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“HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..! is a tribute to all the joint families of the country” | 6 September, 2019

By
Film Information
-

(From our issue dated 10th September, 1994)

INFORMATION EXCLUSIVE

“HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..! is a tribute to all
the joint families of the country”

– SOORAJ BARJATYA

GAUTAM MUTHA & KOMAL NAHTA

Getting Sooraj to talk was no easy task. The guy is unbelievably shy and runs away from interviews. Any other director in his place would have loved to hog the limelight but then, Sooraj is a cut above the rest. He has very politely turned down every request for interviews, whether from newspapers, magazines or even STAR TV. Seeing this shy guy, one wondered whether this was showbiz or shybiz. But the shy Barjatya did make an exception for Film Information when he spoke at length to us in his first and only interview after the release of Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!.

How do you feel when you are refer­ red to as “genius”, “the topmost director of Hindi screen” or “the new Raj Kapoor”?

No, I am none of these. I am not a genius. I don’t have the training of sub­ject and scripting. And I’ve worshipped Raj Kapoor Sahab. He is my favourite. I’ve admired his films, I’ve fallen back on them whenever I’ve run out of ideas or not got something right. I am honest when I say, I don’t deserve all these titles.

But you must be aware that after HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..!, people talk about you in superlatives only. You must be getting the feedback.

Yes, I do get the feedback. But HAHK..! is not me alone. It is Rajshris, it is team-work. We all are workers and the work is all departmentalised.

How was HAHK..! born? Were you not scared of rehashing Rajshri’s own film, NADIYA KE PAAR?

My father (Rajkumar Barjatya) was supremely confident of the subject. It was his idea to rehash Nadiya Ke Paar. I wanted to make something new, but I just couldn’t get a proper subject. I tried very hard but it wasn’t coming. It is after a lot of my efforts that my father told me to take up a subject which had already been accepted and to give it my own treatment. Nadiya Ke Paar did not find universal acceptance because its language was Awadhi. Even after it was decided to make HAHK..! on the lines of Nadiya Ke Paar, I had to time and again go running to my father for instructions. I would often get stuck in the scripting, and it is my father who helped me with it. I used to tell him, there’s no drama in the subject, and he used to tell me, the drama will come in the end. He asked me to go deeper into the subject and said, the deep­er I’d go, the more I’d enjoy making the film. The maximum credit for the success of HAHK..! should, therefore, go to my father. It is his dream which I have given shape to. Once the script and music were ready, we had a complete narration for my uncles, Kamal Babu and Ajit Babu, as also for the ladies of the family. They all approved of the subject and only then did the film get going.

Were you so confident about the film’s performance?

I was positive that it would succeed but I did not imagine, it would be a runaway hit. In that sense, I was apprehensive. Here again, my father had cent per cent confidence in HAHK..!. I must tell you that after seeing Maine Pyar Kiya, he had told me, “You’ve made an epic.” And just after hearing the final script of HAHK..! and even before its shooting could begin, he told me, “This film is going to be a road-roller.” That is why, I say, all credit should go to him. HAHK..! is his genius. I may be writing, but he tells me what to write.

How did you incorporate so many songs in the film? Was it planned with so many songs?

It was planned that way. Scenes were written and then changed to songs. The ladies among the audience have all liked the songs and haven’t complained either about the songs or the film’s length. Men and youngsters, though, did feel that there were a couple of extra songs and also ex­perienced a bit of tiredness in the film because of that.

Are you sad that you’ve had to cut two songs?

No, I’m not sad. I knew the lags in my film. I knew even before the film was re­leased that we would have to cut a couple of songs. As a director, I have no right to bore the audience. At one stage (before the film’s release), we even thought of deleting the passing-the-pillow game, but we realised, by doing so, we were rob­bing the film of its important ingredient.

Everybody in the industry would like to sign you to direct a film. Are you open to outside offers?

A lot of people have asked me to make films for them. “Only for me,” they say. But to all of them, I humbly say “No”.

What inspires you the most?

Anything that touches me, inspires me. Any form of goodness, especially, in­spires me. I am not in the habit of taking a walk or anything of the sort to draw ins­piration. Basically, I am driven by characterisations more than happenings. Even in the making of the film, we did not write sequences and come to the end. Instead, we used to name a feeling and then move backwards. That gave way to all the seq­uences. Every character was painted be­fore starting shooting.

You don’t seem to have many friends in the industry. Are you a loner or do you have friends outside the industry?

I am basically a reserved person.

But it is believed that a creative per­son must interact with people.

I interact with my family and close relatives. I am an observer. I prefer to ob­serve, to watch rather than talk. I am a quiet person. It’s not rare to find a quiet creative man. I’ve seen Mani Ratnam only once, and I noticed, he’s a very quiet man.

Are you a romanticist at heart? Your romantic scenes in both your films gave that impression.

(Blushes a deep red) Maybe… Yeah! I am a romanticist at heart.

Even after proving yourself the sec­ond time, in HAHK..!, how do you manage to maintain a low profile? You are shy of giving interviews, you run away from the cameras of satellite channels. In short, you are not filmi.

Our upbringing has not been like that. We’ve always treated filmmaking as a profession, as something which you en­joy doing. I am not even fond of attending parties because how many ever par­ties you may attend, it is finally the narration of the script which matters. Besides, the more you increase your circle of fri­ends, the more you will have to live up to their expectations. I’ve spent a lot of my time learning under the Rajshri school and it has been a very enriching experience. As for being filmi, I don’t really get carried away by success. I believe that success is a gift, a blessing. You just thank God for it.

Which did you enjoy making more – MAINE PYAR KIYA or HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..!?

Well, both the films were great experiences. But when I was making MPK, I didn’t know what it was to be a successful director. The responsibility was great­er in HAHK..!. In that sense, I would say, HAHK..! was more calculated, while MPK was more natural.

Did you always dream of becoming a director or was it a decision taken after you finished your studies?

I had always wanted to be a director. I had made up my mind ever since I was 10-12 years old. My reason for it was that my father should get the result he always aimed for but somehow missed. I wanted to make a film he dreamt of. I used to feel terrible as a kid, when my dad would have to give explanations, why his film did not do as well as he had expected it to do.

As regards my studies, I was never a bright student. I failed in Accountancy five times in college before I finally gave up my studies! I am not even a graduate.

From where did you pick up the art  of detailing and perfecting a thing?

It’s been our trait right from the beginning. You have to rise to your best, otherwise the guilt troubles you. There has hardly been any success without effort.

There is no denying the fact that Madhuri has done a marvellous job in your film. Yet there are many in the in­dustry who feel, a new girl was ideally suited for the role. What was your logic in taking Madhuri?

We also thought of taking a new girl but we realised, if we did that, we would be burdening a flowering girl with a baby towards the end of the film. In fact, the last three reels were the most important. I knew, if I could do justice to those three reels, all my other drawbacks in the film, whatever they may be, would be pardon­ed. Here, I must tell you, Madhuri is one of the finest persons to work with. She does not have starry airs at all. This I noti­ced when I worked with her on the sets. I had seen her at work in our own Abodh where I was an assistant director, and I had yearned to make a film with her, since then. When I told her, I wanted to sign Jay Borade as the dance director, she never questioned me even once in spite of the fact that her favourite choreographer is Saroj Khan. Jay and I had sat for a year on the choreography before starting the shooting.

How much do you involve your crew in the film’s making?

100%. I narrated the script of HAHK..! to every artiste, howsoever small his role, in complete detail and with all the songs sung in full, by me. Likewise, I gave 4-hour narrations to every dress designer, every technician, every assistant.

Did you ever lose your temper on the sets?

Not really, except for a couple of times when I got angry on the sets. I used to often fire Salman Khan during the shooting of both my films. I guess, you shout at only those whom you feel close to. I think, you cannot be a good director if you are short-tempered. An artiste is the most insecure person when he is on the sets, you’ve got to treat him with understanding. There is no greater joy for a dir­ector than to see a scene work on the screen. When you see that, you feel, you’ve created magic. For that, you require the best of everyone.

Had it not been for your father and uncles, would you have experimented in the film’s release pattern?

No, I don’t have the guts as yet to ex­periment. I don’t have much knowledge of exploitation. Anyway, as I said earlier, our work is all divided.

What do you expect when the num­ber of prints are increased?

I don’t know. I know one thing though – that the repeat audience is coming in. And I say, “God bless all the ladies and all the girls in the world.” Because they’ve loved my film which must have made my late grandfather, Tarachand-ji, happy. He had heard the entire final script and had told me, it was worth the wait. He made me change the climax. Originally, we had thought that the hero would tell the hero­ine (his beloved) to marry his brother. But my grandfather said, it would not be acc­epted. So we changed the climax to that extent.

An epic first, then a road-roller. What next?

Nothing! Just a break for 2-3 months. Reading, traveling and all that. I’ll just let ideas flow. I want to know what the young generation wants.

So many people have described HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..! in so many different ways. How would you describe it?

It is a tribute to all the joint families of the country. Because there’s no bond of togetherness as in a joint family – togetherness of brothers, sisters, parents, cha­chas, chachis, grand-parents…. It is everybody’s story.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Tekchand K. Anchal (Arti Films, Bombay) will be contesting the IMP­DA elections (from the Ordinary class) for the seventh time this year. Barring once, when he withdrew from the contest, Tekchand has always lost the elections. The highest number of votes he has secured is 35. But that does not deter Tekchand from con­testing again and resolving to contest every year till the time “I win”.

* Sachin Bhaumick was impressed en­ough with the story penned by Bombay distributor Dilip Dhanwani (Dil­sa Enterprises) to agree to write the screenplay for the latter’s production venture. Dilip is making the film in partnership with Babubhai Latiwala of Bombino Video.

* Sanjay Khan’s TV serial, THE GREAT MARATHA, has been bought by Channel IV of London for a record price. Three major TV sta­tions of America are negotiating for the serial. There is also an offer from China for a Chinese dubbed version.

* HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..! has created a theatre record by collecting 1,30,071/- in 1st week at Prabha, Bar­eilly, in spite of anti-reservation stir and rains.

* HAHK..! is attracting unusual audi­ence to the cinemas. At Manjushree, Kanpur, about 30 blind persons ‘saw’ the film. At Maheshwari, Hyderabad, several disabled people came to see the film in their wheelchairs. In­cidentally, the film has drawn all 140 shows full at Maheshwari, Hydera­bad, yielding a distributor’s share of 11,77,370/- in 5 weeks! And this, des­pite no pre-release publicity of the film.

* HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..! has created a city record by collecting 92,602/- in 5th week at Chitra, Amra­vati, despite heavy rains and floods. Total for 5 weeks: 5,32,852/-. Distri­butor’s share: 3,49,174/-, city record.

* Not a single poster of HAHK..! has been put up in Rajkot, but notwithstanding this fact, the film is doing wonders at Galaxy cinema.

* VIJAYPATH has created a record by collecting 1,86,866/- in 4 weeks at Anupam, Jamnagar. 1st week: 82,704/-, 2nd week: 35,320/-, 3rd week: 46,600/-, 4th week: 22,242/-.

YOU ASKED IT

How does tax exemption help a super-hit film?

– By increasing its repeat value tre­mendously.

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

– SHOLAY holds the distinction of  yielding the highest share from a single cinema – about 35 lakh from Minerva, Bombay in more than 5 years (in regu­lar shows for about 3 years and then in matinee). HUM AAPKE HAIN KO­UN..!, which has already yielded a share of over 12 lakh, in just 5 weeks from Liberty, Bombay, is set to break the re­cord of SHOLAY in another 8-10 weeks.

Is there a future for English films made with Hindi film artistes and with Indian backdrop and traditions?

– It doesn’t seem likely that such films can make a mark – in India or Overseas.

‘SARDAR’ TAX-FREE IN MAHARASHTRA

Ketan Mehta’s Sardar has been granted perpetual tax exemption in Maharash­tra. It is due for release on 31st October at Nehru Centre auditorium, Bombay. This is the first time that a film will be released for the public at Nehru Centre. It will be released at Metro (matinee) and other cinemas of Bombay on 4th November.

SANJAY’S BAIL APPLICATION TO BE HEARD AGAIN

The interim bail application of Sanjay Dutt will be again heard by the two-member bench of the Supreme Court, which heard it earlier. This is in view of the order of the five-member constitution bench of SC, delivered on 9th September, in which the applicability of section 5(2) of the TADA Act was explained.

BABY BOY FOR KOMAL NAHTA

Sangeeta, wife of Komal Nahta, delivered a baby boy in Jaipur on 6th Sep­tember. The new-born is late Shri Ram­raj-ji Nahta’s grandson and the couple’s first child.

‘KRANTIVEER’ TAX-FREE IN MAHARASHTRA, DELHI

Mehul Kumar and Dinesh Gandhi’s Krantiveer has been granted exemption from payment of entertainment tax in Maharashtra and Delhi for a period of one year. Written by K.K. Singh, the film stars Nana Patekar, Dimple Kapadia, Atul Agnihotri, Mamta Kulkarni, Paresh Rawal and Danny.

GULSHAN RAI RE-ELECTED IFEA PRESIDENT

Gulshan Rai was unanimously re-elec­ted president of the Indian Film Exporters Association at the first meeting of its newly elected council of management on 7th September. The other office-bearers are: Sunder F. Rai (vice president), Chandra­kant Mehta (hon. treasurer) and Manohar Bhatia (hon. secretary).

Earlier, at the 30th annual general meeting held on 3rd September, apart from the abovementioned office-bearers, Rajinder Singh Hora, Amar Asrani, T.P. Advani, Mohan Chhabria, Shiv Laung­ani, J.K. Mittal, S.C. Mittal and Hira­chand Dand were declared elected.

Gordhan Chhabria and Arjun Lulla have been co-opted to the council of management.

CINEMAS CLOSED IN CALCUTTA

Cinemas in West Bengal came to a grinding halt on 5th September following a murderous attack on a cinema hall own­er of Calcutta on 4th.

A majority of cinema halls in Calcutta and elsewhere in West Bengal remained closed on September 4 in response to a day’s strike call given by the Bengal Mot­ion Picture Employees Association. They were protesting against non-payment of salaries by cinema owners.

The production, distribution and exhi­bition sectors in Calcutta went on an in­definite strike from September 5 on a call given by Eastern India Motion Picture Association till the government ensured the security of the cinema hall owners and film buffs and met the Association’s demand that the halls be made commercially viable by abolishing entertainment tax. However, some 10 cinemas remained open as a section of the cine employees demonstrated against the EIMPA’s indefi­nite strike call. The government is reportedly losing Rs. 12 lakh every day by way of entertainment tax.

‘KHUDDAR’ SILVER JUBILEE

Ratan International’s Khuddar enter­ed silver jubilee week on 9th September. The film stars Govinda, Karisma Kapoor, Shakti Kapoor and Kader Khan. Produ­cer: N.R. Pachisia. Director: Iqbal Durr­ani. Music: Anu Malik.

‘LAADLA’ SILVER JUBILEE

Neha Arts’ Laadla is celebrating silver jubilee this week. Produced by Nitin Manmohan and directed by Raj Kanwar, it stars Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Raveena Tandon, Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher and Aroona Irani. Music: Anand Milind.

FWA TO HONOUR MANOJ KUMAR

The Film Writers’ Association will honour Manoj Kumar for his meritorious and dedicated services in the development of the art of film writing. A trophy will be presented to him at the annual general meeting of the FWA on 25th Sep­tember at Bharat Seva Sadan Trust Hall, near Ranjit Studios, Dadar (E), Bombay.

FMC WITHDRAWS SUBHASH GHAI’S EXPULSION

At the meeting of the Film Makers Combine, held on 6th September, the FMC withdrew its decision to expel Sub­hash Ghai. It may be recalled that the Film Producers’ Guild, of which Ghai is a member, had taken strong objection to the latter’s expulsion from the FMC and had reportedly even threatened to break away from the FMC. At the meeting of 6th, the Guild expressed its resentment over what it described as biased decisions against filmmakers like Subhash Ghai.

MODI FILMS INTERNATIONAL TO DISTRIBUTE
DISNEY FILMS IN INDIA

Buena Vista International has entered into an agreement with Modi Films Inter­national, a division of HMA Udyog Limi­ted, for the distribution of all Walt Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures films throughout India, it was announced by Mark Zoradi, president of Buena Vista International, and by Lalit K. Modi, presi­dent of the Modi Group. The first film to be distributed under the new arrangement will be Walt Disney Pictures’ Academy award-winning animated musical feature, Aladdin, which will be released at the end of the year, simultaneously in Eng­lish, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. This will be the first time ever a Disney film will be released in a dubbed format in India, and the first time an American film has been dubbed into three local languages.

LATA SERVES LEGAL NOTICES ON SUPER CASSETTES, VENUS

Lata Mangeshkar, through her advo­cate, Rajendra Bohra, has served legal notices on Super Cassettes and Venus, seeking immediate withdrawal of some audio cassettes from the audio market for making unauthorised use of her photograph on the wrappers (inlay cards).

It is alleged that the cover versions used her photograph prominently on the inlay cards while the singers were Van­dana Bajpai and Bela Salunkhe (T-Series) and Anupama Deshpande (Venus).

The notice also recalls a similar mar­keting strategy adopted by T-Series in 1988 and their subsequent undertaking in writ­ing to withdraw the cassettes from the market.

 The notice seeks damages and criminal action against Super Cassettes as also search and seizure warrants of the cassettes from the dealers as well as the music company.

IPI’S EFFORTS TO SAVE MUSIC AND KILL PIRACY

The Indian Phonographic Industry introduced Nicholas Garnett, director general, International Federation of Pho­nographic Industry, to the press in Bom­bay on September 7. Mr. Garnett told about his experience in curbing audio pir­acy all over the world and especially in the East. He said that with the strict im­plementation of the Copyright Act, piracy had gone down considerably in some countries of the East, like Malaysia and Singapore, and from 85 per cent to 15 per cent in Italy. India ranked third in the world in audio piracy, China and Mexico being the top two countries. The Compact disc piracy in China is the most disturbing as 85 per cent discs are fake, he in­formed.

President of the Indian Phonographic Industry (IPI), V.J. Lazarus, said that at present, the IPI is launching an aggressive campaign to combat piracy and is targeting 12 major cities, including Bombay and Delhi, which between themselves account for upto 35 per cent (value-wise) of the total Indian music market. The present size of the Indian music market is Rs. 720 crore and with a 40 per cent pir­acy rate, there are 96 million pirated ver­sions floating in the market. Every four out of 10 cassettes sold are fake. In the next six years, at the current rate of 40 per cent piracy, the music industry is going to lose Rs. 1,000 crore, he cautioned.

Mr. Lazarus revealed that to curb pir­acy, the IPI had invested about Rs. 35 lakh in the last seven months and, in Bombay and Calcutta, seized cassettes and equipment worth Rs. 3 crore. Out of 68 persons arrested, bail was denied to some. Only two persons have been con­victed and sent to jail as yet.

The Indian Phonographic Industry, which has 50 members, including Time, Venus, Tips, Magnasound, CBS-Sony and HMV, is affiliated to the international Federation of the Phonographic Indus­tries and is doing its best to ‘save music and kill piracy’.

RAMRAJ NAHTA’S PREDICTION COMES TRUE…. AND HOW!

Your late editor, Shri Ramraj-ji Nahta, had given the title of ‘Ency­clopaedia on Filmmaking’ to young Sooraj R. Barjatya after seeing the first copy of Maine Pyar Kiya in a pre-release trial show at the Rajshri’s pre­view theatre. He had been floored by the boy’s capabilities and perseverance and had predicted a very, very bright future for him. Had he been alive to see Sooraj’s second offering, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, he would have been thrilled beyond words – and for more reasons than one. The film would have confirmed that the title bestowed by him on the young maker was the most apt title for him. It would also have gladdened his heart because he was very close to Shri Rajkumar Barjatya, father of Sooraj. And last but not the least, Ramraj-ji, who was a Rajasthani and who used to love cus­toms and traditions in a Rajasthani marriage, would have enjoyed every frame of the movie marvel called Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! because it presents those customs and traditions so beautifully.

IMPPA AGM, ELECTIONS

The annual general meeting and elections of the Indian Motion Pic­ture Producers’ Association (IMPPA) will be held on 29th September at ISKCON, Juhu, Bombay.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

No Fanfare

Without any fanfare whatsoever, Yash Chopra’s son, Adit­ya Chopra, commenced the shooting of his first directorial venture, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, on 8th September at Filmistan Studios. Aditya did not have any celebration even when he recorded a song for the film last month. There was a pooja then and another pooja on Janmashtami day. At the first day of shooting, papa directed the first shot for son Aditya. Kajol and Farida Jalal were participating in the stint which will go on upto 15th September. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jay­enge stars Shah Rukh Khan in the male lead and co-stars Amrish Puri and Anupam Kher.

Chair Man

While on debut-making director Aditya Chopra, his friend and partner in Bombay distribution, Anil Thadani, gifted him a director’s chair on the first day of shooting of Dilwale Dul­hania Le Jayenge. The red chair has the film’s name and the word ‘Director’ inscribed at the back.

Shraadh Release

Producers and distributors usually avoid releasing films during shraadh. But this time, two major releases – Main Khiladi To Anari and Andaz Apna Apna – are slated for release during shraadh, on 23rd September. To circumvent the inauspicious period, both the films will reportedly be released at least in one centre on 19th, that is, before the shraadh period begins. Stuntman may also be released on 23rd.

From The Poetess’ Pen

The ‘Haathon mein aa gaya jo kal rumaal aapka’ song of K.C. Bokadia’s Aao Pyar Karen is becoming a veritable craze. Although the credit for the lyrics has been given to Shyam Raj, the mukhda is written by a poetess. Famous poet Ramrik Manhar had taken the poetess to Bokadia, who heard the mukhda from her and liked it so much that he asked Shyam Raj to build upon it and write the whole song. The rest is history. Incidentally, not only the rumaal song, the other songs of the film are also gaining in popularity day by day (music: Aadesh Srivastava).

Fo(u)rthcoming Films

Sanjay Kapoor is working in four films currently, and at least two of them, Prem and Kartavya, are almost complete. The other two, Raja and Beqabu, are also making brisk prog­ress and should see release early next year. Bombay, Delhi-U.P. and Nizam distributor Tolu Bajaj has all the four films for distribution in one or the other territories. If not more, Tolu Bajaj may at least be as concerned for newcomer Sanjay Kap­oor’s future as brother Boney Kapoor is.

Bokadia’s Film Complex

Although K.C. Bokadia has decided to call it quits from direction, his production factory will be very much working. Besides one film with Sunny Deol and Ravi Raja, he has re­portedly finalised plans to start another too with Sunny. The second one will be directed by Priyadarshan. He is also likely to start a film with Mehul Kumar, and another with Ravindra Peepat who has directed Aao Pyar Karen for him. By the way, Bokadia will be constructing a huge film complex in Jaipur. The complex will house a studio, recording and dub­bing rooms, laboratory and other things, all under one roof.

Life-Infusing Words

That Amitabh Bachchan is a sensation in Egypt, too, was proved during his 1991 tour to that country. But a little-known fact about that tour came to light recently. While in Egypt, Amitabh was presented with a necklace by one of his myriad teenage fans. Unluckily, however, the girl who gifted  him the necklace, fell seriously ill later and had her parents in panic. They got in touch with Amitabh telephonically through the Indian embassy in Cairo and told him of their daughter’s ill­ness. The few pleasant and encouraging words from Amitabh had a soothing and magical effect on the girl and she recovered miraculously.

This anecdote was narrated by the Indian ambassador to Egypt, Arundhati Ghosh, to newsmen in Cairo this week, while talking to them during the world population meet.

FLASHBACK | 6 October, 2023
(From our issue dated 10th October, 1998)

By
Film Information
-

LATEST POSITION

The Dassera and Gandhi Jayanti holidays last week proved bountiful for the box-office everywhere.

Bandhan has done very well on the strength of family audience. Where it was released on Thursday (Dassera), it got the added benefit of the holiday. It is fantastic in U.P., Bengal, Bihar, C.P. Berar and Nizam, and fair in Bombay city (affected due to BEST bus strike), Delhi city, C.I. and Rajasthan. 1st week Bombay 48,00,516 (82%) from 13 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,25,900 from 7 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Padra 1,21,215, Rajkot 1,51,615 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,04,627; Pune 10,32,156 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,90,000, Solapur 2,77,230 from 2 cinemas; Hubli 2,50,770 (100%), Belgaum 1,62,204 (100%); Delhi 42,96,493 (84.32%) from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,82,874 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,48,049 (100%), Varanasi 2,57,855, Allahabad 2,47,353, Bareilly 1,66,332 (76.92%), Dehradun 2,65,303 (83.83%), Hardwar 1,06,027 from 2 cinemas; Rohtak 21,761; Calcutta 33,56,229 from 13 cinemas; Nagpur 7,19,178 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,53,363 (100%), Amravati 1,46,095, Akola 1,46,093, Raipur 1,91,902, Bhilai 1,75,549, Jalgaon 1,65,000, Chandrapur 1,70,006; Indore 2,21,000 (5 on F.H.), Bhopal 4,32,274 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 8,95,440 from 4 cinemas, Ajmer (29 shows) 2,15,702, Bikaner 1,07,786; Hyderabad 39,71,083 from 14 cinemas, share 19,85,000, Aurangabad share about 3 lakh.

……….

SMOOTH SAILING FOR BOTH

Both the big releases of Diwali had a relatively smooth sailing at the hands of the censors. In Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, there was an objection to just one word — ‘rag’ (as in ragging) — which director Karan Johar agreed to change. Shah Rukh Khan, talking of ragging in his college, says, “Hum naye students ko rag karte hain, pareshaan karte hain.” Since a girl, staying in a  Bombay hostel, recently committed suicide, allegedly because she was ragged by her seniors, the censors felt, it wouldn’t be proper to allow the word in the film. Karan agreed that the hero of the masses, Shah Rukh, could be construed as sending wrong signals if he was allowed to mouth the word ‘rag’ even if that was in a lighter vein. And so, the sentence was changed to ‘Hum naye students ko gaana gaane ko kehte hain.’

In Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, the word Khaini in the Khaini song has been replaced with Beeda. A couple of other words in two scenes, too, have been changed, besides some other cuts effected in visuals.

‘DTPH’ SILVER JUBILEE

Yash Chopra’s Dil To Pagal Hai (TF in Maharashtra) entered combined 50th week at Novelty (matinee), Bombay, on 9th October.

SALMAN, SAIF, TABU, SONALI, NEELAM CHARGED FOR HUNTING WILD ANIMALS

Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali have been charged under sections 9, 13 and 51 of the Wildlife Act of 1972, for hunting deer near a forest in Jodhpur. While the two heroes were granted anticipatory interim bail by the district judge on 9th October, the three heroines were presented before the munsif magistrate the same evening and were released on bail. The hearing has been fixed for 12th October. In the meantime, Salman has denied that they were hunting in the forest.

The artistes, who are in Jodhpur for the shooting of Rajshri’s Hum Saath Saath Hain, were arrested by the forest department. Salman and Saif have been ordered to not leave the premises of Hotel Umaid Bhawan Palace where they are staying, before and after the film’s shooting.

JAYWANT PATHARE NO MORE

Well-known veteran cinematographer Jaywant Pathare expired in Bombay on 9th October. He was 77 and is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Jaywant Pathare had started his career with Raj Kapoor’s Aah. His last film was Jhanjhawat (Marathi). He had won a couple of awards for his films Anupama (B & W) and Bemisal.

‘SATYA’ 100 DAYS AT 2 BOMBAY CINEMAS

Ramgopal Varma’s Satya (tax-free in Maharashtra) is celebrating 100 days of its run today (10th October) in Bombay at two cinemas, Eros and Plaza. Incidentally, Satya has been granted tax exemption for a further period of 3 months, that is, up to 10th January, 1999.

RAMCHANDRA DAS DEAD

Cameraman Ramchandra Das passed away on 8th October in Bombay. He was 58 and is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. Das was the honorary treasurer of the Western India Cinematographers’ Association (WICA) and the honorary general secretary of the FWICE.

ACTOR RODDY MCDOWALL NO MORE

British film and TV actor Roddy McDowall, who made Hollywood his home and is remembered for his performance of an apeman in The Planet Of The Apes, died on 3rd October in Los Angeles. He was 70 and was suffering from cancer. Some of his best films are John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley, Cleopatra and The Greatest Story Ever Told.

SHROFFS’ DIWALI LUNCHEON PARTY

Bombay distributors Shyam Shroff and Balkrishna Shroff will host a luncheon party in their office on 14th October. The Shroffs have been throwing such Diwali parties in their office since 1993.

PRODUCERS’ BANDH IN CALCUTTA ENTERS 20TH DAY

The suspension of all production activities by producers in West Bengal entered the 20th day today (10th October). The suspension call was given by the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) on 21st September due to non-cooperation and misbehaviour by a few artistes with some producers.

Following the EIMPA call, there have been no shootings, editing, recordings and dubbings in Calcutta or elsewhere in the state for 20 days now.

PANCHSHEEL, BHOPAL TO REOPEN ON 20TH

Panchsheel cinema of Bhopal, which has been closed for renovation since seven months, will reopen on 20th October with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. 8-track DTS sound system has been installed at the cinema. Owner Azizuddin has spent heavily on the renovation.

The air-cooled cinema has a capacity of 1,427 seats divided as: Box 11, Balcony 589, and Family 827. Capacity nett per show is Rs. 16,773, and for 28 shows, it is Rs. 4,69,644.

BABY BOY FOR ATUL AGNIHOTRI

Atul Agnihotri’s wife, Alvira, delivered a baby boy on 7th October at Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay.

MATTER OF RELEASE OF NON-KANNADA FILMS IN KARNATAKA SETTLED

The matter regarding the release of non-Kannada films in Karnataka has been amicably settled due to the good offices of K.C.N. Chandrasekhar, president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), Bangalore.

A delegation of the Film Federation of India (FFI) comprising its president, Santosh Singh Jain, Sv. Rm. Ramanathan, K.D. Shorey, N.N. Sippy, Shakti Samanta and L. Suresh had a meeting with the KFCC president and other members of its executive committee in Bangalore on October 6 and 7.

YOU ASKED IT

Which of the two Diwali releases is expected to take a better start?

– Can’t both, BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN and KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI, take flying starts? The initial craze among masses is greater for BMCM, while among youngsters, it is for KKHH.

Is it true that Salman Khan has replaced Chandrachur Singh in Tips’ Friends?

– Yes, it is true, but then, such changes in cast are not new. There have been so many films in which either the hero or heroine or important character artiste has been replaced by another, for whatever reasons.

What is the ratio of success in the field of non-film music albums?

– The same as in films.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Ramanand Sagar’s mega TV serial, SHRI KRISHNA, has achieved the unique distinction of earning the highest ever advertising revenue for DD, by a weekly serial. It has earned more than Rs. 70 crore. In its first year run on DD1, the serial earned more than Rs. 31 crore as advertisement revenue, by selling a total of 45,045 seconds of advertisement time — another record. …Producer Subhash Sagar’s ALIF LAILA has completed a run of 100 weeks on East Net — a division of M. Net of South Africa. The serial has been granted a further extension to air all its episodes.

* The latest Chiranjeevi starrer in Telugu, CHUDALANI VUNDI, is a jackpot. In Nizam, it has done a business of 2.3 crore in just 4 weeks. It is directed by Guna Shekhar and produced by Ashwini Dutt.

* Character actor Anjan Srivastava has bought two new cars — an Audi 80 and a Honda Accord. He comes for shooting in one car and returns home after pack-up in the other!

* That Madhuri Dixit is a thorough professional is common knowledge. The actress proved it once again when she wore a thin chiffon saree in snow-laden Alaska for a song picturisation of PUKAAR. And this, while all the other unit members were dressed in kilos of woollens!

* B. Subhash’s DULHAN BANOO MAIN TERI is inspired from a real-life incident. Once when B. Subhash was waiting at Sahar International airport, Bombay, to board a flight to the USA, a young girl approached him and asked him whether he was going to London. When he replied in the negative and asked her what her problem was, the girl broke down and said, she was in love with an NRI from London, who had promised to marry her, before leaving for London. She added that thereafter, she never heard from him and, therefore, she wanted to go to London to find him. Well, this is the inspiration for DULHAN… too.

* Joharilal Jhanjharia of Alka and Premsukh cinemas, Indore, has created a record of sorts. He has been the chairman of the scrutiny committee of the CCCA elections for more than 25 years now! Jhanjharia, incidentally, is known for his honesty.

CENSOR NEWS

Epic Enterprises’ Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was given C.C. No. CIL/1/59/98 (U) dt. 16-10-’98; length 4043.87 metres in 16 reels (cuts: 47.41 metres).

Dharma Productions’ Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was given C.C. No. CIL/1/58/98 (U) dt. 30-9-’98; length 5071.49 metres in 18 reels (minor deletion in sound only).

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Tension Hota Hai

Finally, the much awaited trial of debut-making director Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was held on 6th October at Film City’s preview theatre. The first trial of the film’s first print was for the unit members and a few very close friends. It must have been Karan Johar’s proudest moment — showing his first creation to all those who were close to him. But, it was also the most scary moment of his life, we learn. For, as against the normal practice of people frequenting toilets during film shows either out of boredom or on a genuine call, it was the director himself who was running to the toilet more times than anyone else during the KKHH trial! “What could I do?”, explains Karan, “I was so nervous. I must have visited the toilet 12 times. It was even worse than appearing for my ICSE exams. some years ago!” We guess, his anxiety should be over, now that everyone — without a single exception — who has seen his film, is raving about it at length.

Odds Favour Amitabh?

On the eve of the Diwali release of Amitabh-starrer Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, here’s some interesting data of the Amitabh-starrers which were released on Diwali in the last 25 years, together with how they fared at the box-office: Saudagar (Diwali ’73): Flop; Parvarish (’77): Hit; Muqaddar Ka Sikander (’78): Blockbuster; Yaarana (’81): Hit; Mard (’85): Hit; and Akayla (’91): Flop. As you can see, out of the six Amitabh-starrers that have been released on Diwali, as many as four have been hits. Going by this, the odds seem to be quite in favour of BMCM. Let’s wait and watch.

Fax On Demand

As his Amitabh-Govinda starrer, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, gears up for a Diwali release, more compliments are coming producer Vashu Bhagnani’s way. This time from his C.P. Berar distributor, Laloo Kabra. Laloo, who is himself known for his speed and efficiency, praises Vashu Bhagnani for his efficiency. It so happened that as soon as Vashu got the censor certificate of BMCM, he telephoned all his distributors to give them the good news. Like he must have done with his other distributors, Vashu volunteered to fax a copy of the censor certificate to Laloo too. And guess what? He did it within the next 40 seconds! For Laloo, it must have surely been a big surprise as the very moment after he hung up the phone with Vashu, he got the copy of the certificate on his fax machine. Quite a Tez Miyan, this Vashu.

Ramoji Rao Strikes Deal For Film City

While the Indian film industry continues to ignore Ramoji Rao’s ultra-modern and self-sufficient Film City in Hyderabad, news comes in that a Hollywood venture is slated to be entirely filmed at the same Film City. The film, titled Night Fall, will be jointly produced by Ramoji Rao and Hollywood producer-director Roger Corman of New Horizons. The deal was struck after Corman visited the Film City on Ramoji Roa’s invitation. He was reported to be so impressed with the facilities available that he immediately finalised the plans for the film with Rao. Corman also mentioned that the Film City could be rated as one of the best in the world and added that it offered the same facilities that studios in Hollywood did. The budget of Night Fall is estimated to be in the region of US $20 to 30 million.

“Revise Ratios, Abolish MG Royalty”: Pramod Munot

Leading C.P. distributor-exhibitor Pramod Munot is not the one who minces words when he talks about the incongruities that exist in the film trade today. According to him, it is high time that all-India ratios were revised. He argues that while the admission rates in all the major cities have increased vastly, those in the smaller centres have not risen proportionately. Munot suggests that in order to determine the new ratios, the collections of a universal hit be taken into account. The new ratios can be easily worked out on this basis, he adds.

Munot also proposes that the MG royalty system should be abolished completely. It is not at all fair as the distributors pay crores of rupees to the producers who ignore them, he alleges. According to him, there is absolutely no business ethics among producers who refuse to show their films to the very people who have bought them. The business is reduced to gambling in such cases, he laments. And if the producers are so secretive about their films, let them give them to distributors on advance basis, suggests Munot.

Finally, he draws attention to a statement by a top industry leader, published a few weeks back in a national daily, in which the leader has expressed his cynicism at the government’s decision to grant industry status to films. The leader is quoted as saying that the new status has not benefitted the film industry at all. How irresponsible can the man be, asks Munot. He adds that the leader, perhaps, does not realise what benefits the government’s move will yield to the exhibition sector, for example. Bank loans would be made available for building new cinemas, power tariffs would be lower, and these would be only a few of the benefits that would come into the exhibition sector, he concludes. As it is, Munot feels, there should be 50,000 cinemas today rather than the existing 13,000.

Tailpiece

Q: Why were Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam, Tabu arrested together, by the forest officers in Jodhpur (where they have gone for the shooting of Rajshri’s film) earlier this week? (Read details elsewhere in this issue).
A: Because they told the forest officers: “Hum Saath Saath Hain!”

Q: What if the five artistes are proved guilty of hunting wild animals in the forest?
A: They’ll individually admit: “Maine Shikaar Kiya.”

FILM INFORMATION SILVER JUBILEE

The congratulatory messages and good wishes we’ve been receiving all through the week on FILM INFORMATION completing 25 years on Dassera this year have overwhelmed us. We at INFORMATION humbly acknowledge the messages and resolve to keep the flag flying high.

The congratulatory advertisements and messages will be published in our issue next week, which will be a SILVER JUBILEE-cum-DIWALI BUMPER issue.

– Editor

 

 

FLASHBACK | 15 April, 2025
 (From our issue dated 15th April, 2000)

By
Film Information
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HADH KAR DI AAPNE

R.R. Productions’ Hadh Kar Di Aapne is a comedy film which relies more on funny incidents and situations than a cohesive or logical story to further the drama. A young detective goes to Europe to keep an eye on his friend’s wife and, while doing so, falls in love with a pretty girl. As it turns out to be, this girl is impersonating the friend’s wife and, after the detective falls in love with her, he is informed, to his dismay, by his friend that she is his (friend’s) wife (because neither the detective nor the friend is aware of the impersonation). Confusion is confounded when the pretty girl also falls in love with the detective but is wrongly informed by her friend that he is actually her (friend’s) husband. The husband and wife are playing this somewhat crazy hide-n-seek game because they want a divorce, initiated by two unscrupulous lawyers to make fast money! In the end, all the misunderstandings are cleared and the detective and his beloved unite in matrimony after being convinced of each other’s single status.

The film rests on a thin story-line and even thinner logic in screenplay. The subject is convoluted, to say the least. For instance, the detective is madly in love with the girl who is his co-traveller in the Europe tour but he is not even aware of her identity and name (she and her friend whom she is impersonating share the same name). On the other hand, although the two ladies are great friends, the impersonator is shown to have never seen what her friend’s husband looks like — the reason for the confusion to be confounded. The coincidences in the film are cooked up to further the story and they, therefore, keep reminding the viewer of the contrived nature of the drama. How and why the unrelenting girl starts liking the detective is not explained.

But this is not to say that the weak foundation, on which the story and screenplay rest, is such a sore point that there’s nothing enjoyable in the drama. Rather, two to three scenes are absolutely hilarious. The best and most entertaining scene is the one involving the detective and an acquaintance (Satish Kaushik) when the latter tries to sneak into the girl’s room. Another hilarious scene is the one in which Govinda appears in various get-ups on television. Besides the entertaining scenes, the film boasts of a very racy music score and excellent foreign locations.

Govinda, as the detective, is excellent as usual, in an out-and-out comedy role. His dances are just too fantastic and an exercise in graceful body moments. But there’s no impact of his six get-ups in the same scene because the six characters he plays have nothing to do with the story. Nevertheless, the conception of the scene, Govinda’s make-up and performance are very good. Rani Mukerji dances ably. Her acting, however, is average. Johny Lever is good only at places. He plays a double role; the older Johny Lever hardly impresses and, in fact, irritates after a point. Satish Kaushik is the best performer, besides Govinda. The guy’s sense of timing and facial expressions are marvellous. Paresh Rawal is also entertaining but gets very limited scope. Ritu Shivpuri, as the divorce-seeking wife, looks attractive and does a fair job. Nirmal Pandey, as Ritu’s husband, is not impressive at all. Helen Brodie, Tanaaz Currim and Navneet Nishan provide good support. Tinnu Anand, Viju Khote, Bharat Kapoor, Avtar Gill, Himani Shivpuri, Smita Jayakar, Gavin Packard, Padmini Kapila, Babban, Charlie, Rakesh Bedi (friendly appearance) and the rest are all average.

Manoj Agrawal’s direction is limited by the ordinary story (Satish Jain) and inconsistent screenplay (Rajiv Kaul and Praful Parekh). Dialogues (Anwar Khan) are witty at places. Anand Raaj Anand’s music, as mentioned above, is an asset. The title song, ‘Beqarar main beqarar dil’, ‘Kudi kunwari’ and ‘Mujhe kuchh tumse hai kehna’ are wonderful numbers. Song picturisations are all beautiful, and the locations on which they’ve been shot are just too eye-filling. Cinematography (Nirmal Jani) is slick and superb. Action stunts are good.

On the whole, Hadh Kar Di Aapne has fun but not consistently hilarious fun. Since its story and screenplay are weak, it will have to depend on its comedy, songs, performances and photography to win over the audience. It can hope to score in Bombay and Maharashtra but will remain average elsewhere, thanks to a good start and the holiday period. Business will be better in ‘A’ class centres and will keep on declining as the centres become smaller.

Released on 14-4-2000 at New Excelsior and 15 other cinemas of Bombay thru Govinda Yashwardhan No. 1 Distributors. Publicity: good. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was very good in several circuits due to Ambedkar Jayanti holiday on Friday. 1st day (5 shows) Jaipur 1,22,887 from 3 cinemas.

GANG

Azhar Azaan Cinema Company’s Gang (A) is a gang-war drama. Four unemployed friends form a gang unintentionally, and include in petty crimes while harbouring illusions of making it big through their unethical but small-time criminal acts. But they step into the big league when a one-eyed don is eliminated by one of the four friends. They are protected by another don, a good Samaritan. But falling to the tempting offer from another underworld kingpin, they detach from the good Samaritan gangster. This is resented by the principled one among the four friends. He wants to detach himself from his friends but is later arrested by the police for killing the one-eyed don. While he is in jail, his three friends take care of his mother. In the intervening period, the other friends make enough money to lead a luxurious life just as they had once dreamt of. Thereafter, the film highlights the perils that come in with all the easy luxuries. The end depicts the futility of the whole exercise of establishing supremacy in the underworld. Those who live by the gun, die by the gun. This is the moral that is sought to be implied in the end.

The film’s subject runs on one main track — the rise and fall of gangsterism — at times, touching on the sentiments of a mother, a foster-sister and wives of two gang members. The drama is heavy throughout. There are just a few light moments here and there but they don’t come as any relief.

Jackie Shroff has essayed his character in the most natural manner. Nana Patekar, as the angry man, scores with the expression of anger in his eyes and through his deep baritone voice. Kumar Gaurav is fair while Jaaved Jaffrey does not look like the one who would wield a gun. Juhi Chawla has a very brief role but she makes her presence felt in the opening song-dance number. Shagufta Ali has a more important role than Juhi, as the foster-sister of the four friends; she has done very well. Imtiaz Khan, Gulshan Grover, Tinnu Anand, Dinesh Anand, Raza Murad, Girija Shankar, Ekta, Usha Nadkarni and Siddharth Ray are fair. Mukesh Khanna and Dalip Tahhil have done well.

As director, Mazhar Khan has executed some of the shots in style but could not infuse life in the drama. The gang-war shots have been well-taken but shots of this kind have been seen earlier too. The climax action scenes, though well co-ordinated, are too lengthy and tedious. Musically, only one song, ‘Chhan chhan chhanana’ is tuneful. Other songs are well-tuned but don’t go down at all with the demands of today’s audience. Background score is effective. Other technical aspects and production values are okay. The long time-lag in production is also obvious and glaring at many places.

On the whole, Gang is a stale, heavy and tension-ridden gruesome violent drama which will hold appeal only for a minor segment of the audience. It may prove average in Bombay and Maharashtra but faces bleak prospects elsewhere.

Released on 14-4-2000 at Maratha Mandir, New Empire and 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru VIP Enterprises. Publicity: fair. Opening: good. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor in several circuits despite the Ambedkar Jayanti holiday.

LATEST POSITION

The extra holiday on Ram Navmi (12th April) gave a boost to collections. This week is full of holidays.

Baaghi is dismal. 1st week Bombay 39,32,971 (54.70%) from 15 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,36,664 from 5 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot 1,48,985 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,07,855; Pune 5,02,888 from 6 cinemas, Solapur 2,50,678 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Hubli 1,64,649; Delhi 15,08,433 (31.12%) from 10 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 2,10,630, Agra 2,50,000, Varanasi 1,64,814, Bareilly 71,622; Calcutta (6 days) 10,41,306 from 9 cinemas; Nagpur 4,73,185 from 5 cinemas, Jabalpur (5 days) 67,589, Amravati (6 days) 1,64,262, Raipur (5 days) 70,594; Indore 1,31,066 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,84,906 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 4,21,652 (24.71%) from 4 cinemas, Ajmer (29 shows, gross) 1,43,827, Bikaner 1,02,518; Hyderabad (gross) 16,54,599 from 8 cinemas (3 on F.H.).

Kharidaar 1 week Jaipur (29 shows) 67,457 (17.12%).

Hera Pheri is pretty steady in Bombay and Maharashtra and quite good in Delhi city and Nizam. 2nd week Bombay (6 days) 40,98,304 (78.57%) from 10 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 8,11,368 from 4 cinemas, Rajkot 1,65,540; Pune 10,61,009 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,82,430 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 26,51,893 from 11 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 2,86,314, Agra 1,10,000, Varanasi 82,941, Bareilly 43,590, Hardwar 30,000; Calcutta (6 days) 3,42,089 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur 1,43,227, Jabalpur (6 days) 30,876, Amravati (6 days) 1,41,904, Akola 1,22,106, total 2,96,612, Raipur (gross, 6 days) 1,55,557, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,03,449; Indore 1,46,104 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 80,570; Jaipur 2,17,049, Ajmer (28 shows, gross) 70,200, Bikaner 54,236; Hyderabad (gross) 7,76,504 from 5 cinemas (2 in noon).

Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge continues to do well in Maharashtra. 3rd week Bombay 34,69,962 (80.07%) from 10 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 9,92,528 from 6 cinemas, Rajkot 1,33,000, Jamnagar 60,838; Pune 10,06,560 from 7 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,85,075; Delhi 28,21,463 from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow (24 shows) 2,79,126, Agra 1,75,000, Bareilly (6 days) 73,160, Hardwar 35,000; Calcutta (6 days) 5,15,310 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur 2,09,138 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,21,759, Amravati (6 days) 1,11,535, Akola 1,00,500, total 4,50,450, Raipur (6 days) 70,716, Wardha (6 days) 31,972, Chandrapur 74,664, total 3,35,046, 2nd Yavatmal (gross) 90,341, total 2,72,538, share 1,48,538; 3rd Jaipur 5,91,340, Ajmer (28 shows) 60,964, Bikaner 1,71,110; Hyderabad (gross) 9,84,961 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon, 1 on F.H.).

Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai 13th week Bombay (6 days) 19,34,440 (65.17%) from 8 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,28,726 from 6 cinemas, Baroda 2,00,003; Pune 7,24,941 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,55,426 (12th 1,45,387); Delhi 4,75,049 from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 1,95,821, Agra 56,000, Varanasi 95,593, Bareilly (6 days) 30,000; Nagpur 1,79,875 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 67,476, Amravati (6 days) 86,433, Akola 1,06,241, Raipur (6 days) 63,841, 9th week Wardha 38,235, 12th week Chandrapur 88,038, 11th Yavatmal 73,344; 13th Bhopal 1,23,036; Jaipur 1,24,167; Hyderabad (gross) 4,97,934 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon).

________

Dalda Leedha Chori Raj (G., TF) 1st week Ahmedabad 3,29,618 from 4 cinemas, Rajkot 64,555.

ANAND BROTHERS REMANDED TO JUDICIAL CUSTODY

Vivek Anand and producer-director Ketan Anand, sons of late filmmaker Chetan Anand, have been remanded to judicial custody till April 27 along with maid-servant Mala Choudhary and her accomplice, Ashok, for their alleged involvement in the murder of actress Priya Rajvansh on 27th March. The remand order was passed by metropolitan magistrate V.A. Pokle on April 13 after assistant public prosecutor Pradeep Rane urged for police custody of the accused on the ground that additional material had to be collected by the police to prove the involvement of the accused in the crime.

Defence lawyer Satish Maneshinde urged that the accused be granted bail. The magistrate said that he had no powers to enlarge the accused in a case of murder. Maneshinde will file a bail petition on behalf of Ketan and Vivek in the sessions court on Monday, April 17.

RENU SALUJA SERIOUS

Accomplished film editor Renu Saluja, now wife of director Sudhir Mishra, is in a serious condition at Bombay Hospital where she was admitted for treatment of cancer.

TIPS TO GO PUBLIC: IPO OF 125 CRORE PLANNED

Tips Industries Limited is entering the capital market with an initial public offering of 30,00,000 equity shares of face value of Rs. 10/- each. The issue includes book-building portion of 27,00,000 equity shares and fixed price portion of 3,00,000 equity shares. Anand Rathi Securities is the lead book runner and the lead manager to the IPO. The shares are proposed to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. The public dilution will be 25% and the promoters will hold 75% of the post-issue capital.

Tips, as is known, manufactures and markets pre-recorded audio cassettes, blank audio cassettes and replicated CDs. The company markets its products under the registered trademark of Tips. It has a plant in Silvassa with a capacity to manufacture 21 lakh blank audio cassettes per annum and facilities for the recording of 387.15 lakh pre-recorded cassettes per annum at Silvassa and Palghar.

Tips, promoted by the Taurani family with Kumar Taurani as the chairman and managing director, has on its board of directors Boney Kaproor, David Dhawan, Ramesh Taurani, Shiv Abhichandani and Shyam Lakhani.

The company, as part of a major expansion plan, is expanding the present cassette manufacturing facilities, and is setting up a CD manufacturing plant and a studio for recording music. It plans to increase its market share through acquisitions of more audio rights, and also plans to forge alliance with overseas companies for distribution and marketing its music in international markets. Another venture is the setting up of a music academy. This academy will provide opportunities to young artistes.

Tips has a library of over 8,000 music albums. This library contributes approximately 50% to the revenues of the company.

Besides, the company is expected to acquire 52 audio rights of films which are under different stages of production, for which the company has already paid around Rs. 25.59 crores.

GUL ACHRA’S SON COMMITS SUICIDE

Anand, the 22-year-old son of Bombay exhibitor-distributor Gul Achra, committed suicide on 10th April at his father’s cinema, Shriram Plaza, at Ulhasnagar, a distant Bombay suburb. Anand poured petrol on himself and set himself ablaze in full public view at 3.30 p.m. in the premises of the cinema. Some people tried to stop him, but to no avail. The young boy breathed his last at Central Hospital at Ulhasnagar the same day.

Gul Achra and three of his employees had a few weeks back been arrested by the Kalyan anti-extortion cell for screening obscene films at Shriram Plaza.

BALASAHEB SARPOTDAR PASSES AWAY

Veteran Marathi film producer and distributor Vishwas Narhar alias Balasaheb Sarpotdar passed away on 13th April at 7 a.m. in Pune at Joshi Hospital. He was 68 and is survived by his wife, a son, three daughters, a daughter-in-law, sons-in-law and grandchildren.

Balasaheb Sarpotdar was suffering from cancer since last some days and he had undergone surgery for the same. While he was being treated for his malady, he had a mild heart attack and later breathed his last.

Sarpotdar, who was the president of the Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal consecutively for the last ten years, had produced a number of films, notable among them being Lakshmi, Pahuni, Heech Khari Daulat and Z.P.. He had also acted in some Marathi films as a guest artiste, mostly in the role of a senior police officer.

Sarpotdar, as distributor, pioneered the screening of English films in Pune and was very knowledgeable about foreign films. As the president of Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal, Sarpotdar was instrumental in getting tax-exemption and subsidies for Marathi films.

YOU ASKED IT

What do you think of the Arthur Andersen report on the entertainment industry, presented at the recent FICCI conference on the industry?

– It is a well-researched report but one that gives a somewhat exaggerated picture of things to come.

Is it true that a top actor has started directing his choreographers instead of following their instructions?

– Not just choreographers, he also refuses to follow the instructions of his directors. He does what suits him, with scant regard for what his directors want from him. But, by the way, why do you choose to not name the star? Maybe, you are right. Our readers can well guess who you are asking about and we are talking about — after seeing the star’s recent release.

Will Abhishek Bachchan prove to be as good as Hrithik Roshan?

– Did you know before the release of KAHO NAA…PYAAR HAI that Hrithik would be so good?

DO YOU KNOW?

* GANG, which was launched on 12th January, 1989, took 11 years in its making, completion and release (this week)! The release has been made possible, thanks only to the efforts of Bharat Shah.

* Bobby Deol is now in the midst of stage shows being performed in the USA and Canada. So far, he has presented six programmes and in every show, he is made to also perform to the songs of HUM TO MOHABBAT KAREGA which have caught the fancy of Indians there, thanks to the film’s music promotional trailers. The shows are arranged by the Moranis.

DOUBLE HAT-TRICK!

* It has never happened before. And it might not, in the years to come. Two promising newcomers having three releases each, in the same debut year! Hrithik Roshan, who made his debut this year in KN…PH, and Abhishek Bachchan, who will make his debut in REFUGEE, to be released in June, will both be seen in two more films each. Hrithik’s other releases this year will be FIZA and MISSION KASHMIR. Abhishek will be seen in TERA JADOO CHAL GAYAA and DHAAI AKSHAR PREM KE before the year 2000 ends. Three cheers to that!

MIX MASALA

‘KUCHH’ KEHNA HAI

With Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai proving a super-hit, people in our industry were doubly convinced that Kuch is the right spelling for Kuchh. Even Vashu Bhagnani has used Kuch (as in KKHH) for his next film, Mujhe Kuch Kehnaa Hai, when actually it should have been Mujhe Kuchh Kehna Hai. In fact, there is an extra ‘a’ in Kehnaa instead of an extra ‘h’ in Kuch. Numerologically, Mujhe Kuch Kehnaa Hai comes to 9, considered to be a lucky number. With the correct spelling (Mujhe Kuchh Kehna Hai), it works out to 5, which has also proved lucky for Vashu in the past. Yes, Biwi No. 1 added up to 5, numerologically. Kuchh bhi chalega, yaar!

First Quarter Of 2000

Eventful But Unexciting

What happened in the first quarter of the new millennium? Nothing much, you would say, except for KN…PH which proved the most ‘happening’ film. But there are many notable things that have happened. A recapitulation of the quarter ended 31st March, 2000:

• Of the 46 films released in the first three months of 2000, there was just one film — Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai — which hit the bull’s eye. At least 35 films proved disastrous in almost every circuit in which they were released. Badal was the best among the films which did well but not universally so. It scored in North, Bengal and Bihar. Pukar, which did well in South, was salvaged due to tax-exemption in states like Maharashtra, U.P., M.P. and Delhi. Mela, Hera Pheri and Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge were the other films which did/are doing fairly well in one or two circuits.

• Hum Saath-Saath Hain entered the new year while already running in its 9th week. It continued to create records.

• January 14 (Makar Sankranti) proved the most auspicious release date. KN…PH and Govindbhai Patel’s Gujarati film, Gaam Ma Piyaryu Ne Gaam Ma Sasaryu, released on this date, proved to be super-hits.

• The International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2000) was inaugurated on 10th January in Delhi.

• While Hrithik Roshan shot to stardom with KN…PH, dad and producer-director Rakesh Roshan was shot at by then unknown assailants, on the evening of 21st January just when KN…PH completed its first week. The incident created panic in the industry. Roshan underwent an emergency by-pass surgery of the heart on 26th January. The alleged assailants of Rakesh Roshan were apprehended by the police on the night of March 29 in Bombay.

• Producer-director Subhash Ghai presented a print of his Taal as a jubilee gift to Ashok Purohit, the owner of the beautiful City Pulse cineplex in Gandhinagar. A grand function to celebrate the film’s silver jubilee was held on 30th January at City Pulse.

• Deepa Mehta, who was to start the shooting of Water on 30th January, found herself in troubled waters. Despite an okay from prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Hindu hardliners in Varanasi, where the shooting was scheduled, forced the unit to leave the holy city because of the controversial subject of the film. Deepa explored the possibility of shooting in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal (where she got embroiled in another controversy, this time over the originality of her film’s script). Much water has flowed down the Ganges since then, but Deepa’s Water stands still.

• Producer D. Rama Naidu proved the world’s most prolific filmmaker and made it to the hallowed pages of the Guinness Book of World Records in March. He has, in the last 36 years, produced the maximum number of films (103) and in languages as varied as Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali and other Indian languages.

• President K.R. Narayanan presented B.R. Chopra with the Dadasaheb Phalke award for his life-long contribution to cinema, at the 46th National Film Awards in New Delhi on 15th February.

• The film industry welcomed the Union Budget proposals for granting some concessions and reliefs viz. abolition of countervailing duty on colour positive and colour negative film; reduction in the basic customs duty on colour positive jumbo rolls and colour negative film; reduction in customs duty on cinematographic cameras and other film equipment; and extension of income-tax benefits under section 80HHF of the Income-Tax Act to all film exporters.

• In March, Dilip Kumar and producer-director Dasari Narayana Rao were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh respectively.

• A sea-change is in sight in the production sector of the Hindi film industry with several top production houses and music companies having decided to go public.

• Subhash Ghai opened Audeus Telecine Studio, a division of his Mukta Arts, in association with Adlabs, at Adlabs (Film City) in March.

• The decision of the Rajasthan state government to compound entertainment tax in the state sent shivers down the spines of Rajasthan exhibitors. Tax evasion by cinemas is said to have prompted the introduction of the system. The scheme came into force on 1st April. And this was no April Fool joke! However, the government seems to have heeded the industry representation and may reconsider.

• Karnataka CM and finance minister S.M. Krishna hiked entertainment tax on non-Kannada films from 70% to 100% in the state. Kannada films will continue to be tax-free, as before. This comes as an April Fool ‘present’ for the producers and distributors of Hindi films. Surely, an unjust, unwarranted, anti-Hindi and retrograde policy. Hey Krishna!

• Andhra Pradesh exhibitors downed shutters on April 1 as a one-day token strike. The closure was partial. The strike was to demand, among other things, abolition of entertainment tax and reduction of the exorbitant power tariffs in the state.

• The compound tax facility, which was to be discontinued for cinemas in Gujarat in towns having a population between 1 lakh and 3 lakh, has been retained. The government subsidy of Rs. 5 lakh to Gujarati films will also continue. However, the tax-free service charge on cinema tickets has been reduced from Rs. 2 to Re. 1 per ticket and this is likely to hit the exhibitors badly.

• The 2-day FICCI seminar on the entertainment industry, held on March 30 and 31 in Bombay, was an experience to cherish for those who attended it. The international conference on the business of Entertainment: India – Opportunities in the 21st Century’ discussed wide-ranging topics — finance and capital market, intellectual property rights, the content aspect, film music, webcasting and the Indian film industry. Sadly though, active filmmakers were mostly conspicuous by their absence.

• Sahara India launched its satellite channel on March 28 with a star-studded show.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Dream Merchants In Nightmarish Light

It hasn’t been a very encouraging fortnight for the film industry. On more occasions than one, the industry in the last 15 days has been shown in bad light. While the stories involving film people are unconfirmed, they, nevertheless, are of a very serious nature. Ketan and Vivek Anand, sons of late filmmaker Chetan Anand, were arrested earlier this month for allegedly master-minding the murder of actress Priya Rajvansh. Kishan Kumar, actor and brother of slain music magnate Gulshan Kumar, has found himself embroiled in the shocking cricket match-fixing controversy involving South African captain Hansie Cronje. Bombay exhibitor-distributor Gul Achra’s son, Anand, committed suicide earlier this week and it is believed, he did so because he was unhappy about his father screening obscene films at their cinemas.

Vashu’s Generation Next

After introducing star-son Abhishek Bachchan in Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa, Vashu Bhagnani is now introducing another star-son, Tushar Kapoor (son of Jeetendra), opposite Kareena Kapoor, in his next which will be launched on 21st April. The film, titled Mujhe Kuch Kehnaa Hai, is a remake of the Telugu super-hit, Tholi Prema, which starred Pawan Kalyan (brother of Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi) and Kirti Reddy, who made her debut in a Hindi film with Vashu (Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa). It is interesting to note here that Pawan Kalyan’s first Telugu film as a hero was a big flop. But Tholi Prema greatly resurrected his career as the film ran for more than 40 weeks and, when it was revived after six months, it again ran to packed houses. Jeetendra, when shown the film, was moved to tears by its emotional content. The dancing hero, who was to launch his son after two years, agreed to let Vashu introduce him because the role was so powerful. So, coming back to Mujhe Kuch Kehnaa Hai, the film, to be directed by Satish Kaushik, will be a quickie which will be completed in 5/6 months. Anu Malik will score its music.

Daily Pot Shots On Film Industry

It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Dainik Bhaskar newspaper group, which has been illegally screening Hindi films on cable channels owned by it in Bhopal and Jaipur and which, therefore, has been ‘banned’ by the CCCA, has published a report in its Indore edition (13th April) alleging that film producers, distributors and exhibitors are evading payment of entertainment tax. The paper points out that the distributors manipulate the accounts and present false statements. The paper has also alleged the complicity of the income-tax officials in this exercise. In another report on the film industry’s “misdeeds”, published on 14th April, the paper has published the names of leading distributors of C.P., C.I. and Rajasthan as defaulters. The daily, it seems, is set to paint the film industry black, with a vengeance. All this, in reaction to the CCCA’s ban on Dainik Bhaskar group.

FLASHBACK | 18 September, 2024
(From our issue dated 18th September, 1999)

By
Film Information
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INFORMATION MEETS

“I constantly ask my members kyon Bambai marne aate ho. Let the producer come to you to sell his film.”

– SANTOSH SINGH JAIN

RAJ VAIDYA

Kind, controversial, autocratic, ever-smiling, shrewd… These are only a few of the adjectives that people normally use to describe Santosh Singh Jain, the longest-serving president of the Central Circuit Cine Association. One of the most senior members of the film industry, Jain continues to remain actively involved with film trade and its problems. He has just completed his 33rd term as the CCCA president at an advanced age of 70. But the speed with which he finishes work on hand could give a 17-year-old a veritable complex. In these 33 years, he has led the CCCA with great acumen, vision and pragmatism, which has made the CCCA undoubtedly the strongest body of the film trade in India today. This is what late H.S. Subba Rao, the founder-member of the largest film Association and the one who was responsible for bringing Jain into Association politics way back in 1958, had to say of his ward in 1997, “I am proud of the achievements of CCCA under your able leadership…. All this glory of CCCA needs to be attributed to a dynamic personality like you and that a person whom I know, does not walk, but runs; has a mind that of a computer and with the agility, plans like a programmer and works like a robot; but to all his technical excellence, has a heart of gold that beats and oozes out compassion, concern and humility.” Little wonder then that Jain Sahab is affectionately and, of course, appropriately, referred to as “Daddy” by members of his large family, the CCCA.

For us at Information, Jain Sahab has always been a family member. Sure, your late editor, Shri Ramraj Nahta, in his capacity as the president of the IMPPA, sometimes did have professional differences with Jain Sahab, but to his credit and Ramraj-ji’s, that could never affect the bond of affection that they and the entire Information family shared. We met Jain Sahab this week to talk about the CCCA of which the annual elections are around the corner. Young as ever, alert to what’s going on in the world of films and busier than the proverbial bee (he had visitors like Naraindas Mukhija, Laxinarayan Kapoor and Dayanand Kapoor call on him even while the interview was on), the man shared his views with us on a variety of issues. Excerpts from our conversation:

Taking a trip down memory lane, can you tell us how you entered Association politics?

The Central Circuit Cine Association was founded way back in 1952. Late H.S. Subba Rao was its founder-president. Around that time, I was in service with the Golchas. When I had completed three years in their service, my bosses permitted me to enter Association politics. Consequently, I contested in the following CCCA elections and was elected at the very first attempt. Before being elected, I used to often criticise the fact that bade logon ne CCCA mein apni jamaat bana li hai. Thus, when I was elected the first time, late Subba Rao told me, “Now that you have become part of the Association, learn why this is so!” Further, he suggested that I file my nomination for the post of the general secretary. He even went to the extent of threatening me that he would not become the president till I agreed to become the general secretary. Thus, in my very first year in the CCCA, I became its general secretary.

For a few years, I continued working in that capacity. Eventually, I became the president of the CCCA for the first time in 1964.

….We have heard that you were offered a paid presidentship because of the fact that the then CCCA president, late Swaroopchand Jain, was too busy with his own work….

…..That is not true at all. The truth is that I became the president only after Swaroopchand-ji had retired.

You have been at the helm of the strongest body of distributors and exhibitors in India for an astonishing 33 years. What qualities of yours have stood you in good stead through this long innings?

I don’t know about the qualities, but I can only say this — I try to serve people to the best of my abilities. May be, people respect me for that. I have always made myself easily approachable for anyone who needs my help. Fortunately, I have been able to build up a large number of cordial relationships with people in all sectors of the trade. So, may be, it is the fact that people like me because I am widely accepted in the trade.

Here, I would also like to mention the contribution of my children. Both my sons have taken over my business ably. While one lives in Jaipur, the other is in Indore. They are handling the family business so well that I have become absolutely free to pursue work related to the Association. As a result, I can afford to devote all 24 hours to this work and attend to everyone who approaches me for help.

Being the veteran president of a distributors’ body, how would you describe the change in the producer-distributor relationship over the years?

In the initial stages of Indian cinema, there used to exist an ‘agency system’ between the producer and the distributor. Big studios like Ranjit, for example, would have their appointed agents who would release their films. In those times, there used to be no written agreements, MG royalties, etc. Everything worked on an agency basis. This went on for quite some time. Later, came the trend of ‘freelancing’. Earlier, most people in film production were Gujaratis. But, it was only after a few Punjabi people entered into the field some time after Independence, that the nature of film sales began to be commercialised. These new entrants began selling their films to anyone who paid them more money. This is how the ‘freelancing system’ came into being. Minimum guarantees became a natural outcome of this system. And once the minimum guarantees came in, the thumb-rule was set that films were sold to those who paid the highest amount. This continues till date. An unfortunate outcome of this system was that it sounded the death-knell for that permanent link that existed between the producer and his agent (the distributor).

Once, film prices were inclusive of print costs. But when the excise levy came into effect, it became difficult to calculate print costs as the levy would vary from time to time. So, people began excluding the cost of prints from the price of films. Even this continues till date.

And what is the scenario today?

Producers have become extremely commercial-minded. Today, they want maximum profits. Films are still being made, as they were earlier, but now, people sell off their films entirely and free themselves of its outcome at the box-office. Earlier (in the agency system), if a film flopped, its distributor would not lose anything. The loss would be borne by the banner which was usually big enough to sustain itself in spite of the losses. There were several big and prestigious banners like B.R. Chopra Sahab’s or Mehboob Sahab’s in those times, as opposed to none at all today.

I constantly ask my members kyon Bambai marne aate ho. Let the producer come to you to sell his film. After all, whenever I talk to a producer, his permanent refrain is that the distributor went to him (the producer) to buy the film and that he (producer) did not go to the distributor to sell it. I try to educate my members that, ideally, the producer must go to the distributor and not the other way around. We have a saying which means that when you go to a kumbhar (a potter) to buy a ghada (a pot), the price is different from the one he quotes when he goes into town to sell his wares. The price is always higher in the former case. Till the time a stage is not reached where the producer-distributor scenario is reversed, there is just no way film prices will come down. Either the distributors wake up to the fact now, ya to phir, woh mar-mar ke seekhenge!

What would you rate as your biggest achievements as the president of the CCCA?

Today, when you call the CCCA the strongest body of distributors, you say that because we are disciplined. Attaining this level of discipline among our members has, perhaps, been my biggest achievement. Today, our self-regulation makes it imperative for our members to deal within the Association alone. No one can do any business in our region without becoming a member of the CCCA.

Secondly, we have been able to formulate our own judiciary. Whenever our members get into a dispute with anyone, we settle it among ourselves — like in a family — without any external interference. To this date, we do not allow our members to go to court. The fact that no one has so far felt the need to do so, speaks volumes for the efficiency of our judiciary. That should be counted as yet another of my achievements.

Then, there is also the way the CCCA has grown over the years. The C.P.C.I. Rajasthan circuit itself is so big that it is impossible to handle all its work from one place. Therefore, we have divided our operations into four separate branches — Amravati, Bhusawal, Indore and Jaipur. What is more, we have made each of the branch autonomous. The outcome is that the management of the Association has become significantly easy. Having branches also helps our members to a very huge extent as they can get their work done with their respective local branch. Moreover, each of our branches now has its own infrastructure for its operation. Today, we have Association buildings in all the four places. In fact, by the end of the year, our new building in Indore will fetch the CCCA several lakhs per year by way of rent, thereby eliminating all future worries as far as the operational expenses go. Just as a father strives to make his children self-sustained, I have made all the four branches of my Association self-sustained.

Quite a remarkable record! But is there anything — any step you took — that did not yield a favourable result?

You could say that the ceiling that we proposed on the maximum assignments of a star at a given time was a disappointment. It was way back in 1966, when we proposed that a star should not do more than six films at a time. Later, in the late ‘eighties, when we revived the ceiling (12 films at a time), we soon began to find out that a few greedy producers were trying to circumvent the ceiling by signing the defaulting stars and then, offering their films at half their original prices to our members. A number of our members grabbed at such tactics. Eventually, we pulled back the ceiling as a compromise to save the Association from breaking. On hind sight, one feels satisfied that the move, even though unsuccessful, brought about a great deal of awareness in the industry and today, no star has more than 12 films in his/her hands even though there is no ceiling.

Another similar failure came when we proposed a ceiling on film prices in our region years ago. We had set the maximum price for C.I. at Rs. 7.5 lakh. But again, a few greedy producers introduced the ‘advance and MG systems’ while some distributors started paying money ‘under the table’. Eventually, the price ceiling was withdrawn.

From this year, the CCCA committee’s tenure will be for two years instead of one, as has been the practice so far. What is the rationale behind this?

This is done only to help a new member of the executive committee settle in the Association in a better way. Over the years, we have found that one year is too short a period for a freshly elected member to grasp and contribute to the working of the CCCA. Hence we have gone in for a longer term.

It is often said about you that you are not averse to even bending the rules sometimes to achieve an end for the Association or to teach someone a lesson. How do you react to this?

(Laughs) I cannot recollect any such incidents. (After a bit of prodding) Well… there was one incident when a particular distributor wanted to become a member of the CCCA. But I was aware that the man had dues outstanding in his name in Bihar where, too, he had a distribution office. I was aware of it because the settlement between the aggrieved party and this aspiring CCCA member was done by me in my own office. I recall that the settlement was fixed at Rs. 7 lakh, which the distributor ultimately paid after harassing the aggrieved party a great deal. With this background knowledge I had of the distributor, when he approached the CCCA for membership, we refused. He went to the MRTP but the dispute between us is still not finally settled. To become our member through the MRTP order, he had to deposit Rs. 5 lakh with the MRTP. I only told the MRTP Commission this, “How can you compel me to take in a person who I know for a fact is of a bad character? You say that our rules are so strong that if he performed an illegal deal, we would surely be able to catch him. Even as that may be true, how can you expect me to let a thief enter my house, wait for him to commit a theft and then take action against him?”

What are the problems facing the trade in C.P.C.I. Rajasthan today?

Cable piracy continues to remain a major problem in our region as in many regions all over the country. Today, cable networks show a film within a day of its theatrical release. If caught, the cable operator comes up with the handy excuse that it isn’t him but some other person who is illegally tapping his cable lines and broadcasting the film! This is just not done. I mean, if tomorrow someone comes and puts an illicit object in my house, can I use an excuse that even though it is my house, I have not committed any crime since I have not put the object there? How then can the cable operators be allowed to get away with such a ridiculous excuse? I am already in the process of writing to the central government to introduce changes in the law so that the cable operators can be prevented from using this silly excuse. But, I really think, it is the whole industry which needs to unite and fight the menace together.

Another problem that we are facing is that there is a negative growth in the number of cinema halls in the region. Every year, we face a consistent decline in the number of cinemas from the previous year. We are urging the state governments to introduce incentives to encourage building of more cinemas. We also need better cinema halls in the region. Today, we have a large number of halls which have obsolete facilities. Now that technology has changed and new sound systems have come in, the average cinegoer is put off by the cinema halls which do not give him these new facilities.

The entertainment tax scenario is also not helpful either. Some time ago, we managed to get the government to bring it down to 50% in Rajasthan. But as soon as the state government changed there, it was reverted to 100%. In Madhya Pradesh, however, we have managed to get it down to 75% from the earlier 150%. But, I would really be happy if entertainment tax was scrapped altogether. I foresee a time in the near future when it will no longer be relevant. Already, it has become so in the light of so many new media that provide entertainment for free.

What is the secret behind you being so active even at the ripe age of 70?

I am a regular morning walker. Every day, I am out of the house at 5.30 a.m. for a walk. I lead a healthy life and have a fulfilling family life as well. I have several grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well, who together with my children and their spouses, fill me with enormous vitality for life day after day.

You are often fondly addressed as a ‘lovable Hitler’…..

(Laughs loudly) You are right. A lot of people call me that. Actually, the epithet was given to me by Chopra Sahab (B.R. Chopra) because of a couple of incidents. In my early days in the trade, I was working with the Golchas, as I mentioned earlier. I was managing Maratha Mandir cinema which had very newly opened with Chopra Sahab’s Sadhana. Chopra Sahab himself used to visit our cinema quite often. Since the cinema was new, we used to keep 10-20 tickets aside in every show to accommodate late entrants and others who, for some reason, couldn’t get tickets. It so happened one evening that a family of six landed at the cinema just before the evening show. They pleaded for tickets, saying that they had the tickets for the previous show, but had mistakenly thought that they were for the evening one. They had travelled quite a distance to see the movie, they added. I immediately ordered the booking clerk to issue them the tickets and told him not to take any money from them. My boss, who was also present there alongwith Chopra Sahab, asked me how I could give the tickets away for free. I explained, “Humein cinema ki izzat banani hai, iss ki chhaap banani hai. Logon ko hamare cinema ke baare mein baat karni chahiye. Fine. These people did make a mistake, but they shouldn’t feel disappointed that they came to Maratha Mandir and couldn’t see the film.” Chopra Sahab, who had been silently watching the whole thing so far, walked up to me and told me that I had done a very smart thing.

Around the same time, we were facing another problem at Maratha Mandir — that of goondaism. The area in which Maratha Mandir is situated used to be a very downmarket area called Madanpura then. One of the biggest problems we faced were from the black marketeers and eve-teasers. Soon, I began to personally catch the miscreants by their collars and clobber them. A few days later, one of the gang leaders in the area approached me and asked me to stop beating up his men. I calmly told him that as long as they would sell my cinema’s tickets in black and tease our lady patrons, they would continue to receive the same treatment from me. The gang leader was a little taken aback at my bold reply. He asked me what I could do if his men were to engage in the same activities outside the Maratha Mandir compound. I said to him, you can do what you want outside the compound. But I dare you not to enter the compound with your bag of foul tricks. The gang leader went away without a word. The menace, needless to add, was curbed then and there.

Then I recall this incident when at the time of release of one of Chopra Sahab’s films, war had broken out. Chopra Sahab called me up and explained that if his film was released in such a scenario, he would have to bear untold losses. I asked him to keep his cool and called up Laxminarayan Kapoor of Bharti Films, Indore, who was one of Chopra Sahab’s distributors who had already taken the delivery. I told Kapoor, “Don’t release the film even though you have taken delivery of prints. Keep the prints at home till the war is over. If you want your money back, I’ll talk to Chopra Sahab and get it back for you.” Kapoor heeded my request and when I conveyed the good news to Chopra Sahab, he thanked me profusely and began calling me a ‘lovable Hitler’ from that day onwards. The name has stuck since then……

LATEST POSITION

HELLO BROTHER reaped the benefit of the holidays last week (elections, Ganesh Chaturthi) and managed to collect very well despite poor reports. Its collections nose-dived from 5th day onwards.

Hello Brother 1st week Bombay 63,33,337 (84.65%) from 12 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,85,455 from 3 cinemas, Padra 1,51,007, Adipur 1,49,391; Pune 17,02,513 from 5 cinemas, Kolhapur 2,37,501, Solapur 3,64,653 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 64,85,886 (80.25%) from 13 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 5,05,389 (100%), Bareilly (6 days) 1,97,924, Hardwar 1,05,000 (43.15%); Calcutta 22,72,737 from 15 cinemas (1 in noon); Nagpur 9,07,689 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 2,24,912, Amravati (6 days) 1,87,798, Akola 1,91,567, Raipur (6 days) 1,72,372, Jalgaon (6 days) 2,31,709, Wardha 98,025, Chandrapur 1,88,748; Bhopal 1,62,181; Jaipur 12,89,805 from 4 cinemas, very good, Bikaner 1,93,284; Hyderabad (gross) 34,20,351 from 12 cinemas (7 on F.H.), Aurangabad (gross) 2,15,000 (1 unrecd.).

1947 Earth also got the advantage of the holidays and has, therefore, done well in major cities. 1st week Bombay 34,98,839 (74.82%) from 9 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,50,000 from 2 cinemas, Baroda (matinee) 21,143; Pune 6,49,846 from 3 cinemas, Solapur 88,114 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 14,64,175 (80.59%) from 3 cinemas; Lucknow 2,19,434, Bareilly 36,476; Calcutta 8,55,395 from 9 cinemas; Akola 80,370; Indore 1,81,350 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 94,664 (1 unrecd.); Jaipur 2,84,786 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 14,17,592 from 8 cinemas (1 in noon), share above 7 lakh.

Shaitanon Ka Honeymoon (dubbed) 1st week Bombay 1,50,432 (29.90%) from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Pune 60,413.

Sangharsh 2nd week Bombay 12,02,897 (54.21%) from 6 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,63,839 from 5 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 50,042, Rajkot (matinee) 13,850; Pune 4,27,196 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 97,308; Delhi 7,01,845 from 3 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Lucknow 2,22,303, Bareilly 43,413, Hardwar 20,000; Calcutta 3,99,425 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur 1,11,272, Jabalpur 39,563, total 1,39,819, Amravati 1,08,907, Akola 59,815, Raipur (gross) 77,279, 1st Jalgaon (5 days) 1,37,901; 2nd week Indore 1,52,000 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal 89,763 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 1,49,269, Ajmer 51,488, Bikaner 33,295; Hyderabad (gross) 3,07,080.

Godmother 2nd week Bombay 8,00,518 (62.23%) from 3 cinemas; Ahmedabad 3,46,818 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 60,073, Rajkot 98,940, Jamnagar 55,006 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 1,31,435 from 2 cinemas; Delhi 3,39,297; Calcutta 1,27,686; Hyderabad (gross) 1,19,531 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon & 1 in night shows).

Baadshah 3rd week Bombay 28,97,431 (70%) from 8 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,47,623 from 5 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot (7 shows) 30,100 (1 in matinee unrecd.), Jamnagar 64,576 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 1st week Bhuj 61,000; 3rd week Pune 7,86,219 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,19,228 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 14,24,398 from 7 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 3,93,107, Bareilly 60,038, Hardwar 29,669, total 2,03,825; Calcutta 2,77,707; 1st week Puri 58,396; 3rd Nagpur 1,90,274 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,15,314, total 5,88,205, Amravati 91,687, Akola 68,548, Raipur (gross) 1,44,806, Chandrapur 46,155, total 2,99,000; Bhopal 1,03,748; Jaipur 2,67,303, Bikaner 82,600; Hyderabad (gross) 3,63,596; Vijayawada 3 weeks’ total (gross) 7,50,498.

Taal 5th week Bombay 23,12,126 (71.02%) from 6 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,38,416 from 4 cinemas, Baroda 1,85,646, Jamnagar 59,486; Pune 4,36,892 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (7 shows) 60,668; Delhi 18,14,614 from 6 cinemas; Lucknow 2,78,114; Calcutta 3,98,711 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 1,04,122, Jabalpur 57,485, total 5,72,393, Amravati 1,21,229, Akola 78,593, Raipur (gross) 1,17,554, total 11,99,526, Jalgaon 76,450 (4th 1,15,000), 3rd week Wardha 35,156, 5th Chandrapur 58,177, total 5,68,631; Indore 1,11,000 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 94,653; Jaipur 6,95,670 from 2 cinemas, Jodhpur 1,20,000, Ajmer 63,918; Hyderabad (gross) 7,79,784 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon), 5 weeks’ total in Aurangabad (gross) 13,54,560; 5 weeks’ total (gross) in Vijayawada 18,24,059, in Visakhapatnam 10,11,697, in Anantapur 6,31,241, in Kurnool 5,36,353, in Cuddapah 2,66,788, 3 weeks’ total in Rajahmundry (gross) 3,50,338.

HASRAT JAIPURI DEAD

Veteran lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri passed away on the evening of September 17 at Holy Family Hospital at Bandra, Bombay, due to kidney failure. The lyricist had, three days back, fallen down at his home and hurt his head. He developed complications resulting in kidney failure. He was 76 and is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Hasrat Jaipuri, who began his career as a lyricist with Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat in 1947 along with Shailendra, was more of a romantic poet, employing simple words and idioms in his lyrics. But he had a penchant for including sweet-sounding Urdu expressions in his songs — like ‘chashme buddoor’ in the song Teri pyar pyari soorat ko, ‘uff-yu-maa’ in Ye ankhen uff-yu-maa and ‘shabba khair’ in O shabba khair.

Hasrat wrote a number of hit songs tuned by Shanker Jaikishen. He also occasionally worked with other music directors like S.D. Burman (Tere Ghar Ke Saamne and Ziddi), C. Ramchandra (Anarkali) and Vasant Desai (Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje).

He dominated the music scene for more than four decades. From his first song, Bichhde hue pardesi (Barsaat) to Sun sahiba sun (Ram Teri Ganga Maili) and more, he wrote over 250 songs. At the time of his death, he was working on a collection of poems which he had completed recently.

Hasrat Jaipuri, the last of the survivors of the charmed music circle of Raj Kapoor — comprising, besides him, Shanker Jaikishen, Shailendra and Mukesh — has finally bid adieu. When he was bereaved by others of this charmed circle, Hasrat lived his remaining days in the spirit of his own song, Gham uthaane ke liye main to jiye jaaoonga from Mere Huzoor.

SULOCHANA CHATTERJEE PASSES AWAY

Veteran actress Sulochana Chatterjee passed away on 30th August in Bombay due to cardiac arrest. She was 71.

Born on 9th October, 1928, Sulochana Chatterjee started her film career as a singer but turned a heroine in 1944. She was a natural performer and a popular heroine of family dramas like Badi Bahu, Bahurani, Bajuband, Veena, Geet Govind, Lathi, Jeevan Saathi, Maa Ka Pyar, Apni Chhaya, Lakhpati, Shagun and Grihasthi, a super-hit of 1948, directed by S.M. Yusuf. Later, she played mother’s roles and other character roles. Some of her memorable films as character artiste are Jagte Raho, Khandaan, Pooja Ke Phool, Piya Ka Ghar and Saraswatichandra.

Sulochana Chatterjee led a simple and dignified life. She also worked in Bengali films. Baba Taraknath, produced in Bengali by her husband, Bhanu Bannerjee, was a super-duper hit.

MIX MASALA

YOUNGEST

Bhushan Kumar, the young boss of Super Cassettes, will contest the elections to the IMPPA this year. At just 21 years of age, it makes him the youngest ever contestant for the executive committee of the oldest association of producers.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

One Cinema — 164 Queries!

How many questions can you ask a cinema-owner/exhibitor/cinema controller regarding his cinema? At the most, a dozen? Or 50? But the Rajshris have prepared a questionnaire which seeks answers to as many as 164 questions from every cinema-owner/controller. The form/questionnaire runs into five pages and seeks such answers as: name of cinema; centre; area; location; population; complete postal address; nearest railway station; phone number; names of towns having cinemas within a radius of 25 kilometres of your town; names of cinemas/video parlours in opposition to you (whether in your town or nearby towns); if leased, name of lessee; name and address of the bankers; etc., etc.

The other 100-plus queries pertain to details of the cinema’s parking space, rate of compound tax and other taxes, size of banner display, details of screen projection, sound systems and what not. If you desire to have a complete picture, ask the Rajshris for the form, titled ‘Cinema Particulars Form 2’. If you would like to add more questions, the Rajshris might welcome the same. More the merrier! But come to think of it, all this just for the screening of Hum Saath Saath Hain! Hats off to the Rajshris for their detailed study and meticulous planning for the release of their film!!

Hello Brothers!

The three Khans — Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh — have been virtual baadshahs of acting as far as popularity with the audience goes. But a patch of bad luck has clouded all their careers around the same time. Three films, each starring one Khan, have bombed at the box-office and sunk (in several circuits) like the Sun Vista luxury liner of Mann sank in real life. Aamir Khan’s Mann took a dip. Shah Rukh Khan’s Baadshah too drowned. And Salman Khan’s Hello Brother also proved a damp squib. Which makes the three Khans brothers-in-arms — or should we say, brothers-in-alarm?!

Rakesh Roshan’s Musical Feast

Information had the occasion to see the rushes of Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai this week. And before you say, “Kaho naa…kaisi lagi”, we would like to reveal some highlights. Like, the film’s music and outdoor locations are a feast for the ears and the eyes! Rajesh Roshan has done what he usually does for his brother’s films. To put it simply, he has once again invested the film with excellent songs which are of the chart-busting kind. And all the songs have been superbly picturised. Choreographer Farah Khan is again at her best. Like what is ‘unusual’ is the performance of the debut-making hero Hrithik Roshan. What is ‘unusual’ is that despite being a debut-making hero, Hrithik does not appear as a greenhorn. He is confidence personified! Also good is the debut-making heroine, Amisha Patel. Like, what makes it a feast for the eyes are foreign locations — Phuket and New Zealand — and a song and scenes on a luxury liner — thanks to Kabir Lall’s eye-pleasing cinematography. Last but not the least, Rakesh Roshan, as the director, has adorned the film with every scoring point — the poignant emotions, Hrithik’s all-round performance and superb treatment of the subject.

Strangely Enough…..

So, Sirf Tum is celebrating 100 days today. But, strangely enough, the success of the film has not yet benefitted any of the star-names connected with the film. Sanjay Kapoor hasn’t bagged any new film after Sirf Tum and nor has Priya Gill. Why, even Sushmita Sen, who won rave reviews for her special appearance in the film, could not win assignments. Nadeem Shravan, who gave a terrific music score, cannot be expected to benefit from the film for reasons known to all. Director Ahathian, too, has not become sought-after as yet. The only one who is gaining is producer Boney Kapoor — by way of overflow from various circuits. And its distributors, of course.

Lab Letters — Sirf Junk?

The release of yet another film ran into rough weather this week. Before the laboratory concerned could effect delivery of any prints to any distributor, a financier, who had lent monies to the film’s producer, succeeded in obtaining a stay order from the Bombay high court, restraining the laboratory from delivering release prints on 14th September. The financier smelt a rat and feared that the laboratory was not looking after his (financier’s) interests.

What is shocking is that despite the lab confirming the finance arrangement between the producer and the financiers and thereby, in a way, securing the finances of the financiers, it was ready to effect deliveries to the Overseas and Bombay distributors without ensuring return of monies of the financiers. Timely intervention by one financier resulted in the laboratory having to stop deliveries before they could be effected.

According to the lab owner, “I did err in agreeing to effect delivery to the Overseas distributors without checking with the financiers who had liens on other territories. But my intentions were not mala fide.”

It is learnt that several of the distributors were to have got their deliveries under the guise of giving delivery to the distributor of one major circuit on which liens were either cleared or were in the process of being cleared. If this would have happened, financiers having liens on other circuits would have been left in the lurch.

As one affected financier remarked, “What is the value of lab letters and guarantees? Our money is not secure even despite the confirmations of laboratories. It is not at all worth financing films in such a bad climate. It is indeed shameful.”

FLASHBACK | 18 December, 2024
(From our issue dated 18th December, 1999)

By
Film Information
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DAHEK

M.J. Films’ Dahek (UA) is the love story of a Muslim girl and a Hindu boy. The girl belongs to an orthodox family which does not approve of any member falling in love, least of all outside their religion. Much after they’ve met and fallen in love, the girl and the boy realise that they belong to different communities, a fact they had never deliberated upon because they weren’t aware of it in the first place. The girl’s family fixes her marriage with a boy of its choice, but her Hindu lover elopes with the girl from the marriage venue. All hell breaks loose in the girl’s house, and the news of the elopement spreads like wild fire. It is exploited by selfish people from both the communities for their personal gains. The family affair degenerates into a social, political and communal issue, giving rise to rioting, arson and bloodshed in the city! Some time later, the girl and the boy are arrested and handed over to their respective families. Unable to stay without each other, the two leave their homes to once again run away, but some unidentified people shoot them dead.

The film, which appears like a poor cousin of Mani Ratnam’s Bombay, has neither the passion and pain of a love story nor the histrionics of a volatile drama. The whole premise of communal riots breaking out due to an inter-religious marriage looks unbelievable in today’s times of liberal sentiments. Had communal tension been shown as already existing and the marriage only aggravating it further, it would have appeared more plausible. The point of the girl and boy realising, only after a series of meetings, that they belong to different religions, looks ridiculous. The romance between them lacks fire.

The film has taken too long in the making and release, and the delay shows everywhere. There are also several continuity jerks which are jarring, to say the least. The first half is terribly slow. The pace picks up a bit, only in the second half. The sermonising dialogues on religion get too much at times.

Akshaye Khanna does a good job, as usual. Sonali Bendre is alright. Danny Denzongpa is effective as Sonali’s uncle. Dalip Tahhil, playing Akshaye’s father, acts quite ably. K.K. Raina and Achla Sachdev impress. Anang Desai, Anjana Mumtaz, Achyut Potdar, Kanu Gill and the rest lend average support.

Lateef Binny’s direction is hardly any better than his incorrect story and screenplay (jointly written by K.K. Raina). Dialogues (Javed Siddiqi) are good at some places. Music (Aadesh Shrivastava) has melody. ‘Meri aankhon mein tum’ and ‘Saawan barse’ are very well-tuned. Song picturisations are ordinary. Camerawork is of standard. Production and other technical values are just about fair.

On the whole, Dahek is a non-starter with no chances of picking up.

Released on 17-12-’99 at Dreamland, Metro (matinee) and 14 other cinemas of Bombay thru Veekay Enterprises. Publicity: poor. Opening: dull. …….Also released in Delhi-U.P., East Punjab and C.I.

TABAAHI – THE DESTROYER

AMGF’s Tabaahi – The Destroyer (A) is a revenge drama of an utterly routine kind. Every scene is a clichéd one, and the screenplay is simply made up of contrived situations. It tells the story of a military commando who serves the nation but finds it tough to punish the enemies within the country. The commando’s brother, a police inspector, and his wife are killed by a don and his accomplices. When the commando comes to know who the culprits were, he tries to seek revenge. And, quite predictably, he eliminates the bad elements.

Mithun Chakraborty, as the commando, is miscast and his performance is lacklustre. Ayub Khan, as his younger brother, is poor. Indira does not have much scope. Divya Dutta is fair. Danish and Monisha are okay in a dance number. Mukesh Rishi is so-so. Tej Sapru and Girija Shankar are fair. The rest pass muster.

Direction (by debut-making Gopi Sapru) could have been better. Music is poor. Action scenes are tame. Cinematography and other technical aspects are ordinary. Production values are hardly noticeable.

On the whole, Tabaahi – The Destroyer is fated to prove its title true for the distributors, more so, due to its release during Ramzan. Total loss.

Released on 17-12-’99 at Super and 10 other cinemas of Bombay thru Friends Movies. Publicity: fair. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over.

BAHKE KADAM

Om Namah Shivay Films’ Bahke Kadam (A) is a sex-educational film. It preaches about the bad effects of sexy films, TV programmes and even cinema posters. A college-going boy and girl fall in love with each other. Another boy, the wayward son of a sincere education minister, loves the same girl, but when she rejects him, he tries to rape her. His frustration makes him land at a brothel, under the influence of an evil friend. The minister takes a proposal to the girl’s father for his son’s marriage with the girl when he learns that his son had tried to rape her. But the girl’s father turns down the proposal. The girl, in the meantime, is forced to marry her lover as she is carrying his child. Her younger sister, who is a teenager, feels the pangs of sex when she sees her sister and brother-in-law indulging in sex. She almost becomes sex-starved but the death of her sister at the time of childbirth makes her a psychic case — she is afraid of any man coming near her. Meanwhile, the minister’s son, who was sent out of town by his father, comes back after contracting AIDS. He wreaks vengeance by killing all those who, he thinks, were responsible for his miseries, including his evil friend and his beloved’s widower-husband. Ultimately, he is killed by his own father. A group of college students start campaigning against open sex in society and asking for the introduction of sex education in schools.

The drama is crude and provides enough titillation all through. The bad effect of early marriages has been told well. Other bad effects have a more sermonising effect and are less entertaining and dramatic. Dialogues are ordinary.

Robin Ghai is no hero material. Raashi is fair. Aman Sagar is dull. Vaarun Vaardaan is quite good. Pramod Moutho has done well. Shakti Kapoor looks and acts like a perfect brothel-keeper. Aryan, Amisha, Aruna Sangal, Abhay Bhargav and Suhas Khandke give average support. Guest Trishna’s dance is good.

Direction is fair. Music is ordinary. Photography and other technical aspects are below the mark.

On the whole, Bahke Kadam has titillation value for front-benchers.

Released on 17-12-’99 at Shalimar and 4 other cinemas of Bombay thru Rero Films. Publicity: fair. Opening: so-so. …….Also released in East Punjab.

MADHURI DIXIT’S WEDDING RECEPTION

A reception to celebrate the marriage of top heroine Madhuri Dixit with Shriram Nene will be held this evening (18th December) at The Club. The actress had got married to Shriram in the US on 17th October this year.

GULSHAN RAI BACK HOME

Producer and Bombay distributor Gulshan Rai, who was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital, Bombay, some weeks back, following a paralytic stroke, was discharged recently.

CANADA INDIANS’ AWARD FOR GURDAS MAAN

The Indian community in Canada has honoured Gurdas Maan as the ‘Outstanding Punjabi Star of the Millennium’. The honour was bestowed on him in recognition of his dedication to promote Punjabi culture and language. Maan was given the award on his recent visit to Canada.

Incidentally, following the success of his film, Shadeed-E-Mohabbat, Maan will be launching his next, titled Zindagi Khubsoorat Hai, in the first week of January 2000.

MAHESH KOTHARE ATTENDS MHASAWAD YATRA

Mahesh Kothare, actor and producer-director of Dhangad Dhinga (Marathi), visited Mhasawad yatra in Satara district recently. The collections at cinemas screening Dhangad Dhinga received a boost on the main day of the yatra due to his presence.

ORDER ON LAST SHOWS IN BIJAPUR

The superintendent of police in Bijapur has ordered that the last shows in cinemas of Bijapur should conclude by 11.30 p.m. Hum Saath-Saath Hain is, therefore, being screened in daily three shows at Amir from 2nd week onwards (that is, from last week).

NEW SOUND SYSTEM INSTALLED

A 6-track digital sound system was installed at Prabha Cinema, Bareilly, on 28th November. The sound system was formally inaugurated by minister of state for petroleum & natural gas, Santosh Gangwar.

Nadeem Shravan To Score Music In Kuku Kohli’s Next

Kuku Kohli has signed Nadeem Shravan to score the music for his forthcoming film. The songs will be recorded in London where Nadeem is facing extradition proceedings for his alleged involvement in the Gulshan Kumar murder case. The film, to be produced by Aroona Irani, will star a new boy and a new girl. It will be shot in London and India. It is likely to roll in April 2000.

Kuku Kohli told Information, “The police officials will not create hurdles if we assign the music direction of the film to Nadeem Shravan. I have been assured of that.” Added the director, “When someone asked me who will be the stars in my film, I replied that the only stars I’ll have in the new film will be Nadeem Shravan. Nadeem has some really wonderful new tunes ready.”

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Pukar’ On 4th February

Recording of background music of Boney Kapoor and S.K. Films Enterprises’ Pukar will be completed on Dec. 20. Final mixing will begin soon thereafter at Media Artist, Madras. Pre-mixing of dialogues and effects are already complete. The film will be submitted for censorship by 27th December. Produced by Surinder Kapoor, co-produced by Bharat Shah and written and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, the film stars Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Namrata Shirodkar, Om Puri, Girish Karnad, Farida Jalal, Anjan Shrivastava, Shivaji Satam and Danny Denzongpa. Music is scored by A.R. Rahman.

The film is due for release on February 4 all over.

‘Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai’ Recording, Shooting

The seventh song of Boney Kapoor and S.K. Films Enterprises’ Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai was recorded on Dec. 16 and 17 at Sunny Super Sounds. Penned by Javed Akhtar, it was rendered by Udit Narayan and composed by Sanjeev Darshan. A 12-day shooting schedule will begin on Dec. 20 at Padmalaya Studios in Hyderabad. Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and Sonali Bendre will participate alongwith kids. The film is being directed by Satish Kaushik for producer Surinder Kapoor.

‘Aaghaaz’ First Shooting Spell Complete

The initial 15-day shooting schedule of Suresh Productions’ Aaghaaz (The Beginning) concluded on Dec. 13 on Bombay locales and at Kamal Amrohi Studios. A song and scenes were picturised on Sunil Shetty, Sushmita Sen, Namrata Shirodkar, Anupam Kher, Asha Sachdev, Sharat Saxena, Gulshan Grover, Johny Lever, Alok Nath, Padmini Kapila, Akshay Anand, Govind Namdev, Anjan Shrivastava, Mukesh Tiwari, Shraddha Nigam, Dina Pathak, Asrani, Viju Khote, Yunus Perwaiz, Rakesh Bedi, Rajesh Puri, Rajendra Mehra, Dinyar Tirandaz, Brij Gopal, Sanjay Swaraj, Shashi Kiran, Manoj Joshi, Ahsan Khan and Suresh Oberoi with Sharad Kapoor and Saadhika who make guest appearances. The film is being directed by Yogesh Ishwar for producer Dr. D. Rama Naidu from a screenplay by Nikhil Saini. Dialogues: Kamlesh Pandey. Cinematographer: Shyam K. Naidu. Music: Anu Malik. Lyrics: Sameer. Art: Sharmishtha Roy. Dances: Ganesh Acharya. Action: Abbas.

‘Tarkieb’ Complete

The entire shooting of Jay Movies’ Tarkieb has been completed in 60 days. The second and last shooting schedule was held in Bhopal and Pachmarhi from Nov. 21 to Dec. 10. Only one song now remains to be picturised. Produced by Jay Mehta and directed by Esmayeel Shroff, the film stars Nana Patekar, Tabu, Shilpa Shetty, Aditya Pancholi, Milind Soman, Raghuvir Yadav, Tiku Talsania, Akhilendra Mishra, Razzak Khan, Deepak Qazir and Ashutosh Rana. Written by Moin-ud-din, the film has music by Aadesh Shrivastava. Lyrics: Nida Fazli. Choreographers: Ahmed Khan and Lollipop. Cinematography: Mazhar Kamran. Action: Sham Kaushal. Audiography: Buta Singh. Art: Vimlesh Lal. The post-production work of the film has already begun. It is presented by Pranlal Mehta.

‘Hadh Kardi Aapne’ Complete

With the conclusion of the final shooting schedule on Dec. 14 at Hiranandani Complex and Nair bungalow, the entire shooting of R.R. Productions’ Hadh Kardi Aapne is now complete. Produced by Rajiv Anand and Rakesh Malhotra and directed by Manoj Agrawal, the film stars Govinda, Rani Mukerji, Nirmal Pandey, Ritu Shivpuri, Johny Lever, Tinnu Anand, Satish Kaushik, Avtar Gill, Navneet Nishan, Himani Shivpuri, Tanaaz Currim, Viju Khote and Paresh Rawal. Story-screenplay: Rajeev Kaul and Praful Parekh. Dialogues: Anwar Khan. Camera: Nirmal Jani. Action: Andalib Pathan. Dances: Ganesh and Chinni Prakash. Art: Leeladhar Sawant. Sound: Jagmohan Anand. Editing: Arun Shekhar. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi. Music: Anand Raaj Anand.

YOU ASKED IT

How much profit can a super-hit non-film audio album yield?

– Maybe, even more than a crore!

Some big producers appoint agents to scrutinise accounts of distributors. Isn’t this practice of keeping a hawk’s eye on distributors a ridiculous exercise?

– If some distributors don’t reveal true accounts, isn’t that ridiculous too?

How do you compare the business of Rajshri’s HS-SH with that of Rajshri’s HAHK..! and the previous blockbuster, KKHH?

– In Bombay, HS-SH will do about 40% of HAHK..! and 85% of KKHH. In Delhi-U.P., it will do 25% of HAHK..! and 60% of KKHH. In East Punjab, the respective percentages are again 25% and 60%. In West Bengal, it is 35% and 65% respectively. In Bihar, HS-SH will do 60% of HAHK..! and 120% of KKHH. In C.P. Berar, it will do 70% of HAHK..! and 135% of KKHH. In C.I., it will do 65% and 100% respectively. In Rajasthan, HS-SH will do 65% of HAHK..! and 120% of KKHH. In Nizam, it will do 90% of HAHK..! and 125% of KKHH. In Mysore, it will do 45% of HAHK..! and 80% of KKHH.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Puru Raaj Kumar will play a villain in Boney Kapoor’s HAMARA DIL AAPKE PAAS HAI. With Sanjay Kapoor set to play a negative role in Boney’s new film (to roll shortly), it seems that heroes are now wearing the masks of the bad men!

* Govindbhai Patel has a penchant for releasing his films on the auspicious Makar Sankranti day (Jan. 14). Like his several previous Gujarati hits, including DESH RE JOYA DADA PARDESH JOYA, LAJU LAKHAN, OONCHI MEDI NA OONCHA MOL, etc., his new film, GAAM MA PIYARYU NE GAAM MA SASARYU will also hit the screens on 14th January, next year.

* BINDHAST (Marathi) is being remade in Tamil by director Priyadarshan, with Tabu and Jyotika Sadanah in the main cast. The film is also being remade in Malayalam and Telugu (by other directors). It has already been dubbed in Hindi.

MIX MASALA

OF SONY, SUCCESS & CELEBRATION

Earlier this week, we received a wonderfully designed invitation card for a celebration party hosted by the mega television channel, Sony, at The Oberoi yesterday (17th December). The extremely classy invitation came in the form of a diary. Its cover, made of genuine leather, had ‘Mantras of Success’ embossed in golden. Inside, there were some of the most relevant quotations on ‘success’, by famous people. A few samples:

♦ Success is what you do with what you’ve got.

– Leroy Van Dyke

♦ If you don’t leap, you’ll never know what it’s like to fly.

– Guy Finley

The invitation sure creates an impact!

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

‘Raju Chacha’ And Dirty Politics

Ajay Devgan must be cursing the day he decided to put up a set for his Raju Chacha in Ooty in the Schoolbund area. After taking due permissions from the authorities, the producers began the set construction work which took three months to complete, besides a couple of crores of rupees. Set workers worked furiously not only in Ooty but also in Bombay to ready the set for the shooting. But as shooting was about to begin, actor-producer Ajay was told by the authorities that he would not be allowed to shoot there for environmental reasons. And this, after he had spent so much time and money for the set erection. Insiders reveal that the issue has assumed a political colour, with the opposition party trying to stall the shooting and a scared ruling party not wanting to antagonise the opposition. Consequently, it is poor Ajay who has been made the scapegoat. Anyway, Ajay succeeded in obtaining a stay order from the Madras high court, against the authorities’ refusal to let him shoot.

Phir Bhi Price Hai Hindustani…

No producer in today’s times would dream of doing what Shah Rukh Khan has done. At a time when it is the rule rather than the exception to hike film prices, the debut-making producer, Shah Rukh, has gone ahead and reduced the price of his film, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, for C.I. circuit. It was felt by the actor-producer that the price for C.I. was a little on the higher side. If only more producers would think like Shah Rukh Khan does, the industry would be such a nicer place to be in.

FLASHBACK | 21 October, 2022
(From our issue dated 25th October, 1997)

By
Film Information
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‘KAMA SUTRA’ GOES TO COURT

R. Mohan, who holds the all-India distribution rights of Mira Nair’s Kama Sutra, has filed a writ petition against the decision of the CBFC, which has offered additional cuts in its dubbed versions (Hindi, Tamil and Telugu). The English version, cleared by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, was issued certificate by the CBFC earlier, but its three dubbed versions have been offered new cuts.

The petition will come on board once the courts reopen after Diwali vacations in the first week of November.

‘QAHAR’ POSTPONED

Raj Kumar Kohli’s Qahar, which was scheduled for release on 14th November, has been postponed by two to four weeks. The postponement has been necessitated due to the CBFC’s objection to the Junglee kabootar song in the film, reportedly due to Maneka Gandhi’s crusade against cruelty to animals. According to Kohli, “Although there is no cruelty whatsoever to the pigeon, we can’t fight with the CBFC. It they don’t see reason in our arguments, we will have to change the picturisation of the song. Hence the postponement.”

RAMESH TAURANI FREED ON BAIL

Ramesh Taurani, who was in judicial custody in the Gulshan Kumar murder case, was granted bail by the Bombay high court on 23rd October.

RUMI JAFRI WEDS

Writer Rumi Jafri got married to Hannan on 24th October at Apostolic Carmel High School, Bandra, Bombay. A reception to celebrate the marriage will be held this evening (25th) at Andheri Sports Complex.

Cable TV, Satellite Rights Are Separate: Bombay High Court

In a significant judgement by the Bombay high court on 21st October, satellite broadcasting rights have been held to be different and distinct from cable TV rights. Film rights can, therefore, be sold separately to the various television delivery systems like cable, terrestrial and video, the court has ruled.

Mr. Justice A.V. Sakhre, while disposing of a number of suits involving various cable TV operators on the one hand and satellite rights holders linked to Zee on the other, ruled that video rights cannot include all modes of exploitation where video cassettes are used since they (video cassettes) are merely one form of storage device.

The judgement is likely to go a long way in introducing a semblance of order in the chaotic film industry. The notices of motion of the various cable TV operators having been dismissed, the court seems to have upheld the arguments of the holders of satellite rights that mere purchase of video rights does not cover other forms of broadcast.

In one group of suits, some cable TV operators, who were holding the video rights of Bees Saal Baad and Mera Dharam, were claiming that the satellite broadcasting rights, which had been purchased by Zee Telefilms, also belonged to them. In another set of cases, Zee, which holds the satellite rights of Laawaris and Muqaddar Ka Sikander, had got a stay against ATM and others who held the video rights, from using the video rights separately as satellite rights.

In a recent controversy, both, the Hinduja-owned cable TV channel, CVO, and Zee Cinema aired Manoj Kumar’s Kranti on 15th August at the same time. Manoj Kumar had reportedly sold the satellite rights to Zee Cinema, while he had separately sold the cable TV rights to the Hindujas in 1984. As per the present Bombay high court judgement, it will now be perfectly in order for Manoj Kumar or any other producer to sell cable TV and satellite rights separately.

YOU ASKED IT

What is the most disturbing change you have noticed in the film industry from last Diwali to this?

– Distributors have begun to feel a sense of being let down by producers.

I want to produce an ‘A’ grade film and I have a capital of Rs. 1 crore. How should I start?

– With a capital of just a crore, you should not even be dreaming of producing a film, what to talk of actually producing a film. You should have at least 3 to 4 crore or arrangement for the same to venture into production today.

Is Amitabh Bachchan starring in J.P. Dutta’s next alongwith Sunil Shetty and Akshaye Khanna?

– J.P. Dutta has not finalised the cast of his next film.

MIX MASALA

DTS IN NAAZ

Naaz cinema, which houses almost all distribution offices of Bombay, may not have been upgraded as far as its sound quality is concerned. That is to say, it does not have Dolby or Dolby DTS sound. But there are at least two DTS distributors in Naaz. What’s a DTS distributor, you might ask. Well, the first DTS distributor is Devendra T. Shah because his initials are D-T-S. The other DTS is Dilip Dhanwani. DTS in his case stands for ‘Distributor in T-shirts’. Yes, Dilip is the only distributor who always sports a T-shirt.

INCORRECT PUBLICITY

Many people feel, the publicity of Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi went against the film. The heavy Sumo wrestler was publicised so heavily that people thought, he would have a substantial role or, at least, an important role. But in the film, the wrestler appears in only the climax, that too, for a short while. One publicity design of the film showed Akshay Kumar lying on top of the wrestler (who himself is lying down) and Juhi Chawla lying on top of Akshay. Another design showed Akshay and Juhi tugging at the wrestler’s underwear. This gave the impression, to kids especially, that the film would have comedy done by the wrestler. But it wasn’t so. May be, wrong publicity was responsible for Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi missing the bus.

Oh! Our Poor Stars

Our stars are the poorest people in the industry. Producers have money, distributors have it too, and so do exhibitors. Technicians are moneyed people but our stars — they are really poor. Don’t believe me? Then answer these simple questions:

(1) Why do many of our artistes take their families and friends on outdoor schedules of their films at the producer’s expense? Why do the family members and friends stay in the five-star hotel booked by the producer, eat food paid for by the producer, and even ask for cars to be arranged by the producer when they need to go shopping to buy rich clothes, jewellery, art items etc.? No, no, don’t misunderstand. I said, the stars are poor, not their families. These family members and friends also drink the liquor of the producer and romance on STD calls paid for by the producer. Would any hero or heroine take any of his friend on a foreign shooting schedule if a producer were not to pay for the friend’s air travel, stay, wining and dining? Forget it, most of them wouldn’t.

(2) Why do stars (many of them) charge petrol money from producers? Poor things, they can’t afford petrol in their Mercedes, Volkswagens, Pajeros and the other fancy imported cars they possess.

(3) Or why do the stars ask their drivers and other personal staff to take conveyance money and other allowances from the producer? Isn’t it sad, our stars are hardly any better than our poor who live below the poverty line. The only difference is that the stars themselves don’t beg, they have employees (like drivers, attendants, spot boys etc.) who are asked to beg. Yes, I call it begging because if the stars, who charge the producer crores, can’t pay in hundreds to their personal staff or can’t fuel up their personal cars, it is actually worse than begging.

(4) Have you ever heard of other professionals asking their assistants to charge small expenditure like conveyance, to the person to whom they are rendering their services? For example, a lawyer will never tell you to pay petrol money to his driver, or a doctor will not expect you to give conveyance money to his compounder. Then why the stars who earn much more?

Why do most stars behave as if they are obliging a producer by signing his film? After all, they are not working for free. And why do producers always have to bend backwards to please their artistes? Producers need to come out of this star-created system which forces them to expend lakhs of rupees which, by no stretch of imagination or business prudence, should be expended by them. The hero/heroine/ character artiste has been signed for the film, not his/her family members or friends nor even his car, driver or spot boy. If the artiste feels like carting his friends or aunts, uncles and cousins along to an outdoor location, fine. But tell him, Mr. Producer, that along with the big jingbang, he must not forget to carry his wallet or credit card.

After all, the artistes must be given lessons in the art of spending money. The producer who does it first shall do a great service to the industry.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

‘A’ Bad Year

Bombay distributors Raju Bhagde and Achal Agarwal (of Art Home) have made an interesting observation. According to them, 1997 has been particularly unlucky for people with mesh rashi i.e. those names beginning with ‘A’, ‘E’ or ‘I’. They quote examples: Amitabh Bachchan whose comeback in Mrityudaata bombed; Akshay Kumar whose career is passing through an all-time low (Lahoo Ke Do Rang, Insaaf, Daava, Tarazu and Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi), …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya which bombed, IRK Films (Bombay distributors of …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya), Ajay Devgan, Itihaas, A.A. Nadiadwala (Lahoo Ke Do Rang), Akshaye Khanna (Mohabbat), Aishwarya Rai (…Aur Pyar Ho Gaya), Ahuja Films (Bombay distributors or Tarazu), Ayub Selia (Thane distributor or Tarazu), Achal Agarwal himself, who has been passing through a professional low. So much so that films released in ‘A’ months — April (Himalay Putra, Kaun Sachcha Kaun Jhootha, Koyla, Mrityudaata) and August (Daud, …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya, Prithvi, Mere Sapno Ki Rani, Tarazu) also bombed with the exception of Ziddi (April) and Pardes (August). To this list, we would add ABC Enterprises, Jaipur (which released Daud and Mrityudaata in Rajasthan). The only exception, perhaps, is Anil Kapoor who has had a particularly fantastic year (Judaai, Virasat and Deewana Mastana).

Music Industry: Out Of Tune

1997 has been a bad year for at least three leading ‘T’ music companies — T-Series (Super Cassettes), Tips and Time. While Gulshan Kumar, the boss of T-Series, was killed on 12th August ’97, Tips boss Ramesh Taurani was taken into police custody in connection with that murder. Dhirubhai Shah of Time was arrested under COFEPOSA. Besides the above ‘T’ companies, two ‘B’ music companies — Big B and BMB — shut their operations. Little wonder then that the music industry is in a bad shape. It’s like the music industry is suffering from TB.

Surprise Visitor

The unit of N.N. Sippy’s Silsila Hai Pyar Ka had a surprise celebrity visitor on the sets at Convent Villa on 21st October. Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn visited the set but since she dropped in unannounced, there was none of the customary welcome. “In fact, we were caught unawares,” gushed a visibly thrilled associate producer Pravesh Sippy as he recalled, “A fleet of imported cars came to a halt outside Convent Villa where we were shooting that day, and in walked this foreigner. It took us some seconds before it registered that none other than Goldie Hawn had come on the sets.” Goldie discussed her directorial venture with Pravesh and revealed that she was in India for a film she was making on spiritual gurus. She was thrilled to know that Pravesh Sippy and his co-associate producer, Prem Pillai, had watched her on the Jay Leno show on NBC channel. Goldie Hawn was excited to learn that the director of the film she was watching the shooting of was a lady, Shrabani Deodhar. And then the two ladies discussed direction too. Karisma Kapoor was floored when Goldie Hawn said, she knew her as Bollywood’s no. 1 heroine of the day. The Hollywood actress asked Karisma about the songs and dances she (Karisma) was so famous for. Well, the only disappointed person from the unit was producer N.N. Sippy himself. For, while Goldie Hawn was hobnobbing with his unit members, N.N. Sippy was busy elsewhere at an urgent meeting.

No Brother

Thanks to Pahlaj Nihalani postponing his Bhai Bhai to 14th November, we will now have just one Bhai — that of Deepak Shivdasani — releasing on Diwali. But in Nizam circuit, Diwali will be a Bhai-less affair! That is to say, even Bhai will not hit the screens there. Although Dilip Tandon (Indra Films, Secunderabad) will take delivery of Bhai alongwith the all-India distributors next week, he will release the film only on 7th November. Reason: non-availability of a proper chain. Here in Bombay, Bhai Bhai had been scheduled for release at New Excelsior as the main cinema. With it being postponed, it is Bhai now, which will be released on Diwali at New Excelsior, besides Dreamland, another main cinema. T

Business In Bihar

Believe it or not but Hanif Sameer’s Sanam, which bombed everywhere, has done fantastic business in Bihar. …….And the business of Salim’s Raja Ki Aayegi Baarat in Bihar is almost as much as that of Border in the same territory!

Matinee Picnic

DDLJ has celebrated its golden jubilee at Bombay’s Maratha Mandir in matinee shows. Today (on October 25), it has completed exactly one year of its run at Maratha Mandir. The film completed 50 weeks at New Excelsior, Bombay, and was shifted to Sachinam thereafter, where it ran for 3 weeks. It was then shifted to Maratha Mandir in matinee shows. Since it is tax-free and also because admission rates in matinee shows are low otherwise too, there are many people who don’t mind repeating the film for just viewing a song or two or, say, for seeing the first half. Yes, people come in and go out when they please as if they were on a picnic, and on any given day, there are many people seeing the film only partly. That’s the advantage of having repeat value in a film — an advantage that can be heightened if the film is tax-free and if admission rates are low. From Maratha Mandir alone, the distributor has got a share of over 18 lakh in one year. And the film can go on running for many more weeks still.

Govinda-Akshay Face-To-Face: History Repeats Itself

Like Deewana Mastana and Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi, both directed by David Dhawan, were released on the same day (10th October), there were two films of director Kishore Vyas also, which were released on one day. They were Jawaharlal Bafna’s Bhabhi and Ramesh Ludhiani’s Dancer, released on 23rd August, 1991. The coincidence is that even then, it was a clash of a Govinda-Juhi starrer (Bhabhi) with an Akshay Kumar starrer (Dancer), like Deewana Mastana (Govinda-Juhi with Anil Kapoor) and Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi (Akshay Kumar). And like at present, it was Govinda’s film which had scored over Akshay’s even then. Moral of the story: Akshay Kumar should plan his releases in such a way that he doesn’t clash with Govinda if the directors of the two films are the same.

FLASHBACK | 23 October, 2024
(From our issue dated 23rd October, 1999)

By
Film Information
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HEERALAL PANNALAL

Indian Talkies’ Heeralal Pannalal (UA) is an escapist fare which tells the story of cops and robbers and a gang of villains who are in desperate search of a diary which has their names as scamsters. There are two Mithun Chakrabortys, one a cop and the other, a robber. Similarly, one Johny Lever is a cop and the other, a robber. The story is a medley of caper films made in the mid-’70s like Victoria No. 203, Rampur Ka Lakshman and Don. The screenplay is a series of contrived scenes and clichés. The only novelty lies in the comedy punches of Johny Lever, but the punches too are occasional.

Mithun Chakraborty has done fairly well in comedy scenes but it is Johny Lever who steals the show in both the roles. Leading ladies Payal Malhotra, Dakshana, Malika Kaur and Anu are okay and get noticed only in the song sequences. Mohan Joshi is fair. Shakti Kapoor is the usual bad man. Raju Kher, as the police commissioner, does well in comedy scenes. Razzak Khan, Deven Varma, Asrani, Virendra Saxena, Pramod Moutho, Rana Jung Bahadur, Padmini Kapila and Aroon Bakshi lend adequate support.

Kawal Sharma’s direction is mediocre. Musically, only one song, devoted to Mata Sheranwali, has some appeal; the rest are average. Production values are fair. Cinematography is good while other technical aspects are so-so.

On the whole, Heeralal Pannalal, a routine masala film, is an also-ran.

Released on 22-10-’99 at Alankar and 13 other cinemas of Bombay thru Raj Enterprises. Publicity: dull. Opening: so-so. …….Also released all over.

MOTHER

Saawan Kumar Productions (Films) Pvt. Ltd.’s Mother (UA) is an unusual and rather unbelievable story of a mother and her daughter whose father’s identity is a mystery. It has so happened that the mother, when she was a young lady, living in Mauritius, had slept with three guys from India, unknown to each other, in a span of a few days as she needed money to save the life of her ailing father. She was impregnated by one of them and even gave birth to the child. Since even she does not know who the father of the child is, she uses the child to extract money out of all the three guys. She uses the monies she receives from the three men in India for the upbringing of her daughter. Years later, all the three Indian men come to Mauritius for a common event and each of them is eager to meet the mother and the daughter. Ultimately, the truth is revealed to all the three men and also their wives who accept the daughter as their own.

The story is un-Indian all the way and to even think that the Indian audience would accept such a plot would be like building castles in the air. Besides, there are so many ridiculously weak points and flaws in the script that the task of making it appealing to the audience becomes almost impossible. The whole issue of who the father of the child is, is treated too lightly for comfort and rather childishly. The young lady’s agony, which drives her to sleep with the three men, has not been shown but is instead explained in a dialogue. The sympathy, if there could be any, for the lady is, therefore, lost. Further, her fooling the three men into believing that the child is theirs makes the woman a fraud, no less! Besides, all the three guys, who don’t bat an eyelid before taking the lady to bed, are shown as guys with golden hearts — an antithesis of sorts. For, the moment the lady tells each of them that the sexual encounter had resulted in her giving birth to a girl-child, they believe her and each one accepts the child as his own! Why should a man believe a prostitute (that is what the lady is in their eyes)? As if that weren’t strange enough, the three men’s wives, too, suddenly feel so emotional towards the child that even they accept the child as their own!! In short, the unusual story (Saawan Kumar) has been naively knit into an extremely childish screenplay (Ravi Kapoor) and has been treated equally childishly by director Saawan Kumar. Some dialogues (Anwar Khan) and a few comic situations are about the only entertaining points in the entire drama. Emotions look fake.

Rekha does well generally, but hams in a couple of scenes. Jeetendra, Randhir Kapoor and Rakesh Roshan are all quite good. Sanober Kabir makes a terribly dull debut in the romantic lead. She has no qualifications of a heroine. Her lover, Rahat Khan, is also no hero material. Shashikala is average. Asrani, Shubha Khote, Nishigandha, Prabha Sinha, Fatima Sheikh, Mushtaq Khan, Dinesh Hingoo and the rest lend average support. Altaf Raja’s appearance in a song leaves no impact.

Direction does not lend credibility to the far-fetched story. Music is average. Song picturisations are routine. Some foreign locations are truly eye-catching. Camerawork is fair.

On the whole, Mother, with an almost retired lead cast, may appeal to the oldies but its fate at the box-office would be disastrous.

Released on 22-10-’99 at Dreamland and 9 other cinemas of Bombay thru Dilsa Distributors Combine. Publicity: good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over except in Bengal and South.

LATEST POSITION

VAASTAV has done very well in Maharashtra and it picked up in U.P. Is good in Nizam but dull in Delhi, East Punjab, Bengal, C.I. and Rajasthan. MAST is poor almost everywhere.

Vaastav 1st week Bombay 62,50,948 (89.33%) from 13 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 9,16,824 from 5 cinemas; Pune 17,16,675 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 2,68,467, Solapur 2,37,908 (1 unrecd.); Hubli 2,79,033; Delhi 28,14,829 (43.25%) from 12 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,33,307 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,47,461, Bareilly 1,76,252 (50.06%), Dehradun 1,98,000, Gorakhpur 2,80,084; Calcutta 28,37,197 from 22 cinemas; Nagpur 6,78,942 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,11,546, Amravati 2,00,494, Akola 1,42,570, Raipur (gross) 1,77,558; Indore 2,55,865 from 3 cinemas (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,78,000 from 2 cinemas; Bikaner (gross) 1,86,555; Hyderabad (gross) 32,39,925 from 13 cinemas, share 16,60,000.

Mast 1st week Bombay 51,52,450 (70%) from 11 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 12,22,621 from 4 cinemas; Pune 8,76,770 from 3 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,54,160, Solapur 1,77,303 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 31,19,369 (61.94%) from 7 cinemas; Kanpur 2,20,646 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,28,870, Agra 2,25,681, Meerut 1,78,768; Calcutta 15,62,572 from 9 cinemas; Nagpur 3,05,405, Jabalpur (6 days) 89,906, Amravati (6 days) 1,46,531, Raipur (6 days, gross) 1,77,877, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,06,421; Bhopal 1,94,511 from 2 cinemas; Bikaner 1,21,929; Hyderabad (gross) 26,75,030 from 11 cinemas.

Sar Ankhon Par 1st week Bombay 1,88,811 (36.48%) from 2 cinemas; terrible in C.P. Berar and Mysore, too.

………

B.R. CHOPRA BAGS PHALKE AWARD

Veteran B.R. Chopra will be presented the 1998 Dadasaheb Phalke award. He was named recipient of the most prestigious film award on 21st October. Chopra was also the first director to bag the National Award, for HAMRAAZ.

ANU AGARWAL CRITICAL

Anu Agarwal is presently battling for life at the Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay. She had been rushed there in a critical condition after her car met with an accident on 2nd October. She was, at the time, travelling with a companion who emerged unhurt from the crash.

Anu sustained multiple fractures and was seriously injured. The accident is said to have affected her brain also.

NEW CINEMA IN AURANGABAD

A new cinema, Goldie, will open in Aurangabad on 5th November. A 705-seater, it is the first cinema in Marathwada region to be fully air-conditioned. It is installed with Dobly digital sound system and 24 speakers. A Christie’s platter projector and xenon lamp comprise the projection system.

Goldie is owned by Deepak Jawaharani. L.T. Masand is the manager. The cinema has been designed by Nadkarni Mahajan and constructed by Yash Constructions.

GOSSIP, GEM CINEMAS INAUGURATED

Gossip, a cinema in the Gaiety-Galaxy cinema complex, opened on 22nd October with the English film, The Journey. The film is released by Shringar which is also the controller of the new cinema. It has a seating capacity of 105. Its nett capacity per show is Rs. 3,213.

Gem preview theatre, in the same premises, has been converted into a public cinema with effect from 22nd. It is a 47-seater and its opening attraction is Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. This cinema, controlled by the Thadani group, has a nett per show capacity of Rs. 1,880.

A new preview theatre — Grace — has also come up in the premises. It has 35 seats.

The entire complex is now called G-7 as it houses in all seven cinemas viz. Gaiety, Galaxy, Gemini, Gossip, Glamour, Gem and Grace.

‘HOGI PYAR KI JEET’ SILVER JUBILEE

Shweta International’s Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet entered 25th combined week at Alankar (matinee), Bombay and other places. Produced by Anil Sharma and directed by P. Vasu, the film stars Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Mayuri Kango, Neha, Mohan Joshi, Ketaki Dave, Tiku Talsania, Prithvi, Arjun, Anil Dhawan, Adi Irani, Shiva, Raza Murad and Rajesh Puri. Music: Anand Milind. Lyrics: Sameer. Screenplay and dialogues: Anwar Khan.

ANNOUNCEMENT & LAUNCHING

Sunny, Rahul Rawail Teamed For B.S. Shaad’s Next

Sunny Deol and director Rahul Rawail have been teamed again in producer B.S. Shaad’s next. Manmohan Singh will be the cinematographer. It will be made under the banner of Brar Productions. Its songs will be recorded in January 2000. The film will roll in March next year and regular shooting will start in May/June.

Vinod Shah, Harish Shah, Guddu Dhanoa Launch Sunny-Urmila Starrer

Parth Productions’ untitled venture was launched with a song recording on Oct. 11 at Sunny Super Sounds. The song, penned by Sameer and rendered by Kumar Sanu, was set to tune by Anand Raaj Anand. The launching was attended by a number of stars and other industry people.

The film stars Sunny Deol, Urmila Matondkar and one more heroine. It is being directed by Guddu Dhanoa for producers Vinod Shah and Harish Shah. It is based on a story and screenplay by Rajeev Kaul and Praful Parekh, and has dialogues by Amrik Gill. Cinematographer: Shripad Natu. Regular shooting will commence in December.

YOU ASKED IT

These days, there is a tie-up between sponsors and film producers for advertising on television. How does the economics work?

– The sponsor enters into a contract with the film producer, whereby the latter gives publicity to the sponsor’s product in his film and, in return, the sponsor puts up hoardings, banners and does television publicity of the film. Money may or may not exchange hands. It could also be possible for a sponsor to simply use the title of a big film in the publicities of its product without the producer showing the sponsor’s product in his film. Here too, money may or may not be involved.

What is the meaning of the word hivda in the Mhare hivda mein naache mor song of Hum Saath-Saath Hain?

– Hivda means dil. The line, literally translated, means that a peacock is dancing in my heart.

Why has Dillagi been postponed? Is Sunny Deol not ready with the film or does he not want to come opposite Hum Saath-Saath Hain?

– Sunny’s DILLAGI is not yet ready for release. It will take some time for the first copy to be out, hence the postponement.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Speechless Mithun

It simply doesn’t pay to be nice. This is the bitter lesson Mithun Chakraborty has learnt the hard way. This week’s release, Heeralal Pannalal, stars Mithun in the lead role but, can you believe it, the film has been released without Mithun’s voice! Yes, Mithun has not dubbed a single dialogue in the film. And no, not because the actor was busy but because director Kawal Sharma kept him in the dark and literally bluffed him. He told Mithun, the film would be released on 29th October, but the next thing the actor knew was that Heeralal Pannalal was hitting the screens a week earlier. Mithun realised that Kawal had fooled him and had got a dubbing artiste to dub his dialogues. The shock must’ve indeed left the actor speechless. What has hurt Mithun more than anything else is that Kawal had fallen at the actor’s feet when he had wanted to launch the film. Said Mithun to Information in a telephonic talk from Ooty, “Kawal had pleaded that if I didn’t sign his film, he’d be on the streets. He emotionally blackmailed me to act in his film. Even when the film was completed, I told him not to bother about my balance payment because I knew, he was in debt. Had he told me that he didn’t have money for the dubbing, I would have even paid from my own pocket for the same. But he has cheated me.” Kawal Sharma, perhaps, doesn’t realise the harm he has done to producers of other Mithun-starrers. After Heeralal Pannalal, distributors of the forthcoming Mithun films may start demanding proof of Mithun’s dubbing for the films. The actor has lodged his complaint with the Cine & TV Artistes’ Association. “Such fraudulent producers should not be let to go scot-free,” concluded an agitated Mithun.

Altered Titles

Numerology has once again come into play. Some film’s titles have now been altered. Like, an ‘a’ has been dropped from Boney Kapoor’s Pukaar to read Pukar. An ‘e’ has gone into Rajiv Babbar’s Zahrela to make it read as Zahreela. The previous Bulundi (Bobby Anand) is now being spelt as Bulandi. And the usually spelt world, ‘Zamanat’, has an ‘h’ to read as Zamanath (S. Raamanathan’s film)!

Sorry Story

Producer Firoz Nadiadwala is very perturbed at the sorry state of story affairs in the Hindi film industry. Says he, “No writer is willing to think and come up with anything new or different. I’ve heard ten stories of late, but, believe it or not, not even a single story had anything novel to offer. Writers behave as though the police will catch them if they come up with something new in their scripts. I don’t know where the industry is heading.” Nadiadwala blames both, the writers and the producers, for this terrible state of affairs in the Hindi film industry.

Confident

While on Firoz Nadiadwala, the guy is very happy with the way his Hera Pheri has shaped up. He has yet to conclude deals for almost the whole of India, but he’s confident that he would get a good deal for the film (which is nearly complete) because both his heroes, Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty, have done “wonderful jobs” in this film directed by Priyadarshan. Besides the heroes, Firoz is excited about Paresh Rawal and Om Puri’s performances. Like Firoz, another producer who is yet to conclude some of his deals for his completed film is Suneel Darshan. But the man is confident of getting good offers now that the promotional trailers of his Jaanwar have begun to be aired on television. The film has melodious music by Anand Milind.

Police Protection For Policemen!

Ever heard of police personnel being deployed to protect policemen from autograph hunters?! Yes, this actually happens every time Bangalore airport security inspector B.C. Patil and deputy commissioner of police (PRO) M. Prakash step out in public. For, these men of the police force invariably get mobbed by the public every time they venture out. Confused? Actually, the reason why these two policemen need security is because they are pretty big stars in Kannada films. This may sound incredible but the truth is that an increasing number of policemen in Karnataka are dropping their batons and donning greasepaint, even if only occasionally, to make appearances on the Kannada silver screen. Be it SI Chandrappa, SI Eashwar Tathagat or constable Honnaiah, each has, at times, taken a break from fighting real-life crime to tackle the reel-life villains.

B.C. Patil had served as a police officer for 13 long years before he first traded his vardee for the costumes of films. He hit bull’s eye with his very first film, Nishkarsha, and hasn’t looked back since. He has acted in more than 20 films already and continues to be a sought-after star of Kannada films — so much so that he hasn’t been able to attend to his police duties since February this year! Likewise, M. Prakash, who began his film career with Namma Bhagya (Tulu) in 1979, has more than 15 Kannada films and several TV serials to his credit.

With more policemen following suit, perhaps, the accusation that the police always arrives after everything is over may not be true, at least in the case of Kannada films!

No Four-Letter Words For Ramu

While Mast has proved to be a four-letter F-word (as in F-L-O-P and not anything else!), Ram Gopal Varma (Ramu) would do better to steer clear of four-letter titles for his films. That is because the four-letter jinx on his films has been proven for the fourth time — Raat, Daud, Kaun and now, Mast. So while Ramu may have used four-letter words in his Satya quite generously, he should now say goodbye to four-letter titles!

Countdown Begins For The Most Awaited Film Of The Millennium

If there’s one thing for which the excitement level among the Indians at least is higher than for the start of the new millennium, it is the most awaited film of this millennium. The countdown for Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Saath-Saath Hain has begun.

There are just 11 days to go before what may ultimately turn out to be the movie of the millennium hits the screens all over the world. The countdown has already started. Exhibitors across the length and breadth of the country are updating the sound systems in their cinemas, redoing the furniture, painting the premises, installing new equipments — all for the D-day, November 5, 1999.

In the meantime, activity in the Rajshri office is on at a feverish pitch. It is not yet decided exactly how many prints of the film will be released on day one and even as some sections of the press continue to speculate crazily and childishly about the number of prints, the Barjatyas maintain a studied silence. Rather than refuting every guess-work write-up about the film, they choose to concentrate on the film and are striving to bring out copies that are as close to perfection as possible.

The stupendous success of Sooraj’s first directorial venture, Maine Pyar Kiya, and the history written by his next, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, have taken people’s expectations from his third film sky-high. The trade is euphoric, the public even more. In spite of such excited anticipation, the Barjatyas continue to keep their trademark low profile. Ask any of them, how they expect the film to fare at the ticket-windows and you are likely to get a smile in reply and the counter-query, “Who can predict how much a film will run?”

Several weeks after Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! was released, Sooraj Barjatya had, in an interview to Film Information, revealed, “After seeing Maine Pyar Kiya, my father (Raj Kumar Barjatya) had told me, ‘You’ve made an epic.’ And just after hearing the final script of HAHK..! and even before its shooting could begin, he told me, ‘This film is going to be a road-roller.'” Raj Babu must surely have estimated what magic Hum Saath-Saath Hain is capable of creating but the modesty of the Barjatyas must be preventing all of them from saying anything in this regard. “Let our film speak for itself,” Raj Kumar Barjatya told Information a couple of weeks back.

It is difficult to gauge what is more killing — the wait for HS-SH or the silence of the makers…… the silence that will be broken with the Diwali crackers. One never knows, the sound of all the crackers of the Diwali of ’99 may finally turn out to be a whimper when compared with the melody and sweet strain of Hum Saath-Saath Hain. Touch wood!

– Komal Nahta

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir,

First let me thank you for giving us space in your valued 3-E column. Your good selves have mentioned the pitiable condition of cinemas in C.P. Berar by exemplifying us as offering ‘breakfast packets’ to keep ourselves in business.

Kindly enlighten me whether introducing methods to improve one’s business shows the sorry state of affairs in a business house.

In the past, we have experimented by introducing 2-in-1 system of screening films i.e. to exhibit 2 pictures in one show in 1 ticket.

This was welcomed by patrons and now, this is accepted and followed by many exhibitors of C.P. circuit.

With Vaastav, we have introduced booking of tickets on the internet, and our website is www.cyberhaat.com.

During the year, we have screened many prestigious films and have paid handsome shares to the distributors. Kindly have a look.

1. China Gate 9 weeks’ nett share above 5,00,000/-.

2. Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet 9 weeks’ net share above 7,00,000/-.

3. Hindustan Ki Kasam (2 cinemas) 4 weeks’ share nearly 2,50,000/-.

4. Baadshah 5 weeks’ share nearly 4,80,000/-.

5. The Mummy (dubbed) 2 weeks’ share nearly 1,30,000/- which is better than that of many earlier dubbed hits, including the latest The Matrix.

Please let us know, with such an enviable performance, how are we singled out for the pitiable condition of cinemas in C.P.

We are screening English films in morning shows because of their shorter duration. Show timings in Raipur are as early as 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Currently, we are also screening children’s films in morning shows and ours is the most suitable and patronised cinema for both the films. Further, we have been regular exhibitors of English films, of 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Columbia and Paramount for the past many years. And we exhibit good English films in regular shows whenever we find a suitable gap.

We would like to bring to your knowledge that since the date we are awaiting compounding facility, we have not had a gap to screen any C-grade English film (as per your terminology) at ours.

We are continuously thinking of making improvements and introducing new methods. We want to welcome new concepts and techniques. We want to move with the world in a better direction.

We want to stay together on a firm level and do business and have fun because that’s what entertainment is all about.

For Shyam Talkies, Raipur
Lavanya Tiwari

FLASHBACK | 3 June, 2022
(From our issue dated 7th June, 1997)

By
Film Information
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‘JUDAAI’ 100 DAYS AT 35 CENTRES

Boney Kapoor’s Judaai is celebrating 100 days today (June 7) at more than 35 centres all over India. It is heading for 100 days at about 10 more centres. Produced by Surinder Kapoor and directed by Raj Kanwar, the film stars Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Urmila Matondkar, Kader Khan, Paresh Rawal, Johny Lever, Upasna Singh and Farida Jalal. Music: Nadeem Shravan.

LATEST POSITION

The success of VIRASAT has taken many by surprise and has brought the much-needed joy in the industry.

Virasat started picking up from 2nd and 3rd day onwards and has now established itself as an A1 film in most of the circuits. The film’s making, Anil Kapoor and Tabu’s performances and its hit music score are being praised by the ladies and classes. 8th day’s collections were also wonderful at many places. 1st week Bombay 24,88,069 (90.43%) from 8 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 10,81,437 from 5 cinemas, Baroda 2,13,407, Rajkot 1,61,281, Jamnagar 94,861, Kolhapur 1,99,772, Solapur (14 shows) 1,12,858 (97%); Belgaum 1,13,285; Delhi 44,45,836 (87.06%) from 12 cinemas (1 unrecd. and 1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,81,559 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,68,355, Agra 1,64,346, Allahabad 1,08,000, Varanasi 1,22,200, Bareilly 1,15,139, Gorakhpur 1,14,000 (71.45%); Calcutta 15,83,905 from 16 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Nagpur 5,26,660 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,77,870, Amravati 1,17,972, Bhilai 1,35,688, Chandrapur 1,30,624, Yavatmal 70,030; Bhopal 2,54,511 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 4,73,353 from 2 cinemas, Ajmer (29 shows) 1,15,951, Bikaner 2,05,248; Hyderabad 4,42,957, full.

Insaaf has not found acceptance. 1st week Bombay 25,00,299 (59.09%) from 12 cinemas (11 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,94,209 from 3 cinemas (3 cinemas unrecd.), Rajkot 1,60,444 from 2 cinemas; Kolhapur 1,03,452, Solapur 1,08,348; Delhi 14,15,661 (49.33%) from 8 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,81,556 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow (6 days) 1,38,011, Agra 2,51,319, Allahabad 83,630, Meerut 1,70,240, Bareilly (5 days) 46,299, Gorakhpur (6 days) 90,000; Calcutta 15,02,280 from 21 cinemas; Bhopal 1,71,342 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 4,57,610 from 4 cinemas, Jodhpur 1,10,000 (1 unrecd.), Bikaner 1,28,014, Bharatpur (gross) 91,500; Hyderabad 23,38,548 from 17 cinemas. Opened this week in C.P. Berar.

……….

Mahaanta 2nd week Bombay 6,75,460 (36.37%) from 4 cinemas (11 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,57,182 from 5 cinemas, Jamnagar 33,901; 1st Kolhapur 1,26,411 (91.60%), 2nd Solapur 74,771; Delhi 5,33,963 from 6 cinemas (1 unrecd., 6 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,50,503 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,15,455, Agra 80,000, Allahabad 57,000, Varanasi 65,572, Bareilly 67,891, 1st Hardwar 45,000; 2nd Calcutta 1,44,583; Nagpur 96,404 from 2 cinemas, 1st Jabalpur 1,21,039, 2nd week Amravati 69,462, Akola 50,552, total 1,71,969, Raipur 91,014, Jalgaon 88,796, Wardha 26,313; Indore 52,098, Bhopal 63,165, Ujjain 41,927; Jaipur 1,19,204; Hyderabad (6 days) 1,44,203; 13 days’ total at Vijayawada 2,66,703, 12 days’ total at Visakhapatnam 1,96,623.

……….

USHA KHANNA TURNS PRODUCER

Music director Usha Khanna has turned a serial producer with Mamta which she is making under the banner of Usha Khanna Productions. Krishna Singh is the co-producer. The 52-episode TV serial will go on the floors on June 29. It is being directed by Prabhat Khanna from his own story and concept. Cast: Shahbaaz Khan, Anjana Mumtaz and Asif Sheikh. Lyrics: Yogesh.

SHILPA SHIRODKAR BEREAVED

Veteran Marathi film actress Meenakshi Shirodkar, grandmother of Shilpa and Namrata Shirodkar, breathed her last on 2nd June in Bombay. She had broken her backbone and was operated upon two weeks back. She was 81 and is survived by a son and his family.

Meenakshi was the first actress of Marathi films to appear in a swimsuit on the screen in Master Vinayak’s classic film, Brahmachari. She acted in many films and stage plays.

COURT RESTRAINS T-SERIES FROM SELLING ‘ZIDDI’, ‘SALMA PE…’ CASSETTES

Judge R.Y. Ganoo on 9th May passed an order confirming his earlier ad interim order that T-Series (Super Cassettes Industries), their servants and agents are restrained from manufacturing and selling of cassettes and CDs of Ziddi and Salma Pe Dil Aagaya. They are further restrained from removing any stock of these two titles from their factories/godowns. This order was passed on an application made by Vatsa Entertainment Ltd. in the Bombay city civil court. Vatsa Entertainment had terminated its agreement with Super Cassettes Industries for the manufacture and distribution of Ziddi and Salma Pe Dil Aagaya cassetes. However, T-Series continued to manufacture these cassettes and CDs and also did not pay the royalty due to Vatsa Entertainment and hence Vatsa filed a suit in the Bombay city civil court.

CINEMA OWNER, MANAGER ARRESTED IN VIJAYAWADA: TRADE UPSET

The proprietor and the manager of a leading twin cinema complex of Vijayawada were arrested by the police on 4th June for allegedly abetting black-marketing in tickets. The distribution and exhibition sectors of Vijayawada trade remained closed on 5th in protest against the arrest and the atrocities of the police. About 500 people from the two sectors took out a silent procession through the main streets of the city to the office of the Vijayawada police commissioner.

In the meantime, the cinema owner and manager were released on bail on 4th itself.

YASHWANT KACHHWAHA BEREAVED

Anand cinema, Jodhpur, remained closed for two days earlier this week due to the death of Geetadevi Kachhwaha, widow of Mahendra Singh Kachhwaha and sister-in-law of Yashwant Singh Kachhwaha of Anand cinema. Mahendra Singh Kachhwaha expired last month.

SIGNED

Rajkumar Santoshi Signs Priyadarshan, Akshaye

Priyadarshan has been signed to direct Akshaye Khanna for a film to be made under the banner of Ram Creations for producer Rajkumar Santoshi. It has music by A.R. Rahman, art by Sabu Cyril, and cinematography by K.V. Anand. Regular shooting will start from July 1. A leading lady and other cast and credits are being finalised. Xavier Marquis is the co-producer of the film.

CENSOR NEWS

Inderjit Films Combine’s Itihaas was given C.C. No. CIL/3/17/97 (A) dt. 2-6-’97; length 4442.67 metres in 18 reels (cuts: 281.01 metres).

Paramount Films of India Ltd.’s The Phantom – Vetal (dubbed) was given C.C. No. CFL/2/20/97 (UA) dt. 4-6-’97; length 2766.86 metres in 10 reels (no cut).

Prakash Jha Productions’ Mrityudand, seen on 3rd, has been passed with UA certificate, with cuts.

Sri Nirmala Devi Combines’ Do Aankhen Barah Hath (length 4107.48 metres in 15 reels), applied on 2nd, was seen on 4th.

Devyank Arts’ Lav Kush (length 4884.82 metres in 18 reels), applied on 3rd and seen on 4th, has been passed with U certificate, without cut.

Trimurti Films P. Ltd.’s Gupt (length 4776.25 metres in 17 reels), applied on 3rd and seen on 5th, has been offered A certificate, with cuts.

YOU ASKED IT

Pre-release reports of Virasat in trade circles were bad. People felt, a film with such a rural background would never run. They also felt, it was too much of a class taste. What went right?

– There’s no hard and fast rule that a rural background film cannot run. A story which touches the heart, whether based in a village or a city, is bound to run. VIRASAT may have a class treatment but it deals with a subject which has mass appeal and there’s also plenty of sentiments for the ladies.

What is the formula for box-office success?

– There’s no readymade formula as such, but novelty, either in content or presentation, coupled with conviction in what you are making, has more chances to succeed than anything else.

Why do you keep criticising stars for their high prices? After all, it is producers who run after stars, not vice versa?

– Yes, stars don’t run after producers, and their prices are governed by the laws of demand and supply. But my point is that since they are a part of this industry, they must have a more compassionate approach and should show more concern for the others in the industry by pricing themselves more realistically.

IN & OUT OF BOMBHAY

Mr. R.R. Khajanchi of Khajanchi Film Exchange, Amravati, is expected in town (493-0645) on 10th June.

Producer-director Indra Kumar returned from the USA on 6th night.

Producer Vashu Bhagnani returned from his holiday abroad on 6th June.

Producer Boney Kapoor will return from Madras this evening (7th June) and will go to the USA on 9th.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

‘Kama Sutra’: Video Cassettes Available?

Traders in Naaz were shocked to learn that pirated video cassettes of Mira Nair’s dubbed Hindi film, Kama Sutra, were in circulation in the market. Reportedly, the cassettes originated from London where a premiere show of the film was held some time back. Ajay Devgan, who holds the film’s distribution rights for Bombay, is contemplating taking up the matter with R. Mohan who holds the all-India rights of the film. Obviously, Ajay Devgan would now demand a drastic price reduction. It may be recalled here that pirated video cassettes of Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen were also out much before the film’s theatrical release.

Tension Brewing

There’s tension on the Mrityudand front. Producer-director Prakash Jha is contemplating a price hike but the film’s Bombay distributor, Vinodbhai Kakkad, is in no mood to agree to hike. Reportedly, he has expressed his desire to the producer to relinquish the distribution rights if a price hike is insisted upon. C.P. Berar distributor Rajesh Jain (who is also the C.P. distributor of Insaaf and who obtained a court order in the case of Insaaf for its delivery at the contracted price) is also thinking in terms of going to court against the price hike.

By the way, Rajesh Jain took delivery of Insaaf at a little above the contracted price (outright purchase) and released it in his territory this week.

‘Virasat’ Success: The Firsts

There are a couple of firsts associated with the success of Virasat. After so many years have producers Mushir-Riaz got a success that Virasat is almost like their first victory. Their last successfull film was Mehbooba and even that, released 21 years ago, wasn’t a universal success. After Mehbooba, it was just a line of flops and debacles from their banner which gave films such as Apne Paraye, Rajput, Shakti, Zabardast, Samundar, Commando and Akayla. Virasat is also director Priyadarshan’s first commercial success. Priyan, as Priyadarshan is known to his friends, has always been counted as a ‘class director’ because his films invariably have a ‘class’ treatment which make them critically acclaimed films but which are commercial flops. Even though Virasat has that ‘class’ touch of Priyan, it has been loved by the ladies, besides the elite audience. And since this ‘class’ film deals with the story of a village, it just might do good business in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres too. If it does, it will be another first — a ‘class’ film doing good business in small centres.

Changed Scenario

Talking of Virasat, one also recalls the number of changes which took place in its cast and credits before the film was finally started. It was initially supposed to be directed by J.P. Dutta. After J.P., it was Bharathan, the director of the original version (Thevar Magan), who was roped in. But the guy is said to have told Raaj Kumar in his very first meeting with the star that he was a great fan of his. Not wrong in being anybody’s fan but the producers felt, if the director was so much in awe of the actor, he wouldn’t be able to do a competent job. It was then Mahesh Bhatt who was signed to call the shots. Finally, Priyadarshan was assigned the job. For the role of the older Thakur (hero’s father), currently played by Amrish Puri, the original choices were Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar. Dilip Kumar did not do the film as he was busy with the direction of Kalinga. Raaj Kumar was reportedly angry with J.P. Dutta who did not reach at the appointed time to narrate the story to him. When Mahesh Bhatt was signed to direct the film, the writer was to have been Javed Akhtar. Reportedly, Javed expressed reservations about Anil Kapoor being able to do justice to the role of the hero and wanted him to be replaced. Of course, Mushir-Riaz would hear nothing of it. The funny part is that Raaj Kumar on his part did not think, Javed Akhtar was suitable to write the film.

Raj Kanwar’s Second Gesture

It has been Raj Kanwar again who has shown grace by postponing the release of Itihaas by a week so that Border has no opposition. Border last week was postponed by a week and will now come on 13th June, the day on which Itihaas was earlier scheduled for release. The funny part is that Itihaas release was planned for 13th June only because Border was initially due to come on 31st May. Raj Kanwar had at that time personally met J.P. Dutta and asked him about the release plans of Border and, on his own, volunteered to come two weeks after Border. The latter film later got postponed by a week, to 6th June. Then, last week, it was decided to postpone Border by a further week. Raj Kanwar was initially reluctant to change his date and stuck to 13th June. After all, it wasn’t his fault if Border was postponed by a week. But Bharat Shah, who presents Border, requested Raj Kanwar to move ahead by one more week just one last time. There were meetings and telephonic conversations galore on 3rd June between Bharat Shah and Raj Kanwar. Finally, Raj relented and Bharatbhai beamed with joy. But Raj Kanwar, in agreeing to release his Itihaas on 20th June, told Bharatbhai that should Border be further postponed, it would be Bharatbhai’s turn to not get it in opposition to Itihaas and, instead schedule it for any day after 20th June. Bharatbhai, of course, agreed readily.

Ghai’s August Connection

With the release of Subhash Ghai’s Pardes planned for 8th August, one is reminded of three other Ghai films which were released around the same time in earlier years —Karma on 7th August, 1986, Saudagar on 8th August, 1991, and Khal-nayak on 5th August, 1993. The music of Pardes will be released on 30th June but those who’ve heard the songs say, they are melodious and mesmerising (Nadeem Shravan and Anand Bakshi). Besides six Hindi songs, the film also has an English number, written and rendered by Hema Sardesai. A song of Pardes will be aired on television for the first time on 15th June in the Superhit Muqabala programme on DD1.

Smallest Cinema, Biggest Share

It pays to keep your cinema in good condition. This is what one can conclude when one sees the shares of Insaaf in Indore. Although the film has not been appreciated, it has yielded a handsome share from Abhinayshri cinema of Indore. In fact, of all the five cinemas in Indore, in which Insaaf was released last week, Abhinayshri has the smallest seating capacity (only 745) and yet, it has yielded the highest share in Indore. The owners of Abhinayshri and Amulshri spent a fortune in renovating the cinemas recently. The two cinemas have been merged into one. The name Abhinayshri has been retained for the merged cinema.

Release At Short Notice

K.C. Bokadia is indeed an opportunist. No sooner was the release of Border postponed last week, from 6th to 13th June, than he decided to release his own Gundagardi on 6th as there were no other releases fixed for the day. In just a week’s time, he got all his distributors to agree to the release and effected deliveries smoothly to meet the release date. To his luck, Thursday was Amavasya day and the film opened to very good houses. Of course, the mass-appealing title also did the trick.

‘Speedy’ Saazish

Bengal distributor Lala Damani, who has turned a Hindi film producer too (he has already produced Bengali films), deserves to be complimented for the speed with which he is completing his Saazish, starring Mithun Chakraborty, Vikas Bhalla, Pooja Batra, Kashmira Shah, Helen, Aroona Irani, Sachin, Homi Wadia and others. The film went before the cameras on 20th March and it should be complete in a couple of days — that is, in less than three months! Perhaps, because he is a distributor first, Lala did not make a mere proposal, rather, he signed his artistes after his script was ready. For music, Lala opted for melody instead of “today’s Western tunes”, as he calls them. Sudhir R. Nair, erstwhile assistant to Shashilal Nair, has directed Saazish which abounds in emotions in the first half and action in the second half.

Incidentally, Ajay Devgan was to play the role which is now being played by Mithun Chakraborty. For some reason, Ajay couldn’t do the film. But Ajay liked the film’s story so much that he acquired its distribution rights for Bombay.

Sony’s Music Company

The Sony people have now opened a music company too. Called Sony Music, the new company has its posh and tasteful office at Santacruz, Bombay. To begin with, Sony will release some basic albums. It hasn’t acquired any film music rights so far, but will do so soon.

FLASHBACK | 12 November, 2021
(From our issue dated 16th November, 1996)

By
Film Information
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RAJA HINDUSTANI

Cineyug’s Raja Hindustani is a brilliant film with a very Indian story. A taxi driver-cum-tourist guide falls in love with a millionaire’s only daughter. The girl, much against her father’s wishes, spurns every one to get married to the driver. Her scheming step-mother, however, will not let the marriage succeed even though the father soon gives his acceptance to the marriage. All hell breaks loose in the happily married couple’s life as the wretched step-mother creates misunderstandings between the husband and wife. Things reach a stage when the two separate from each other. The step-mother tries her best to ensure that the separation gives way to divorce, but does not succeed. Ultimately, the misunderstandings are cleared after a bit of action drama, and the couple unites again.

The major part of the first half is light and fun-filled. A couple of reels before the interval, it takes a serious and dramatic turn and that’s where the film involves the viewer completely. Many of the light portions of the hero (Aamir Khan) are quite enjoyable, but if a couple of scenes lack in entertainment value, it is mainly because one has seen Aamir do similar things in Rangeela and not because of a defect in scripting. However, the initial two reels are quite routine. The second half abounds in emotions and histrionics.

Although the pre-interval portion reminds of Jab Jab Phool Khile and the post-interval portion, of Pyar Jhukta Nahin, there are some new angles to the story and the fresh presentation, all of which lend it the desired novel effect. Principal among the new angles are: (i) the hero’s refusal to sign the divorce papers supposedly sent by his wife, because of his firm belief that marriage is a sacred institution which cannot be broken with the stroke of a pen; and (ii) the heroine’s refusal to divorce her husband. These two scenes reaffirm one’s faith in the institution of marriage and are so reassuring that they will be fantastic scoring points to make the ladies audience love — no, adore — the film. The refusals, of the husband first and the wife later, come at moments when one actually expects that they would sign the divorce papers. The shock value, coupled with the heartwarming feeling one experiences after these two scenes, are enough to bowl the ladies audience over and make them patronise this film in a very big way.

Performances of at least three lead artistes — Aamir Khan, Karisma Kapoor and Archna Puran Singh — are award-winning. Aamir does a fantastic job, especially in the dramatic and serious scenes. His drunken scene, in which he is a picture of frustration, bitterness and confusion, is mind-blowing and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that few could have done it with so much finesse and restraint as Aamir. Karisma Kapoor is the surprise packet of the film. All awards this year for the best actress need to be reserved for Karisma who is simply superb in the film. Not once does she go overboard; she comes up with a truly mesmerising performance. Her histrionics are fantastic. With this film, Karisma makes a comfortable place for herself in the top bracket. That she looks gorgeous in her new hair-style in the first half is an added advantage. Archna Puran Singh, as her horrible step-mother, is wonderful. With her typical acting, she gives the role a different dimension. Suresh Oberoi acts extremely ably. Johny Lever brings the house down with his comedy. The guy makes every scene in which he appears, a thoroughly enjoyable one. In particular, the scene in which he prostrates before Archna is excellent.

Navnit Nishan is cute and makes her presence felt. Veeru Krishan is also very good. Farida Jalal acts with perfect restraint. Pramod Moutho is effective. Mohnish Bahl has very little scope but is, nevertheless, natural. Tiku Talsania and master Kunal Khemu lend admirable support. Kalpana Iyer and Pratibha Sinha leave a mark in their appearances in only one song.

If the performances are award-winning, so are the dialogues (Javed Siddique and Dharmesh Darshan). The brilliant performances and the hard-hitting dialogues combine together to make several scenes worthy of thunderous applause. Falling in this category are: (i) Karisma’s announcement that she could forgo not one but a hundred houses for the love of her husband; (ii) Aamir’s tearing of the divorce papers; (iii) Karisma complimenting her father for having cursed her; (iv) Aamir asking his father-in-law to shut up and not interfere between him and his wife; (v) Karisma making her step-mother feel guilty for having misused her title of mother, etc. etc.

Dharmesh Darshan scores in every department — direction, scripting and extracting performances. The best part of his story and narration is that it is totally Indian in content, feel and presentation. His understanding of the medium is masterly and he knows how to blend drama, emotions, romance, comedy and music fruitfully. Here’s another young director who shines on the film firmament and who will be extremely sought-after.

Yet another award-winning department is the music. Nadeem Shravan are in top form and their songs are a virtual delight. The ‘Pardesi pardesi’ number is already a rage and its tune and picturisation (the first version) should draw deafening applause in cinema halls, especially when Kalpana Iyer asks Aamir to sing so that she can dance. The other two versions of the ‘Pardesi’ song are also excellent. Its use in the climax is masterly. ‘Poochho zara poochho’ is also excellently tuned. ‘Aaye ho meri zindagi meini’ has lilt. The blending of ‘Pardesi’ and ‘Aaye ho’ songs at the time of the couple’s separation is intelligent. Sameer’s lyrics also deserve distinction marks. Song picturisations are beautiful.

Action scenes are well composed but, it must be said, the action climax looks a bit out of place. Another sore point is that Aamir Khan has no dialogues to utter in the entire climax. Production values are of a good standard. Background music is appropriate. W.B. Rao’s camerawork is of top class. Editing is sharp.

On the whole, Raja Hindustani is a confirmed super-hit. It has taken a mind-blowing start and, on the strength of ladies and family audience as well as heavy patronage by youngsters, it is poised to create history in the initial weeks — from North to South and East to West.

Released on 14-11-’96 at Metro and on 15-11-’96 at 14 other cinemas of Bombay by Tips Films P. Ltd. and Cineyug thru Shringar Films. Publicity: extraordinary. Opening: bumper. …….Also released all over with fantastic response.

LATEST POSITION

The fanciful and fantastic opening of RAJA HINDUSTANI this week is the best Diwali gift the industry could have asked for. Last week’s GHATAK has also grossed tremendous collections.

Raja Hindustani (released on 11th/12th/13th/14th) has created records almost everywhere. 1st week Baroda (4 days) 100%, Padra (4 days) 1,35,632 (100%), Rajkot (4 days) 74,000, Jamnagar (4 days) 95,136 from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.), Bhuj (3 days) 100%; Pune (4 days) 2,62,704 from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.), Kolhapur (4 days) 100%, Nasik (4 days) 1,84,512 (100%), record; Allahabad (4 days) 85,020 (100%), Bareilly (3 days) 80,267 (100%), Gorakhpur (3 days) 68,800 (100%), theatre record; Nagpur 1st day 1,22,696 from 4 cinemas, Akola (3 days) 75,959 (100%), theatre record, Raipur (2 days) 65,391, Jalgaon (3 days) 1,06,110, Khandesh record, Wardha (3 days) 42,994, theatre record, Chandrapur (3 days) 98,290, city record, Yavatmal (3 days) 42,107 (100%); Bhopal (3 days) 1,96,000 from 3 cinemas.

Ghatak, after a somewhat shaky three days (of pre-Diwali), consolidated its position fabulously and went on to record wonderful collections in 1st week. The 2nd week has also started extremely well. 1st week Bombay 59,87,217 (90.97%) from 16 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 11,67,218 from 7 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 91% from 2 cinemas, Bharuch (gross) 2,83,612, Patan (gross) 2,14,886, city record, Jamnagar (mat.) 39,554 (1 in regular unrecd.), Adipur 1,35,251, district record; Pune 16,33,674 from 7 cinemas (1 in mat.), Kolhapur 1,83,078, Satara 1,56,982 (91.57%) from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.), Nasik 2,14,000; Belgaum 2,38,022 from 2 cinemas, record, Nipani 1,16,218; Delhi 44,70,594 (82.86%) from 14 cinemas (1 cinema on F.H.); Kanpur 4,05,691 from 2 cinemas, Agra 2,36,252, Allahabad 1,55,000, Meerut 2,14,007 (100%), theatre record, Bareilly 1,23,687 (67.83%), Gorakhpur 1,49,400 (70.70%); Calcutta 20,34,652 from 15 cinemas; Nagpur 5,61, 818 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,51,039, Amravati 2,54,969 from 2 cinemas, Akola 1,85,444, Raipur (6 days) 1,49,112, Bhilai (6 days) 1,03,000, Durg 1,34,874, city record, Jalgaon 1,70,173, Chandrapur (29 shows) 1,84,191, city record, Yavatmal 1,04,045, Bilaspur 1,64,113; Bhopal (3 days) 2,52,791 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 6,36,555 from 3 cinemas, Jodhpur 4,24,339, Ajmer 1,22,845 (100%), Bikaner 3,00,541, city record, Kota 1,51,834, Udaipur 100%, Alwar (4 days) 1,34,048; Hyderabad 28,99,947 from 13 cinemas, share 14,91,311.

……….

YOU ASKED IT

Is the bumper opening of Raja Hindustani a result of the Diwali period?

– Only partly. The major credit for the almost unprecedented opening goes to the super-hit Pardesi pardesi song and the film’s promotion and publicity.

Why has Rakshak been postponed by a week?

– According to its maker, Ashok Honda, the theatrical trailers, which are being screened in cinemas from this week only, need to be screened for at least 2 weeks to create the desired impact.

Is it necessary to have a novel subject if the film is to be a hit?

– If there is no novelty in subject, even novelty in presentation/narration can suffice.

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

Mr. Dayanand Mandre of DRM Combines, Bangalore, will be in Bombay at Hotel Kemp’s Corner (363-4666/4646/4655) from Nov. 18 to 21.

Mr. Omprakash Agarwal of Rekha Movies, Calcutta, will reach Bombay on 18th November.

Mr. Naraindas Mukhija of Shree Navchitra Distributors P. Ltd., Jaipur, is in town (626-0106).

CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain is in Jaipur to attend the meeting of the executive committee of the CCCA.

Mr. N.D. Kabra and Mr. Laloo Kabra of Vishwajyoti Films, Bhusawal, are expected in Bombay early next week.

Producer Mahendra Dhariwal (HATYARA) will reach Bombay (633-2496) tonight (16th November).

K. PAPPU, RAJ KANWAR BEREAVED

Jeet Singh Kanwar, father of producer-directors K. Pappu and Raj Kanwar, expired in Delhi on 11th November. He was 65 and is survived by four sons and a daughter.

WEDDING BELLS FOR PAWAN KUMAR’S SON

A reception to celebrate the wedding of Anil, son of producer Pawan Kumar, with Renu will be held on 26th November at Lokhandwala Garden, Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri (W), Bombay.

GUL ANAND DEAD

Producer and Bombay and Overseas distributor Gul Anand passed away peacefully at his Pune residence following a heart attack on 12th November. He was 55. The marka ceremony was held on 15th at Peddar Road, Bombay.

Gul Anand had made films like Khatta Meetha, Chashme Buddoor, Jalwa and Hero Hiralal. He also continued the Overseas distribution business of his father. Gul considered Amitabh Bachchan his lucky mascot and made sure, his films had a fleeting appearance by the superstar.

Gul was both, a connoisseur of cinema as well as good food. His keen interest in healthy food prompted him to start a delicatessen at his office at Nana Chowk, Bombay. The delicatessen was very popular among the city’s elite. He also produced a serial on the royal dishes, Shahi Daawat, which is being aired on Zee TV. Gul also co-authored a book on food guide of Bombay and Nepal.

At the time of his death, he was producing a television serial which was not yet on air. He also had plans to start a film.

Gul was young at heart and fun-loving. He was very fond of inviting friends over for lunch or dinner which he would himself very painstakingly prepare.

SUBHASH GHAI, SUNIL BANSAL BEREAVED

Akhtar Farooqui, producer of Karz and father-in-law of Subhash Ghai and Rajasthan distributor Sunil Bansal, passed away in Bombay at Nanavati Hospital on 10th November after a brief illness. He was 72. He is survived by two daughters and five sons. The condolence prayers will be held at his Versova residence on 19th November from 7 p.m. onwards.

Quite ironically, his Karz was being telecast on DD-2 at the time of his death.

AKASHDEEP TO WED

Marriage of Akashdeep, son of producer-director Manmohan Sabir, with Sheeba, will be solemnised on 27th November at Hotel Horizon. A reception to celebrate the wedding will be held the same evening.

CENSOR NEWS

Shivam Chitrya’s (Bombay) Chhote Sarkar was given C.C. No. CIL/1/66/96 (U) dt. 14-11-’96; length 4404.97 metres in 18 reels (cuts: 61.82 metres).

Vishesh Films P. Ltd.’s Dastak was given C.C. No. CIL/3/37/96 (A) dt. 8-11-’96; length 4072.74 metres in 16 reels (minor deletion in sound only).

INDIAN ENGLISH FILMS

Mirabai Films’ Kama Sutra: A Tale Of Love was seen by the revising committee on 14th.

ANNOUNCEMENT & LAUNCHING

Salman To Start Film Starring Himself, Kajol, Arbaaz

Salman Khan’s production banner, G.S. Entertainment, will launch its first venture starring Salman Khan, Kajol and Arbaaz Khan in lead roles, on Nov. 19 with a song recording at Sunny Super Sounds. Sohail Khan directs the film which is being produced jointly by Guneet Walia and Sohail Khan. A Vashu Bhagnani presentation, it has music by Jatin Lalit. Lyrics: Sameer. Action: Mahendra Verma. Art: Sharmishtha Roy. Editing: Muthu. The first shooting schedule will begin from December 20.

Bokadia’s ‘Lal Badshah’ To Roll On 17th

Producer-director K.C. Bokadia’s Lal Badshah will mount the sets on Nov. 17 on a set at Film City. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Manisha Koirala, Shilpa Shetty, Amrish Puri, Mukesh Rishi and others. Music is scored by Aadesh Srivastava.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Instant Reaction

Producers being producers, they will never miss an opportunity to hike the prices of their films even if the hike is merely in their thoughts. No sooner did Raja Hindustani release this week to bumper houses than one producer telephoned us to enquire whether he could get a price of Rs. 3 crore for his almost complete star-studded project. “2 crore is old story now. Business has increased so much so fast that films should now be sold at higher prices,” said the producer. Whether business has shot up “so fast” or not, one doesn’t know, but what definitely is “so fast” is the reaction of producers to any hit.

‘Kama Sutra’: A Tale Of Trouble

Mira Nair’s Kama Sutra: A Tale Of Love is in censor trouble. The examining committee of the CBFC offered a number of cuts which Mira reportedly accepted. But the committee had a change of mind and instead refused certificate to the film. In spite of Mira Nair’s acceptance of the cuts, the film was referred to the revising committee. Probably, the members of the examining committee developed cold feet because of the nature of the film and decided to play safe and let the revising committee take the decision. When CBFC chairman Shakti Samanta was asked to see the film, he is reported to have said, “I don’t see films as a matter of principle.”

Marital Problems? No Problem!

If you meet Boney Kapoor in the near future, don’t be surprised if you find him in his elements. Boney is thrilled because three major hits of this year — Raja Hindustani, Saajan Chale Sasural and Agni Sakshi — have one thing in common: problems in the married lives of the hero (heroes) and heroine (heroines). So why should Boney Kapoor be happy about this common problem, you might ask. Well, it’s because his forthcoming film, Judaai, is also the story of one man who has two wives, and the problems that follow.

Dancing Dames

Yet another common point — not in the three hits of this year but in two films released recently and one forthcoming film. They all have one song-dance number picturised on a well-known heroine who is seen in that film in just that song. Ghatak has Mamta Kulkarni dancing with dance director Ganesh in Maara re. In Raja Hindustani, one gets to see Pratibha Sinha in the Pardesi pardesi number. And in Rakshak will be seen Raveena Tandon in the Shaher ki ladki song-dance.

Mathematical Logic

When a film bombs, there’s no dearth of sarcastic comments which make the rounds in trade circles. But one got to hear some really good ones when Raja Hindustani proved a hit on day one itself. Said a smart Alec, “Raja Hindustani in Bombay will do business equal to that of Raja plus Hindustani.” Touch wood! An exhibitor, referring to the hit business of Raja Hindustani and Ghatak, remarked, “History is repeating itself. In 1990, it was Aamir Khan’s Dil and Sunny Deol’s Ghayal, which were released on the same day, and both went on to become hits. Now, six years later, it is Sunny’s Ghatak and Aamir’s Raja Hindustani. They were released almost simultaneously — the former on 8th November, and the latter on 11th.”

FLASHBACK | 24 February, 2023
(From our issue dated 28th February, 1998)

By
Film Information
-

LATEST POSITION

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

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

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

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

………..

LALITA PAWAR DEAD

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

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

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

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

Lalita Pawar’s original name was Ambika Sagun.

OM PRAKASH NO MORE

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

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

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

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

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

BABY BOY FOR ANEES BAZMEE

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

PADMINI KOLHAPURE’S ACTING SCHOOL

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

RAGHUNATH JHALANI NO MORE

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

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

YOU ASKED IT

How many cinemas are there in the country?

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

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

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

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

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

DO YOU KNOW?

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

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

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

Ability And Stability

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Familiarity Breeds Contempt?

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

Love In The Air

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

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