BETAABI

S.P. Creations’ Betaabi is a love story of two boys and two girls. A rich and vain girl has two boys proposing marriage to her and she sets both of them against each other by giving counter-proposals to them. She challenges one of them to kidnap her if he wants her hand in marriage and tells the other to stop the kidnapping if he wants to marry her. Both the guys accept the challenges and what follows is a chase. There are other angles and diversions too.

The drama looks too frivolous to be enjoyed for two-and-a-half hours. While the portion immediately after interval is entertaining and enjoyable, the first half of the film and the latter part of the second half are quite boring and, at times, even get irritating. In particular, the puppy scene and the action scene between the college ruffians and the Sardarjis are two highlights. The base of the story — the rich girl’s challenge to the two boys — is very weak and, therefore, what follows doesn’t create much of an impact. Dialogues are good at places but the same cannot be said of the screenplay (Akash Khurana and Robin Bhatt) which seems to have been written without much thought having been given to the overall impact.

Chandrachur Singh does well but he needs to open up more and get into the skin of the character. Arshad Warsi endears himself to the audience with a free and lively performance. His dances are eye-pleasing. Anjala Zaveri is fair. Mayuri Kango is okay. Both the girls need to improve in dancing. Shakti Kapoor (loud at places) and Gulshan Grover (in a special appearance) are so-so. Rakesh Bedi is effective in a double role. Shadab Khan does a fair job. Reema is natural. Himani Shivpuri is wasted. Amrit Pal, Shama Deshpande, Ankush Mohit and the rest lend good support.

Rajesh Singh makes a reasonable debut in direction but he should have selected a more substantive drama for his launch vehicle. Even otherwise, he needs to understand the importance of a good script-sense and able screenplay writing for a director. Vishal’s music is good but a comic love drama such as this, with not-too-exciting happenings, needed hit music. ‘Tum mere ho’, ‘Jhoothi moothi’ and ‘Gungunati hui’ are quite good songs. ‘Hai hai hai hai’ is well choreographed but the other songs don’t really stand out as far as their picturisations go. Sham Kaushal’s action is quite good. Camerawork is fair. Production values are alright.

On the whole, Betaabi has some chance in some major cities only, where light dramas are liked. Barring Bombay (where it may sail safe), its business prospects in most of the other circuits are bleak.

Released on 5-9-’97 at Dreamland, Liberty (matinee) and 17 other cinemas of Bombay thru Devgan’s Entertainment. Publicity: very good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull in Delhi-U.P. and Rajasthan and very poor in C.P. and C.I.

JODIDAR

Kudasaa’s Jodidar is the story of an elephant which avenges its master’s murder. The elephant, after the death of its master, is awarded to a local fighter. The new owner is agitated when he learns that his elephant has murdered two persons but when he gets to know that they were the murderers of the elephant’s earlier boss, he supports it in its mission to kill the third and last murderer.

The story is routine, and the screenplay is no better. About the only entertaining parts are the work of the elephant and some comedy scenes. A part of the comedy is totally unrelated with the main story. Dialogues are dull.

Mithun Chakraborty should do something about his looks, makeup and costumes. His performance in the film is average. Mantra is no heroine material and is also average as an actress. Aditya Pancholi (special appearance) is okay. Prem Chopra, Johny Lever (friendly appearance) and Paintal raise occasional laughter. Punit Issar, Tej Sapru and Vishwajeet Pradhan pass muster as the three villains. Anjana Mumtaz fills the bill. The elephant has been well exploited but not the dog and the monkey.

T.L.V. Prasad’s direction is ordinary. An insight into the thinking of the director can be gauged by a scene in which a group of rapists start punching and kicking (!) an elephant when it comes to the rescue of the girl about to be raped. He could have created sentiments of the animals, but fails to do so. Music is a letdown. Camerawork and other technical aspects are ordinary. Production values are average. Action scenes should have been more thrilling.

On the whole, Jodidar has ordinary merits and its low price is its biggest advantage.

Released on 5-9-’97 at Super and 11 other cinemas of Bombay by Vimal Agarwal thru R.M. Ahuja & Co. Publicity: average. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over.

THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK
(Dubbed)

Paramount Films of India Ltd.’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park (UA), dubbed from the English film of the same name, is a sequel to Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. But the novelty of Jurassic Park is almost completely missing in the sequel. Many scenes are similar to those seen in the earlier film.

A lady paleontologist, whose mission is to study the extinct dinosaurs, goes to Isla Sarna island to investigate if any dinosaurs have survived the hurricane which hit the island. Her fiancé follows her, alongwith his team, to save her. There is another group in the island whose main aim is to trap dinosaurs for keeping them in the zoo for commercial gains. However, the dinosaurs make their lives hell and kill many of them.

Director Steven Spielberg has mostly repeated what he offered in Jurassic Park. Of course, a few scenes are novel and send chills down the spine. The recreation of the dinosaurs is splendid but not exciting enough. Dialogues are too verbose, and dubbing is not upto the mark. Background score is very effective. Photography is extraordinary.

Julianne Moore as Sarah, Jeff Goldblum as Ian, and Pete Postlethwaite as Roland have done well.

On the whole, The Lost World: Jurassic Park will appeal to and thrill more those who’ve not seen Jurassic Park but since that was a runaway hit, the sequel will not match its business. All the same, it should bring in returns to its distributors, but in some circuits only.

Released on 5-9-’97 at Jamuna Palace and 15 other cinemas of Bombay thru Param-Anand Pictures. Publicity: extraordinary. Opening: so-so (affected due to excessive number of prints). …….Also released all over. Opening was very good in Delhi-U.P. and encouraging in C.P.C.I.

‘SARDARI BEGUM’ TAX-FREE IN MAHARASHTRA

Plus Films’ Sardari Begum has been granted perpetual exemption from payment of entertainment tax in Maharashtra.

ANJAAN DEAD

Veteran lyricist Anjaan passed away on 3rd September at Nanavati Hospital in Bombay due to a heart attack. He had not been keeping well since almost two years. Besides other complications, he was also suffering from paralysis.

Lalji Pandey alias Anjaan had to struggle for many years before he could make a mark as a song writer. Premnath’s Prince Of Golconda was among his first few films but the real recognition came much later with Sippy Films’ Bandhan. Soon, Anjaan came to be associated with Kalyanji Anandji, and he wrote the songs of a number of films, music of which was scored by Kalyanji Anandji. He was also the lyricist of many of Prakash Mehra’s films. One of Anjaan’s most popular songs was the catchy Khaike paan Banaras wala from Don. Among the other films for which he penned the lyrics were Muqaddar Ka Sikander, Godaan, Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal, Dalaal, Baharen Phir Bhi Aayegi etc.

Anjaan is survived by, among others, his lyricist-son, Sameer, and publicist-brother, Gopal Pandey.

AHMEDABAD DRIVE-IN ENTERS 25TH YEAR

Sunset Drive-In cinema of Ahmedabad entered its silver jubilee year today (6th September). Paramount has tied up with Pepsi and Mirinda, whereby free cold drinks will be distributed today to patrons at Drive-In in the show of Paramount’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Hindi).

BATTLE BEGINS

Following the dishonour of the cheque of Bombay distributors ABC Pictures Pvt. Ltd. to Jai Girnar Films in payment of the refund of the under-production monies paid to the former by the latter for the Gujarat sub-distribution rights of Prithvi, following the IMPDA’s award that the monies be returned, ABC Pictures Pvt. Ltd. have been declared as defaulters by the IMPDA.

According to Manoj and Sanjay Chaturvedi, directors in ABC Pictures Pvt. Ltd., the cheque was dishonoured intentionally.

“We are not happy with the decision of the IMPDA as we feel, it is totally wrong and partial and so we’ve decided to go against the order in the court. That is why we stopped payment of the cheque.”

May the party with honest intentions win!

‘VIRASAT’ 100 DAYS

Mushir-Riaz’s Virasat completes its 100 days today (6th September). 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, Dev Sharma and Amrish Puri. Dialogues by Vinay Shukla, music by Anu Malik, lyrics by Javed Akhtar, art by Sabu Cyril, dances by Farah Khan, and cinematography by Ravi K. Chandran are the other major credits.

RUMOURS GALORE

The volatile situation in the film industry following the murder of Gulshan Kumar and threatening calls to industry folks from the underworld have given rumour-mongers a field day.

Rumours are born by the minute, and some evening papers of Bombay, which specialise in sensationalism, are adding to them. All through the week, there were rumours of different artistes being arrested or shot dead. Why, two vernacular eveningers even ‘made’ Bombay distributor and producer Manoj Chaturvedi a financier of Dawood Ibrahim gang and reported that he had been arrested in Delhi on 4th September. Of course, Manoj was –and is — in Bombay, attending to his work.

RAVEENA TANDON HOSPITALISED

Raveena Tandon was admitted to Nanavati Hospital, Bombay, on 2nd September for meningitis. She is recovering and should be discharged in a couple of days. She will have to take rest for at least ten days.

‘PARDES’ TAX-FREE IN MAHARASHTRA

Subhash Ghai’s Pardes has been granted tax exemption in Maharashtra for a period of one year with effect from 1st September.

GULSHAN RAI RE-ELECTED IFEA PRESIDENT

Gulshan Rai was re-elected president of the Indian Film Exporters Association for 1997-98 at the first meeting of the newly elected council of management, held on 3rd September in Bombay. Sunder F. Rai was elected vice president, and Chandrakant Mehta, honorary treasurer. Manohar Bhatia was elected honorary secretary.

Earlier, on 30th August, at the 33rd annual general meeting of the IFEA, the following (besides the aforesaid) were declared elected to the council of management: Rajinder Singh Hora, Gordhan Chhabria, S.C. Mittal, J.K. Mittal, Shiv Laungani, Hirachand Dand, Amar Asrani and Mohan Chhabria.

Four persons viz. Amit Khanna, Arjan Lulla, Malati Tambay-Vaidya and S. Narayanan were co-opted to the council of management.

Nadeem Named Prime Suspect In Gulshan Kumar Murder Case

Passport Revoked, Arrest Warrant Issued

Music director Nadeem has been named the prime suspect in the Gulshan Kumar murder case, by the Bombay police. According to the police, the music director arranged the killing of the music magnate for a price because he felt, Gulshan Kumar was harming his career.

Claiming that they have clinching evidence to support their allegation against Nadeem, the police have said that he had hired the services of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s aide, Abu Salem, to carry out the murder. The music czar was killed in broad daylight on 12th August outside a temple in Versova, Bombay, where he had gone to offer prayers. The U.P. police, which had provided protection to the slain music baron, has also claimed that Gulshan Kumar had a fear that Nadeem would cause him harm as he had threatened to do so.

Nadeem was in London when the police announced his name as the main suspect, at a hurriedly called press conference on 1st September in Bombay. He was to have returned to India on 4th but, according to the music director himself, he would be able to come only next week as his wife has had a miscarriage and is quite serious. The passport of Nadeem has been revoked and an arrest warrant, issued in his name. Interpol-India on 3rd September sent an urgent message to its counterpart in London, asking the authorities there to detain Nadeem.

In the meantime, the Bombay police investigating the Gulshan Kumar murder case, are interrogating a number of film people in this connection. Overseas, Bombay, Delhi-U.P. and Rajasthan distributor and producer Bobby Anand was picked up for interrogation last week and is in police custody. A whole lot of artistes, producers etc. including Shah Rukh Khan, Aditya Pancholi, Chunkey Panday and Boney Kapoor have been questioned. Many others are likely to also be interrogated.

Even while the Gulshan Kumar murder case has not been solved, and the industry has not yet recovered from the shock of the extortion bids and attempts on the lives of Subhash Ghai and Rajiv Rai, another actor, Dilip Kumar, has received threats, allegedly from the Arun Gawli gang of Bombay. Security has been beefed up for the thespian and his family.

The industry is in a state of unprecedented panic. Morning papers are read and news on the various television channels, heard with a lurking fear of who would be the next name from the industry.

MUSIC INFORMATION

Amitabh Bachchan Releases Music Of Dev Anand’s ‘Main Solah Baras Ki’

Amitabh Bachchan formally released the music of Dev Anand’s Main Solah Baras Ki on 30th August at Holiday Inn. Pen Audio, the company marketing the cassettes, held an elaborate function to mark the audio release. A dance by four dancers, on the film’s song, preceded the release.

Main Solah Baras Ki has music by Rajesh Roshan and lyrics by Amit Khanna.

IMPDA Elections

No Entry For Outsiders In Executive Committee: Is That A Request Or An Order?

How much can one be in love with the chair? The ensuing elections to the executive committee of the Indian Motion Picture Distributors’ Association (IMPDA) show how much.

Dilip Dhanwani, Sanjay Chaturvedi, Pradeep Singh, Manoj Khivsara and Tekchand are five distributors who aren’t presently members of the executive committee of the IMPDA but who decided to contest elections to the committee this year. All the five of them, therefore, filed their nomination papers with the Association for the elections on 18th September. But even before the last date for withdrawal of nominations (15th September), a group of five sitting members — U.A. Thadani, D.Y. Pattani, Vinay Choksey, Ayub Selia and Guru Shenoy — visited the offices of the five new contenders and ‘requested’ them to withdraw from the fray. “What is the sense of wasting the money of the Association in unnecessary elections?”, they asked each of the five persons and concluded their drama with, “So, why don’t you withdraw your nomination so that there is no need for elections?”

The move of the five sitting members was shocking but what was more shocking was that out of the five persons approached, four obliged and signed their withdrawal letters. Of course, the reason for it was unmentioned pressure. U.A. Thadani, D.Y. Pattani and Vinay Choksey are all influential exhibitors whose cinemas are in demand. Had they not complied with their ‘request’, the four feared, they would be troubled when they would need the cinemas controlled by the three. Sanjay Chaturvedi told Information, “They came in such a big group and almost forced me to sign. I was keen to contest elections this time, especially after I was let down by the executive committee so badly in the Prithvi case. The IMPDA has become a mere tool in the hands of a few committee members and I wish I could contest the elections this time. Today, IMPDA is nothing but dirty politics.” Dilip Dhanwani also expressed unhappiness over what had happened. “This is not done,” he said, referring to the way in which he was asked to withdraw from the contest. Pradeep Singh, at first hesitant to reveal his displeasure, minced no words after he was coaxed into speaking. “What do they mean by asking us to withdraw from the fray?”, he questioned. “IMPDA is the monopoly of a few and I wanted to break the monopoly. But there is something as respect for my elders. That is why I bowed down to their request. After all, we are all in one building, so why fight? But if elections are held, I’d love to contest them.” Manoj Khivsara was not available for comment. Tekchand did not heed the request of the sitting members and he will be contesting the elections.

Suresh Vora, also a member of the IMPDA, lamented that such established persons as U.A. Thadani and D.Y. Pattani should go and beg of newcomers to withdraw. “Are they scared of losing the elections? But that does not give them a licence to bully others to withdraw,” thundered Suresh Vora.

Two pertinent points come up here. The first deals with the question of money. Election is a democratic process and to say that it entails wasteful expenditure is ridiculous, especially when the IMPDA is not exactly loved for its functioning by one and all. Secondly, if the sitting members were so keen on saving the Association’s funds, why didn’t four of them withdraw from the contest to make way for the four new ones? When contacted, Vinay Choksey and Guru Shenoy denied that they had exerted any sort of direct or indirect pressure on the new contestants.

Sitting member Gulshan Rai will not be contesting this time for health reasons, and Sharad Doshi may not contest as he is out of India. In their place, the committee is desirous of taking in Ramesh Sippy and Tolu Bajaj, both of whom have also filed their nominations.

In the meantime, it is understood that the withdrawals have not yet been filed with the Association. Of course, there are nine more days to go before the withdrawals can be filed but should they be filed at all? Why not let there be free and fair polls? It will at least bring some excitement in the otherwise dull industry.

– Gautam Mutha

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Selling Nightmares, Not Dreams

Calamity has befallen the film industry. No film released in August, expect Pardes to an extent, is doing well at the box-office. Even Pardes isn’t a hit or anywhere near it. As if the failure of films wasn’t enough, the underworld threats to film people, Gulshan Kumar’s murder in broad daylight, and the news that an industry person — Nadeem — had himself got Gulshan Kumar murdered have all created an unprecedented situation and fear-filled atmosphere in the industry. Nobody is talking business these days. Where films and figures should be the topic of discussion, trade circles are only talking about the crisis in the industry due to the current state of affairs. A couple of producers have put off plans to shoot their films abroad and are instead shooting in India at places like Khandala. Filmmakers are supposed to sell dreams. But themselves haunted by nightmares, how can they sell dreams? Nightmares, yes!

Record Initial Order

The initial order for audio cassettes of Dil To Pagal Hai is a whopping 15 lakh. This must be an all-time record. Yash Chopra has reason to celebrate then.

Incidentally, Chopra has not sold his film to distributors at the ratio of 3 crore, as mentioned in a news item in our issue last week. Although distributors would be more than willing to pay 3 after Chopra’s earlier Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, he has opted to sell the film at a much more reasonable price. Creditable, isn’t that?

Hopes For Bright Diwali

Diwali this year may be one of the best in recent times. Three films are definitely due on Diwali and all the three give hopes of hitting the bull’s eye. Although nobody has seen anything of Dil To Pagal Hai, one expects a lot from it for the simple reason that it is a Yash Chopra film. Its title song is already on its way to becoming a craze. Trials of Ishq and Ghulam-E-Musthafa have been held and trial reports of both are extremely good. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. For, if the three films really do click, it will be a repetition of the 1974 Diwali when three films were released and all three had proved to be hits. The hits: Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, Roti and Bidaai.

Sought-After Cinema

Metro cinema seems to be the most sought-after in Ujjain. Distributors vie with each other to release their films at this cinema which boasts of fair dealing and has a good sound system, besides being well-furnished. The cinema owner — Gupta-ji or Dada as he is lovingly called — is such a simpleton that it is a pleasure to deal with him. For Diwali, Dil To Pagal Hai and Ishq have both been booked at Metro. The C.I. distributors of the two films — Bharti Film Distributors and Shri Baleshwar Films — are, of course, upset with the cinema for booking both the films. It is now to be seen which film is censored first as that will get preference at the cinema, as per CCCA rules.

Reliable Youngsters

With every new exciting release, the distributor and exhibitors concerned are flooded with requests for tickets of the films, often from film people themselves. The most reliable names in Naaz building for arranging tickets are said to be Rajesh Thadani and Shravan Shroff. These young boys (sons of exhibitor-distributor U.A. Thadani and distributor Shyam Shroff respectively) invariably keep their promise for tickets and even go out of their way to arrange for the same. As against these two, there are some distribution offices who treat requests for tickets from other film people so carelessly that one is left high and dry. Perhaps, they could take a cue from Rajesh and Shravan.

IT’S 3 CRORES

The audio cassettes of Yash Chopras’s Dil To Pagal Hai have been released by HMV. And Yash Chopra has revealed the price at which he is selling the film to its distributors. It is reportedly 3 crore per major circuit.

LATEST POSITION

The initial excitement of DAUD gave way to dejection as the week progressed and saw its collections coming down drastically day by day. Even the energetic performances of Sanjay Dutt and Urmila Matondkar couldn’t salvage the film.

Daud, after a flying start, crashed from 4th/5th day onwards. Even trimming mid-week couldn’t better its weak sustaining power. It will entail heavy losses to distributors and exhibitors. 1st week Bombay 40,86,371 (89.89%) from 12 cinemas (11 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 11,70,782 from 8 cinemas, Vapi 2,39,621, Padra 1,52,476, Rajkot (matinee) 52,888, Jamnagar (matinee) 36,530; Pune 11,77,417 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 3,18,461 from 2 cinemas, Satara 1,89,472 (80.13%); Hubli 100%, Belgaum 100%, Dharwad 100%; Delhi 39,53,387 (83.89%) from 10 cinemas; Kanpur 4,06,546 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,46,637, Agra 3,51,360, Allahabad 1,66,000, Meerut 2,03,371, Bareilly 1,47,932 (67.37%), Dehradun 1,40,000, Gorakhpur 1,36,000 (74.62%), Varanasi 1,79,246; Calcutta 22,16,086 (56.32%) from 26 cinemas; Nagpur 6,03,041 from 5 cinemas, Amravati 1,70,523, Akola 1,65,055, Bhilai 1,59,129 from 2 cinemas; Indore 2,59,092 (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 3,53,153 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 8,52,217 from 4 cinemas, Jodhpur 2,25,000, Bikaner 2,13,244; Hyderabad 56,81,026 from 25 cinemas, share 31,00,000; Vijayawada 5,33,000 from 3 cinemas, Guntur 1,10,000 from 2 cinemas, Venali 97,000, Ongole 1,53,000, Eluru 98,000, Bhimavaram 1,10,000.

…Aur Pyar Ho Gaya will entail losses to the tune of a crore and more per major circuit. 2nd week Bombay 14,41,452 (65.49%) from 5 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,22,202 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 1,09,921, Jamnagar 66,814; Pune 3,87,185 from 4 cinemas (2 in matinee), Kolhapur 60,226, Solapur 60,844; 1st week Hubli 1,06,956 (69.20%); 2nd week Delhi 26,39,886 from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,52,202 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,70,770, Agra 1,10,380 (1st 2,18,711), Meerut 87,434, Dehradun 70,152, Gorakhpur 69,000, Varanasi 91,758; Rohtak 15,756 (1st 29,238); Calcutta 3,41,052 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 51,540, Jabalpur 1,08,563, total 2,93,485, 1st week Akola 84,329, 2nd week Bhilai 36,400; Indore 1,24,225, Bhopal 1,38,601 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 1,85,480, Bikaner (26 shows) 86,732; Hyderabad 4,41,034 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

Mere Sapno Ki Rani is steady on mediocre collections in parts of Maharashtra and Bihar, but is a total loss in North. It will entail heavy losses to third parties/exhibitors who paid handsome terms. 2nd week Bombay 7,09,095 (53.87%) from 4 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 86,930 from 2 cinemas, Vapi 98,998, Rajkot (14 shows) 94,828; Pune 2,63,357 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee) 55,476; Hubli 37,845 (32.67%, 1st 70,990); Delhi 1,74,940 from 4 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 34,703, Lucknow 39,586, 1st week Agra 71,384, 2nd week Allahabad 24,000; Calcutta 1,89,014; Nagpur 84,215 from 2 cinemas, Amravati 87,282, Akola 41,000, Bhilai 38,167, Durg 41,722, Jalgaon 53,700, Wardha 27,501; Indore 63,272, Bhopal 62,902 (1st 79,089); Jaipur 52,153; Hyderabad 2,06,118.

Pardes, as predicted three weeks back, will prove to be a commission-earner in most circuits and average in a couple of them. 3rd week Bombay 20,11,463 (83.78%) from 7 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,78,403 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Vapi 2,03,016, Bharuch (gross) 1,72,640, Rajkot 1,78,000, Jamnagar 78,760, total 2,36,811; Pune 4,54,935 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,60,000, Solapur 1,45,000, Satara 92,783; Delhi 20,07,281 from 7 cinemas; Kanpur (6 days) 1,89,365 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,37,768, Agra 1,28,460 (2nd 1,85,714), Allahabad 93,500, Meerut (6 days) 1,40,712, Bareilly (6 days) 63,788 (2nd 1,31,303; 50.53%), Dehradun 1,12,000, Gorakhpur 75,000, Varanasi 1,11,397; Calcutta 5,73,196 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon); Nagpur 1,67,567 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 96,485 (2nd 1,44,532), Amravati (6 days) 85,917, Akola 1,00,651, 2nd week Dhule (6 days) 57,383, 3rd week Bhilai (6 days) 64,401, 2nd Jalgaon 1,12,083; 3rd week Bhopal 1,01,151, Ujjain 42,293; Jaipur 1,83,243; Vijayawada 1,95,533, total 7,90,651.

…………

RAJAT RAKSHIT DEAD

Director Rajat Rakshit died of acute asthama on 27th August at Cooper Hospital, Irla, Bombay. He was 55 and a bachelor.

He had directed Damaad, Bin Phere Hum Tere, Rakt Bandhan, Yahan Wahan, Naya Khoon, Meri Biwi Ki Shadi, Ruswai and Faraib.

MAJOR RENOVATION AT GANGA-JAMUNA CINEMAS OF BOMBAY

Ganga and Jamuna cinemas at Tardeo, Bombay, are being extensively renovated by owner Gul Achhra. They will be equipped with Dolby digital sound and will be now called Ganga Palace and Jamuna Palace.

Jamuna Palace will screen The Lost World: Jurassic Park (dubbed) from 5th September, and Ganga Palace, Judge Mujrim from 12th September. Both the films are being distributed in Bombay (the former in Bombay city & suburbs only) by Gul Achhra himself.

The cinemas have a facility for parking about 150 cars.

IN DEFENSE OF STARS

A large number of national and regional newspapers and periodicals have written a lot about the nexus of film people and the underworld. Mumbai politicians and police officers are blaming the film industry for taking finance from the underworld. The truth is that most politicians have close links with the underworld, and police is deliberately overlooking the unholy alliance between politicians and criminals. Police have no courage to accept that they have been under tremendous pressure. An old allegation against the film people is that some of them have been friendly with Dawood and they used to sing and dance in his parties held in Dubai. Photographs of the stars with Dawood, taken at Sharjah cricket stadium, have been repeatedly published. It is a fact that most stars have to pose with strangers and it is part of their profession. Today, it is being conveniently forgotten that once there was a video cassette depicting top politicians and police officers hobnobbing with notorious criminals. The most horrifying truth is that every small town has a don, and most people pay their respects to the local don. The street goondas also get respect and money from their area. In every small town and village, criminals are patronised by politicians. It is a well-known truth that politicians were the first to make use of criminals in election campaigns. Top people from the Election Commission have deplored the nexus between politicians and criminals. There are criminal cases against forty Members of Parliament. Criminals have invaded every aspect of life, and India has become a haven for criminals. There is an excellent scene in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Ghatak where Sunny advises his brother to fight for the shop in Mumbai. The elder brother wanted to go to his native place to cultivate land. Sunny says that there are criminals in the native place also. “If you do not fight against them in Mumbai, you will not be able to fight against them at Banaras.” The naked truth is that the entire nation is in the grip of fear. Everyone feels the presence of the invisible knife hanging in air over their heads. Dons are born from the womb of fear. When such is the state of affairs in the country, why blame the poor film stars for being friendly with the underworld?

There may be more than a lakh rich people in Mumbai alone, who can buy the entire film industry, but the underworld does not touch them because they know that any single real rich man can destroy the very politician who patronises them. Film people have no such muscle power. Stars are a frightened lot. They are lonely and miserable.

There is one area of closeness between stars and criminals. Most of the criminals have been ardent fans of stars and some of them wished to become stars when they were young. All of them are film-crazy people. When they attain enough muscle power, they manage to get stars to attend their parties. The neo rich from small towns pay a lot of money to the stars to inaugurate their offices and industries. No one minds this trend but everyone objects to stars attending birthdays of a don. Politicians also use the whip of income-tax to get stars at their residence. Most stars take part in election campaigns because of some fear. Police and politicians are seeking scapegoats in stars to hide their own failure and unholy alliance with criminals.

Today, India is like a masala film based on a script written by spineless politicians. Let’s hope, India rises above the script in the 21st century.

– J.P. Chowksey
Prachi Films,
Indore

YOU ASKED IT

Has audience taste changed in the last few years or is it the same?

– It has definitely changed. The audience is now receptive to newer subjects. What used to earlier click in just major cities, now appeals to the cinegoer in a small town also.

When should an artiste venture into doing a film which has a role which is not quite in keeping with his public image?

– Only when he has been accepted completely by the public and at least his last two or three films (in which he plays roles suited to his public image) have clicked.

What are the average theatre rentals in Bombay city and suburbs?

– About 35% of capacity in side-cinemas and 50% in main cinemas.

HERE & THERE

Shabana Goes To Rajya Sabha

Shabana Azmi is the latest star to become a Member of Parliament. She is among the nine who have been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President. Shabana, who has been recognised by the world as an actress of international standard, has won many national and international awards, worked as the chairperson of the N’CYP and is a social activist engaged in fighting for the rights of the downtrodden, will not be just a decorative piece in the Rajya Sabha as she has a mind of her own and is also outspoken.

The swearing-in ceremony of the new Rajya Sabha members was held on 29th August in Delhi. Mrinal Sen was sworn in that day but Shabana could not attend the ceremony in Delhi.

Filmmakers Demand Industry Status

A seminar on ‘The film industry’s expectations and government policy framework’ was organised on 23rd August as part of the Films Fair ’97, and a number of industry stalwarts as well as government officials participated in it. The filmmakers demanded recognition for filmmaking as an industry, and steps to mitigate its problems. It was emphasised by the industry speakers that the film industry was going through probably its toughest and trying period in its 100 years’ old history and the government should lend a helping hand to help it tide over the crisis. IMPPA president Sultan Ahmed asked the state and central governments to return part of the money earned through taxes on films, to the industry for the development of infrastructure facilities. He denied that there was any nexus between the film industry and the underworld. Only a few have connections with them, he said. AMPTPP president Pahlaj Nihalani expressed his unhappiness over the functioning of the Censor Board. He said that more often, personal biases and prejudices were at work when a decision was being taken. M. Bhaktavatsala from Karnataka was critical of the NFDC, which, according to him, had been usurped by a handful of directors while majority of the producers were being neglected. He also criticised the high rates of taxes and entertainment tax. ITPO chairman K.K. Mathur said that ITPO would try to act as a bridge between the industry and the government.

The seminar was jointly organised by ITPO and Federation of Film Societies of India.

Reshma Blames Indian Composers For Plagiarising Tunes

It was late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan first. Now is the turn of Reshma, the Pakistani singer who is in India these days and whom Subhash Ghai had introduced to Indian film music lovers in his film, Hero, with the song Lambi judaai. Reshma was in Patna this week, where she told the press that some of her best tunes had been dubbed in Hindi films without any acknowledgement. She said that Lata’s Yaara sili sili from Lekin was lifted from her 28-year-old song. She also blamed Lata for singing the ‘lifted’ song. Reshma rendered that song at a concert in presence of Bihar’s chief minister, Rabri Devi.

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

Producer Pravesh Sippy is in Africa to scout locations for SILSILA HAI PYAR KA, and will return after 10 days.

Producer-director Subhash Ghai is in Australia.

Director Aditya Chopra, Bombay exhibitor-distributor Anil Thadani and director Karan Johar will go to London on 1st September.

CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain is in Indore and is expected back in a day or two.

Actress and stage artiste Mini Tabassum left for the USA for stage shows on 27th August and will return on 1st October.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Shri Krishna Talkies at Seoni Malwa (M.P.) must be the only cinema in the country which celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna every year along with its patrons. Every year, at the stroke of midnight when Krishna was born on Janmashtami, the cinema stops the screening of the film for a while and distributes prasad among the patrons. The cinema also has a Krishna temple in its premises, where a pooja is done at 12 midnight on Janmashtami.

* DAUD has created a theatre record by collecting 2,26,176/- in 1st week at Shree, Ahmedabad.

* BORDER has created a record by collecting 51,700/- in 11th combined week at Palace, Allahabad.

* BORDER (tax-free) has created a city record by collecting 72,105/- (against a capacity of 80,318/-) in 1st week at Shashikant Chitra Mandir, Karanja (C.P. Berar), despite heavy rains.

* ANACONDA (dubbed) has created a city record by collecting 60,004/- in 1st week at Rajkala, Wardha, in spite of heavy rains.

MIX MASALA

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Believe it or not but many people in the industry refer to …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya as Aao Pyar Karen. And there are many who call Virasat as Hirasat!

EARTHY COINCIDENCE

In this week’s release, Prithvi, Sunil Shetty’s name is Prithvi. And in real life, Sunil lives in Prithvi Apartments on Altamount Road. Why, he has bought another flat in the same building from Bombay distributor Ashok Ahuja.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Believe it or not but many people in the industry refer to …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya as Aao Pyar Karen. And there are many who call Virasat as Hirasat!

Dream Merchant

WATER DREAM……..WHAT A DREAM!

Last Friday’s torrential rains which lashed Bombay city and threw it completely out of gear caught me in my dream the following night.

I dreamt about the entire Bombay film industry battling with the rain water. The more enterprising ones were enjoying themselves in the downpour.

Aamir Khan, who could barely keep his face out of the waist-deep water outside his house (it was waist-deep for me and, therefore, more than neck-deep for ‘shorty’ Aamir), was struggling to reach his car parked outside his compound. Drenched in the rain from the top and the water below, he managed to hold a picture of Karisma Kapoor in his right hand and an imported umbrella in his left, as he sang loudly, “Pardesi pardesi nahaana nahin / Mujhe chhod ke, mujhe chhod ke / Pardesi mere yaara, vaada nibhana / Tum yaad rakhna, kahin doob na jaana / Pardesi pardesi….”

Just nearby, Urmila Matondkar, clad in a skimpy bikini, was getting down from her Maruti Zen which had a breakdown in the water-clogged road. Umbrella-less, she waved out to her umbrella-clinging Rangeela hero and wondered aloud, “Why don’t you dress up like me? Na rahenge tan pe kapde, na honge geele!” But looking at Aamir singing away to himself, Urmila also broke into a song, asking Aamir to join her thus: “Yayee re, yayee re, baarish zor zor se aaye re / Chal ho jaa mere sang, thoda sa be-dhang / Ho jaa geela re, ho jaa geela re…” Waving goodbye to an unwilling Aamir, she said, she had to reach Gaiety cinema for the first-day-show of Daud.

Outside Gaiety cinema, producer-director Ramgopal Varma stood expectantly as boat-loads of people came to see Daud. He was waiting for his Bombay distributor Shyam Shroff who had promised to be with Ramgopal (Ramu) at 11.30 a.m. It was almost 2 p.m. and I don’t know whether Ramu was crying at the poor public reaction or because he was missing Shyam Shroff. Or was it the rain water rolling down his cheeks and not tears? Anyway, Ramu too started singing a song, “Rain-a beeti jaaye / Shyam na aaye / Rain-a beeti jaaye…”

Barely had he started the song than Shyam Shroff arrived on the scene with a bag full of bottles of Ganga jal which he had bought some time back for distribution among patrons of Lav Kush before the start of every show at Maratha Mandir, Bombay. Since nobody came to see Lav Kush, the Ganga jal remained unused. Aware that people found Daud vulgar, Shyam Shroff had decided to distribute Ganga jal among the viewers after every show to cleanse them and their minds. When he told Ramu of his plan, the latter felt insulted. Pointing to the rain water dropping into the open bottles of Ganga jal, Ramu remarked, “Shyam, teri Ganga maili ho gayee.” Just then, Urmila — her face soiled and her wet hair dishevelled — reached the cinema. To get back at Ramu, Shyam Shroff shot back, “Ram, teri Urmi maili ho gayee.”

I cornered Ramu and asked him what his next film would be. Drawing inspiration from the wet atmosphere, he replied, “It will be called either Geela or Rain-Geela. And since I’m accused of exposing my heroines in my films, I’ll not do anything of the sort in this film. That’s why, it will be the hero taking bath in the rains this time. And like my Satya is a songless film, Geela/Rain-Geela will be a heroine-less film.”

Just then, I saw Shekhar Kapur in a wet Digjam suitings coat, in conversation with Bobby Bedi. “Shekhar, why this long absence?”, I asked him. “When are you starting your next? What’s it about?” Slow-coach Shekhar, as usual, was undecided. “Wet and watch,” he winked.

Watch I did. At Lokhandwala bazaar, I was astonished to see Sridevi buying vegetables from a roadside vendor, her teeth chattering because of the cold water in which she was standing. She was making an attempt to talk in shudh Hindi under hubby Boney’s instructions, and on reaching home, she told hubby — in shudh Hindi again — “Dekhiye jee, main to paani-paani ho gayee!” Boney buried his face in his hands and wanted to drown in the rain water at such atrocious Hindi.

BBC News on television came up with a sensational bit of news. Away in Bangalore, Mandakini was throwing a fit at being left out of the rain drama in Bombay. She telephoned Rishi Kapoor and begged of him to sign her for his directorial venture. She reminded Rishi of how she had boldly done the waterfall bathing scene in his father Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili. Sentimental Rishi agreed to drop Aishwarya Rai and take Mandakini in her place. Packing her bags with bikinis, Mandakini told her mom, “Aa ab laut chalen.”

Rajiv Kapoor too decided on that wet Friday that he should return to direction after the long holiday. “So what if Prem Granth did not run,” he told elder brother Randhir Kapoor. “I’ll make Rain Granth this time. And I’ll make it in collaboration with BMC. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will give me a lot of data on the rains in Bombay, down the centuries. People felt, Prem Granth was too dry, so, I’ve even chosen a wet title this time.”

Time took me to the office of Time Audio-Video. The Vijaypath makers were planning to announce Paanipath. No, it had nothing to do with the water-laden paths in Bombay. Rather, it was based on the battle of Panipat. The ‘h’ and extra ‘a’ in the title were purely for numerological reasons.

Numerology had me meeting producer Vashu Bhagnani who is obsessed with the number 1. Had the rains inspired him to announce another No. 1 film, I asked. “Yes,” he smiled, “Before Biwi No. 1, I plan to make Paani No. 1. The film will deal with water and related problems. It will star Govinda and will be shot completely in water.” Oh, a desi Waterworld, I suppose. “It will be a watershed film,” said an excited Vashu.

Suddenly, I heard Baba Sehgal singing a familiar song. He was gesticulating to Sheeba and the song went, “Aaja mere paani mein kood ja / Aaja mere paani mein kood ja / Swimming karenge / Dance bhi karenge / Gaana bajaana, khaana-peena paani mein hoga sanam…”

Anil Kapoor had to show his sincerity even on the rainy day. His driver was rowing a boat in which he was going towards Film City. Apparently, the boat had lost direction and a forlorn Anil was singing, “O majhi re, apna kinara…. Film City ka temple hai / O majhi re…”

At Film City, Salman Khan was shooting a rain song for brother Sohail Khan’s Pyar Kiya Yo Darna Kya. His heroine, Kajol, had not reached the location, and the shooting was held up for a while. Sohail’s fertile brain, during the forced interval, thought of a sequel to the film. It would be titled Paani Gira To Karna Kya.

On another floor, Akshay Kumar was barely able to give his shot because the water had reached the tall hero’s neck. I was scared, Akshay would drown. As it is, his films were sinking, I thought, and it would be terrible if the poor guy also drowned. Luckily, a taller and skinny Kamal Sidhu was shooting on the maidan in Film City and I requested her to get Akshay out of the water which she did. Doobte ko Thin K (Kamal) ka sahara mil gaya and I was happy.

On a set in Film City, Priya Teudulkar was shooting the 100th episode of The Priya Tendulkar Show. She had clinched the opportunity and had selected the topic ‘Should there be rains in Bombay?’ for the century episode. On the panel were Rain God Lord Indra, head of the meteorological department, and Sachin Tendulkar whose cricket was damper than the rains.

Producer R.V. Pandit had managed to reach the censor office despite the blocked roads, and was seen arguing with the soaked-in-rain regional officer who refused to issue a censor certificate to his Train to Pakistan. Maintaining his cool, despite all odds, Pandit informed me, “I am planning two more films now — Plane To Afghanistan and Rain From Pakistan. Khushwant Singh firmly believes that these torrential rains have been master-minded by our enemy, Pakistan.”

Rahul Rawail had just returned from London from the shooting of London and had managed to reach a far-off cinema screening his …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya to gauge the public reaction. He was in for a shock because there was no public, what to talk of reaction. “I’m sure, people haven’t come because of the rains,” he said, trying to hide the tears that threatened to come out of his eyes. Continuing his brave act, he sighed, “Oh, I thought, my film would at least be a Barsaat and I’m sure, it had the chances, but the rains have spoilt everything. I was looking forward to telephoning hero Bobby Deol in London today to give him the good news that the film Barsaat ho gayee, but look, I’ll now have to tell him that real life mein. …aur barsaat ho gayee.”

Amitabh Bachchan was frantically waving out to the stray cabs plying in the waist-deep water on Juhu Tara Road, but nobody was willing to stop. He had come out of his director, Mehul Kumar’s office, and his car refused to take off — in much the same way as his Mrityudaata had refused to take off. I thought, I’d chat up with him and swam across the road. “Where are you going? How have the rains affected you?”, I queried. With a fallen face, Amitabh replied, “It’s terrible. Meri company, ABCL, doob gayee.” Of course, I knew that, but what had the rains got to do with the company’s doobna? I asked him, “Doob gayee — figuratively speaking, isn’t it? “Yes, figuratively speaking,” he replied, “because all the figures of my creditors bhi saath mein doob gaye!”

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Of Content And Form

Although Pardes did not boast of a very exciting start, its collections became steady as the weeks progressed. On the other hand, Daud opened to bumper houses everywhere but collections began to drop day by day. This, in sum, describes the fate of, what we say, a grammatically correct film (Pardes) and grammatically incorrect film (Daud). The former had substance, the latter was rich in form but poor in content.

DAUD

Varma Corporation Ltd.’s Daud (A) is a film which has a thin story but more of anecdotes, incidents and items. The hero is a criminal, and the heroine — a club dancer — joins hands with him in his criminal activities. They begin to love each other even as they are on the run from the police who is chasing them for the theft of a box of gold biscuits (which ultimately turns out to be a box containing a neutron bomb). The story writer and director have taken the audience too much for granted in assuming that enjoyable comedy punches can make up for a poor story-line. But the fact is that while the comedy is entertaining at several places and even hilarious at some, the lack of a proper story as also weak characterisations are too big a drawback to be overlooked or compensated. In fact, the whole drama starts looking farcical, more so in the second half, due to the abovesaid shortcomings. Even the comedy itself is not throughout of the kind which can be understood and enjoyed by the masses. At times, it has a flavour which would appeal only to the elite audience.

While the first half is fairly good, especially the scenes in which the hero and heroine play the game of one-upmanship, the portion after interval has some silly twists and turns which make the screenplay look like a childish attempt. The policemen are often shown as idiots, incapable of achieving anything. The revelation of the suspense towards the end does not create the desired impact (of shock or bewilderment). Climax is too weak to be true. There is also too much repetition, especially after interval. Scenes are also lengthy and that sometimes dilutes the impact of the humour.

Sanjay Dutt looks superb (his physique is mind-blowing) and also performs excellently. He springs a pleasant surprise by doing a swell job in comedy. He has also danced very well. Urmila Matondkar is sexy as ever, exudes glamour and oomph and acts just too wonderfully. Her dances are a delight to watch. In fact, Sanjay and Urmila make a good pair and both lend more credence to the otherwise unbelievable story, with their natural performances, although their characters are quite sketchy and ill-defined. Paresh Rawal plays the eccentric villain with effortless ease and deserves distinction marks for a job ably done. Neeraj Vora is natural to the core but he has been given an unduly lengthy role which can be easily trimmed. Ashish Vidyarthi is sincere although it must be said that he deserved a better role. Manoj Bajpai, Sumukhi Pendse, Ram Mohan, Rana Jung Bahadur and the others lend adequate support.

Ramgopal Varma has made a technically outstanding film, his shot takings being remarkable. But he has relied too heavily on comic incidents but has overlooked the value of a good and coherent script and strong characterisations. As a result, the film looks like a body beautiful in which the soul is missing. Sanjay Chhel’s dialogues are brilliant, and some scenes are also remarkable (for instance, the one in which the hero and heroine fool each other by giving false names, the one where they go to shop for clothes, the one in which they spin a yarn to Chacko to hide their identities etc.). But then, the story, screenplay and overall impact leave a lot to be desired. Obviously, incidents and individually good items cannot act as a proxy for a plausible script.

A.R. Rahman’s music is good but since several songs are either dream sequences or without proper situations, their appeal on screen does not match their intrinsic worth. Song picturisations are lavish and a couple of them are extremely sexy. Musically, the title song, ‘Bhanvre’ and ‘Shabba shabba’ are the best numbers. Picturisations of ‘Zahreela’, ‘Saiyan’ and ‘Bhanvre’ songs are a visual treat. Background score is fabulous. Foreign locations are heavenly. and the camerawork is simply splendid. Sound effects in Dolby digital are fantastic.

On the whole, Daud is rich in technical aspects and poor in script and content. It has a tremendous initial value but not the potential to sustain. Its comedy, sex, grandeur, photography and Dolby digital sound will appeal to the city audience (that too, mainly to the youth and front-benchers), but it has precious little for the ladies and families. Considering its fantastic initial on the one hand and its high price on the other, it can be expected to sail safe in Bombay and South but will not find the going as smooth in other circuits.

Released on 22-8-’97 at New Excelsior and 23 other cinemas of Bombay by Varma Corporation Ltd. thru Shringar Films. Publicity and opening: excellent (adversly affected in central suburbs due to torrential rains). …….Also released all over. Opening was excellent all over (at places, it was historic, being better then even Border) despite heavy rains at many places. However, a noticeable drop (partly due to rains) was observed on the second day at several stations of C.P. and C.I.

LATEST POSITION

DAUD has taken a flying start this week everywhere. ….Heavy rains in different parts of the country are playing havoc with the collections.

Nobody seems to have fallen in love with …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya which has, therefore, been rejected almost everywhere. It has done quite well initially in cities like Bombay, Delhi and Hyderabad. 1st week Bombay 31,98,294 (83.77%) from 8 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 10,19,193 from 9 cinemas, Baroda 1,67,053, Jamnagar 72,456; Pune 7,79,654 from 5 cinemas (2 in matinee), Solapur 1,89,241 (58.49%) from 2 cinemas; Delhi 38,39,198 (85.16%) from 10 cinemas (1 unrecd., 1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,27,642 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,56,410, Allahabad 1,50,500, Meerut 1,43,424, Bareilly 1,03,413, Dehradun 1,47,342, Hardwar 35,000; Calcutta 16,11,929 from 13 cinemas; Nagpur 3,29,464 from 5 cinemas, Bhilai 1,80,133 from 2 cinemas, Khandwa 49,862; Indore 2,14,307 (4 on F.H.), Bhopal 2,44,876 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 6,00,184 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon); Hyderabad 25,40,223 from 16 cinemas (3 in noon), share 18 lakh (including MGs).

Mere Sapno Ki Rani meets with a nightmarish response almost all over. It is somewhat okay in Maharashtra. 1st week Bombay (6 days) 16,29,802 (67.88%) from 8 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,31,684 from 4 cinemas, Rajkot (mg. shows) 58,532, Jamnagar 84,000; Pune 3,19,299 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,39,304 (47.97%) from 2 cinemas; Delhi 7,83,760 (39.08%) from 7 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 67,672, Lucknow 79,728, Allahabad 63,500; Calcutta 5,29,351 from 6 cinemas; Nagpur 2,98,110 from 4 cinemas, Akola 1,00,070, Raipur 1,12,235 (51.68%), Bhilai 82,030, Durg 70,487, Jalgaon 1,19,275, Wardha 50,539; Indore 2,45,253 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 2,06,520 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 8,42,906 from 6 cinemas.

Pardes is steady at many places and is the only new film reaping the advantage of the holiday period. It is being liked by the families. 2nd week Bombay (6 days) 23,63,825 (85.36%) from 8 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,15,159 from 3 cinemas, Padra 1,25,031, Bharuch (gross) 2,61,722, Rajkot 1,45,552 (1st 1,59,055), Jamnagar 61,687; Pune 10,15,526 from 3 cinemas, Solapur 1,80,000, Satara 1,35,154; Delhi 29,63,857 from 9 cinemas; Kanpur (6 days) 3,02,790 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,64,785, Allahabad 1,27,950, Meerut (6 days) 1,74,000, Bareilly (6 days) 1,16,036, Dehradun 1,56,000; Calcutta 15,63,531 from 19 cinemas; Nagpur 2,84,685 from 2 cinemas, Akola 1,50,380, total 3,29,109, Raipur (6 days) 1,31,502, Bhilai 1,06,800, 1st week Jalgaon 1,61,775; 2nd week Bhopal 2,49,050 from 2 cinemas, Ujjain 76,000; Jaipur 2,72,603; Hyderabad 7,20,474 from 3 cinemas; Vijayawada 2 weeks’ total 6,01,118.

……….

Border 10th week Bombay (TF) 11,05,818 (74.03%) from 3 cinemas; Ahmedabad (TF) 3,05,435 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda (TF) 64,318, Rajkot (TF, 14 shows) 1,12,629; Pune (TF) 4,60,972 from 3 cinemas, Solapur (TF, matinee) 38,095; Delhi 27,06,883 from 11 cinemas; Kanpur 1,44,842 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,61,677, Allahabad 75,000, Dehradun 83,370; Calcutta 68,314; Nagpur (TF) 1,29,697 from 2 cinemas, 1st week Kampthi (TF) 46,144, 10th week Amravati (TF) 1,18,037, total 15,88,116, Akola (TF) 66,372, total 11,76,129, Bhilai 53,053, 5th week Bhusawal (TF) 52,000, 3rd Gondia (TF) 60,620, total 2,26,890, 1st week Balaghat 90,713, 4th week Sagar (5 days) 48,558; 10th Indore 1,10,500, Bhopal 90,888; Jaipur 2,47,843 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 4,07,227 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon); Vijayawada 3 weeks’ total 6,40,089.

PRODUCERS INVITED TO SHOOT IN U.P.

Kalraj Misra, minister for tourism and PWD, Uttar Pradesh, and S. Shekhar Singh, principal secretary tourism & civil aviation, government of Uttar Pradesh, were in Bombay earlier this week and they hosted a dinner party on 20th August at Holiday Inn. The aim of their visit was to invite Bollywood producers to shoot in U.P. While details of assistance that would be extended to those shooting in the state were not given, it was emphasised by the hosts that producers would be extended all help for shooting in Uttar Pradesh.

STILL PHOTOGRAPHER GOES TO COURT

A still photographer has filed a suit for recovery of dues (of Rs. 3.46 lakh) and for damages (Rs. 4.5 lakh) from producer-director Ramgopal Varma. He has alleged that two cheques, given to him by Varma, had bounced. The photographer has also alleged that his still cameras were damaged while shooting stills of Daud in Australia and New Zealand.

‘MRITYUDAND’ GOING PLACES

Prakash Jha’s Mrityudand, presented by Manmohan Shetty in association with G.S. Mayawala, is going places — literally! An abridged version (115 minutes’ duration) of the film has been officially invited for participation at the following international film festivals: London International Film Festival (to be held in November this year), Bite The Mango Film Festival, Bradford (October). It has also been entered at Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina (November) and Viennale, Vienna, Austria (October).

NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN NO MORE

Famous Pakistani singer and composer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan expired in London on 16th August due to a heart attack. He was 49 years old and had not been keeping well since quite some time.

Nusrat, who had recorded some private albums in India, had scored music in …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya. By a quirk of fate, …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya had released just a day before his death. He had also composed the music for Bandit Queen. At the time of his death, he was scoring the music for Tips’ Kachche Dhaage and Firoz Nadiadwala’s Kartoos. In the last-named film, he was the music composer alongwith Anu Malik and Bally Sagoo. He had recently recorded the ‘Vande Mataram’ album with A.R. Rahman on the occasion of 50 years of India’s Independence.

EXTRA WIDE SCREEN AT NEW EXCELSIOR, BOMBAY

The wide screen at New Excelsior cinema, Bombay, where Daud opened this week, has been further widened. It has now, perhaps, become the widest screen in India.

YOU ASKED IT

Why has Sanjay Dutt starrer Daud taken a fantastic start while his earlier releases (after his release from jail) like Vijeta and Mahaanta did not take such an initial?

– The audience was aware that both, VIJETA and MAHAANTA, were among his stale films while DAUD is his first fresh film after his release from jail. Besides, DAUD has bewitching Urmila Matondkar, RANGEELA director Ramgopal Varma, A.R. Rahman and ultra-sexy promotional trailers to its credit.

No big film has clicked universally in a big way after Border. Will this see film prices come crashing down?

– It doesn’t seem likely that prices will come down in the near future. Yes, they won’t go up either.

What should be the ratio of an Akshay Kumar starrer, a Bobby Deol starrer and a Sunny Deol starrer?

– A Sunny Deol starrer can fetch 2 crore easily. A Bobby Deol starrer and an Akshay Kumar starrer can hope to fetch about a crore and 60 lakh respectively. But ratios also depend on other factors like director, banner, etc. Akshay’s MR. & MRS. KHILADI is selling for over a crore-and-a-half.

DO YOU KNOW?

* The holiday of 15th August is generally considered to be one of the best holidays of the year for the box-office, but collections on Independence day this year, generally speaking, weren’t too exciting. In a town like Jamnagar where collections on Fridays and Sundays are usually outstanding, both the releases of Independence Day (Friday, 15th August) did not draw full houses on Friday and Sunday. The low collections could have been due to the telecast of hit films on Doordarshan and the various satellite channels, which kept the audience at home on Independence Day. Sunday collections were low because by then, the reports of the two new releases (…AUR PYAR HO GAYA and MERE SAPNO KI RANI) had spread. In fact, PARDES recorded better collections on its 8th day than …APHG and MSKR on their first day at several places!

* DAUD has created a new record by collecting 39,946/- (100%) on the opening day at Uday, Akola.

* PARDES has created another theatre record at Apsara, Meerut, by collecting 1,74,000/- in 2nd week (6 days).

HERE & THERE

Heartburn In Pakistan Over Award To Dilip Kumar

The Pakistan government’s announcement on the eve of its 50th Independence Day to present India’s top star, Dilip Kumar, the Tamgha-e-Intiaz in recognition of his accomplishments, has caused heartburn among Pakistani stars and filmmakers. Some of them bitterly criticised the government decision openly. “The award should have been given to a Pakistani actor,” opined well-known Pakistani actress Mediah Shah. Actress-producer Shamim Araa was very angry and condemned the idea of giving the award to “an Indian”. A number of stars asked the government to admit the mistake and withdraw the award. However, poet Qatil Shifai was an exception who defended the choice of Dilip, saying, “I think, actors cut across the barriers of boundaries.” It is well-known that a number of songs written by Qatil have been used in Indian films.

In India too, a number of people and organisations are not happy with this award and they have asked Dilip Kumar not to accept it. The organisation working for Kashmiri Pandits, Panun Kashmir, has urged Dilip Kumar to refuse the award as Pakistan is responsible for their sufferings. However, Dilip Kumar has not heeded any such requests.

Controversy Over Film On Mother Teresa

A film on Mother Teresa, which was shot in Sri Lanka and not India as the government was not happy with the script, has now landed in a controversy. The Missionaries of Charity, with which Mother Teresa is attached, has officially denied giving permission for making the film as the permission given earlier was withdrawn in 1990. But author Dominique Lapierre insists that the contract is valid. The contract states that Mother Teresa granted “exclusive permission to undertake a motion picture which will portray my life and the work of the Missionaries of Charity, in the service of God’s poor.”

The controversy has arisen on two counts. First, the film, Mother Teresa: In The Name Of God’s Poor, is based on an unauthorised biography as the permission given first by Mother Teresa was withdrawn before the filming started, and second, the film, which is total Hollywood-ish, seems to be a blot on Mother’s life. Mother Teresa’s friends in America feel that the gushing, sentimentalised portrayal of her remarkable life is an attack on her dignity. This 10-million dollar film is expected to fetch over 40 million dollars to the makers, Hallmark Entertainment of producer Kevin Connor of America, famous for making unauthorised docu-dramas for the last 20 years. The film is scheduled to be released on American TV later this year and in Britain next year.

Doordarshan-STAR War Starts

Doordarshan, which never considered the popular Zee TV or rising Sony or Home TV its rival, is worried over STAR TV’s game of employing DD’s high profile employees though the viewership of STAR is negligible as yet. STAR TV is increasing the duration of its Hindi programmes every few months and has lapped up some famous producers and directors who made profitable projects for DD earlier. STAR has employed DD’s top employees like R. Basu and others on such high salaries that they voluntarily retired from government of India services without even taking benefits of pension. Now, the ministry of personnel, government of India, has issued a notice to R. Basu to resign from STAR within three days, and to STAR to relieve Basu within a fortnight. According to government rules, a retiring employee cannot join any commercial organisation of the same nature immediately without government’s permission. Basu is in no mood to resign from STAR and is set to fight it out. However, STAR is in an awkward position as it does not want to spoil its relations with the government. STAR is unable to understand why the government has taken such a step now though Basu joined a year earlier, and no notices have been issued to other employees like former additional director, I & B, G. Guha, former additional secretary, RAW, Bimal Bhalla, ex-DDG, Urmila Gupta and Indira Mansingh, and additional secretary, dept. of telecommunications, Som Chaturvedi, all of whom have joined STAR TV on high salaries. All the above people were ‘star’ employees of the government, who knew the in and out of government working.

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Publicity Boom

If star prices and film prices have reached phenomenal heights in recent years, so have publicity budgets. Time was, not many years ago, when publicities of big films used to cost some lakhs. But today, publicity bills can run upto even a crore and more. Distributors too have started spending a lot more on publicity, like producers. In the case of recent releases like Pardes and Daud, the respective Bombay distributors spent about 30 lakh each towards pre-release publicities alone! Budgets for publicity have gone up despite so many television channels airing film trailers and other publicity programmes (like interviews of producers, directors, stars, technicians, shooting coverages etc.) free of cost. Alongwith rising expenditure on publicity have come newer forms and formats for the same. Backlit hoardings, which cost a heavy packet, are a recent trend, of the past two years to be precise. Decorating bus-stops in Bombay is the most recent concept. For Rangeela, Bombay distributors Shringar Films had arranged a laser show at Eros, Bombay, at the start of every show. For Daud, there is a live dance recital on the film’s title song before every show at New Excelsior, Bombay. With producers’ profit margins being so high, one can expect more innovative forms of even more expensive publicity in the days to come. After all, as the saying goes: ‘The more you yell, the better you sell.’

Two As From Two Disasters

It is a coincidence and a strange one at that. Among heroes, it’s Akshaye Khanna who has won people’s hearts, and among heroines, Aishwarya Rai has endeared herself to the audiences. But while both have been loved, their debut-making films have been resounding flops. Akshaye’s Himalay Putra bombed and so has Aishwarya’s …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya. Even if one were to consider the Tamil film Iruvar as the ex-Miss World’s first film, that too was a bomb. So we’ve got two brilliant talents out of two big bombs.

Exciting Trailers

Two forthcoming films which give an exciting feeling to the public are Yash Chopra’s Dil To Pagal Hai and Indra Kumar’s Ishq. Promotional trailers of both the films on satellite channels are being widely discussed in trade circles and among the public alike. Both are scheduled for release on Diwali.

…AUR PYAR HO GAYA

Essem Entertainment Inc.’s …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya is a love story inspired from the Hollywood film, Only You. A girl from India sets out to test the credentials of her to-be husband in Switzerland but she is fooled by another guy who poses as the prospective husband. She falls in love with him after making sure that he bears a good moral character, but is shattered when told that he is not the guy whom she had come to meet. Two two split and then meet again. Back in India, a few days before their marriage, there’s a misunderstanding which threatens to separate the lovers. The guy realises his folly in spurning the girl’s love, just in time to win her back.

The story (Rumi Jafri) is thin, and the screenplay (written by Honey Irani) relies rather too heavily on coincidences. It would appear, after seeing this film, that life is full of coincidences, and anything and everything under the sun is possible. Several turns and twists in the drama, if not initiated by coincidences, are such as would seem too unbelievable. For instance, the girl leaves India for a foreign land, without even knowing how the guy whom she has to meet looks and with just the knowledge of his name and business. She suffers from a rather dangerous disease (she is a somnambulist, that is, she sleep-walks) but when it comes to going abroad, no member of her doting family bothers to accompany her. The reason why the guy spurns her love in the pre-climax and calls off the marriage is too flimsy to appeal to the masses because the fault, if one may call it so, lies with the girl’s father and not with the girl at all. Besides, the question which immediately crops up in the audience’s mind when he calls off the wedding is: if the boy could cheat the girl by posing as the prospective groom, why can’t he bear a bit of insult of his mother — and this, when the mother is ready to overlook the insult. As for the coincidences, they are far too many — the luggage of the guy and the girl is identical, the guy and the girl’s father meet in a saloon as unknowns, before they meet in the latter’s house, etc.

Notwithstanding the rather weak screenplay, the film does have some really good comedy scenes which evoke a lot of laughter. Two such scenes are that of the saloon and when the girl’s grandmother tries to convince the parents of another prospective groom that her grand-daughter is not the best girl for their son. Another highlight of the film are the breathtaking foreign locations which have been captured oh so beautifully on celluloid by cameraman Manmohan Singh. Dolby DTS mixing is yet another asset because the sound effects are splendid.

Bobby Deol does a fair job. He is a bit awkward in comedy scenes. Aishwarya Rai looks a heavenly beauty and mesmerises with her stunning and gorgeous looks (her costumes are fantastic) and figure. She makes a commendable debut with a promising performance and also dances gracefully. She’s a girl who, in her very first film, gives the impression that she is destined to go places. Anupam Kher impresses a lot in the scene in which he comes face to face with Bobby Deol in the former’s house. Otherwise, he is okay. His choti comedy looks silly, at times. Shammi Kapoor acts with aplomb. Shammi is very cute and endears herself with a good performance. Beena plays her role with utmost conviction and is restrained. Priya Tendulkar and Avtar Gill lend good support.

Rahul Rawail has concentrated more on the visuals than on content. He ought to have Indianised the Hollywood film. His attempt looks like a body beautiful in which the soul is missing. Computer graphics in the climax look jarring. Even otherwise, the climax (inspired from the English film, Liar, Liar), which ought to have been hair-raising, is dull and cold.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s music is a mixture of entertaining and boring songs. Although there are too many songs, not even one is a super-hit number. ‘Koi jaane koi na jaane’ is the best song.’Meri saanson mein basaa hai’, ‘Luk-chhup ke main galli-galli’ and ‘Jaagi huyee fizaayen’ are also appealing numbers. But a couple of other songs are boring. Song picturisations do not have much variety. Emotions are completely absent. Production and technical values are of a very high standard.

On the whole, high-priced …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya is a film for cities mainly, not having a completely Indian flavour and emotions. It, therefore, will entail most of its distributors to losses. Business in Bombay and South should be better.

Released on 15-8-’97 at Eros and 14 other cinemas of Bombay thru Raj Enterprises. Publicity & opening: excellent. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull in many circuits like U.P., C.P.C.I. but very good in Delhi.

MERE SAPNO KI RANI

Shri Raaghavendra Movie Corporation’s Mere Sapno Ki Rani is a love triangle. Remake of the Telugu blockbuster Pelli Sandadi, it is the story of a boy who romances a girl but is to be married to her elder sister. The film has too much of a hangover of Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, especially in the first half.

The pre-interval portion is light and although the comedy is entertaining, it gets repetitive at times. The real drama starts in the second half and it keeps the audience guessing till the last scene. Two main drawbacks of the film are lack of emotions and an overdose of songs. The drama actually moves ahead through the songs, and the director has conveyed a lot without dialogues and scenes but through songs. This could have appealed immensely had the music been super-hit but that isn’t the case. It is for this reason that at least three to four songs can be advantageously trimmed.

Sanjay Kapoor is quite relaxed and gives a fair performance. Urmila Matondkar is the life of the film. She looks pretty and does a first-rate job as the younger sister in love with Sanjay. Madhoo also looks good and plays the elder sister ably. Of the comedians, Satish Kaushik, Shakti Kapoor and Satish Shah impress the most. Anupam Kher also does well. Laxmikant Berde has limited scope. Asrani, Paintal, Rakesh Bedi and Rajesh Puri evoke laughter with their dialogues. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is restrained. Manmoujee, Dinesh Hingoo, Satyen Kappu, Dina Pathak, Himani Shivpuri, Vandana Ghai, Shalu Kashyap and Anita lend able support.

Raaghavendra Rao’s direction is fair. He should have infused more emotions in the script. Dialogues are quite good. Music is good but given the excessive number of songs, a couple of hits was the need of the film. ‘Yeh pyar yeh pyar’ is the best number, followed by ‘Chamma chakka’, ‘Choli ke peechhe’, ‘Swapna sundari’ and ‘Aaja meri baahon mein’. Song picturisations are very beautiful and eye-filling. Camerawork is also extremely nice. The film looks very colourful because of exceptional locations and colourful costumes. Production values are of a good standard.

On the whole, Mere Sapno Ki Rani has some masala for ladies and families but lack of emotions and an overdose of songs rob it of universal appeal, which will tell on its business prospects. Having taken a lukewarm start at most places, it can hope to fare well in a couple of circuits only. Business in Bombay and Maharashtra should be the best. In the rest of the circuits, it will find the going tough.

Released on 15-8-’97 at Novelty and 15 other cinemas of Bombay thru Balaji Enterprises. Publicity: superb. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor in most circuits and fair in a couple of them. In Delhi, opening was good.

LATEST POSITION

PARDES has met with a mixed reaction and has failed to live up to people’s great expectations…. Both the releases of this week have had lukewarm starts in majority of the circuits.

Pardes started dropping from 3rd/4th day onwards. It has done fair in 1st week in Bombay, Delhi-U.P., East Punjab and South, but dull in Bengal and C.P.C.I. Rajasthan. 1st week Bombay 38,05,494 (94.04%) from 10 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Padra 1,68,495, Jamnagar 96,354; Pune 11,55,664 from 5 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,55,000, Solapur 2,68,610 (90.67%), Satara 1,54,067 (83.68%); Hubli 100%, Belgaum 100%, Dharwad 100%; Delhi 35,18,102 (90.01%) from 8 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 2,70,487 (100%), Agra 2,10,304, Meerut (6 days) 1,83,795, record, Bareilly (6 days) 1,56,513, Gorakhpur 1,72,000 (85.57%); Calcutta (6 days) 17,40,103 from 17 cinemas (15 on F.H.); Nagpur 6,46,550 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,50,135, Akola 1,78,500, Bhilai (6 days) 1,28,159, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,45,988; Bhopal 3,45,386 from 2 cinemas, Ujjain 99,345; Bikaner 2,15,868; Hyderabad 30,61,516 from 12 cinemas (1 in noon, 1 on F.H.), share 17,55,000; Vijayawada 3,34,455, Guntur 1,47,636.

Daadagiri has done quite well in several centres other than major cities. 1st week Bombay 20,46,449 (65.25%) from 12 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Rajkot 49,000; Delhi (6 days) 13,96,162 (55.18%) from 9 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 83,499, Agra 87,037, Meerut 1,05,849, Bareilly 73,090 (47.45%), Gorakhpur 71,000 (47.92%); Calcutta (6 days) 6,44,252 from 10 cinemas; Nagpur 2,49,327 from 4 cinemas, Akola 1,08,094; Indore (6 days) 1,63,640 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,51,439 from 2 cinemas; Jodhpur 2,10,000, Bikaner 85,881; Hyderabad 7,14,376 from 9 cinemas (3 in noon).

……….

Anaconda (dubbed) 3rd week Bombay 5,75,741 (70.68%) from 2 cinemas (3 on F.H.); 1st week Pune 1,45,096; Belgaum 1,21,198 from 2 cinemas; 3rd week Delhi (6 days) 2,39,812; 1st week Lucknow (E.) 1,37,641 (100%), Agra 2,00,113; 3rd Nagpur 2,26,757 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 1,45,553; Vijayawada (E.) 3 weeks’ total 1,50,508.

Yes Boss 4th week Bombay (6 days) 24,43,934 (76.68%) from 9 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Rajkot 82,161 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 46,936, total 2,72,130; Pune 2,98,110 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 77,278 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 3rd week Satara 34,734 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee, 1 in daily 1 show); 4th week Hubli 72,347, Belgaum 73,254, 3rd Karwar 41,267; 4th week Delhi (6 days) 12,60,816 from 6 cinemas; Lucknow 2,00,816, Bareilly 21,850 (14.67%), Gorakhpur 35,000; Rohtak 8,289; Calcutta (6 days) 1,37,958; Nagpur 82,075 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 67,563, total 4,11,431, 3rd week Chandrapur 50,554 (2nd 68,746), total 2,45,961; 4th week Bhopal 84,444; Hyderabad 3,75,199 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon); 1st week Visakhapatnam 1,56,044, Nellore 1,82,668.

Gupt 6th week Bombay (6 days) 9,70,016 (72.38%) from 5 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Jamnagar (matinee) 9,500; Pune 4,62,238 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 74,278, 1st week Barsi 57,302 from 2 cinemas (1 in daily 1 show), 4th week Satara 69,412 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 1st Bijapur 89,600; 6th week Delhi (6 days) 2,70,254; Lucknow (35 shows) 1,43,498, Agra 1,15,890, Bareilly 27,664 (12.60%), Gorakhpur 37,000, 3rd week Hardwar 28,000 (2nd 39,768); 6th week Calcutta (6 days) 1,20,206; Nagpur 74,714, 5th week Amravati 82,593, total 6,79,375, 6th week Akola 35,062, total 4,33,791, Bhilai 30,092, 3rd week Durg 36,749, 5th Jalgaon 43,129; 6th week Indore (6 days) 93,000, Bhopal 65,296; Hyderabad 4,00,901 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon).

Border 9th week Bombay (TF, 6 days) 12,01,290 (77.13%) from 5 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Baroda (TF) 53,648, 7th week Rajkot (TF) 1,25,615, 9th Jamnagar (noon, TF) 10,026; Pune (TF) 6,52,286 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur (TF) 97,324, Solapur (TF, matinee) 34,574, 5th week Barsi (TF, 7 shows) 10,347, 8th Satara (TF, matinee) 13,603; 9th week Belgaum 33,964; Delhi (6 days) 15,91,218 from 8 cinemas (1 unrecd.); Lucknow 2,68,016, Agra 56,460, Gorakhpur 65,000; Rohtak 17,100; Calcutta (6 days) 49,219; Nagpur (TF) 1,35,225, Jabalpur 67,288, total 15,01,621, Akola (TF) 89,224, total 11,09,756, 4th week Bhusawal (TF) 60,000, 2nd week Gondia 72,817, total 1,66,269, 9th Chandrapur (TF) 70,004, 3rd week Sagar (5 days) 44,685; 9th week Indore (6 days) 86,745, Bhopal 91,111; Hyderabad 2,89,852 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon); Vijayawada 2 weeks’ total 4,63,488, Guntur 3,82,902.

‘JUDAAI’ JUBILEE

Boney Kapoor’s Judaai is celebrating silver jubilee at 12 centres this week. The places where it has entered 25th week are Bombay, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Pune, Solapur, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Aurangabad and Latur. Directed by Raj Kanwar, the film stars Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Urmila Matondkar, Kader Khan, Farida Jalal, Paresh Rawal and Johny Lever. Music: Nadeem Shravan. Lyrics: Sameer. It is produced by Surinder Kapoor.

PAKISTAN BESTOWS HIGHEST AWARD ON DILIP KUMAR

Dilip Kumar was honoured with Pakistan’s highest civilian award, ‘Nishan-e-Imtiaz’, on the occasion of the golden jubilee of its Independence. Melody queen of yesteryears, Noorjehan, was similarly honoured.

Dilip Kumar, who is among 59 persons who have been honoured with various Pakistani civilian awards by President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari, is the first Indian actor to have been conferred with the highest Pakistani civilian award. This, despite the fact that the screening of Indian films is banned in Pakistan since 1965.

Simultaneously, at the golden jubilee celebrations of its Independence day, Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif called for peace with India.

Gulshan Kumar Gunned Down By Terrorists

Music industry king Gulshan Kumar was shot dead at about 10.30 a.m. on 12th August by two youths near a temple off the Juhu Versova Link Road at Andheri, Bombay. He was 41 years old.

Four persons, including Gulshan Kumar’s driver, were injured. All four are out of danger.

The music baron was stepping into his Maruti Esteem after offering prayers at a small Shiva temple which he himself had helped build some years ago, when he was pumped with 15 bullets. According to the crime branch of the police, the killers are believed to be members of the Abu Salem faction of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. It is believed that Gulshan Kumar was shot dead because he refused to part with “protection money” of several crores of rupees which the Dubai-based gang wanted to extort.

The assailants are believed to have fired with sten guns. Gulshan Kumar ran for cover towards a neighbouring chawl and tried to enter one of the tenements but a panic-stricken resident shut the door on him. He then tried to enter a nearby room but was followed by the killers who pumped him with bullets. He slumped to the ground, blood oozing out of his body. The killers fled in a taxi after forcing its occupants and driver out of the vehicle.

The bleeding music tycoon was rushed by shocked local residents to Cooper Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

Gulshan Kumar had reportedly sought protection from the Uttar Pradesh police but had made no formal or even verbal complaint to the Bombay police. Due to his business interests in Delhi and Bombay, he kept shuttling between the capital city of India and its commercial capital and maintained houses and offices in both the cities. His bodyguard, provided by the U.P. police, had been absent from work for the past two days due to illness.

Gulshan Kumar’s murder has taken place within 20 days of the abortive bid on the life of director Rajiv Rai. News of Gulshan Kumar’s death spread panic in industry circles. The horrified Bombay film industry observed a Black Day on 13th to protest against the growing insecurity of their members and the growing terrorism. All production activities in Bombay were suspended on Wednesday in a show of solidarity. Cinemas, however, continued to function.

EMOTIONAL FAREWELL FOR GULSHAN KUMAR

The body of Gulshan Kumar was taken from Bombay (where he was gunned down) to Delhi on 13th August and consigned to flames at Nigambodh Ghat the same day. Emotional scenes were witnessed when his son lit the funeral pyre. Earlier, mortal remains of the music industry king were mounted on a bedecked truck which was brought to the ghat in a huge procession from his residence.

SECURITY FOR INDUSTRY PEOPLE BEEFED UP

Perturbed by the spate of threats to the lives of industry people and petrified by the murder of Gulshan Kumar on 12th August by the Abu Salem faction of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, the film industry held a meeting on 13th at IMPPA House to demand police security for it and to protest the killing. The meeting was attended by a number of industry bigwigs.

A delegation of the film industry called on Maharashtra dy. chief minister Gopinath Munde at Mantralaya on 14th August to impress upon the government the need to step up security for film people. Munde, who holds the home portfolio, assured the industry that the state government would not let anybody hold the film industry to ransom. He told press persons that protection was already being given to seven artistes, including Amitabh Bachchan.

Munde also explained that apart from giving protection to individuals, the city police would also be asked to ensure adequate security in and around film studios. He appealed to producers and artistes to inform the police about threats from gangsters, and ensured that protection would be given as soon as complaints were received by the police. He also informed that while one of the four killers of Gulshan Kumar had been arrested on 13th August and remanded to police custody till 27th August by additional chief metropolitan magistrate Veer Singh Taware, the others would be nabbed soon.

AMARLAL CHHABRIA NO MORE

Producer Amarlal P. Chhabria expired on 12th August at a private nursing home in Bombay where he had been admitted for a liver problem. He had not been keeping well since the last few months. He was 58 and is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter and two brothers.

Amarlal had made several films of which Kunwara Baap, directed by Mehmood, was a runaway hit. He also financed Mehmood’s Do Phool and Sabse Bada Rupaiya. He had a long association with Mehmood whose Ginny Aur Johny was also produced by Amarlal Chhabria. Among the other films produced by him are Janta Hawaldar, Patton Ki Bazi, Sannata, Mujhe Shakti Do and Lamboo Dada. At the time of his death, he was producing Honeymoon, a serial for Zee TV.

Amarlal had introduced playback singer Anwar in his Janta Hawaldar. He had also given break to music director Rajesh Roshan in Kunwara Baap.

His chautha was held on 15th August in Bombay.

HARMEET KATHURIA DEAD

Film journalist Harmeet Kathuria passed away in Jammu on 11th August. He had not been keeping good health for quite some time and had gone to Jammu to meet his parents.

Harmeet used to write for several magazines. Many years ago, he used to write the column ‘Information Meets’ in Film Information in which he used to interview film personalities. Harmeet was a bold writer and used to write as fearlessly as he used to speak bluntly.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Haseena Maan Jayegi’ Shooting Starts

Director David Dhawan will start the initial shooting schedule of Rahul Productions’ Haseena Maan Jayegi on Aug. 17 in Bombay. Many scenes will be picturised in a bungalow at Madh Island and different locations, featuring Govinda, Satish Kaushik and Kader Khan. Sanjay Dutt and Karisma Kapoor play the other leading roles. One more heroine is to be finalised. Anupam Kher plays a key role in the film which is being presented by Bharat Shah and produced by Smita Thackeray. Music by Nadeem Shravan, story-screenplay by Yunus Sejawal and Imteyaz Hussain, lyrics by Sameer, dialogues by Rumi Jafri, cinematography by K.S. Prakash, editing by A. Muthu, and sound by Vinod Potdar are the other major credits.

‘Gharwali Baharwali’ In Nepal, Hyderabad

Director David Dhawan will start a month-long shooting schedule of Tutu Films’ Gharwali Baharwali from Aug. 20 in Nepal and Hyderabad. A song and many scenes will be picturised featuring all the artistes. With the conclusion of this schedule, the entire talkie portion of the film will be complete. Starring Anil Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Rambha, Satish Kaushik and Kader Khan, the film is being produced by Tutu Sharma. It has music by Anu Malik, and is being written by Rumi Jafri. Cinematography by K.S. Prakash, editing by A. Muthu, lyrics by Nitin, and art by Ashok Kumar are the other major credits.

‘Hindustan Ki Kasam’ On Indo-Pak Border

Devgans Films’ Hindustan Ki Kasam is currently being shot in Delhi, Agra, at the Golden temple in Amritsar and the Indo-Pakistan border. The proceedings and celebrations of 50 years of India’s independence are being captured on camera in Delhi and Agra for the film. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Sushmita Sen, Farida Jalal, Shakti Kapoor, Shahbaaz Khan, Navin Bawa and Gulshan Grover. It is being produced and directed by Veeru Devgan, and presented by Bharat Shah. Writer: Janak Hriday. Music: Sukhwindara Singh. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi.

YOU ASKED IT

When you earn foreign exchange in US dollars as licence fee for export of films, what benefits do you get, now that the system of granting of import licences against such earnings has been discontinued?

– The exporter gets duty drawback to the tune of about Rs. 7,500/- to Rs. 9,000/-per print.

Why did a film like …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya have a bumper advance booking in Bombay and Delhi but not get even a decent opening in C.P. and C.I.?

– The craze for the film was mainly due to Aishwarya Rai, the ex-Miss World. The concept of beauty queens is quite alien (yes, it’s true!) in towns and smaller places. Secondly, even though it stars Bobby Deol, the film is a love story devoid of action.

Don’t you think the percentage ratios of various circuits need to be re-defined?

– Yes, if you look at the businesses of recent releases like GUPT, PARDES, JUDAAI, MAACHIS, KOYLA, YES BOSS, HERO NO. 1, etc., you will notice that businesses of the various circuits don’t match their ratios. Therefore, percentages of the different circuits need re-definition.

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Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Panic As Never Before

The film industry is in the grip of panic as never before, following the murder of Gulshan Kumar. Its members have been receiving threatening calls, and the attempt on Rajiv Rai’s life three weeks back had sent shock waves in the industry. The gunning down of music baron and producer Gulshan Kumar on 12th August has left the industry completely speechless. Financiers, especially, are withdrawing as they don’t want to come in the limelight. Repercussions of Gulshan Kumar’s murder are going to be felt for months to come as the already tight money market will become tighter still. Tough days are ahead for the industry.

Bobby’s Hat-Trick In C.I.

So, Bobby Deol has completed his hat-trick. …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya is his third release and this one too, like his earlier two films (Barsaat and Gupt) did not get a decent opening in C.I. Poor Bobby, he had better visit the Mahakaal temple in Ujjain (which falls in C.I. territory). Maybe, thereafter, his films will get better openings in C.I. By the way, …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya had a dull opening (on Thursday) in C.P. Berar and U.P., too.

A ‘Ban’tastic Award

That Dilip Kumar has been honoured with the highest civilian award of Pakistan, ‘Nishan-e-Imtiaz’, is a matter of joy for the whole of India. After all, it is the first time that an Indian actor has been conferred with the award. But it is also paradoxical that while Pakistan has chosen an Indian actor to receive the award, it has banned the screening of Indian films since 1965. Dilip Kumar or, for that matter, no Indian star is permitted to act in a Pakistani film or even perform on stage in that country. On the other hand, India has permitted Pakistani artistes to act in Indian films and also perform in India. Quite rightly then has Film Federation of India (FFI) secretary K.D. Shorey remarked, “Dilip Kumar should either decline to accept the Pakistani award or use the opportunity to make the Pakistani government lift its over-30-year-old ban on the Indian films and artistes.”

Urmila’s South Connections

Urmila Matondkar, who shot to stardom with Rangeela, has had South connections ever since. Rangeela was directed by South-based Ramgopal Varma. Her next release, Judaai, was the remake of a Telugu hit, Shubhlagnam. Mere Sapno Ki Rani, released this week, is also a remake — that of the Telugu blockbuster, Pelli Sandadi. And due for release next week is Daud, again directed by Ramgopal Varma. Incidentally, Varma has just recently shifted base to Bombay.

PARDES

Mukta Arts Pvt. Ltd.’s Pardes is the story of two cultures — Indian and Western. Using a love triangle as the base, the virtues of Indian culture vis-à-vis Western culture are sought to be highlighted. The film, from the very beginning, appears to be heavily inspired by Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and, to some extent, by Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!.

A young girl, living in a town in North India, wins the confidence of a non-resident Indian (NRI) friend of her father because of her rich traditional values. He proposes his son, settled abroad, as a match for the girl, and it falls upon the NRI friend’s foster-son (also settled abroad) to get the girl and boy close. The prospective groom hates India and is completely Western at heart, while the foster-son, though living abroad, cherishes Indian values. The engagement ceremony takes place in India, and the girl accompanies her fiancé and to-be father-in-law abroad. Once there, she gets a cultural shock and realises slowly but surely that she would never be able to fit into the Western society. She starts breaking under the pressure, and a situation arises when she is forced to break all shackles and run away to protect her honour. All along, she looks upon the foster-son for mental comfort and physical protection and, in fact, comes back to India with him. Once in India, she realises, he is the man of her dreams and proposes marriage to him. After a lot of reluctance (mainly because the guy is too indebted to his foster-father), he agrees to take the girl as his wife.

The first half is replete with light moments, some of them hilarious and truly enjoyable. Of course, a couple of comedy punches are such as would appeal to the city audience more. The film becomes slow after interval and even begins to drag in the last hour or so. That is when the length of the film (running time: approximately 3 hours and 10 minutes) and its loose editing start irritating. Besides, due to the absence of super-hit music, the lengthy second half also offers no real relief.

While the story is quite likeable, the screenplay leaves something to be desired. For one, the writers and director have played too safe in establishing the love of the girl for the foster-son, perhaps, for fear that the subject should not begin to look immoral. Secondly, there is no heroism of the hero (foster-son) who remains a passive character almost till the end. The only sentiment he is shown to have towards the girl is that born out of protecting her in a foreign land. Sentiments for India have been intelligently highlighted but, at times, they also look too contrived. The kabaddi scene, though initiated on a weak base, is thoroughly enjoyable. The scene in which the heroine slaps her fiancé is also very good. Her conversation on telephone, with her father, touches the heart.

Dialogues are very good at several places. But the heroine’s free usage of main sometimes and hum at other times (when she talks in first person) does not befit the canvas of the film and the names behind it.

Shah Rukh Khan underplays brilliantly and excels as the foster-son. But he definitely ought to have had at least a couple of scenes to prove his heroism. Unfortunately, although there’s no similarity, Shah Rukh’s character in the film reminds of his character in the recently released Yes Boss. Debutante Mahima Chaudhary makes up for her lack of glamour and innocence (the latter was the demand of the character she plays) with a confident and appreciable performance. Apurva Agnihotri also makes a very good debut and suits the role beautifully. Amrish Puri is efficient as always, but one misses him at places in the second half. Alok Nath is just too good. Himani Shivpuri goes through her role with effortless ease. Dina Pathak, Padmavati Rao, Madhuri Bhatia, Benu Kalsi, Pawan Malhotra, Anand Balraj, Deepak Qazir, Vinod Raut, Smita Jaykar and Akash Singh lend admirable support. Aditya Narayan, Rakesh Thareja, Samta Sagar, Prachi Save, master Nagrath, Shashi Sharma and the rest are good.

Subhash Ghai’s direction has his brilliant touches at several places. But his script should have been tighter and should have also given more definite colour to the main characters rather than leaving them grey. Too much usage of English in some comedy punches restricts their entertainment value for the city audience only. Even the film as a whole holds more appeal for the class audience.

Nadeem Shravan’s music is very good but in a Subhash Ghai film, the audience expects magical music as a matter of right, and that is absent. ‘I love my India’ and ‘Meri Mehbooba’ songs are musically the best and their picturisatons are also very nice. ‘Dil deewana dil’ is tuneful and its picturisation takes one on a trip of America. The qawwali is good but its impact is reduced due to the intervening dialogues and action (stunts). ‘Do dil mil rahe hain’ is melodious. Kabir Lal’s camerawork is simply marvellous. The foreign locations have been captured excellently on celluloid. Photography and lighting of India locations are also brilliant. Art direction (R. Verman) is good. Dolby sound is superb. Background music (Vanraj Bhatia) is very effective but is also found missing in some crucial scenes. Editing, as mentioned earlier, is loose, and the film deserves to be trimmed by at least 10 to 15 minutes to take care of both, the dull moments as well as the odd show timings (due to the length of the film). In fact, if the producer does not effect cuts soon, some of the distributors and exhibitors may do it themselves.

On the whole, lengthy Pardes is not a landmark film (although it had the germs) but it has some merits, some freshness, an entertaining first half and nationalist sentiments to appeal to the audience and bring in some returns for most of its distributors. It shouldn’t be shocking, however, if it fails to recover its cost in a circuit or two due to lack of opening and craze. Business in cities will be the best. Extraneous factors like a fantastic (holiday) period ahead will improve the film’s prospects.

Released on 8-8-’97 at Minerva and 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru Metro Films. Publicity: good (but unduly low-key except in Bombay and major cities). Opening: bumper. …….Also released all over. Opening was good in most of the circuits but dull in C.I. (1st day Indore about 70%, Gwalior about 55%, Bhopal about 90%, Dewas 50%) and so-so in Orissa. Except in C.I. and Orissa, the film was released everywhere (U.P. and C.P. Berar also) on Friday.

TAMIL FILM INDUSTRY TALKS WITH CM FAIL AGAIN

The 5-hour meeting between Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi and representatives of the various sections of the Tamil film industry, in Madras to arrive at a solution to end the over 2-month old strike in the Tamil film world ended in a stalemate on 7th August again.

After the talks, the chief minister appealed to the two main warring factions — the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) and the Tamil Nadu Creators and Film Employees Federation (TANCIFEF) — to not disrupt the others’ film shooting. He also warned both the groups against violence.

ON THURSDAY IN C.I.

Subhash Ghai’s Pardes was planned to be released all over India on Friday (August 8). The U.P., C.P. Berar and C.I. distributors also agreed to Ghai’s request to release the film on Friday instead of the conventional Thursday there. But the C.I. distributor went back on his words and opened the film on Thursday (August 7) in Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Ujjain and Dewas. While he had not given the exhibitors a definite date (he said, it could be Thursday or Friday), he advertised in the press publicities that Pardes would be releasing on Thursday. Another circuit where the film was released on Thursday is Orissa.

BAN ON ENTRY OF BURKHA-CLAD WOMEN IN CINEMAS FAILS

More than 100 women activists, opposed to burkha-clad women frequenting cinemas, organised a silent protest in front of Santosh 70mm cinema in Hyderabad on 31st July. The activists requested burkha-clad women not to enter the cinema premises. The move, however, did not evoke any resentment among cinegoers as some of them returned home without entering the cinema premises. It may be recalled that the Tehreek Muslim Shabban has imposed a ban on the entry of burkha-clad women in cinemas from 1st August.

The Shabban, in association with some Muslim women’s organisations, also took out a car rally from Mecca mosque on 1st August to educate and urge Muslim women to comply with its ban. The Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samakhya strongly condemned the stand taken by the Shabban, terming its arguments as “unconvincing”. Several burkha-clad women could be seen arguing with the ban supporters in cinemas coming under the limits of the old city of Hyderabad.

‘BORDER’ TAX-FREE IN GUJARAT

J.P. Dutta’s Border has been granted tax exemption in Gujarat for a period of 54 weeks from 1st August. The film is being screened at tax-free rates with effect from 8th.

RECORDIST BABURAO BHALCHANDRA NO MORE

Senior sound recordist Baburao Bhalchandra expired on 23rd June in Bombay after a brief illness. He was 91 and was the founder of the Western India Motion Picture & Television Sound Engineers Association.

Baburao had recorded the sound of more than 100 films and was considered a specialist in song recording. He was the first honorary general secretary of the WIMPSEA and was associated with it for many years. Even after his retirement, he used to enquire about the welfare of the Association’s members and its activities. Only a few months before his death, a meeting of the Association was held at his residence at Kandivli, Bombay, for framing the guidelines for the disbursement of the interest earned from fixed deposit in the WIMPSEA Welfare Trust.

SANJAY KAPOOR IN AURANGABAD

Sanjay Kapoor was in Aurangabad on 7th August en route to Shirdi. At a press meet there, he expressed confidence that his Mere Sapno Ki Rani, due for release next week, would prove to be a major hit. The press conference was organised by Ravi Machhar who is distributing Mere Sapno Ki Rani in Nizam.

YOU ASKED IT

Why has the sale of music cassettes, in general, declined? Is it due to the high prices of cassettes?

– To an extent, yes. Pricing a cassette at Rs. 45 and 50 is not advisable unless the music is exceptionally good.

Why have so many big filmmakers of yesteryears turned to television?

– For two reasons. Television is equally, and sometimes more, paying. Secondly, the veteran filmmakers find it impossible to make films today under the one- and two-hour-shift system. They are used to making films with passion and that is possible when stars are at one’s disposal.

I had sold the satellite rights of my film to Mr. X for five years. He, in turn, sold them to a channel for seven years. Does the channel have the right to telecast my film after 5 years.

– No, because Mr. X has sold to the channel something which he does not possess. The rights of the channel will be for five years only.

CENSOR NEWS

Varma Creations’ Daud was given C.C. (in Hyderabad) No. CIL/4/65/97 (A) dt. 1-8-’97; length 4733.96 metres in 18 reels (with cuts).

Essem Entertainment Inc.’s …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya was given C.C. No. CIL/1/33/97 (U) dt. 6-8-’97; length 4339.13 metres in 16 reels.

Shri Raaghavendra Movie Corporations’ Mere Sapno Ki Rani was given C.C. (in Hyderabad) No. CIL/61/68/97 (U) dt. 7-8-’97; length 4310.30 metres in 15 reels (cuts: 5.71 metres).

Paramount Films of India Ltd.’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park (dubbed) was given C.C. No. CFS/2/38/97 (UA) dt. 7-8-’97; length 52.28 metres.

Yashish Enterprises’ Bhai has been passed for adults, with cuts.

HERE & THERE

Fresh Summons To Sunny, Karisma

The additional chief judicial magistrate (railway), Jaipur, Anil Kumar Sarolia, issued fresh summons to Sunny Deol, Karisma Kapoor and others, as they failed to appear in the court on 1st August due to non-service of summons. The judge found four members of the unit of Bajrang, including Sunny and Karisma, prima facie “guilty of causing delay to the train unauthorisedly”. The CJM has asked railway officers as well as the commissioner of police, Mumbai, to ensure that summons were served. The CJM has ordered that the summons also be sent by registered post to their residences.

MIX MASALA

INVITATION ON A PLATTER

If the occasion is the launch of a music cassette entitled ‘Khichdi’, it is only appropriate that the invitation should come in the form of a plate and spoon. Tips sent out invitations for the release of Ila Arun’s ‘Khichdi’ audio cassette on 8th August, in the form of a cute chinaware plate and a spoon. The invitation message, pasted on the plate, was to a ‘hot hot evening’ and went on to mention that Ila Arun’s ‘Khichdi’ “is being served at Harbour Hall, Hotel Centaur”.

PASSPORT TO PARDES

Ajay Chudasama, who has completely renovated his Ajay cinema at Bhavnagar, held a premiere show of Pardes on 7th August at the new-look cinema now called Rajshri. And very appropriately, the invitation card for the show of Pardes has come in the form of a passport — a passport to Pardes. The invitation passport mentions the airport’s name as Rajshri Cinema, Bhavnagar.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Audience Goes Crazy

Barely has the publicity of Yash Chopra’s new film, Dil To Pagal Hai, started and the public has already begun to go berserk. A huge poster of the film, showing Madhuri Dixit, Shah Rukh Khan ad Karisma Kapoor, was put up at Gaiety cinema, Bandra, Bombay, earlier this week, but since it was in a showcase close to the main entrance of the cinema, it was hindering the free passage of audience as huge crowds used to gather around the showcase to admire the poster. Barely had 24 hours elapsed when the cinema management had to put up the poster elsewhere near the entrance. Wow! that’s some craze for the film due for release on Diwali.

Life-Saving Suit

Producer Rahul Gupta’s Hum Panchi Ek Daal Ke is about 80% complete after the 35-day-long shooting schedule in the USA, which, incidentally, has become famous for the camera which sank in the river while the shooting was on. Rahul doesn’t curse his luck for the mishap but instead thanks the Lord that no lives were lost in it. The crew on the raft, which was holding the camera in the river, comprised all foreigners as an Indian second-unit cameraman missed joining them because his wet suit (everyone is required to wear a wet suit before getting on to the raft) was not available on hand and the foreigners didn’t fancy wasting even 15 minutes for him till he got his wet suit from a place 2 kms. away. The second-unit cameraman, who was earlier cribbing on being left out, heaved a sigh of relief for the same reason when he heard of the accident.

Of ‘Pardes’ At Trimurti

The management of Trimurti Talkies, Ujjain, it seems, enjoys discontinuing running films despite good collections, to accommodate new ones. It recently discontinued Tamanna which was being screened at Trimurti, despite share-yielding collections, and released Himalay Putra in its place. This week again, the management, in a very unbusinesslike manner, discontinued Mrityudand without the permission of its distributor and in spite of fair collections, to make way for Pardes. In the trade, it is believed that if a running film is discontinued despite good collections, the new film, which comes in its place, does not do well. Sure enough, the collections of Pardes at Trimurti Talkies were poor on Thursday and Friday.

Applause for ‘Dus’ From US

A US senator has given a perfect 10 to Mukul Anand’s magnum opus, Dus, which is currently being shot at the Salt Lake city in Utah, of course, with the active support of the US government.

The film, set against the backdrop of Operation Topac (a covert Indian initiative to flush out terrorists from the Charar-e-Sharief mosque in May 1995), has won a round of applause from an unlikely quarter. US senator Orrin G. Flash hailed the film as an answer to the 50-year-old Indo-Pak problem over Kashmir. “When completed, the film will be an important message of world peace,” he said in a communique dated July 31. The senator extended his recommendations to the Utah city Bureau of Land Management chief William Lamb, for all possible support to Mukul Anand’s unit which is in the USA.

A major part of the film is being shot in the USA with stars Vinod Khanna, Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, Shilpa Shetty, Ashish Vidyarthi, Akash Khurana Jaspal Bhatti and Rahul Dev. Sanjay Dutt is likely to join the unit on 9th August.

TARAZU

Vee Vee Combines’ Tarazu (A) is yet another Akshay Kumar starrer with an oft-repeated and routine story which makes it look like other Akshay starrers released in recent times. It has the same good versus evil drama. On the good side are a police inspector, his brother, his sister-in-law, his beloved and his Muslim doctor. The evil force is represented by a don and his son. When the police inspector is not able to get justice in the court of law, he takes law into his hands and wipes out the evil forces one by one. So as not to come in the eyes of the police, the inspector is declared to be in a coma in hospital even while he actually exterminates the villains.

The story and screenplay are both quite childish. Several incidents are repetitive in the sense that they’ve been seen in earlier films. An attempt is made to make the drama light in the first half but if a few scenes entertain, several others fail to even get a smile on the lips. Situations have been forcibly created to raise laughter and that’s what is jarring. Further, the light scenes have been stretched too much, thereby robbing them of their humour value. A conscious attempt is also made to bring in communal sentiments but they hardly surface. Emotions are completely absent and even the romance is not very lively. Dialogues are okay.

Akshay Kumar continues to shine in action scenes and not impress in acting. Sonali Bendre’s performance is not too consistent. While she is good in some comedy scenes, she isn’t effective in others. Amrish Puri does not have much scope to leave a mark, and he actually disappoints if only because of that. Mohnish Bahl is quite nice. Kader Khan is alright as the Muslim doctor. Ranjeet, Shashi Sharma, Anil Dhawan, Rana Jung Bahadur, K.K. Raj, Anil Nagrath and Ajay Chadha fill the bill. Tej Sapru, Tiku Talsania, Harish Patel, Guddi Maruti and Dinesh Hingoo lend good support.

Direction is so-so. Director Vimal Kumar fails to inspire his cast to come up with effective performances. Rajesh Roshan’s music is good. ‘Ae deewane dil’ and ‘Haseena gori gori’ are very well-tuned numbers and the picturisation of the latter song is beautiful. Other song picturisations could have been better. ‘Su su su’ and ‘Chal ganne ke khet mein’ are, however, ordinary numbers. Action scenes have been well-composed. Editing needed to be much sharper. Camerawork is eye-pleasing. Background music is poor at places.

On the whole, Tarazu is too routine a fare to catch the fancy of the audience and will, therefore, find it difficult to touch the average mark.

Released on 1-8-’97 at Novelty and 20 other cinemas of Bombay thru Ahuja Films. Publicity: good. Opening: average. …….Also released all over. Opening was below expectations at several places.

LATEST POSITION

Heavy rains in many parts of the country have adversely affected box-office collections. …….Except for ANACONDA (dubbed), which has fared excellently, none of last week’s releases could make any mark at the ticket windows.

Lav Kush proves a total disaster. Its Bengali version, however, is excellent. 1st week Bombay 2,64,400 (25.66%) from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Solapur about 23,500; Delhi 3,20,050 (28.38%) from 4 cinemas; Agra 50,565, Allahabad 25,000, Gorakhpur 48,000, Hardwar 49,000; Calcutta 1,30,970 from 2 cinemas; Indore 75,000 from 2 cinemas; Jodhpur 1,06,000, Bikaner 35,657.

…………

Anaconda (dubbed) has done extremely well. 1st week Bombay 10,63,168 (75.84%) from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Pune 3,28,115 from 3 cinemas; Meerut 1,61,398; Nagpur 2,39,457 (100%); Hyderabad 3,30,832 (100%), Aurangabad 100%; Vijayawada (English version) 3,53,318 (100%).

Yes Boss drops further in Delhi-U.P., East Punjab, Bengal and C.P.C.I. Rajasthan but is very good in Bombay and South. 2nd week Bombay 26,88,661 (88%) from 8 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Rajkot 1,27,200 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 83,565; Pune 6,40,683 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,08,467 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 1st week Satara 92,882 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 2nd week Hubli 1,12,365, Belgaum 98,356; Delhi 35,85,252 (69.76%) from 11 cinemas; Lucknow 2,55,934, Allahabad 93,000, Gorakhpur 75,000 (1st 1,05,000); Calcutta 7,41,306 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 2,60,771 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 96,606, total 2,68,732, Amravati 92,623, Akola 64,800 (1st 1,18,108), Raipur 1,22,438, Bhilai 71,906, 1st week Chandrapur 1,26,662, 2nd Yavatmal (18 shows) 37,364; Bhopal 2,25,011 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 3,34,063 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 11,66,227 from 4 cinemas.

…………

Gupt 4th week Bombay 21,58,933 (66.83%) from 9 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Vapi 91,794, total 11,02,985, Rajkot 1,48,650, Jamnagar 48,465; Pune 6,84,552 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 96,914, 2nd week Satara 1,09,433 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 4th week Delhi 6,12,550 (61.03%) from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 1,92,455, Agra 1,38,000, Allahahad 88,050, Gorakhpur 51,000 (3rd 82,000), 1st week Hardwar 90,000; 4th week Calcutta 4,51,150 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur 1,03,213, 3rd Amravati 1,16,381, total 4,90,918, 4th week Akola 56,450 (3rd 73,986), Raipur 86,448, total 5,93,815, Bhilai 38,484, 1st week Durg (9 days) 83,134, 3rd week Jalgaon 73,000, 4th Gondia 26,200, total 1,96,024, Chandrapur 58,183, Yavatmal (18 shows) 9,683; Indore 1,34,406, Bhopal 85,984; Jaipur 4,38,216; Hyderabad 5,75,802 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon); Vijayawada 1,85,146, 2 weeks’ total at Visakhapatnam 3,91,832, Guntur 2,86,247.

Border 7th week Bombay (TF) 22,38,686 (76.41%) from 8 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Baroda 65,979, Rajkot 91,656, total 10,68,429, Jamnagar (noon) 16,575; Pune (TF) 6,89,933 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee, TF) 31,761, 3rd week Barsi (TF) 32,340, total 1,22,992, 6th Satara (TF) 64,829 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 7th Belgaum 41,956; Delhi 34,19,672 from 13 cinemas; 6th week Lucknow 2,87,080, 7th week Agra 78,760, Allahabad 74,000, Gorakhpur 79,000 (6th 87,000); Calcutta 2,52,039 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur (TF) 1,81,421 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 85,706, total 13,70,567, Amravati (TF) 1,20,441, Akola (TF) 1,09,980 (6th 80,539), total 9,13,817, Raipur 53,424, Bhilai 37,485, Chandrapur (TF) 65,650, total 9,62,478, Yavatmal (TF, 17 shows) 17,661; Indore 1,09,840, Bhopal 1,05,098; Jaipur 2,29,474, Bikaner 29,462; Hyderabad 3,71,744 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon).

RAJIV RAI ESCAPES BID ON LIFE

Director Rajiv Rai escaped a bid on his life at his office at Tardeo, Bombay, on the evening of 31st July when five assailants entered his office, planning to kill him. Rajiv, who had been receiving threatening telephone calls for ‘protection money’, had a personal bodyguard (a police constable) in his office. The constable injured one of the five assailants who has been arrested. Two more persons in connection with the murder bid were arrested later.

FWA FELICITATES GULZAR, JAVED AKHTAR

The Film Writers’ Association felicitated two of its members — Gulzar and Javed Akhtar — on 27th July at Hotel Sands for being honoured with the National Awards this year for Maachis and Saaz respectively.

Ramanand Sagar, the founder-member of the Association, was the chief guest. B.R. Chopra, Prakash Mehra and Sultan Ahmed were guests of honour.

Ramanand Sagar presented trophies and shawls to Gulzar and Javed Akhtar. B.R. Chopra presented a trophy to Hassan Kamal for the U.P. government’s Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad award. Ali Sardar Jaffery was the recipient of the Maharashtra government’s Urdu Academy award trophy which was accepted on his behalf by FWA president Ali Raza from Sultan Ahmed. Prakash Mehra gave the Ramakrishna Jaydayal Harmony award trophy to Nida Fazli, which was accepted on the latter’s behalf by FWA general secretary Tej Nath Zar.

Qamar Jalalabadi, Hassan Kamal, Ved Rahi and Jainendra Jain paid glowing tributes to Gulzar and Javed Akhtar. Hassan Kamal said that of all the awards received by a writer, the award from co-writers was the best. Jainendra Jain praised the two writers and said that they had done the other writers a favour by not compromising on their writings, as now, all the other writers could quote the examples of Gulzar and Javed Akhtar whenever a producer asked them to write something vulgar. Ved Rahi felt that the initial criticism of Maachis as being one-sided, was incorrect. Qamar Jalalabadi also paid glowing tributes to the two writers and was thanked by Javed Akhtar whom he called “naujawan”. According to Javed, he had not been called “naujawan” for many years now.

The function ended with a vote of thanks by Ali Raza and Tej Nath Zar. Tabassaum compered the function.

SANJAY DUTT’S PLEA REJECTED

The designated TADA court on 1st August rejected a petition filed by Sanjay Dutt, seeking permission to visit Salt Lake in the USA for the shooting of a film.

NEW CINEMA OPENS IN HUBLI

Sri Laxmi Narayan Chitra Mandir, a new cinema in Hubli, opened on 31st July. Shruthi Haakida Hejje (Kannada) is the opening attraction. The cinema is equipped with Monee Ultra Stereophonic sound.

CAA TO HONOUR ARTISTES AT AGM ON 15TH

The 39th annual general meeting of The Cine Artistes’ Association will be held on 15th August at 10.30 a.m. at Holiday Inn.

A felicitation function will also be held on the occasion when ex-presidents of the CAA, some veteran artistes and award winners will be honoured.

The ex-presidents to be honoured are late Jagdish Sethi, late Gajanan Jagirdar and late Iftekhar Ahmed. The veterans who will be honoured for their contributions are: Achla Sachdev, Agha Jaan (posthumously), Bibi Almas, Janki Das, Karan Dewan (posthumously), Madhubala (posthumously), Meena Kumari (posthumously), Mumtaz Ali (posthumously), Nalini Jaywant, Pradeep Kumar, Raj Kumari, Shobhna Samarth, Sulochana, Trilok Kapoor (posthumously), Usha Kiran and Veena.

Mithun Chakraborty will be honoured for bagging a National Award for the best supporting actor for Swami Vivekanand. Tabu and Rajeshwari will be honoured for receiving the National Awards for the best actress (Maachis) and the best supporting actress (Sardari Begum) respectively. Mohan Joshi, who bagged the Maharashtra government’s award for the best actor for the Marathi film, Rao Saheb, will also be honoured.

Mithun will be specially felicitated for strengthening the film trade union movement. Nitish Bharadwaj will also be felicitated for winning the Lok Sabha elections last year. The CAA’s legal advisor, P.K. Pandit, will be specially felicitated in recognition of his legal assistance rendered over the years.

Kamini Kaushal will be the chief guest.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR FILM ON NATIONAL INTEGRATION

Producer P.V. Gangadharan has bagged the National Award for the best film on national integration for his Malayalam film, Kanakkinave.

‘JEENE BHI DO YAARO’ JUBILEE

Media Entertainment Company’s sitcom, Jeene Bhi Do Yaaro, which is aired on Friday at 8 p.m. on STAR Plus, celebrates its silver jubilee this week. It features Madhavan, Sandhya, Rushali R., Shubha Khote, Raju Kher, Rajesh Khera, Kamia Malhotra and Aparna.Trophies were presented to the technical team and crew, at a private gathering this weekend.

It is conceived and directed by Akashdeep, and edited by Sanjay Walia.

CHANDRAKANT SANGANI NO MORE

Veteran writer-producer-director Chandrakant Sangani died on 28th July in Bombay at Nanavati Hospital following heart failure. He was 68 and is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.

Chandrakant Sangani had produced and directed 14 Gujarati films including Mare Javoon Bele Paar, Jigar Ane Amee, Tana Riri etc. He had also produced and directed one Hindi film, Gunahon Ki Shatranj.

He had played the hero in Jamai Raja (Gujarati) opposite Bindu in 1963. He was also the villain in Mehandi Rang Lagyo (Gujarati) which starred Rajendra Kumar. He also did bit roles in Hindi films.

Chandrakant Sangani had won eleven awards of the Gujarat state government for his films, direction and writing. He used to direct full-length dramas from 1948 to 1970 and also acted in about 80 stage-plays, besides directing about 50. Sangani had written a Gujarati novel, ‘Kholana Khudnar’.

NARAYAN RAJGOR SUCCUMBS TO INJURY

Veteran Gujarati film and stage actor Narayan Rajgor died at a hospital in Baroda on 28th July after receiving bullet injuries in a dummy firing during the shooting of Govindbhai Patel’s Desh Re Joya Dada Pardesh Joya at Lucky Studios, Halol. Uthamna was held in Bombay on 31st.

Rajgor was injured when Feroz Irani fired a dummy bullet at him in the studio on 25th July. The scene being picturised required Feroz to aim a revolver at Narayan Rajgor’s head but fire it in the air. Due to a miscalculation, Feroz pressed the trigger of the pistol even while it was pointing towards Rajgor’s head. The dummy bullet made a two-inch deep wound on the 68-year-old actor’s forehead and he had to be rushed to Mayo Hospital in Baroda. He slipped into a coma instantly and never recovered thereafter. He breathed his last on 28th in the hospital, and his body was flown to his residence in Bombay after a post-mortem.

Feroz Irani, producer-director Govindbhai Patel and the other unit members have been given a clean chit by the police following an inquiry. The deceased’s family has given an affidavit stating that they had no doubt that the cause of the death was an accident.

Narayan Rajgor had acted in over 150 films, besides a number of stage-plays. Some of his films are Dada O Dikri, Son Kansari, Patli Parmar, Saajan Ne Sathware, Laju Lakhan, Prem Na Bandhan, Raj Rajvan etc. He had played a bit role in the recently released Hindi film, Do Aankhen Barah Hath. He had received a number of Gujarat government’s state awards.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

ANNOUNCEMENT & LAUNCHING

Mahesh Bhatt To Direct Gulshan Kumar’s Next

Producer Gulshan Kumar has signed Mahesh Bhatt to direct Super Cassettes Industries Ltd.’s next. Kishan Kumar plays the male lead. Other cast and credits are being finalised.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Stree 420’ Is Now ‘Chachi 420’

The title of Raajkamal Films International’s Stree 420 has been changed to Chachi 420. It is almost complete and is being readied for an early release. Presented by Kamal Haasan and Jhamu Sughand and directed by Kamal Haasan for producer Saab John, the film stars Kamal Haasan, Tabu, Amrish Puri, Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Ayesha Julka, Nassar and Raj Zutshi. Lyrics and dialogues: Gulzar. Music: Vishal Bhardwaj.

YOU ASKED IT

How sensible is it to release three big films – Pardes, …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya and Daud – one after the other?

– Very senseless!

Is it true that Indra Kumar is having second thoughts about picturising a song of Ishq on Amitabh Bachchan?

– Not true at all. The song will be picturised on Amitabh, as planned.

How many films is Tips producing currently?

– Six films of Tips are at different stages of production. They are ALBELA, FRIENDS, JAB PYAR KISI SE HOTA HAI, KUNWARA, KACHCHE DHAAGE and SOLDIER.

DO YOU KNOW?

* A vinyl hoarding of PARDES is the first of its kind to be put up in Rajkot near Mahila College. The 40 ft. x 20 ft. hoarding, showing Shah Rukh Khan and Mahima Chaudhary, is attracting a lot of public attention.

* Although producers Pranlal Mehta and Vijay Mehta have prepared five promotional trailers for their YUGPURUSH, only three will be aired on satellite channels. The video copies of the five trailers will be sent to distributors of the film to select the best three. The three selected ones will then be telecast on satellite channels.

HERE & THERE

Stars In Trouble For Stopping Train

After bandit queen-turned-MP Phoolan Devi, it is now the stars who have been charged of stopping a train for more than 25 minutes. A railway magistrate of Jaipur issued summons to Karisma Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Satish Shah and director Tinnu Verma to appear before him on August 1 for allegedly stopping a passenger train at Narena station for a film shooting in March this year. The magistrate took congnisance of a complaint filed by the assistant station master of Narena station that the stars and the director unauthorisedly pulled the chain of Link Express on March 11 to shoot a scene for their film, Bajrang. The complaint alleged that the train was stopped for more than 25 minutes, disrupting traffic on the route and causing inconvenience to the passengers.

Jaya Prada Ahead Of Sridevi In Income-Tax Arrears

South-based film stars were named in the Rajya Sabha on 29th July for their income-tax dues. Jaya Prada tops a list of 15 stars who owe income-tax in excess of Rs. 10 lakh each, with tax arrears of Rs. 1.13 crore. Next on the list is R. Gundamani with arrears of Rs. 78.97 lakh, and Sridevi owing Rs. 77.44 lakh. Others in the list are Senthil (Rs. 41.36 lakh), Murlikanthan (Rs. 24.31 lakh), Vijayashanti (Rs. 22.22 lakh), Arjun (Rs. 19.63 lakh), Soundarya (Rs. 17.27 lakh), R. Raja Babu (Rs. 15.45 lakh), and Srividya and Khushboo (Rs. 12.13 lakh each). Minister of state for finance Satpal Maharaj gave this information in reply to a question by R.M. Kumar.

Notices Issued To Vacate Five Delhi Cinemas

The Delhi authorities have become more vigilant with regard to safety in cinema halls after the Uphaar cinema tragedy. This week, notices have been issued by the Delhi Municipal Corporation to five cinemas to vacate their premises within five days, for violation of building bye-laws. The five cinemas are: Archana (which has been given ten days’ time because it also houses New Delhi Television Ltd. which produces STAR News), Paras, Virat, Sapna and Sangam.

Laughter, The Best Medicine

Here are some jokes to keep you smiling for the entire week:
Akshay Kumar’s new title: Rich man’s Mithun Chakraborty. At the rate at which his films are bombing, he has a fair chance of becoming the Mithun of 1997.

* * *

Manjit Singh, the only distributor who paid a price for the distribution rights of Lav Kush, can’t believe that the film has bombed. Since the Bengali version of Lav Kush is faring excellently, Manjit Singh is contemplating paying another 30 lakh for the distribution rights of the Bengali version for C.I.!

* * *

Q: What if Bobby Deol plays a double role in a film?
A: It will be Bobby’s first Deol role!

* * *

Q: What does the East Punjab distributor scream when he sees Shah Rukh Khan?
A: “Yes loss!”

* * *

Q: Why is Sanjay Kapoor praying for the success of Mere Sapno Ki Rani?
A: So that he can be called the most princely actor. He first clicked in Raja and if he clicks with this Rani, it will be something which even brother Anil Kapoor couldn’t achieve. Remember Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and Rajkumar?

* * *

Q: After retirement from films, which is the best place for Sreedevi to go to?
A: Parliament, of course! If Phoolan Devi and Rabri Devi could make it, why not our Sreedevi? And with Jaya Prada already there, the film industry can expect a good tohfa from Delhi.

* * *

Q: What is the similarity between ex-Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and Amitabh Bachchan?
A: Plenty. When Laloo found himself losing his position, he promptly brought wife Rabri Devi in the ring. Likewise, after Mrityudaata, when Amitabh found himself losing his position, he, too, promptly brought wife Jaya Bachchan in the acting arena once again.

* * *

Q: Why is Raveena Tandon the RAT of the industry?
A: Because like a true rat, she was the first to desert the sinking ship called Akshay Kumar!

* * *

Q: Why do some of our action heroes neglect acting and concentrate completely on action?
A: Because, before every shot, when the director shouts, “Action”, these heroes think, he is asking them to perform action stunts!

* * *

Q: What does the feather below the logo of Pardes indicate?
A: It is the feather which fell off from Subhash Ghai’s cap when his Trimurti was released.

* * *

What did Yash Chopra say to son Adi (Aditya Chopra) when another Akshay Kumar starrer — Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi — was announced for Diwali release alongwith his own Dil To Pagal Hai?

– Mr. & Mrs. Khil to paagal hai, Adi.

* * *

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Panic In Foreign Land

All is not well with the film being shot from start to finish on a foreign land. The cameraman has already been changed, it is heard. And there are loud whispers that the producer and its two heroes aren’t happy with the work of the director too. Perhaps, that’s the reason the panic button was pressed and a few directors approached to take up or, at least, supervise the project. One such director, who was approached, is the young genius who gave the biggest blockbuster of 1996. Anyway, a close friend of the hero is the director who has finally flown to the foreign city to help his friend in need.

In A Writer’s Words

The best compliment anybody must have paid Akshaye Khanna is the one paid to him by Javed Akhtar. Lyricist Javed saw some reels of Dinesh Gandhi’s Lawaris and was floored by the performance of the handsome son of Vinod Khanna. The guy plays a roadside Romeo in the film and, according to Javed, “his mannerisms, his gait, his dialogue delivery and his acting are all superb”. So when the film’s debut-making director, Shrikant Sharma, asked Javed what he felt about Akshaye and whether the young boy was a star, Javed replied, “Star? Arre bhai, he is an entire galaxy of stars!” Javed feels, Akshaye just needs one major hit before reaching right on the top.

Price Hike

If there’s no denying the fact that Akshaye Khanna is the new darling of the masses, it is also a fact that the guy is letting success affect him too much. Why else would he be changing his price not once but twice and thrice in the case of one film. He may have signed this particular film before he became a rage, but that does not mean that he can hold the producer to ransom and increase his price indiscriminately. The producer in question, rather than obliging Akshaye, thought it fit to take his signing amount back from the actor and bid him goodbye. Will somebody tell Akshaye that it’s good to be important, but it is also important to be good?

Laloo And Lady Luck

C.P. Berar distributor Laloo Kabra, who has released Border in C.P. Berar, is convinced that film distribution is all a game of luck. He acquired Border at the eleventh hour when its earlier distributor, Raju Kothari, and producer-director J.P. Dutta decided to part ways. As against Border, there are three films (released recently) which Laloo was very keen to buy at some point of time or the other, but couldn’t or didn’t buy them finally. One was Ghoonghat, of which the original distributor, Mohan Kasat, refused to relinquish the rights. The second was Lav Kush but the astronomical price which producer Dilip Kankaria was asking for put off Laloo rather badly. And the third was Mrityudand which again Laloo couldn’t acquire for some reason. The box-office fates of all the three films send jitters down Laloo’s spine today and he is happy that he was lucky not to have bought any of the three films. Laloo must thank Lady Luck for favouring him so much.

The Price Of Over-Confidence

While on Lav Kush and the high price its producer, Dilip Kankaria, was quoting for its distribution rights before release, it must be mentioned here that the unrealistic price he was demanding proved to be a terrible curse for Kankaria. For, except for one territory, the film did not find buyers in the whole of India and had, therefore, to be released by Dilip Kankaria himself. The disastrous fate of the film must’ve made Kankaria regret his decision to release the film in almost the whole of India himself. Incidentally, the single territory for which the film was sold is C.I., and the unfortunate buyer is Manjit Singh.

LAV KUSH

Devyank Arts’ Lav Kush is a mythological film based on the story of the twin sons of Lord Ram. The story does not have much drama and the screenplay adds little to make the incidents dramatic. Except for a couple of emotional scenes (when Laxman leaves Sita in the jungle; interaction between Sita and Lav-Kush), there isn’t much which moves the viewer to tears. Besides, after a point of time, the film moves at a slackened pace which results in boredom creeping in. But the biggest drawback, perhaps, is the absence of a super-hit musical score. Although three to four songs are well-tuned, what was the demand of the mythological drama was haunting melody, songs that could become a rage among the audience. In their absence, the drama appears dull. Furthermore, with television bringing the whole Ramayan free to people’s houses, the charm of seeing a chapter therefrom over again is minimum, more so because one has to pay for it.

Jeetendra does an average job as Ram and has a permanent frowning expression on his face. Jaya Prada plays Sita ably. Master Aditya and baby Shreshtha impress as the twin children. Arun Govil gives a very good account of himself as Laxman. Dara Singh is alright in the role of Hanuman. Pran plays Valmiki with sincerity. Jayshree Gadkar, Beena, Tiku Talsania, Aroona Irani and the rest provide average support.

V. Madhusudan Rao’s direction looks dated. Although computer graphics give the film a modern look, there’s still no novelty because graphics of almost the same kind have been seen on the small screen. Besides, the narration is of the style of the sixties. Even though some songs (‘Katha ye Ram ki’, ‘Pativrata Siya Purshottam Shriram’, ‘Ramayan ki katha suno’, ‘Yeh vidhi ki dekho’) are well-tuned, Raamlaxman’s music is a letdown when judged by the demand of the genre of the film. Cinematography is good. Dialogues are fair. Although the film is about two children, there’s hardly anything for kids in it. Money seems to have been spent quite lavishly in the post-production stage but not as much in the production stage. Dolby DTS mixing is very good.

On the whole, Lav Kush has come many years late and, given the poor start and in the absence of an interesting narrative, emotions and hit music, it will fail to make a mark at the box-office. It, however, may do well in some pockets and small centres.

Released on 25-7-’97 at Maratha Mandir and 4 other cinemas of Bombay by Devyank Arts thru Shringar Films. Publicity: fair. Opening: very poor. …….Also released all over except in C.P. Berar and South. Opening was disastrous everywhere except East Punjab where the first two shows’ collections (in Ludhiana) were about 70% due to a Lav Kush rath yatra taken out by the distributor for two days prior to the film’s release. 1st day Indore about 14%.

ANACONDA
(DUBBED)

Columbia Tristar Films of India Ltd.’s Anaconda (dubbed from the English film of the same name; A) is an adventure film about a monstrous snake. This typical kind of snake gulps down humans after cracking their bones with its tight grip and regurgitates the body after a while. A group of persons encounters the 40-feet long snake and loses its members one by one to the deadly snake. To add to their woes is a villain who wants to kill the snake and, to achieve his purpose, subjects the group to all sorts of risks. Ultimately, the two surviving members of the group succeed in escaping from the clutches of the snake and even manage to kill it.

The film has terrifying and horrifying moments which send chills down the viewer’s spine. Scenes of the snake have been picturised just too remarkably. Although the drama does get dull at times and moves very slowly in the initial reels, it has more than its share of excitement, especially in the last one hour.

Dubbing is fair. The commentary at the start of the film, to explain about the snake and its whereabouts, is good and prepares the audience for what’s in store for them. Performances are all good.

Direction is remarkable. Camerawork and computer graphics are just too brilliant. Background music and sound effects are also splendid.

On the whole, Anaconda has the merits to prove a paying proposition.

Released on 25-7-’97 at Novelty and 4 other cinemas of Bombay thru A.A. Enterprises. Publicity & opening: good. …….Also released in Delhi-U.P., C.P. and Nizam to good houses.

LATEST POSITION

It was a normal week, and the Idd holiday didn’t really see collections going up.

Yes Boss has met with a mixed response. It is very good in Bombay circuit and South as also some big cities, but dropped quite alarmingly in many centres of the other circuits (like Delhi-U.P., East Punjab, Bengal, Bihar, C.P.C.I. Rajasthan). It has done well in Overseas. 1st week Bombay 33,93,479 (90%) from 9 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Rajkot 1,67,422 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,02,933; Pune 7,55,800 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee); Hubli 1,39,821 (100%), Belgaum 1,27,268; Delhi 35,94,680 (80.97%) from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,83,599 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,78,893, Allahabad 1,25,100, Amritsar 52,400; Calcutta 26,16,468 from 23 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Nagpur 5,69,226 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,72,127, Raipur 1,63,135 (66.77%), Bhilai 1,03,244; Bhopal 3,29,013 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 6,30,564 from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad 34,87,501 from 17 cinemas, share 17,03,703.

Daava is below average in some circuits and average in others. 1st week Bombay 19,53,436 (61.38%) from 10 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Baroda 78,258, Jamnagar (matinee) 19,944; Pune 6,01,193 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee); Belgaum 100%; Delhi 16,94,140 (53.94%) from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,03,489 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,27,204, Agra 1,09,330, Allahabad 88,500, Bareilly 90,661 (51.03%), Hardwar 65,000; Amritsar 49,480; Calcutta 15,53,426 from 18 cinemas; Nagpur 2,94,786 from 4 cinemas, Raipur 1,39,342 (57.54%), Bhilai 71,047, Jalgaon 1,19,747; Indore 2,26,255 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal 98,200; Jaipur 3,99,890 from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad 16,17,836 from 10 cinemas (1 in noon), share 7,02,657.

Mrityudand has maintained reasonably well in Maharashtra and M.P. due to tax-exemption. 2nd week Bombay (TF) 9,78,688 (70.11%) from 6 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Baroda (matinee) 20,660; Pune (TF) 3,65,012 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 3,18,578 from 2 cinemas; Kanpur 55,086, Lucknow 77,749, Agra 34,362, Allahabad 23,779, Bareilly 35,820 (15.58%); Calcutta 90,367; Nagpur (TF) 94,435, Jabalpur (TF) 73,622, total 1,99,318, Bhilai (TF) 48,322, 1st week Jalgaon (TF) 60,009; 2nd week Indore (TF) 62,956, Bhopal (TF) 1,00,310, 1st week Ujjain (TF) 78,838; 2nd week Jaipur 69,637.

Gupt is extraordinary in Bombay, Gujarat, South and fair in other circuits. Should do over 4 crore in Bombay circuit and more than 60 lakh in Kerala alone! 3rd week Bombay 26,96,749 (78.68%) from 10 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Vapi 1,70,240, total 10,11,191, Padra 1,62,674, Rajkot 1,67,690 (1 in matinee unrecd.), Jamnagar 72,458 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 9,05,064 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 9,99,581 from 4 cinemas; Kanpur 2,59,089 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,36,622, Agra 1,80,050, Allahabad 88,000, Bareilly 62,126 (28.29%); Calcutta 4,80,614 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 2,28,027 from 2 cinemas, Dhule 67,194, total 2,92,031, Raipur 1,09,795, Bhilai 44,991, 2nd week Amravati 1,40,779, total 3,74,537, Jalgaon 1,06,000, 3rd week Gondia 39,275, total 1,69,824, Chandrapur 90,008, total 3,89,063; Indore 1,61,681, Bhopal 1,09,846 (2nd 1,08,222); Jaipur 5,89,019 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 7,02,171 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon), share 3,39,380; Vijayawada 3 weeks’ total 9,36,927, share 4,49,233, Kurnool 4,22,890, 1st week Visakhapatnam 2,30,289 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), share 1,10,988, Guntur 1,76,267, share 1,10,410.

Border 6th week Bombay (TF) 25,80,386 (83.44%) from 9 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Baroda 1,03,955, Rajkot 1,17,212, Jamnagar 45,624, total 5,83,000; Pune (TF) 8,54,995 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), 2nd week Barsi (TF) 38,606; 6th week Belgaum 47,914; Delhi 33,22,644 from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,93,263 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,05,111, record, Agra 86,460, Allahabad 80,000, Bareilly 44,628 (19.98%), Hardwar 25,000, total 4,01,159; Calcutta 3,64,706 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur (TF) 2,21,321 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,32,275, total 12,84,661, Raipur 66,727, Bhilai 45,883, 5th week Durg (5 days) 26,563, 1st week Bhusawal (TF) 1,52,274 (100%), 6th week Wardha (TF) 29,550, Chandrapur (TF) 56,187; Indore 1,36,905, Bhopal 1,35,268; Jaipur 2,58,160; Hyderabad 4,00,897 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), share 1,52,373.

SNAKE BEATS THEM ALL

Indian filmmakers should hang their heads in shame. And not just because Jeevan Yudh, released this week, has had a 40% opening or Lav Kush (also released this week) has taken a 15% start or Ghoonghat (third release of the week) has opened to 30% houses.

If the above openings are shocking, more shocking is this. A dubbed (Hindi) Hollywood film, Anaconda, which has a snake as the central character, has registered the best initial this week. Yes, Columbia Tristar’s Anaconda (dubbed) has taken a respectable start not just in Bombay but also at places like Nagpur and Meerut.

Three cheers for the snake then and three boos for the three heroes of the three films! Hiss, hiss!!

BENGALI ‘LAV KUSH’ RELEASED AMIDST TENSION

The Bengali version of Dilip Kankaria’s Lav Kush was released on 25th July in Calcutta amidst much tension. Artistes and technicians of the Bengali film industry have been up in arms against Kankaria ever since he announced the release of the Bengali version, as they claim, it is a dubbed version. Dubbed Bengali films are not, as a rule, permitted to be released in Bengal. Kankaria, on the other hand, has maintained that Lav Kush is a bilingual.

Not satisfied with Dilip Kankaria’s contention, the Bengali industry artistes and technicians staged a dharna outside cinemas which were screening the Bengali version of Lav Kush on Friday.

As Kankaria had already obtained a court order to prevent the stay of release of the Bengali version, the anti-Lav Kush lobby got licences of at least three cinemas which were scheduled to release Lav Kush (Bengali), suspended. All the three cinemas — Uttara, Purabi and Shree — are of Kankaria himself. Kankaria contends that the suspension of licences was sudden and without show cause notices having been issued to the cinemas.

The Bengali version of the film could, therefore, be released in 16 of the 19 scheduled cinemas. The Hindi version was released in two cinemas (Hind and Ujjala).

FILMS FAIR ’97

The Films Fair will be held at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan from August 23 to 31, 1997. Films Fair ’97 will be a trade fair with a difference. Being organised by the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), it has been subtitled the Genesis of Motion.

Marketing the centenary of films in India, the fair will bring together major film and television houses, both, from the country and abroad, exhibiting the history of cinema, major landmarks of the film industry, the role of film and TV in society, and techniques of filmmaking including the process. It will also enable various industrial units and manufacturers dealing with TV and photography-related equipment, both Indian and foreign, to display and sell their products.

The ITPO has formed an advisory committee with eminent film personalities including N.P. Nawani, secretary, Information & Broadcasting, Sunil Dutt, Sultan Ahmed, Pahlaj Nihalani, Asha Parekh, Ramesh Sippy and K.G. Dossani, president, Film Federation of India.

A series of seminars on subjects of topical interest are being organised during the fair. These include ‘Mainline Cinema Versus Parallel Cinema’, ‘The Emerging Role of Satellite Channels’, ‘Role of Cinema Television in Society’ and ‘The Film Industry Expectations and Government Policy Framework’.

Films Fair ’97 will not only showcase the strength and capabilities of Indian film industry vis-à-vis the international motion picture industry, but will provide entertainment bonanza to the visitors through screening of films at Shakuntalam theatre and a number of sponsored events.

MANAGER OF MAYFAIR, LUCKNOW MURDERED

Noon shows of all the cinemas of Lucknow on 20th July were suspended following the murder of Rakesh Khatri, manager of Mayfair cinema, Lucknow. Mayfair was closed for all the four shows.

KABIR BEDI BEREAVED

Siddharth, son of Kabir Bedi from his first wife, Protima Bedi, and brother of Pooja Bedi, committed suicide in Los Angeles on 19th July. He was a chronic patient of schizophrenia and was 25 years old.

‘JUDWAA’ SILVER JUBILEE

Sajid Nadiadwala’s Judwaa entered 25th combined week at Minerva (matinee), Bombay. It stars Salman Khan in a double role, with Karisma Kapoor, Rambha, Anupam Kher, Shakti Kapoor, Dalip Tahhil, Satish Shah, Jack Gaud, Bindu, Deepak Shirke, Mukesh Rishi, Ishrat Ali, Tiku Talsania, Dinesh Hingoo, Reema and Kader Khan. It is directed by David Dhawan and written by Rumi Jafri. Music: Anu Malik.

FWA TO FELICITATE JAVED AKHTAR, GULZAR

The Film Writers’ Association will felicitate Javed Akhtar and Gulzar on 27th July at Hotel Sands for winning National Awards for 1996. Javed Akhtar has bagged the award for the best lyrics (Saaz), and Gulzar has won the award for the best popular film (Maachis)

CINEMA CLOSED

Gaisford cinema in Rajkot downed shutters from 22nd July for an unspecified period. It is one of the older cinemas of Rajkot.

HOLLYWOOD LAUNCHES ‘RAMAYAN’: SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS TO BE DONE IN INDIA

For the first time, perhaps, a Hollywood producer has engaged an Indian company to do the special visual effects for his film. John Caruhasa Breathwaite, the producer of Ramayan, has contacted Ramesh Meer (The FX Factory) to create the special visual effects of his film to be made in English with Western actors.

Jeff Rector, who has featured in movies like Slider and Double Impact, will play Rama. Jerry Rector, Jeff’s twin brother, will play Laxman. Sita will be played by Chandni Breathwaite who has also featured in films such as Jerry Maguire and Father’s Day. The film will be directed by Artist Robinson.

The film is the culmination of 20 years of research done by John Caruhasa on this project. Its shooting will commence on 3rd October. Ramesh Meer will go to Los Angeles next month for the pre-production meeting with the cast and crew.

The project has the blessings of the ISKCON temple, Bombay, where the producer has stayed as a monk for many years while researching on the script of the film.

H.D. MISTRY ELECTED WIMPTSEA PRESIDENT

H.D. Mistry was elected president of the Western India Motion Picture & Television Sound Engineers Association for 1997 at its annual general meeting held on 13th July at Empire Audio Centre. B.N. Tiwari was elected vice president, and S.C. Bhambri, general secretary. E. Rudra was elected treasurer, and Madan Prakash and J.C.V.R. Rao, joint secretaries. Other elected members of the executive committee are: K.B. Sharma, Abdul Gadir, V.M. Gandhi, Sushil Malik, P.S. Mishra, Dilip J. Sawant, Tahir Khambati, Ramanand Prasad and Kirti K.A. Chedda.

RAMCHANDRA MUKHIYA ELECTED UPFAA PRESIDENT

The first meeting of the newly elected executive committee of the Uttar Pradesh Film Artist Association was held on 20th July when Ramchandra Mukhiya was re-elected its president. Manohar Bharti was elected vice president, and Satyavir Singh, secretary. Anup Singh and Ravi P. Bhagat were elected treasurer and general secretary respectively. Jagdish Singh, Prem Singh and Kunal Singh were unanimously co-opted on the committee.

YOU ASKED IT

What will happen to the industry, considering that all the three Hindi films released this week have had disastrous openings?

– Don’t panic. It’s just a coincidence that the three films have been released on the same day. Frankly speaking, had you expected any of the three films to open well? One is a non-star cast film, the other has out-of-demand stars, and the third has a hero who has a line of flops to his discredit and even the film itself gives a non-fresh look. Further, except for GHOONGHAT, the other two films haven’t even been publicised well.

What will be the opening (initial) of Mere Sapno Ki Rani, Pardes and …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya?

– MERE SAPNO KI RANI will have to bank upon its popular family-appealing music for an initial draw, PARDES has to depend upon the name of Subhash Ghai, and …AUR PYAR HO GAYA, upon the pair of Bobby Deol and Miss World Aishwarya Rai.

How are so many films scheduled for release in the coming weeks? Where are the cinemas?

– Not all the running films are good. Cinemas will be free once some of the films are discontinued. Of course, there is a rush of releases, but the situation is not as alarming as is being felt today.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Venus has brought out special pocket calendars of HAMESHAA with the film’s advertisement on one side of it and the days and dates from June 1997 to May 1998 on the other.

* The C.P. Berar distributors of BORDER, Laloo Kabra and Narendra Agarwal, have hit upon an appropriate idea to make BORDER a more paying proposition. They are now approaching schools for block bookings for their students. And since the war scenes in the film have educational value, the response from the schools is extremely positive.

* Novelty is the first cinema in Lucknow as well as in U.P. to instal Dolby digital and DTS sound system.

* Sagar’s serial, SHRI KRISHNA, is currently being telecast on SABC-1 in South Africa and has become very popular.

* YES BOSS has created a theatre record by collecting 1,72,127/- in 1st week at Vineet, Jabalpur.

* MRITYUDAND has created a record for tax-free films by collecting 78,838/- in 1st week at Trimurti, Ujjain. 2nd week first day: 7,000/-.

* GUPT has created a district record by collecting a total of 10,11,191/- in 3 weeks from Shree, Vapi. 3rd week: 1,70,240/-.

* SONGADYA (Marathi, TF, r.r.) has created a city record by collecting 77,070/- in 1 week at Shyam, Amravati, in spite of release of GUPT and MRITYUDAND in Amravati on the same day and communal tension in the city for 2 days.

MIX MASALA

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Sunil Shetty plays a fashion photographer in Nitin Manmohan’s Prithvi, but at the press conference of the film held last Saturday, Sunil, while replying to a query, said he was playing a press photographer in the film. Of course, it was simply a slip of Sunil’s tongue, but one which made the press guys happy because they felt, he was one of them — on screen, at least.

MIXING BUSINESS WITH PLEASURE?

There was some high-tension drama on the seventh floor of Naaz cinema building in Bombay last Saturday. The owner of one office on the floor brought in a girl of questionable character in his office. Some coolies outside Naaz telephoned the man’s wife and told her of her husband’s habit of picking up girls. The frightened man asked his peon to lock himself and the girl up in the office and go away. After a pretty long time, the owner (who had the keys) asked somebody to open the main door and let him out, giving the excuse that his peon had mistakenly locked him inside the office (!!!) and gone away home. That wasn’t all. By this time, two constables had arrived on the scene but the guy (his face was lal by now) had hidden his girl in a tiny cabin in his office. When interrogated, the man kept denying the presence of any girl in his office. Probably, the police couldn’t find the girl — or is it that they couldn’t even find the cabin?

NAAZ JUNGLE

The publicities displayed in offices in Naaz cinema building in Bombay these days take you back to the jungle days. Ashish Chhabria’s office has pictures of snakes all over because he is distributing Anaconda in Bombay. Tolu Bajaj is the distributor of The Lost World: Jurassic Park and so you see dinosaurs all over (in pictures, of course). From these two offices on the first floor, if you go to the sixth floor of Naaz, pictures of elephants, monkeys and dogs will stare you in the face in the office of Ashok and Nandu Ahuja. These animals play key roles in Ahujas’ forthcoming release, Jodidar.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

‘PARDES’ MUSIC: WHERE’S THE NADEEM SHRAVAN TOUCH?

Dear Komal,

It is very surprising that the musical score of Pardes sounds more a Laxmi-Pyare-Subhash Ghai creation than the work of Nadeem Shravan. The Pyare touch reverberates throughout the score. What perplexes me is that if Subhash Ghai wanted his songs to sound like that, he could have continued with his old team. He also had the choice to allow Nadeem Shravan to lend their individual distinct style. I am eagerly waiting for Shikhar score, only to see if Subhash Ghai has asserted himself there too, because A.R. Rahman is also equally headstrong. There is nothing wrong in a filmmaker insisting upon a certain musical style for his film. Pardes tonal patterns bear the signature of Subhash Ghai endorsed by Laxmi Pyare, and the evergreen Anand Bakshi factor is very much there.

– J.P. Chowksey
Prachi Films, Indore.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Not Interested

Believe it or not but one film, released all over recently, could not open in C.P. Berar because exhibitors were just not interested in releasing it. Exhibitors in Maharashtra were scared that since the film would take a disastrous start, they would lose out on the service charge on cinema tickets. And exhibitors of Madhya Pradesh, who are known to indulge in tax cutting, weren’t interested because they felt, when there wouldn’t be any audience, where was the tax going to come from and what cutting would they do. Hey Ram!

A Genius Called S.N. Agarwal

If today, many cinemas of the USA, Europe, the Far East and the Middle East use Indian cinema projectors, the credit goes to late S.N. Agarwal who died exactly a year ago at the age of 79. It was also Agarwal’s genius which brought to the country such new technologies as wide-screen presentation, Cinemascope presentation, magnetic 4-track Stereophonic sound system, Perspecta Integrator Stereo sound system, Photodiode-Solar cell technology (solid state) amplifiers, integrated circuitry, use of timing belt in projection equipments (to reduce noise and vibration in them). It was he who was instrumental in supplying and installing equipments in the Drive In cinemas of the country. He engineered and commissioned the first 4-track Optical Stereo film, HAHK..!. Out of 12,500 cinemas in India, S.N. Agarwal’s companies (Cinecita, Cinerama, Cinefones and Monee & Co. Pvt. Ltd.) have installed the sound and projection equipments in over 4,000 cinemas! B.R. Chopra had once called Agarwal a “machine man who has changed the dimension of presentation in motion picture and brought new dynamism and technologies”. It was because of Agarwal’s pioneering efforts that Chopra used in-speech projectors, thereby giving a new technical avenue to save enormous time of busy artistes by speeding up sound dubbing. Today, most of the dubbing, recording and re-recording theatres are equipped with hi-speed projectors, recording machines and dubbers etc. Again, it was Agarwal who indigenously manufactured and installed the Rock & Roll projectors at Film City and V. Shantaram’s Rajkamal Studios. The industry should be proud of Agarwal who brought India on the international map with his cinema projectors.

Time Sharing Basis

For the first time, perhaps, the triple cinema complex of Satyam, Sundaram and Sachinam at Worli, Bombay, is screening two films each this week. This is indicative of the rush of releases currently. At Satyam, Ghoonghat has been released this week and it is sharing the cinema with last week’s Yes Boss. Gupt and Border (tax-free) are sharing shows at Sundaram. At Sachinam, there’s Mrityudand (tax-free) and Virasat. Besides these three cinemas, there are several other cinemas in Bombay which are screening two films a day.

YES BOSS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LATEST POSITION

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

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

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

………

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

……….

CBI PROBE SOUGHT INTO UPHAAR CINEMA FIRE TRAGEDY

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

‘ZIDDI’ 100 DAYS

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

RAVI KISSEN INJURED

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

ANJALIDEVI HONOURED

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

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

WEDDING RECEPTION

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

DIRECTOR KRISHNAN NO MORE

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

ANNASAHEB GHATGE DEAD

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

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

EXTENSIVE RENOVATION & NEW NAME FOR BHAVNAGAR CINEMA

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

HARBANS PAPE NO MORE

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

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

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

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

NOTICES ISSUED TO 42 DELHI CINEMAS

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

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

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

FWICE GRANTS AFFILIATION TO CAC

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

I.R.K. PEON ABSCONDING WITH CASH

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

CONTROVERSY OVER BENGALI VERSION OF ‘LAV KUSH’

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

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

FFI DELEGATION MEETS I & B MINISTER

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

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

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

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

SIGNED

Sushmita Sen In ‘Chakra’

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

PRODUCTION NEWS

Boney Kapoor’s Film Progressing In Cochin

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

YOU ASKED IT

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

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

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

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

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

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

MIX MASALA

MISSING THE TARGET

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

PEOPLE
Are talking about

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

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

PEOPLE
Are wondering

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

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

No Cause For Celebration

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

‘Daava’ Delivery Drama

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

It’s A Challenge

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

The Experiment Man

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

The Indian World After ‘Jurassic Park’

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

‘Pardes’ Publicity: Not A Wise Decision

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

The Hero Image

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

DO AANKHEN BARAH HATH

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

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

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

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

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

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

MRITYUDAND

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

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

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

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

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

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

LATEST POSITION

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

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

……….

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

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

CHETAN ANAND DEAD

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

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

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

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

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

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

JAYSINH RATANSHI DEAD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHITRA, SATARA DOWNS SHUTTERS

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

NEW CINEMA IN HUBLI

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

POWER SUPPLY DISCONTINUED TO 2 DELHI CINEMAS

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

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

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

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

CENSOR NEWS

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

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

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

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

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

TV & VIDEO INFORMATION

MUKESH KHANNA’S ‘SHAKTIMAN’ ON DD1

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

YOU ASKED IT

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

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

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

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

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

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

DO YOU KNOW?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Capital City Of Des For Music Release Of Pardes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

No. 1 in Hindi & Sindhi

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

C.I.: Panic Circuit For Bobby

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

Helpful Thackeray

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

‘Ghoonghat’ Gifts

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

Golden Jubilee Of Freedom: Industry Must Celebrate

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

GUPT

Trimurti Films P. Ltd.’s Gupt (A) is a musical suspense drama made on a lavish scale. The governor of a state is murdered and the one arrested for the murder is none other than his innocent stepson. The only clue about the actual killer is a gold chain with a locket which the step-son finds in the dead governor’s hand. Arrested and put behind bars, the step-son escapes from there to track down the murderer. In this, he is assisted by his college friend who is silently but madly in love with him. The guy, however, loves another girl, his childhood friend, and the two even have plans of marriage. After a crazy hunt, the actual murderer’s identity is revealed and it leaves the guy shocked.

Being a whodunit, the writer has kept the film’s pace fast, with an intelligently written screenplay. Of course, there are some flaws (as, for instance, why the hero does not give the locket to his girlfriend or never mentions about it to her ever) but they don’t matter much, mainly because the film doesn’t give anybody time to think. The audience gets involved in the guessing game and keeps moving with the characters and incidents. Although the suspense is good, its revelation could have been more chilling.

Bobby Deol acts well. He looks very handsome and dances beautifully. He is brilliant in action scenes. Manisha Koirala and Kajol look sexy, glamorous and bewitching and perform excellently. Om Puri takes the cake for the most wonderful performance. He plays to the gallery and does a marvellous job, making every scene in which he appears memorable. His dialogues are very well penned and will draw thunderous applause. Sadashiv Amarapurkar and Ashok Saraf’s comedy is very enjoyable. Raza Murad impresses and evokes laughter with his shair-o-shairi. Prem Chopra is too good. Harish Patel leaves a mark simply by laughing! Paresh Rawal is restrained. Sharat Saxena, Dalip Tahhil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Tej Sapru, Anjan Srivastava, Usman Khan, Vishwajeet Pradhan and Dinesh Hingoo lend admirable support. Priya Tendulkar does a fair job. Raj Babbar is very good in a guest appearance. Mukesh Rishi (special appearance), Dinesh Anand, master Harsh Lunia, Aparajita, Ram Mohan, Vikas Anand, Anil Nagrath, Sanjeeva, Bob Christo and the rest are adequate.

Rajiv Rai’s direction is truly praiseworthy. His narration is clear and devoid of confusion. He has interwoven comedy into the main track rather ably. Rajiv has given the film gloss and admirable finesse. Viju Shah’s music is hit. All the songs are very well-tuned and their picturisations are a veritable treat. The title song (picturised on the titles) is masterly, both in tune and visual appeal. ‘Duniya haseenon ka mela’, ‘Bechainiyan’, ‘Mere khwabon mein tu’ and ‘Ye pyar kya hai’ are the best numbers. Lyrics (Anand Bakshi) are rich. Action (Amin Gani) provides tremendous thrill. Ashok Mehta’s camerawork, as also the locations, are mind-boggling. Sets (Bijon Dasgupta) are heavenly. Production values are grand. Technically, top class. Background music is remarkable. Mixing in DTS sound is wonderful.

On the whole, Gupt has taken a flying start and has the merits to prove a richly rewarding film for all concerned, despite its high price. Youngsters and ladies will form its main clientele.

Released on 3-7-’97 at Liberty and on 4-7-’97 at 21 other cinemas of Bombay thru Modern Movies. Publicity & opening: excellent. …….Also released all over. Opening was extraordinary in Bihar, Rajasthan, Mysore, Kerala, Tamilnad and excellent in the rest of the circuits except C.I. 1st day Jaipur about 99% from 4 cinemas, over-capacity at stations like Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar (Rajasthan) and Hajipur (Bihar); over 80% at Gangtok (Sikkim) despite torrential rains and flooding.

SHEKHAR KAPUR TO LAUNCH ABHISHEK BACHCHAN

So the acting bug has bitten the son of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan. Reportedly, Abhishek Bachchan is getting geared up to make his debut into films. Shekhar Kapur will launch Bachchan junior, reveal insiders. It is learnt that Amitabh and Shekhar met in London where it was decided that Abhishek would make his debut in a film to be directed by Kapur.

‘PARDES’ MUSIC RELEASE IN DELHI

Subhash Ghai will formally release the music of his Pardes tomorrow (6th July) in Delhi at Hyatt Regency. The official release will be done at the hands of chief of the army staff, General S. Rowchowdhury and Mrs. Krishna Rowchowdhury, chairperson, Army Wives Welfare Associaton. The film has lyrics by Anand Bakshi and music by Nadeem Shravan.

DOLBY-DTS AT TOPIWALA CINEMA, BOMBAY

Topiwala cinema at Goregaon, Bombay, owned by Mr. N.S. Desai-Topiwala, has been equipped with Dolby and DTS surround sound system. Spanish make KCS speakers have been installed for surround sound effects. The cinema will shortly import Schneider German lenses for good picture quality.

STUDIO LINK IN NEW PREMISES

Publicity designers Atmanand and Vivek have shifted their Studio Link to a new address. The inauguration of the new place (13, Blue Moon Estate, off Link Road, near Monginis, Andheri (W), Bombay-53) will be held today (5th July).

TAX EXEMPTION FOR ‘AAI’, ‘GANPATI BAPPA…’

In accordance with the policy of the Maharashtra government to fully exempt Marathi films from payment of entertainment tax, Aai and Ganpati Bappa Moriya have been granted 100% tax exemption for a period of one year each.

GULSHAN KUMAR, JHAMU ACQUIRE ‘GENES’ HINDI DUBBING RIGHTS

Gulshan Kumar and Jhamu Sugandh have jointly acquired the Hindi dubbing rights of the Tamil film Genes, being made by Shankar. It stars Aishwarya Rai and Prashant. Music is scored by A.R. Rahman.

NEW OWNER, NEW NAME FOR RAIPUR CINEMA

Hora’s Amrit Talkies in Raipur has changed hands and has also got a new name. Its new licencees are Jasbir Singh Chawala and his partners. The cinema is now Krishna Theatre.

R.R. KHAJANCHI NO MORE

Veteran C.P. Berar distributor R.R. Khajanchi breathed his last on the afternoon of 29th June in Amravati. He was in his seventies and had suffered a heart attack a few days before the end came. He had been hospitalised following the attack but had returned home. He was cremated the same day.

R.R. Khajanchi is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.

Roopraj Khajanchi was a self-made man. He started as a stenographer in a film distribution office and rose to become the manager. He thereafter started his own distribution concern, Khajanchi Film Exchange, for C.P. Berar. His office has distributed a number of films including many hits like DDLJ, Aankhen, Darr, Chandni, Qurbani, Pyar Jhukta Nahin, Ilzaam, Shola Aur Shabnam, Ghar Ek Mandir, Swarg Se Sunder, Khudgarz, Taj Mahal etc. He had also released Taj Mahal in Bombay circuit.

Khajanchi Sahab’s distribution office, after several years of its opening, went through such a low phase that he stopped buying films altogether. He banked upon re-issue films and luck favoured the man. Slowly but surely, his office turned the corner and he again started buying new films. He struck gold with Feroz Khan’s Qurbani and K.C. Bokadia’s Pyar Jhukta Nahin after which there was no looking back. Releasing hits, flops, average and above-average films became his life.

Khajanchi was a simple and humble man. He believed in doing everything himself. Whether it was buying a film, finalising terms, preparing bills or cheques, he used to do it himself, never bothered about his status. No work was too small for this large-hearted and helpful man. Another admirable quality of R.R. Khananchi was his quick decision-making. If he had to buy the distribution rights of a film, it wouldn’t normally take him more than a few minutes to finalise the deal. He was soft-spoken and a man of few words. He was a good paymaster.

R.R. Khajanchi was an active member of the executive committee of the Central Circuit Cine Association for many years. He was also its president in 1982-83 and 1983-84.

Khajanchi Sahab was very close to the Information family and was among its first subscribers. Information family offers condolences to the bereaved family and prays that the departed soul rest in peace.

A meeting of the Amravati film trade was held on 30th June in the CCCA office to mourn the demise of and pay homage to R.R. Khajanchi. The meeting, chaired by CCCA vice president Vijay Rathi, recalled how Khajanchi Sahab had guided the Association with great success at different times, and remembered him as a leader and a sincere devoted worker, the void created by whose loss would be difficult to fill up. All cinemas of Amravati suspended their 3 p.m. shows on 29th June as a mark of respect. A condolence meeting will be held on 11th July at 11 a.m. at the residence of the Khajanchis. A pooja will be held before that at Dadawadi, Badnera Road, Amravati.

SHIVABHAI DEAD

Bombay and C.I. distributor Shivabhai Sharma died on 3rd July at his residence in Bombay following a heart attack. He was cremated on 4th. He was in his early forties. He had quit the film industry some years ago.

Shivabhai had distributed Aayee Milan Ki Raat and Sahibaan in Bombay under the concern of Matushree Pictures. In C.I., his office, Guddi Films, had released Khuda Gawah, Locket, Paraya Ghar and other films.

He is survived by his wife, three daughters and one son.

BBC CELEBRATES INDIA’S 50TH YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE

BBC World is celebrating India’s 50th year of independence by broadcasting a series of short films from June 25 to Aug. 13. The films chronicle India’s emergence under Nehru as a leading player in the non-aligned movement as well as the region’s continuing links with Britain, with the Queen visiting India and Pakistan in 1961.

TOO LATE?

Rajesh Jain has sought an order to restrain the release of Mrityudand, from the Bombay high court. But since Prakash Jha had already obtained a caveat, the case will come up for hearing only on Monday, the 7th of July. With the film due for release on 10th/11th July, deliveries for the various circuits, in all probability, will have been effected before Monday. Which would mean that for all practical purposes, Rajesh might not really achieve much from going to court.

JAYANTILAL GADA’S HOUSE-WARMING CEREMONY

Jayantilal Gada of Popular Entertainment Network Ltd. has shifted to a new flat at JVPD Scheme. The vastu poojan of the flat (at Darshan, opp. Bank of Maharashtra, N.S. Road no. 6, JVPD Scheme, Juhu, Vile Parle (W), Bombay-56) will be held tomorrow (6th July).

SIGNED

Gulshan Kumar Signs Priyadarshan And Mahesh Bhatt

Producer Gulshan Kumar has signed two directors, Priyadarshan and Mahesh Bhatt, to direct Super Cassettes Industries Ltd.’s forthcoming films. They will be launched very soon. Cast and credits for the films are being finalised.

TV & VIDEO INFORMATION

ONE ARRESTED IN RAID ON VIDEO LIBRARY

The Legal Action Against Copyright Theft (LAACT) raided a video library at Vasai, Bombay, recently and seized pirated cassettes of Border, Virasat, Hero No. 1, Koyla, Rangeela, Zameer and Lahoo Ke Do Rang, besides those of blue films. One person was arrested.

YOU ASKED IT

Is it sensible to make a film with a hero/heroine who plays a role in it which is contrary to his/her image?

– Why not? Mithun Chakraborty played a family man in PYAR JHUKTA NAHIN when he had the image of a dancing-action hero.

Is Mahesh Bhatt really giving up direction?

– Nadeem Shravan and Sunil Shetty too had, at different times, announced that they would be giving up their respective professions. But they are very much around. Mahesh Bhatt is even now signing new films.

Has cost of production really gone up so much as to warrant such high prices of films?

– Cost of production has definitely gone up tremendously mainly due to increase in star prices, remunerations of technicians and cine workers’ wages. Alongwith the costs, the greed of producers has also shot up!

HERE & THERE

Lata Mangeshkar: From Singer To Writer

On Friday, the 4th of July, the nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar, became a writer too. A Marathi book, Phule Vechita, written by her, was to be released in Boston, USA, at the bi-annual convention of the US-based Brihan Maharashtra Mandal, better known as the BMM Convention. The book, compiled from Lata’s jottings, has 18 chapters, in which she has revealed her feelings about the happenings from her childhood to the present age. One chapter deals with her sister, Asha Bhosle, whose relationship with her (Lata) has become a topic of discussion with the release of Saaz, a film made by Sai Paranjpye and alleged to be based somewhat on their relationship.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Padmalaya’s ENCOUNTER (Telugu) is in great demand as far as its audio rights are concerned. But the Padmalaya people have decided to release the music themselves and, towards this have also opened their own music company, Padmalaya Audio.

* GUPT has created history by collecting the highest figure ever in Baroda on the opening day at Apsara cinema.

* BORDER has created a Kutch district record by collecting a total of 4,34,478/- in 3 weeks at Vinay, Adipur.

* BORDER has created a city record in 3rd week at Krishna Palace, Dehradun, by collecting 1,78,943/-. 2nd week was 2,02,195/-.

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting 1,41,000/- in 3rd week at Raj, Gorakhpur.

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting 75,000/- in 3rd week at Ashoka, Hardwar. 1st week was 1,23,060/-, and 2nd week, 96,910/-, both city records.

* BORDER has created a theatre record by collecting 2,18,845/- in 3rd week at Panchsheel, Nagpur.

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting 1,98,148/- in 3rd week (27 shows) at Rajlaxmi, Amravati.

* BORDER has created a theatre record by collecting 1,20,875/- in 3rd week at Rajkamal, Akola. Total: 5,62,359/-.

* BORDER has created a C.P.C.I. record and a city record by collecting 2,24,428/- in 3rd week at Jayanti, Jabalpur.

* BORDER has created another theatre record at Jayant, Chandrapur, by collecting 1,55,913/- in 3rd week. Total: 5,88,366/-.

* BORDER has created another city record by collecting 84,967/- in 3rd week at Swaroop, Durg.

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting 66,950/- in 3rd week at Amar, Dhamtari.

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting 2,00,910/- in 3rd week at Jyoti, Bhopal. It has also created a theatre record at Bhopal Talkies, Bhopal, by collecting 1,49,870/-.

* BORDER has created a city record by collecting 2,43,260/- in 3rd week at Minerva, Bikaner.

* ZIDDI has created a city record by collecting 92,010/- in 1st week at Alankar, Sagar. 2nd week 5 days: 45,000/-.

FMC-AMPTPP V/S. CINE AGENTS
Cine Agents Cry Foul

Cine agents (suppliers) whom the Film Makers Combine (FMC) and the Association of Motion Picture & TV Programme Producers (AMPTPP) have severed ties with are a picture of mixed emotions today. They are unhappy with the treatment meted out to them by leaders of the two producers’ organisations, but, at the same time, they are glad that members of the FMC and the AMPTPP have ignored the directive of their Associations and, in defiance thereof, continue to hire junior artistes and dancers through them (cine agents).

The two Associations of the producers just last week resolved to do away with suppliers and hire junior artistes and dancers directly for shootings.

The Cine Agents Combine, which is the Association of the suppliers, was affiliated to the FMC until recently. According to Devraj, president of the Cine Agents Combine, and G.D. Sharma, the problem has arisen because of G.P. Shirke who is both, chairman of the FMC as well as of the Cine Agents Combine. According to them, it is Shirke’s politics which has made the FMC and the AMPTPP take the extreme step of derecognising the Combine which has had ties with producers’ organisations since years.

Says G.D. Sharma, “The problem started when we stopped collecting Re. 1 from junior artistes for the Combine, since we weren’t sure about the money being put to fruitful use.” Shirke, it is alleged, objected to this and insisted that the practice of collecting Re. 1 not be discontinued.

G.D. Sharma has also alleged that almost Rs. 2 lakh of the Cine Agents Combine were transferred from its bank account to the account of one Ambalal, employed in the CAA by Shirke. “We do not know what has happened to the amount transferred and why, in the first place, it was transferred,” lamented Sharma who also now questions the action of Shirke in opening a new bank account of the Combine in a co-operative bank although an account in a scheduled bank existed. “According to my information, a union cannot have a bank account except in a scheduled bank, and the Cine Agents Combine is a union,” says Sharma, adding., “The cooperative bank employees insist that the monies were transferred to Ambalal’s account on the basis of duly signed cheques of the Combine.” Interestingly, according to Sharma, the persons whose signatures are on the cheques with which the monies were transferred insist, they haven’t signed them.

According to Sharma, when these “discrepancies” came to light, matters erupted. The cine agents, according to him, were sought to be dislodged. On 15th June, the Combine wrote to the FMC, breaking its affiliation with it (FMC). On 27th, FMC and the AMPTPP took a combined decision to do away with cine agents.

G.P. Shirke, however, refutes every charge against him. Says he, “Yes, Ambalal has run away after embezzling monies of the Cine Agents Combine, but I do not know where the money has gone nor was I a party to the withdrawal. My name is unnecessarily being dragged into the controversy by G.D. Sharma and others to tarnish my reputation.” On being told that producers were still hiring the services of cine agents, Shirke said, “Producers are free to use the services of cine agents. What the FMC and the AMPTPP has done is only to tell producers that they are now not bound to hire junior artistes and dancers through cine agents.”

The cine agents ruefully state how they’ve virtually bailed out many producers in difficult times. “It is not rare when we pay junior artistes from our pockets and settle accounts, running into lakhs, after a film’s completion. It will not be an exaggeration to say that our crores are stuck up in films, which makes us financiers of sorts,” explained G.D. Sharma. “We least expected such a shabby treatment from producers.”

Speaking on behalf of producers, Saawan Kumar, however, said, the FMC and the AMPTPP had done nothing wrong in refusing to henceforth entertain cine agents. “Pappu Verma, the new FWICE president, acted pretty tough during the talks with us for wage revision of cine workers this time,” said Saawan Kumar. “The producers had no alternative but to form their own body of cine workers.”

According to Sharma, with the FMC having closed its doors to the Cine Agents Combine, it may now seek affiliation to the FWICE.

MIX MASALA

CHOR MIYAN

Amitabh Bachchan lost his gold watch in Hyderabad last week during the shooting schedule of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. Actually, it disappeared from his hotel suite. Obviously, it must’ve been the handiwork of a staffer of the hotel.

ARTISTIC CARD

The invitation card for the inauguration of the new premises where Atmanand-Vivek’s Studio Link has shifted is beautiful and classy. A pencil-shaped strip locks the card which, when opened, has the following well-worded message from the two renowned artists: Slowly, steadily, step by step / we have followed the designs of destiny / your appreciation, your trust, your affection / has encouraged us to form a link / a link that has grown stronger, will last longer. We are all set to take one big step / we are moving into a bigger place. We need your blessings, / we need your good wishes, / we believe you are our inspiration. Come, colour our lives / come, brighten our smiles / you are a great artist / your presence on our big day will prove it.

HALF-YEARLY CLASSIFICATION: 1997
(Total Releases: 53 films, including 12 dubbed & 1 animated)

AA (Super-Hit)

BORDER (‘AAA‘ in Delhi-U.P & East Punjab)

A1 (Hit)

JUDAAI (Average in West Bengal; ‘BB’ in Rajasthan)
HERO NO. 1
ZIDDI
JUDWAA

A (Semi-Hit)

VIRASAT (‘A1’ in Bombay; Average in West Bengal)

BB (Overflow)

Yeshwant (‘A1’ in Bombay; ‘B1’ in Delhi-U.P. & East Punjab)
Aastha

Coverage To Commission

Koyla (losing in some circuits)
Kaalia (losing in some circuits)

The Rest (43 Films)

Ganga Maange Khoon, Bandit Lovers (partly in Hindi), The Rock (dubbed), Nazarr, Jai Mahalaxmi Maa, Darawani Haveli, Aar Ya Paar, Love Birds (dubbed), Jaya Ganga, Chupp, Lion Heart (dubbed), Auzaar, Salma Pe Dil Aagaya, Tamanna, Sabse Bada Shaitaan (dubbed), Jeeo Shaan Se, Lahoo Ke Do Rang, Himalay Putra, Agnee Morcha, Gudgudee, Kaun Sachcha Kaun Jhootha, Dil Ke Jharoke Main, Khilone Ki Chahat Bani Papa Ki Aafat (dubbed), Suryaputra Shanidev, Mrityudaata, Ramayan Shri Ram Katha (animation), Sapnay (dubbed), Duniya Dilwalon Ki (dubbed), Dragonheart (dubbed), Sanam, Chudail, Zameer, Maun (dubbed), Mahanta, Sardari Begum, Insaaf, Zabardast Khatra (dubbed), Babe (dubbed), Gundagardi, The Phantom – Vetal (dubbed), Itihaas, Suraj, Allah Meherban To Gadha Pahelwan.

SAAWAN KUMAR THANKS SAJID NADIADWALA

Dear Sajid Bhai,

Thank you very much for giving me the title ‘MOTHER‘ for my film. I will always appreciate your gesture.

Yours sincerely,

SAAWAN KUMAR

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Examination Time

The premiere or trade show of a big film is always an event to remember. Not only because the film may be good or bad or because of the guests who attend the show but also for the scene during the interval and after the end of the film. The excited audiences exchange notes among themselves about their views on the film. “I found so-and-so damn good, that one was terrible, that song was so-o-o-o sexy, how did you like so-and-so’s dress in the dance, that action scene was mind-blowing, but the climax was okay, this song is lifted from that number, it’s better than his last film, he has lost his touch, his last film was any day better, I think the film was superb, I found it okay, I didn’t care much for it, I think it’ll run, I don’t think it has any chance, ……,” these and many like comments are common. The best part is the seriousness with which people like to compare their personal views with those of others. The scene reminds one of that outside the examination hall of a tough examination like SSC to CA. The seriousness with which the students compare their answers is much like the seriousness after the film show. But then, for its maker, a premiere or trade show of his film is not less than an examination, right?

Launched In A Jiffy

After a fairly long break following the failure of Daraar, Sujit Kumar is back in the news with his new film, Champion. The actor-producer launched Champion in a jiffy on 29th June. A pandit forecast 29th as an auspicious time for Sujit Kumar to start his film and told him that if he let that day slip, he would have to wait until Diwali to launch the film. Sujit Kumar preferred to get started on 29th June itself and organised the recording of a shlok on the auspicious day and had a small party in the evening to celebrate the occasion. Champion, being directed by Padma Kumar, stars Sunny Deol in the title role. No, he doesn’t play a sportsman in the film, but a police inspector. Urmila was to play Sunny’s heroine but her price factor reportedly came in between her and the role. The choice has now fallen on Raveena Tandon. To take care of the music, it is today’s hit team of Javed Akhtar (lyrics) and Anu Malik (music). At the party, Sujit Kumar informed that the film would take a flying start on September 1 with a 45-day shooting schedule.

Mother’s Day

July 1 may well go down in 1997’s Bollywood history as Mother’s Day. For, two films launched on 1st July have mothers as the central character and ‘mother’ in their titles. Saawan Kumar’s film, launched with a song recording, is titled Mother. And Govind Nihalani commenced the shooting of his film which is titled Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Ma. Another coincidence is that both the films have unusual casts. The former stars Jeetendra, Randhir Kapoor and Rakesh Roshan with Rekha, and the latter marks the comeback of Jaya Bachchan.

Breathtaking Price

Do you know what the ratio of Dharmendra’s London, starring his two sons, Sunny and Bobby, with Karisma Kapoor, is? Hold your breath! For, it’s an unheard of 5 crore!! Reportedly, a Delhi-U.P. distributor has offered 4 for his circuit but Sunny Deol isn’t giving the nod. A leading Nizam distributor is contemplating offering 1.15 but it doesn’t seem likely that Sunny is even going to consider the offer.

Film Man Who Doesn’t See Films

Art director R. Verman believes in doing his work and leaving the rest to God. Why else would he never see films including those which have sets erected by him? Believe it or not, Verman has not seen a complete film for at least 18 years now! “Where’s the time?”, he asks in all humility. “I see glimpses here and there but a whole film for three hours — never!” The coming days will see the release of two big films with R. Verman’s sets — Pardes and Daud.

Tol Mol Ke Bol

Vimal Kumar’s Tarazu is due for an early release but deals for some territories are yet to be finalised. And is Vimal Kumar nervous about it? Not in the least bit. In fact, the film is open for some circuits because the producer is asking for a price revision. Those distributors who weren’t willing to hike the price — of Delhi-U.P., West Bengal, C.P. Berar and Rajasthan — relinquished the rights, and Vimal Kumar was more than happy. He is now keeping open trials of the film and is demanding his price. So far, he has succeeded in closing Delhi-U.P. and Rajasthan, and is confident of striking fresh deals for the other two territories very soon. “Let them see Tarazu, weigh its merits and pay the price,” says Vimal Kumar. Tol mol ke bol, what?