VISHWA VIDHAATA

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

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

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

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

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

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

LATEST POSITION

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

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

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

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

……….

BABY BOYS

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

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

‘VIRASAT’ SILVER JUBILEE

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

ADVANCED DOLBY SOUND AT JYOTI, JALANDHAR

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

GETTING BACK LOST GLORY

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

‘LAL DARJA’ NOT NOMINATED FOR OSCAR AWARDS

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

‘PARDES’ CELEBRATES 100 DAYS AT 49 CENTRES

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

BABY BOY FOR SHAH RUKH KHAN

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

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

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

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

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

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

INDORE DISTRIBUTORS DECIDE ON FRIDAY RELEASE

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

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

YASHWANT DUTT DEAD

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

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

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

MAHARANA, BHILWARA GOLDEN JUBILEE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sound Tracks In India

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

Mr. Ghai,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

– Tony Spath

YOU ASKED IT

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

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

When is Yash Johar’s Duplicate due for release?

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

Who is the most in-demand music director today?

– Anu Malik.

DO YOU KNOW?

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

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

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Mithun ‘Hottest’ And Shah Rukh ‘Coolest’ Star

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

‘Jeans’ Junction

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

CHACHI 420

Raajkamal Films International’s Chachi 420 is the story of a man who is forced to divorce his wife. The wife gets the custody of their only girl-child. Since the guy loves his wife and child too much and is desperate to be with them, he transforms himself into a woman so that he can apply for the job of an ayah for his daughter. The ayah is selected and from there begins a laugh-a-minute comedy. How two middle-aged men fall in love with the man-turned-woman, how he tries to escape their advances and how he wins back his wife’s love are all narrated in a hilarious manner.

The film is inspired by the English film, Mrs. Doubtfire, and is a remake of the same banner’s Tamil film, Avvai Shanmughi. The story is quite novel, and screenplay writer Kamal Haasan has come up with excellent comedy situations. Gulzar’s dialogues complement the comic scenes marvellously.

But by its very nature, the film assumes the character of a film for the class audience. Although the subject is a family drama, many of the comedy punches have elitist appeal because there’s humour in the words more than in the actions. Another drawback which comes in the way of the drama appealing to the masses too, is the weak music. While ‘Chupdi chupdi chachi’ and ‘Dauda dauda bhaagaa bhaagaa sa’ are entertaining numbers in the film, the audio value of the songs is very limited. No song has the hummable quality about it.

Performances of all the artistes are first-rate. Kamal Haasan is par excellence in the role of a lady. His gait, his style of talking and walking, his make-up, facial expressions and mannerisms are all brilliant. Undoubtedly, he is one of the greatest actors of the Indian screen. Even as the humiliated husband, Kamal acts with a rare maturity. His action stunts are a treat to watch. In short, this is an award-winning performance from the master actor. Tabu has lesser scope and does well. She looks really beautiful. Amrish Puri, as Tabu’s father, is fantastic and not once does he go overboard. Om Puri is the surprise packet and delivers a mind-blowing performance in a comic role. Paresh Rawal, too, is hilarious and deserves distinction marks for the ease with which he gets into the skin of the character. Johnny Walker and Nasser lend terrific support. Ayesha Julka hardly gets any scope but in the couple of scenes in which she appears, she is cute. Baby Sana is wonderful and lovable. Raj Zutshi, Madan Bob, Atul Agnihotri, Ritu Shivpuri and the others provide the required support.

Kamal Haasan’s direction is praiseworthy but it must also be said that he has erred in making the film one-track. Except for comedy and few emotions, there isn’t much else. In fact, had the emotions been more pronounced, the results would’ve been far better. Vishal’s music, as said above, is not up to the mark. Editing (N.P. Satish) is very good. Jehangir Choudhry’s camerawork is top class. Action scenes (Vikram Dharma) are very well composed. Art direction (Boban) deserves special mention as the sets look so real. Production and other technical values are appropriate. Background score is very nice.

On the whole, high-priced Chachi 420 will neither be a universal success nor a universal flop. It is a good entertainer for the city audience only. Although it has not opened well, it will pick up by mouth publicity. Even then, its business will be the best in Bombay, Maharashtra and the South and in major cities of North India. Thanks to its high price (in some circuits), it may find it difficult to even reach the average mark there.

Released on 19-12-’97 at Eros and 15 other cinemas of Bombay by Friends India thru Shringar Films. Publicity: extraordinary. Opening: quite good. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor almost everywhere outside Bombay and Maharashtra.

AFLATOON

Tridev Arts’ Aflatoon (UA) is the story of two guys who look alike. While one is a harmless and happy-go-lucky good-for-nothing guy, the other is a crook whose profession is to blackmail rich men and thereby make his booty. The good-for-nothing guy has dreams of hooking some millionaire’s only daughter so that he can enjoy life thereafter. To achieve this aim, he tries to come close to a college girl and in so doing, the two get emotionally involved. The girl’s father is shocked to see his daughter’s boyfriend because the look-alike has also been blackmailing him (father) since years. The son-in-law-to-be then takes it upon himself to catch hold of his look-alike and put him in his place. How he operates in accomplishing his mission and how the two similar-looking guys try to get each other in trouble forms the latter part of the film.

The story is not very new but the presentation is quite different. Making the villain a dancer and singer has a charm of its own but one which will be appreciated more by the class audience. The first half is ordinary and, except for a couple of songs, it really doesn’t impress much. The real drama starts after interval and from that point, the film succeeds in keeping the audience somewhat interested though not completely involved. What it lacks in are emotions and comedy. Another drawback is that several things in the film just happen without proper justification. Dialogues are fair.

Akshay Kumar does well in a double role. His dance movement in tense situations is unusual and, therefore, arrests attention. Urmila Matondkar looks pretty, dresses up gorgeously and acts and dances very ably. Anupam Kher is alright. Shazia Malik delivers a good performance. Farida Jalal, Rajesh Joshi, Tiku Talsania, Harish Patel, Subbiraj, Sonia Sahni, Brahmachari, Puneet, Charlie, John, Dinesh Anand and the rest lend average support.

Guddu Dhanoa’s direction is fair. Of the songs (Dilip Sen Sameer Sen), ‘Yeh khabar chhapwa do’ is immensely likeable. ‘Oui maa’ and the title song are eye-filling, thanks to the choreography, locations, sets and colourful costumes. But the dance styles are now becoming routine. Raam Shetty’s action scenes are well-composed. The car blasts are especially good but do not generate the desired tension at all. Camerawork (Sripad Natu) is of a good standard. Production and technical values are very nice.

On the whole, Aflatoon, which has taken an ordinary start in many circuits, doesn’t have enough substance to warrant a phenomenal pick-up and will, therefore, find it difficult to touch the average mark in several territories.

Released on 19-12-’97 at Novelty and 20 other cinemas of Bombay thru ABC Pictures Pvt. Ltd. Publicity: good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was good in Delhi-U.P. but not up to the mark in most of the other circuits.

CINEMAX INAUGURATED

The swanky Cinemax Theatre at Goregaon, a Western suburb of Bombay, was inaugurated on 18th December with the premiere show of Chachi 420. The 640-seater cinema has Dolby digital and DTS sound system,cushioned seats with upholstery, is air-conditioned and has reverse slope seats in the stalls.

Built by the Kanakias where once stood Samrat cinema, ultra-modern Cinemax is controlled by Shringar Cinemas, a division of Shringar Films. It has Christie projectors and Xenon lamps.

Cinemax has three classes — Stalls, Dress Circle and Balcony — with admission rates of Rs. 40, 55 and 70 respectively. Patrons have the facility of booking tickets for the cinema on telephone, and tickets, if desired, will also be delivered home.

Seats in the cinema have popcorn packet/cold drink bottle holders. Service to the patrons is expected to be of high quality as patrons can even order for a snack tray at the start of the film itself.

ENT. TAX RAIDS RAISE A STORM IN JUNAGADH

The mamlatdar of entertainment tax, division Junagadh, carried out surprise checking of Pradip and Ajanta Talkies, Junagadh on 12th December and recovered duplicate tickets there. It was also found that accounts were not being properly maintained. The licences of both the cinemas were suspended for three days each, by the Junagadh Collector.

Following the raids and suspension of licences, the cinemas of Junagadh and the Cine Association of Junagadh gave a call for strike against the action taken by the authorities. Due to this, all cinemas of Junagadh remained closed.

In the meantime, the matter was taken to the court, and Judge Sheikh has fixed the case for hearing today (20th December).

A meeting of the Saurashtra Circuit Cine Association was also convened under the presidentship of Rashmibhai Patel in connection with the entertainment tax raids. It was decided to strongly represent before the state government and bring up the issue of harassment of cinemas by government offices with regard to entertainment tax. It was also decided that if no steps were taken by the government, stern action would be taken by the cinemas.

Meanwhile, the strike has been called off.

DEV ANAND ORDERED TO RE PRESENT IN COURT

Dev Anand has been directed by metropolitan magistrate B.A. Shelar to remain present at the Bandra (Bombay) court on January 13, 1998, when the case between producer M. Harwani (Pyaar Ka Tarana) and Dev Anand will be heard. Harwani had filed a cheating case against Dev Anand who had directed the film and was also its co-producer.

The case was orginally filed (four years ago) in the Andheri court and then transferred to the Bandra court. Dev Anand had filed a writ petition in the Bombay high court for quashing the proceedings in the criminal case but the court rejected it, holding prima facie case against the accused (Dev Anand) for commission of offence as well as a case of civil nature.

In October last, an application had been made on behalf of Dev Anand for exempting him from appearing in court, citing several rulings of high courts and the supreme court, and also pleading that Dev Anand was a senior citizen and a well-known film star and producer, but the prosecution opposed it on the ground that he was healthy to conduct his business and also because the charges against him were serious. The exemption matter will be decided in the next hearing on January 13, 1998.

10 DELHI CINEMAS CLOSED FOR NON-PAYMENT OF ENT. TAX

Licences of ten cinemas of Delhi were not renewed and the Delhi police’s licensing branch issued closure orders of them from 15th December for non-payment of entertainment tax dues in the government treasury.

Show-cause notices had been issued to 18 cinemas on 5th December by the licensing branch of the Delhi police for depositing the entertainment tax collected by them, with the entertainment tax department by 15th December and for obtaining NOCs from the department, failing which their licences would be cancelled. Of the 18 cinemas, only 8 complied but ten failed to get the no-objection certificates. As a result, licences of those 10 cinemas — Batra, Alpana, Akash, Ritz, Chand, Novelty, Swarn, Jagat, West End and Excelsior — were refused renewal.

FILMS SELECTED FOR IFFI MAINSTREAM SECTION

The Film Federation of India has selected the following films for screening in the mainstream section of the forthcoming International Film Festival of India to be held in New Delhi from January 10 to 20, 1998:

Pardes, Raja Hindustani, Sarkarnama (Marathi), Lathi (Bengali), Suryavamsam (Tamil), Avvai Shanmughi (Tamil), Osey Ramulamma (Telugu), Annamayya (Telugu), Janumada Jodi (Kannada), Amruthavarshini (Kannada), Chandralekha (Malayalam) and Aniyethipravu (Malayalam).

Supran Sen, secretary of Film Federation of India, will coordinate the film industry activities in connection with IFFI ’98 as per the notification issued by the I & B ministry.

AMPTPP URGES GOVT. TO APPOINT FILM PEOPLE ON PRASAR BHARATI BOARD

The Association of Motion Pictures & TV Programme Producers (AMPTPP) has written to the prime minister and the I & B minister, expressing surprise that nobody from the film and television industry had been appointed on the Prasar Bharati Board. The letter states that this is the industry directly involved and which may be able to give valuable advice or guidance for the proper functioning of the Board.

The AMPTPP has urged the ministers to take steps to include members from the film and TV industries on the Board.

PRAKASH MEHRA’S SON TO WED

Sumeet, son of Prakash Mehra, will wed Martha on 27th December. A reception to celebrate the wedding will be held the same evening at Hotel Centaur, Juhu, Bombay.

SANTOSH SINGH JAIN ELECTED FFI PRESIDENT

Santosh Singh Jain was unanimously elected president of the Film Federation of India at the first meeting of its newly elected executive committee, held on 19th December soon after its annual general meeting at Shalimar Hotel, Bombay. K.G. Dossani, Sultan Ahmed, Sv. Rm. Ramanathan and Vijay Narain Seth were elected vice presidents, and K.D. Shorey, hon. general secretary. N.N. Sippy was elected hon. treasurer. Supran Sen is the FFI secretary.

PYARELAL’S SON WEDS

Gautam, son of music director Pyarelal, will wed Rashmee today (20th December). A reception to celebrate the marriage will be held this evening at SNDT College Grounds, Juhu, Bombay.

GREAT-GRANDSON FOR SANTOSH SINGH JAIN

CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain was blessed with a great-grandson on 6th December when his grandson, Chirag’s wife gave birth to a baby boy in Raipur.

RANJITRAAJ NO MORE

Gujarati film actor Ranjitraaj expired on the midnight of 17th December at Nanavati Hospital, Santacruz, Bombay, due to cardiac arrest. He was 47.

He had started his career with R.J. Films’ Sonbai Ni Chundadi and played the hero in many films of the banner, like Sona No Suraj, Lanka Ni Laadi Ghogha No Var, Ramayan, Sati Madalsa, Kalja No Katko, Mahisagar Ne Aare etc.

He had also acted in Prem Na Bandhan, Naag Padamini, Saajan Ne Sathware, Okha Haran, Maadi Tara Aghor Nagara Vaage, Khodal Taro Khamkharo, etc.

Ranjitraaj had also acted in two Hindi films, Pyar Ho Gaya (produced by R.J. Films) and Sainik (with Akshay Kumar).

A condolence meeting will be held on Monday, December 22, at Gurukul High School, ISKCON, Juhu, Bombay between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

LAKSHMAN DAS DEAD

Lakshman Das, proprietor/licensee of Indralok Picture Palace and Menka Theatre, Gorakhpur, expired on 27th November at Gorakhpur after a prolonged illness.

All the four shows of both the cinemas were cancelled on 27th. The other cinemas of Gorakhpur suspended their noon shows.

HASAN BHIMANI DEAD

Hasan G. Bhimani (Hasubhai), partner in Diamond Talkies, Borivli, Bombay, expired on 14th December in Bombay due to heart failure. He was 45 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

G.S. KHANDEKAR NO MORE

G.S. Khandekar alias Baburao, former secretary of the CCCA, Bhusawal, expired on 13th December at his Dhantoli residence. He was 91.

WALT DISNEY’S WIDOW DEAD

Lillian, widow of legendary animator and filmmaker Walt Disney, has died, reportedly from complications following a recent stroke. She was 98.

Three years after the death of Walt Disney in December 1966, Lillian married John Truyens. She was widowed again in 1981.

SPECIAL SHOWS OF ‘THE JOURNEY’, ‘HYDERABAD BLUES’ FOR DISTRIBUTORS

Two special shows of each of the two English films, The Journey (directed by Harish Saluja) and Hyderabad Blues (directed by Nagesh Kukunoor) have been arranged exclusively for distributors of India by Krishna Shah, world rights controller of the films. The shows will be held on Sunday, December 28 (3 p.m. and 4.30 p.m.) and Monday, December 29 (6 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.) at Eros cinema, Bombay.

IFPDA GENERAL SECRETARY

Producer Anil Lahiri has been selected general secretary of the Indian Film Producer & Director’s Association for the Bombay and U.P. region. Girija Shankar Agarwal is the president.

‘Vaastaav’ Launched In Style

The muhurt of Vaastaav (The Reality), being written and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, at The Leela on 14th December was a beautifully planned and well-executed one. The huge hall of The Leela was done up to represent a film set. The stage itself, on which the muhurt shot was enacted, was one on wheels and represented the interior of a middle-class house.

Sanjay Dutt, who plays the hero in the film, is shown as treading the wrong path in life — one which makes a person easy-rich but gives him the label of a criminal. With gold chains around his neck and a revolver in his hand, Sanjay enacted to pre-recorded dialogues as his bewildered and disgusted parents alongwith his friend watched him helplessly. Sanjay Dutt mocked at his mother and made fun of his father but they didn’t so much as chide him. At the end, four guys, dressed in black and representing the evil forces, surrounded Sanjay and took him captive as he finally collapsed.

Javed Akhtar and politician Gurdas Kamat lit the traditional lamp before the muhurt shot for which Sunil Dutt sounded the clapper-board. Jackie Shroff switched on the camera.

The muhurt shot was followed by thunderous applause. The muhurt event was managed by Wizcraft.

Sanjay’s parents are being played by Shivaji Satam and Reema. Deepak Tijori enacts the role of the friend. Others in the cast are Paresh Rawal, Raghubir Yadav, Mohnish Bahl and Mohan Joshi. A leading lady is being finalised.

Vaastaav is being produced under the banner of Adishakti Films & Visions Pvt. Ltd. The men behind the project are Balagiri and Gopi Malaya. Music by Jatin Lalit, lyrics by Javed Akhtar, story-screenplay by Mahesh Manjrekar, dialogues by Imtiaz Hussain, cinematography by Vijay Arora, and art by Sudhakar Manjrekar are the other major credits.

YOU ASKED IT

If a good opening of a film is ‘half the battle won’, what does a poor opening denote?

– A poor opening means ‘75% of the battle lost’, except, perhaps, if the film is novel and has chances of picking up by word of mouth.

When hardly a couple of Hollywood films dubbed in Hindi really run, why do they dub so many films?

– When hardly 20% of the Hindi films made really click at the box-office, why are so many films made every year?

Why is R. Mohan’s Kabhi Na Kabhi not being released?

– Reportedly, R. Mohan wants to release KAMA SUTRA before KABHI NA KABHI. First, the film (KABHI NA KABHI) was delayed because of some changes in the script, then due to date adjustments of the artistes, and later, because of music director A.R. Rahman. And now, after completion too, the delay hasn’t stopped.

MIX MASALA

TIME FOR REALITY

Mahesh Manjrekar, who is directing Vaastaav for a group of friends who are backing the project and for whom this is the first brush with the film industry, sent out cute clocks alongwith the invitations for the muhurt on 14th December. To justify the clock-invitation, the caption on the invitation card read: ‘It’s time to face reality’. Vaastaav means ‘reality’.

NO MEAN SCORE, THIS!

For Nizam distributor Ravi Machhar, the year 1997 must’ve been one hell of a year. His concern, Sahyog Films, has released a total of 14 films in the 12 months. Among the 14 are films like Judaai, Ishq, Virasat, Yes Boss, Deewana Mastana, Ziddi and this week’s Aflatoon.

TOLANIS TOGETHER

Will 30th January ’98 be a Tolani day in the industry? At least as of now, it seems so. For, two Tolani films are scheduled to hit the screens that day. The films — Vicky’s Zor which is presented by Sanjay Tolani, and Nandu Tolani’s Banarasi Babu. It may be mentioned here that the two Tolanis are cousins.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Telugu film actors Giri Babu and Prasad Babu have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and are likely to campaign for it in the forthcoming elections.

* Four major television software producing companies were raided by income-tax authorities on 15th December. The houses of Jeetendra and Shekhar Suman (one of the highest paid actors of television) were also raided.

* PARDES (tax-free) completed a record 19 weeks’ run at Sona, Borivli, Bombay. It fetched a share of 15 lakh in its total run. The previous record was held by RAJA HINDUSTANI which ran at the same cinema for 12 weeks and yielded a share of 10.5 lakh.

* Music director Vijay Davda, who is a struggler even after scoring music in four Hindi films and 11 Gujarati films (including the super-hit MAHIYAR NI CHUNDADI), besides some TV serials and under-production Hindi films, will be featured in the popular ‘Surabhi’ programme on DD1 on 21st December. In the programme, host Siddharth Kak has asked Vijay Davda the reason for the industry sidelining a talent like him. It may be mentioned here that Raj Kapoor had, in an interview many years ago, mentioned that Vijay Davda would soon be a music director to reckon with.

Who’s The Boss? Not The Secretary!

Have you ever realised that very often, it is the star secretaries who behave more like stars than their bosses themselves behave? Many of our star secretaries need lessons in basic manners and in dealing with people. There are some secretaries who are genuine and honest to their job, but most of them are not so. As if star tantrums are not enough, the poor producer has also to contend with secretaries with starry airs who will give dates of their stars if they (secretaries) feel like, cancel their dates if they so desire, inform the producer of a change if they are in a mood to do so, and just keep the producer on tenterhooks for the sadistic pleasure of it.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that most of the producers butter up the star secretaries, trying to please them in every possible manner because they want to remain in their good books so that their dates aren’t cancelled, the stars come on their sets on time and remain in a good mood while shooting. Even stars are aware of the starry behaviour of their secretaries but, more often than not, they will not correct them. There are two reasons for this: one, stars themselves are so insecure that they fear, their secretary will leave them if they try to check his excesses, and secondly, the general I-couldn’t-care-less attitude of the stars!

What the hell! Why are producers so scared of secretaries? After all, producers have signed the stars, not their secretaries. There’s no reason why secretaries should be given the status of stars by producers. Not giving undue importance to secretaries, of course, would be possible only if producers became more organised in their work, took dates in writing, would not try to cancel others’ dates to squeeze in their shooting, not resort to hanky-panky, in short, remain above board in all their dealings with stars and star secretaries. For, one wrong move from the producer, and the secretary would take advantage of it for all times to come. Why let such a time come in the first place?

It is not rare for producers to ‘bribe’ the secretaries with costly gifts such as gold chains or electronic equipments for their homes so that they are given preference in the allotment of dates or are accommodated out of turn. But producers must understand that if they can have their way by throwing money, so can other producers. Therefore, a ‘helpful’ secretary of today can become the most ‘destructive’ secretary tomorrow.

The star secretaries, too, need to do some soul-searching. By resorting to cheap gimmicks as above, they are only degrading their profession. Honesty in their work is a long-term approach which and only which will keep them in good stead. Otherwise, they may enjoy the status of a star today but can’t be sure that the star won’t fall down from the sky tomorrow.

After all, if the real stars of the industry lose their shine and sparkle on a Friday morning even before they know it, who are their secretaries? And if they think, Fridays don’t affect them, they are only fooling themselves. For, they are what they are because of their stars. And if their stars are governed by the stars of the galaxy, so are they.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Queen’s English V/s. Artistes’ English

The press release of the Cine Artistes’ Association to condemn the attack on its member, Pooja Batra, by anti-social elements on 10th December, makes interesting reading, not because it condemns the act but for the errors in language. We reproduce the same hereunder so that you, too, can do what we did — laugh! The brackets are ours.

“The CINE & TV ARTISTES ASSOCIATION strongly condemns the cowardly an (read and) unsocial behaviour of the hoodlums, as per the press report, boozing near the Filmalaya Studio Canteen, on our members Ms. Pooja Batra, her brother Shri Chiraag and her Secretary, Ms. Swarna, in the late hours of Wednesday, the 10th Dec. 1997, when shooting got packedup at 10.30 P.M. without any rhyme and reason (the without any rhyme and reason is, obviously, for the unsocial behaviour although it seems to be for the packup!). Again as per the press report, Ms. Pooja Batra had to face vulgure (is that vulgar’s feminine form?) and abuse language by drunkards and later on Mr. Chiraag and Ms. Swarna were thrashed throughly (read thoroughly) when they tried to intervine (read intervene) in the matter. It look quite a time when police reached and the situation was brought under control but it was shocking that niether (new spelling of neither?) the Studio staff and Securities (we’ve heard of stocks and securities, not staff and securities) nor other unit members, for whom Ms. Batra was shooting could come forward to give security or protection to Ms. Batra because again as per the press news the hoodlums were armed with lethal choppers. An unlawful entry & attack by a Professor on TV Artist, Ms. Phalguni Parikh’s family members is another fresh incident.

“Under these circumstances at any location be it Filmalaya, Film City or Mud (read Madh) Island, where our popular artistes often go for shooting can give a sincere and genuine performance having in their subconcious (read subconscious) mind their safety and security. This is high time the Studio Owners and the Bunglow (read bungalow) Owners where shooting take place should have very strict and effecient (read efficient) security guards.

“Over and above atmosphere of safety and security should be created by the police beats very often freequently (is the double ‘e’ to stress on the frequency; if it is, it’s really sweeeet; and what does ‘often freequently’ mean?) visiting such places which was very emphetically (read emphatically) assured to the film personalities in high level meeting at Holiday Inn.

“We would very humbly request our guardians and protectors i.e. State Government in general and our Home Department in particular to take some very concrete, effective and long lasting steps to avoid the repitition (read repetition) of Ms. Batra harassement (an extra ‘e’ here too) case. It would not be out of the way if we adress (there’s a ‘d’ missing in the address, dear) and seek the attention of the women activists of Maharashtra and Mumabai (we know, people call this city Bombay or Mumbai, but Mumabai?!?) to openly condemned (now we must condemn the English in general and the tenses in particular) such inhuman and cowardly actions towards the honour of the women of India all over the country.”

The press release, we may add here, is signed by Ram Mohan, hon. general secretary.

Surely, the CAA can do with a good office secretary with a good knowledge of just simple English. Otherwise, you knows, it beecomes verys difficulty to understood the import of a press releege or any others communicashun! Gosh, what’s going wrong with ours Engleesh and spelleengs now!

One Of A Kind

The Kanakia brothers, who’ve built Cinemax theatre, which opened on 18th December, and Bombay distributor Shravan Shroff, whose company is the controller of the cinema, need kudos for their efforts. The cinema is indeed beautifully made, tastefully done up and gives the impression that it will be immaculately maintained. The sound system (DTS) is of top quality and the seats, comfortable. At last then, those living in the Western suburbs of Bombay have a cinema which they can look forward to visit. Of course, this is not to say that all the cinemas in the suburbs are below the mark. No, there are some well-maintained ones too, but Cinemax is indeed one of a kind.

Spate Of Releases

Are Govinda and Akshay Kumar going the Mithun Chakraborty way, as far as the releases of their starrers are concerned? Seems so, if the lists of forthcoming films of the two artistes are any indication. To be released in the coming four to five months are the following Govinda starrers: Aunty No. 1, Banarasi Babu, Pardesi Babu, Naseeb, Achaanak, Dulhe Raja, etc. Similarly, Akshay Kumar’s line-up of releases in the near future comprises Barood, Vidroh, Angaaray, Keemat, Zulmi etc.

60 DIE IN MAJOR FIRE AT DELHI’S UPHAAR CINEMA

A major fire broke out at Uphaar cinema in Delhi on Friday, June 13 at 5 p.m., killing almost 60 people. Over two hundred others were burnt and injured and are being treated in hospitals. The fire brigade, which arrived after 30 minutes of the catastrophe, was trying to control the fire even at 9 p.m.

A transformer in an air-conditioner on the ground floor of the recently renovated cinema got burnt and is said to have caused the fire. As people seeing the film noticed the fire, there was utter chaos with everybody trying to run out of the hall. As soon as the fire broke out, the hall was filled with gas. While people in the stalls could escape faster, many of those seated in the balcony were trapped. Many people who managed to escape, returned inside the gas chamber to save others. Among the 60-odd people burnt to death, at least three were armymen, it is reported.

Border had opened at the cinema the same day. Since Border deals with the story of armymen, a lot of army people had gone to see the film on its opening day. The cinema has a seating capacity of over 1,000.

Many cars parked in the cinema’s parking space were also burnt. Simultaneously with saving the lives of people and battling to bring the fire under control, efforts were on to remove the undamaged cars from the parking lot.

‘Itihaas’: West Bengal Distributor Refuses To Hike Price

With just a week to go for the release of Raj Kanwar’s maiden production venture, Itihaas, also directed by him, the dispute over the price for West Bengal and Assam has not yet been resolved. Raj Kanwar is looking for a price hike while the West Bengal-Assam distributor is in no mood for an increase.

It is learnt that the two failed to reach a settlement and the Bengal distributor ultimately threatened not to take the film’s delivery if it was not effected at the contracted price. Reportedly, the producer is said to have told the distributor, presumably in the heat of the moment, that he would rather not have the film released in West Bengal and Assam than effect delivery at the contracted price. The producer’s claim is that he has gone over-budget and hence the hike. The distributor, however, refuses to buy the over-budget story.

Xavier Marquis, who presents the film, is said to have kept out of the controversy as the deal for West Bengal-Assam was finalised by Raj Kanwar and his brother, K. Pappu.

Of course, one is sure, the film will not remain unreleased in West Bengal and Assam. But the sooner the matter is settled, the better it would be for all concerned.

GULSHAN RAI: A DISTRIBUTORS’ PRODUCER

Looking to the recent spate of flops and disasters, Gulshan Rai is showing concern for his distributors by agreeing to reduce the price of his Gupt. Some of his distributors have approached Rai, seeking reduction in the price. The film, it may be mentioned here, had fetched fantastic prices (in the ratio of 2.5 to 3 crore per major circuit) in all the circuits when it was sold. Gulshan Rai, it is learnt, is agreeing to oblige in cases where he feels, a price reduction is necessary, considering the tight money position in the industry, the recent losses suffered by his distributors in other films, etc.

Incidentally, the cinema trailers of the film have turned out to be extraordinary.

RAMKISAN KASAT’S SON TO WED

Marriage of Sushil, son of leading C.P. Berar distributor Ramkisan Kasat, with Savita will be solemnised on 18th June in Amravati at Hotel Mehfil Inn.

KEDAR NATH AGARWAL NO MORE

Producer, director and Bengal and Delhi-U.P. distributor Kedar Nath Agarwal passed away in Calcutta on 9th June. He was 65. He used to own the concerns Parasnath Pictures and Sangeeta Productions.

Kedar Nath is survived by his wife, two children, brother Naresh Kumar Agarwal and other family members.

ANNOUNCEMENT & LAUNCHING

Rishi Kapoor To Direct Rajesh Khanna, Akshaye, Aishwarya

R.K. Films And Studios’ Aa Ab Laut Chalen, with which Rishi Kapoor makes his debut as director, will be launched with a song recording on June 18 at Sunny Super Sounds. The music will be scored by Nadeem Shravan and lyrics will be penned by Sameer.

The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Akshaye Khanna, Aishwarya Rai, Paresh Rawal, Jaspal Bhatti, Satish Kaushik, Jatin Sial, Himani Shivpuri, Viveck Vaswani and Kader Khan. It has screenplay by Sachin Bhaumick, story and dialogues by Rumi Jafri, scenario by Raju Saigal, photography by Sameer Arya, and art direction by Suresh Sawant.

The unit will leave for a 55-day shooting schedule on August 15 in the United States of America and Canada. Four songs and scenes will be filmed with the entire cast participating.

YOU ASKED IT

What explains the bumper opening of Border this week?

– The extraordinary and formidable star-cast, excellent and correct publicity (that the film is a war film), a war film coming after many, many years and, of course, the super-hit ‘Sandese aate hain’ song.

In the coming days, which forthcoming films can be expected to take bumper initials?

– GUPT, PARDES, DAUD and ISHQ.

Have the problems between the producer and some distributors of Mrityudand, over the issue of price, as mentioned by you last week, been sorted out? Will the film be released this month?

– The differences are being sorted out. New distributors are also showing interest in the film. It will now be released on 11th July. Incidentally, the film’s music is picking up very well.

DO YOU KNOW?

* It was not just India which was in the grip of a BORDER fever, but London and Canada too were in its grip. Long queues for the advance booking of tickets of the film were witnessed in London and Canada!

* Padmalaya’s Telugu film, ENCOUNTER, starring Krishna, is oven-‘hot’ in distribution circles. It has reportedly been sold at a very fancy price for Andhra. This is Krishna’s 310th film and has been directed by Shankar. It will be released on 15th August.

* Jyotin Goel has imported a gorilla suit from Hollywood for the climax of SAFARI.

* Sapna cinema, Indore, which has just 640 seats and is equipped with DTS sound system, has collected over 40 lakh in 30 weeks’ run of RAJA HINDUSTANI.

* KHILADIYON KA KHILADI got the benefit of a housefull show on 5th June at Rituraj, Itarsi. People thought, BORDER had opened at the cinema as it was heavily advertised all over the town that BORDER was coming on 5th June. With the last-minute postponement by one week, the cinema management forgot to change the date in the film’s various boards all over town. People did not notice that BORDER had not been released, even after seeing the publicity of KKK at the cinema!

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting a total of 2,05,443/- on the opening day in Nagpur (5 cinemas). It collected 46,736/- at Smruti (5 shows), 42,579/- at Ashirwad (4 shows), 32,120/- at Panchsheel (4 shows), 48,136/- at Jaswant (5 shows), and 35,872/- at Sangam (4 shows).

* BORDER has created a unique city record by collecting 69,093/- on the opening day at Rajkamal, Akola. There were over-capacity crowds in the very first show at 6 a.m. when the film collected over 18,000/- against a capacity of 11,000/-!

* BORDER has created a theatre record by collecting 51,027/- on the opening day at Babulal, Raipur. It has also created a record by collecting 36,022/- on the opening day (4 shows) at Horas Amrit, Raipur, where it has been released simultaneously.

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting 46,840/- on 1st day at Jayant, Chandrapur.

* BORDER has broken the records of all previous big films like HAHK..!, DDLJ and RAJA HINDUSTANI by collecting 51,735/- on the opening day at Jayanti, Jabalpur.

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting 46,426/- on the first day at Rajlaxmi, Amravati.

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting 36,480/- on the first day (6 shows) at Apsara, Yavatmal.

SHOOTING COVERAGE

‘YUGPURUSH’
A Different Nana Again

– Gautam Mutha

Nana Patekar is out of the Pune mental asylum after 25 years. He had been admitted to the asylum when he was seven years of age. Today, he is 32 but not worldly-wise, although he is no longer a lunatic. A simpleton in appearance and even simpler by heart, he is unbelievably innocent and has a heart of gold.

That’s Nana in Yugpurush. It was shot on June 3, 4 and 5 in Kolhapur at Shalini Palace Hotel, and producer Pranlal Mehta had invited a press team to cover the shooting. The train journey from Bombay to Kolhapur, in the company of the film’s cast and crew, was an enjoyable one. Nana joined the group from Pune where he had gone to attend a school function.

Yugpurush is Pranlal Mehta’s 25th film. He had produced his first film, Kinara, in 1978, and has also made a Gujarati film and two Kannada ones. Yugpurush is inspired from a Russian novel, The Idiot, on which was based a Russian film of the same name as also a Bengali film, Aparichito. It had been Parto Ghosh’s long-time desire to make a film on this subject and finally the Bengali babu, Parto-da, is doing it for Gujarati bhai, Pranlal Mehta.

Yugpurush was to star Sridevi in the female lead but she preferred to walk out of the project before it could roll due to “a misunderstanding that there were some kotha scenes to be done by her”. Manisha has stepped into Sri’s shoes and, likewise, Ashwini Bhave has replaced Deepti Bhatnagar in the film.

As for the title role, Pranlal Mehta said, “Only Nana could have done this role. Besides him, I could think of two great actors who would’ve done justice to the character — Dilip Kumar of yesteryears or young Sanjeev Kumar.” According to Pranlalbhai, even Kamal Haasan may have found it difficult to enact the role.

And if Nana has accepted the challenging role, it is because of two main reasons — one, it is challenging, and two, because Nana is trying not to get typecast in one kind of role, that of an angry not-so-young man mouthing fiery dialogues. In Yugpurush, his dialogues are simple and he speaks them slowly. But even the simple dialogues assume the nature of hard-hitting dialogues because they reflect the thoughts of a man who is as innocent and pure as can be.

There are no villains in the literal sense of the term, in the film. Of course, Mohan Joshi and Shivaji Satam are not idealistic persons but they aren’t filmi villains as well. Jackie Shroff’s character, nevertheless, does have grey shades. He plays a filthy rich business tycoon who must have what his heart desires. Manisha Koirala is the helpless girl who finds herself in the clutches of Shivaji Satam. When she meets Nana, she develops a liking for him and his simplicity and innocence. No villains, therefore no fights. Yugpurush has barely five minutes of action!

With Manisha replacing Sridevi, the project has turned out to be like a sequel to the hit Agni Sakshi — Parto Ghosh, Jackie, Nana and Manisha. Pranlal Mehta must be thanking his stars for the replacement which happened without a deliberate attempt from his side.

Pranlal Mehta is confident, all the awards of 1997 for the best actor will go to Nana for Yugpurush, so “wonderful” is his performance. Another thing Mehta guarantees is the audience’s tears. “Everybody will be moved to tears by Nana,” he predicts confidently.

Parto Ghosh also feels, emotions will be the high-point of the film. He is quick to explain that although the subject of the film is different, it is not an offbeat film which he is making. “It has all the commercial ingredients, yet it will be a film with a difference,” he says with an air of confidence. Parto is also confident that in this film, which will project an altogether different Nana, the audience will also love Jackie Shroff who, according to him, will be a surprise packet. Mohan Joshi’s changeover in the end will also be a highlight, he feels.

Ashwini Bhave is thrilled about her role of a simple girl in Yugpurush. Her only ‘grouse’, if one may use the word, is that Parto-da addresses her as “Oshwini” instead of Ashwini. Bengalis are known to round off any and every world and ‘Ashwini’ is no exception.

Exceptionally unusual is the end of the film in which Nana……. well, it wouldn’t be fair to reveal the ending. But that was exactly the portion being shot in Kolhapur and witnessed by us. A portion of a song was also picturised. The palatial hotel was selected on Nana’s suggestion and was used as Mohan Joshi’s house-cum-office. Mohan Joshi, who plays a publishing baron in the film, is, in real life, the non-controversial kind who does not crib or complain about anything, more because “I’m not in a position where I can even suggest”. He has the drive to make an indelible mark as a villain. Of course, for the present, he concedes that Amrish Puri is the last word in villainy.

If Mohan Joshi doesn’t like to even make suggestions, Nana is forever making suggestions on the sets. “What’s wrong?,” queries Nana and answers himself, “I don’t think, this is interference. It is up to the director to accept or reject my suggestions.” Parto, who is also making Musthafa with Nana, doesn’t seem to mind Nana’s habit of making suggestions, one bit. And if both, the actor and the director, are happy, why should anybody else have any objection?

But then, why doesn’t Nana himself direct another film after Prahaar? “Because it is a time-consuming job. Directing one film will take my two years,” he says. “Then I won’t be able to pursue acting.” And anybody would agree that Nana makes a better actor than director.

The unit will move to Bangalore shortly for a song picturisation. The songs of Yugpurush, composed by Rajesh Rohan, have a Bengali flavour. Rich in lyrical value (the songs are written by Majrooh Sultanpuri), they are all slow except for one which is a fast number. One song, which was picturised in the Pune mental asylum, was liked so much by the asylum authorities that Pranlal Mehta had to give in to their request to give them a cassette containing that song. The asylum uses the song as a prayer for its inmates and plays it daily!

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Thrill-A-Minute, Chill-A-Minute ‘Anaconda’

Columbia-Tristar is planning to dub its English blockbuster, Anaconda, in Hindi. The film, about a type of snake found in the Amazon forests, sends chills down the spine of the viewer as did Jurassic Park. The Anaconda snake is so huge, one could faint at its very sight. It catches its prey (humans) in such a tight grip that the sound of the bones of the prey being crushed can be heard. The snake then gulps down the human body but it doesn’t digest it; rather, after a while, it regurgitates it. The hour-and-a-half film boasts of excellent visuals and nail-biting and hair-raising excitement. Indians are known to have a liking for films based on ichhadhari snakes. Who knows, a film about a different kind of snake — with an opening commentary — might also click. At least one distributor seems supremely confident about the dubbing because he has offered Columbia-Tristar an unheard of price for the to-be dubbed versions.

No-Cut Director

Krishna Reddy is a well-known and successful writer-director of Telugu films, having made almost 15 films. Among his successes is Shubhlagnam of which Judaai was the remake. Krishna Reddy’s latest Telugu release was Aahwaanam which didn’t do too well. For the censors, Krishna Reddy’s films mean that they don’t have to use their scissors at all. For, never has even a single cut been offered by the CBFC in any of Reddy’s films. That’s some record!

Music To Hit Hai

The music of Yash Chopra’s Dil To Pagal Hai is already being spoken about in superlative terms by those who’ve heard it, even though it hasn’t been released as yet. Sunil Bansal, the Rajasthan distributor of the film, goes into ecstasy while talking of the film’s music. And this, when he has not even heard one actually recorded song. Then how come? Well, it so happened that Yash Chopra was in Jaipur some days back alongwith his wife, Pamela, to attend a marriage. Sunil and his family members had gone to the hotel where the Chopras were putting up, and were pleasantly surprised to hear Pamela Chopra humming the title song of the film behind closed doors of the hotel room. Sunil and family members waited patiently outside the room, refraining from ringing the door bell, so that Pamela could continue humming the song and they could hear it. Says Sunil, “The song is exceptional, its lyrics are simply fantastic.”

Compliment Extraordinaire

The acclaim which Javed Akhtar is receiving as a lyricist, from different quarters is remarkable. Be it for his lyrics in films or his book of poems or his non-film songs, the lyricist continues to make news after news. Currently, his songs in Virasat, Border, Sapnay, Yes Boss, …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya and Mrityudand are either already popular or becoming popular. Which is what made a personality like Lata Mangeshkar remark, “This is something which has never happened to any lyricist during the last hundred years of cinema. I have rarely seen a lyricist in such a state of inspiration, writing poetry and songs that appeal to the classes and masses alike.” No ordinary compliment this, coming as it does from the nightingale of India.

‘Gupt’ In Gandhinagar

For the first time in a city like Gandhinagar (in Gujarat), a vinyl hoarding has been put up in a cinema. The expensive hoarding is of Rajiv Rai’s Gupt and the cinema is Ajay Chudasama’s Rajshri. Well-illuminated, the colourful hoarding is attracting curious onlookers who crowd around it to have a look.

Too Sticky To Handle?

While it is common knowledge now that debut-making Shantanu Sheorey is not the director of Kamal Haasan’s Chikni Chaachi, few are aware of the fact that Shantanu was out barely seven days after the film rolled, in March itself. Kamal Haasan has himself directed the entire film and it would surprise many that Chikni Chaachi is about 90% complete! The portions shot by Shantanu were reshot by Kamal as the latter was not happy with the work done by the former. The film’s online producer, Saab John, has dismissed as baseless Shantanu’s claim in a recent press interview that it was he who walked out of the film because of aesthetic differences between Kamal Haasan and himself. Incidentally, Kamal’s Ladies Only is also ready. After Chikni Chaachi, he plans to produce more Hindi films, on a regular basis now. And yes, the hunt for a new title for Chikni Chaachi (because there are some who feel, womenfolk may not quite approve of the word ‘Chikni’ in the title; while ‘chikni’ in Bambaiya Hindi means good-looking, in the North, it translates into ‘sticky’) is over because it has now been titled Stree 420. Kamal wanted to take no chances by retaining the title Chikni Chaachi because ladies and children have been regular audience of his films in South.

Direct Contact

Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla will meet their fans on Sunday, June 15, between 5.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. at three places in Bombay, viz. Carter Road, Shivaji Park and opposite NCPA. As a promotional drive for Yes Boss, producer Ratan Jain has thought of this novel publicity campaign. The two stars will move in a mobile music van and sign autographs for their fans, besides asking them to see Yes Boss.

This Is Simply Not Done!

The telephonic threats by Pravin Shah and Pradeep Singh, producer and Thane sub-distributor respectively of HU TU TU, to Komal Nahta, editor of Film Information, earlier this week, sent shock waves in the Bombay film industry. Industry leaders and top producers, distributors, exhibitors, artistes and technicians of Bollywood have expressed disgust over the incident and have promised support to your editor.

Pradeep Singh telephoned Komal on 26th January at the latter’s residence and threatened him of dire consequences for having written an “unfavourable review” of HU TU TU in Film Information issue dated 23rd January, 1999. This was followed by telephone calls from Pravin Shah who threatened to eliminate Komal for the negative review.

Komal Nahta lodged an N.C. complaint (no. 234 dated 26-1-’99) with the Khar police station and also met the additional commissioner of police, Mr. Rakesh Maria, who promised to look into the matter and assured him of his safety. But in the meantime, Komal’s mother panicked so much that she had to be hospitalised (at Leelavati Hospital) for highly fluctuating blood pressure. She was in hospital for three days and was discharged on 29th.

It would be pertinent to point out here that HU TU TU has done well only in Bombay and parts of Maharashtra (as predicted by us in our review) but has failed miserably in the other circuits. It had to be discontinued from Ramachandra cinema of Hyderabad (an ‘A’ class centre of Nizam) after just 5 days due to lack of audience (5 days’ collection was a paltry 48,359/-). In Jodhpur (an ‘A’ class centre of Rajasthan), the collections of the film at Kohinoor dropped like mercury in a thermometre kept in a refrigerator. Collections of other centres (printed elsewhere in this issue) are proof of how the film has fared in the whole country. But that is not the issue here.

The question which arises in that even if the film had hit the bull’s eye, were such ghastly threats in order? Rightly has the shameful incident been condemned with indignation by one and all in the industry. The incident assumes even more significance because it landed a lady, completely unconnected with the episode, in hospital in a traumatised state.

Does anyone in a free country have the right to play with another’s life so callously? It’s really shameful — much more shameful than the box-office figures of HU TU TU.

LATEST POSITION

Extreme cold in various parts of the country has affected collections in the night shows. At places, the night shows record 10-15% collections only.

Aa Ab Laut Chalen could not pick up much and remained steady at medium collections at many centres; it, however, dropped at some places. Is dull in East Punjab and Rajasthan. 1st week Bombay 42,92,860 (86.22%) from 9 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 10,60,166 from 6 cinemas, Padra 1,94,988, Rajkot 1,31,400, Jamnagar 1,41,713, Adipur 1,19,650 (73.73%); Pune 7,28,357 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,47,633, Solapur 2,33,901 from 2 cinemas; Hubli 1,89,988 (100%), Belgaum 1,62,505 (100%); Delhi 33,95,177 (77.90%) from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,26,569 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,76,520, Agra 2,97,282, Varanasi 4,14,410 from 2 cinemas, Allahabad 2,44,578, Meerut 2,64,900, Bareilly 1,71,597 (76.75%), Hardwar 44,622; Calcutta 12,55,314 from 10 cinemas; Nagpur 2,51,381 from 3 cinemas, Amravati 1,49,510, Raipur 1,49,951, Bhilai 1,41,570 from 2 cinemas, Jalgaon 1,40,049, Bilaspur 1,00,345; Indore 1,38,640 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 2,76,608 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 4,42,796 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 28,28,501 from 12 cinemas, share about 14,00,000.

Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain picked up in several centres due to ladies’ patronage. It has done excellent in Bombay and is good in Delhi-U.P., West Bengal, C.P.C.I. and Nizam but dull in Rajasthan. 1st week Bombay 45,32,854 (94.77%) from 8 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 8,30,821 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Valsad 2,10,332 (81.75%), Rajkot 1,89,960 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,25,943; Pune 13,02,746 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 2,99,203, Solapur 2,19,217 (98%); Belgaum 1,27,890; Delhi 36,20,660 (85.16%) from 8 cinemas; Kanpur 4,97,480 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,91,849, Varanasi 2,26,939, Allahabad 1,83,430, Meerut 2,57,764, Bareilly 1,68,495 (55.60%), Hardwar 90,000; Calcutta 26,52,155 from 14 cinemas; Nagpur 5,83,275 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,70,435, Amravati 1,67,715, Dhule 1,30,609, Raipur 1,71,879, Bhilai 1,46,770, Gondia (gross) 1,20,631, Chandrapur 1,75,875, Yavatmal 1,00,065, Bilaspur 1,82,556; Bhopal 1,36,320 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 7,09,544 from 4 cinemas; Hyderabad 14,95,762 from 7 cinemas (1 in noon).

Hu Tu Tu has done well in Bombay and parts of Maharashtra but dropped badly in the other places from 3rd/4th day onwards. It will entail heavy losses to almost all its distributors. 1st week Bombay 22,71,641 (93.82%) from 4 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,30,975 from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 1,16,511, Jamnagar (matinee) 15,328; Pune 5,19,199 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee) 72,470; Delhi 15,65,422 (56.64%) from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,91,000, Lucknow 3,75,962, Allahabad 1,24,000, Bareilly 94,904 (33.45%); Calcutta 12,08,877 from 8 cinemas; Nagpur 5,32,818 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,24,654, Amravati 1,75,164, Raipur 1,31,010, Jalgaon 1,32,397; Indore 1,65,159 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,30,629; Jaipur 2,13,880; Hyderabad 12,88,764 from 7 cinemas (1 in noon).

Bade Dilwala is poor. 1st week Bombay 22,12,618 (49.09%) from 11 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,40,567 from 4 cinemas, Bhuj 45,000; Pune 4,45,770 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 14,52,907 (27.82%) from 10 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,64,759 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,37,179, Varanasi 98,984, Allahabad 1,13,000, Meerut 1,17,513; Calcutta 3,05,552 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur 1,03,988 from 2 cinemas, Bhilai 24,084, Jalgaon 68,489; Indore 76,737 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 73,591; Jodhpur 1,50,000.

Tej Raftaar (dubbed) has done well despite the opposition of so many new releases simultaneously. 1st week Ahmedabad 1,20,507 (70%), Surat 1,30,929 (69%), Baroda 1,13,627 (78%), Rajkot 1,38,848 (65%); Pune 47,854 (19%), Kolhapur 83,587 (45%), Solapur 1,18,741 (79%), Nasik 43,537 (20%), Sangli 88,987 (37%), Ichalkaranji 77,147 (46%), Malegaon 1,20,075 (45%); Belgaum 85,756 (81%); Hyderabad 2,38,893 (98%).

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai 15th week Bombay 23,25,892 (71.35%) from 8 cinemas  (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,80,835 from 4 cinemas, 2nd week Himmatnagar 1,24,210 (1st 1,27,325), 15th week Baroda 1,39,724; Pune 5,77,995 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee) 38,913; Delhi 4,72,397 from 2 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,50,249 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,80,146, Agra 1,03,000, Varanasi 1,65,411, Allahabad 72,339; Calcutta 5,71,169 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur 1,06,970, 2nd week Kamptee 75,804 (1st 71,315), 10th week Jabalpur 1,61,848 (9th 1,58,369), total 19,12,562, 13th week Amravati (6 days) 76,570, 2nd week (6 days) Durg (gross) 63,678, 15th week Bilaspur 25,000, 3rd week Balaghat 66,090, total 2,27,482; 15th week Indore 89,224; Jaipur 4,61,496, Ajmer 43,581; Hyderabad 4,67,217 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon); Vijayawada 6 weeks’ total 4,25,146.

…………..

YOU ASKED IT

What is the final tally of China Gate?

– It will fetch commission in a few circuits. In the rest, it will entail losses to distributors.

When so many English films are being dubbed in Hindi, why is Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth not being dubbed?

– You never know, someone just might dub it in Hind. But one wonders whether it will have the same appeal as in English.

How much would an ‘A’ grade project’s music rights fetch today?

– The audio rights may fetch the price of a major circuit.

MIX MASALA

UNIQUE WEDDING INVITATIONS

That a wedding in the family of leading film financier Bharat Shah would be an ultra-grand affair has now come to be accepted as a custom. The wedding cards are always as rich and tasteful as the string of functions preceding the wedding reception and the reception itself. And the invitation card for the marriage of Sweta, daughter of Vijay Shah and niece of Bharatbhai, with Bhavin, on 6th and 7th February in Bombay, is simply breathtaking. It is in the shape of a book which has been explained to be a Bhrigu Samhita — an ancient Indian text which is believed to contain the life histories of everybody. The pages of the heavily decorated book, printed on imported paper, contain the details of the marriage ceremony and other programmes. The invitation book, it may be added here, has been sent out in huge and stylish boxes.

HERE & THERE

Republic Day Honours For Ashok Kumar, Lata, Javed

Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar was among the 14 distinguished people of the country chosen for the Padma Vibhushan award on the occasion of Republic Day this year. This is the country’s second highest civilian award. Veteran Ashok Kumar has been honoured with Padma Bhushan. The two film personalities awarded Padma Shri are lyricist Javed Akhtar and character actress Sulochana. The awards were announced by president K.R. Narayanan.

All the winners, obviously, feel honoured. Lata expressed her gratitude to the government. Javed Akhtar said that the honour had reminded him of his social responsibilities as a writer and poet and he would try to fulfil them. Veteran actress Sulochana thanked her teachers, parents and all her fans whose blessings had given her the will power to achieve this success.

Mahajan Assures Immediate Action To Solve FTII Problems

I & B minister Pramod Mahajan, who is taking a keen interest in promoting the film industry and solving its problems, visited the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, on 18th January to have first-hand information on its problems. The tussle between the students and the director of the institute, Dr. Mohan Agashe, has been on for a long time, as the new members of the governing council of the Institute have not yet been appointed by the government. The governing council is to take the final decision in the matter of the revised syllabus suggested by Dr. Agashe. At present, nothing seems to be moving on the FTII front. The government is giving a thought to privatising the Institute to make it a profit-making centre by opening its doors for producers to shoot their films there. Mahajan, after his visit to the Institute, assured the staff and students that he would take an immediate decision to chart out the future course of the FTII, which has 200 staffers working full-time.

Asha Bhosle Pained At Today’s Soulless Songs

Asha Bhosle, who is in Delhi to participate in a musical nite today (30th January), while talking to the press, opined that the passing away of the great music directors and poet-lyricists was one of the primary reasons behind the absence of melody in today’s film songs. She also found fault with the audience, saying that public demand compelled lyricists and musicians to churn out soulless songs. “Let the public reject it and melody would return,” she said. Asha, who has earned a place for herself in the world of pop music too, said that pop music was nothing but popular music, and she sang only those songs which had scope for melody and popular appeal. She said that the younger generation preferred fast music but their singing in various TV musical programmes provided ample proof of the timelessness of old film songs which were melodious.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Too Disturbing?

Many among the audience have found the scene of Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain in which Kajol, in an advanced state of pregnancy, falls flat on her stomach, too disturbing to bear. But exhibitor Ravi Machhar has not just heard this complaint, he has had the staff of his Abhinay cinema in Aurangabad administer first aid to a couple of ladies who fainted in the auditorium while seeing the scene in different shows in the first week. While this is definitely not a good thing to have happened, it, nevertheless, speaks volumes for Kajol’s acting prowess.

The Showman And His Staff

The party which Subhash Ghai’s staff hosted at his Audeus studio on 23rd January to bring in his birthday on 24th was a well-organised and homely affair. It was a surprise party for Ghai who remarked, “Look, I’m not even dressed up for the occasion.” But the party also had surprises in store for the select invitees. For, Anand Bakshi rendered a lovely song which he has written for a film to be made by Zee and directed by Anil Sharma. Playback singer Sukhwinder also regaled the gathering with his songs. Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Aishwarya Rai and Alok Nath were the four As who added glamour to the party which went on till the wee hours of the morning. And although there was a lot of merry-making, drinks and dinner, what was the best part of the party came towards the end when the amiable Ghai danced with his office boys, making each one feel so special that day. His wife was happy playing the hostess but when it came to speaking a few words on the mike, the elegant lady only blushed and was heard sweetly whispering into hubby’s ear, “Main kya boloon?” (“What do I say?”).

DUPLICATE

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

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

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

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

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

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

LATEST POSITION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEW MINI CINEMA OPENS IN BOMBAY

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

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

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

Movie Time is owned by Lalit Kapur.

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

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

Even Shah Rukh Khan Is Incomplete Without Hit Music

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

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

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

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

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

Telephone Calls For Trustworthy Confirmation

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

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

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

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

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

YOU ASKED IT

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

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

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

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

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

– Both are equally important for ensuring a bumper opening.

CENSOR NEWS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

DO YOU KNOW?

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

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

BOOM TIME IN GUJARATI INDUSTRY

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

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Despondent Exhibitors

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

‘Hitler’ Wins The Release Race

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

Professional Low

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

Mithun’s Mantra — More The Merrier?

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

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

INFORMATION MEETS

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

– RAMGOPAL VARMA

KOMAL NAHTA

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

What was the inspiration to make a film like SATYA?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notwithstanding the four-letter words?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Did you have to show your film to the police?

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

What is your next film?

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

LATEST POSITION

While examinations in some parts are over, those in other parts should get over soon. Till then, collections continue to be adversely affected.

Lahoo Ke Do Rang has not been appreciated. 1st week Bombay (6 days) 25,65,689 (65.32%) from 15 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 8,86,208 from 8 cinemas, Baroda 1,42,922, Rajkot 1,79,100 from 2 cinemas, Jamnagar 1,01,469 (1 unrecd.); Pune 6,12,511 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,25,209, Solapur 1,09,188 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Hubli 1,73,865 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), Dharwad 73,256; Delhi 34,45,078 (72.93%) from 12 cinemas (1 cinema unrecd. and 1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,37,217 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,53,932, Meerut 1,71,000, Dehradun 1,30,577, Gorakhpur 1,40,000 (79.17%); Calcutta (6 days) 22,30,134 from 26 cinemas; Nagpur 3,30,996 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,38,639, Amravati (4 days) 85,835, Akola 93,062, Raipur 1,38,890 (59.33%), Jalgaon 88,671; Bhopal 2,39,430 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 4,98,779 from 4 cinemas; Hyderabad 28,50,857 from 19 cinemas, share 15,01,512; Vijayawada (nett) 1,45,385, Visakhapatnam (nett) 91,946.

Judaai is being patronised by ladies all over and continues to do well. 4th week Bombay 13,60,273 (64.09%) from 7 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 5,99,797 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 1,45,374, 3rd Bharuch (gross) 2,17,784, 4th week Rajkot 78,000, Jamnagar 99,809 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 3,03,688 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 91,000, Solapur 77,947; Hubli 92,998 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), Belgaum 97,249, Dharwad 27,214 (3rd 39,847); Delhi 11,42,081 from 5 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,47,271, Lucknow 1,18,140, Agra 1,00,172, Meerut 87,000, Dehradun 94,730, Gorakhpur 60,800; very good in East Punjab; Calcutta (6 days) 2,94,000 from 3 cinemas; excellent in Bihar; Nagpur 58,662, Jabalpur 62,333, total 3,09,250, 3rd Amravati 93,295, 4th week Raipur 75,049, Bhilai 71,277, 3rd Jalgaon 65,030; 4th Indore 1,18,256, Bhopal 1,14,321, record; Jaipur 1,14,181, 1st week Ajmer (29 shows) 93,956, 4th Sriganganagar 64,762; Hyderabad 3,01,586, share 1,40,930.

Hero No. 1 is going strong. 5th week Bombay 14,50,564 (79.08%) from 6 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,68,205 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 1,07,866 from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 86,819; Pune 2,54,192 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 60,000, Solapur (matinee) 33,063; 3rd Bijapur (7 shows) 26,079, total 2,23,442; 5th week Delhi 17,37,123 from 7 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,31,401 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,40,280, Agra 1,10,795, Meerut 1,11,224, total 7,36,120, 4th week Dehradun 1,14,000 (3rd 1,27,000), 5th Gorakhpur 50,000; Calcutta (6 days) 1,48,182; Nagpur 88,479, Jabalpur 91,873, total 6,30,173, Akola 46,791, Raipur 76,694, Bhilai 57,478, 1st Jalgaon 1,25,006; 5th Indore 2,22,329 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal 94,972, record; Jaipur 1,83,781, Bikaner (last) 51,575; Hyderabad 3,90,707 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon), share 1,20,929.

Raja Hindustani 15th week Bombay 8,05,207 (52%) from 4 cinemas (3 on F.H.); 19th Ahmedabad 2,18,368 from 3 cinemas, Rajkot (matinee) 25,123; 16th week Pune 3,79,819 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), 15th Solapur (7 shows) 53,115, 16th Satara (matinee) 12,660; 17th week Bijapur (7 shows) 23,732; 19th week Delhi 6,79,731 from 4 cinemas; 20th Kanpur 1,06,825 from 2 cinemas, 19th Lucknow 1,03,507, Agra 92,864, 20th Meerut 77,709, 19th Dehradun 15,000, 20th week Gorakhpur 31,000; 17th week Nagpur 38,142, Jabalpur 93,239, total 28,85,177, 15th Amravati (3 days, last) 23,688, Akola (last) 35,727, total 14,15,797, 3rd week Durg 70,349, 4th Sagar about 80,000; 19th Indore 1,34,635, 18th week Bhopal 59,200; 19th Jaipur 1,09,357.

______

Prema Bandham (Telugu, dubbed version of Raja Hindustani) 1st week Vijayawada 1,55,254, Kakinada 1,32,754, Rajahmundry 1,20,305, Eluru 97,031, Bhimavaram 80,585, Palakol 51,954, Machilipatnam 74,129, Gudivada 67,375, Visakhapatnam 1,90,158, Nellore 2,06,168, Ongole 1,04,018, Guntur 1,67,071.

Entertainment Tax In Maharashtra To Go Down

New Tax Rate Is 60% On Nett Admission Rate

Tax-Free Service Charge To Be Allowed
To Be Carried Forward

Entertainment tax in Maharashtra will come down from the present 100% to 60% on nett admission rates. A proposal to this effect was presented in the Cabinet meeting in Bombay on 27th March. The new reduced rate of tax will come into effect only after the Cabinet’s proposal is passed by both, the Vidhan Sabha and the Vidhan Parishad. Since this would require a time of some days, it is not likely that the new tax rate comes into force from 1st April, 1997, as is felt. The government, it is learnt from reliable sources, may promulgate an Ordinance instead of passing the new tax structure in the Assembly, as above. The Ordinance, duly signed by the governor, may be made effective from May 1, it is learnt. The said Ordinance will not be for any specific time period.

The tax rate will be proportionately ascertained in places where the current rate of entertainment tax is 80% and 90% in place of the normal 100%. Thus, for example, the new tax rate may be 48-50% and 54 or 55% respectively in such places.

It is also believed that the Maharashtra government may permit exhibitors to carry forward the unutilised tax-free service charge for spending in the following year. Presently, the unspent amount has to be refunded to the government.

It may be mentioned here that cinemas all over Maharashtra had downed shutters for a month from 1st January, ’97 to protest against the doubling of entertainment tax to 100%. Despite the best efforts of the action committee of the film industry, formed for the purpose of interacting with the government with regard to this problem, the industry could not get the government to agree to restoration of the tax rate to the old 50%. This relief has, therefore, come as a shot in the arm for the action committee. As N.N. Sippy, a member of the action committee, said, “I am thrilled. It had become a personal issue for me.”

KARNATAKA BUDGET CAUSES PANIC

Panic has overtaken distributors and exhibitors of the Bombay-Karnataka region following the hike in entertainment tax proposed in the recent Karnataka state budget. The extent to which business is likely to be adversely affected due to the new tax structure can be gauged by the example of a cinema of Bijapur. The nett capacity per show of Dreamland cinema in Bijapur, which is Rs. 6,854/-, will become Rs. 4,152/- after the new tax structure comes into force. As against the Rs. 44,000/- entertainment tax paid by the cinema so far, it will now be required to pay Rs. 1,32,000/- per week by way of tax!

BABY BOY FOR BUNTY

East Punjab distributor Bunty alias Gurinder Singh (Narsimha Films) was blessed with a baby boy on 27th March in Jalandhar. This is Bunty’s first boy-child.

CAMERAMAN RAVI CHAVAN KILLED IN ACCIDENT

Cameraman Ravi Chavan was killed in a car accident on 22nd March. He was going from Bombay to Vapi alongwith four crew members of the unit of Gulshan Kumar’s serial, Shiv Maha Puran, when the car in which they were travelling collided with a tanker coming from the opposite direction. Ravi died on the spot. The other occupants of the car were seriously injured and are undergoing treatment at Nanavati Hospital, Bombay.

Ravi was Ken Ghosh’s regular cameraman. He was 46 years old and is survived by his wife and two children.

RAMAN PANDEY DEAD

Film publicist Raman Pandey expired on 24th March at his residence at Bhayandar (Bombay) due to a heart attack. He was 51 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. Raman had also directed a film, Pathbhrashtha, which is still to be released.

CINEMAS INSTALLING DTS FOR ‘KOYLA’

Maheshwari cinema in Hyderabad and Amba, Aurangabad, are installing the DTS sound system. Koyla is due for release at both the cinemas on 18th April.

DTS AT MAHALAXMI, NASIK

Mahalaxmi cinema in Nasik is in the process of installing DTS sound saytem. It will also undertake heavy renovation work.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Barood’ 15-Day Schedule

A 15-day shooting stint of Pramod Films’ Barood commenced on March 26 in Bombay on sets at Film City, Kamal Amrohi Studios and in NSE Compound. All the artistes are participating in the picturisation of climax and other scenes. Being produced and directed by Pramod Chakravorty, the film stars Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon, Raakhee, Mohnish Bahl, Mohan Joshi, Aroona Irani and Amrish Puri. Music: Anand Milind. Co-producer: Bharat Shah.

‘Vinashak’ In Mahabaleshwar

Producer Xavier Marquis, director Ravi Dewan and the unit of Mark Films International’s Vinashak left for Mahabaleshwar on March 27 for a 9-day shooting schedule. All the artistes are participating. The film stars Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Om Puri, Tinnu Anand, Mukesh Rishi, Alok Nath, Disha, Harish Patel, Shivaji Satam and Danny. Its story is written by Ravi Dewan and screenplay is by Rajkumar Santoshi. Cinematography: Peter Pereira. Action: Ravi Dewan.

YOU ASKED IT

Who is the most highly paid actor today?

– Some of our directors are charging even more than our top actors!

Don’t you think, the production of small films has declined in recent years? Why?

– Production is a big game today. Cost of production and star prices on the one hand and theatre rentals on the other have gone up so much that it is neither possible nor feasible to make small films in toady’s time.

When producers spend crores to make films, how do they often take such thin story-lines?

– Basing a film on a thin story line is not alarming. It is finally the screenplay and the presentation which must be fresh, novel and proper.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Mukul Dev is winning rave reviews from his co-artistes and others. People who’ve seen the rushes of Umesh Mehra’s QILA, swear, he has stood out in some dramatic scenes. Alongwith the good reviews, he is also getting good films. He has replaced Anil Kapoor in N. Chandra’s WAJOOD. Besides this, he is working in one more film — JAI SURYA — with Nana Patekar.

* Three cinemas in C.I. territory — Sangeeta and Kastur in Indore, and Rambha in Bhopal — are installing DTS sound system.

* Bappi Lahiri’s 12-year old son, Bappa, did the arrangement for a computerised song for MILITARY RAAJ at B.L. Temptation on 25th March.

MIX MASALA

IN NEWS

Madhuri Dixit may be passing through a low phase as far as her career goes but the girl continues to remain in national news for one reason or the other. Barely has the news of the income-tax raid on her house been relegated to the sidelines than comes news that Madhuri is among the handful of persons who were allotted plots of land by former Haryana chief ministers out of their discretionary quota.

Novelty Is The Catchword

Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat. Then Maachis. Next, it was Tere Mere Sapne. And Aastha. The latest is Judaai. Although the range of success of all the five above-mentioned films is different (a couple of them are even losing propositions in a circuit or two), one thing common to them is that they all took a start which was far from satisfactory but picked up by word of mouth and went on to become successful earners. Yet another common factor in the films was their unusual story. Of these, Tere Mere Sapne may not exactly boast of a novel or unusual storyline but its presentation was, nevertheless, fresh.

Coming to Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat. The point in the story where the heroine, a victim of rape, pleads before the court that her rapist should be asked to marry her and look after her all her life found acceptance among the audience, if only because of its novelty value. The film took a disastrous start but as word of mouth about the newness in the story spread, collections picked up. Although it may not cover its distributors’ investments in some circuits, the film is a commission-earner/overflow in others . In Bihar territory, the film seems to have caught the fancy of the viewers so much that it is expected to do a business of over 75 lakh there. A terrific figure, considering that the film was a low-budget and new star-cast film.

Maachis dealt with the topic of terrorists and terrorism in a way different from the many films made with the theme of terrorism. It probably did not take even a respectable start because of two factors — new faces and lack of time for the music to grow. Of course, in parts like Madhya Pradesh (due to entertainment tax exemption), Delhi and Punjab, the film did open well. But where it did not, collections began to pick up as the weeks progressed and as the music became a veritable craze. Controversies surrounding the film also did help but the bottomline was that the film had been liked. Translated in monetary terms, it meant that the film brought returns to its distributors.

Tere Mere Sapne, like the two earlier films, didn’t do its makers proud, what with a lukewarm opening. And this, despite a hit music score, popularised thru various television channels! Was television then indeed the right medium to publicise a film? Anyway, what television couldn’t do, word of mouth did. The best publicity for the film were the words of appreciation of the people who’d seen it. Slowly but surely, collections shot up and today, Tere Mere Sapne is a plus fare in all the circuits. In Bombay, it is doing A1 business.

A small-budget and artistic film like Aastha may not have created any earth-shattering records. But its business in many ‘A’ class centres has proved a point — that a novel subject is today accepted with open arms.

To say that Judaai, a star-cast film, took an average initial would be an overstatement. If it did start reasonably well in Gujarat and Rajasthan and brilliantly in Bihar and Orissa, its opening in Bombay, Delhi, parts of U.P., C.P., C.I. and Nizam was shockingly low. Again, the novel subject of a wife selling her own husband for the lure of luxuries caught the fancy of the viewer. What appeared in the first week to be a subject which had been rejected, found acceptance, and collections showed a marked improvement. As against the trade pronouncement in the week of release of the film that it would entail losses of about a crore per major territory, there’s already talk of “overflow” today, in most circuits. In Overseas, it is already among the major hits of all time.

So what does all this prove? That novelty in writing and presentation is what the audience wants. It is tired of seeing the run-of-the-mill kind of cinema. Fresh subjects, if well presented, do have takers. The catchword is good presentation. Tamanna, too, had a novel story but if it did not click even after the benefit of tax-exemption, it is because its presentation was far from good. It left the viewer depressed. Otherwise, the audience of today wants something new all the time. For a film with a novel subject, they may come in late but they do come.

That’s good news for writers and directors, right?

SHOOT AT SITE

S. Raamanathan’s Film In Madras

Rajaji Hall in Madras is a picture of frenzied activity on Sunday, March 23. Almost a thousand college students are stationed outside the court (the exterior of Rajaji Hall), protesting against the arrest of their friend for murders he hasn’t committed. Not just arrest, the friend has been awarded the death sentence! Leading the protest are Karisma Kapoor and Rajesh (Rangeela) Joshi. The friend in question is Arshad Warsi. Even as the police commissioner, with his entire team of policemen, is trying to control the revolting and stone-pelting crowd, there appears on the scene a blind lawyer who fires at the commissioner for issuing orders to shoot down the students. He says, he is convinced about the innocence of the arrested boy because otherwise, such a huge force would not be standing behind him like a rock. Even as the police commissioner is left speechless by this least-expected intruder, the lawyer waves a vakalatnama in the air, asking Karisma Kapoor to get it signed by Arshad. It is now the slogan-shouting Karisma’s turn to be left speechless. The lawyer had come like a messiah in their lives when they had thought, it was the end of the road for their dear friend. The blind lawyer was Amitabh Bachchan, wearing a grey beard and, of course, dark glasses.

The film being shot is producer-director S. Raamanathan’s Prod. No. 9, as yet untitled. The 75-year-old Raamanathan could give any youngster a complex with his energy and enthusiasm. Although he has a microphone in his hand, he is issuing instructions on the mike with the same force as he would have, without a mike! And how many times he must’ve climbed up and down the 30-odd steps of Rajaji Hall, one doesn’t really know. It could’ve easily been 200 times!

‘MIKE’AL ACTION

Well, so charged is S. Raamanathan that when the press party reaches the venue, he greets them all with handshakes and shouts ‘Welcome, welcome’ on the microphone, forgetting that it wasn’t instructions he was giving. The college crowd (read that, junior artistes) is amused and so are we. At another time, the extra-particular film-maker shouts out for chairs for us (again on the microphone) while we are standing at a distance and watching the proceedings. The mike does its magic because the chairs arrive in a split second. Anyway, we decide to rechristen Raamanathan ‘Sir-ji’ as ‘Mike’al Jackson because his nervous energy reminds one of Michael Jackson’s!

OF WETTING PANTS & SWEATING SHOTS

After the chair, arrives Anupam Kher. No, not to participate in the shooting but to meet Bachchan. Anupam Kher plays Amitabh’s doctor-friend in the film. He is not required for the shooting that day and is, instead, shooting nearby for a Tamil film with Prabhu Deva. He jokes, “Looking at such a huge crowd, I thought, my fan following in Madras had increased.” Bachchan too is in a mood to joke. After giving the final rehearsal of his shot in the sweltering heat, which requires him to say long lines of dialogues, he plonks himself on the chair next to Anupam’s and confesses, “Patloon geelee ho gayee, yeh shot dete dete.” And before Anupam feels that the camera has made Bachchan so nervous in his comeback days, the star continues with a poker face, “Itni dhoop jo hai.” Anupam Kher has a different thing to say about the scorching heat. “I was shooting this morning at the beach and I had to speak my dialogues in Tamil. Iss liye, mere to do-do pasine chhoot rahe thhey. Garmi ka pasina toh thheek tha, Tamil ka pasina jaane ka naam hi nahin le raha tha.”

THE WATCHFUL ‘BLIND’ EYE

Amitabh is called to give the final take. Before this, there is discussion about the point at which the crowds should applaud him. There are two options and one is finally okayed. In between the rehearsals and discussions, a unit hand comes to clear off some pieces of paper and plastic bags lying as waste in the field. Amitabh’s watchful ‘blind’ eye falls on the dutiful unit hand and he asks him to let it be as it is, so that it looks natural. In the rehearsals, Amitabh, quite understandably, falters as he forgets his long lines of dialogues twice.

SLIP OF THE…

In the take, it is Karisma’s chance to falter. While she is climbing down two steps to reach out to the vakalatnama being held out by Amitabh, Karisma loses her balance, thanks to her high-heeled sandals and the small steps. “Now, that’s not a slip of the tongue,” says Anupam who has been watching the shooting, “It is a slip of the taang.”

Before we know it, Anupam has given us the slip as he is required for giving his shot in the Tamil film’s shooting.

BLIND MAN’S BLUFF

S. Raamanathan is quite secretive about his film’s story. “We will tell you the story at the appropriate time,” he tells the visiting party, “so that you can then convey it to your readers.” Sensing S. Raamanathan’s mood, Amitabh takes back his words. For, he has already informed us that he plays a blind lawyer in the film. “No, I’m not playing a blind lawyer,” he says, trying to keep a straight face while taking off the dark glasses he has worn. Of course, none in the press party is blind. And we all know, lawyers are liars. Amitabh, perhaps, takes his role too seriously even when not shooting and bluffs us when he says, he isn’t blind in the film. That’s what you call ‘Blind Man’s Bluff’! For, it’s there for all of us to see when Amitabh gives his first shot of the day, that he indeed does play a blind lawyer. In a nutshell, the story is about a young college boy who is framed for four murders and is ordered by the court to be hanged to death. A blind lawyer is convinced that the college student is innocent and takes up his case to finally get him acquitted in the court of law. Vijayashanti plays Amitabh’s heroine. Shivaji Satam also plays an important role.

Amitabh does not remain blind all through the film. His doctor-friend (Anupam Kher) operates on his eyes and restores his eyesight. After all, it’s the kanoon which is andhaa forever, not the lawyer who argues in front of the blindfolded statue…

– Komal Nahta

“We can camouflage his age
to quite a large extent”
Make-up Man Deepak Samant
Talks About Amitabh And Age

“I’m already 55 years old and I have wrinkles on my face.” This is the famous quote of the comeback-Amitabh. An honest confession this, but one which could shake the confidence of the distributors of Amitabh starrers. Although, of course, Amitabh is being careful about the roles he accepts in films and is happy playing his age. Still, the question haunting distributors, exhibitors and his legion fans alike is: Will Amitabh not look old now? Can he be accepted now?

Amitabh may be frank enough to himself declare that age is no longer on his side. Yet, his make-up man, Deepak Sawant, does not sound as if he has surrendered to Amitabh’s age factor. It’s his job to make Bachchan look fresh and he accepts the “55 years” as a challenge. “It is not as if Amit-ji will look old and tired on the screen. We can camouflage his age to quite a large extent,” he says with conviction and a confidence which bears testimony to his 23 years’ association with the man who has often been referred to as the no. 1 to 10 among heroes.

Explains Deepak, “We get different shades of make-up — there’s red, pink, brown, yellow, white, orange, etc. Now, I’ve got to be careful about the colour I use on Amit-ji’s face. Another thing I’ve got to take great care of is the oil and sweat. Oil is secreted from within the body, and sweat comes due to external heat. When the oil and sweat/water (artificial sweat) react with the make-up, the wrinkles on the face become more visible in front of the arc-lights.” Does that mean that one will never see Amitabh with sweat running down his face on the screen? “It’s not that,” clarifies Deepak, “but I will have to be extra-careful for such scenes.”

Deepak concedes that earlier, he used to take 20 to 25 minutes to do Amitabh’s make-up but now, it takes him about 35 minutes to do the job. “Some stars are very interfering, but Amit-ji lets me do my job without interference. He is a fabulous person to work with,” announces Deepak with pride.

The veteran make-up man laments that in an industry where make-up is so important, there’s no award for this craft. “How would you like if an actor plays a hungry beggar without make-up? However good an actor he may be, he will never be able to create as much of an impact merely by his acting talent as with a combination of his acting skill, make-up, hair style and costumes.” In fact, Deepak feels, an actor is 25% acting talent, 25% make-up, 25% hair style and 25% costumes. “If even one of them is lacking, he has to make up for it with the help of the other three,” explains Deepak, “but a good actor must have all the four in equal proportion.” To substantiate his point, Deepak cites the instance of the climax scene of Sholay. “Amit-ji is blown up with a bomb in that scene and is dying. The director told me, he wanted ‘blood’ coming out from the corners of Amit-ji’s mouth. I thought for a while, then I asked Amit-ji to give me the shirt and pant he was wearing for the scene. I took them and tore them with a stone so that they looked shredded. I asked him to wear them again and then I sprinkled ‘blood’ all over his tattered clothes as well as on his forehead. In the scene, after Amit-ji is blown up, his body is lying still when the other characters arrive at the place of the accident. During this time, the blood trickled down from his forehead and came to the sides of his mouth, as desired by the director.”

Coming back to the Bachchan of today, Deepak shuns all talk about his boss having gone in for facial skin treatment or a face lift, as baseless. “It’s just make-up and regular exercising,” he says. “We may have faulted a bit in the first couple of films but even those faults will not recur once we see the first film’s copy. The errors that may have remained in his make-up can be analysed and, thereafter, avoided in the future.”

So, all ye distributors of Bachchan starrers, let the wrinkles of tension on your foreheads go. For, Deepak Sawant assures that he is taking care of the wrinkles and the age of Amitabh Bachchan.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Sippy Surfaces Again

N.N. Sippy has finally decided to take the plunge into production once again, after a long gap. He plans to start his new film in June and complete it within six months. In place of a film with Rishi Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and Ajay Devgan, which he was earlier planning to produce, this project of his will star Karisma Kapoor and Chandrachur Singh. Raj Kanwar was to have directed the earlier film but this one will be directed by Shravani Deodhar. Informed Sippy, “The subject is so wonderful that dialogue writer K.K. Singh is too thrilled for words.” N.N. Sippy plans to have a third of the film shot abroad “because the story moves there and not just to picturise the songs, as is the fashion these days”.

Mauritius Indoors

Producer Yash Johar has lost count of the number of sets his art director, Sharmishtha Roy, has erected for his Duplicate, so many have there been for the film. One more was put up by the talented girl at Mehboob Studios last week, on which a song and some scenes were picturised on Shah Rukh Khan, Sonali Bendre and others. Before picturising the song, director Mahesh Bhatt had shot the film in Mauritius. But unlike other units which shoot on the beautiful landscapes of this picturesque place, the Duplicate unit was confined to the indoors only. It so happened that the (indoor) location required for the shooting was not available continuously in India as in Mauritius.

Pricey Reena

Reena Roy is acting pricey these days. Shocked? You needn’t be shocked because it isn’t for the big screen for which Reena Roy is acting pricey. She is doing so for a serial, Jung. Reena feels, the serial (produced by Pranlal Mehta) is enjoying popularity because of her presence in it. And so, she’s now demanding a price more than half as much as she gets for a film. This price is not for working in the entire serial, it is just for one episode!

Hero Mastana & Not-So-Mastana

All was not well on the sets of a comedy film starring two heroes and a heroine and nearing the completion mark. One of the heroes (who, incidentally, is the favourite of the film’s director) reportedly changed his dialogue in a scene (involving the two heroes together) at the time of its final take. This seems to have agitated the other hero so much that he charged into his hoted room and didn’t shoot… till the director and the errant hero went to his room and apologised!

Enemies Only

Can you believe this? Kamal Haasan’s Ladies Only is complete but all through its making, its director, Dinesh Shailendra, was barely on talking terms with one of the three heroines of the film, Seema Biswas. Dinesh, it is reported, was angry with Seema as she did not greet him when on the sets!

One Main Cinema, One Distributor, Two Films

It’s Problem Time

What happens when two big films, coming within a gap of two weeks of each other, are booked at the same main cinema in Bombay by the same (common) Bombay distributor? There’s tension, commotion, allegations and counter-allegations!

That’s exactly what’s there presently. The two films in question are Vinod Khanna’s Himalay Putra, released this week, and Rakesh Roshan’s Koyla, due for release on 18th April. The common main cinema: Minerva. The common distributor: Bharat Shah (VIP Enterprises).

Although the main cinema for Koyla was announced in trade papers before that of Himalay Putra, the tension started only last week. Vinod Khanna and Rakesh Roshan met at the CBFC office in Bombay where the actor-producer is said to have asked the actor-producer-director to shift his Koyla to another main cinema and thereby make way for a longer and uninterrupted run of his own Himalay Putra. Not the one to get into controversies, Rakesh Roshan matter-of-factly informed Vinod Khanna that Minerva had been finalised for Koyla several weeks ago and that the cinema had also agreed to install DTS sound system for the film. Anyway, it was a matter for the Bombay distributor to decide, felt Rakesh Roshan and told so to Vinod Khanna.

Obviously then, Vinod Khanna contacted his distributor, Bharat Shah, and told him, he couldn’t do injustice to his maiden film which was also his son, Akshaye’s launch vehicle. At the time of going to the press, the main cinema of Koyla in Bombay yet stands as Minerva although there is a chance of a change.

When contacted, Bharat Shah told Information, “The issue is not as big as the hue and cry over it in the trade.” Explaining how the mess arose, Bharatbhai continued, “Himalay Putra was to have released in February. In all, it has been delayed by seven weeks, and Minerva was the best bargain we could get for it. Rakesh Roshan, on the other hand, had planned the release of Koyla on 18th Apri, months in advance. So, he is absolutely not at fault.” When asked, how he would get out of the sticky situation, Bharat Shah replied, “Let us see, we will monitor the public reports of Himalay Putra till Monday and then take a decision. If the film does well, we will definitely change the main cinema of Koyla, and continue Himalay Putra at Minerva. We yet have time to decide.” But with Ziddi due next week at Maratha Mandir, Hero No. 1 running at Novelty, Judwaa poised for a 15-week run at Liberty (the distributor of Bombay has been sent the letter for 100 days to Liberty), Sapnay booked at Metro from 2nd May, Judaai running at New Excelsior, and Mrityudaata booked at Eros from 25th April, which main cinema would be available for Koyla? Bharatbhai is unperturbed and replies, “Some solution will emerge. It is not as if Koyla will not get a good main cinema. Everything will be alright by Monday or Tuesday.”

F.C. Mehra, owner of Minerva cinema, on the other hand, is eager that after Himalay Putra, his cinema should also screen Koyla. “Himalay Putra can be shifted in matinee shows at our cinema,” he said, “and Koyla can be screened in regular shows from 18th April. We’ve installed DTS sound system specially for Koyla.” Unlike Bharat Shah, who is confident of a solution to the problem, F.C. Mehra feels, there can be no solution for the simple reason that “there are no main cinemas available”. “Collections,” explained Mehra, “have picked up and are picking up further, due to vacations and so, nobody would like to discontinue his film from the main cinema.”

Confusion breeds rumours. One such rumour born out of the confusion prevailing over the matter of main cinema of Koyla was that Vinay Choksey of V.I.P. Enterprises was refused permission to screen the trailer of Koyla at Minerva earlier this week for exhibitor-friends, as F.C. Mehra demanded that the film’s publicity material be put up at the cinema before the trailer could be screened. When asked to explain, F.C. Mehra laughed and dismissed the rumour as “baseless”. He explained, “Vinay arrived 8 minutes late at the cinema, by which time our regular show had started. I and he did not think it fit to disrupt the just-started show for the trailer. Vinay immediately contacted the nearby Novelty cinema and since the main show hadn’t started there, the trailer was screened at Novelty. There was no question of not screening the trailer of Koyla due to non-arrival of its publicity.”

That explains about the trailer. But will Koyla come at Minerva? Or won’t it? And if it won’t come at Minerva, where will it? At Liberty? Or Novelty? Or Metro? The days ahead will tell.

– Gautam Mutha

NEW CINEMA IN BOMBAY

A new cinema, Madhuban, will open at Dombivli (Bombay) shortly. It is owned by Vira Theatres Pvt. Ltd. which also owns Tilak Talkies at Dombivli. A cocktail-dinner party will be held this evening (5th April) at the cinema to celebrate the opening.

ORIYA FILMMAKER DEAD

Noted Oriya film producer-director Banabihari Patnaik died of a heart attack this week at his residence at Puri. He was 67. He had been associated with the Bhubaneswar Centre of Doordarshan.

BHUSHAN JEEVAN DEAD

Actor Bhushan Jeevan, son of late actor Jeevan and younger brother of Kiran Kumar, died of heart failure on 2nd April at Hinduja Hospital, Bombay. He had been hospitalised over a month back for kidney failure and other complications. He had also slipped into a coma. Even as doctors had almost given up hopes, he came out of coma but soon passed away due to heart failure.

Bhushan had acted in several films. He was also acting in quite a number of television serials when the end came. Among the serials in which he played important roles were The Great Maratha, Tara and Sailaab. He was only 36 years old and single. He is survived by his mother, two brothers and a sister.

His funeral took place on 3rd. Chautha will be held today (5th April) between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. at his residence (Jeevan Kiran, Bandra, Bombay).

FILM MUSEUM NEAR BANGALORE

Filmmaker M. Bhaktavatsala is planning a film museum near Hesarghatta on the outskirts of Bangalore. The Rs. 25-crore project has attracted the appreciation of Karnataka chief minister J.H. Patel, who has asked the departments of tourism and information to look into the project profile immediately. A 100-acre land area has been set aside for the museum which would take four years to complete. The Heritage Museum has been planned on the lines of the Museum of Moving Image, London, and the American Museum of the Moving Image, New York. It is expected to be a main draw for tourists.

CINEMA MANAGER, OPERATOR ARRESTED

The manager and operator of Laxmi Talkies, Navsari, were arrested recently for screening uncensored portions (bits) in the English Film Woman’s Play. The police also unearthed a racket of bogus admission tickets at the cinema. The management was also permitting non-adults for films which were meant for adults only. Investigations are on.

DTS IN C.P. CINEMAS

Five cinemas of C.P. Berar, viz. Panchsheel and Smruti in Nagpur, Prabhat in Amravati, Raj cinema in Raipur, and Abhay in Chandrapur will be installing DTS sound system for Koyla.

DTS SOUND

DTS sound system has been installed at Krishna, Padra (district Baroda). DTS sound is also being installed at Apsara, Baroda. Koyla is due at Apsara from 18th April.

In Bombay, Marathi Mandir cinema will instal DTS for Ziddi.

CINEMA OWNER DEAD

V.P. Dubey, proprietor of Shyam Talkies, Bilaspur, expired on 29th March at Delhi Hospital. He was 77.

YOU ASKED IT

Why have the South film actors — Chiranjeevi, Rajinikanth and Nagarjuna — stopped acting in Hindi films?

– Maybe, they’ve realised that they have limited appeal in North India. Incidentally, Kamal Haasan is acting in two Hindi films — LADIES ONLY is complete, and another has just started.

Don’t you think, the film industry should have its own film awards?

– It can have, but the awards would be worthwhile only if they are given on the basis of merit alone and without fear or favour.

Why has a new star-cast film, Himalay Putra, got a good opening all over when star-cast films like Judaai and Lahoo Ke Do Rang opened to dull houses?

– HIMALAY PUTRA has the advantage of starring a star-son.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Mani Ratnam’s wife, Suhasini, who had directed INDIRA (in Tamil), will play the title role in NANDINI (Tamil), to be directed by Manobala and produced by V. Natarajan of Pyramid Films International. NANDINI is a woman-oriented film.

* How strict contract laws in France are can be gauged by this instance. The Dior Fashion house has decided not to renew its contract with actress Emmanuelle Beart after she appeared in protests without make-up. Beart had joined in demonstrations against the conservative government’s new law aimed at limiting immigration. Although Dior did not object to her politics, it let her contract with it lapse because of her appearance in the news media ‘Au Naturel’ without having gone to the hair-dresser. Beart had recently starred in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.

* It has become quite usual for Hollywood films these days to show executives working in tobacco companies as villains. A number of books and television series also threaten to plunge the corporate nicotine behemoths, collectively known as Big Tobacco, into the category of celluloid shame. In fact, there are few screen heroes who smoke, apart from Bruce Willis in the DIE HARD films.

* Plus Channel paid an annual telecast fee of Rs. 8 crore (net) to Doordarshan upto March 1997, perhaps, the highest paid by any independent production house in the country.One Main Cinema, One Distributor, Two Films

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

First 3-D Film In DTS Digital Sound

Navodaya’s Malayalam film, My Dear Kuttichathan, will be the first 3-D film in the world in DTS digital sound. The film, which was also the first 3-D film of India, will be re-released shortly. DTS and its agent, Real Image Pvt. Ltd., will present DTS plaques to the many cinemas releasing the 3-D film in digital sound in Kerala. Another Malayalam film, Chemeen, is being revived in Kerala in DTS digital sound. It wound not be out of place to mention here that DTS digital sound system was launched over four years ago with the release of the English film, Jurassic Park. Today, DTS has approximately 9,000 installations worldwide. DTS received a technical achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its contribution to the motion picture industry.

CVO, The Dangerous Movie Channel

CVO, the cable movie channel of the Hindujas, is giving the film industry sleepless nights. And if anybody is to be blamed for this sleepless state, it is only the producers themselves. For, the channel shows films after just six months of their theatrical release, that too with the legal rights to do so. Earlier, the channel had its reach only in metropolitan cities but its reach is now fast spreading to other places too.

Man Of His Words — In Gold

Bobby Anand, the Delhi-U.P., Rajasthan and Overseas distributor of Judaai, had promised gold chains to the staff of producer Boney Kapoor if the film clicked. Keeping his promise, he gave the staffers beautiful gold chains last week to celebrate the film’s success.

Bold And Beautiful

If novelty is the name of the game, producer-director Prakash Jha should be pretty excited because if his Mrityudand is anything first and foremost, it is novel. A preview of some scenes and portions of songs of the film gave the impression that the film is bold and blunt in its message, besides being new. It shows rather dramatically how women in an ultra-orthodox Bihari society revolt against the male domination and exploitation. To say that Shabana Azmi and Madhuri Dixit have excelled in their respective roles would be an understatement. Both the heroines vie for top acting honours in this purposeful film. The censors, one hopes, would not come down harshly on the dialogues in the film because the words used, though raw and hard-hitting, are too appropriate to be true.

Incidentally, Madhuri Dixit, who attended the special screening, has shed weight now and is looking slim and beautiful once again.

‘Border’ Brochure

Producer-director J.P. Dutta has brought out a beautiful brochure of his Border. It gives the film’s story in brief, illustrated by colourful pictures from the film. Incidentally, the Sandeshe song of the film is rising in popularity day by day and should become a hit soon.

Odd Man Out

This incident took place at Indore’s Regal cinema recently. A man who had taken a ticket for the balcony for Judaai, went and occupied his seat before the film could start. A couple of minutes before the show could begin, he went back to the manager’s cabin and requested him to take back the balcony ticket and issue him a stalls ticket instead. The manager found the request quite unusual and asked the gentleman the reason for it. The man replied that he was embarrassed sitting in the balcony because he was the only male. All the other seats had been occupied by ladies! The manager smiled and obliged. Maybe, the manager was reminded of the hit song from the old Judaai (starring Jeetendra and Rekha) — Charon taraf gopiyaan, beech mein Kanhaiya.

Exposing Reply

Here’s a contribution from one of our readers:

Mamta Kulkarni was asked to comment on her alleged involvement in the Bihar Fodder Scandal. Her assumed reply: “Where is Bihar, I don’t know. Fodder, I’m sure, means chaara and when main mere producers ko chaara nahin dalti hoon, where is the question of involvement in any other chaara. As for the Scandal, I am used to reading all sorts of scandalous writings about me by gossip magazines. And let me tell you, had I been involved, I would never have hidden the fact. The world is aware of my spirit of exposing all things which are close and personal to me.”

LATEST POSITION

It was a normal week.

Maharaja has not lived up to its majestic title and faced a steep fall in collections from mid-week. It is, however, good in East Punjab, some stations of U.P. and Rajasthan. 1st week Bombay 30,46,719 (70.29%) from 10 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,60,169 from 6 cinemas, Vapi 2,62,806, Rajkot 1,56,424, Jamnagar 1,37,876; Pune 9,25,206 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 34,76,207 (56.93%) from 11 cinemas (1 on F.H., 1 unrecd.); Kanpur 3,22,439 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Lucknow 2,74,680, Agra 2,50,000, Allahabad 1,50,625; Amritsar 60,365; Calcutta 13,95,333 from 13 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Nagpur 5,25,060 from 5 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,33,390, Amravati 1,61,428, Akola 1,20,000, Dhule 1,21,209, Raipur 1,16,014, Durg 77,894, Jalgaon 1,41,735; Indore 1,64,498 (5 on F.H.), Bhopal 3,18,130 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 8,39,901 from 4 cinemas, Bikaner 2,17,852; Hyderabad 26,80,132 from 12 cinemas, share 12,87,600 (2 on F.H.).

Mere Do Anmol Ratan is disastrous and collects unbelievably low. 1st week Bombay 10,06,220 (37.49%) from 7 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Delhi 1,89,088 (29.80%) from 2 cinemas; Kanpur 37,769, Lucknow 53,246, Agra 90,380; Calcutta 1,44,706 (other cinemas unrecd.); Nagpur 29,888 from 2 cinemas; Bhopal 52,827 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 4,24,462 from 6 cinemas (3 in noon).

………..

‘PYAAR KIYA TO DARNA KYA’ CELEBRATES SILVER JUBILEE

G.S. Entertainment’s Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya entered 25th (silver jubilee) week yesterday (11th September) at Metro (matinee), Bombay. The film, directed by Sohail Khan and produced by him jointly with Bunty Walia, stars Dharmendra, Salman Khan, Kajol, Arbaaz Khan, Anjala Zaveri, Kunika and Kiran Kumar. Music has been scored by Jatin Lalit, Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid.

EMPEROR OF CINEMA AKIRA KUROSAWA DEAD

Akira Kurosawa, Japan’s topmost filmmaker, who put his country on the world map, died in Tokyo on 6th September. He was 88 years old. Kurosawa is the only director who has won two Oscars for the best foreign film, apart from a lifetime achievement award presented to him at the Oscar awards ceremony in 1990.

He began his career in 1936, hoping to use his skills as a painter, for films. He switched over as an assistant director in the same year, with the film Senman Choja. In 1948, he made Drunken Angel with actor Toshiro Mifune with whom he had a life-long association. Mifune died last year in December. Kurosawa shot to international fame in 1951 with Rashomon, a medieval murder tale which broke new cinematic ground by using different narratives to tell the same story from four points of view. He made 30 films of which The Seven Samurai, Drunken Angel, To Live, Run and Rhapsody In August are the best-known. The last-named film was made in 1991 and starred Richard Gere. His last film was Madadayo, made in 1993. This film marked the 50th anniversary of his film career.

PRABHAKAR SUVARNA DEAD

West Bengal distributor Prabhakar Suvarna (Anubhav Films Enterprises) expired on 8th September in Bombay due to kidney failure. He had undergone heart bypass surgery a few days back, after which his kidneys failed. He was 52 years old.

‘TITANIC’ GESTURE

The grand success of the home videos of Titanic, released last week in the U.S., was believed to be a foregone conclusion. However, it is not widely known that this success is also partially due to a company called Deluxe Video Services Inc., which was entrusted with the job of making millions of copies of the film on video cassettes. Hundreds of employees of the company worked very long hours so that the required number of video cassettes could be made ready by the deadline. That their efforts have not gone unnoticed can be judged by the fact that Paramount arranged for a continuous and free showing of Titanic for the hard-working employees of Deluxe Video Services Inc. Thus the film was played continuously round-the-clock in all four break rooms at Deluxe, thereby making their employees feel suitably rewarded for a job well done.

PRANLAL DOSHI ELECTED CEAI PRESIDENT

Pranlal K. Doshi was elected president of the Cinematograph Exhibitors’ Association of India for 1998-99 at the first meeting of the newly elected executive committee held on 11th September in the Association office. A.D. Chaphalkar was elected deputy president, Vinod H. Kansagara, vice president, and Gunvantrai N. Desai, hon. treasurer.

Earlier, at the 52nd annual general meeting held the same day, the following other members too were elected to the executive committee: Suresh Choksi, Nitin Datar, Soli Arya, Yunus Aghadi, Sharad Pai, Kanhaiyalal Navandhar, Suryakant Patil, D.F. Hodiwalla, Rashmi Bhalodia, Ulhas Joshi, Rajendra Jain, Nester Desouza, Rahul Haksar, Russ Balaporia, Prashant Vartak, N.F. Damania and Vimal Doshi.

V.N. Borawake, Manoj Khivasara, Ismail Patel and Govind Khoont were co-opted to the committee.

17 IN FRAY FOR 12 SEATS IN IMPDA COMMITTEE

A total of 17 members will contest in the elections to the executive committee of the IMPDA in the Ordinary Class. Of the 17 members, 12 are sitting members and five are new contestants. The sitting members standing for re-election are Ayub Selia, Balkrishna Shroff, Devendra Shah, Guru Shenoy, Haresh Bhatia, Kantilal Mehta, N.N. Sippy, Ramesh Sippy, U.A. Thadani, Tolu (Vashdev) Bajaj, Vinay Choksey and Vinod Kakkad. The five new persons in the fray are Abid Zaffar, Manoj Khivasara, Pradeep Singh, Sanjay Chaturvedi and Tekchand Anchal.

There will be no election in the Associate Class as there are no fresh nominations in this category. Therefore, the three sitting members viz. Indravadan Shah, Mohan Susania and D.Y. Pattani will be elected unopposed.

The executive committee has a strength of 15 — 12 in Ordinary Class and three in Associate Class. Elections will be held on Tuesday, 22nd September at Birla Kreeda Kendra, Chowpatty, Bombay.

IMPPA ELECTION NOMINATIONS

The last date for filing nominations for elections to the executive committee of the IMPPA is 14th September. The elections are scheduled to be held on 28th September at ISKCON, Juhu, Bombay.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE MEETS IN BOMBAY

Several members of parliament (MPs) attended the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the I & B and Communications ministries, in Bombay on 11th September. From the film industry, Santosh Singh Jain, Sultan Ahmed, Shakti Samanta, K.D. Shorey, Pappu Verma, Rajender Singh Hora and others attended.

The industry representatives explained the problems plaguing the industry viv-à-vis the CBFC, government, cable pirates etc. Speaking to Information, Santosh Singh Jain said that the meeting was “fruitful”.

FILM CITY PROJECT IN DEHRADUN IN COLD STORAGE?

Yet another glaring example of how a change in the political scenario can change the government’s tune towards important issues is the following. Reportedly, the U.P. government has put the plans of building a Film City in Dehradun in cold storage. Chief minister Kalyan Singh had two months back promised a delegation of the film industry that the government would provide land for the purpose, ostensibly being carried away by the central government’s decision to grant industry status to films. But now, he is reported to have developed cold feet over the project, thanks mainly to the fact that the demand for a separate statehood for Uttaranchal region in the state is fast gaining ground. It may be mentioned here that Dehradun is an integral part of Uttaranchal and hence if a separate statehood is granted for the region, the U.P. government will not be able to gain any mileage out of the Film City.

The film industry has been hit hard by this change in the governmental attitude towards Film City, for, the project was perceived as one which would be able to provide an ideal environment for filmmaking. Fresh locations, safer environment and the site’s proximity to both, Delhi and Lucknow, made the proposed Film City in Dehradun a perfect choice for producers. But now, embroiled in a political wrangle, the project seems to be doomed. Much to the dismay of the film industry, we may add.

ANDHRA GOVERNMENT’S NEW MEASURES FOR TELUGU FILM INDUSTRY

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has announced a single-window system for granting permissions for shooting Telugu films in the state. Speaking at a meeting with a delegation of the Telugu Film Producers’ Council on 7th September, Naidu promised to take a number of remedial steps to help the Telugu film industry come out of the present crisis. He said that a uniform fee of Rs. 1,000 would be charged for hiring a location to shoot films. Moreover, he said, the government would levy uniform charges for the use of government guest houses and motels by film producers, actors and technicians.

Naidu also assured the delegation that stringent action would be taken against those indulging in video and audio piracy, and, if need be, the government would suitably amend the Cinematograph Act or bring in fresh legislations. The CM assured the delegation that he would look into their demand for subsidies and entertainment tax exemption for small-budget films.

The meeting was attended by the Andhra minister for home and cinematography, A. Madhava Reddy, and chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Film Development Corporation, Murali Mohan, among others. The Telugu Film Producers’ Council delegation was led by its president, Dasari Narayana Rao.

TEJNATH ZAR PASSES AWAY

Veteran writer, producer and director Tejnath Zar passed away in Bombay at Sushrusha nursing home at Shivaji Park on 10th September after a brief illness. He was 73 and is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.

Having begun his career as far back as in 1952, when he joined producer Nanabhai Bhatt as a writer, Tejnath Zar will be remembered for his simplicity and humility. After setting up his own concern, Zar’s International, in 1956, he produced films like Khoj, Tajposhi, Shahi Mehmaan, 24 Ghante, Chaalis Din, Reshmi Rumal, Naqli Nawab, Vachan, Garam Khoon, Sardar and Anokhi Chaal, apart from directing Chaalak.

He also had a long association with producer-director Jugal Kishore who had nearly all his films written by Zar. Another distinction to Tejnath Zar’s credit is that three of the most prominent villains of Hindi films turned heroes with films written by him. These villains were Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna and Amjad Khan, who gave their maiden performances as heroes in Sabak, Nateeja and Dada respectively.

Some of Tejnath Zar’s recent works include writing five-six episodes for B.R. Films’ popular TV serial Kanoon, made a couple of years ago. Moreover, he had been the honorary general secretary of The Film Writer’s Association for the last two-three years and also an executive committee member of the IMPPA. He worked selflessly for the Association.

Zar’s chautha will be held on 13th (tomorrow) between 4.30 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. at Arya Samaj Hall, Santacruz (W), Bombay.

CCCA ELECTION SCENE
Leaderless Opposition Defies Jain’s Ruling Panel

As expected, the CCCA election heat has caught on in C.P. Berar and C.I. in just the same way as it had been generated a while ago in Rajasthan (reported in our issue last week). Hectic activity is on at a feverish pitch to form panels — basically, there will be two panels viz. the ruling group panel, headed by CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain, and the opposition panel. The opposition panel, though, has no leader. However, C.I. distributor O.P. Goyal may well emerge a leader of sorts of the opposition candidates, such is the force with which he is opposing the ruling group of Santosh Singh Jain.

In C.P. Berar, exhibitor Munshiram (of Jeet cinema, Bilaspur) will be contesting this year from the opposition. His supporters feel that the Chhattisgarh-Mahakoshal region has long been ignored as no member from this region has been taken on the executive committee. Munshiram, therefore, will represent this “long ignored” region and may get regional support. Laloo (N.D.) Kabra’s nomination is another one which is creating quite a stir in C.P. Berar. Although a sitting member, Santosh Singh Jain is contemplating excluding his name from his panel and, in his place, taking in G.E. Naik, manager of Mihir Pictures, Bhusawal. Jain’s anti-Laloo stance stems from two facts — one, according to Jain Saheb, Laloo, despite being a committee member, supplies prints to SMR cinemas and thereafter takes the plea that he hasn’t supplied the prints; secondly, Laloo had promised to make a deferred payment of Rs. 5 lakh to the producer of Bhai (which he distributed in C.P. Berar) and Jain had stood guarantee for it, but instead of making the payment within four weeks of the film’s release, as promised, Laloo delayed it by some weeks. On his part, Laloo says that a number of distributors supply prints to SMR cinemas but Jain Sahab is singling him out. As regards the Bhai payment, Laloo insists that he had not promised to make it within four weeks. “Otherwise also,” he says, “I did make the payment, so why should Jain Sahab be angry?”

In C.I., distributor O.P. Goyal is heading the opposition group. Among the other likely opposition candidates are Sunil Chowdhry and Jaiswal (of Kanchan Shree Talkies, Jaora). According to Goyal, “The elections this year will be one of the most fiercely contested. We, the opposition, have decided to oppose Santoshji tooth and nail.” The anti-bandh lobby may well vote in favour of the opposition to give vent to their sentiments.

In the meantime, Santosh Singh Jain is not spilling the beans about who will and who won’t be included in his panel. In his characteristic diplomatic style, he told Information that he would be able to decide on his panel only after a couple of days. But he gave an indication that Naik would come in place of Laloo Kabra. In Rajasthan, Baba Ramdeo, Kishinchand Janiani and Rajendra Mamoria may be the new opposition contestants. Reportedly, Rajendra Mamoria is prevailing upon members of his territory to come to Nagpur to cast their votes.

The last date for filing nominations for the elections is 12th September (today). The elections will be held on 27th, and annual general meeting, on 26th.

RECEPTION COMMITTEE FOR CCCA AGM

A reception committee under the chairmanship of Dilip Singh Tuli was formed for the organisation of the 45th annual general meeting of the Central Circuit Cine Association on 26th and 27th September in Nagpur at the Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande Hall. Vijay Kher and Prashant Rathi are the vice chairmen. The other office-bearers and members of the committee are S.B. Patil, secretary, K.K. Sawhney, treasurer, B.M. Diwan, joint secretary, S.A. Sorathiya, public relations officer, K.G. Sarda, R.P. Sharma, Pramod Munot, Dr. Bhiwapurkar, Raju Khanduja, Prakash Ramrakhiani, Praneet Singh and Milind Naik.

Among the distinguished personalities expected to attend the annual meeting are some artistes, besides ministers of Maharashtra, like Pramod Navalkar, Narayan Rane, Nitin Gadkari and Anil Deshmukh.

It may be mentioned here that it is after six years that the annual general meeting of the CCCA is being held in Nagpur. The 39th AGM was held in Nagpur in 1992 when Anil Kapoor and other stars and some singers had attended the meeting. Over, 1,200 members are expected to attend the meeting this year.

VEDPRAKASH MENDIRATA RESIGNS FROM FORUM

Vedprakash Mendirata on 11th September resigned from the presidentship of the Indore Film Distributors’ Forum. His resignation has reportedly been accepted.

According to reliable sources, there were differences between Mendirata and some members of the Forum, which led to his resignation.

HEAVY TURNOUT EXPECTED AT CCCA ELECTIONS

With the Madhya Pradesh bandh from 17th September a certainty now, the direct effect of the closure is likely to be seen in the attendance at the annual general meeting and the elections of the Central Circuit Cine Association on September 26 and 27. The turnout for the double event in Nagpur is expected to be large this year, not just because there is likely to be a fierce fight between the ruling group and the opposition but also because exhibitors of Madhya Pradesh will have a lot of free time on hand. Since cinemas will be closed, exhibitors might as well use the opportunity to attend the AGM and also cast their votes. Distributors, too, will be comparatively free as there will be no new releases from 17th September.

As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. The silver lining to the dark cloud of the bandh is that the voter turnout at the elections of the biggest and the strongest film trade association may well be heavy.

Amidst Protest From Indore, Ujjain Trade
Madhya Pradesh Cine Trade Gears Up For Indefinite Closure From September 17

Despite a strong opposition from distributors and exhibitors, mostly of Indore and Ujjain, the Madhya Pradesh cinema closure from 17th September is now a certainty. Cinemas all over the state will down shutters for an indefinite period.

Even as a signature campaign was carried out in Indore and Ujjain, urging the CCCA president to call off the proposed bandh, the Amravati film trade on 11th September unanimously decided to support the bandh call of the CCCA and, at a meeting held under the chairmanship of CCCA vice president Vijay Rathi, even passed a resolution to that effect. It was also resolved that no distributor would supply prints for screening to exhibitors in M.P. from 17th. It was also agreed that distributors would telegraphically inform exhibitors of the state to stop screenings of films from 17th September.

CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain will visit Indore next week to take stock of the situation and to impress upon the several dissenting members of the Indore and Ujjain trade the need to observe the bandh for the larger interest of the trade. Except for Sapna-Sangeeta, Alka, Premsukh and Praful cinemas of Indore, the entire exhibition sector of Indore and Ujjain is said to be unhappy with the proposed bandh.

The stage, therefore, seems to be set for the Madhya Pradesh cinema closure from 17th September. The CCCA has given the call for an indefinite bandh in protest against the anti-industry stand of the M.P. government. So blatant has the apathy towards the film industry become that the M.P. chief minister, Digvijay Singh, refused to meet a delegation of the M.P. film trade on 1st September when the industry observed a day’s token bandh and again on 2nd September.

The industry has been pressing for various demands, principal among them being reduction in entertainment tax, check on cable piracy, allowing cinemas to levy a tax-free service charge on every ticket, granting industry status to films, as done by the central government, simplification of procedure for issuance and renewal of cinema licences, and reduction of power tariff for cinemas.

With the bandh in M.P. a certainty now and with the CCCA having asked its members of Rajasthan and Maharashtra belt of C.P. Berar to also show solidarity by not releasing new films on and from 17th September, it is unlikely that there will be any major releases till the bandh is called off. Even otherwise, there weren’t too many big films scheduled for release on 17th or 25th September. Bandhan, earlier due on 25th, has now been postponed to Oct. 2, that is, if the M.P. cinemas reopen by then.

Although it is hoped that the bandh will be called off by 2nd October at least, the entire release schedule of the forthcoming weeks is uncertain and will remain so till the bandh begins and a clearer picture of the state of affairs in Madhya Pradesh emerges.

Cinemas Will Be Entitled To Rebate Of Compound Tax During Bandh Period In M.P.

Since a number of cinemas in Madhya Pradesh pay compound tax and since compound tax is to be paid on a weekly basis in advance, there is a fear in the minds of many exhibitors of the state that they would have to bear the burden of the compound tax even though their cinemas will be closed indefinitely from 17th September.

But a legal opinion, sought by the Central Circuit Cine Association (CCCA), which has given a call for the indefinite closure, breaks this myth. Advocate Rakesh Jain, in his legal opinion, has said that closed cinemas will be entitled to a rebate of the compound tax paid if the cinema proprietor gives an intimation of the closure of his cinema to the Excise Commissioner, Deputy Excise Commissioner of the Division, Collector and the District Excise Officer within 24 hours of the closure. If such an intimation is given, the proprietor shall be entitled to proportionate rebate in his weekly instalments after he submits an application to the Collector in this behalf.

Thus the relevant condition is that such an application must be made within 24 hours to the concerned authorities and the application for rebate must be made to the Collector in this behalf.

Under sub-rule 4(g) of rule 16 of the Madhya Pradesh Entertainment Duty Rules, instalments of advance compound tax is payable by the proprietor irrespective of the number of shows held during the week and he shall not be entitled to any refund or rebate on account but there are certain exceptions. One such exception is contained in sub-rule 4(I) of rule 16 which says that the proprietor of a cinema may close his cinema under intimation to the concerned authorities within 24 hours of the closure.

YOU ASKED IT

What happens to Mani Ratnam after Dil Se..?

– Mani can still make a Hindi film but it is unlikely that anybody will pay him the kind of price they paid him for DIL SE…

With films like Satya, China Gate and Kaun? being made, does it mean that a different genre of films is also getting financial backing?

– Yes, it does mean so. Not just the financiers, audiences too — at least in cities — are beginning to appreciate the new kind of films.

How long do you think will the Madhya Pradesh cinema bandh last?

– God and M.P. chief minister Digvijay Singh alone know it. Or may be, even they don’t know how long the bandh will last. With elections due in M.P., the government has to give reliefs before the election code of conduct rules come into operation. That is, if the government is in a mood to help the industry.

DO YOU KNOW?

* The dispute between producer Naraindas Mukhija and Gopal Bharatiya, the Bihar distributor of his MAHARAJA, was finally resolved last Saturday. The latter, alongwith another distributor, took the film’s delivery.

* CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain has denied a statement attributed to him in a gossip trade paper, that artistes, who did not attend the anti-cable piracy rally on 18th August in Bombay, should be fined a lakh of rupees each. According to Jain, “I did not say that the artistes should be made to pay a fine of Rs. 1 lakh each although I did mention that the absence of most of our stars was heart-burning.”

* Yet another clarification comes from producer N.N. Sippy, who is shooting  his SILSILA HAI PYAR KA in Switzerland. The same trade gossip paper reported — falsely, of course — that Karisma Kapoor had fallen ill in Switzerland, which had upset the entire shooting stint. The fact is that Karisma was ill for just one day, after (and before) which the shooting progressed so marvellously that Sippy and his director, Shrabani Deodhar, will manage to wrap up the schedule on 13th September — a full three days before time! Guess, for the gossip trade paper, it’s silsila hai desperate jhooth ka!

FIT FOR CINEMAS, NOT FOR DD

* Producers of several old films are going crazy, trying to get their films re-certified for telecast on Doordarshan. Even though they are prepared to accept cuts for ‘U’ certificate (DD telecasts only ‘U’ certificate films), the CBFC has refused them certificates on different grounds such as superstitious theme, excessive violence and sex. Among the films refused certificate this year are JUNOON, BHAI, DO RAHA, KAGAZ KI NAO, INSAAF KA TARAZU, JAAGRUTI, MAA, PATI PATNI AUR TAWAIF and KSHATRIYA.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Days Of Chocolate Heroes Again

The days of baby-faced heroes all over the world are returning with the unprecedented success of Titanic and its chocolate-faced hero, Leonardo DiCaprio. For the last decade or two, tough guys of the screen like Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Jackie Shroff and Sunil Shetty in India, and Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis in Hollywood were the ones who attracted women the most. But with the arrival of Leonardo, the scale has gone down for good-looking tough heroes. Researchers in Britain and Japan were recently testing the belief that the most feminine of women and the most masculine of men were seen as the most attractive. But they found that while people in general preferred faces of women that were more feminine, men whose faces were not really rugged were also seen as the most attractive by both the sexes.

Big Film, Big Controversies

Vashu Bhagnani’s Bade Miyan Chote Miyan seems to be making news, not always for the right reasons. C.I. distributor Ashok Tolani had appointed the Advanis of Shri Bableshwar Films as sub-distributors for the territory. But the latest news is that the Advanis have relinquished the rights in the film, reportedly because of a dispute over its price. Naaraaz miyan! In the meantime, the Delhi high court will hear Delhi-U.P. distributor Bedi’s matter in the Bade Miyan Chote Miyan case on 14th September. But there’s also a move for an out-of-court settlement.

Hoarding In Rajasthan? No, No, No!

Rajasthan distributors would do well to take note of this . All films, of which hoardings have been put up in Jaipur before release, have failed to create a mark at the box-office. Examples: Jeans, Kareeb, Satya and Dil Se... It may be noted that putting up hoardings of due-for-release films is a recent phenomenon in Jaipur. Years ago, a huge hoarding of Saawan Kumar’s Sanam Harjai had also occupied a pride of place in the pink city. But its collections saw the distributor of the pink city in the red.

Producers, Distributors In Same Boat

With the continuing spate of films bombing at the box-office all over India, the film industry seems to be heading for a massive cash crunch, worse than the one prevalent today. The situation has become so bad that not only have the distributors suffered heavy losses, even producers have begun to be affected severely by the flopping of their films. A leading Bihar distributor, who is known for his acerbic wit, was recently heard summing up the situation thus: “Pehle, sirf distributors ke makaan bikte thhey, par ab to producers ke makaan bhi bikne lage hain!” So, producers and distributors are now sailing in the same boat. Or rather, sinking in the same boat!

INFORMATION MEETS

“There are a lot of people who still savour the misconception that I only sing in those films, audio rights of which lie with T-Series. This isn’t true.”

– ANURADHA PAUDWAL

RAJ VIDYA

Date: 20th July, 1998. Venue: United Nations Headquarters, New York. Occasion: The presentation of the Cultural Ambassador In Music Award. This, perhaps, marks the greatest day in singer par excellence. Anuradha Paudwal’s illustrious career so far. For, she became the first ever Indian to have been presented this award. While receiving awards is nothing new for the talented singer, this one must surely hold the pride of place in her vast and ever-increasing collection of trophies and awards. “More than anything else, it was an immensely emotional experience,” she says, while reliving the moment. “Tears of joy began rolling down my cheeks the very moment they informed me about the award.” Considering the fact that the famous Carnatic vocalist, M.S. Subbalaxmi, has been the only other Indian who has performed in front of such a distinguished gathering (she did it in Geneva), Anuradha Paudwal’s feat seems to be no mean achievement. And yet, she remains unflinchingly modest in spite of the accolade, as we found out during our chat with her.

Beginning her career way back in 1973 with a minuscule rendition of a shloka in Abhimaan, Anuradha Paudwal has traversed great distances in her musical journey so far. Hero, Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka, Dil, Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak, Beta and, in the recent past, …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya, Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi and Aflatoon are only a few of the films her voice has left a mark in. Moreover, her long association with T-Series has resulted in a vast number of devotional and ghazal albums in which she has lent her voice. In a chat with Information, Anuradha Paudwal clears a number of misconceptions about her, apart from baring a few important facts about herself.

ON RECEIVING THE U.N. MUSIC APPRECIATION CLUB’S AWARD

It was a very fascinating experience for me mainly because, here in India, you don’t even imagine performing for, let alone being honoured by, such a select gathering of people, and that too, in New York! It was an extremely emotional experience, too, as it makes you feel wanted and reassured. While at the function, I realised for the first time how well my work in the last 25 years or so has been appreciated. Prior to this, I had some idea that my work could reach a large number of people, but what I saw at the U.N. was completely unexpected for me. For one, there were about 20-odd women from various countries around the world, who had come all dressed up in saris to welcome me! As if this were not all, they even recited a few Sanskrit shlokas! Later, I performed some of my bhajans and a few devotional pieces at the function, and was pleasantly surprised when they gave me a standing ovation. People do show a lot of respect here in India, but when the foreigners show such high respect for your work, it is extremely touching.

ON EARLY BEGINNINGS

I never ever thought that I would end up singing in films. I come from a family that has absolutely no background in films. Though my mother was very fond of singing, my father wasn’t. He and my sisters were more academically inclined. So, eventually, it was my mother who really encouraged me to continue singing. She hoped that some day, I might even get to sing in a film! Later, when I was offered to sing a shloka in Abhimaan, I for the first time began thinking seriously about becoming a playback singer. Incidentally, my career in films began with a shloka, just like the first time I faced the microphone….I had sung Shivstuti then. Anyway, after Abhimaan, I began to find the work very challenging. Just about then, a ballet was being made, the music for which was being composed by Pt. Jasraj who asked me to sing in it. During that time, I started learning music from him, and later, from a few other distinguished teachers of Hindustani classical music. Soon, I began getting a few offers for songs in more films.

ON THE ‘BIG BREAK’

Well, I think my shloka in Abhimaan was my biggest break, for the simple reason that it is remembered even today. In fact, I still get a farmayish for that shloka almost every time I perform at shows. Its popularity continues to amaze me, especially considering the fact that it hardly lasts half a minute or so on the screen. I guess, people seem to remember it after so many years mainly because it comes at a very crucial juncture in the film. Anyway, after Abhimaan, there came Doooriyaan, Kalicharan, Saajan Bina Suhagan and a few others. Later, I began getting some more films where all I got to do was sing a line or two here and there. You see, that was the time when a lot of male-dominated films were being made. Most of these films had almost all their songs picturised on their heroes. Even in musicals like Amar Akbar Anthony, a female singer didn’t have much scope to display her talent. This dismal phase in my career lasted till Hero came along, or so I thought. I had two full songs in the film, which became quite popular. Yet, my career didn’t seem to take off. It was only when my songs were consistently becoming popular with Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka, Jeena Teri Gali Mein and Aashiqui, that I became established as a singer in the true sense of the word. It took me over fifteen years to get there.

ON DECIDING TO SING EXCLUSIVELY FOR T-SERIES

Like I said, when my career didn’t seem to take off in a big way even after Hero, I began to become disillusioned with the industry. So, I thought of bringing out a private album of my own. Very soon, I produced an album called ‘Durga Saptashati’ and began making the rounds of various music companies. I was completely taken aback when they told me that there was absolutely no market for my voice! Finally, I took the album to T-Series which readily took it up together with another album that I had done, called ‘Manache Shlok’. Both the albums did extremely well and later, Gulshanji asked me, ‘Why are you going through the hassles of producing your albums? Why don’t you let us do it for you?’ I liked the idea very much. He also said that the company will promote me as well as it could, except — and he asked me as a request — that I would not do private albums with any other company. I immediately agreed and that was it. There was nothing on paper — only a verbal agreement between Gulshanji and me, that I will not cut any private albums with anyone else. I agreed simply because here I was, 15 years in the industry and still being told that there was no market for my voice. Then comes this person who says, ‘I’ll establish you… just that I request your exclusivity.’ So, why shouldn’t I have taken up that offer? And in any case, I have never had to regret the decison ever in my life.

ON OVER-EXPOSURE ON TELEVISION

One thing that I had admired about T-Series was the way they marketed their albums. For the first time, songs were being brought to the people in a big way. I still remember when Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka became a hit, people asked me, ‘arre, yeh hai kya? Film, video, ghazal, or what?’. Similarly, Gulshanji was, perhaps, the first person in India who thought of making videos to promote music albums. I was very hesitant when he asked me to appear in a video of my private album a long time ago. At that time, he had told me that it was okay if I didn’t do it then, but sooner or later, music videos were going to be the order of the day and that it would be very difficult for me to refuse appearing in them. To think of it, he said this when nobody was making videos in India and there were no satellite channels except DD-1 and DD-2. Anyway, I agreed and soon enough, music videos became a part and parcel of a singer’s job. For me, appearing in videos has helped a lot in the success of my albums. I achieved popularity with all kinds of listeners. Morever, thanks to the videos, people can now identify my voice with my face.

ON SUCCESS

Success comes only after being consistently good at doing something. When an artiste gets his/her type of songs consistently, only then does his/her voice become established. In my case, the popularity of my songs in Hero did not establish me simply because I wasn’t consistently getting my type of sogs for two-three years after that. It was only when Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka, Jeena Teri Gali Mein, Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak and Beta happened in quick succession of each other that my voice became established.

ON HER MUCH-HYPED RIVALRY WITH LATA MANGESHKAR

It is like you said, hyped. There is nothing of that sort, in reality. See, I believe that you cannot have rivalry with someone you don’t know. I do not know Lataji well as I have hardly met her a couple of times. So, there is no question of rivalry between us. In any case, Lataji is a great singer and one of my favourites. So, I really think that it is the people and the media who/which created this myth about our rivalry by misrepresenting certain things that I had said.

ON HER LONG ABSENCE FROM HINDI FILMS

There is no doubt in my mind that the Indian public, by an large, would like to hear me sing film songs, apart from the devotional ones. Even I used to think that the popularity of devotional music can never match that of film music. But, after being to the U.N., I am extremely delighted that they chose to acknowledge my work in the field of devotional music and not in films. Even the citation they presented me with bears only the names of my devotional albums and not my films! So, this reassures me as it means that I haven’t really been on the wrong path all along. Moreover, I think, it is all pre-destined. If I was heavily into films, I wouldn’t have been able to do the entire Bhagvad Gita on tape as it requires a lot of concentrated effort. I have also been able to perform large collections in Sanskrit like Saptashati (which comprises as many as 700 shlokas). This kind of work takes up a lot of your time and energy as it is extremely vital to be mentally attuned to do it. You just cannot do it when you are too busy running from one studio to another. Anyway, all said and done, I have again begun singing in films of late, but the irony is that there are a lot of people who still savour the misconception that I only sing in those films, the audio rights of which lie with T-Series. This isn’t true. I am open to singing for all kinds of films, irrespective of who brings out their audios.

ON FORTHCOMING FILMS

There are a lot of good offers coming my way of late and one may look forward to hearing my songs in films like Khauff, Khubsoorat, Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya and many more.

MOHABBAT

Dashaka Films’ Mohabbat is a love triangle with an element of suspense. A girl and boy fall in love with each other and their romance is even approved by the girl’s guardian (brother). But the boy’s young boss is also in love with the same girl, although he cannot get himself to express his love to her. The suspense angle follows; there’s tragedy and more tragedy. Ultimately, one guy gets the girl.

The film reminds of Saajan which also had one girl and two boys. Although there’s no blind love as in Saajan, the resemblance does remind one of the film. The first half of Mohabbat is light. The drama and tension begin in the post-interval portion which also has a couple of emotionally moving scenes. While some of the light scenes in the film are very enjoyable, at least one dramatic scene — that in which the identity of the sacrificing boy comes to the fore — in the second half draws instant applause. However, a couple of reels immediately after interval are dull. Similarly, the last reel is predictable. Another drawback is that in the entire second half, the heroine has no dialogue as she loses her voice. Nevertheless, the character of the boy (boss’ employee) is so lovable that it does make up for some drawbacks.

Madhuri Dixit does a good job. She has a look that’s quite different from her past films. Her introduction dance is very good. But she does not have a single dramatic scene in the film. Sanjay Kapoor springs a surprise with a restrained performance that is good. Akshaye Khanna is the darling of the drama. He looks very handsome and delivers a performance that’s truly brilliant. Within minutes of appearing on the screen, Akshaye endears himself to the audience and has them craving to see more of him. His dances are simply superb. Farooque Shaikh is fair. Farida Jalal and Saeed Jaffrey are good. Tej Sapru is miscast. Shiva, Sulbha Arya, Ashwin Kaushal, Dimple Ghosh, Guddi Maruti and Bob Brahmbhatt lend able support.

Reema Rakesh Nath makes a confident debut as director. Although her script is not too novel, her narration of the same is impressive. Music comprises one hit number — ‘Don’t break my heart’ — and a couple of fairly hummable numbers. But a song or two are quite boring. Song picturisations (Saroj Khan) are superb, the best being ‘Don’t break my heart’ and ‘Main hoon akela’. The dance steps of these two songs are fabulous and both, Madhuri and Akshaye, are at their graceful best. Foreign locations, on which the songs have been picturised, are beathtaking. Rajan Kinagi’s camerawork is wonderful. Editing is very appropriate. Dialogues should have been more fiery.

On the whole, although Mohabbat does remind of Saajan, it has fair merits and some freshness to fetch returns to its distributors.

Released on 19-9-’97 at Liberty and 20 other cinemas of Bombay thru Metro Films. Publicity: excellent. Opening: average. …….Also released all over except in West Bengal. Opening was very good in Delhi-U.P. and C.I. but not up to the mark in C.P. and Rajasthan. It opened in Malegaon on 16th (Tuesday) where it collected 100% on first 2 days.

ENT. TAX DOWN IN KARNATAKA

The Karnataka government has reduced entertainment tax for non-Kannada films from 110% to 70% with effect from September 20, 1997.

TWO FILMS, ONE TERRITORY, ONE STORY

It happened last week in Bengal. And it has happened this week too — in Bengal again.

Sri Ramdevji Art International, the West Bengal distributors of G.P. Sippy’s Hameshaa, did not honour their commitment of the delivery amount and thereby pleaded inability to take delivery of the film. As a result, Hameshaa could not be released in West Bengal. Going by its disastrous fate in the rest of the country, it is likely that the film will now never be purchased by any distributor for West Bengal. But that is not the point. What is shocking is that this should have happened to a film produced by G.P. Sippy, who has given films like Sholay.

This week, the same story has been repeated in the case of Rikkoo’s Mohabbat. It was acquired less than a month ago by one Kesri Pictures for West Bengal. The concern had, prior to this, released Vijeta in West Bengal. Having reportedly acquired the film at 37.5 lakh MG royalty, the distributors pleaded inability to meet their commitment at the time of delivery and announced that they just had 30 lakh for payment towards MG royalty, prints cost and publicity! The producer declined to effect delivery at the new reduced price and so this film too could not be released in West Bengal.

CAA ASKS POLICE TO SHOW RESTRAINT

The Cine Artistes’ Association has taken strong objection to the lack of restraint shown by police officials who leak information to the press, of the names of stars who are going to be interrogated by them in the Gulshan Kumar murder case. As a result of this, the stars, feels CAA, are subjected to humiliation by the media which projects the news as if the interrogation had something to do with the crime (by using words such as ‘so-and-so star grilled’), although the stars are actually merely co-operating.

The CAA has requested the deputy commissioner and the commissioner of police of Bombay to instruct their officials to exercise restraint and avoid unnecessary depiction of its members.

PURU RAAJ KUMAR CONVICTED

Puru Raaj Kumar, son of late Raaj Kumar, was convicted by metropolitan magistrate K.H. Holambe Patil of Bombay’s Bandra court on September 15 for running over a group of persons sleeping on a pavement at S.V. Road, Bandra, three years ago. He has been directed to pay Rs. 90,000 each to the next of kin of the three deceased, and Rs. 5,000 each to those who were seriously injured. For committing driving offence, he has been fined Rs. 2,000, to be deposited in court.

SINGER NOOR JAHAN HOSPITALISED

Melody queen Noor Jahan has been hospitalised in Islamabad with serious heart problems. The 78-year-old Noor Jahan, who rendered thousands of songs in Urdu and Punjabi films, besides highly popular national songs, started her career in India before the 1947 Partition.

NADEEM ARRESTED IN LONDON, RELEASED ON BAIL

Music director Nadeem, prime accused in the murder of Gulshan Kumar, was arrested by Scotland Yard on the morning of 17th September in London. According to the Scotland Yard, the police invoked the Interpol alert and got in touch with the music director who agreed “to give himself up”. The police surrounded his sister’s house at Kingsbury in north-west London, where he was staying.

Nadeem was produced before the Bow Street magistrate the same morning and released on conditional bail. The conditions say that he will not leave Britain, make himself available for questioning by the police and surrender his passport which has been revoked.

The Indian authorities have since started extradition proceedings against Saifi Nadeem Akhtar and the same will come up for hearing on 24th September.

Nadeem, who has retained a top London law firm, Henri Bradman & Co., told the magistrate that he had every intention of responding to the arrest warrant issued against him by a Bombay court, but required time as his wife was ailing in London.

MUKESH THAKKAR KILLED IN ACCIDENT

C.P. Berar distributor Mukesh Thakkar (Mukesh Films, Amravati) was killed in a road accident on 16th September near Karanja. He was returning to Amravati in a luxury bus from Nagpur where he had gone to attend the reopening of a cinema, Bharat, in which he was a partner. The bus overturned, killing two persons of which one was 40-year old Mukesh.

Mukesh Seth, as he was fondly called by the C.P. trade, was the son of will-known film agent Shyamsunder Thakkar. He had recently released Kaun Sachcha Kaun Jhootha, Muqadar and Chudail in C.P. Berar. He had acquired China Gate and Aankhon Mein Tum Ho for distribution.

The Amravati trade remained closed on 17th as a mark of respect to Mukesh. He is survived by his father, three brothers, wife, a son and a daughter.

His funeral was held on 18th September.

The Amravati film trade, under the chairmanship of Vijay Rathi, paid homage to Mukesh Thakkar at a meeting on 18th September in Amravati. The trade remembered him as a sincere and devoted worker and paid glowing tributes to him. The Raipur cine trade also paid homage to him in a condolence meeting held on 17th September at the office of Raj Pictures, Raipur.

COURT RESTRAINS ZEE TV

The Bombay high court has restrained Zee TV (Essel Vision) from telecasting five films of producer Gobindram Ahuja and has appointed a court receiver in respect of the said films with a direction that in case Zee TV seeks further telecast of the said five films, the court receiver will seek permission of the appropriate court and, at that time, appropriate directions will be passed with regard to the said films.

Satellite telecasting rights of nine films of Ahuja were given to Zee TV in 1994 with the express condition that each film was to be telecast for a maximum of five times in India. Gobindram Abhuja alleged in his notice of motion that in violation of the agreement, three of his films had been telecast more than five times. Two other films had been telecast five times, and four others had been telecast less than five times. The court, therefore, appointed a court receiver in respect of the five films which have been telecast five or more times in India.

Ahuja has further alleged that despite the court order, Zee TV has continued to violate the terms and conditions of his agreement for which contempt of court proceedings are being launched.

N.N. Sippy Re-Elected IMPDA President

N.N. Sippy was unanimously re-elected president of the Indian Motion Picture Distributors’ Association for 1997-98 at the first meeting of the newly elected executive committee, held on 19th September. This is N.N. Sippy’s twelfth consecutive term as president. Indravadan Shah was elected vice president, and Kantilal Mehta, hon. treasurer. Devendra Shah and Haresh Bhatia were elected hon. secretaries.

Earlier, the following members were declared elected to the executive committee on 18th after the 58th annual general meeting of the IMPDA at Birla Kreeda Kendra, Chowpatty, Bombay: Ordinary class: Ayub Selia, Balkrishna Shroff, Devendra Shah, Guru Shenoy, Haresh Bhatia, Kantilal Mehta, N.N. Sippy, Ramesh Sippy, U.A. Thadani, Tolu Bajaj, Vijay Choksey and Vinod Kakkad. In the Associate class, the following were declared elected: Indravadan Shah, Mohan Susania and D.Y. Pattani.

There were no elections this year as there were as many nominations and sitting members in both the classes as the number of seats. Gulshan Rai and Sharad Doshi, two sitting members, did not offer themselves for re-election. In their place, Ramesh Sippy and Tolu Bajaj were declared elected. Four others — Dilip Dhanwani, Manoj Khivasara, Pradeep Singh, Tekchand Anchal — had filed their nomination papers in the Ordinary class but withdrew the same before elections. The nomination of the fifth member, Sanjay Chaturvedi, was rejected on technical grounds.

Gulshan Rai Feted

Gulshan Rai, a senior member of the IMPDA, was felicitated at the annual meeting. He was presented a shawl, a shriphal and flowers.

Anti-Video Piracy Cell

Bombay distributor Shyam Shroff suggested at the meeting that a separate cell to combat video piracy be set up by the IMPDA. His suggestion met with a favourable response and it was agreed that an anti-video piracy cell be formed soon.

A cocktail dinner party was held at Garware Club on the evening of 18th September.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Lal Badshah’ In Rajasthan

Writer-producer-director K.C. Bokadia will start a 25-day shooting schedule of B.M.B Productions’ Lal Badshah on Sept. 21 in Jaipur, Udaipur and Bikaner. Many scenes and songs will be picturised featuring all the artistes. After this last outdoor spell, the film will be almost complete. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Manisha Koirala, Shilpa Shetty, Shakti Kapoor, Mukesh Rishi and Amrish Puri, it is presented by M.S. Combines (P.) Ltd. Music by Aadesh Srivastava and dialogues by Anwar Khan are the other major credits.

‘Sarfarosh’ Forges Ahead

A 10-day shooting schedule of Cinematt Pictures’ Sarfarosh will be held from Sept. 21 to 30 on Bombay locations. Dramatic and action scenes will be picturised. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Aamir Khan, Sonali Bendre, Mukesh Rishi, Govind Namdeo, Akhilendra Mishra, Akash Khurana, Smita Jaykar, Sukanya Kulkarni, Rajesh Joshi, Makrand Deshpande, Salim Shah, Ahmed Khan, Pradeep Raut and Ali Khan. It is being produced and directed by John Mathew Matthan. Music is scored by Jatin Lalit. Lyrics: Sameer. Action: Abbas Hanif.

25-Day Initial Stint Of ‘Champion’

A 25-day shooting schedule of Shree Shiv Bhakti Films’ Champion will start on Oct. 1 in Hyderabad. Sunny Deol, Raveena Tandon and Rahul Dev will participate in this first schedule. Producer Sujit Kumar and director Padma Kumar have just returned from a tour of England, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, where they had gone to finalise locations for the film. It has music by Anu Malik, lyrics by Javed Akhtar, cinematography by Thiru, screenplay by Maharajan, and dialogues by Sanjay Masoom.

MIX MASALA

BABA BOY

Indra Kumar, who is directing Ishq for Baba Films, was blessed with a baba on 9th September. The ace director earlier had two baby girls and no baby boy. With the third child being a baba, it’s now a complete family.

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

Mr. Ravi Machhar of Sahyog Films, Secunderabad, and Abhinay cinema, Aurangabad, left Bombay for Vaishnodevi on 18th September and will return to Bombay on 24th.

Producer-director Subhash Ghai left for the USA on 18th September and will return to India after a month.

Mr. Manohar Kankaria of Musical Films P. Ltd., Calcutta, is in town (388-4190/ 387-5393/98210-47403).

Mr. Ajit Singh of Ajit Films, Delhi, is at Hotel Ramada Inn Palm Grove and will return to Delhi on 22nd September.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Efforts are on to find a suitable director who will complete the unfinished DUS of late Mukul Anand. J.P. Dutta and Priyadarshan are reportedly being considered.

* Rajiv Babbar has launched his fifth film and, like his previous four (CHEETAH, JALLAAD, MUQADAR and the under-production SHAPATH), this one — SHER-E-HINDUSTAN — also stars Mithun Chakraborty.

* PARDES (tax-free) has created a theatre record by collecting 3,35,737/- in 6th week at Rahul, Pune. Also creates a theatre record by collecting 79,634/- in 6th week at West End, Pune.

* PARDES is showing a marked improvement week by week at Triveni, Bangalore, where it collected 2,25,000/- in 4th week, 2,46,000/- in 5th week, and 2,70,000/- in 6th week.

* THE LOST WORLD (Hindi) has created an all-time record by collecting 4,19,619/- (nett) in 1st week at Prem Prakash, Jaipur.

* THE LOST WORLD (English) has created a record by collecting 2,54,693/- in 2nd week at Smruti, Nagpur.

It Happened In Bangalore

The song being picturised at the Capitol Hotel in Bangalore for Pardesi Babu is truly catchy. ‘Paaon mein payal, haathon mein kangana, ho maathe pe bindiya / It happens only in India’ go the lyrics.

If the song reminds you of the ‘I love my India’ song of Pardes, it’s nobody’s fault. For, this number of Pardesi Babu is not inspired from that song of Pardes. In fact, the Pardesi Babu song was recorded six months back.

Anyway, it is being picturised on 10th September in Bangalore. Govinda and Shilpa Shetty, both good dancers, are in great form and we suspect, it has something — rather, a lot — to do with the catchy lyrics and the catchier tune. Both are the work of Anand Raaj Anand.

In fact, so involved is Govinda that he gives as many as 10 and 12 retakes for one difficult step. Why, even after dance director Chinni Prakash has okayed the shot and is very happy with it, Govinda pleads for another retake and another and another….. Chinni and director Manoj Agarwal are thrilled with the devoted actor’s commitment. A beaming Kulbhushan Gupta (producer) says, “It is this involvement of his which more than makes up for Govinda’s latecoming on the sets.”

Well, Govinda has actually arrived a day late in Bangalore. We are informed that it was his revolver (which Govinda carries these days for security reasons) which was not allowed on the fight and because of which Govinda preferred to miss the flight the previous day . But when Govinda does reach Bangalore, he informs that it was his allergy which held him up in Bombay. Saying thus, he asks his Man Friday, Gauri Shankar, to scratch his itching back.

If Govinda is a day late, the film’s other heroine, Raveena Tandon, hasn’t showed up at all. And how could she? The poor girl was laid up in bed in a hospital in Bombay, suffering from meningitis. Thankfully, she’s alright now. Rather than waste the dates of the other artistes, the director decides to shoot the scenes and the song involving Govinda with Shipa Shetty. “Our script is completely ready,” informs Kulbhushan, “and so we could do this.” Therefore, what’s being picturised in Bangalore was to have actually been shot in Bombay.

Besides the hotel where the song picturisation was completed in four days (Govinda shot the whole night on the last shooting day as the following day was a holiday being the second Sunday), the film was shot on a set erected at Abhay Naidu Studios as also in a garment store — Twinkle — in a shopping complex.

Twinkle is owned by the brothers-in-law of the film’s presenter, Chetan Avlani, and it was the stars who were twinkling in the shopping complex that night. Chetan, too, participated with Govinda and Shilpa Shetty, playing the cashier of the shop. But while he received cash in the shot, off-screen Chetan has, obviously, not been at the ‘receiving end’, having had to shell out crores for this expensive project.

Lavish the film might be. But equally lavish are Govinda’s praises for director Manoj Agarwal. In fact, it is on Govinda’s recommendation that Manoj has been signed by producer Vimal Kumar to direct his next. This is the same film which was to have been directed by David Dhawan. David being busier than the proverbial ‘D’ — sorry, bee — Vimal has decided to make the film with another of Govinda’s favourite, Manoj.

Satish Kaushik plays a Sardar in Pardesi Babu and, as Kulbhushan puts it, “He will be the highlight.” Satish’s name in the film is Happy Singh but in the film, he is anything but happy. Rather, he is always tensed up about something or the other.

As we are tense about our return flight to Bombay. Unconfirmed seats on the Indian Airlines flight don’t get confirmed so easily and we, therefore, return from the airport to the hotel. Even though we are jittery, Kulbhushan is ‘kool’ as a cucumber. He is the Happy Singh on the sets — and in the true sense of the term. Raveena’s illness, Govinda’s latecoming, Kulbhushan’s wife’s hospitalisation even while the schedule is in progress — all this, besides the regular production hassles, and even then, ‘Kool’bhushan is not one bit tense.

Perhaps, that’s why he can produce three films at a time. His Vidroh with Akshay Kumar is on the completion stage. The third project is Shivam, with Raaj Kumar’s younger son, Panini.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Aftermath Of Shoot-Out: Decline In Shootings

The murder of Gulshan Kumar last month and the string of threatening telephone calls from underworld dons to leading producers, actors and financiers have started telling on filmland activities. Not only have lavish film parties stopped, even film shootings have reduced. Yes, film finance is hard to get these days, with several financiers having pulled out from the game for the time being and some others having decided to take it easy. It will not be wrong to say that the number of film shootings has declined by 30 to 40%. According to director K. Ravi Shanker, who has an equipment division, “The decline in shootings is to the tune of 40% to 50%.”

Unimaginable Prices

Gujarat and Saurashtra have become heavenly sub-territories for the Bombay distributors of big films. Star cast and big-banner films are fetching even more than a crore from Gujarat, and half that price from Saurashtra. Why, so ‘hot’ are these sub-circuits that one big film, due for release on Diwali, is simply not being offered for sale in the sub-circuits. Another big film, due again for Diwali release, is being offered for sale at over 2 for Gujarat and over 1 for Saurashtra! Yes, 2 crore and 1 crore!!

Eastern Circuit Ratio Needs Redefining

It is baffling how the Eastern circuit is considered almost the same as Bombay circuit in the fixing of a film’s ratio/price. Businesses of almost all films reveal that the returns in Bombay circuit are greater than in the Eastern circuit. At times, business of a film in Bengal is just about 70% of that in Bombay. Sometimes, it is even less than that. Of course, the distributors of Eastern circuit do save in print costs because the number of prints they take are invariably much lesser than that taken out by a Bombay distributor. Even the publicity costs of the two circuits are very different, being much higher in Bombay and comparatively lower in Bengal. But despite these savings, the ratio of the Eastern circuit needs to be not more than 75 to 80% of that of Bombay.

Partners Abroad

Aditya Chopra and Bombay distributor-exhibitor Anil Thadani have opened a distribution office for the United Kingdom, in London. Of course, the new company’s — not named as yet — first release in the UK will be Yash Chopra’s Dil To Pagal Hai. Aditya and Anil had released the former’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in Bombay circuit through their concern, A.A. Films. With Dil To Pagal Hai, Yash Chopra has opened an independent distribution office for Bombay.

For The Small Screen, Of Course

Romesh Sharma’s experience with his first TV serial, Ajnabi, has been so rewarding that he has commenced yet another serial, Usool. Like Ajnabi was made as a film more than six years ago (a film which no distributor was prepared to touch even with a barge-pole) and then ‘converted’ into a money-spinning serial, Usool too was planned as a film. To be telecast on Sunday mornings at 10.30, beginning 28th September, on the national network of Doordarshan, the ambitious serial, produced and directed by Romesh Sharma from his own story and screenplay, stars Danny Denzongpa, Parikshat Sahni, Tinnu Anand, Tom Alter, Shashi Sharma, Neena Softa, Deep Dhillon, Virendra Saxena, Siddharth Ray and Romesh Sharma himself. It is mounted on a colossal scale, and a major part of the serial is shot in Mauritius.