poet and lyricist Kavi Pradeep died at his residence in Bombay on 11th December due to old age. He was 84 and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Pradeep had penned several immortal songs for Hindi films, mostly in the ‘forties and ‘fifties. His most famous song was undoubtedly Aye mere watan ke logon sung by Lata Mangeshkar. This song had brought tears to the eyes of Jawaharlal Nehru. Another hit song of his, Chal chal re naujawan from Bandhan, had become the youth march for the army in the 1940s. Aao bachchon tumhe dikhaayen from Jagruti was yet another super-hit penned by the super-genius. The first film for which he wrote songs was Kangan and when he was asked to pen its lyrics, he was hesitant and said, he was a poet and had never written a film song. Pradeep was also a singer and music director, and several of his songs used to have tunes composed by himself. Among the other films for which he wrote songs are Punarmilan, Anjaan, Jhoola, Kismat (Door hathon ae duniya walon, Hindustan hamara hai), Girls School, Baap Beti, Vaman Avtar, Chakradhari etc. The last film for which he penned songs was Aankh Ka Tara. He had written about 1,700 film and non-film songs in six decades.

Kavi Pradeep just this year had been awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award.

N.C. SIPPY BEREAVED

Mohini Sippy, wife of producer N.C. Sippy and mother of producer Romu Sippy and director Raj N. Sippy, expired on 6th December in Bombay. Marka ceremony was held on 8th at Nij Thanw, Khar, Bombay.

PRAMOD MAHAJAN NEW I & B MINISTER

Pramod Mahajan has been appointed the new Union minister for information and broadcasting. The I & B ministry was being handled by prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee after the earlier I & B minister, Sushma Swaraj, was appointed chief minister of Delhi.

CASE AGAINST MAMTA KULKARNI IN BANGLADESH

Mamta Kulkarni and seven others face a case in a Dhaka court under the sections 500, 501, 502 and 109 of the Bangladesh Penal Code for allegedly speaking for reunification of Bangladesh and West Bengal. An advocate filed the case on 7th December, alleging that the eight offenders, including the editor of a newspaper, had violated the sections by their remarks published in the newspaper.

Mamta was in Dhaka last week for the shooting of a Bengali film, Sesh Bangsadhar, an Indo-Bangladesh co-production.

JOHNY LEVER SENTENCED TO JAIL

The 19th metropolitan magistrate’s court at Esplanade in Bombay on 8th December sentenced comedian Johny Lever to seven days’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 1,000 on him under section 2 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour and Constitution of India Act, 1971.

Actor Johny Lever was arrested by the police immediately after the court order was passed. But since he has already served three days in jail for the offence, he will now be jailed for only four more days.

It may be recalled that the Bombay police had booked Johny Lever soon after receiving video tapes of a party held in Dubai in 1989, which depicted the famed comedian parodying the Indian national anthem in an objectionable manner.

PREMATURE TELECAST OF FILMS ON SATELLITE CHANNELS: CCCA PROPOSES SEVERE FINES

In a meeting to be held on 21st December in Indore, the executive committee of the Central Circuit Cine Association will discuss a proposal to impose severe penalties on producers in the event of premature telecast of their films on satellite and cable television. The CCCA has already initiated action deciding on imposition of a penalty of Rs. 2,50,000 on a producer if his film is prematurely telecast, but the new proposal will impose much higher penalties to duly compensate the distributors for their losses arising out of the telecast. The proposal states:

i) A producer selling the rights for telecast within one year of the film’s release in the circuit shall be made to pay a compensation of Rs. 10,00,000, out of which Rs. 7,50,000 shall be proportionately distributed among the film’s distributors in C.P. Berar, C.I. and Rajasthan, the balance going to the CCCA’s coffers;

ii) A producer selling the rights for telecast between one and two years of the film’s release shall pay Rs. 7,50,000, out of which Rs. 5,50,000 shall go to the distributors;

iii) A producer selling the rights for telecast between two and three years of its release shall be made to pay Rs. 6,00,000, out of which Rs. 4,00,000 shall go to the distributors; and

iv) A producer selling the rights for telecast between three and five years of its release shall pay Rs. 4,00,000, out of which Rs. 2,50,000 shall go to the distributors.

Apart from the above, the distributors shall be entitled to get their claims against business losses registered with the CCCA, irrespective of the forced undertaking given by them to the producers at the time of the agreement or at the time of delivery of prints, the proposal states.

It is also proposed that a dialogue be initiated with the production sector in order to resolve the issue permanently.

Supreme Court To Hear ‘Fire’ Plea On 15th December

The raging Fire controversy refuses to die down. Industry people, including Dilip Kumar, Mahesh Bhatt and the film’s director, Deepa Mehta, as also some lawyers have petitioned the Supreme Court, seeking a direction for restoration of “rule of law and the Constitution before the situation slips into a complete threatened anarchy”. While declining to issue notice on a limited plea for providing security to Deepa Mehta, the director of Fire, the Court fixed 15th December as the date to hear the petition along with an intervention application filed by a Delhi resident. The application seeks an apology from Deepa Mehta for hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindus by portraying lesbianism in the film.

The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice A.S. Anand, Justice M. Srinivasan and Justice M.B. Shah told the counsel for the petitioners to stop talking to the press as the matter was sub judice. The petition has sought a direction to Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi, the Maharashtra government, Shiv Sena and Bal Thackeray to take all steps to provide a sense of security, apart from mere protection so that the film can be exhibited. The petitioners have also requested the Court to issue suitable directions, including the direction by way of continuing mandamus, that those guilty for the acts perpetrated are brought to book and tried in accordance with law.

The film, it may be mentioned here, has been referred by the I & B ministry to the CBFC for re-examination.

Meanwhile, the arguments for and against the film’s screening continue. The Bombay police on 9th December arrested about 30 demonstrators after they assembled outside the city’s New Empire cinema to protest against the Shiv Sena’s call for a ban on the film. Even some lady journalists, who had gone to cover the demonstration for their newspapers, were arrested by the police. It may be mentioned here that the police had not taken any action against Shiv Sena members last week when they disrupted the screening of Fire at New Empire and Cinemax. In the meantime, the Indian Film Directors’ Association has condemned the violent protest against the film. The Film Federation of India has also made formal protests in this regard to Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi as well as to I & B minister of state, M.A. Naqvi.

YOU ASKED IT

Is it true that the Rajshri group has joined hands with some NRI to start an exhibition chain all over India?

– Several NRIs have been contacting the Rajshri people with different proposals but nothing concrete has shaped up so far.

What are the Associations doing to protect distributors’ interests in the event of producers selling satellite rights for telecast soon after theatrical release of films?

– Distributors’ associations all over India have taken a serious note of the new trend, and a policy decision is like to be taken by them on the lines of the decision of the Central Circuit Cine Association. The CCCA is in the process of finalising the steps to be taken by its distributor-members in such an event.

Is it advisable to remake a hit in the same language?

– It is advisable to do so only if the maker is sure, he can better it or if the hit had been released many years ago and it has not been seen by many of today’s audience.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Majrooh Sultanpuri, who had penned the hit Hum to mohabbat karega song of DILLI KA THUG in 1958, will once again be writing the title song of K.P. Singh’s HUM TO MOHABBAT KAREGA. While that song of 40 years ago was picturised on Kishore Kumar and Nutan, the new song will be picturised on Bobby Deol and Karisma Kapoor.

* Bombay distributor Ramesh Sippy is offering a special discount of 40% at Bombay’s Central Plaza cinema in the 3 p.m. show from Mondays through Fridays for DOLI SAJA KE RAKHNA. The discount is available only in the stalls and that too for ladies audience.

RHYME TIME

Truth About ‘Jhooth…’

It was touted as a comedy
But for distributors, it has proved a tragedy
This Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate
‘Coz it has caused bade bade ghaate

Playing With Fire

The case of Deepa Mehta’s Fire
Shows how the Sena state-managed public ire
Shouldn’t the Centre in its whimsical fashion
Having sent Fire for re-examination
Now make CBFC, an abbreviation
For Central Board of Farcical Certification?

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Record Of Sorts

With Kunwara to be released in Bombay by Shringar Films, this would be the fifth David Dhawan film starring Govinda to be released by Shringar. The association of Shringar Films with David Dhawan-directed Govinda-starrers began with Swarg. David’s next film to be released by Shringar was Coolie No. 1, followed quickly by Saajan Chale Sasural. Both starred Govinda. Recently, Shringar released David’s fourth film, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda. Kunwara also stars Govinda.

Akshaye Khanna’s Producers Panic

The poor opening response to Kudrat this week comes close on the heels of the disastrous initial of Doli Saja Ke Rakhna two weeks back. Besides the fact that both the films have been such poor starters, what is causing concern to producers of Akshaye Khanna starrers is that both, Kudrat and Doli…, are solo Akshaye starrers. Like the producers of his films, distributors of Akshaye’s films are also panicking although everyone is trying hard to hide his panic. After all, people associated with a star’s films should be the last ones to show, they are scared. Or else, how will they inspire the confidence of exhibitors for giving them (distributors) the much-awaited advances?

 

DO AANKHEN BARAH HATH

Sri Nirmaladevi Combines’ Do Aankhen Barah Hath (UA) is a masala film which has some romance, drama, revenge, separation, comedy, action, dances etc. But none of the abovesaid ingredients offers anything new or exciting. A boy-child is deserted by his mother for fear that her brother would kill him. He grows up and gets entangled in a love triangle. There are villains out to kill him; however, he manages to not only save himself but also wipe out the evil men and unite with his mother. He gets married to his beloved too.

If the story is routine, the screenplay has been childishly written without caring for logic. The film has taken too long in the making and the delay shows. Double-meaning dialogues, which constitute the comedy, would appeal to the front-benchers.

Govinda enacts a role which doesn’t suit his current status. All the same, he does well except in some scenes where he overacts. Both the heroines give poor accounts of themselves. Madhuvanti makes a disastrous debut, with neither the looks nor talent of a heroine. Roopali also does not impress. Aroona Irani does a fair job as Govinda’s mother. Johny Lever, Harish Patel, Asrani and Liliput provide light moments. Sadashiv Amarapurkar does a reasonably good job. Kiran Kumar is quite nice. Raman Khatri is average. Ishrat Ali, Arjun and Jack Gaud alongwith Anil Dhawan and the rest of the cast lend average support.

Direction (Kirti Kumar) is no better than the script. The director seems to have lost all interest in the film during its making. Music is good. ‘Mile jo tere naina’ and ‘Kasam se kasam se’ are melodious. Song picturisations give the film a dated look. Action scenes are so-so. Camerawork is okay. Production values are below the mark. Dialogues are passable.

On the whole, Do Aankhen Barah Hath is a dull and stale fare which will prove a burden for all concerned.

Released on 11-7-’97 at Alankar and 14 other cinemas of Bombay thru Shree Vijayraj Pictures. Publicity: average. Opening: below average. …….Also released all over to dull houses.

MRITYUDAND

Prakash Jha Productions’ Mrityudand (UA) is the story of three women in a village of Bihar. Male chauvinism is at its peak in this backward village where women are treated as pieces of furniture. The three women in the story dare to protest and break the myth that it is the wont of women to suffer in silence.

The story is different and forward-looking. Although the screenplay is well-written, the drama often moves at a terribly slow pace. References to business, business rivalry, government’s reservation policy etc. give the film a flavour that restricts its appeal to the class audience. Further, although the feeling one gets as the drama unfolds is that it deals with the upliftment of womenfolk in general, the film actually finally turns out to be a personal vendetta of the three women in particular. This dilutes the impact of the drama. The revolt of the ladies, moreover, is subdued and lacks fire which was needed to draw applause. Yes, a few scenes will evoke claps but not the climax. Dialogues are brilliant and very bold but only at places. The Bihari flavour has been brought across beautifully and the language spoken by the characters makes the atmosphere realistic. Climax should have been more fiery.

Performances are first rate. Shabana Azmi lives the role of the suffering-in-silence daughter-in-law and humiliated wife who ultimately revolts by throwing all myths to the winds. She gives a remarkable performance and does not overact even one bit. Madhuri Dixit does a splendid job as the educated younger daughter-in-law. She acts with effortless ease and should win accolades and awards for the excellent portrayal. She also looks beautiful. Ayub Khan is restrained as Madhuri’s husband, and impresses a lot. Shilpa Shirodkar is natural to the core. Mohan Joshi excels as the villain and evokes instant hatred. Om Puri is too good. Mohan Agashe plays his character with aplomb. Pyare Mohan leaves a very good impression. Harish Patel does an efficient job. Brij Gopal, Abha Dhulia, Achyut Potdar and the rest lend admirable support.

Given the story, Prakash Jha’s narration is very good. But he should have balanced the tense drama with some comedy and romance to make the film universally appealing. He, however, deserves distinction marks for extracting wonderful performances from his entire team. Three scenes — one in which Madhuri Dixit asks her husband not to behave like a God, one in which Shabana Azmi openly exposes her husband’s impotence, and the one in which Shilpa Shirodkar calls Mohan Joshi a pimp — have been shot exceptionally well and will evoke claps. But the fact remains that the film has very limited appeal as it moves on just one track which also lacks entertainment value. Of the songs, ‘Kehdo ek baar sajna’ is extremely hummable, but a couple of other songs are very dull, though, thankfully, short. Picturisations of two songs are good. Background music (Raghunath Seth) is superb. Camerawork (Rajen Kothari) is fantastic. Technically, very nice.

On the whole, Mrityudand is a film for very select cinemas in select cities only, because it has an inherent ‘class’ appeal, being too serious a film and devoid of regular masala like hit music, comedy, romance etc. It will, therefore, entail losses to most of its distributors. Its Bihari flavour may help it in Bihar. Tax exemption (the film is tax-free in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh) will help to an extent.

Released on 10-7-’97 at Metro (matinee) and on 11-7-’97 at Novelty and 12 other cinemas of Bombay by Vimal Agarwal and Cineyug thru R.M. Ahuja & Co. Publicity: good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull almost everywhere.

LATEST POSITION

GUPT has recorded extraordinary collections in 1st week except in C.I. Heavy rains in different parts (Bombay, Maharashtra, Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh etc.) affected collections during the week.

Gupt has done tremendous business in 1st week. Cinemas screening DTS prints are drawing unprecedented crowds. 1st week Bombay 46,81,379 (98.16%) from 12 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 16,55,279 from 6 cinemas, Anand 5,05,450, Nadiad 3,97,325, Palanpur 2,09,254, Padra 2,80,068, Mehsana 2,36,275, Valsad 3,43,513 (92.75%), Bharuch (gross) 3,48,880 (100%), Rajkot 1,79,000 (100%), Jamnagar 1,52,097 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 12,34,611 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,77,338, Solapur 4,31,850 from 2 cinemas; Hubli 100%, Belgaum 100%, Dharwad 100%; Delhi 49,33,354 (92.23%) from 13 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Kanpur 5,39,052 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,11,307 (100%), Allahabad 1,53,953, Varanasi 1,87,113, Meerut 2,34,731 (100%), Bareilly 1,71,200 (77.97%), Dehradun 1,84,552 (77.87%), Gorakhpur 1,62,000 (88.89%); Calcutta 37,31,102 from 27 cinemas (of these 14 cinemas are for 6 days; 15 on F.H.); Guwahati about 2,83,000 from 6 cinemas; Nagpur 10,68,286 from 5 cinemas, Akola 1,78,020, Raipur 2,35,647 (97.31%), Bhilai 1,71,000 (1 unrecd.), Chandrapur 1,87,657, Yavatmal 1,30,198; Indore 4,20,000 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 5,25,308 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 13,03,987 from 4 cinemas, Bikaner 3,22,280 (100%), Udaipur 2,18,600; Hyderabad 39,76,909 from 17 cinemas, share 21,96,375, Aurangabad share 3,85,000; Bangalore 12,70,000 (100%) from 7 cinemas, Davangere 100%, share 1,30,000; Vijayawada 3,20,670 (100%), Kurnool 98,490; Madras 100%.

……….

Border (TF) 4th week Bombay 41,77,264 (91.49%) from 12 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,97,566 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 1,61,802, Rajkot 1,62,342, Jamnagar 81,310, Adipur 85,110, 1st week Bhuj 1,46,970; 4th Pune (TF) 6,01,313 from 3 cinemas, Kolhapur (TF) 1,87,163, Solapur (TF) 1,28,544 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Hubli 79,857, Belgaum 59,384; Delhi 34,12,604 from 10 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,04,071 (1 unrecd.), Lucknow 3,22,783 (100%), Allahabad 1,42,000, Varanasi 1,42,532, Bareilly 77,032 (34.48%), Dehradun 1,66,608, Gorakhpur 1,20,000, Hardwar 52,000; Rohtak 32,146; Calcutta 5,75,147 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur (TF) 2,51,062 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,03,192, total 9,78,088, Akola (TF) 1,20,518, total 6,82,877, Raipur 96,550, total 5,85,141, Bhilai 77,417, Durg 60,048, Wardha (TF) 47,851, total 2,68,000, share 2,00,000, Chandrapur (TF) 1,35,944, total 7,24,310, Yavatmal (TF) 45,282; Indore 1,40,096 (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,51,917; Jaipur 4,63,831 from 2 cinemas, Jodhpur 2,85,000, Bikaner 1,81,445; Hyderabad 4,42,794 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), share 1,95,794.

Virasat 6th week Bombay 15,35,854 (71.03%) from 6 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 95,700 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), 5th week Rajkot 67,495; 6th week Pune 5,71,292 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,06,965, Solapur 90,186, 2nd Barsi 26,000; 6th week Delhi 91,387; Kanpur 66,776, Lucknow 1,71,961, Allahabad 39,000, Varanasi 34,180, Meerut 40,204, Dehradun 50,676, Gorakhpur 27,400, Hardwar 16,533; Calcutta 2,21,675 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 53,313, Jabalpur 79,482, total 7,41,787, Amravati 46,095, 2nd Akola 75,900, total 1,98,150, 6th Raipur 47,605, Bhilai (5 days) 21,300, 2nd week Wardha 48,115; 6th Bhopal 57,414; Jaipur 1,19,784, 2nd week Udaipur 70,680; 6th week Hyderabad 2,77,197.

CHETAN ANAND DEAD

Veteran producer-director-actor Chetan Anand died in the early morning hours of 6th July at Nanavati Hospital in Bombay. He had been suffering from kidney failure and chronic asthma. He was 82 and is survived by his illustrious brothers, Dev and Vijay Anand, wife Uma, and sons Ketan and Vivek.

Chetan Anand was cremated the same day at Oshiwara (Bombay) and the funeral was attended by a number of film personalities including B.R. Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan.

Chetan Anand made his debut in films in 1944 as hero in Phani Mazumdar’s Rajkumar. He made his first film, Neecha Nagar, in 1946. It was not only acclaimed in the country but also won an award at the Cannes film festival.

Chetan Anand made a variety of films. Haqeeqat, which he directed in 1964, was based on the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and was India’s first war film. It went on to become a super-hit. His other memorable films are Heer Ranjha, the only film written in verse, Taxi Driver, Andhiyan, Hindustan Ki Kasam, Afsar, Fantoosh, Hanste Zakhm and Kudrat. His last film was Haathon Ki Lakeerein. He made films for his brother Dev Anand under the banner of Navketan Productions and for himself under the banner of Himalaya Productions.

‘MRITYUDAND’ RELEASE: ERSTWHILE C.P. DISTRIBUTOR GETS NO RELIEF IN COURT

Rajesh Jain, the erstwhile distributor of Mrityudand for C.P. Berar, could not get any relief from the court for restraining the film’s release. He had gone to court after the CCCA refused to register the film in his favour and, instead, registered it in favour of another. As mentioned last week, Rajesh was late in knocking the doors of the court. Justice Kapadia opined that had Rajesh sought justice six months back when producer Prakash Jha sought a price increase for the first time, things may have been different. Following no relief in Justice Kapadia’s court, Rajesh went in appeal before a division bench but his appeal was disallowed.

JAYSINH RATANSHI DEAD

Veteran Bombay distributor Jaysinh Ratanshi (of Jaysinh Pictures P. Ltd.) expired on 6th July in Bombay. He used to be the regular distributor of Raj Kapoor’s films till the eighties.

ROAD IN DELHI TO BE NAMED AFTER S.P. SINGH

Aadharshila, a group of writers, journalists and artistes, paid emotional tribute to the memory of noted journalist S.P. Singh and well-known theatre and TV artiste Anand Sharma at a function in Delhi last week in the Indian Council for Cultural Relations auditorium, Azad Bhawan. The president of Aadharshila, Pradeep Sardana, demanded that for paying memorable tribute to the memory of S.P. Singh, a road in the capital city, preferably one near the place where the office of Aaj Tak is located, should be named after him. He also requested suitable financial help for the family of Anand Sharma. Chief minister of Delhi welcomed both the suggestions and assured that he would immediately act on this.

Sardana recalled how only last December, S.P. Singh was awarded the Aadharshila award for Aaj Tak at the same auditorium. He also announced the starting of two special awards in the memory of these two personalities, one to be given to an outstanding journalist and the other, to the best actor of the year, in the annual Aadharshila awards function.

Tributes were also paid in this programme to film journalist Sampat Lal Purohit and filmmaker Basu Bhattacharya, both of whom also expired recently.

‘MRITYUDAND’ TAX-FREE IN MAHARASHTRA, M.P.

Prakash Jha’s Mrityudand has been granted 100% tax exemption in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. While the exemption in Maharashtra is for one year, that in M.P. is for six months.

CHITRA, SATARA DOWNS SHUTTERS

Chitra Talkies, Satara, closed down from 30th June. It was owned by Girdhar Shah and controlled by Vilas Karandikar. The cinema used to screen only English films. A commercial complex is likely to come up in place of the cinema which will be demolished soon.

NEW CINEMA IN HUBLI

A new cinema — Sri Laxmi Narayan — will open in Hubli, most likely on 18th July.

POWER SUPPLY DISCONTINUED TO 2 DELHI CINEMAS

The owners of Swaran cinema in Delhi have moved the court against the cancellation of power supply by the Delhi Vidyut Board on 4th July. The electricity connection was snapped on Friday while the afternoon show was still on.

The Swaran owners are challenging the decision of the DVB as, according to them, the power was cut without issuance of notice and this is against law. The capacity of the transformer at Swaran is 30 KW but they had been allegedly drawing around 40 KW.

The owners say that they had been requesting the DVB to increase the strength of the transformer to 40 KW, but no step had been initiated.

Meanwhile, the power supply of another cinema hall, Payal, has also been disconnected for deficiencies in the installation of transformer and other electrical equipment.

CENSOR NEWS

United Seven Combines’ Yes Boss, applied on 7th and seen on 8th, has been issued C.C. No. CIL/1/25/97 (U) dt. 10-7-’97; length 4536.84 metres in 16 reels (no cut).

Eklavya Visions’ Daava was given C.C. No. CIL/3/19/97 (A) dt. 7-7-’97; length 4452.75 metres in 16 reels (cuts: 156.80 metres).

Rohitasha Movies’ Dhaal has been passed for adults, with cuts, by the revising committee.

Mukta Arts Pvt. Ltd.’s Pardes (length 5261.45 metres in 21 reels), applied on 9th and seen on 10th, has been passed with U certificate, with 3 minor cuts.

Chiragdeep International’s Bhai Bhai will be seen next week.

TV & VIDEO INFORMATION

MUKESH KHANNA’S ‘SHAKTIMAN’ ON DD1

Bhishma International’s Shaktiman, produced by Mukesh Khanna and starring himself in the main lead, will go on air on DD1 from August. Directed by Dinkar Jani and written by Brij Mohan Pandey, the serial co-stars Kitu Gidwani, Navab, Deepak Bhatia and Brij Mohan Pandey.

YOU ASKED IT

In 150 weeks of HAHK..!, how many prints of the film have been taken out?

– 510 prints, unarguably the highest for first-run films.

Which has done more business, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge or Raja Hindustani?

– RAJA HINDUSTANI is a shade better in many of the circuits.

Is it advisable to make a star-studded horror film with a lot of computer graphics today?

– You can make anything, so long as the film has the merits to sustain audience interest and it offers something new.

DO YOU KNOW?

* GUPT has created a theatre record by collecting 2,48,740/- in 1st week at Anupam, Ahmedabad.

* GUPT has created history at Krishna, Padra (Gujarat), by collecting 2,80,068/- in 1st week.

* GUPT has created a theatre record by collecting 3,97,325/- in 1st week at Shreyas, Nadiad.

* GUPT has created a theatre record by collecting 3,11,307/- (100%) in 1st week at Anand, Lucknow.

* GUPT has created a theatre record at Shah, Agra, by drawing all shows full (2,39,927/-) in 1st week.

* GUPT has created a theatre record by collecting 2,40,285/- in 1st week at Apsara, Aligarh.

* GUPT has created a theatre record by collecting 1,87,622/- in 1st week at Miglani, Moradabad.

* GUPT has created a theatre record by collecting 3,71,801/- in 1st week at Prem Prakash, Jaipur.

* GUPT has created a theatre record by collecting 2,07,430/- in 1st week at Anand, Jodhpur.

* BORDER (tax-free) has created a theatre record by collecting 2,06,612/- in 4th week at Panchsheel, Nagpur.

* BORDER (TF) has created a city record by collecting 1,96,757/- in 4th week at Rajlaxmi, Amravati.

* BORDER (TF) has created another theatre record at Rajkamal, Akola, by collecting 1,20,518/- in 4th week (26 shows). Total: 6,82,877/-.

In Capital City Of Des For Music Release Of Pardes

After lying low for more than a year-and-a-half, Subhash Ghai decided to be his normal self on the 6th of July. So he did what he normally does. He organised a grand function at the grander Hyatt Regency Hotel in Delhi for releasing the music of his Pardes. And, as usual, he flew the Bombay press to cover the function.

I know, it must not have been pre-planned but I’d like to think otherwise. No, not the audio release party. I’m talking of the number of the room allotted to me in Hyatt. It was 124 and I couldn’t help remembering the ‘One two ka four’ song from Ghai’s earlier hit, Ram Lakhan, all through my 28-hour-and-some-15 minutes’ stay in Delhi. There were other reasons too for humming that super-hit number.

One of them was that the release function, which was scheduled to start at 1 p.m., commenced only around 2 p.m. One ka two, you see. Secondly, there wasn’t one but two different cassette release functions — one in the afternoon for the local press and film trade, and the other in the evening for political dignitaries and special friends. One ka two again, you see again! And for the two functions, there were four artistes of the film — Shah Rukh Khan, Amrish Puri and newcomers Mahima Chaudhry and Apoorva Agnihotri — present. The music team was also represented by four singers — Kavita Krishnamoorthy, Kumar Sanu, Sonu Nigam and Hema Sardesai. Of the two music directors, Nadeem and Shravan, only the latter, that is one, could make it to Delhi. See, how important the numbers ‘one’, ‘two’ and ‘four’ were in the showman’s function. So, do you blame me for constantly being haunted by the ‘One two ka four’ number?

Well, now coming to function number one. Ashok Amritraj and Jackie Shroff set the ball rolling by throwing open a float of the film on the dais and lighting the traditional lamp. An audio-visual of Subhash Ghai’s journey in the film industry under the Mukta Arts banner served to remind one of the hits and blockbusters the Ghai guy has given. Then there was the usual I-present-you-one-cassette-you-give-me-one-cassette ceremony with the recipients and the givers flashing smiles for the still and video cameras. In between the barter exchange of cassettes, the playback singers rendered songs from Pardes.

Lunch and drinks, hosted by distributors Mukta-Shakti Combines, followed, and by the time the celebrations were over, it was 4 o’clock. 1 (p.m.) ka 2 (p.m.) ka 4 (p.m.).

The evening function was almost a repetition of the afternoon one except that the two new faces, Mahima and Apoorva, were formally introduced to the gathering in the evening. Chief of army staff General S. Rowchowdhury formally released the cassette and presented one to Subhash Ghai. Ex-prime minister of India Atal Behari Vajpayee and Congress vice president Jitendra Prasad were special invitees. Atal-ji won a thunderous round of applause when, on being asked by Ghai to speak do shabd, announced that he would speak teen shabd and went on to say the three words, “Bahut bahut dhanyavad” before stepping down from the dais.

The playback singers enthralled the audience again with songs from the film. Kumar Sanu sang Do dil mil rahe hain, Hema Sardesai rendered ‘My first day in USA’, Sonu Nigam sang Dil deewana dil, and Kavita Krishnamoorthy aroused patriotic feelings with her ‘I love my India’ song. If there was anything that in a small way spoilt the show, it was the microphone which kept failing at the wrong time. But this is India and without such lapses, how can a function be complete? No, I don’t want to complain because I love such lapses as much as I love my India.

Drinks and dinner in the company of Delhiites followed. The next morning, breakfast was with Subhash Ghai. Actually, it was more of a ‘brunch’ (breakfast plus lunch) — two-in-one, if I may use the ‘one’ and ‘two’ again — because it was well past 12 noon by the time we had our first bite from a table laid with egg omelettes, dosa, puri bhaji, aloo parathas etc.

1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on the 7th of July was time for shopping and lunch respectively. And 4 p.m. was time to bid goodbye to Ghai and his Pardes family. It was also the time for a shock. Where was my ticket? Frantic searches and exactly three minutes later, it was clear that I had misplaced the ticket to Bombay. Ghai immediately instructed that a new ticket be purchased at the airport. Now this kind of one two ka four or rather, four two ka one, I least expected.

Feeling guilty for my absent-mindedness and more guilty for the monetary loss, I returned to buy a new ticket. “Name please,” asked the Sahara airlines staffer. “Komal Nahta,” I replied dejectedly. “Komal Nahta?”, asked the staffer excitedly. “We’ve already got your ticket, Sir. You left it in the aeroplane yesterday when you flew from Bombay to Delhi,” he informed a thrilled me.

Oh, I love Sahara India, I love Sahara India……. just as I love ‘I love my India’ from Pardes.

P.S.: I’ve stopped humming ‘One two ka four’ now. Instead, I’m singing ‘I love my India’…..

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

No. 1 in Hindi & Sindhi

It is common knowledge that producer Vashu Bhagnani, who has a penchant for ‘No. 1’ in his film titles (Coolie No. 1 and Hero No. 1,) will soon start Biwi No. 1. But few are aware that Bhagnani will also be launching a Sindhi film which has been titled Sindhi No. 1! For Biwi No. 1, Vashu has signed Anil Kapoor and Govinda, who will be directed by David Dhawan. The heroine is yet to be finalised, and Vashu plans to launch it in September. Sindhi No. 1 will also roll in September and will be made by and with a team of newcomers. But wait, Vashu Bhagnani has serious plans of roping in dear friend and Sindhi by caste, Ramesh Taurani, to act in this film!

C.I.: Panic Circuit For Bobby

Call it a coincidence or whatever. Both the Bobby Deol starrers have had shaky starts in C.I. circuit. When Bobby’s debut film, Barsaat, was released in October ’95, the C.I. territory behaved rather erratically in the opening week. The opening in all other circuits was sensational but not so in C.I. Once again, when Gupt was released last week, the initial it fetched in C.I. sent panic signals through the length and breadth of the trade. Of course, finally, Barsaat managed to go into overflow in C.I. too. Let’s wait and watch where Gupt reaches.

Helpful Thackeray

Prakash Jha is extremely grateful to Bal Thackeray. It is because of him that his film, Mrityudand, managed to get the tax exemption order for Maharashtra in a matter of hours. Explained Jha, “We had completed all the formalities for tax exemption in advance, before Bal Thackeray called me over on Wednesday, July 9. He promised me that I would have the tax-free order in my hands by 4 p.m. and sure enough, the order was faxed to me around 4.30 p.m.” It was the first time Jha had met Thackeray who, according to the filmmaker, loved the film which deals with the awakening of women in a backward town of Bihar.

‘Ghoonghat’ Gifts

Bombay distributor Dilip Dhanwani has got made special umbrellas and bags which will be distributed among the holders of lucky ticket numbers of Ghoonghat in the various cinemas of Bombay where the film will be released on 25th July. Special Ghoonghat caps will be distributed free among the children-audience. A mobile van, carrying Ayesha Julka and master Omkar Kapoor, will make the rounds of Bombay city beginning 13th July to publicise the film. The two artistes of the film will meet people at Madh Island, Fantasy Land and Chandan cinema (Juhu) on Sunday, sign autographs and even distribute free gifts.

Golden Jubilee Of Freedom: Industry Must Celebrate

With India celebrating its golden jubilee of Independence this year, the film industry should organise a function for the occasion. There have been a number of films produced in the country, which have a patriotic flavour, and an audio-visual made from scenes and songs of such films can be screened at the function as also in cinemas all over for the rest of the year. Surely, the industry owes at least that much to the motherland.

YES BOSS

United Seven Combines’ Yes Boss is a comedy. It is the story of an ambitious boy (working in an advertising agency) and an ambitious girl (a model), both of whom could do anything to achieve their goals. The boy, especially, doesn’t even mind bending backwards to please his boss so long as the latter will fulfil his promise of presenting him an office. So blinded is the boy with his ambitions that he even acts as a pimp for his boss! The soft corner he has for one such girl, whom he tries to ‘fix’ for his boss, soon turns into love. How he saves the girl from the clutches of his lustful boss forms the climax.

The film has a thin story-line and it has been stretched too much. By its very nature, a comedy is best enjoyed when it is crisp and to the point. In this film, the screenplay is not as tight as desired in an out-and-out comedy, hence the impact is diluted. Of course, some scenes and situations are hilarious but the overall drama starts looking too unreal and contrived after a while. Dialogues are good and witty but not consistently so. The first half tends to get boring after a while, and the second half is better. Climax, however, is weak. The scenes involving the boy, his beloved and his mother in the post-interval portion are about the only ones which give an Indian feel to an otherwise Western kind of film.

One major drawback is that in the first six or seven reels, a hero of no less a stature than Shah Rukh Khan is shown as pimping for his boss (Aditya Pancholi). This will hurt the sensibilities of the viewers (other than the ‘class’ audience) because the bulk of Hindi cinema audience yet attaches a lot of importance to values in life. What is worse is that Shah Rukh is not made to repent or even realise that what he has been doing (pimping) is ethically wrong — a point which should definitely have been conveyed by writers Sanjay Chhel and Mangesh Kulkarni.

Shah Rukh Khan is simply fantastic in the role of the ambitious employee. He endears himself to the audience right from the word ‘go’ and, sometimes, even manages to rise above the script. His sense of timing is superb. Juhi Chawla is quite good. Aditya Pancholi also does reasonably well although he does appear stiff in a couple of comic scenes. Kashmira Shah acts well in a special appearance and can make a good vamp. Gulshan Grover is restrained and impressive. Ashok Saraf does a fair job. Johny Lever is very good and should have been given a lengthier role. Reema supports very ably. Rakesh Bedi, Mahavir Shah, Amrut Patel, Ghanshyam, Joginder and the rest lend the desired support.

Aziz Mirza’s narration of the subject is of the kind which will appeal to city-based audiences. The film moves on a single track — comedy — and there’s lack of emotions, romance and drama. Several scenes are repetitive too. Jatin Lalit’s music is good. ‘Main koi aisa get gaaoon’, ‘Jo bhi chaahoon’ and ‘Suniye toh’ are well-tuned. Songs have been picturised on truly beautiful foreign locales. Action scenes are fair.

On the whole, Yes Boss rests on too thin a story-line and has ‘class’ appeal. It will do well in major cities but for the rest, its high price will see its distributors in the red. Business in Bombay and South will be good.

Released on 18-7-’97 at New Excelsior and 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity & opening: excellent. …….Also released all over. Opening (on Thursday) was poor in C.I. Despite Idd holiday on Friday, opening was below the mark in Rajasthan (1st day about 74.77%) but excellent in Delhi and Calcutta.

LATEST POSITION

Communal tension in Maharashtra and Gujarat adversely affected box-office collections as cinemas remained closed for 1/2/3 days and audience attendance was poor. …..The Idd holiday on Friday (18th July) did not help the new releases much.

Do Aankhen Barah Haath 1st week Bombay 17,00,143 (61.64%) from 10 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,12,096 from 5 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot 60,270 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 67,000; Pune 5,41,685 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 15,23,042 (50.36%) from 9 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,59,438 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 95,093, Agra 1,85,319, Allahabad 83,600, Varanasi 96,071, Bareilly 58,069 (30.45%), Gorakhpur 75,000 (42.42%); Calcutta (6 days) 5,23,409 from 6 cinemas; Nagpur 1,81,171 from 3 cinemas, Raipur 1,27,744 (48.69%); Bhopal 1,18,620 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 2,86,950 from 2 cinemas, Jodhpur 2,00,000, Bikaner 97,393; Hyderabad 16,35,451 from 12 cinemas, share 5,10,000.

Mrityudand could not find any appreciation, not even in Bihar. It is somewhat okay in Maharashtra and M.P. due to tax-exemption. 1st week Bombay (TF) 12,56,348 (76.90%) from 6 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,49,450 from 2 cinemas, Baroda 74,149; Pune (TF) 3,73,190 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (TF) 83,386 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Belgaum 93,267; Delhi 5,63,754 (41.52%) from 4 cinemas; Kanpur 1,07,333, Lucknow 1,16,856, Agra 71,654, Allahabad 36,600, Varanasi 70,788, Meerut 63,244, Bareilly 55,128 (23.99%), Dehradun 72,520, Gorakhpur 59,000 (27.92%); Calcutta (6 days) 1,25,205 from 1 cinema (other cinemas unrecd.); Nagpur (TF) 1,37,523 from 2 cinemas, Amravati (TF) 1,22,695, Akola (TF, 18 shows) 40,026, Bhilai (TF) 72,673; Indore (TF) 1,93,173 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal (TF) 1,18,160; Jaipur 2,13,097 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 2,35,729 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), share 60,297.

………

Gupt 2nd week Bombay (6 days) 31,02,250 (92.22%) from 11 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,55,678 from 3 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Valsad 3,00,462, Padra 2,03,838, Bharuch (6 days, gross) 2,84,048, Rajkot 1,75,680, Jamnagar 1,19,125 from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.); Pune 9,79,763 from 5 cinemas (1 in mat.), Kolhapur 1,77,338 (100%), Solapur 1,65,663; Hubli 100%, Belgaum 100%; Delhi 25,78,944 from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.; 1 unrecd.); Kanpur 3,92,496 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,81,752, Allahabad 1,27,003, Varanasi 1,69,117, Meerut 1,90,264, Bareilly 1,09,205 (49.74%), Dehradun 1,68,473 (1st 1,84,552), Gorakhpur 1,25,000; Calcutta (6 days) 11,69,340 from 10 cinemas; Gaya 60,000 (1st 1,24,000) from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 2,91,919 from 2 cinemas, 1st week Amravati (30 shows) 2,33,757, 2nd Akola (16 shows) 38,429, Raipur 1,61,925, Bhilai 1,00,383, 1st week Jalgaon 1,91,000, 2nd week Gondia (26 shows) 47,500, total 1,31,563, Chandrapur (25 shows) 1,11,397, total 2,99,054, Yavatmal 50,016 (1st 1,30,198); Indore 1,90,300, Bhopal 3,08,217 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 7,63,999 from 2 cinemas, Ajmer 1,09,367; Hyderabad 10,98,879 from 5 cinemas, share 5,36,920; Vijayawada 2 weeks’ total 6,34,705.

……….

CBI PROBE SOUGHT INTO UPHAAR CINEMA FIRE TRAGEDY

The Delhi government, dissatisfied with the police investigations into the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy of 13th June, has sought a CBI probe into it. Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma said in New Delhi that many people, including MPs, had expressed their dissatisfaction with the investigations so far. He had, therefore, written to the lt. governor, seeking a CBI probe into the tragedy.

‘ZIDDI’ 100 DAYS

N.R. Pachisia’s Ziddi is celebrating 100 days of its run today (19th July) all over. Directed by Guddu Dhanoa, it stars Sunny Deol, Raveena Tandon, Anupam Kher, Ashish Vidyarthi, Farida Jalal and Raj Babbar. Music: Dilip Sen Sameer Sen. Action: Tinnu Verma.

RAVI KISSEN INJURED

Actor Ravi Kissen was hurt in a car accident at Lokhandwala, Bombay, on the morning of 18th July. He was in his Maruti Gypsy which collided with a truck. Ravi fell unconscious and had to be rushed to Cooper Hospital. He sustained injuries on his head and nose but is said to be out of danger.

ANJALIDEVI HONOURED

Celebrated artiste of Telugu films, Anjalidevi (of Suvarna Sundari fame), who has acted in almost 400 Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films in a career spanning 50 years, was conferred the prestigious Raghupathi Venkayya award for the year 1995 recently.

The Young Men’s Happy Club felicitated Anjalidevi on 13th July at Kakinada.

WEDDING RECEPTION

A grand reception to celebrate the marriage of Ravi, son of Jawaharlal Agarwal of Trimurti Talkies, Ujjain, was held on 17th July in Ujjain. It was well attended by trade people.

DIRECTOR KRISHNAN NO MORE

Director Krishnan (of the famous Krishnan-Panju duo) expired earlier this week in Madras. He was in his eighties. Among the films directed by Krishnan-Panju were Bhabhi, Varsha, Suhag Sindoor, Manmouji, Shaadi, Mera Kasoor Kya Hai, Ladla, Do Kaliyan and Main Sunder Hoon.

ANNASAHEB GHATGE DEAD

Noted Marathi film producer Annasaheb Ghatge passed away on 28th June at his residence in Sangli due to heart failure. He was 57 and is survived by his wife and two sons.

Annasaheb had produced Patlin, Pandharichi Wari and Sasar Maher. His Pandharichi Wari had bagged the best social film award of the Maharashtra state government in 1988-89. He had given actress Jayshree Gadkar a break as director in Sasar Maher. At the time of his death, he was producing Gaon Sara Jaga Zala, and its six songs have been recorded. The film was to star Ashok Saraf, and Ashwini Bhave in a double role.

EXTENSIVE RENOVATION & NEW NAME FOR BHAVNAGAR CINEMA

Ajay cinema at Bhavnagar is being extensively renovated. Dolby sound system is being installed. The cinema has been rechristened Rajshri and is owned by Ajay Chudasama who also owns Rajshri and Shalimar cinemas of Gandhinagar. The renovated cinema will open with Subhash Ghai’s Pardes.

HARBANS PAPE NO MORE

Dancer and dance director Harbans Pape expired on the night of 17th July in Dehradun. He was 69.

Badnam was his first film as a dancer. Among his other films (as dancer) were Jadoo, Naujawan, Mera Saya, Warrant, Sholey, Upkar, Ek Phool Do Mali, Deedar, Kajal, Do Ankhen, Madhumati, Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai etc. As a dance director, he directed Chandan, Deedar, Anjan and a few other films.

Harbans received several trophies and awards during his film career. After a fatal road accident around 1980, his career came to a halt. He returned to Dehradun from where he had come to Bombay, in 1984 and settled there permanently.

Harbans’ elder son, Titu, is working in the film industry as an artiste and dancer.

NOTICES ISSUED TO 42 DELHI CINEMAS

The municipal corporation of Delhi has issued notices to 42 of the 66 cinemas under its jurisdiction, for violation of building bye-laws. The cinemas have been asked to rectify the various violations within a fortnight. Action would be taken against those cinemas which fail to rectify the wrongs.

The notices have been issued following submission of inspection reports by the deputy commissioners of police of the respective zones. Earlier, licences of two cinemas of Delhi — Priya and Khanna — had been revoked. The licence of Priya was restored after the management showed papers which satisfied the authorities.

The municipal corporation of Delhi has taken a tough stand against erring cinemas of the capital city following the ghastly fire tragedy at Uphaar cinema in the city on 13th June.

FWICE GRANTS AFFILIATION TO CAC

The Cine Agents Combine, after dissociating itself from the Film Makers Combine (FMC), has become affiliated to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE). The FWICE granted the CAC affiliation on 13th July.

I.R.K. PEON ABSCONDING WITH CASH

Gopal, a peon of Bombay distributor Inder Raj Kapoor (I.R.K. Films), was asked by the latter last Friday to collect a lakh of rupees from some place in Bombay and bring the same to office. To Kapoor’s bad luck, the peon never returned with the money he collected. Investigations are still on.

CONTROVERSY OVER BENGALI VERSION OF ‘LAV KUSH’

An ugly controversy has arisen in West Bengal over the release of Dilip Kankaria’s Lav Kush in the state. Technicians in West Bengal are up in arms against the release of any film dubbed in the regional language (Bengali) as, according to them, such dubbed films adversely affect Bengali films. In fact, just recently, the technicians and artistes of the Bengali film world appealed to the I & B minister to stop telecast of dubbed Bengali serials on DD.

With producer Dilip Kankaria insisting that the Bengali version is not dubbed, and the Bengali film industry convinced that it is a dubbed version, the fate of the Bengali Lav Kush hangs in balance a week before its scheduled release. According to Dilip Kankaria, Lav Kush is a bilingual shot in Hindi and Bengali simultaneously. “I have two negatives, one of the Hindi version, and the other, of the Bengali version,” says Dilip Kankaria. “Some vested interests are fanning this controversy but I’m sure, truth will prevail finally.”

FFI DELEGATION MEETS I & B MINISTER

A delegation of the Film Federation of India met I & B minister S. Jaipal Reddy in Delhi earlier this week and apprised him of the problems facing the film and television industries.

In particular, the issues of censorship, countervailing duty on raw film, and the constitution of the NFDC were discussed in detail. The minister was aware that in the name of preventing cruelty to animals, the Central Board of Film Certification was putting producers to a lot of hardship and promised to rectify the situation. He was shocked that Maneka Gandhi was indirectly dictating terms to the CBFC about prevention of cruelty to animals.

The minister was sympathetic to the demand of the industry to abolish countervailing duty on raw stock. The delegation also lamented the fact that there was no representative of the film industry on the NFDC, and asked the minister to appoint a suitable person.

The issue of the telecast of dubbed Bengali serials on Bengal Doordarshan was also discussed and it was impressed upon the minister to not discontinue them.

SIGNED

Sushmita Sen In ‘Chakra’

Sushmita Sen has been signed to play the leading lady opposite Sanjay Dutt in Mumbai Talking Pictures’ Chakra, being produced by Sanjay Dutt and Kumar Gaurav, and written and directed by Dilip Shukla. Aroora Irani and Amrish Puri play other important roles. Music by Vishal, editing by V.N. Mayekar, sound by Rakesh Ranjan, art by R. Verman, action by Raam Shetty, and cinematography by Nirmal Jani are the other major credits.

PRODUCTION NEWS

Boney Kapoor’s Film Progressing In Cochin

A 15-day shooting spell of Narsimha Enterprises’ untitled film, starring Sanjay Kapoor and Priya Gill, commenced in Cochin on July 16. The film co-stars Jackie Shroff (in a special appearance), Kader Khan, Johny Lever, Tej Sapru and Mohnish Bahl. Remake of the Tamil blockbuster Kaadhal Kottai, the film is being directed by Athathian for producer Boney Kapoor. It will be shot in its last schedule from Aug. 24 to Sept. 15 in Delhi. Music: Nadeem Shravan. Lyrics: Sameer. The film is being produced in association with Neha-MAD Films Combine.

YOU ASKED IT

Who is John Mathew Matthan who is making Sarfarosh? Has he made any film earlier?

– He is an ad filmmaker and SARFAROSH is his first feature film.

Will the audience accept Urmila Matondkar in a family film like Mere Sapno Ki Rani when the publicity of Daud, in which she is dressed too sexily, is at its peak?

– Didn’t the audience love her in JUDAAI after RANGEELA?

What is the total business, as per statements, of HAHK..!, DDLJ and Raja Hindustani in Bombay circuit and all over India?

– About 22, 14 and 11 respectively in Bombay. The first two films had the advantage of tax exemption in Maharashtra. In India, the figures are about 70, 40 and 38 respectively. RAJA HINDUSTANI is still running in its 32nd week and is expected to cross the DDLJ figure in the final tally.

MIX MASALA

MISSING THE TARGET

Ruia’s serial, Target, starring Sangeeta Naik in the lead, was to have gone on air on 18th July on DD Metro, but the makers couldn’t meet the target date due to a mishap on the sets on 12th July. Sangeeta, while performing a stunt, fractured her leg and has been advised six weeks’ bed-rest. And so the telecast of Target stands postponed.

PEOPLE
Are talking about

** The bumper opening of Yes Boss in Bombay and Delhi cities on the one hand and its lukewarm opening in circuits like C.P. and C.I. Actually, the difference in initials is not surprising considering that the film has an English title and although it has had extensive publicity, it (publicity) is of the kind which holds appeal for the class audience mainly. One might say that Border is also an English title, but there is a major difference, besides the fact that Border is a multi-starrer as against Yes Boss and it has a super-hit song in Sandese aate hain. The major difference is that although both are English titles, Border gives a serious connotation, while Yes Boss is a more frivolous title, if one may use the term.

** Akshay Kumar and his marketability after the debacles of Lahoo Ke Do Rang and Insaaf. The guy needs to take stock of the situation and also needs to take some corrective measures if he wants to regain his lost position. Incidentally, although comparisons are not always fair, people are comparing him with Mamta Kulkarni for their penchant for dropping their clothes on screen. He has taken off his shirt and pant a bit too often in films!

PEOPLE
Are wondering

** About how Subhash Ghai will release his Pardes on 8th August as announced, especially in view of the fact that the film’s music has been released less than a fortnight back, and the film’s publicity as yet is on a very low key. Know-alls insist, the film will be postponed, but people concerned with the film are confident, it will hit the screens on 8th August. According to Ghai himself, “My film is already censored, my mixing is half-complete and the film’s first copy will be out before the month-end. Then why should I postpone the release? The publicity has been kept low-key intentionally, because I want Pardes to grow week by week.”

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

No Cause For Celebration

Idd is an occasion to celebrate, but for the industry, yesterday’s Idd-e-Milad festival hardly gave reasons to celebrate. For, the initials of both the films released this week gave cause for concern. If Yes Boss opened to bumper houses in Bombay, Delhi and a few major cities, its opening in circuits like C.I., Rajasthan etc. was far from encouraging. Ditto with Daava. Why, not even the Idd holiday could help! Even though everybody is aware that the former film stars Shah Rukh Khan, and the latter, Akshay Kumar, it needs to be pointed out here once again alongwith the prices these two stars charge. Did you say, you are aware of their fees? Well, let’s not embarrass our heroes then!

‘Daava’ Delivery Drama

The effecting of deliveries of this week’s release, Daava, was not free from tension and drama. While the producer wanted his distributors to hike the price, the latter were in no mood to oblige, and some distributors/sub-distributors even wanted a price reduction. The deliveries for Bombay and the Eastern circuit were effected after a lot of haggling and heated arguments. In Bombay, the Gujarat sub-distributor made a deferred payment of a part of the delivery amount. The film changed hands for Saurashtra at the eleventh hour. In place of M.B. Films, it is now being distributed by Keshubhai of Porbandar, who managed to buy the film at a price less than the one for which M.B. Films had it.

It’s A Challenge

If you thought, Mehul Kumar is down and out after Lahoo Ke Do Rang and Mrityudaata, think again. The man has taken his two consecutive failures as a challenge for himself. Why, he has even titled his next as Challenge. Starring in the film will be Amitabh Bachchan and Nana Patekar.

The Experiment Man

R.V. Pandit is an unusual man. He will premiere his Train To Pakistan on STAR Plus on 15th August and release it theatrically from the very next day (Saturday, August 16). The cinemas where Train To Pakistan is booked will screen Pandit’s Maachis on 15th. BBC will also telecast the film on Channel 4 on 15th August. This is the first Indian film to be premiered by BBC. Pandit is also dubbing Maachis in various foreign languages and exporting the film to different countries. For his Darmiyaan, he has put up 90 hoardings all over the country.

The Indian World After ‘Jurassic Park’

It took the sequel of Jurassic Park (Hindi dubbed) to break the record of the first part in India. We are talking of the price the sequel (Hindi dubbed) has been sold for and is being sold to distributors. The sequel, titled The Lost World: Jurassic Park, is hot in distribution circles, thanks to the bumper initial business of the English version in Hollywood, and the tremendous business Jurassic Park (Hindi dubbed) had done in India. Paramount is likely to recover a total of about 1.5 to 2 crore from the various territories of India. Not a small figure, this. Incidentally, the publicity of The Lost World needs to be stepped up to match the high price.

‘Pardes’ Publicity: Not A Wise Decision

Another film’s publicity which, we feel, is being unnecessarily kept on a low key, is Subhash Ghai’s Pardes. With just three weeks to go before the film hits the screen, the awareness among the audience about the film and its release is not what it should be. Ghai wants to keep the publicity to the minimum possible level, as he feels, that will not raise people’s expectations too much. Obviously, he has not forgotten the Trimurti experience where the audience had expected the sky from the film. But if Subhash Ghai thinks, Trimurti bombed because people had great expectations from it, he is wrong. Trimurti was such a bad film that even if there were zero expectations from it, it would have proved a disaster. Coming back to Pardes, Ghai should definitely step up its publicity. In fact, an intensive and extensive publicity campaign is what is needed. Since it is not a multi-starrer (like Trimurti), the fear that people will expect the world out of it is unfounded. Even otherwise, the time is simply not enough for expectations to soar so high.

The Hero Image

Although this incident took place more than a year back in a cinema of Bombay, it went unreported. The cinema in question was screening Naseeruddin Shah and Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chaahat when a young man suddenly went wild and started breaking the chairs in the auditorium. The management, obviously, caught the man and slapped him for his behaviour. Although the cinema wallahs had beaten the guy enough, curiosity got the better of them and they asked the man the reason for his strange behaviour. The man’s reply stunned them as it will stun you now. Said he, “I don’t mind being beaten up by you, but I can’t bear to see Shah Rukh Khan being beaten so mercilessly on screen by Naseeruddin Shah. If Shah Rukh is a hero, how can he tolerate such a lot of violence on himself. What kind of a hero is he?” It may be recalled that Shah Rukh is almost beaten to death by Naseer in Chaahat. Our writers and directors would do well to keep the man’s logic in mind while writing/making films.