A SHOT IN THE ARM FOR FILM INDUSTRY

Four leading names of our industry have been voted to the Lok Sabha. Sunil Dutt was declared winner from Bombay North-West constituency. He won by a margin of about 80,000 votes over his nearest rival, Madhukar Sarpotdar of the Shiv Sena. In Agra, Raj Babbar made it to the Parliament by beating his nearest rival, Bhagwan Shankar Rawat of the Bharatiya Janata Party, by a margin of 1,12,982 votes. Vinod Khanna was re-elected from his Gurdaspur (Punjab) constituency. However, he managed to win by only a slender margin of 1,399 votes over Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder of the Congress. Producer D. Rama Naidu, whose first battle of the hustings the election was, too, proved victorious. He won on a Telugu Desam Party ticket.

The news really gladdens the hearts of the industry people, but what would make them proud is if these four well-thinking personalities would use their MP status effectively for the welfare of our industry. Hopefully, they will highlight the industry’s problems in Parliament and get some corrective measures taken to ameliorate the hardships being suffered by the industry folk.

OF ‘TAAL’ AND MAAL: OF ‘MANN’ AND DHAN

Producer-director Subhash Ghai cares for his distributors. He has decided to compensate those of his distributors of Taal, who will suffer losses. Ghai may not refund part of their MG royalties, but he will sell his next film to them at a discounted price. That is to say, the distributors who’ve lost in Taal will have to pay lesser maal for Ghai’s next film. Subhash Ghai, after having had talks with his all-India distributors, feels that he will have to compensate mainly his Bengal, Bihar, C.P. Berar and Rajasthan distributors.

Contrary to rumours, Ghai is thrilled with the performance of Taal. Says he, “The Overseas distribution rights of the film were sold at almost three times the price of a major circuit in India. Which means that the Overseas is equivalent to three major territories for Taal. Nobody can dispute the fact that the film is a plus fare in Overseas (three circuits), Bombay (1 circuit), South (half a circuit), and C.I. (20%). My Delhi-U.P. and East Punjab distributors are confident of earning in the film. So that leaves the Eastern circuit, C.P. Berar and Rajasthan distributors only.”

If Taal is bringing joy to Ghai, the demise of his brother-in-law (sister’s husband) last week in Delhi has saddened him no end.

*         *         *

While on producers compensating their distributors, the makers of Mann have also promised to look after the interest of their distributors who lost heavily in the film. Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria have conveyed to their distributors that their next film will be offered to all of them at a no-profit-no-loss price. Less dhan then, for Indra-Ashok next time!

YOU ASKED IT

What would you do first and foremost for the film industry if you had the powers of the prime minister of India?

– Abolish entertainment tax on films in every state. Because it is one of the most unjust taxes today.

Why have publicity budgets of films gone up in the last few years?

– The importance of publicity and marketing is finally being appreciated by producers. Besides, profit margins of film producers are higher today. And, channels of publicity have also increased.

Will the Lok Sabha election results have any effect on the film industry?

– This is like asking whether the runaway successes of HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..!, RAJA HINDUSTANI or DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE or the debacles of PREM AGGAN or DIL SE.. toppled the government at the Centre! Jokes apart, the industry hopes, the filmworld MPs do something to improve its lot.

MIX MASALA

OF LUCK AND BAD LUCK

Talk of bad luck and the name K.D. Shorey is bound to come up. From now on, that is. His imminent ouster as IMPPA president through a no-confidence motion under way raises a couple of interesting points. Shorey was elected president during the shraddh period — quite a stroke of luck, looking to the fact that the period is considered inauspicious by all Hindus. But with the move for Shorey’s ouster having begun four days back, he is now due to be removed from the apex office as soon as the auspicious period of Navratri begins on Sunday (10th October). Inauspicious period (shraddh) proves lucky, and the auspicious period (Navratri) proves unlucky — now, that’s something!

DO YOU KNOW?

* The producers of Marathi super-hit BINDHAST are giving ‘surprise gifts’ and gifts of tolas of gold to the lucky cinegoers viewing the film from October 8 to 14 at any of the 13 cinemas of Bombay city and suburbs, screening the film. The gifts of gold total 25 tolas. The winners will be decided by draw of lots from the counterfoils of tickets sold.

* Producer Madhu Purohit has ordered for three snakes, each of 40 feet length, for his recently-launched COBRA which he is making in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. These snakes have been ‘made’ in Taiwan. Made, because they are not real snakes. They are made of polyester fibre and rubber. The snakes will slither and slide on the screen with the aid of computers. 

* BINDHAST (TF) has created a city record for Marathi films by collecting 1,01,758/- in 1st week at Arati, Wardha.

CENSOR NEWS

Rajshri Productions P. Ltd.’s Hum Saath-Saath Hain was given C.C. No. CIL/1/52/99 (U) dt. 6-10-’99; length 4843.88 metres in 18 reels (no cut).

Adishakti Films & Visions P. Ltd.’s Vaastav was given C.C. No. CIL/3/54/99 (A) dt. 7-10-’99; length 4203.55 metres in 17 reels (cuts: 6.02 metres).

Varma Corporation Ltd.’s Mast, applied on 5th and seen on 7th, has been issued C.C. No. CIL/1/53/99 (U) dt. 8-10-’99; length 4283.52 metres in 16 reels (minor deletion in sound only).

20th Century Fox’s Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace (dubbed), seen on 4th, has been issued C.C. No. CFL/2/28/99 (UA) dt. 7-10-’99; length 3640.87 metres in 13 reels (no cut).

20th Century Fox’s Titanic (dubbed) was seen on 5th.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Brilliant Bajpayee

The industry has got a brilliant actor in Manoj Bajpayee. The guy proved in Satya that he is a reservoir of talent. He proves it once again in the ready-for-release Shool. Kaun may not have done well at the box-office but Manoj’s performance in that film, too, won him accolades. But why is Manoj Bajpayee concentrating only on middle-of-the-road cinema? Or is it that commercial makers are not singing Bajpayee? Either way, it is cinema’s loss, for, the guy could do with some really substantive roles in mainstream cinema as he is capable of delivering the goods. Besides Manoj, one sees a spark in the director of Shool too. He is E. Nivas who used to assist Ram Gopal Varma. Coming back to Shool, the film is a hard-hitting drama on the scene in Bihar today. It is the story of an upright police officer (played by Manoj Baipayee) who is posted in a town of Bihar and who is caught in the rowdy politics of the area. He has sympathisers on his side but nobody dares to support him for obvious reasons. E. Nivas does a fine job as a director in his maiden attempt.

Breakfast Show

The pitiable condition of the cinemas in C.P. Berar can be described by the examples of two cinemas. One is that of a cinema in C.P., which had to pull down its shutters as it could not collect even the weekly compound entertainment tax. The management of that cinema, of course, claims that the cinema has been closed for repair work! The other example is that of Shyam Talkies of Raipur, which has availed of compound tax facility. To keep itself in business, the cinema is not only screening C-grade English films in morning shows but also offering free breakfast packets to its patrons in that (6.30 a.m.) show. Sasti film mahengi screening!?!

Unity In Diversity

They belong to different political parties. But they belong to one film industry. Among the film industry winners for the Lok Sabha, Sunil Dutt belongs to Congress, Vinod Khanna, to the BJP, Raj Babbar, to the Samajwadi Party, producer D. Rama Naidu, to the Telugu Desam, Kannada film actor Ambarish, to Congress, and Tamil film writer Murasoli Maran, to the DMK. The same with the losers: Telugu film producer and financier T. Subbarami Reddy (Congress), Gujarati actor-producer Mahesh Kanodia (BJP), producer-director Muzaffar Ali (Samajwadi Party), and Malayalam actor Murali (CPM). Just goes to prove the film industry’s unity in diversity.

‘Suraj’ Eclipses ‘Baadshah’

Question: Who of the two — Shah Rukh Khan and Mithun Chakraborty — is more popular? Answer: Mithun Chakraborty. Surprised? Don’t be! For, the answer is true, at least in Nepal. As things stand, the sun shone brightly over Mithun Chakraborty’s Suraj — so much so that the film earned shares of Rs. 90,000 from Birganj and Rs. 60,000 from Raxaul in Nepal. In stark contrast, the Shah Rukh Khan starrer, Baadshah, released after Suraj, was quickly dethroned from Nepal cinemas and managed to earn low shares of Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 25,000 in the two places respectively. ‘Low’ because of the film’s high price! Suraj, for that matter, seems to have eclipsed all recent releases. Reports have it that both, Haseena Maan Jaayegi and Anari No. 1, plunged into darkness after only 4-5 days’ run each in Nepal. Way to go, Mithun!

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir,

Ref.: Comments of Mr. Bipin Savla, associate producer of RAJA HINDUSTANI, published in Film Information‘s issue dated 28-8-’99

The comments of Mr. Bipin Savla, which appeared in your abovementioned issue, have put me into a state of shock because I happen to be the distributor of Bihar viz. Proper North Bihar of Raja Hindustani — the film in question. Owing to the exorbitant demands of the producers over the past few years, the principal distributor for Bihar is forced to cover his risk by selling films in four part-territories — South Bihar which accounts for 50% of the cost; Proper North Bihar which accounts for 25%; Nepal, 17%; and Katihar, 8%.

The principal distributor of Raja Hindustani, M/s. N.P. Pictures, Calcutta (thru M/s. Kumar Films, Patna), had given us the film for Proper North Bihar for Rs. 10 lakh at the rate of 25% of the price for Bihar. At the time, they had quoted the price for Bihar as Rs. 40 lakh. Thereafter, within two months of the release of Raja Hindustani (i.e. in January ’97), one of its producers, Mr. Bunty Soorma, and Mr. Bipin Savla (who, apart from being the film’s associate producer, also happens to be the proprietor of M/s. N.P. Pictures, Calcutta) came to Patna, accompanied by a representative of Tips. During their visit, I conceded to their demand to convert the earlier agreement into outright basis, knowing fully well that the sum demanded from me for Proper North Bihar would not be covered even in repeat-runs, leave alone the first run of the film — which is what has actually happened. I agreed to their unjust demand solely because I was new at the time and hence wanted to avoid any litigation that may have arisen out of my refusal to do so. Be that as it may, the fact remains that I paid Mr. Bipin Savla Rs. 15 lakh outright for Proper North Bihar, which, I presume, is the highest bid ever received by any producer for the entire Bihar territory, let alone Proper North Bihar which constitutes only 25% of it. In this light, I would like to ask Mr. Bipin Savla how he could claim not receiving overflow for Raja Hindustani from Bihar when he had already received Rs. 15 lakh for Proper North Bihar. Even though I cannot comment on the remaining 75% of Bihar territory, I can safely state that Mr. Bipin Savla is completely wrong in claiming that he had not received any overflow from Bihar.

The price quoted by producers for the Bihar territory nowadays is in proportion to territories like Bombay and Delhi in spite of the fact that the average admission rates of cinema tickets in Bihar for balcony and dress circle classes are ridiculously low (Rs. 5 and Rs. 7 respectively) as compared to those in Bombay and Delhi. Given this, it is easy to judge whether the producers are justified in asking for Bihar a price in ratio of that for Bombay and Delhi. Thus, whatever prices the producers extract from Bihar distributors today, they do so considering them to be outright prices only. This is the reason, I presume, why no film is able to cover its cost in Bihar today.

– J.L. Jha
Nirmala Pictures,
Patna.

N.N. SIPPY RE-ELECTED IMPDA PRESIDENT

N.N. Sippy (in picture above) was unanimously re-elected president of the Indian Motion Picture Distributors’ Association for 1999-2000 at the first meeting of the new executive committee held on 29th September in Bombay. This is Sippy’s 14th consecutive term as IMPDA president. Indravadan Shah was elected vice president, and Kantilal Mehta, hon treasurer. Devendra Shah and Haresh Bhatia were elected hon. secretaries.

Earlier, at the 60th annual general meeting of the IMPDA at Birla Kreeda Kendra, the following other members, besides the abovenamed, were elected to the executive committee by voting through secret ballot:

Ayub Selia, Balkrishna Shroff, Guru Shenoy, Inder Raj Kapoor, Sanjay Chaturvedi, U.A. Thadani, Tolu Bajaj, Vinay Choksey, D.Y. Pattani and Mohanlal Susania. Inder Raj Kapoor and Sanjay Chaturvedi are the two new entrants in the committee this year. They have come in place of Ramesh Sippy and Vinod Kakkad, both of whom ‘lost’ the elections this year. Ramesh Sippy and Kantilal Mehta were locked in a tie on the 12th (last) position in the Ordinary Class in which 12 members are voted. The tie was broken by electing Kantilal Mehta on the basis of seniority.

Of the 15 winners above, Indravadan Shah, D.Y. Pattani and Mohanlal Susania were elected unopposed in the Associate Class. The other 12 were voted in the Ordinary Class from out of 16 candidates. Besides Ramesh Sippy and Vinod Kakkad, the two others who lost were Tekchand Anchal and Abid Zafar.

Balkrishna Shroff bagged the highest number of votes (167). A total of 220 votes were cast, of which one was invalid. N.N. Sippy and Haresh Bhatia were on the second position with 132 votes each. They were followed by U.A. Thadani with 131 votes, Inder Raj Kapoor (128), Devendra Shah (127), Guru Shenoy (119), Tolu Bajaj (114), Vinay Choksey (113), Sanjay Chaturvedi (101), Ayub Selia (95), Kantilal Mehta and Ramesh Sippy (94 each), Vinod Kakkad (78), Abid Zafar (53) and Tekchand Anchal (47).

LATEST POSITION

Both the releases of last week have failed to evoke appreciation in most of the circuits.

Dil Kya Kare is dull except to some extent in Maharashtra. 1st week Bombay 43,28,321 (83.45%) from 10 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 13,89,406 from 6 cinemas; Padra 1,73,134, Jamnagar 1,03,848 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 13,04,339 from 5 cinemas, Solapur 2,53,603 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 50,22,127 (68.15%) from 11 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,12,710 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,70,548, Allahabad 1,63,500, Varanasi 1,92,212, Bareilly 1,40,412 (40.23%), Hardwar 78,414; Rohtak 39,872; Calcutta 14,92,667 from 10 cinemas; Nagpur 5,07,683 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,04,171, Amravati 1,71,460, Raipur (gross) 2,13,499, Jalgaon 1,62,469; Indore 2,90,797 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,98,482 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 5,37,044 from 3 cinemas, Ajmer (29 shows) 1,27,498; Hyderabad (gross) 16,45,834 from 7 cinemas.

Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain is extremely dull. 1st week Bombay 35,93,347 (61.27%) from 8 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 11,22,438 from 4 cinemas, Jamnagar (matinee) 17,255; Pune 9,76,179 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 2,42,270 from 2 cinemas; Delhi 29,42,349 (46.29%) from 12 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,69,347 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,11,174, Agra 2,28,435, Allahabad 1,04,285, Varanasi 1,38,390, Bareilly 90,678 (33%); Calcutta 11,97,033 from 19 cinemas; Nagpur 4,49,897 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,78,468, Raipur (gross, 6 days) 2,49,116; Indore (25 shows) 69,511 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,89,858 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 6,50,690 from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 20,47,976 from 14 cinemas (2 in noon).

……….

Hello Brother is good in parts of U.P. 3rd week Bombay 16,00,265 (52.01%) from 7 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 79,828 from 2 cinemas; Pune 7,98,953 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,22,507, Solapur 1,30,468 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 1st week Bijapur 1,74,157; 3rd week Delhi 5,82,768 from 4 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,47,801 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,40,238, Agra 55,365, Allahabad 75,000, Varanasi 87,585, Bareilly (6 days) 32,988 (12.69%), Hardwar 25,000, total 1,90,000; Rohtak 4,863; Calcutta 1,59,951; Nagpur 1,11,865 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 77,037, Amravati (6 days) 83,663, Raipur (6 days) 50,863, Jalgaon (6 days) 92,646, Wardha (4 days) 23,065, 2nd Yavatmal 72,176 (1st 1,45,413), 3rd week Bilaspur 38,560; Jaipur 1,27,936, 2nd week Ajmer 1,29,398; 3rd week Hyderabad (gross) 1,87,743.

1947 Earth 3rd week Bombay 16,22,682 (51.29%) from 7 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Pune 3,77,914 from 4 cinemas (2 in matinee), Solapur 26,042; Delhi 10,16,815 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 20,795; Calcutta 96,712; 1st week Jabalpur (6 days) 65,060; 3rd week Hyderabad (gross) 2,10,718 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon); 1st week Vijayawada (gross) 1,04,730.

Taal 7th week Bombay 13,63,535 (54.51%) from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,10,622 from 3 cinemas, Baroda (6 days) 1,00,000, 1st week Bhuj 87,700; 7th Pune 4,87,012 from 5 cinemas (2 in matinee), Solapur (7 shows) 56,501; 3rd week Bijapur 60,347; 7th week Delhi 6,29,848 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 1,01,509 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,52,690, Agra 1,14,326, Allahabad 53,101, 6th week Varanasi 75,747; 7th Calcutta 1,66,340; Nagpur 73,385, Jabalpur 40,155, total 6,63,122, Amravati 73,084; Indore 69,000, Bhopal 49,502; Jaipur 4,99,060, Jodhpur about 1,00,000; Hyderabad (gross) 4,58,148 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon); 2 weeks’ Vijayawada total (gross) 2,83,937, 50 days’ total of Visakhapatnam (gross) 13,21,986, Kurnool (gross) 6,72,374, 1st week Adoni (gross) 1,04,786, Nandyal (gross, 6 days) 63,928, Vizianagaram (gross) 1,23,752.

……….

U.A. THADANI RE-ELECTED TOA PRESIDENT

U.A. Thadani was unanimously re-elected president of the Theatre Owners’ Association for 1999-2000 at the first meeting of its council of management held on 25th September in Bombay. C.N. Mirani was elected vice president, Nester D’Souza, honorary treasurer, and R.V. Vidhani, honorary secretary. Earlier, at the 40th annual general meeting of the TOA, 11 other members, besides the four aforesaid, were elected to the new council of management. These are Indulal D. Shah, Kiran Shantaram, R.P. Anand, M.F. Sidhwa, F.C. Mehra, Russ F. Balaporia, Salim Ebrahim Beg Mohamed, Kundan Thadani, N.F. Damania, Milap B. Joshi and Girivarsinh.

In his address at the AGM, president U.A. Thadani announced that the TOA, along with the Film Federation of India, was in the process of making a review application of the Supreme Court award in the INR case. He also added that in the event of the review application being rejected, a full bench intervention would be sought in the matter. He called upon the members to contribute substantially to meet the expenses of the litigation.

GUILD SEVERS TIES WITH FMC

The Film Producers Guild of India Ltd. has severed ties with the Film Makers Combine (FMC) without assigning any reasons.

The FMC is now left with only two constituents, the IMPPA and the WIFPA. Efforts are on to bring the Guild back to the FMC fold.

The FMC has already written to the Guild, asking it to withdraw its resignation.

YOU ASKED IT

I want to become a film director. How should I go about it?

– First and foremost, join as an assistant to a director. Also, watch a lot of films — new, old, good, bad, all kinds. They will teach you a lot.

I have a distribution office for Delhi-U.P. Looking to the heavy losses being suffered by other offices, I am scared to negotiate for the distribution rights of any film. Any suggestions?

– Wait and watch. Buy a film or two, if you must, but don’t pay crazy prices simply because another is willing to do the same. Or else, you will make a deal in haste and repent in leisure.

Which heroine, according to you, has the potential of occupying the number 1 position, now that Kajol is cutting down on her assignments?

– Karisma Kapoor has it in her to make it there.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Architect Gajjar of Baroda has been receiving accolades for the renovation work done by him at Lokendra Talkies in Ratlam, which has become one of the leading cinemas of C.I. after renovation and installation of Dolby sound system. Gajjar has received enquiries from other cinemas for similar renovation work, including one from Maharana Talkies, Bhilwara (Rajasthan).

* J.P. Chowksey, who is the distributor of Gramco’s GODMOTHER in C.I., has hit upon a novel ploy to bring female audience to the cinemas to see the film. His concern, Prachi Films, has issued well-written letters describing the film’s woman-centric content, to various girls’ and co-ed colleges in the city for displaying on the students’ notice boards. Earlier this week, a special screening of the film for bureaucrats and other government officials was organised in Bhopal by Chowksey. Reportedly, the officials were so impressed with the film that they have assured it tax exemption very soon.

* As many as four sex-horror films are being screened at the holy city of Hardwar: SWORN TO JUSTICE (English) and three dubbed films, DRACULA, BADAN KI AAG and CHUDAIL NO. 1.

MIX MASALA

TWELFTH MAN

Kantibhai and Ramesh Sippy were saath-saath in the IMPDA election on 28th September. Not that they were sitting or walking together. Both had polled 94 votes and were, therefore, locked in a tie. Since only 12 members were to be elected to the executive committee in the Ordinary Class, they had to be ‘un-tied’. Ultimately, Kantibhai, who is the distribution manager of Rajshri Pictures, which is releasing Hum Saath-Saath Hain in Bombay, was elected on the basis of seniority and had to leave the saath of Ramesh Sippy.

FAMILY TIES

Cinemas all over the country have entered into familial ties these days as the films being screened have titles like Hello Brother, Godmother, The Mummy, and Big Daddy and General’s Daughter (both English). On the way are Mother and Runaway Bride (English).

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Bollywood’s Millennium Men

As the millennium draws to a close, all kinds of awards and epithets are being conferred on outstanding achievers from all walks of life. We would like to propose the name of Manoj Kumar for the best all-round film personality of the millennium. For, no filmmaker in India, except, perhaps, late Satyajit Ray, has ever won awards in so many different categories as Manoj Kumar has. Take a look at Manoj’s impressive list of records: National Award for best director for Upkar, National Award for best writer for Shaheed, Filmfare awards for best  director (Upkar and Roti Kapada Aur Makaan), best story, best screenplay and best dialogue (all for Upkar), best editor (Shor) and best actor (Beimaan)! Satyajit Ray, too, has won awards in six categories and more international awards than Manoj Kumar. Surely then, here are two of the finest innings of all-round performances in our industry, won’t you agree? And if you think there is someone else who deserves this best all-round film personality of the millennium title, do let us know.

Birthday, The Best Day

Generally, no producer in Bombay launches his film during the shraddh period as starting anything new during this period is considered inauspicious. But Yash Chopra went ahead and launched son Aditya’s Mohabbatein on 27th September (when shraddh was on) at Rajkamal Studios, the venue where he has launched all his earlier films too. For, that day — 27th September — was Yash-ji’s birthday!

Rajshri’s Release Plan

The Rajshri’s 164-query questionnaire has evoked a positive response from many cinemas desirous of screening Hum Saath-Saath Hain. Managements of many cinemas have started renovating their cinemas, re-tuning the sound systems, re-focussing the projection, upholstering the seats and re-doing all minor and major things. All these, in anticipation of Rajshri offering their film for screening at their cinemas. Why, the management of a cinema of Nizam, which was constructed only recently, is extensively renovating it in the hope that this cinema might be the chosen one for the film. According to Ajit Kumar Barjatya, “We are interested in screening our film at ideally good cinemas. We are not going to be lured by cinemas offering attractive terms of ‘high MGs and low theatre hires’. If the cinema is really good, we won’t mind getting lower MGs and giving higher theatre rentals for it. It is our firm belief that a good cinema establishes a film and assures it of a longer run.” On the film’s release strategy, Ajit Barjatya revealed, “We will be releasing the film all over (excluding in the Overseas) with about 250 prints. We will increase the prints subsequently as per the demand/order….” Kantibhai, Rajshri’s distribution manager for Bombay, disclosed, “We are planning to exploit the film at ‘B’, ‘C’ and even ‘D’ class centres within eight weeks of the film’s premiere release. Possibly, there would be about 175 prints in circulation in Bombay circuit alone.”

Hum Print De Chuke Sanam!

A new film screened on cable TV on the day of its release or before is no more news these days, thanks to our men of law turning a blind eye to the menace and a deaf ear to the complaints against this menace. But when a new film is openly screened on the streets through a 35mm projector, it certainly is news, though sad news. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was screened on Tuesday night (28th September) in a bylane of BDD Chawls at Worli, Bombay. On receiving a call from an industry friend, the Bombay distributor’s staff rushed to the spot with the police and took the film’s print and projector into custody. It later came to light that the culprit, who had provided the print, was a staffer of the Bombay distributor.

The Sorrow Beneath The Smile!

The C.P.CI. Rajasthan trade is in pain. It is in a state of panic, its mood is one of pessimism. The general feeling is that producers are over-charging distributors, not caring for them and, worse still, making films for the Overseas markets.

Although the distributors and exhibitors manage to keep up a brave front, deep down inside, they are scared, shattered, disturbed and distressed. They are also angry with the producers who have been dishing out sub-standard fare in the name of entertainment. Producers’ egos are massive, they say. But not as massive as their under-production margins.

Reproduced hereinbelow are random comments of trade people whom I met in Indore on September 27 and 28 on the occasion of the annual general meeting and elections of the Central Circuit Cine Association. Some of the remarks may make you laugh but, remember, there’s an underlying feeling of sorrow in all such comments — the sorrow of loss of money, loss of peace of mind, loss of confidence and loss of lots more. My salutations to the distributors and exhibitors of this circuit who still manage to wear a smile in the face of adversity!

Jagdish Advani (C.I. distributor of Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain): “The title of the film should have been Hum Tum Ko Maarte Hain. Because that is what producers seem to be telling distributors today. They are indeed out to kill us with their sub-standard films.”

Aditya Chowksey (C.I. distributor of such films as Kudrat, Laawaris and Doli Saja Ke Rakhna) was badly injured on his forehead a couple of months back in a road accident. When yours sincerely exclaimed, on seeing the stitches on his forehead, “Bahut chot lagi?”, here’s what Aditya replied: “Yeh chot producers ki dee huyee chot se toh bahut kam hai.”

Narendra Jain (Rajasthan distributor), who came to Indore for the CCCA annual general meeting, alongwith many others from Jaipur, revealed that, as is customary every year, there were no cloth banners this year adorning the train bogie in which the Jaipur trade travelled. When someone asked why there were no banners, Narendra Jain quipped: “Nowadays, no banner is worthwhile. Aaj kal, koi banner nahin chalta!”

Trilokinath Kapoor (C.P.C.I. distributor) lamented: “Gone are the days when producers and directors used to take the opinions of their distributors before releasing their films. Nowadays, they don’t even show distributors the film! When Raj Kapoor had kept a trial show of Satyam Shivam Sundaram before its release, he asked each and every distributor to tell him if there was anything lacking in the film. When Vakil Singh (East Punjab distributor) began to sing the film’s praises, (Raj) Kapoor Sahab said, ‘Don’t tell me what is good in the film; tell me, what is bad.’ He used to not just welcome but invite criticism. Compare this to today’s makers who can’t take criticism at all.”

Hemant Vyas (C.I. distributor & exhibitor): “The scene is scary. Films are falling like nine pins at the box-office. We can’t even think of switching businesses because distribution and exhibition is all we know… There’s no fun in doing business today.”

Santosh Singh Jain (CCCA president): “Unscrupulous producers not only charge crazy prices for their films, they also fleece distributors by charging four and five thousand extra per print. One such producer is Bunty Walia. I warned him to refund the excess amount he had charged to the C.P. Berar distributors for Hello Brother or else face Association action. But he quickly telephoned his C.P. distributor and made him speak to me. The distributor told me, ‘Jain Sahab, I’ve got the distribution rights of Bunty Wali’s next film too. If I claim refund of the excess amount charged, I’ll lose the next film. I, therefore, don’t want any money returned.’ Now tell me, what do I do in such a case?”

Harish and Deepak Janiani  (C.I. distributors): “More than films, it is their prices which are failing. All films sold at ratios of 2 crore and more have flopped in C.I. in the last nine months.” Incidentally, their distribution concern has given an overflow of Rs. 1 crore and 4 lakh to the producers of Raja Hindustani.

In the course of the voting, returning officer Joharilal Jhanjharia announced that voters who had any sharirik taqleef did not need to stand in the queue and could cast their vote immediately. To which someone shouted in reply, “Inhone Hello Brother release ki hai. Inse zyada sharirik aur mansik taqleef kisko ho sakti hai?”

Mohan Kasat (C.P. distribjutor): “We don’t have the guts to come to Bombay because we don’t have the capacity to suffer any more losses.” (Kasat has released Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Mann, Taal, Arjun Pandit, Baadshah, 1947 Earth and Dil Kya Kare!!!)

Aditya Kasliwal: “We’ve built the new cinema, Astha (in Indore), specially for Hum Saath-Saath Hain. Raj Babu (Raj Kumar Barjatya) says, ‘The sure way to ensure development of an area is to build a cinema in that area. Howsoever under-developed the area may be, it will develop in no time if a cinema comes up there.’ Astha cinema has 308 seats in Dress Circle (Rs. 20) and 391 seats in Balcony (Rs. 35). Nett capacity per show is Rs. 11,000.”

– KOMAL NAHTA

DIL KYA KARE

Devgan Arts’ Dil Kya Kare (UA) is a love triangle. A man, his beautiful wife and their little daughter make a happy family until a girl comes into their lives. She is the real mother of the couple’s daughter, the couple having adopted the child from an orphanage. The father of the child is none other than the man himself who has had sex with the girl in a very brief chance meeting with her in a train. All hell breaks loose first in his life and then in the life of his wife when the girl begins to stay in the couple’s house. How the wife reconciles herself to the fact that her husband, before their marriage, has fathered a child and how their marriage is saved forms the climax of the film.

An unusual story (Prakash Jha) has been marred by a screenplay (Vivek Apte and Mangesh Kulkarni) that abounds in flaws. Too many unusual things happen with the same persons and although that may be a coincidence, the viewer starts questioning the coincidences because they involve the same persons all the time and they aren’t properly handled. If one doesn’t question how the man and the girl thought of having sex in the train, the question that definitely comes to mind is: after doing so, why does the girl leave the train without so much as even finding out the man’s name, address or telephone number? The question is sought to be answered by the girl who says that she was too scared to get “no” for an answer from the man on the point of accepting her. But if she was scared about a “no”, did she get “yes” by just leaving the guy with whom she had slept? Further, the girl tries to show her selflessness by repeatedly saying that she felt fulfilled merely by bearing the man’s child and did not desire to now wreck his family life. While the desire to not ruin his family life is understandable, what isn’t is her claim of having felt fulfilled. It almost is akin to equating lust with fulfilment or, in other words, glorifying pre-marital sex. Obviously, such glorification doesn’t work with the Indian audience. Then, the guy’s wife is shown as being so hyper about this mysterious woman (who later turns out to be the child’s actual mother) who gives expensive gifts to the child. Such hyper reaction (calling her names) doesn’t seem appropriate especially when, instead of kidnapping the child, as feared, the mysterious woman actually drops her home from her school. When, after this incident, the wife asks her husband why this mysterious woman is bent upon breaking the peace of their home, it unintentionally gives the story out. Where is she breaking the peace when all she is doing is showering a lot of love on the kid? Again, when the mysterious woman emerges on the scene and tells the man’s wife that she is the child’s real mother, the first question of the wife to the woman should have been about why she had left the child in the orphanage. But that point is not discussed by the otherwise hyper wife. Once the woman reveals her story (without revealing the name of her partner in the train), the wife has the audacity to tell a close boyfriend of theirs to get married to the woman without bothering to check whether the boy is interested in making an unwed mother his life-partner. The writer may call the wife modern in her thinking but he again forgets that the film has to cater to Indian tastes. And then, where does the modernity of the wife go when she learns of her husband’s affair with the woman? Why does she throw a tantrum, especially since the affair took place before he was even married to her. There is no justification for showing the friend so keen on a divorce between the husband and wife after the tension over the other woman. Yet another defect is that the man is not shown feeling guilty about his train episode until the girl emerges on the scene. Does it mean that he feels guilty only because the encounter resulted in the girl giving birth to a baby? The hero doesn’t appear like a hero of a Hindi film because of this. The other woman also sometimes begins to look vampish because of the casual way in which she views sex. Another shock comes when, after being responsible for breaking the man’s family, she spends a night in his house while the wife is away! The climax, in which she pleads to have her child back, looks out-of-place. So does the repeated postponement of her departure.

On the plus side are the extraordinary performances of all the three lead players. There are some brilliant touches and some cute moments, like the scene in which the child is assumed to be kidnapped, the first encounter of the man and the other woman in his house, the telephone conversations about the train being late by two hours, etc. But unfortunately, they are few and far between.

Ajay Devgan does a splendid job, torn between his wife and the other woman. Not once does the guy go overboard and he handles the complex role with admirable understanding and ease. Kajol, as the other woman, is also excellent. But her characterisation will not find universal acceptance for the simple reason that she walked into the affair without enough justification. Mahima Chaudhry also acts very ably. She is especially brilliant in emotional scenes. Chandrachur Singh does an average job and suffers on account of a weak characterisation. His popping on the scene every time, even at midnight when the couple fights, looks ridiculous. Laxmikant Berde irritates. The couple’s daughter has been given long lines of dialogues which are bound to irritate the viewer. Farida Jalal is fair. Mohan Joshi, Anant Mahadevan, Dinesh Hingoo, Avtar Gill, Rajendra Gupta, Aroon Bakshi, Misha Gautam and the rest provide able support.

Prakash Jha’s direction leaves plenty to be desired. He has made a film that will be difficult for the general Indian viewers to digest. Jatin Lalit’s music score is melodious. The title song and ‘Mainu lagan lagi’ are very well-tuned numbers. A couple of other songs are also appealing. Dialogues (Javed Siddiqi) are appropriate. Camerawork is wonderful.

On the whole, Dil Kya Kare is too much for the normal Indian audience to digest. It will, therefore, entail losses to its distributors.

Released on 24-9-’99 at Novelty and 14 other cinemas of Bombay thru Devgan Entertainment & Software Ltd. Publicity & opening: good (due to partial holiday for Ganpati visarjan). …….Also released all over. Opening was shockingly dull in most places.

LATEST POSITION

Both the releases of this week have opened to discouraging houses.

Virus (dubbed) 1 week Jaipur 1,23,664, dull.

Hello Brother is terrible this week at many places and will entail losses of 25-30 lakh per major circuit. 2nd week Bombay 36,17,471 (55.14%) from 11 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,22,061 from 3 cinemas, Rajkot 94,500 (1 in matinee on F.H.); Pune 13,57,103 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,65,690, Solapur 1,69,008 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 27,16,181 from 13 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,93,483 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,25,172, Agra 1,35,000, Varanasi 1,63,261, Allahabad 1,49,840 (1st 1,92,300), Bareilly (6 days) 88,535, Hardwar 60,000, total 1,65,000; Rohtak 9,250 (1st 26,260); Calcutta 8,80,931 from 8 cinemas; Nagpur 3,37,706 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,40,989, Akola 1,16,173, total 3,07,741, Raipur (6 days) 94,658, Bhilai 53,781, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,25,130, Wardha 45,632, 1st week Yavatmal 1,45,413, 2nd week Bilaspur 95,303; Jaipur 3,70,516 from 2 cinemas, 1st week Ajmer (29 shows, gross) 3,17,560, 2nd week Bikaner 1,00,726; Hyderabad (gross) 4,95,783 from 2 cinemas; disastrous in Overseas.

1947 Earth is also poor. 2nd week Bombay 18,82,647 (57.85%) from 7 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,02,256 (1 unrecd.); Pune 4,01,916 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee) 34,537; Delhi 18,54,083 from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 40,108, Lucknow 1,48,800, Agra 59,438 (1st 99,834), Allahabad 36,315, Bareilly 19,267; Calcutta 1,75,686; Nagpur 98,908, 1st week Raipur (gross) 89,587; 2nd week Indore 72,000, Bhopal 63,000; Jaipur 1,60,892, 1st week Bikaner 1,07,790; 2nd week Hyderabad (gross) 4,39,771 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon).

Sangharsh 3rd week Bombay 6,63,762 (43.16%) from 3 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 68,860 (1 unrecd.), Baroda (matinee) 13,206, Rajkot (matinee) 10,580 (1 in regular unrecd.), 1st week Jamnagar 75,722 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 3rd week Pune 2,71,881 from 2 cinemas, Solapur 68,539; Delhi 8,76,593 from 6 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,14,302 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,63,753, Agra 76,769 (2nd 1,10,324), Allahabad 72,742, 1st Varanasi 65,051, 3rd Bareilly 26,709; Calcutta 1,94,689; Nagpur 92,013, Jabalpur 29,420, total 1,69,239, Akola 42,169, total 2,27,068, 2nd week Jalgaon (5 days) 71,448, 1st Wardha (5 days) 63,067, 3rd week Bilaspur 41,650; Indore 1,01,000 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal 59,334 (2nd 50,343); Jaipur 1,21,230; Hyderabad (gross) 2,26,104.

Godmother 3rd week Bombay 9,06,171 (52.98%) from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,52,971 from 3 cinemas, Baroda 69,573, Rajkot 87,670; Pune 1,04,162; Delhi 2,94,903; Kanpur 34,899, 1st week Agra 85,780, 3rd Allahabad 52,000 (2nd 72,000); Calcutta 1,27,367; Hyderabad (gross) 96,861 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon).

Baadshah will entail losses of about 30 lakh per major circuit except in Bombay and Nizam. 4th week Bombay 21,68,444 (55.73%) from 8 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,86,547 from 3 cinemas, Rajkot (matinee) 9,900 (1 in regular unrecd.), Jamnagar 45,369; Pune 6,80,689 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 89,567 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 12,45,454 from 6 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,14,911 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,57,097, Agra 1,80,000 (3rd 1,68,007), Allahabad 79,500 (3rd 87,000), Bareilly 43,576; Rohtak 5,524; Calcutta 2,56,357; Nagpur 1,25,375 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 97,110, total 6,85,315, Akola 52,500, total 4,14,000, Raipur (gross) 1,22,401, Bhilai 29,645, 1st week Jalgaon 1,67,345, 2nd Yavatmal 51,023 (1st 1,23,335); 4th week Bhopal 98,903; Jaipur 2,36,344; Hyderabad (gross) 5,09,519 from 3 cinemas; Vijayawada 4 weeks’ total (gross) 8,96,924.

Taal will prove a loser in Delhi-U.P., East Punjab, Bengal, C.P. Berar and Rajasthan. Will fetch commission in Bombay and overflow from South. Is good in Overseas. 6th week Bombay 14,57,958 (67.41%) from 4 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,19,181 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 1,35,940; Pune 4,87,012 from 5 cinemas (2 in matinee), Solapur (7 shows) 58,877; Delhi 14,97,040 from 7 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,79,630,  Lucknow 2,36,317, Agra 1,90,784, 5th week Varanasi 1,07,768, 6th Allahabad 95,750 (5th 91,657), Hardwar 30,539; Calcutta 4,02,079 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 88,215, Jabalpur 51,578,  total 6,23,971, Akola 68,300, total 7,21,800, Raipur (gross) 1,22,072, Bhilai  1,10,244, total 10,01,611, Jalgaon 51,705, Chandrapur 54,488, total 6,23,119; Indore 81,272, Bhopal 1,05,434; Jaipur 5,99,195, Jodhpur 1,35,000, Ajmer 55,467; Hyderabad (gross) 10,00,046 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon).

‘HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM’ SCORES A TON

Bhansali Productions’ Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, produced, directed and written by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is celebrating 100 days of its run today (25th September) at Liberty, Bombay and other places. The film stars Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan, Aishwarya Rai, Zohra Sehgal, Vikram Gokhale and others. It has music by Ismail Darbar and lyrics by Mehboob. Jhamu Sughand presents it.

‘GODMOTHER’ TAX-FREE IN MAHARASHTRA

Gramco Films’ National Award-winner Godmother has been granted tax exemption for six months in Maharashtra with effect from 20th September.

‘KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI’ CELEBRATES GOLDEN JUBILEE

Dharma Productions’ Kuch Kuch Hota Hai entered 50th combined week yesterday (24th September) at Novelty (matinee), Bombay. Produced by Yash Johar and directed by Karan Johar from his own story and screenplay, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, Salman Khan (in a guest appearance), Anupam Kher, Archna Pooran Singh, Reema, Himani Shivpuri, baby Sana Saeed, master Parzan Dastur and Neelam (in a guest appearance). It has songs penned by Sameer and composed by Jatin Lalit.

ONE MORE CINEMA IN GAIETY-GALAXY COMPLEX IN BOMBAY

One more cinema and one preview theatre are under construction in the Gaiety-Galaxy-Gemini cinema complex at Bandra, Bombay. The 120-seat cinema will be called Gossip and the preview theatre, Grace. The complex will, therefore, house a total of 7 cinemas. Besides the above five, there are also Glamour and Gem. Glamour is a mini cinema, which screens English films, whereas Gem, a preview theatre, will also soon be converted into a cinema for the public.

Quite aptly, the entire complex will be called G-7.

T-SERIES OPENS MUSIC CAFE

T-Series inaugurated a grand music store, Music Cafe, on 20th September at Bandra, Bombay. The inauguration was attended by prominent industry people. The music store stocks devotional, classical, regional and compilation albums in the basement, Hindi film music on the ground floor, and international music, jazz, pop and Indipop on the first floor. The music store will stock all brands of music. The cafe is on the first floor.

Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Mukesh Desai and Abhay Dutt of Super Cassettes welcomed the guests.

‘SARFAROSH’ TAX-FREE IN RAJASTHAN

John Mathew Matthan’s Sarfarosh has been granted 100% tax-exemption for a month with effect from 8th October in Rajasthan.

CINEMA CLOSED DOWN

Deepak Talkies, Jamnagar, has downed shutters from September 17 and the cinema’s management has relieved the entire staff of their services. The exact reason for the cinema’s closing down is not yet known.

GIRISH GHANEKAR NO MORE

Marathi film producer-director Girish Ghanekar died on the morning of 23rd September in Bombay. He collapsed at Joggers Park at Bandra, where he used to regularly take his walks. Vasanji Mamania (of Adlabs), who happened to be there for his morning walk too, rushed Girish to the nearby Lilavati Hospital. He was joined there by producer Vikram Mehrotra. But Girish Ghanekar was pronounced dead before admission. He was 56 and is survived by his wife and two sons.

Girish Ghanekar was the son of Govindrao Ghanekar who was one of the pioneers of advertising films in India. Girish had made nine Marathi films, over 500 advertisement films and some Marathi TV serials including the popular sitcom, Gotya. Among his popular Marathi films were Gosht Dhamal Namyachi, Prem Karuya Khullam Khulla, Rangat Sangat, Balache Baap Brahmachari, Rajane Vajavle Baaja and Navsache Por. He won several Marathi film awards.

RAMOJI FILM CITY CHARGED WITH EXCISE EVASION OF RS. 3.76 CRORE

The additional director general of anti-evasion, Andhra Pradesh, recently issued show case notice to Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad, for evasion of excise duty to the tune of Rs. 3.76 crore by two units — Maya and Harmony — situated inside Ramoji Film City. Earlier, in February, the Hyderabad regional unit of the DGAE had raided the premises, following detection of fraud in the two units, and recovered several incriminating documents pertaining to raw material procurement, manufacture and clearance of excisable items and costing statements thereof. The DGAE’s show cause notice dated 16th August, ’99 lists seven counts of violation under several sections of the Central Excise Act. The units are yet to reply to the notice.

JAGAT DUGAR DEAD

Bengal distributor Jagat Singh Dugar died on the morning of 24th September at Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay due to kidney failure. He had been hospitalised more than a fortnight back. He is survived by his wife, four daughters and a son. He was cremated the same afternoon at the Santacruz crematorium. A condolence meeting will be held this evening (25th September) at the residence of his daughter in Bombay, where he used to reside.

Jagat Dugar was a director in Musical Films Pvt. Ltd., a distribution company started jointly by him, Sardarmull Kankaria and Omprakash Ladsaria. He also had another distribution concern, Dreamland Pictures (Calcutta).

SUPER CASSETTES SIGNS UDIT, KUMAR SANU

Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. has signed leading singers Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu as also six others viz. Harbhajan Mann, Hans Raj Hans, Sirdul Sikander, Richa Sharma, Harry Anand and Sukhdev, under contracts. They will sing exclusively for the albums of Super Cassettes.

INDIA’S BIGGEST ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX IN JAIPUR

The Suranas of the prestigious Raj Mandir cinema of Jaipur, alongwith two more leading names — Bansals (Rajasthan distributors, exhibitors and financiers) and the Kotharis — will build a huge entertainment city in Jaipur. The entertainment city, to be developed along the lines of those in the USA, will have a multiplex with four screens, a water park, resort, games parlours including bowling alleys, food courts, shopping complexes, parks etc. The complex is designed to be the last word in entertainment in the country. The construction work is expected to begin around Diwali this year and the complex is likely to be open to visitors by 2000-end in its first phase. Once completed, this will reportedly be the largest entertainment complex in India.

YOU ASKED IT

You keep warning producers and distributors by pointing out their follies through your editorials. Yet, they don’t heed your advice. Why then don’t you stop writing such depressing editorials?

– My not writing is not going to make the depressing reality any better. Even if producers and distributors don’t heed our suggestions (I won’t call it ‘advice’), the fact that they read the warning is better than not at all being aware of the bad times. Besides, even if one producer or one distributor takes corrective action after reading our editorials, don’t you think we have served the industry?

I plan to enter distribution business. Can you tell me which under-production film is the safest buy for Bombay?

– If I knew that, wouldn’t I buy its distribution rights? But I can tell you which films aren’t safe to buy, on the face of it!

Has Dil Kya Kare not opened well because its heroine, Kajol, is married now?

– Don’t blame Kajol’s marriage for the ordinary/dull opening. The real reasons for the dull opening are set out elsewhere in this issue.

PRODUCTION NEWS

Progressing In Mauritius

A 20-day shooting stint of Film Folks’ Prod. No. 2 is currently under way in Mauritius. The stint began on Sept. 16 and will end on Sept. 30. Directors Abbas Mustan are picturising two songs, choreographed by Rekha Chinni Prakash, on Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Johny Lever, and Mink in a guest appearance. Being produced by Vijay Galani, the film is written by Shyam Goel, Neeraj Vora, Sanjeev Duggal and Robin Bhatt. It has music by Anu Malik, and lyrics by Sameer. Cinematography: Rajan Kinagi. Editing: Hussain Burmawala. Venus presents it.

MIX MASALA

THEY ARE LUCKY WHEN SAATH SAATH HAIN

K.R. Trivedi from Jalgaon has sent us this interesting bit of observation. All the three films in which Karisma Kapoor and Tabu have been co-stars so far — David Dhawan’s Saajan Chale Sasural and Biwi No. 1 and Raj Kanwar’s Jeet — have minted money at the box-office. Now that two more films, co-starring them, are poised for release this year, it should be interesting to know whether Karisma and Tabu would be able to keep up their spotless record. Their two forthcoming films are Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Saath Saath Hain (quite aptly titled) and N. Chandra’s Shikari.

Change Of Image?
Change Your Mind!

Both the releases of this week — Dil Kya Kare and Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain — opened to dull houses almost everywhere. The opening, comparatively speaking, was better in Bombay because of the partial holiday for Ganpati visarjan.

Dil Kya Kare, a love story, has no action which is actually its hero, Ajay Devgan’s strong point. Ajay Devgan has the image of an action hero and his penchant for doing out-and-out non-action roles has backfired miserably this time because the film could not even open to respectable houses at many places. Why, at several places where the film opened on Thursday (to dull houses), the film’s collections on Friday were even lower! The trade had expected the film to open well because of the hit title song and because this is the first film of Kajol with Ajay after their marriage. But neither the song nor marriage helped.

Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain, too, opened to dismal houses in almost the whole country because it was publicised as a soft romantic film. The public is not interested in seeing Govinda in romantic roles. The audience wants to see him doing crazy comedy. In fact, HTPMH has plenty of comedy and if the makers had given glimpses of the comedy in their promotional trailers on television, it would have definitely ensured a far better initial for the film. Perhaps, the makers wanted to be different from the makers of other Govinda-starrers. Well, the audience, too, decided to be different — they simply refused to go into the cinemas screening HTPMH.

Moral of the story: Don’t go overboard in trying for a change of image. For, if you go overboard, the public may decide to go underground!

– Komal

Santosh Singh Jain All Set To Become CCCA President For 34th Term

The Central Circuit Cine Association goes to the polls on 28th September in Indore. As against the one-year term of the executive committee every time, the term of the new executive committee to be elected on 28th will be two years. This follows the amendment in the CCCA’s Articles of Association, carried out recently, providing for biennial elections in place of annual elections so far.

The elections will be preceded by the Association’s 46th annual general meeting on 27th at 11.30 a.m. at Yeshwant Theatre in Indore. Before that, the newly-constructed air-conditioned auditorium — Santosh Sabhagrah — will be inaugurated at 10 a.m. at Film Bhawan. A statue of the late founder-president of the CCCA, H.S. Subbarao, will also be unveiled there.

Unlike in other years in the past, there is not much clamour this year for a berth in the executive committee. In other words, the ruling group of Santosh Singh Jain, which had swept last year’s elections, may well repeat the feat this year. Last year, at least there was an opposition, albeit weak, but this year, there are a few individuals who are trying to put up individual fights against the strong Jain group. Since there is no united opposition, it is very unlikely that any independent candidate will dislodge a sitting member.

There was some activity to bring in one or two new members in the Santosh Singh Jain panel, but even that may not be possible as there doesn’t seem to be much scope for dropping anyone from among the sitting members.

In effect, therefore, the elections to the executive committee of the strongest film body may remain a mere formality. Santosh Singh Jain, who has served as its president for 33 long years, is all set to be elected to the chair for the 34th time by the new executive committee.

The annual general meeting, elections and inauguration of the auditorium are likely to be attended by several producers from Bombay, besides distributor- and exhibitor-members of the CCCA from C.P. Berar, C.I. and Rajasthan.

FINANCIER ALLEGES FOUL PLAY

AJMER COURT DISMISSES SIPPY FILMS’ REVISION PETITION

The additional district judge of the special sessions court for SC & ST, Ajmer, Atul Kumar Jain, on 17th August, 1999, dismissed a revision petition filed by Sippy Films against the order of the judicial magistrate 1 (Ajmer) in a case filed by Sunil Mittal, director of Mittal Capital India Ltd., against Sippy Films. Mittal Capital India Ltd. had lent Rs. 25 lakh to Sippy Films, producers of Agar Tum Na Aate. They were seeking repayment of the loan from the firm and wanted to make the individual partners viz. Mohini, G.P., Vishal, Sascha and Draupadi Sippy parties to the case by virtue of them being partners in the firm. The judicial magistrate 1 had held that despite the death of one partner (Vijay Sippy) of Sippy Films, the other partner/s were liable to repay the loan and should, therefore, be made parties to the case. It had been pleaded by the defendants in the court of the judicial magistrate 1 that with the death of a partner, there was no ground to recover the amount from the concern. It had also been argued by Sippys’ counsel that the other Sippys were not partners in Sippy Films. The ADJ upheld the judicial magistrate’s order and dismissed the revision petition of Sippy Films.

Sippy Films had taken the loan, and Vijay Sippy, as partner of the firm, had signed the loan agreement and, for repayment, had issued three post-dated cheques of Rs. 5 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 10 lakh respectively to Mittal Capital India Ltd. The first cheque of Rs. 5 lakh was deposited in the bank but it was dishonoured as there was no money in the account of Sippy Films. As a result, director of Mittal Capital India Ltd., Sunil Mittal, filed a suit under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and made partners of Sippy Films — G.P. Sippy, Mohini Sippy, Draupadi Sippy, Vishal Sippy, Ramesh Sippy and Sascha Sippy — respondents. All the respondents denied having any connection with the concern which was alleged to be dissolved following the death of Vijay Sippy. The respondents also said that it was not justified to ask for payment after the firm was dissolved. Mittal’s counsel, however, argued that it was wrong on the part of G.P. Sippy and others to say that they were not partners in Sippy Films. The judge asked the counsel of Sippy Films to produce documents of the firm, which would establish who the partners in the concern were. But no documents were produced in the court by Sippy Films.

The judge, therefore, asked Vijaya Bank (Bombay) to give documents of the firm to the court (the firm’s bank account is with Vijaya Bank). After going through those documents, the judge said that Vijay Sippy and Mohini Sippy were partners when the concern’s bank account was opened in Vijaya Bank, and G.P. Sippy, Vishal Sippy, Sascha Sippy etc. were authorised later (in 1990 and later) to operate the firm’s bank account. The partnership agreement between Vijay and Mohini Sippy provided (in para g) that in the eventuality of any partner dying, the other partner/s and the legal heirs of the deceased would be liable to repay the loans taken by the concern. The judge dismissed Sippys’ revision petition and held that the Sippys (Mohini, G.P., Vishal, Sascha and Draupadi) came under the purview of section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. It is also alleged by Mittal that as per the records of the Registrar of Companies in Bombay, it has been ascertained beyond doubt that the aforesaid Sippys are directors in Sippy Films P. Ltd., which company is a partner in Sippy Films.

The hearing, fixed for 21st September, has been adjourned to 28th September.

In the meantime, Mittal Capital India Ltd. has filed a revision petition in the Rajasthan high court against the exemption granted to Ramesh Sippy by the ADJ.

Overall Depression In Indore Trade

♦ Indore was drenched in rains on Monday (September 20), the day I reached there. The overcast clouds had cast a pall of gloom over the city. As if this were not enough, there came the sad news that C.P. distributor Rajesh Nahar, son of Pukhraj Nahar and brother of Uttam Nahar (of Shree Paras Films), had passed away in Amravati on Sunday. The Indore trade condoled the sad demise on Monday evening at the Cine Club of Indore.

♦ The box-office scenario in Indore is even gloomier. A general sentiment expressed by the distributors is that the high prices of films are no longer commensurate with the films’ drawing power and sustaining power. The question uppermost in everybody’s mind is: ‘What does the future hold for us?’

♦ Distributor Jitendra Jain made an interesting revelation as to how differently a film fares at different stations. He said, “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam has done ‘A’ class business at ‘A’ class stations, ‘B’ class (average) at ‘B’ class stations, and ‘C’ class (flop) at ‘C’ class stations!”

♦ Jitendra Jain expressed concern over the fact that most of the distributors will take a holiday from buying, if things go out of hand. He suggested that it was about time to abandon the old practice of signing MG royalty agreements. In his opinion, producers should give up the MG royalty system and go in for either outright sale or sale on advance basis.

♦ “We distributors have this tendency to go for the tops — top banner, top cast, top director, top music and what not — but today, top banners, top films…. are no longer dependable. In the past few months, films which generated high expectations and which had top names have toppled.” Words of C.I. distributor Vinod Malhotra, who lost heavily in Rajaji and Mann. He also endorses the general view that from now on, distributors should buy films only on outright basis.

So, the scene continues to be as disturbing as the bumpy roads of Indore.

– Gautam Mutha

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Santosh Singh Jain’s Vision

They say, strike when the iron is hot. And if you chance upon the prospect of getting a lot for reasonably less than what you thought, then there is no better deal than buying a plot of land. Perhaps, that’s what CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain must have thought when he eyed a big plot of land in Indore about 25 years ago. Santosh Singh Jain found the plot worth the deal and acquired it immediately for the CCCA. But the then executive committee members of the CCCA expressed great asantosh over Santosh-ji’s deal. Jain’s action was then dubbed as a Quixotic exercise. Some asked, “Does the president want us to play football on this big plot?” But they never knew what Santosh Singh Jain had envisioned on this big plot. The 25,000 square feet plot had cost just Rs. 1.5 lakh!

Years later, on this plot came up a beautiful building, Film Bhawan, which is CCCA’s pride today.

The Film Bhawan is now annexed by a beautiful structure which houses an auditorium with a capacity of 200 seats. The auditorium is named Santosh Sabhagrah, obviously after Santosh Singh Jain, as an example of immense appreciation for his steadfast dedication to the cause of the film distribution and exhibition trades in C.P.C.I. Rajasthan.

The Santosh Sabhagrah will be inaugurated on September 27. The first function to be held at the Sabhagrah will be the declaration of CCCA’s election results on 28th evening.

The statue of late H.S. Subba Rao, the founder-president of this largest film association, and the mentor of Santosh Singh Jain, will occupy a pride of place in the Film Bhawan on the day the Santosh Sabhagrah is inaugurated.

INFORMATION MEETS

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

– SANTOSH SINGH JAIN

RAJ VAIDYA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And what is the scenario today?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LATEST POSITION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HASRAT JAIPURI DEAD

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

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

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

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

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

SULOCHANA CHATTERJEE PASSES AWAY

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

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

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

MIX MASALA

YOUNGEST

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

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

One Cinema — 164 Queries!

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

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

Hello Brothers!

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

Rakesh Roshan’s Musical Feast

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

Strangely Enough…..

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

Lab Letters — Sirf Junk?

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

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

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

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

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

HELLO BROTHER

G.S. Entertainment’s Hello Brother (UA) is a comedy film. It is the story of an innocent guy who works for a drug lord but doesn’t know that he is involved in illegal activities. A police inspector suspects that he is working for a criminal and he tries to get to the main don, using the innocent guy who turns out to be too smart for him. One day, the innocent guy comes to know of his boss’ business, and the boss, therefore, kills him. Simultaneously, the police officer is also critically injured and is in need of a heart transplant. The dead guy’s heart is transplanted into the police officer. As a result, the police officer can see and talk to the dead man. To make matters more comical, the police officer falls in love with the dead man’s girlfriend. How the dead man and the police officer first quarrel among themselves, then become friends and eliminate the drug lord forms the latter part of the drama. The dead man also helps the police officer win over his girlfriend.

Since the accent is on comedy, there’s no place for emotions at all. The drama is childish and the film sometimes looks like an assemblage of items rather than a cohesive script. The film reminds of Ghazab and Chamatkar and, therefore, has no novelty value. But, perhaps, the biggest drawback of the film are the jokes of breaking wind by the police officer’s senior, and the antics of the hero adopted by him to be one-up on his opponents. Everytime the senior police officer appears on the scene (and that’s quite often), he breaks wind and the accompanying sound effects and reactions of the others around him would leave many viewers too embarrassed. For, such things are too private to be enjoyed or laughed at in public. Further, the novelty of  a character breaking wind has waned, it having been used in the recently released Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Of course, this very comic portion will be liked by one section of the audience (mainly youngsters) who don’t mind such stuff, but the family and class audience may find the same disgusting.

There’s no proper build-up of romance. Likewise, the climax starts pretty abruptly and it is weak, too. The short duration of the film (its running time is 2 hours and 15 minutes) is yet another drawback. Dialogues (Sohail Khan), however, are very witty and humorous.

Salman Khan, as the innocent guy, acts freely and raises a lot of laughter for his crazy antics. But it must be mentioned that Salman is repeating himself too much — he did the same crazy comedy in Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, in Jaanam Samjha Karo and again in Biwi No. 1. Salman’s dances are a delight to watch. Arbaaz Khan does a fairly good job as the police officer. The scene between the two Khans (where Arbaaz acts like a tapori) and the heroine is very enjoyable. Rani Mukerji dances beautifully, looks glamorous and acts quite well. Johny Lever acts with aplomb, evoking laughter almost every time he appears on the screen. Neeraj Vora’s facial expressions when he breaks wind are exceptionally natural. Shakti Kapoor is average and doesn’t get much scope. Razzak Khan is good in a couple of scenes. Sulbha Arya, Dinyar Tirandaz, Mukhtar Khan, Mahendra Verma and the others lend reasonable support.

Sohail Khan’s direction is fairly nice but his story and screenplay leave a lot to be desired. His comedy would seem weird to some, vulgar to some but also very entertaining to some. However, it will only be a section of the city audience who’d really care for the kind of mirth shown in the film. Music (Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid) and dances (Ganesh Acharya) are, perhaps, the best things in the film. ‘Chandi ki daal par’, ‘Chunariya’, ‘Hataa saawan ki ghata’ and the title track are extremely popular numbers and their picturisations are superb, vibrant and colourful. Background score and editing (both by Yusuf Khan) are appreciable. Santosh Thundiyil’s camerawork is praiseworthy. Action scenes are alright. Production values are okay.

On the whole, Hello Brother has masala for Bombay and Maharashtra mainly. Its prospects in North India and the Eastern circuit are not too bright although it has taken a great start and has a clear field for two weeks as well as the advantage of several holidays during the two weeks. Considering its high price, it could remain a loser in several circuits.

Released on 10-9-’99 at Minerva, Eros (matinee) and 17 other cinemas of Bombay by Vimal Agarwal thru R.M. Ahuja & Co. Publicity & opening: excellent. …….Also released all over. Opening was mind-boggling in C.P. Berar and Rajasthan (1st day Jaipur about 95%). A drop in collections was noticed in Delhi-U.P. and the Eastern circuit on day 1 itself.

1947 EARTH

Deepa Mehta’s 1947 Earth (A) tells the tale of pre-Partition India. It shows the amity between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims until the news of Partition filters in and creates mental disintegration mainly between the Hindus and the Muslims. The story, based on Bapsi Sidhwa’s celebrated novel, Cracking India, is narrated through the character of a Parsi girl. It revolves around a playful ice-candy man (Aamir Khan), a docile masseur (Rahul Khanna), the Parsi girl (Maia Sethna) and her Hindu maidservant (Nandita Das).

The first half has some light moments with Aamir Khan enlivening the goings-on with his antics, and Rahul Khanna endearing himself to the audience with his docility. The scenario changes when Aamir learns of Nandita Das’ love for Rahul. This disturbs Aamir because he, too, loves her. The tension reaches a flashpoint when a train from Gurdaspur arrives in Lahore. The train is filled with corpses of Muslims and among them are those of Aamir’s three sisters who have, like the rest, been killed by Hindus. Aamir is, therefore, filled with hatred for the Hindus. He is also agitated when the Hindu maidservant, whom he has loved, spurns him for the masseur. All this (murder of his sisters, his being spurned) causes a mental turmoil in him to such an extent that he is led to committing barbaric acts.

The film has been masterly crafted. Each and every scene and character have been perfectly etched out, thanks to an engaging screenplay. The cinematography captures the ambience of the period with great dexterity. All this technical finesse may go down well with the sophisticated audience. It would find great appreciation from the Overseas patrons. But it will not evoke the same reaction from the Indian cine goers largely due to the fact that the Partition turmoil has been relegated to the background of people’s memories and also because such a subject has been earlier dealt with in Pamela Rooks’ A Train To Pakistan. The film is terribly slow and bores the viewer, at places.

Aamir Khan is simply wonderful. He evokes a lot of laughter with his shairis in the initial reels. The drastic change of his character towards the concluding reels will, however, disappoint the audience who views him as a darling hero. Rahul Khanna is fantastic in his debut-making attempt. He looks very handsome and is sure to draw great attention of producers and directors. Nandita Das, the dusky beauty with pearly white teeth, is simply superb. She reminds of Smita Patil, in looks as well as performance. In no scene does one detect her acting effort. She is just too natural to be true. Maia Sethna, as the 8-year old Parsi girl, is adorable. Kitu Gidwani and Arif Zakaria, as the Parsi couple, live their roles and succeed in highlighting the Parsi traits. Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Gulshan Grover, Pawan Malhotra and Raghubir Yadav make their presence felt.

Music (A.R. Rahman) is in keeping with the mood of the film. Two songs (‘Rut aa gayee re’ and ‘Banno’) are truly hit numbers. The other songs are also beautifully tuned. The songs are finely integrated into the scenes. But using the songs in background, with dialogues superimposed on them, mars the impact of the wonderful music. Background score is appropriate. Production values are of a high grade. Camerawork is of a very high order.

The film has come at a time when the two partitioned countries are passing through a different stage of hostility. The Partition turmoil shown in the film will not even evoke nostalgia for those who had experienced it during their times. It may, as said, impress the Overseas audience. At home, who would like to see a flashback in these fast-forward times, except the classes?

Released on 10-9-’99 at New Empire and 13 other cinemas of Bombay thru Devgan Entertainment & Software Ltd. Publicity: excellent. Opening: good. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull in several circuits.

LATEST POSITION

It was a normal week.

Sangharsh has done well (overflow) in West Bengal and fair in Bombay but is ordinary elsewhere. 1st week Bombay 40,01,130 (68.37%) from 11 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 9,30,362 from 5 cinemas, Baroda 99,925, Rajkot 84,050 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 12,54,545 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,45,178, Solapur 2,41,000 from 2 cinemas; Hubli 2,40,386; Delhi 35,59,333 (59.86%) from 11 cinemas; Kanpur 3,54,138 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,53,127, Varanasi 1,99,765, Bareilly 1,21,447, Dehradun 1,72,001, Hardwar 40,000; Calcutta 16,95,475 from 13 cinemas (share including MGs and FHs: 20 lakh, good); Nagpur 5,91,096 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,00,255, Amravati 1,94,542, Akola 1,28,083, Raipur (gross) 2,00,025; Indore 3,00,164 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 2,07,357 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 5,22,695 from 2 cinemas, Bikaner 97,805; Hyderabad (gross) 16,06,647 from 8 cinemas.

Godmother has been appreciated by the elite in metro cities but suffers wherever excessive number of prints were released. It is good in Saurashtra and Gujarat due to its Gujarati flavour. 1st week Bombay 13,70,631 (68.80%) from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,57,144 from 2 cinemas, Baroda 78,908, Rajkot 1,60,690, Jamnagar 1,17,068 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 1,84,760 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 3,79,289 (90.69%); Lucknow 1,47,777; Calcutta 2,28,201 from 2 cinemas (other cinemas not disclosed); Hyderabad (gross) 1,40,068 from 2 cinemas (both in noon).

………..

Baadshah drops at many places. Will ultimately prove safe in Bombay and South only. 2nd week Bombay 47,66,881 (72.20%) from 12 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 15,09,251 from 6 cinemas, Rajkot 2,33,000 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,43,494 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 9,23,804 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,76,489 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 37,18,422 from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,12,982 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 6,91,258 from 2 cinemas, Bareilly 1,26,120, Dehradun 1,65,000 (1st 2,41,968), Hardwar 60,009, total 1,74,156; Rajkot 28,665 (1st 58,549); Calcutta 9,60,413 from 7 cinemas; Nagpur 3,80,822 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,01,228, total 4,72,890, Amravati 1,13,325, Akola 1,09,700, Raipur (gross) 2,25,890, Durg 68,371, Chandrapur 89,531 (1st 1,63,291); Indore 1,71,000 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,88,083 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 3,35,360, Ajmer (29 shows) 1,15,831, Bikaner (gross) 1,71,150; Hyderabad (gross) 11,38,045 from 6 cinemas (1 in noon); Vijayawada 2 weeks’ total (gross) 5,58,578, Viaskhapatnam (gross) 4,97,970, Kurnool (gross) 2,15,580.

Arjun Pandit finally emerges an overflow film in East Punjab and Bihar, average/commission earner in Bombay and C.P. Berar, and a commission earner in Rajasthan. 3rd week Bombay 11,49,184 (58.23%) from 6 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,49,234 from 3 cinemas, 1st week Padra 1,33,885, 3rd Jamnagar (matinee) 22,432 (1 in regular unrecd.); Pune 2,36,062 from 3 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,10,561, Solapur 85,151; Delhi 5,52,435 from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,61,832 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,84,113, Dehradun 1,50,360 (2nd 2,01,005), Hardwar 99,238, total 4,42,673; Rohtak 8,123 (1st 70,636, 2nd 12,260); Calcutta 1,49,594; Nagpur 1,38,873, Jabalpur (6 days) 64,068, Amravati (6 days) 83,339, Akola 67,052, total 3,29,352, Raipur (6 days, gross) 1,08,164, Jalgaon (6 days) 62,799, 2nd week Wardha (5 days) 34,060, 1st Yavatmal 1,40,897; 3rd week Bhopal 79,994; Jaipur 3,55,156 from 2 cinemas, Bikaner 32,851; Hyderabad (gross) 1,91,174.

Taal 4th week Bombay 36,22,230 (67.10%) from 8 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 10,43,910 from 4 cinemas, Baroda 2,10,462, Jamnagar 1,12,615; Pune 6,77,397 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,39,000; Delhi 31,58,929 from 9 cinemas; Kanpur 2,07,231 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,02,796, Varanasi 1,40,233, Bareilly 42,382, Dehradun 1,30,000; Calcutta 4,98,127 from 2 cinemas; Jabalpur 1,00,133, total 5,14,908, Amravati 1,38,683, Akola 1,10,517, total 5,89,100, Raipur (gross) 1,75,349, 2nd week Wardha 51,380, 3rd Yavatmal 48,490 (2nd 87,605); 4th week Indore 1,46,000 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,32,895; Jaipur 5,82,884, Jodhpur 1,20,000, Ajmer 76,528, Bikaner 65,714; Hyderabad (gross) 12,32,970 from 5 cinemas (2 in noon), Aurangabad (gross) 3,71,773 from 2 cinemas; 4 weeks’ (gross) total Vijayawada 14,76,696, Visakhapatnam 8,21,964, Kurnool 4,63,187, Anantapur 5,41,390, Cuddapah 2,37,575, 2 weeks’ total at Rajahmundry (gross) 2,42,683, 16 days’ total Guntur (gross) 2,16,956, 1st week Ongole (gross) 1,08,555.

T.M. BIHARI PASSES AWAY

Veteran producer and Bombay exhibitor T.M. Bihari passed away last week in Pune where he was leading a retired life. He was the one who had introduced Dharmendra in his film, Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere, directed by Arjun Hingorani. Bihari made the first Sindhi feature film, Abana, in which he introduced Sadhana.

YOU ASKED IT

How many cinemas are there in India? Has the number of cinemas gone up or down in the last few years?

– As on 31st March, 1999, there were 12,548 cinemas in the country. The number has dwindled over the years. On 31st March, 1991, India had a total of 13,101 cinemas. That is to say, there has been a net decline of 553 cinemas in the last eight years — an average net drop of 69 cinemas per year.

Big films are bombing at the box-office and yet, producers are not contemplating bringing film prices down. Why is that so?

– Producers will never think of bringing film prices down. It is the distributors who have to refrain from buying high-priced films. If that happens, producers will be forced to reduce prices.

DO YOU KNOW?

‘DDLJ’ SCORES A DOUBLE CENTURY!

* DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE (tax-free) has this week entered 200th combined week at Maratha Mandir, Bombay, in matinee shows (after being shifted from main cinema New Excelsior). On September 9, it completed 146 weeks at Maratha Mandir alone where it recorded a total collection of 77,18,610/- (against the total capacity of 1,09,23,136/-) averaging 70.66% per week! The total share of 146 weeks is Rs. 30 lakh (approximately). Needless to say, it has never gone into deficit in any week. A newly-designed banner is being put up at Maratha Mandir to mark the film’s entry into the 200th week!

MIX MASALA

VOCAL SUPPORT

Two stars, loyal to their own genre of films, lent ‘vocal support’ to the two films released this week. Shabana Azmi, the votary of art/class cinema, lent her voice to the Parsi girl in 1947 Earth, at the beginning and at the end of the film. Amitabh Bachchan’s deep-throated voice signifies the ‘voice from the heaven’ in Hello Brother.

HELLO ASHOK

Ashok Ahuja, the Bombay distributor of Hello Brother, was deprived of ‘hellos’ on his cellphone the day his film was released. How come? Was the cellphone’s battery down? Or was the phone damaged? Or did he switch it off? Nothing of the sort! Some visitor to his office simply walked out after stealthily picking up his ‘hello’ machine — the cellphone, that is! Who is the thief, no one knows!

PRETTY CLEAR?

Many in the industry pronounce the ‘ty’ in Preity Zinta’s name as in ‘Almighty’. But the fact is that the ‘ty’ is to be pronounced as in titli (butterfly). In other words, the correct pronunciation of the cute actress’ name is the same way one would pronounce Priti. One feels, it is the spelling which has created the confusion. But now, this clarification by Preity herself should serve to clear all doubts about how one should call her. It is spelt Preity and pronounced Priti — the ‘ty’ as in ‘Bharti’ and not as in ‘entity’.

Territorial Ratios: An Urgent Case For Rethinking

That prices of films, more than films themselves, are failing is old story now. But the old story has of late been raising its ugly head a bit too often. Big films sold at bigger prices have been even bigger losers at the box-office. While some films have bombed universally, there are others which have managed to do reasonably well in some circuits but have flopped in other territories.

Which gets us to the new story. Films today are not doing universally well. Gone seem to be the days when a film was a universal hit or even an all-round earner. Audience’s tastes in the various circuits have changed so much and are so different from each other that it is becoming increasingly difficult for makers to make films that have universal appeal. Then there are also films which do bumper business in Overseas but are not half as good in one or all of the home territories.

This makes it imperative for makers to do some rethinking on the pricing structure of their films. Not just should film prices be more moderate, they should also be structured according to the type of films made. Let not distributors be bogged down with the burden of meaningless ratios. Producers must appreciate the fact that if their films may not appeal to the Rajasthan audience as much as to the West Bengal viewers, there’s not much sense in charging the same price to the distributors of both the circuits. The distributor of C.I. need not always pay 20 or 25% of the Bombay distributor’s price; he may be charged 15% if a producer is honest enough to admit that his film has less of a flavour for the C.I. audience.

Of course, it may not always be easy for a producer to judge objectively whether and, more importantly, admit that his film has wide-ranging appeal or only sectional appeal. But if it is not always easy, it is also not so difficult as to be impossible to assess the appeal of a film before release. Its flavour, content and treatment can be reasonably good indicators.

Big producers can afford to discard the ratio system. A little lesser coverage won’t ruin them. But overcharging distributors can adversely affect the latter and jeopardise their financial standing. After all, producers have got newer sources or revenue earnings in the form of satellite channels.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

National Awards: Misinterpreting Their Importance

It is indeed strange how distributors sometimes think. Despite being veterans in their fields, some of the distributors of Godmother miscalculated the impact of the hype and hoopla surrounding the film after it bagged six National Awards. They felt, the terrific media hype would translate into a bumper opening for the film, failing to appreciate the fact that by its very genre, it was an art film and, therefore, no amount of national or international awards could change the film’s outcome on the opening day or week. Given that it is an art film and, what’s more, doesn’t boast of saleable stars, their decision to release excessive number of prints in cities like Bombay and Calcutta has proved to be detrimental for the film. What Godmother required was love and care in the form of a very limited release and not an over-saturated release, as has happened. More thought should definitely have gone into devising its release strategy. Distributors also need to understand that National awards can also go against the film sometimes, because they only serve to underline the genre of the films which win them. For, in India, it is usually art films which bag the awards except, say, the National award for the best film providing wholesome entertainment. Godmother, in any case, is a film which could not but depend on just mouth publicity to grow among the elite audience. Fortunately for director Vinay Shukla though, his good work in the film has not gone unrewarded. He has been receiving accolades galore for his direction. Incidentally, Vinay has been signed for a film to be produced by Boney Kapoor. It will star Jaya Bachchan, besides other heroes and heroines.

Rakesh Roshan’s Surprise Party

It was a party with a difference. Pinkie, wife of producer-director Rakesh Roshan, threw a surprise party on 5th September at The Club to celebrate Rakesh’s 50 years (on 6th). If the theme party (the theme being ‘A night in Las Vegas’) was a surprise for Rakesh Roshan, the close friends of the Roshans, who were invited to celebrate the milestone in the life of Rakesh, were also in for a very big surprise. They were treated to a 5-minute montage of various phases in the celebrated producer-director’s life — right from his childhood, through his marriage, birth of his two children, marriage of his daughter when Rakesh became a father-in-law, his graduation to becoming a grandpa, right to the day he completed 50. The montage was very beautifully prepared by son Hrithik Roshan who is being introduced by dad in Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. Hrithik used still photographs to make the montage which sure did strike an emotional chord in the hearts of the viewers. And Hrithik showed only the personal side of Rakesh Roshan’s life without really getting into details of his professional life. So, besides having an actor, Rakesh has a director, too, at home in Hrithik.

Roshan Jubilee House

Everybody in the Roshan family knew what Hrithik and his mother Pinkie were planning for the Big Day, except Rakesh Roshan. It was as if Hrithik was on some secret mission. While Hrithik was on his ‘mission’, Rakesh Roshan was desperately wanting his son to see the re-edited portion of Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. But Hrithik was untraceable, much to his dad’s consternation. In fact, Hrithik was engaged in finalising the photographs connected with Rakesh Roshan’s fifty years and in preparing the montage.

By the way, Rakesh Roshan’s house is now a jubilee house. While Rakesh Roshan’s mother is 75 (platinum jubilee), Rakesh is 50 (golden), and Hrithik just completed 25 (silver).

Shocking Khans

This week’s two releases provide ‘shock value’ to the cine goers for more reasons than one. Firstly, due to the disturbingly short lengths of the two films — Hello Brother (2 hours and 15 minutes) and 1947 Earth (2 hours). Secondly, due to two Khans’ unexpected moves. In Hello Brother, Salman Khan dies before the interval point, and in 1947 Earth, Aamir Khan turns negative towards the end. And these were shocks, particularly to the Khans’ hardcore fans.

Think Before You Speak

Industry leaders are sometimes quite rash in the comments they make in front of members of the fourth estate, which then get published in newspapers and magazines read by the general public. Like Pahlaj Nihalani, in his capacity as president of the Association of Motion Pictures & TV Programme Producers (AMPTPP), recently made public his ire over Shekhar Kapur who is fighting a war of words (besides battling for the censorship of his Elizabeth) with the CBFC. While Pahlaj has a right to his opinion, one fails to understand how the producer-leader got his facts wrong. To drive home the point that the cuts suggested by the CBFC in Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth were reasonable, Pahlaj cited the examples of Fire and Kama Sutra and said that the failures of the said two films proved the point that the taste and mentality of the Hindi film audience were entirely different from those of English film audience. Failure of Fire and Kama Sutra?!?, The AMPTPP president is, perhaps, unaware of the fact that Kama Sutra is a very successful film and collections of Fire, too, after a shaky start, picked up at many places. None of the two films is a failure, because both have fetched returns to not only their producers but distributors too.

Pahlaj has also questioned Mahesh Bhatt’s authority to support Shekhar Kapur in his fight against the CBFC, “Who is Mahesh Bhatt to support Shekhar Kapur?”, reads Pahlaj’s rhetoric. By the same logic, Mahesh Bhatt could as well ask Pahlaj who he (Pahlaj) is to object to his (Bhatt’s) support to Kapur.

While nobody objects to anybody’s personal opinions, a lot of people in the industry conveyed to Film Information their anxiety over the lack of caution and over the factual errors that came across loud and clear in some of the comments made by industry leaders in recent times. Not too many days back, TOA (Theatre Owners’ Association, Bombay) president U.A. Thadani’s comment in a national daily published from Bombay, agitated many producers and distributors. When asked his opinion on the INR hire charged by the Films Division to the film industry (an issue which is currently being debated in the Supreme Court), Thadani remarked something to the effect that the INR hire in any case wasn’t affecting exhibitors because it was being paid by distributors! How Thadani could treat such a serious issue so casually is  vexatious. After all, the industry is questioning the very basis of the hire charge — having to screen Indian news reels for the government and, over and above that, having to pay 1% of the nett collections for screening them!

Our leaders need to use caution. They should learn to be more discreet in their public utterances. For, they are representing the opinions of the entire industry. Let them not give to outsiders a picture of the industry as a house divided. As it is, the industry has rarely received good treatment at the hands of the central and state governments. The general public, too, has this suspicious glint in the eye when it views the film industry and its people. Rather than clearing the air, such ridiculous and, at times, factually and politically incorrect statements, coming as they do from industry leaders, serve only to show the film industry — our film industry — in bad light. This shouldn’t happen.

– Komal Nahta

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

KILLER ENTERTAINMENT TAX IN GUJARAT

Dear Sir,

I would like to draw the attention of the film trade to the dismal scenario prevailing in the exhibition of films in Gujarat. Towards this purpose, I am enclosing herewith the translation of a Gujarati advertisement issued by me in the local Ahmedabad dailies, Sandesh, Jai Hind, Jansatta, Sambhav, etc. to highlight the unjust and partial government policy regarding entertainment tax in Gujarat.

Why is the entertainment tax on cinema tickets so high in Gujarat? Every successive government in Gujarat seems to have adopted a very bitter attitude towards film audience.

(1) Is it a crime to see or show a film?

(2) The government seems to be reviving a practice similar to that prevalent during the days of slavery by investing unrestrained power in hands of its officials.

(3) The entertainment tax in Gujarat is the highest in the whole of India. In fact, according to a recent statement made by the leading light of our film industry, Subhash Ghai, the entertainment tax in Gujarat is the highest in the whole world.

It is indeed an irony that the entertainment tax is 4% in excess of that on alcoholic beverages! Today, a cinema ticket costing 35 paise is taxed 65 paise in the state. As a result, the admission rates have gone up considerably, which had led to a steep decline in the number of film audience as the common man is finding it increasingly difficult to pay the high prices of cinema tickets.

On the other hand, lavishly organised cultural extravaganzas are totally exempted from any tax. Even in hotels, items served and costing up to Rs. 200 are tax-free. Seen in this light, it is indeed ludicrous that such a partial attitude is adopted towards the entertainment industry. Why is the film industry being continuously made a target for excessive entertainment tax?

Cinema owners have had to make several representations — sometimes at the cost of their pride — before the government, but every plea of theirs have fallen on deaf ears. The government officials have consistently shown a lack of basic courtesy of at least hearing them out properly.

Even after the closures of 250 out of 700 cinemas in the state, the government officials never fail to remind cinema owners that earlier, the Janata Dal government under Chimanbhai had granted 50 paise, BJP government under Keshubhai had granted Re. 1 and RJP under Shankarsinh had granted Rs. 2 tax exemptions. The government officials cite these examples as if they were acts of charity more than anything else.

It is also indeed disturbing that no member of Parliament, who is supposed to represent all sections of society, has ever raised his voice against the government’s unjust and partial policy so far.

– B.P. Shah
Rupam Cinema
Ahmedabad

(It is indeed laudatory that B.P. Shah has raised his individual voice for a just cause without any fear of a possible backlash from the powers-that-be. His effort is not only commendable, it also needs to be reciprocated by the industry showing full support to the cause of Gujarat exhibitors.)

SANGHARSH

Vishesh Films Pvt. Ltd.’s Sangharsh (A) is the story of a research trainee in the CBI, who is offered a dare-devil and dangerous but nevertheless important assignment — she has to track down a psychopath killer who has escaped from jail and who murders little children as a religious ritual. The only person who can help her reach the killer is himself in prison, but this guy is no ordinary mortal. He is a genius and has a mind-boggling memory. He takes a liking for the CBI research trainee and vows to help her but only her, and not the police force which is also on the trail of the psychopath killer. How the girl and her genius-guide succeed in nabbing the killer and saving a child from being murdered, in the nick of time forms the nail-biting climax.

Inspired from Silence Of The Lambs, the film, written by Mahesh Bhatt, moves on a single track and offers almost nothing by way of relief, romance or comedy — all so essential for mass-appeal. The entire drama is very tense and the viewer yearns for some relief which is sadly missing. The point of child sacrifice looks a bit dated. Further, there is so much gore and violence in the second half that it could put off the women audience completely. Music (Jatin Lalit) is so dull that the songs not only hamper the flow of the drama but also bore a lot.

Akshay Kumar, as the jailed genius, does very well. Not only is he exceptional in action scenes but he also acts ably. Preity Zinta looks glamorous and acts with the ease of a seasoned actress. She gives a great deal to the role of the CBI research trainee. Ashutosh Rana is first-rate as the psychopath killer. He does such a fantastic job that he evokes immense hatred for himself among the audience. He looks every inch the character he plays and could easily pick up awards for his performance. His delirious mocking of his opponents by drumming his fingers on his lips is dramatically brilliant. Aman Verma is fair. Madan Jain, as the police inspector at loggerheads with the CBI, is very natural and he leaves a mark. Vishwajeet Pradhan does a good job. Vicky Chopra and Ninad Kamat lend able support. Master Jass Trivedi, master Mazhar, baby Alia and the others are alright.

Director Tanuja Chandra has not only extracted good work from her artistes but has also narrated the subject effectively. However, she falters while infusing the usual commercial ingredients (like songs) in the drama, making them look like add-ons. Music, as said above, is pathetic. Song picturisations are equally bad. Camerawork (Dharma Teja) is good. Dialogues are very good at some places. Action (Abbas Ali) scenes are well-composed.

On the whole, Sangharsh is too violent to have universal appeal. Besides, the subject as well as the treatment hold sectional appeal — for the class audience. It has chances in Bombay mainly. Its reasonable price is a point in its favour. In the North and Eastern circuit, however, the film can hope to achieve very little.

Released on 3-9-’99 at Novelty, New Empire and 16 other cinemas of Bombay thru Ahuja Films. Publicity & opening: very good. …….Also released all over.

GODMOTHER

Gramco Films’ Godmother (A) is the story of an uneducated woman who rules a man’s world. The woman, Rambhi, is one day shocked to learn that her husband (a gang-leader), who had just vowed to give up violence, himself becomes the victim of violence and is killed. This uneducated lady takes over the reins of her late husband’s gang. The local politician tries to use Rambhi as his pawn for getting political mileage. The uneducated woman turns out to be too smart for the politician. For, while she lets herself to be used by him, she, too, uses her new-found power to improve the wretched condition of the people of her community and, at the same time, to eliminate all those who opposed her. She is even elected to the Vidhan Sabha. Meanwhile, her son grows up and falls in love with a beautiful girl who is in love with a guy of a minority community. The son attacks the girl’s beloved and this episode is given a communal colour by the local politician who had always resented Rambhi’s rise to fame. Rambhi realises the futility of her power games, gets the beautiful girl married to her true lover, asks her son to mend his ways and also asks her community people to rise above petty parochialism by sacrificing her own life. Her martyrdom spells doom for the scheming politician.

The story is quite novel but the film suffers on a couple of counts. For one, it has elitist appeal only, and its pace is quite slow. Secondly, it has no saleable stars to attract the audience to the cinemas. Dialogues, penned by story writer and director Vinay Shukla, are really good at several places.

Shabana Azmi excels as Rambhi, the leader of the Mer community. She looks and plays every inch an uneducated woman who soon successfully rises in stature and power. A difficult role, she enacts it with consummate ease. Milind Gunaji, as her husband, gives a polished account of himself. Nirmal Pandey is brilliant and natural to the core. Govind Namdev evokes hatred as the manipulative politician. In one word, he is fantastic. Anup Soni stands out as Shabana’s brother-in-law. Raima Sen is good. Sharman Joshi does quite well. Ashwin Kumar is effective.

Notwithstanding the offbeat and dry subject which he has handled, it is to Vinay Shukla’s credit that his direction and narration show sparks of brilliance. Editing is sharp. Music (Vishal Bharadwaj) matches the film’s mood and the songs have some appeal. Background score is remarkable. Cinematography (Rajen Kothari) is extraordinary. Action scenes (Shahid Ali) are natural. Costumes (Mandira Shukla) of the characters deserve special mention. Technically, good.

On the whole, Godmother may have won six National awards and deservedly so, but its single-track dull subject, lack of popular stars of today and elitist treatment will make box-office rewards in most of the circuits a far cry. It should do somewhat better in Bombay and parts of Gujarat.

Released on 3-9-’99 at Eros and 3 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity & opening: very good. …….Also released in Delhi-U.P., Bengal and Nizam. Opening was dull at many places.

LATEST POSITION

BAADSHAH started sliding down from 5th and 6th day onwards.

Baadshah has done well initially in Bombay, Nizam and Mysore, is so-so in Delhi, fair in U.P., C.P.C.I. but truly dull in East Punjab and Bengal. 1st week Bombay 76,04,778 (91.42%) from 14 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 18,69,268 from 6 cinemas, Padra 1,74,453, Rajkot 2,21,850 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,58,123 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Adipur 1,23,341; Solapur 4,22,029 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 55,35,478 (77.50%) from 11 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 9,94,703 from 2 cinemas, Agra  2,95,798, Allahabad 3,33,980, Meerut 2,80,016, Bareilly 2,48,357, Dehradun 2,41,968, Saharanpur 2,13,508, Hardwar 1,14,147; Calcutta 31,32,042 from 18 cinemas; Nagpur 11,30,756 from 5 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,71,662, Amravati 1,93,162, Akola 1,83,169, Raipur (gross) 4,00,335; Indore 3,82,759 from 2 cinemas (4 on F.H.), Bhopal 3,85,179 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.); Jaipur 12,22,420 from 5 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 59,59,328 from 22 cinemas (1 in noon); Vijayawada (gross) 3,29,340, Visakhapatnam (gross) 3,29,217, Kurnool (gross) 2,09,150 from 2 cinemas, Tirupati (gross, 6 days) 1,32,600, Cuddapah (gross) 1,20,000.

………..

Arjun Pandit drops dramatically in metro cities but is good in U.P. and East Punjab. Is an earner in Bombay, East Punjab but a loser in Nizam. 2nd week Bombay 22,78,494 (67.58%) from 8 cinemas (11 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,68,020 from 6 cinemas; Kolhapur 1,76,775, Solapur 1,01,460; Delhi (6 days) 14,13,509 from 8 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Lucknow 3,34,444, Allahabad 1,77,500, Dehradun 2,01,005, Hardwar 1,31,393, total 3,43,435, very good; Calcutta 3,24,416 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 1,26,860 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,24,251, Amravati (6 days) 1,03,655, Akola 90,910, total 2,62,300, Raipur (6 days) 1,60,897, Jalgaon (6 days) 80,791, Wardha (6 days) 74,672; Indore 97,896 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,26,948; Jaipur 3,32,700; Hyderabad (gross) 3,58,300 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon).

Taal withstands the opposition of ex-superstar (Kohram), current superstar (Baadshah) and other big releases and collects well in 3rd week in many circuits. It has picked up in C.P.C.I., at places by 20-30% over the previous week. 3rd week Bombay 43,88,502 (76.66%) from 9 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 9,13,479 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 2,16,220, Jamnagar 87,500; Solapur 1,64,592; Delhi (6 days) 27,22,884 from 8 cinemas; Lucknow 3,61,948, Agra 3,60,318, Allahabad 1,44,413, Meerut 1,94,920 (2nd 1,91,106), Bareilly 59,597, Dehradun 1,59,000; Calcutta 5,83,013 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 1,65,901, Jabalpur 1,64,252, total 4,14,774, Amravati 1,82,732, Akola 1,21,400, total 4,78,600, Raipur (gross) 2,48,297, Jalgaon 1,35,000, total 4,91,532, 2nd week Wardha (6 days) 20,734, 3rd week Chandrapur 1,06,251, total 4,26,440; Indore 1,75,665 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,56,762; Jaipur 6,33,255, Jodhpur 1,50,000, Ajmer 84,185; Hyderabad (gross) 8,30,750 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon); 3 weeks’ total (gross) Visakhapatnam 6,31,259, Kurnool 3,91,587, Ananthapuram 4,53,286, Cuddapah 1,45,793, 1st week Rajahmundry 1,51,232.

Kohram 3rd week Bombay 6,32,956 (55%) from 4 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,62,968 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 70,247, Rajkot 64,973 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 68,720 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi (6 days) 1,26,253 from 2 cinemas; Lucknow 1,14,751, Agra 1,08,536, Allahabad 89,208, Hardwar 75,000; Calcutta 1,87,137; Nagpur 81,330 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 74,665, Amravati (6 days) 1,02,221, Akola 50,957, total 4,03,728, Raipur (6 days) 44,650, Jalgaon (6 days) 76,040; Indore 42,816 (1 on F.H.); Hyderabad (gross) 1,39,337.

________

Man Saayba Ni Mediye (Gujarati; TF) is doing extraordinary in Gujarat and Saurashtra; expected to do 1 crore.

AJAY DEVGAN’S DISTRIBUTION OFFICE INAUGURATED

The new office of Bombay distributors Devgan’s Entertainment on the 2nd floor of Naaz building (earlier Pahlaj Nihalani’s office) was inaugurated on 3rd September (Janmashtami day) with a pooja and havan performed by Veeru Devgan, Ajay Devgan and Kajol.

G. HANUMANTHA RAO NO MORE

Producer G. Hanumantha Rao died of cancer of the liver on 29th August in Hyderabad. He had been hospitalised some weeks back and his condition was deteriorating. The end came on the evening of 29th in the hospital.

Hanumantha Rao was aware that his end was very near because he told his brothers, producer G.A. Seshagiri Rao and actor Krishna, to take him to their Padmalaya Studios before he passed away. In deference to his wish, his body was kept at Padmalaya for several hours before it was consigned to the flames on 30th at 4 p.m. in Hyderabad. All production and distribution offices in Hyderabad remained closed on 30th August as a mark of respect. The Hyderabad State Film Chamber of Commerce held a condolence meeting on 31st August.

Hanumantha Rao, alongwith his brothers, set up the huge Padmalaya Studios and the Padmalaya banner in Hyderabad.

Together, they produced many Telugu and Hindi films. A few years ago, the Padmalaya banner also branched out into production of television software. Among Padmalaya’s Hindi films were Himmatwala, Takkar, Pataal Bhairvi, Justice Chaudhary, Singhasan, Mawaali, Mulzim, Qaidi, Kaamyab, Hoshiyar, Meri Aawaz Suno, Kanwarlal and Sooryavansham.

G. Hanumantha Rao was the president of the Film Federation of India and the vice president of the Federation of International Film Producers Association at the time of his death.

IMPPA TO HONOUR SIX STALWARTS

The Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association will this year honour Ramanand Sagar, Manoj Kumar, Manna Dey, late Laxmikant, Pyarelal and late Rajendra Kumar by presenting IMPPA trophies for their contributions to the Hindi film industry. The presentation function will be held during the annual general meeting of the IMPPA on 25th September at ISKCON auditorium, Juhu, Bombay. Chief guest Dev Anand will present the trophies. IMPPA every year felicitates five veterans.

YOU ASKED IT

To what do you attribute the good opening of Sangharsh this week?

– Solo release, good promotional trailers, Janmashtami holiday and Preity Zinta.

Is it a fact that the Rajshri people are considering selling the Overseas distribution rights of Hum Saath Saath Hain?

– Yes, it is a fact. Are you interested in buying the rights? Then contact the Rajshri people with a very fat cheque! But be informed that the negotiations are already on. Rather, the deal may be closed any moment at an unheard of price.

How much does Aamir Khan charge for a film?

– Double of what he used to charge four years back. Maybe, he will give you dates after a year — to listen to the story, not for shooting!

DO YOU KNOW?

* Aishwarya Rai is easily the most ‘foreign-returned’ heroine today. Almost every single film of hers — JEANS, …AUR PYAAR HO GAYA, AA AB LAUT CHALEN, HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM, TAAL and forthcoming HUM PANCHI EK DAAL KE — has had portions shot abroad.

* Producer Salim and director Raj Kanwar are racing ahead to complete BADAL so that they can release it on 7th January next year, making it the first release of the new millennium. But already on the list of releases for the first week of year 2000 are MELA and KAHO NAA…PYAAR HAI.

* As a ‘special festival offer’, VIP Enterprises, the Bombay distributors of GODMOTHER, distributed free tickets to the first fifty ladies in the 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. shows on Friday (1st day) at Eros, the main cinema of Bombay. The festival offer will continue today (Saturday).

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Multiplexes In Maharashtra: Nothing Official About It!

After a great show of enthusiasm initially, the Maharashtra government seems to have lost interest in the development of cinema multiplexes in the state. For, even after five months since the announcement of the tourism and multiplex policy, the government is yet to list it in the gazette. It is pertinent to note here that all government policies are ratified and come into effect only after publication in the gazette. Thus, Maharashtra government’s multiplex policy, announced in April this year, has yet to come into effect. Perhaps, the state government can take a leaf out of neighbour Gujarat government’s book. The latter has developed and, more importantly, put into effect a very comprehensive policy as far as entertainment complexes are concerned. As a result, state capital Gandhinagar has an exciting multiplex, City Pulse, already up and running, while another — Rajshri Movie World — is to open in some time. There are a few others which are in various stages of completion throughout the region. Hope the example won’t be lost on Maharashtra government officials who will soon — we hope, again — rectify their folly and take due action.

Tax Evasion, Andhra Style

Some cinema owners in the state of Andhra Pradesh have thought of a novel way to cheat the state government and are adopting it every week, thereby evading entertainment tax worth lakhs of rupees. The Andhra government grants entertainment tax concessions to cinemas screening Telugu films produced in the state. To take advantage of the concessions, some cinemas, even though they screen Hindi films, show names of Telugu films in their DCRs and other records. Of course, some officers of the Commercial Taxes department are hand-in-glove with such exhibitors who hoodwink the government into believing that their cinemas have screened Telugu films when actually they’ve shown Hindi or dubbed Telugu films. The concession, it may be mentioned, is available only to original Telugu films produced entirely in Andhra Pradesh. The Vigilance and Enforcement department recently conducted raids in several cinemas of the state and detected such irregularities. The concessions in entertainment tax had been granted in December ’95.

Howzzat For A Joke?

Now for a good laugh. There is this film due for an early release. And there is this over-enthusiastic guy who is presenting this ready-for-release film. The presenter, who was in Delhi last week, visited offices of exhibitors and cinema controllers in the capital city, accompanied by his Delhi-U.P. distributor. The two of them, perhaps, thought that they were the only smart ones this side of the hemisphere and that exhibitors and controllers are all duffers. For, this is what the presenter told the various exhibitors/controllers: “I’ve sold the film to him (pointing towards his distributor) for 75 lakh but I’m prepared to give him a profit of a further 75 lakh (alongwith his 75 lakh) if he is ready to relinquish the rights in my favour. My hero and I would like to distribute the film in Delhi-U.P. ourselves. We will, of course, release the film through his (again pointing to the distributor) office only, but….” When any exhibitor/controller would, out of courtesy (because, by then, he would realise that all of it is a cock-and-bull story to simply make the film ‘hot’ in exhibition circles), prompt the distributor to accept the presenter’s offer, the distributor would simply grin and shake his head to convey a “no”. This whole drama was repeated in several offices of the capital city, and one exhibitor even remarked, “If the presenter had only used his ultra-fertile brains at the time of story-writing, he may not have had to cook up this story as a ploy to create a hype around the film.” Anyway, ploy or no ploy, the film has hardly succeeded in generating any heat in exhibition circles. As a smart controller concluded, “It is not as if we will believe any and every story. After all, kya hum filmon ke liye marte hain!”

Joke Of The Week

As promised last week, here’s another interesting anecdote, courtesy music director Kalyanji:

Once when actress Raakhee was chatting with Kalyanji at his music room, she overheard him speak to his wife on the telephone. Through their conversation, Raakhee learnt that Kalyanji’s wife was observing the Jaya-Parvati vrat at the time. Curious to know more about it, the actress asked the music director what the vrat was in aid of. Kalyanji explained that it was what Gujarati women did so that they would get the same husband for their next seven lives. At this, Raakhee called up Saakarben (Kalyanji’s wife) and complained in a lighter vein, “This is absolutely unfair. You can’t ‘book’ such a jovial person like Kalyanji for yourself for seven consecutive lives! At least leave him for me in my next life!” Saakarben sportingly replied in an equally humorous manner, “Okay, I’ll let you have him in the next life. But, beware, dare you try to take liberties with him in this life!”

BAADSHAH

Venus Records & Tapes Ltd.’s Baadshah (UA) is a thriller with comedy as its base. A private detective is mistaken for a CBI sleuth not just by the CBI team but also by the villains who are out to kill the actual sleuth. But, in fact, the private detective is on a mission to rescue a rich industrialist’s little daughter from her kidnappers. The gang of villains uses him as its pawn and sends him on a mission to kill a lady chief minister. Much as he would not like to commit the heinous crime, he finds himself in a helpless situation as the villains would blow up the little daughter of the industrialist if the private detective did not exterminate the lady. How the detective, with the aid of his friends, not only saves the chief minister and rescues the little girl but also succeeds in exposing and killing all the villains forms the climax.

The story is confusing and has too many tracks but all credit to the writers (Shyam Goel and Neeraj Vora) for doing a neat job of the screenplay. Yet, despite their best efforts, the audience does tend to get baffled because of so much confusion and misunderstanding between the characters (as required in the plot). The first half is comical and while some jokes are hilarious and mass-appealing, a few others are of the kind which can be enjoyed by the class audience only. The post-interval portion takes a comparatively serious turn and gets boring at places. The last part of the film has plenty of surprise elements but again, it has been stretched a great deal. The inspiration of the last few reels seems to have come from the Jackie Chan starrer, Rush Hour.

One major drawback of the story is that when it is shown that each and every one around the chief minister is keen to see her killed, why doesn’t just anybody actually kill her? Why force an innocent and unwilling guy (private detective) to do it? The coaxing would have made sense had one or two people, really close to the chief minister, not been part of the murder plot because then, the others would not want to risk being identified. But there’s nobody like that and one unimportant character, who could have fitted into the groove, is discarded from the scene immediately. Another drawback is excessive comedy and lack of action (except in the last part of the film). Songs, though good, are not of the hit genre. What’s more, several of the songs look and sound similar.

Shah Rukh Khan plays the private detective to perfection. He is a pleasure to watch in comedy scenes. He also dances well and comes out with flying clours in dramatic scenes. In one word, Shah Rukh is absolutely fantastic and lovable. Twinkle Khanna looks ravishing and also acts ably. Johny Lever is adorable as always and evokes laughter at several places. Amrish Puri does a fine job. Raakhee is restrained as the lady chief minister. Sachin Khedekar, as her husband, impresses. Deepshikha looks sexy and performs well. Sharat Saxena is effective. Pankaj Dheer leaves a mark. Saurabh Shukla is average and so are Neeraj Vora, Shashikala, Sudhir, Mahavir Shah, Adi Irani, Viju Khote and Charlie. Razzak Khan is good. Prem Chopra, Avtar Gill, Amrit Patel, Harpal and baby Karishma Jain lend able support. Deepak Tijori is good in a special appearance. Dinesh Hingoo provides a couple of good comic moments.

Abbas-Mustan once again prove that there is hardly anybody to match them as far as slickness and style in filmmaking go. Their direction is excellent but the same cannot be said of their choice of subject which holds more appeal for children and city audience. Dialogues are masterly at several places where they are witty and humorous. Choreography is eye-pleasing. Thomas A. Xavier’s camerawork deserves distinction marks. Locations look fabulous and so do the stars. Anu Malik’s music is above average but a film of such a canvas needed nothing but super-hit music. Action scenes are quite thrilling. Background score is effective. Production values are grandiose. Other technical aspects are brilliant.

On the whole, Baadshah will rule at the box-office in Bombay and South mainly. In the other circuits, a bumper initial will just about save the situation. Prospects in the Eastern circuit are weak.

Released on 27-8-’99 at New Excelsior and 20 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity & opening: extraordinary. …….Also released all over. Opening was bumper everywhere.

LATEST POSITION

The extraordinary opening of BAADSHAH this week and the general upsurge in collections on Thursday due to Raksha Bandhan holiday have brought all-round cheer.

Arjun Pandit has done very well in U.P., East Punjab and Rajasthan, from where overflow is assured. It is below the mark in Delhi and fair in other circuits. 1st week Bombay 58,02,892 (87.12%) from 13 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 16,09,622 from 6 cinemas, Asodar 1,54,646, Baroda 1,90,296, Surat 1,29,122, Valsad (gross, 26 shows) 1,70,997, Bharuch (gross) 2,81,614, Vapi (gross) 3,63,812, Patan (gross) 2,10,157, Cambay 1,52,314, Jamnagar (matinee) 30,654, Adipur 1,49,890, Bhuj 1,16,102; Pune 12,22,536 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 2,61,643, Solapur 4,31,019 from 2 cinemas; Delhi 44,67,961 (79.93%) from 9 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Kanpur 7,59,011 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,39,391, Allahabad 2,95,425, Hardwar 2,12,042 (91.54%); Calcutta 22,96,248 from 16 cinemas; Nagpur 7,18,030 from 5 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,45,348, Amravati (6 days) 1,93,920, Akola 1,71,400, Raipur (6 days, gross) 2,93,621, Bhilai 1,25,454 from 2 cinemas, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,84,358; Indore 3,65,411 from 2 cinemas (5 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,97,611 (1 unrecd.); Jaipur 10,40,036 from 3 cinemas, Bikaner 2,27,970 from 2 cinemas, Udaipur 3,48,700; Hyderabad (gross) 30,57,489 from 17 cinemas; Vijayawada (gross) 1,71,117.

Taal has maintained well in Bombay, Delhi and South. Is excellent in the USA and good in other parts of Overseas. Continues to be dull in the rest. 2nd week Bombay 61,80,501 (82.40%) from 11 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 11,54,301 from 4 cinemas, Baroda 2,20,639, Padra 1,94,292, Valsad 2,07,394, Jamnagar 1,02,540; Pune 12,19,534 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,67,656; Delhi 53,93,423 from 9 cinemas; Kanpur 2,89,511 from 2 cinemas, Varanasi 2,05,525, Allahabad 1,77,864, Bareilly 78,369, Hardwar 65,127 (21.43%); Calcutta 9,26,330 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 3,44,219 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 89,120, total 2,50,522, Amravati 1,78,510, Akola 1,26,800, total 3,57,195, Raipur (gross) 2,70,722, Bhilai (gross) 1,81,458, total 4,57,180, Jalgaon 1,38,525 (1st 2,18,000), Chandrapur 1,14,242, total 3,20,189, 1st Yavatmal 1,08,937; 2nd week Indore 1,60,000 (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 99,227; Jaipur 6,23,825, Jodhpur 2,75,000 (1st 3,20,000), Ajmer 94,420 (1st 1,29,626), Bikaner (6 days) 82,237, Udaipur 2,89,880 (1st 3,31,200); Hyderabad (gross) 21,46,409 from 7 cinemas, share about 10,80,000, Aurangabad 2,77,506; Vijayawada (gross) 3,53,593, Visakhapatnam (gross) 3,03,075 from 2 cinemas, Kurnool (gross) 1,30,560, Cuddapah (gross) 1,12,198 from 2 cinemas, Ananthapur (gross) 1,51,188.

Kohram has crashed almost everywhere. 2nd week Bombay 29,22,909 (47.11%) from 13 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 5,09,547 from 4 cinemas, Rajkot 1,52,830 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 61,028 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 6,53,960 from 5 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,50,000, Solapur 1,42,483 from 2 cinemas; Delhi 12,43,947 from 8 cinemas; Kanpur 2,26,924 from 3 cinemas, Lucknow 3,34,766 from 3 cinemas, Varanasi 1,51,179, Allahabad 1,65,006, Bareilly (6 days) 37,239; Calcutta 6,55,135 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 2,03,121 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 61,470, Amravati (6 days) 1,59,784, Raipur (6 days) 86,905, Bhilai (6 days) 39,584, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,22,414, Yavatmal 79,745 (1st 1,75,585); Indore 69,441 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 2,32,713 from 2 cinemas, Bikaner 1,07,605, Udaipur 1,92,835 (1st 2,18,600); Hyderabad (gross) 3,58,314 from 2 cinemas.

Hindustan Ki Kasam 5th week Bombay 5,23,249 (34%) from 5 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 43,583 from 2 cinemas, Baroda (matinee) 14,664, Rajkot 48,400 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar (matinee) 6,439; Solapur 31,757; Delhi 1,32,780; Kanpur 45,021, Lucknow 63,894, Allahabad 28,577, Bareilly (6 days) 21,642; Nagpur 10,138, Jabalpur (6 days) 23,676, 1st week Gondia (6 days, gross) 1,02,275; 5th week Bhopal 20,000; Jaipur (24 shows) 65,193.

_____

Maa Te Maa Bija Wagda Na Waa (G., TF) 2nd week Ahmedabad 81,636 from 2 cinemas, poor, Rajkot 1,15,000.

MARATHI FILM ACTOR SURYAKANT MANDRE NO MORE

Veteran Marathi film actor Suryakant Mandre passed away in Pune on 22nd August following chest problems. He was 73 and is survived by his wife and three sons.

Beginning his career in Marathi films as a child actor in Dhruv (1938), Suryakant went on to act in over a hundred Marathi films. He was especially popular in the role of Shivaji Maharaj in several films including Bahirji Naik (1943), Jai Bhavani (1947), Ganimi Kava, Swarajyacha Shiledar (1951), Pavan Khind (1956) and others. His other memorable roles include that of a comedian in Amhi Jato Amuchya Gava (1968). In Kaul De Khanderaya, he was paired with his brother, Chandrakant.

“HONEST” SOLUTION!

Reacting to the article published in our issue last week under the caption ‘Film-Making Today — Overseas Market: Is Its Bigness Eclipsing Home Market?’, producer-director Rajkumar Santoshi remarked:

“The solution offered by you (Film Information) at the end of the article is incorrect. It is a regressive solution.” (We had said that the solution lay in making a HAHK..! or a DDLJ, which would click in Overseas as also in Bihar and the rest of India). The real solution, according to Santoshi, lies in being honest to oneself. He substantiated, “If a maker feels, his film caters to the tastes of audience in Overseas more than in, say, Bihar, he should be honest enough to sell the distribution rights for Bihar at a much smaller price. Why must he sell Bihar or another territory, in which the film may not be expected to fare well, at the high ratio fixed for other territories like Overseas? Let the makers be honest to themselves. Therein lies the solution.” Point noted, Mr. Santoshi!

“MAKE FILMS FOR OVERSEAS, NOT BIHAR”: BIPIN SAVLA

Reacting to our last week’s article, ‘Film-Making Today — Overseas Market: Is its Bigness Eclipsing Home Market?’, Bipin Savla, the associate producer of Raja Hindustani, asserts that films should henceforth be made for Overseas only, instead of keeping Bihar as the yardstick. His reasoning is based on the fact that even after Raja Hindustani proved a super-duper hit all over, the film’s Bihar distributor was ‘unable’ to share the overflow with the producer. “If a film like Raja Hindustani fails to get overflow from Bihar, no film can get overflow from there,” says Savla.

With business having gone into overdrive, Overseas is not the kind of territory it used to be. “Previously,” points out Bipin Savla, “Overseas used to be a subsidiary territory, sold on outright basis, but today, it is sold on MG royalty basis. On the other hand, producers used to sell Bihar on MG royalty basis, but today, the MG price of Bihar is as good as outright price.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS & LAUNCHINGS

Vashu Launches Film With Abhishek: A. Muthu Turns Director

Producer Vashu Bhagnani launched Puja Films’ Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya on the auspicious day of Raksha Bandhan (Aug. 26) with a song recording at Mehboob Recording Theatre. The song, penned by Sameer, was rendered (on 27th) by Sonu Nigam and Kavita Krishnamoorthy. Music was composed by Ismail Darbar.

Editor A. Muthu turns a director with this film to roll in September. Abhishek Bachchan has been signed for the lead role. A heroine and other cast are being finalised. Writers: Robin Bhatt and Ikram Akhtar. Dialogues: Javed Siddiqi.

YOU ASKED IT

Is it right to say that making a universal hit is becoming increasingly difficult?

– Not at all! Pick up a universally appealing subject, work on it very hard and make a film — you may have a universal hit on your hands. Today, only a few films are doing universally good business because there’s lack of sincerity on the part of the makers, generally speaking. The pursuit is to make big money (by selling the film at high ratios) more than a big hit. Besides, the territorial ratios need to be revised. Ratios of Bengal and C.P.C.I. Rajasthan need to be brought down.

What is the business of Marathi film Bindhast likely to be?

– About 1.5 crore — maybe, a little more also — from Bombay, Maharashtra, C.P. Berar and Marathwada.

Which has been the biggest success in West Bengal and Bihar so far this year?

– SOORYAVANSHAM and HOGI PYAR KI JEET respectively.

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

Producer-director Govindbhai Patel, currently in Bombay at Cyrus Hotel (382-7215/1947), will leave for Baroda on 30th August.

Producer Boney Kapoor is in Hyderabad and will return on 30th August.

Producer S. Raamanathan left for Madras this afternoon (28th August).

Mr. R.N. Mandre of Mandre Pictures, Bangalore, is leaving for Kathmandu today (Aug. 28) and will be back in Bombay on the evening of 29th. On 1st Sept., he will leave for Venice to attend the Venice Film Festival for 4-5 days and then fly to London from there. He will be back in Bombay on 10th Sept.

DO YOU KNOW?

* After the failure of RAJAJI, Vimal Kumar has decided to take a break from direction for at least a year. Meanwhile, he is working on two projects that he will be producing simultaneously — one, to be directed by Kuku Kolhi, and the other, by Satish Kaushik.

* Juhi Chawla is making a special appearance in Raj Babbar’s Hindi-Punjabi bilingual, SHAHEED UDDHAM SINGH.

* Santosh Singh Jain has served as president of the Central Circuit Cine Association (CCCA) for a total of 32 years in the 46-year history of the Association. His first stint as president was from 1964 to 1969; second, from 1970 to 1982; and the present, which began in 1984.

* As a distributor, Mohanji Prasad has become active all over again after keeping a low profile despite the big success of DULHE RAJA in Bihar. He has now acquired five films for Bihar! His acquisitions are Boney Kapoor’s PUKAAR, Shyam Bajaj’s KAHIN PYAR NA HO JAYE, Salim Akhtar’s BADAL, Harmesh Malhotra’s ANKHIYON SE GOLI MAARE, Vijay Galani’s new film, and B. Subhash’s DULHAN BANOO MEIN TERI (the last-named film for South Bihar only).

* Subhash Ghai’s TAAL has been dubbed in Tamil as TAALAM.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Lot’s In A Name!

Talk about a movie living up to its name. Last week, the airing of Mehul Kumar’s Kohram on cable in Simla saw a widespread ruckus being created in the city by National Students Union of India activists. As a protest against the students’ vandalism, shops in the entire city remained closed on 21st August. The activists were protesting against depiction of a corrupt minister, played by Danny Denzongpa in the film, named Virbhadra Singh, as that also happens to be the name of the Congress leader and former chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir. As if this weren’t enough, Danny’s character is fondly referred to in the film as ‘Raja Saheb’ which, coincidentally, is also how the politician is generally addressed by the people. Thus when the film was being broadcast, a number of NSUI  activists marched to the cable operator’s premises and went on a rampage, smashing equipment and beating up employees. At the end of it all, the premises of the cable operator, who showed Kohram, itself looked like a scene of kohram! May be Mehul Kumar’s next film will be called Shanti!

‘Star Wars’ Takes Europe By Storm On Debut

The European launch of Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace is an earth-shattering success, if its opening weekend collections in 27 territories all over Europe are anything to go by. Hitting the European screens 11 weeks after its premiere release, this George Lucas marvel has grossed US dollars 26,368,311 from 3,302 screens between August 19 and 22. Among the top-grossing European countries for the film are Austria (USD 1,373,325 from 110 screens), Denmark (932,403 from 66), Germany (12,437,889 from 1,001), Norway (889,637 from 73), Spain (4,306,674 from 352) and Sweden (1,616,025 from 100).

In Japan, where the film is currently running in its seventh week, it has registered a total collection of USD 79,870,663 so far. In UK, the film has grossed USD 67,922,394 in six weeks and is all set to surpass Jurassic Park as the third highest grossing film ever released in UK.

The total Overseas collections of Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace stand at USD 271,754,182, making it the highest grossing film of the year. Its U.S. box-office collections have crossed USD 417 million already.

Karisma Not Quitting….. Keep Quizzing!

Is Karisma Kapoor getting married? Is she not getting married? Is she quitting films? Is she not? Ever since Karisma walked out of Deepak Shivdasani’s Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke, these questions have dominated every discussion on films, whether in trade circles or non-trade circles. The answer to these questions is: Karisma is not quitting films because she has no plans to get married now. Why, the girl in demand has even signed one or two new films just recently. Which ones are they? No, no, their names can’t be revealed here. Let this new question now dominate the discussions on films — whether in trade or non-trade circles!

The Long & The Short Of It

One cannot doubt the intentions of those producers who make their films long. Perhaps, they sincerely intend giving ‘full value for money’ (FVM). But, of late, there have been films which have been described (by the trade as well as the audience) as being “too lengthy”. Some recent examples are International Khiladi, Mann, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Taal and this week’s release, Baadshah (length: 4,929.47 metres).

Of course, there are examples of films, which despite being long, have never been dubbed “lengthy”. In fact, they have proved to be long-runners, like Sangam, Waqt, Sholay, Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye, Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and even the Hollywood international blockbuster, Titanic.

Providing a stark contrast to the big ones, as is the current trend, is Hello Brother, the running time of which is only 2 hours and 15 minutes (length: 3,694.10 metres), which the exhibitors feel is “short, very short”.

One is apt to ask, “Then what should be the optimum length of a film? A veteran editor’s oft-repeated sermon to his assistants and directors used to be, “A film should be as long as it entertains. At the end of it, the viewers should wish for more”. That’s the long and short of it.

So Said Hitchcock

While on the topic of length of a film, it would not be out of place to recall Alfred Hitchcock’s humorous quote: “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”

Obviously, he said this with reference to English films. Thank God, Hindi cinegoers have an interval to go to the toilet to empty their bladders!

Busybee Distributors

Mohan Chitra must be the busiest distributors not just in C.P. Berar but in the whole of India. The concern has in the last 2-3 months released in C.P. Berar Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Mann, Taal, Arjun Pandit, and Baadshah this week. Its forthcoming releases are 1947 Earth (10th September) and Dil Kya Kare (24th September). The deals would happily go on. Happy dealing!

Joke Of The Week

Since elections are round the corner, here is a true and timely incident that truly brings out music maestro Kalyanji’s vintage humour. Some years ago, someone asked him, “Why is it that more and more actors are standing for elections nowadays?” Kalyanji replied with a deadpan face, “That is because today, people want a government which can act.”! More humour Kalyanji ishtyle, next week.

ASHA PAREKH IS FULLY TO BLAME

Dear Sir,

This has reference to an article published in Film Information in the issue dated 21st August ’99 under the heading, ‘WHY BLAME ASHA PAREKH?’, which is totally misleading.

The writer has quoted various rules of the Cinematograph Act but is apparently not aware of the ground realities in the country where rules are only meant to be quoted for convenience, and, in actual practice, rules are bypassed to harass and torture those who don’t blindly toe your line. Can Asha Parekh explain why ever since she became the chairperson, every medium- and small-budget filmmaker has started getting nightmares at the very thought of getting his film censored. If she is not responsible, how is it that big films are censored in a matter of days whereas small films are held up for months, and the producer is tortured and harassed to such an extent that he has to reshoot and also submit revised versions before the high and mighty chairperson agrees to sign the certificate? Is it not a fact that the regional officer and assistant regional officers have clearly and categorically been instructed to make the passing of small-budget films impossible by appointing only such members on the examining committee as are known to be having views similar to those of the chairperson? I challenge the chairperson to prepare a chart of the passing of small-budget films and the whole world will come to know how the personal bias and prejudice of the chairperson is responsible for the torture and trauma of small-budget filmmakers.

The chairperson cannot deny that she is biased against such films because she has gone on record in her interviews to say that small-budget horror and sex films will not be passed in her tenure as they are anti-scientific, obscurantist, vulgar and against Indian culture. It is not at all surprising that the reason for refusal of certificates to nearly all the small-budget films in the letter of refusal is that the film has a thin storyline or that it is a crudely made film, unscientific, obscurantist and against Indian culture and values. I would like to know that if the denial of certificate is not as per the directions of the chairperson then how is the reason for denial the same for every picture? This not only speaks of lack of application of mind by the EC and RO but total bias of Ms. Asha Parekh. I want to know from her if Fire and Bombay Boys, having lesbianism and gay themes, are her ideas of Indian culture and values. As far as ‘unscientific’ and ‘obscurantist’ are concerned, it is apparent that Ms. Asha Parekh does not watch TV because millions of people watch ‘unscientific’ and ‘obscurantist’ material on all TV channels which are also viewed by children, but adult citizens of the country who vote and elect the government can’t see such films even after buying tickets. I would like to ask Film Information, how is it that no film was refused certificate on grounds of being unscientific and obscurantist before the unfortunate appointment of Ms. Asha Parekh? Moreover, in this case, how can it be said that she is not responsible?

Asha Parekh’s justification in the press for her action in banning small films is that some film was found with interpolation, but does she not realise that for one criminal, you cannot execute a full community? The laws of the country are very clear and if somebody commits a crime, the law will deal with him, and all producers cannot be penalised for the mistake of one.

I am very grateful to Mr. Shekhar Kapur and others because of whom the whimsical and illogical behaviour of the CBFC is out in the open and we can talk about it because so far, out of fear of persecution, the Indian filmmakers had no choice but to bear the humiliation like in my case where reference to ISI of Pakistan was cut in my film, Chote Nawab Bade Nawab, but Sarfarosh, based totally on ISI, was passed as it was a big film. Asha Parekh should realise that every film, whether big or small, is the maker’s dream and the Constitution of India gives the right of freedom of expression to every individual as also the producer, and the viewer has the right to see whatever he wants. Therefore, it is essential that the CBFC should just do its job i.e. certify films and not ban, cut films and try to change films and the society because its job is to certify films and not to be the moral guardian of the country.

– Naresh Mohnot
Proprietor
N.D.R. Productions,
Bombay.

SHOWBIZ TODAY

CITY PULSE: A DREAM SHOW PLACE

How often have you had to fight for getting space on the hand-rest of your chair in a cinema hall? Or how many times have you had to look with disgust at the gentleman sitting behind you in a dark cinema hall when he moved in his seat but, due to lack of enough leg space, kicked your seat or feet? Just how often have you tripped on the steps leading to the auditorium as you groped your way late into a cinema hall with all lights switched off? In the interval, how many times have you had to postpone visiting the toilet simply because you’d have to stand in a queue in a smelly toilet and, after the job is done, try to get water out of a dry tap which is part of a shaky wash-basin?

At City Pulse, the newly-started cineplex at Gandhinagar, the capital city of Gujarat, you encounter none of these problems. Every chair in all the three cinemas of the multiplex has a hand-rest on either side. The leg-space between the two rows of chairs is so much that one can push back his chair and yet not disturb the person in front of him. The stairs leading to the landing of the auditorium are all dotted with tiny bulbs which are kept lit for 15 to 20 minutes after a film starts, for the comfort of latecomers. As for the toilets — take that wrinkle off your nose — they don’t stink. The wash-basins have automated taps from which water flows as soon as one’s hands come under them. The flushes too work automatically.

It this isn’t customer care, there’s plenty more at City Pulse built on a huge expanse of land on the Sabarmati-Gandhinagar highway, a cool 20 to 25-minute drive from Ahmedabad city. The foyer for ticket bookings is of 4,000 sq, ft. and this leads to the cinema foyer which is about 6,500 sq. ft. in area and has a huge fish tank on one side. Three different kinds of lights adorn the ceiling of the foyer. Screens 1 and 2 are opposite each other on the ground floor and the 3rd screen is on the first floor. Wall-to-wall carpets in the cinemas, ultra-comfortable chairs with cold-drink holders, wide screens 65 ft. 55 ft. and 50 ft. in the three cinemas, Dolby digital and DTS sound systems, air-conditioning plants which are kept on throughout every show, all these make cinema viewing a pleasure at City Pulse. Little wonder then that despite being far away from the city, the cinema has been able to build a large and loyal clientele in a short span of a little over three months only. Of course, the distance from the city has its disadvantage too because the 12 noon and 3 p.m. shows are not heavily patronised. But the evening and night shows witness people flocking in large numbers in cars. Car parking, which is usually a cinegoer’s nightmare, is like a nice dream here — there’s parking space for 600 cars! Compare this with the combined seating capacity of the three screens — 1,240 — and you’d understand why car-parking is not a nightmare at City Pulse.

A common projection room caters to all the three screens and it is fully automated with minimal requirement for handling prints. A single print of Taal was screened in its release week in two screens of City Pulse with a difference of barely a minute between the screening time in the two cinemas. Christie’s projectors, auto rewinding facilities and the latest sound equipments make projection a left-hand task.

There’s a single class in all the three cinemas — Screen 1 has 566 seats, Screen 2 has 445 seats and Screen 3, 229 seats — and the ticket rate is uniform, Rs. 100. Each cinema also has separate boxes for VIPs. Yes, the cinema has become a sure spot for spotting VIPs on Saturday and Sunday evenings. For, as the popcorn packets sold at the cinema mention: ‘3 theatres and a picnic’. The whole experience at City Pulse is indeed like a picnic. Besides the beautifully done-up cinemas and immaculately maintained place, there’s a huge compound, in one corner of which is a food court that does brisk business. On another side of the compound, under a huge tree, there’s a live band playing music every evening — Hindi music on four days and English music on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Visitors sit on paadars (stone platforms built around trees), listening to the live band, before the film begins and in the interval. There are water fountains in front of and behind the band, adding to the music. Lush green trees heighten the overall ambience of the place.

A bowling alley, a games parlour and a theme restaurant are under construction in the same premises. An amphitheatre and a conference room as well as 5-star rooms and green rooms for visiting artistes, singers and performers are also under-construction.

The first foyer has a huge wall with a collage of photographs of film stars. Made at a cost of Rs. 3.5 lakh, the collage attracts the attention of many a cinegoer.

The entire complex has cost owner Ashok Purohit many crores but an excellent policy of the Gujarat government makes it a viable business proposition. For ten years, there will be no entertainment tax and show tax on films screened at the cineplex, and no sales tax and turnover tax on eatables sold there. Electricity duty is also not leviable. Easy loans from financial institutions is another aid.

Purohit, it needs to be mentioned here, is himself a leading architect of Ahmedabad. His capabilities as a professional and his aesthetics are evident in every corner of the complex. What also comes to the fore is his concern for cinegoers. While any other businessman would have tried to cut down on wastage of space to make the proposition more economically viable, Purohit has done just the reverse. For example, while the rules provide for exit stairways of a breadth of 5 feet, his stairways are 7 and even 10 feet broad. The cinema exits are 2, 4 and 6 in the three screens in place of the 1, 2 and 3 respectively required by law. This is to ensure quicker exit of people in case of an accident like fire. Remember the infamous Uphaar cinema fire tragedy of 1997 in Delhi? Ashok Purohit has been helped in the designing by his daughter and son-in-law who, too, are architects. His second daughter, who is an interior designer, has done the interiors. Unbelievable as it may sound, the beautiful complex was up and running in just 15 months of its commencement. So well-designed and well-maintained is the cineplex that word has already spread in the industry. Little wonder then that the cinema has had exhibitors from places like Pune (Chaphalkar), Delhi, Nasik and Nagpur visiting it to design their planned multiplexes on similar lines. The incomplete part of the multiplex would be completed in a few months from now. Ashok Purohit’s wife looks after the day-to-day functioning and administrative side of the cineplex. Even before the screening of films started there on 7th May, 1999, the Purohits had organised a live performance of Daler Mehndi at the complex. Ila Arun too sang and danced at the show.

Not really a film man before this, Ashok Purohit was truly initiated into the idea of constructing an entertainment complex when he and his wife visited Universal Studios in Hollywood and saw Citywalk multiplex there. Fifty-five-year old Purohit is so happy with his first multiplex that he now plans to construct more such entertainment plazas in the years to come. He is already designing one with four screens in Nagpur for film financier N. Kumar.

Ashok Purohit, besides being a renowed architect, is also a deeply religious man. In fact, on one side of the cinema, there’s a huge lawn (not open to the public) with a small temple in one corner of it. Purohit points out to the idols of Lord Shiva and Sai Baba there and introduces them thus: “They are my partners in business. I don’t get the time to look after the affairs of the cineplex but I know, my God, my partners are taking care of it.”

Taking care of the bookings for the three screens is exhibitor Nandu Bohra. Purohit has only words of praise for Bohra’s business acumen and gives him a lot of credit for the success of City Pulse in the industry. A look at the table alongside will indicate what fabulous collections films at City Pulse have netted. For example, as against the 3-lakh share of Taal from Ahmedabad city in its first week, one print at City Pulse yielded a share of Rs. 11 lakh in 1 week! Even a film like Mann has yielded a share of Rs. 20 lakh from City Pulse in its 7-week run so far.

Shouldn’t the popcorn packets now read: ‘3 theatres and a picnic — and for distributors, a big pick!?’

– Komal Nahta

ARJUN PANDIT

Ratan International’s Arjun Pandit (A) is an action film with an unusual plot. A girl, whose sister is raped and who ultimately commits suicide when her professor (the sole eye-witness to her rape) refuses to testify in front of the police (because he has been threatened with dire consequences), seeks revenge on the rapist as well as the professor by pitting them against each other. But the professor, who is neither aware of the sister’s identity nor her game-plan, falls madly in love with her as she, too, pretends to be in love with him. Despite her revenge, he continues to haunt her for her hand in marriage. In the meantime, the professor also becomes a pawn in the hands of an underworld don. The girl, who all along rejects his advances, relents in the end when she realises that he loves her more than anything and anybody else in the world and also when she is made (by him) to realise how fear can cripple a person. She also holds herself guilty for dragging him into the underworld.

While the story is quite new, it has a couple of drawbacks. It shows the heroine in negative light. The heroine seeking revenge to the extent of sending the professor to jail, simply because he did not dare to testify in the case of her sister’s rape, looks too far-fetched and unbelievable because one can swear such revenge for a rapist, not for one who fails to testify. It looks even more unbelievable because the girl knows how cowardly the professor is and there’s no doubt that in not testifying, it was his cowardice at play, nothing more than that! Another major drawback is the characterisation of the hero. Sunny Deol being shown as a coward professor is hard to digest. Although he ultimately becomes a criminal, the reels in which he is shown as a peace-loving man and a coward will not go down well with the masses at whom the film is aimed. The interval point is very good. Climax is too lengthy and, in fact, the second half tends to get a bit tedious. Dialogues are good.

Sunny Deol does well in the action scenes and his performance in the angry young man’s role is extremely good. But his get-up of a professor as well as his acting in that role are dull and don’t even evoke laughter. Further, the concept of the manic lover has been seen earlier in Darr and Anjaam and, therefore, holds no novelty. Juhi Chawla looks appealing and puts in a very good show of her talent. Mukesh Rishi is effective as the dreaded villain. Shahbaaz Khan also acts ably as a lecherous villain. Ashish Vidyarthi too is very good. Jeetu Verma evokes hatred. Saurabh Shukla, Virendra Saxena and Deepak Qazir are fair. Aruna Sangal, Shashi Sharma, Vaibhavi Raut, Ravi Patwardhan, Suresh Malhotra, Sachin Khedekar and the others lend able support.

Given the complex subject, Rahul Rawail’s direction is competent. But he could have avoided the flashback-in-the-flashback, to make the story simpler. Action scenes (Tinu Verma) have been excellently composed but there’s an overdose of violence in the second half, which will keep ladies audience away. Music should have been much better. Of the songs, only the Daler Mehndi number is very good. The ‘Paagal’ number is quite nice. The ‘O Priya’ song can be safely deleted as it hampers the narration without adding much to the film. Production values are of a good standard.

On the whole, Arjun Pandit has action for masses but a less believable plot and a coward Sunny Deol (in part of the film) will limit its business prospects. Keeping its high price in mind, it can hope to fetch returns in North India on the strength of ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres, and will prove average in other circuits.

Released on 20-8-’99 at Maratha Mandir, New Excelsior and 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru Ratan International. Publicity: good. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was bumper in East Punjab and Rajasthan and good in Delhi-U.P. but not up to the mark in C.P. Berar.

LATEST POSITION

TAAL, as predicted, has done excellent in Overseas and has also fetched handsome shares from Bombay, Delhi, Nizam, Mysore, Andhra and Tamilnad on the strength of gentry audience. It is, however, poor in Bengal, Bihar and C.P.C.I. Rajasthan, where losses are predicted. It has done fair in East Punjab and parts of U.P. but is very dull in other parts of U.P. Not appreciated in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres at all. …..KOHRAM has yielded good shares in 1st week but the drop in collections outside Maharashtra from 5th day onwards was alarming.

Taal 1st week Bombay 73,00,636 (93.19%) from 12 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 23,95,671 from 4 cinemas, Baroda 2,67,915 (100%), Padra 2,51,668, Valsad 2,85,812 (77.25%), Jamnagar 1,26,000; Pune 16,43,314 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 3,12,101 from 2 cinemas, Sangli 2,13,440; Hubli 100%, Belgaum 100%, Dharwad 100%; Delhi 61,69,125 (93.31%) from 9 cinemas; Kanpur 5,24,792 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,50,024, Agra 4,75,615, Varanasi 2,60,643, Allahabad 2,26,622, Bareilly 1,55,029, Dehradun 2,70,000, Hardwar 1,03,929 (34.20%); Calcutta 17,76,879 from 10 cinemas; Nagpur 10,08,793 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,61,401, Akola 2,30,394, Raipur (gross) 3,77,601, Bhilai 2,52,942 from 2 cinemas, Jalgaon 2,18,000, Chandrapur 2,05,946; Indore 3,48,000 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 4,72,779 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 11,70,236 from 3 cinemas, Bikaner 1,69,370; Hyderabad (gross) 50,66,514 from 18 cinemas (2 in noon), share 28,48,000, Aurangabad 3,70,023; Vijayawada (gross) 7,59,013 from 3 cinemas (1 in 6 shows only); is extraordinary in USA in 1st week and good in UK, Gulf, Singapore but dull in Malaysia.

Kohram 1st week Bombay 66,20,340 (81%) from 15 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 14,46,419 from 7 cinemas, Vapi 6,08,336 from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 2,61,150 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,52,029 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 15,32,261 from 6 cinemas, Solapur 4,62,471 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Sangli 2,00,180; Hubli 2,15,426, Belgaum 1,47,289; Delhi 40,85,159 (57.84%) from 13 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Kanpur 5,20,678 from 3 cinemas, Lucknow 7,32,229 from 3 cinemas, Agra 3,15,670, Varanasi 2,56,499, Bareilly (6 days) 1,28,712, Dehradun 1,75,000; Calcutta 22,68,377 from 13 cinemas; Nagpur 8,14,544 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 2,02,087, Akola 2,55,762, Raipur (6 days, gross) 3,31,623, Bhilai 2,39,171 from 2 cinemas, Jalgaon (6 days) 2,59,360, Chandrapur 2,25,378, Yavatmal 1,75,585; Indore 1,67,659 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,08,762 (2 unrecd.); Jaipur 6,49,579 from 3 cinemas, Bikaner (gross) 2,86,080; Hyderabad (gross) 26,20,967 from 14 cinemas (1 in noon); dull in Overseas.

………….

Hindustan Ki Kasam 4th week Bombay 8,10,116 (37.34%) from 6 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,59,931 from 3 cinemas, Jamnagar (matinee) 13,382; Pune 2,27,463 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 51,209; Delhi 4,16,962 from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,21,271 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,53,170, Agra 26,936, Varanasi 1,29,310, Allahabad 66,750, Bareilly (6 days) 44,187, Dehradun 40,200, Hardwar 15,000; Calcutta 74,365; Nagpur (5 days) 35,177, Jabalpur (6 days) 44,812, Amravati (6 days) 44,278, Raipur (6 days, gross) 63,257, Bhilai 22,141; Jaipur 1,13,376.

Mann 6th week Bombay 8,85,783 (51.86%) from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,81,377 from 4 cinemas, Rajkot 82,740 (1 in matinee unrecd.); Pune 4,29,486 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 4,27,248 (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,20,619 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,93,194, Agra 70,163, Varanasi 85,908, Allahabad 55,800, Dehradun 30,000; Calcutta 2,88,252 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 63,579, 5th week Jabalpur (6 days) 42,125, 6th Amravati (6 days) 59,398, Akola 40,654, Raipur (gross, 6 days) 81,226, 4th week Wardha (5 days) 30,881; 6th week Indore 64,371, Bhopal 52,203; Jaipur 1,87,261 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 2,16,348.

………….

INR HIRE: INDUSTRY FILES REVIEW PETITION IN SUPREME COURT

The film industry has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its order delivered recently in the matter of INR hire. It may be recalled that a 3-member bench of the Supreme Court held that it was well within the rights of the Central government to charge cinemas a hire of 1% of net collections for screening its Indian news reels. The review petition before a full bench of the apex court is likely to come up in the month-end.

The matter of appeal will be discussed at the meeting of the Film Federation of India (FFI) this evening (21st August) at IMPPA House. This meeting is likely to be attended by all Bombay-based members of the executive committee of the FFI. The decision to have the EIMPA and the MPA jointly file a review petition had been taken at an earlier meeting of the FFI. It was then also decided that the FFI would oversee the entire legal proceedings.

D. RAMA NAIDU TO CONTEST LS ELECTIONS

Producer and studio owner Dr. D. Rama Naidu will contest the ensuing Parliamentary elections on a Telugu Desam Party ticket. He will be contesting from Bapatla constituency in opposition of Janardhan Reddy, a Congress strongman.

Despite being engaged in so many film and social activities, D. Rama Naidu has accepted the TDP ticket “to strengthen the hands of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu”.

COURT REJECTS PLEA AGAINST NATIONAL AWARDS TO ‘GODMOTHER’

A division bench of the Delhi high court, comprising Justice S.N. Variava and Justice S.K. Mahajan, on 19th August dismissed a petition challenging giving of National Awards to Godmother. The court said, “We would not like to interfere in the matter as it is the discretion of the government.” The petition, filed by a private organisation, Filmavalokan, had challenged the giving of six National Awards to Godmother on the ground that it portrayed the lifestyle of mafia, violence, riots and murders, which violated censor guidelines and did not promote production of healthy movies.

MAJOR VIDEO PIRACY RACKET BUSTED IN USA

In a major piracy unearthing operation in the USA, Eros International and Eros Entertainment Inc. recovered nearly 2,000 unauthorised VCDs and DVDs of several new Hindi films last week. The raid was conducted at VJ Video (owned by Vijay Patel) at Rockway, New Jersey, where the investigating team found and seized 55 VCRs and video duplicating equipment, apart from 1,071 VCDs and 1,871 DVDs of films like Hindustan Ki Kasam, Sirf Tum, Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Hote Hote Pyaar Ho Gaya, Biwi No. 1, Kohram, Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain, Raja Hindustani, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and others. The raid was co-ordinated and implemented by Megha Bhouraskar and William M. Poppe of the law firm Poppe & Bhouraskar LLP.

PRAVIN SHAH BEREAVED

Niral, son of Pravin Shah of Time Video, expired on 14th August in Bombay at Hinduja Hospital. He was only 8 years old. He had been hospitalised due to high fever on 11th August. He slipped into a coma the next day and remained in that condition till he passed away.

Jaap and prarthana in his memory were held on 17th August at Vishnu Prasad Hall, Juhu, Bombay. In a rare humane gesture, the family donated his eyes. Niral was an expert swimmer and a smart child.

YOU ASKED IT

Does re-editing help a film after its release?

– Only if it is done in time and with tact.

When films of big banners and top makers are flopping, how do distributors dare to pay unheard of prices to films made by comparatively smaller banners?

– Success is not the privilege of only the big banners and top makers. All the same, prices of films are definitely going haywire, very haywire, today.

Is Shekhar Kapur justified in asking the CBFC the reasons for the various deletions in his Elizabeth?

–Hundred per cent justified. After all, the CBFC should be accountable for its actions.

CENSOR NEWS

Venus Records & Tapes Ltd.’s Baadshah, applied on 16th and seen on 17th, has been issued C.C. No. CIL/2/26/99 (UA) dt. 19-8-’99; length 4929.47 metres in 18 reels (no cut).

Padmini Films P. Ltd.’s Rockford (English, partly in Hindi), seen on 16th, has been passed with UA certificate, with cuts.

G.S. Entertainment’s Hello Brother (length 3694.10 metres in 14 reels), applied on 17th, was seen on 18th.

DO YOU KNOW?

* TAAL is now short by four-and-a-half minutes. Subhash Ghai has halved the song Nahin paas tu and has made the climax portion racy by effecting some deletions. The comic parts in the climax have been chopped off.

* Producer Balkrishna Jha’s SASTA ZINGI MAHAG SENUR is the first Maithili film which is entirely in this dialect. So far, only two Maithili films have been made. One was KANYADAAN, released in 1965, which was not entirely in Maithili; the other was MAMTA GAYE GEET which was a documentary.

* Johny Lever has joined hands with Imtiyaz Shaikh, Amrit Jain and Albert Jassani to launch a music company, Auro Audio. They have already released the company’s first music album, ‘Pardesiya Yaad Teri Aati Hai’, rendered by Sadhana Sargam, Reema Mishra and Saud Khan.

MIX MASALA

NET-SAVVY JACKIE

Not only is Jackie Shroff a lot into internet these days, he is also initiating people to get net-savvy. And a sure way of getting people to at least get curious, he feels, is by signing his e-mail address instead of his name every time a fan requests the star for an autograph. So in place of ‘Jackie Shroff’, it is now ‘jackie@jackieshroff.com’. That’s Jackie’s e-mail address.

FILM-MAKING TODAY

Overseas Market: Is Its Bigness Eclipsing Home Market?

Are our filmmakers going ‘phoren’? The Overseas bug seems to have bitten some of the bigger filmmakers. No, not just in terms of shooting their films abroad. But in making films which cater to the tastes of audience in foreign lands more than to Indian audience.

While some films like Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai are universal hits, faring as well in India as in Overseas, there are many other films which don’t have the same universal appeal. Why compare home territory with Overseas, quite often a film which does well in one circuit in India does not do so in the other circuits of the country. The recently released Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is an instance in point. It is doing extraordinary business in Bombay, Maharashtra and Gujarat in India, but is nowhere near that mark in circuits like Delhi-U.P., Bengal, Bihar and Rajasthan. Again, it is a huge hit in Overseas. Dil Se.. scored fabulously in the UK but was a damp squib in India. Last week’s Taal has broken all previous records in the USA by grossing US $ 5,91,289 in the first three days from 44 screens, thereby making it the first film to make it to the US Top 20, at the 20th spot. It has also done very well in the UK and the Gulf but its performance at home is not half as good.

Some of the cases prompt one to conclude that the Overseas audience has now become very important for some of our filmmakers. There was a time when the Overseas market was like a residual territory. But with Overseas opening up and business of films like HAHK..!, DDLJ and KKHH in the Overseas being Rs. 15 to 20 and more crore, it is one territory that just cannot be ignored.

Producers are also able to get super-fantastic prices from Overseas today, especially if the film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan or Anil Kapoor. A top maker recently remarked, “Our under-production monies mostly come from the Overseas distributor and the music company holding the audio rights. If we make a musical for the Overseas market, are we wrong?” But it is also a fact that while these makers make films for the Overseas market, they don’t charge their Indian territory distributors any less. Having thus taken heavy MGs from the all-India circuits, isn’t it necessary to also keep the interest of the all-India distributors in mind? Bihar is not what Overseas is. But if the Bihar distributor is paying through his nose, he expects the film to have something for his circuit too. To cater simultaneously to the UK, USA and Bihar or Rajasthan can be the toughest thing. Why, even KKHH, which was a blockbuster in India, was not as strong in Bihar as in the rest of the country or in the Overseas.

So what is to be done? The answer is simple. Make a HAHK..! or a DDLJ. Is the answer really so simple? The task, which the answer raises, is surely far from simple.

Why Blame Asha Parekh?

The CBFC has come under fire once again. This time, it is Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth and the three cuts ordered by the CBFC therein. Without going into the details of the cuts — everyone knows them by now — let us examine a pertinent issue that this whole imbroglio has raised and one which has gone unnoticed by and large so far. Somewhere along the line, the issues seem to have been mixed up. What should have been a protest against censorship as a principle, has been reduced to a relentless personal campaign by the media against CBFC chairperson Asha Parekh. Let us try and understand how erroneous the whole scenario is.

Firstly, let us get some facts right. The chairperson of the CBFC has absolutely no authority to demand any cut in a film applied for. According to the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 1983, framed under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, the chairperson’s duties are defined as purely administrative — if one may use the term — in nature. The rules clearly state that the chairperson, upon receiving the recommendations from all the members of the examining committee and verifying that each and every guideline issued by the government is followed, ‘will direct the Regional Officer concerned to take further action on behalf of the Board in conformity with the recommendation of the Examining Committee either unanimously or by majority’. In simple terms, the job of the CBFC chairperson is limited only to receiving the cuts from the examining committee and forwarding them, without any authority to effect any changes in them, for preparation of the certificate. At no place in the Act is it mentioned that the chairperson’s presence is necessary at the viewing of a film by the Examining Committee and as such, it is not incumbent upon the chairperson to view a film applied for censorship. It is clear, then, that the chairperson is given absolutely no authority by the Rules, to influence any of the examining committee member/s in any way whatsoever.

The Rules, however, give the CBFC chairperson the authority to ‘of his own motion or on the request of the applicant, refer the film to a Revising Committee’. If interpreted correctly, even this rule does not allow the chairperson to take a decision as per his/her discretion. The decision to refer a film to the Revising Committee can only be taken by the chairperson, that too only in the case where there is a hung situation in the examining committee, or if it is felt that certain guideline/s has/have not been adhered to or any such reason.

Viewed in this light, blaming Asha Parekh for implementing the cuts ordered by the members of the Examining Committee, appears not only unwarranted, but foolish, too. Also ridiculing her for not having seen Elizabeth is plainly ridiculous in itself because even if Asha Parekh were to view the film, she would have no right or privilege to alter the scenario as regards cuts offered. After all, viewing films at the Examining Committee stage is not her job. What the media and especially the film fraternity must realise is that the only way the censorship issue can be resolved is through a dialogue with the central government. That alone would be a constructive thing to do. Let’s not take the easy way out and throw one more brick at the White House simply because, besides being far more easy, it also gets the brick-thrower free publicity.

– RAJ VAIDYA

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Khan Versus Khan — Idd Mubarak!

Mela, which was scheduled for release on Diwali (Nov. 5), has now been slated for release on Idd (January 5, 2000). And that’s because the film’s lead man, Aamir Khan, is presently abroad to participate in stage shows. Since Aamir would be returning only on October 7, it won’t give Aamir enough time to devote himself to the dubbing and post-production work of the film. Hence it has been decided to postpone it from one festival (Diwali) to another (Idd). This change would make Mela among the first few films to be released in the new millennium (year 2000)! Does it qualify to be nicknamed ‘Melannium’?! And what’s more, Aamir Khan will be pitted against another Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, whose Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani is also scheduled for release on the same date. And between the releases of these two Khans may be released Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai, starring debut-making hero Hrithik Roshan.

Coming back to Mela, there is good news, if you believe director Karan Johar. After having seen the songs, Karan feels, “It’s going to be a super-hit film.”

Karan’s Kaaran

And while on Karan Johar’s feeling, here’s a denial and clarification for those who dwelled in the notion that his next would be a remake of Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie. First, the denial: “I am not remaking Kabhi Kabhie“. Now the clarification: “I had said in an interview that I would like to make a generation film like Kabhi Kabhie. I’m not a fool to remake a classic like Kabhi Kabhie.”

Not A Thing Of Beauty – II

Okay, so everyone knows that we were referring to the dispute between Aishwarya Rai and producer Shabnam Kapoor in this column last week. What only a few know is the latter’s side of the story. In a conversation with Film Information, Shabnam refuted outright the claims that she had not utilised the dates given by Aishwarya. “It is absolutely untrue,” said a very ill Shabnam in between sobs (yes, she broke down while speaking to us). “There has never been a case of the shooting being cancelled on my account. I don’t know why Aishwarya is doing this to me. That too, after I had gone out of my way to accommodate her demand for a price higher than the one agreed on before singing.” Definitely not a thing of beauty, then. We sincerely hope that the warring parties find a way to call truce soon.

Thank You!

Dear Readers,

As you all must have seen last week, the response to our Kargil Special was overwhelming. The industry people rose to the occasion and advertised in our issue of 14th August, 1999, making it a grand success.

That being truly good enough, we had a surprise when producer-director Guddu Dhanoa lamented (after the Special issue was out) that he had wanted to put in more advertisements (besides the one published in his name last week) for the welfare of the Kargil victims and their families. Looking to his enthusiasm, we are carrying his advertisements (29 in all) in this issue. The revenues from these 29 pages, too, will be entirely donated to the Army Central Welfare Fund just as the revenues from the entire Kargil Special issue of 14th August, 1999 will be.

To say that we at Film Information are touched by the humane gesture and largesse shown by our brothers in the industry would be an under-statement. We have no words to express our gratitude. Our sincerest thanks to all of them. Our sincere thanks also to Shri Boney Kapoor whose idea the Kargil Special was. Our thanks also to Shri Rizwan Thakur and Shri Sohail Thakur (of Plascote Industries, our printers), Shri Uday Bhojani and Shri Sunand Bhojani (our printers) and Shri Raju Jain (paper supplier) who, too, pitched in their worthy contributions and helped us in bringing out the Kargil Special in fine form.

As all the monies have not yet reached us, our contribution — your contribution — to the Army Central Welfare Fund will take a few days more. We shall keep you posted on that.

Till then, with folded hands, we all at Film Information thank all the advertisers whose contributions towards the welfare of Kargil victims and their families will be cherished for ever and ever.

Jai Jawan! Jai Hind! Jai Film Industry!

– Komal Nahta

TAAL

Mukta Arts’ Taal is a musical love triangle. A rich industrialist’s son falls in love with a simple girl who is the daughter of a middle-class music teacher and singer, and promises to marry her. But due to a sudden turn of events, the relationship between the girl and the guy sours. Although the boy has immense faith in the power of true love, the girl, hurt and humiliated as she is, decides to move ahead in life and forget her brief affair as a bad dream. She meets a rich and prosperous owner of an entertainment company, who takes her under his wings and soon makes her an international singing-dancing star. He also falls in love with her, but his love is selfish in the sense that he wants to possess the girl at any cost. The girl is torn between her two lovers. On the one hand is her true and first love and on the other, the guy who gave her fame and stardom. Once again, a turn of events puts her in a dilemma. The problem is resolved in a fairly lengthy climax.

The story has not much of a novelty but the treatment of director Subhash Ghai is quite remarkable. However, although his direction gives evidence of his mastery over the craft, the script is below the mark. For one, the screenplay is loose and the film gets boring at many places — an error which will have to be rectified by early and judicious re-editing (at least 20 minutes can safely be chopped off). Secondly, the character of the industrialist’s son (lover) is so passive that it lacks fire. The boy telling every relative/acquaintance of his that he/she would get his love back to him sounds rather funny, especially because he himself does little to win her back and instead sermonises on the power of God and faith in love — something which today’s impatient audience isn’t prepared to buy unless convinced very very carefully. Further, the romance between the girl and the industrialist’s son is not so youthful nor are the pangs of separation so painful. The fire sequence looks contrived.

On the positive side, the film has witty dialogues, brilliant gloss, excellent music and breathtaking song picturisations. But even all these do not make up for the relatively weak drama and the dull characterisation of the young lover.

Anil Kapoor does a splendid job, playing to the gallery all through the second half. His entry at the interval point evokes claps. His performance in the climax is wonderful. If only the amount of effort that’s gone into making Anil’s characterisation mass-appealing had gone into making the other hero’s character also more audience-acceptable, it would’ve been so much better. Although Akshaye Khanna suffers on account of a dull characterisation, his performance is natural to the core. Aishwarya Rai has less dialogues and more expressions and she comes out with flying colours. She casts a magical spell on the audience with her beauty, dances, glamour and acting. Alok Nath, as Aishwarya’s father, is first-rate. The confrontation scene between him and Akshaye’s father (Amrish Puri) just before interval is superb. As much credit for the said scene goes to the visualiser as to the director and to Alok Nath. Amrish Puri is effective but gets less scope. Mita Vashist leaves a mark. Saurabh Shukla is wasted. Jividha Sharma and Tanya Mukherjee are good as Aishwarya’s sisters. Supriya Karnik, as Akshaye’s aunt, is superb. Sushma Seth deserved a better role. Prithvi Zutshi, Manoj Pahwa, Rajesh Khera, Vinod Raut and the others lend fair support.

Subhash Ghai makes the film a visual treat. Although his direction has brilliant touches, the weaknesses in the script sometimes eclipse his directorial brilliance. A.R. Rahman’s music is masterly. ‘Ramta jogi’, ‘Ishq bina’ and the title song are extraordinary and their picturisations are heavenly. ‘Aag lage lag jaave’ is also lavishly picturised and Aishwarya’s dance is fantastic. The ‘Nahin paas tu’ song needs to be deleted as it hampers the film’s pace. Production values are grand. Kabir Lall’s camerawork is simply dazzling and mesmerising. Sharmishtha Roy’s sets are great. Background score is fabulous.

On the whole, Taal is high — very high — on gloss, glamour, grandeur, style, music but is low on racy screenplay, pacy drama and mass-appealing ingredients. The low points, however, outweigh the high points of the film. It will appeal to the gentry audience more than the masses and will, therefore, do well in ‘A’ class centres. Considering its high price on the one hand and city appeal on the other, it can hope to fetch returns only in Bombay, Maharashtra, Delhi (not U.P.), South and Overseas. Business in Bengal, Bihar and Rajasthan in particular and in small centres in general will be dull.

Released on 12-8-’99 at Metro and on 13-8-’99 at 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru Metro Films. Publicity & opening: bumper. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark in West Bengal (dull), C.I., Rajasthan and East Punjab (in stalls). There was a noticeable drop in collections on 2nd day in U.P., C.P. Berar and C.I.

KOHRAM

Mehul Movies Pvt. Ltd.’s Kohram (UA) is a story of good versus evil, the former represented by army officers and the latter, by a corrupt minister and the nation’s enemies in the neighbouring country. A conscientious army officer is dubbed a traitor when he tries to kill the actual traitor. This forces him to leave the army and live in obscurity and in disguise. Another army officer is sent to investigate whether the look-alike is actually the ex-army officer. Not only is the mystery unravelled but the truth about who is actually the traitor is brought to the knowledge of the higher authorities. Ultimately, the two army officers eliminate the nation’s enemy.

The film abounds in action and also has a good dose of comedy. What it lacks in are fiery dialogues and exciting/tension-filled confrontation scenes between the two army officers, played by firebrand actors Amitabh Bachchan and Nana Patekar. The dialogues, in fact, fall short of the stature of the two great actors pitted against each other for the first time. Comedy (of Nana Patekar and Tabu) is enjoyable. The latter part of the climax holds appeal for the classes only, as it has a mere symbolic significance.

Amitabh Bachchan does a fine job. Nana Patekar is the life of the film and impresses the maximum in light scenes. His get-up with a pony-tail, however, looks odd. Tabu is cute as the corrupt police officer. Danny Denzongpa makes a competent and polished villain. Jaya Prada has no worthwhile role. Mukul Dev also does not get much scope. Mukesh Rishi is good. Jackie Shroff leaves a mark in a special appearance. Ayesha Julka is so-so. Kabir Bedi is effective in a guest role. Ali Khan, Avtar Gill, Mukesh Rawal, Pushpa Verma, Jassi, Sikander Khan, Santosh Gupta, baby Jahan and the rest lend fair support.

Mehul Kumar’s direction is quite good but he seems to have under-estimated the power of punch-packed dialogues and a fiery drama. Music (Dilip Sen Sameer Sen) is a letdown. Except for the ‘Banaras ke bhaiyya’ song, which is fairly well-tuned, the other songs have mere functional value. Bhiku Verma’s action is good. Camerawork is alright. Background score is adequate. Other technical values are of standard.

On the whole, high-priced Kohram scores for its light moments more than the drama and dialogues. It cannot be expected to have a long run except in Maharashtra and West Bengal where Nana has a fan-following. It will fetch good returns in Bombay, West Bengal and C.P. but do average elsewhere on the strength of business mainly in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres.

Released on 13-8-’99 at Central Plaza and 23 other cinemas of Bombay thru Veekay Enterprises. Publicity & opening: excellent. …….Also released all over. Opening was very good in U.P., Bengal and C.P. Berar but below the mark in East Punjab, Rajasthan and Nizam.

LATEST POSITION

The bumper opening of TAAL in many parts of the country has taken the industry by surprise.

Trishakti is a washout. 1st week Bombay 22,77,209 (45.40%) from 11 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,53,265 from 5 cinemas, Jamnagar 53,107; Pune 2,58,657 from 3 cinemas, Solapur 1,23,617; Delhi 6,16,859 (29.78%) from 6 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,06,982 from 2 cinemas, Agra 75,888; Calcutta 6,80,946 from 10 cinemas; Nagpur 1,80,153 from 4 cinemas, Amravati 67,728, Raipur 57,608, Bhilai 42,858 from 2 cinemas; Indore 42,000 (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 72,000; Jaipur 1,47,893 from 2 cinemas, Bikaner 54,139; Hyderabad (gross) 8,74,782 from 9 cinemas (2 in noon).

………..

Hindustan Ki Kasam, due to the fantastic initial value and abundant action, will prove to be safe in several circuits. 3rd week Bombay 18,04,817 (43%) from 9 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,93,811 from 5 cinemas, Baroda 1,24,324; Pune 4,42,740 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 83,775; Delhi 14,95,870 from 9 cinemas; Kanpur 2,22,628 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,61,060, Agra 1,37,000, Varanasi 1,96,311, Allahabad 1,28,870, Bareilly (6 days) 68,258, Dehradun 83,526; Calcutta 2,19,889 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 57,751 from 2 cinemas, Amravati (6 days) 64,960, Akola 48,330, Raipur (6 days) 1,11,762, Bhilai (6 days) 28,986, Jalgaon (5 days) 97,156, Yavatmal 54,386; Indore 82,421 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 5,43,997, Bikaner (gross) 1,42,830; Hyderabad (gross) 2,95,205; Guntur (gross) 69,840, total 2,13,788.

Mann 5th week Bombay 6,33,456 (55.46%) from 2 cinemas (3 unrecd., 5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,96,837 from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 1,26,090 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 4,84,772 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 92,172, Solapur 22,876, 1st week Barsi 52,937; 5th week Delhi 10,54,608 from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 1,63,825 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,40,401, Agra 1,20,783, Varanasi 95,353, Allahabad 74,000, Bareilly (6 days) 28,127, Dehradun 50,000; Calcutta 6,21,045 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 1,08,028 from 2 cinemas, Amravati (6 days) 77,992, Akola 44,076, total 5,49,600, Raipur (6 days) 99,120, 4th Jalgaon 49,789, total 5,72,178, 3rd week Wardha (5 days) 33,166; 5th week Indore 1,02,421; Jaipur 1,56,473; Hyderabad (gross) 3,91,398 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon, 1 unrecd.).

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is still doing extraordinary in Bombay and Gujarat-Saurashtra. 8th week Bombay 43,34,872 (67.68%) from 11 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 5,07,288 from 4 cinemas, Rajkot 73,150, Jamnagar (matinee) 6,837; Pune 3,56,009 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee) 24,447; Delhi 4,39,025 from 2 cinemas.

BABY BOY FOR AADESH, VIJAYETA

Vijayeta Pandit, wife of music director Aadesh Shrivastava, delivered a baby boy on 7th August at a private nursing home in Bombay. This is the couple’s second child.

SECRETARY PREM GHAI PASSES AWAY

Prem Ghai, secretary to Rakesh Bedi, Alok Nath and Ishrat Ali, passed away on 12th August at Belle Vue Nursing Home, Andheri, Bombay, where he was admitted following brain haemmorhage. The funeral, held the next day (13th August), was attended by many members of the Cine Artistes Secretaries Association.

Chautha will be held today (14th August) at Arya Samaj Hall, Versova, between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

DARA SINGH TO CONTEST LS ELECTIONS FROM ROHTAK

The BJP will field actor-producer-director Dara Singh as its candidate from the Rohtak constituency in the  forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

‘HOGI PYAR KI JEET’ 100 DAYS

Shweta International’s Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet celebrates 100 days of its run today (14th August) at many centres in India. Produced by Anil Sharma and directed by P. Vasu, the film stars Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Neha, Mayuri Kango, Ketaki Dave, Mohan Joshi, Tiku Talsania, Prithvi, Raza Murad, Arjun and Anil Dhawan. Screenplay & dialogues: Anwar Khan. Music: Anand Milind. Lyrics: Sameer. Choreography: Raju Khan. Cinematography: Damodar Naidu.

‘BORDER’ TAX-FREE IN DELHI

J.P. Dutta’s Border has been exempted from payment of entertainment tax in Delhi with effect from 23rd July, 1999. The film’s distributor for Delhi-U.P. is Kewal Suri’s Movie Tee Vee Enterprises.

YOU ASKED IT

Since Nepal’s distribution rights are given separately and not with Bihar these days, what should be the ratio for Nepal?

– 10 to 12 per cent of the Bihar territory.

After the expiry of the distribution rights (for 10 or 5 years), where do the prints go?

– Technically, the distributor is supposed to hand over all the prints and publicity materials, which are in his possession, to the producer after the expiry of his distribution rights. But rarely does any distributor do this. Some distributors do send back the unserviceable prints to the producers during the tenure of the contract.

One always reads in trade papers that so-and-so film has broken such-and-such record at the box-office. But then, so many films are mentioned as breaking records and creating history. What is the historical truth?

– Any film can create history by virtue of record collections for the time being because admission rates are not static.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

‘Taal’ing Images

For the first time ever, a Hindi film — Subhash Ghai’s Taal — will be released on the state-of-the-art IMAX screen. Taal will open on 24th August at the IMAX 3-D theatre in White River State Park, USA. The theatre boasts of a 40 ft. high (about 6 storeys tall) and 80 ft. wide screen, a 6-channel digital surround sound system (about 10,000 watts of sound) and the latest equipment in 3-D technology. IMAX technology works on a 70mm, 15 perforation film (technically known as 15/70 system) with each frame being ten times the size of a standard 35 mm film. Moreover, the specially designed IMAX projectors impart the images more clarity, sharpness and brightness than a normal film. The ultimate effect of this on the viewer is that while watching the film, he feels like he is in it! The screening of Taal at IMAX-Indianapolis is a joint effort of Eros Entertainment and Shyaam Entertainments (Indianapolis).

It would not be out of place to add here that the premiere of Taal was held on 13th August at the Empire cinema in Leicester Square, Central London. Surprisingly enough, the tickets for the premiere show were selling at an unbelievably high premium: 50 pounds for a 10-pound-rated ticket! And this, despite the cinema having as many as 1,400 seats.

Testimonial To A ‘Perfectionist’

The following quote needs absolutely no comments:

Deepa Mehta, on working with Aamir Khan in 1947 Earth: “I looked at many actors to play Ice Candy Man and the one who responded to the script as a whole and not just to his own part was Aamir. I was very impressed with that — thank God for small mercies! Wish there were more actors like him. I feel that his ‘perfectionism’ is one of his major strengths…. Aamir, not unlike other actors, offered suggestions. I’m very open to suggestions from my actors, especially if they are intelligent ones, like Aamir. More than just suggestions, it was a dialogue about his character in a particular scene. For example, there was one scene, where Aamir felt, Ice Candy Man (his character) is very upset. I felt, Aamir should underplay that bit of dialogue, while Aamir felt that he should not. We did it my way and, to this date, I regret not having listened to him. But very rarely did we disagree or get into long conversations about how to play a scene.” Did she say, she wished there were more like Aamir? Our thoughts exactly!

Enigmatic Karisma

Is Karisma Kapoor on a quitting spree? Not too long ago, she walked out of Sajid Nadiadwala’s Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega. News now comes that she is also not doing Deepak Shivdasani’s Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke. Preity Zinta has been signed in Karisma’s place for Shivdasani’s film. One hears that Karisma has also returned the signing amounts of a couple of other films. What’s cooking, Karisma?

TRISHAKTI

Bollywood Creations’ Trishakti (A) is about three street-smart young men who get embroiled between the two warring gangsters in the city. There are also a two-timing policeman and a home minister. The subject has nothing to thrill, inspire or entertain. The screenplay is made up of predictably contrived incidents, and the dialogues are good only at places. The drama becomes a little interesting towards the concluding reels and culminates into a climax which provides some shock value.

Milind Gunaji is okay. Sharad Kapoor is fair. Arshad Warsi is quite entertaining. Ashish Vidyarthi, as the dominating don, has done well. Govind Namdeo, as Ashish Vidyarthi’s rival, stands out with a lovely performance, giving his villainy a comic touch. Radhika, who plays the female lead, has an insignificant role and she is just about okay. Jatin Kanakia, Tej Sapru, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Shehzaad Khan, Tiku Talsania and Himani Shivpuri are average. Sadashiv Amarapurkar impresses as the two-timing police officer.

Direction (Madhur Bhandarkar) is a fair debut attempt. Musically, two of the four songs help to develop the drama. Action scenes are many but they lack thrill. Production values are okay. Cinematography and other technical aspects are passable.

On the whole, Trishakti, without the required support of face value, and devoid of novelty, is a weak fare.

Released on 6-8-’99 at Alankar and 16 other cinemas of Bombay thru Dilsa Distributors Combine. Publicity: average. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over.

‘TAAL’ MIXING COMPLETED TODAY MORNING

Mixing of writer-producer-director Subhash Ghai’s Taal concluded at 4 o’clock this morning (August 7) at Empire Audio Centre. The first copy will be out this evening. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna and Aishwarya Rai. Music is scored by A.R. Rahman and lyrics are penned by Anand Bakshi. The film, certified for universal exhibition, is due to release all over on 12th August.

‘SARFAROSH’ CELEBRATES 100 DAYS

Cinematt Pictures’ Sarfarosh, with which John Mathew Matthan made his debut as producer, director and writer, completes 100 days today (7th August) at Maratha Mandir and Metro (matinee), Bombay. The film stars Aamir Khan, Sonali Bendre, Naseeruddin Shah and Mukesh Rishi.

‘KACHCHE DHAAGE’ SILVER JUBILEE

Tips Films P. Ltd.’s Kachche Dhaage entered silver jubilee week on 6th August at Imperial (matinee), Bombay. Starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Manisha Koirala and Namrata Shirodkar, the film marked the debut of director Milan Luthria. Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s music, Anand Bakshi’s lyrics and Tinu Verma’s action are the film’s high points.

N. CHANDRA ARRESTED, RELEASED ON BAIL

Producer-director N. Chandra was arrested on 3rd August by the Juhu police at his office at Juhu, Bombay, in a case filed by producer Milan Jhaveri under the Negotiable Instruments Act. The arrest warrant was issued by Justice Shalini Gaikwad of the Girgaum (Bombay) court following a suit filed by the producer.

Milan Jhaveri had alleged that he had made a payment to N. Chandra as signing amount about four years back. Since the project, for which N. Chandra was signed, could not make any headway, Chandra returned a part of the amount by cheques which were subsequently returned unpaid by the bank. Jhaveri, therefore, filed a suit against Chandra in the court. The court issued summons but Chandra failed to appear in the court which, therefore, issued an arrest warrant. Chandra was freed on bail the same day.

FIVE ‘A1’ FILMS AT GWALIOR

Chor Machaye Shor – 43 days – Filmistan – 1,10,233.40.
Gupt Gyan – 42 days – Roxy – 82,995.43.
Prem Nagar – 56 days – Yadav – 1,19,913.59.
Aap Ki Kasam – 45 days – Delite – 82,924.34.
Dost – 42 days – Krishna 84,636.34.

‘A1’ films are now not running for more than 6/8 weeks.

YOU ASKED IT

Sunny Deol starrer Pyaar Koi Khel Nahin did not take a very good start at most of the places. What about Sunny’s next, Arjun Pandit, which will be released on 20th August?

– The two films can’t be compared merely because they are Sunny starrers. The main difference between them is that the former has no action while the latter has a good dose of action — and this difference is evident in the promotional trailers of the two films, the titles and the overall packaging of the two. Since Sunny has an action image, ARJUN PADIT should take a flying start. More so, because its trailers are being loved by the audience.

What is the ratio of Mohabbatein likely to be?

– Even Yash Chopra may not have finalised the ratio of the film as yet. But he is one of the very few makers who doesn’t go overboard while fixing the ratios of his films. Even when he could have asked for 2.5 for DTPH, he sold it for 2.

Why do you keep saying that it is prices and not films which are failing?

– Because in the case of most of the big banner films, the ratios (prices) are unreasonably high. Producers demand (and get) prices which leave them with a profit margin of 6 to 10 crores a film and if such films are not able to cover their (high) price, it is perfect to say that it is the price and not the film which has bombed.

CENSOR NEWS

Mukta Arts P. Ltd.’s Taal was given C.C. No. CIL/1/39/99 (U) dt. 3-8-’99; length 5062.32 metres in 19 reels (cuts: 7.12 metres).

Ratan International’s Arjun Pandit was given C.C. No. CIL/3/36/99 (A) dt. 6-8-’99; length 4298.11 metres in 16 reels (cuts: 152.95 metres).

Navadarshan Productions’ Tu Hi Meri Ganga was given C.C. (in Hyderabad) No. CIL/36/43/99 (U) dt. 16-7-’99; length 3002.69 metres in 13 reels (cuts: 61.61 metres).

Victory Films Enterprises’ Aakhir Hai Kaun? was seen on 2nd.

Sachi Arts’ Dulhan Banee Daayan was seen on 4th.

N.P. International’s Khooni Mahal (revised; length 3076.33 metres in 14 reels), applied on 2nd, was seen on 5th.

Vishesh Films P. Ltd.’s Sangharsh (length 3849.65 metres in 15 reels) was applied on 6th.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Vasant Talkies, Amravati is the only cinema in C.P.C.I. Rajasthan where SARFAROSH has completed 100 days. The film’s distributors permitted the students of Tapovan, a leprosy mission in Amravati, to see the film at a concessional admission rate of Rs. 3 per head.

* The inmates of the home for the aged, widows of various mahila ashrams, deserted wives and orphans belonging to various associations/shelter homes in Gujarat are being notified by producers K.P. Patel and S.K. Patel that they do not have to pay a single naya paisa to see their Gujarati film, MAA TE MAA BIJA VAGDA NA VAA anywhere in Gujarat. The film, directed by Amar Kumar (Danny), is slated for release on August 13.

MIX MASALA

SOME JUSTICE, THIS!

The producer and the C.I. distributor of Nyaydaata are apt to cry, and cry out aloud, “Is this justice (nyay)?!?” The film was released on 5th August at Indore’s Chandragupta and in the first show, it could collect a paltry Rs. 452 against a capacity of about 20,000/-! With the audience verdict delivered, the film made an exit the very day it was released. Which means, the first day of the film proved to be its last day too! Like a batsman bowled out in the first ball!! The next day, Cheetah was released at the cinema.

Cut This Censor Problem!

Rightly had Shekhar Kapur launched a broadside against the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) which offered his Elizabeth three cuts. The rationale behind his fight against the censors was, in his own words, to break the jaane-bhi-do attitude of filmmakers. It is another thing that as an afterthought, Shekhar has chosen to tone down his ire against the CBFC.

Producers have for years now often been accepting the idiosyncrasies of the CBFC not because they agree with its (CBFC) thinking but because they’d rather let it pass simply as they either don’t have the time to get into a battle with the CBFC or don’t have the money for it or, in several cases, don’t have the inclination. Shekhar Kapur may not be right in arguing that since a film made by an Indian has been seen the world over, the Indian censors should also permit its screening in toto. But he was definitely right in saying that he would not accept any cut, howsoever small or irrelevant, simply because he was convinced that the interpretation of the censor guidelines was archaic. By saying so, Shekhar hit the nail on the head.

For too long now, the industry has been crying hoarse that the censor guidelines are outdated, but nothing seems to have come out of its protests. One must realise that censorship is and will always remain a subjective issue and the guidelines do give a free hand to those who view films for the purpose of censorship. The dictionary meaning of the word ‘guideline’  is ‘directing principle’. So the fault lies more in the interpretation and application of the guidelines by the powers-that-be than with the rules themselves.The industry needs to address itself to this problem of interpretation/application.

Mahesh Bhatt last year fought a lone battle to obtain a censor certificate for his Zakhm. That he finally succeeded may not have given him as much joy as the recent National Award his film received. The slap on the face of the CBFC must’ve bruised its ego more than anything else because the National Award to Zakhm was for the best film on national integration whereas it (CBFC) had straightaway referred the film to the home ministry as, in its esteemed opinion, the film could have served to incite communal feelings if it was allowed to be released. So much for the CBFC’s objective interpretation of censor guidelines! A pertinent point raised by Shekhar Kapur may be mentioned here. According to him, the problem arises because nobody in the CBFC wants to take responsibility for clearing a film that may seem even remotely controversial. If such films have ultimately to be passed by the courts because of this passing-the-buck game, why at all have the fare called CBFC?

Very often, producers are so hard-pressed for time that they’d rather accept the cuts offered by the CBFC, even if they don’t agree with them, than oppose them. Quite often, the rationale behind accepting the cuts is that they (cuts) may not be perceived to adversely affect the film’s box-office performance. A classic example of the jaane-bhi do attitude of filmmakers! Subhash Ghai’s acceptance of a cut ordered by the CBFC in Taal, perhaps, falls under the aforesaid category. The CBFC found the words ‘Manikchand Group’, visible in a song sequence of the film, as surrogate advertising for Manikchand pan masala and ordered their removal. At least a maker of Ghai’s calibre should have put his foot down and not given in to the prudish demand of the CBFC, simply because it doesn’t appeal to common sense or logic that Manikchand Group, which manufactures many other products, means the same thing as Manikchand pan masala. One did not expect Subhash Ghai to take things lying down like that.

The industry needs more Shekhar Kapurs and Mahesh Bhatts. May their tribe increase!

– KOMAL NAHTA

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Roads To Hell

Agreed that the film trade is full of ups and downs, but need that fact be reflected so harshly in the roads leading to Naaz building? For years now, every road that leads to the building has been deteriorating at a consistent rate. The number of potholes on each road also seems to be growing at an alarming rate. Keeping in mind the rate at which films flop nowadays, someone very rightly remarked that, perhaps, the roads serve to remind the eternally hit-starved producers and distributors of the Khud-daar song: Oonche neeche raaste aur manzil teri door.

Red Tapism In Film Imports

The CBFC seems to be loving the prospect of duplication of work. Or rather, let us put it this way: the I & B ministry would like the CBFC to do the same work twice over. Don’t believe it? Here’s how. When a private importer wants to import a foreign film into India, he has to first obtain an NOC (no objection certificate) from CBFC’s administrative officer for the import. The administrative officer relies upon the application of the prospective importer and a review of the film printed in any foreign magazine. Based on these, he forms an opinion about whether or not the film is suitable for import and, if convinced, he gives the NOC to the applicant! Why should the NOC at all be necessary is something which one doesn’t understand because, in any case, the film cannot be released anywhere in the country before it is censored by the CBFC. Even if that may be passed off as one of the bureaucratic idiosyncrasies, the fact remains that getting the NOC from the administrative officer is quite often a Herculean task — especially when he is on leave. It appears that the CBFC rarely, if ever, deputes anyone else in the officer’s place while he is on leave. In such cases, the importer ends up waiting agonisingly for the officer to return to his duty. In any case, why should the CBFC decide twice whether or not the film can be imported — first, without seeing the film, and again, after seeing it. Besides, it is not rare for the CBFC’s administrative officer to issue an NOC (thereby certifying that the film is appropriate for import) and later for the same CBFC to ban the said film (implying thereby that the imported films is inappropriate for screening in India). This is India!

‘Manikchand’? Naapasand!

Yet one more example of how difficult the censors can act. The regional officer of the CBFC, Bombay, Sanjeevani Kutty, objected to the display of the word ‘Manikchand’ in a song of Taal, censored recently. Since the censor guidelines mention that scenes tending to encourage, justify or glamorise consumption of tobacco or smoking should not be shown in a film, the regional officer (RO) ordered the word ‘Manikchand’ to be deleted as Manikchand are the manufacturers of pan masala. When producer-director Subhash Ghai tried to reason out that the words shown on screen were ‘Manikchand group’ and that the group manufactured many other things besides pan masala, the RO declined to accept the argument. Kutty’s argument was that although the words pan masala or gutkha were not used, the very mention of ‘Manikchand’ was tantamount to surrogate advertising. Ghai reminded Kutty that Doordarshan had aired a film awards function sponsored by Manikchand group, in which the banner of Manikchand group was shown, but that argument too was sidelined. Ultimately, ‘Manikchand Group’ had to be chopped off in the name of surrogate advertising. Ridiculous, did you say?!?

News From Overseas

Some heartening and some not-so-heartening news from across the border:

The music of Subhash Ghai’s Taal is creating ripples in the USA and the UK. It is the no. 1 selling audio cassette abroad today.

And now the bad news: The stage show in London on 31st July had to be stopped midway because of tension that erupted while Sonu Nigam was singing the Sandese aate hain song from Border. The show had Karisma Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon and others performing.

Hit Music Score

One music that’s bound to click in a big way is A.R. Rahman’s score in Jhamu Sughand and Deepa Mehta’s 1947 Earth. The Rut aa gayee re song, rendered by Sukhwinder Singh and chorus, will soon become a rage in the entire nation. It has a very earthy flavour and a tune that could make one simply swing to it. The other number that should be lapped up by the audience in a big way is the Banno song. This one has Sadhana Sargam lending her mellifluous voice alongwith chorus singers. It is another excellent number.

A Couple Of Hat-Tricks

With the National Award for his lyrics in Godmother (1998), Javed Akhtar has completed a hat-trick. For, this is his third consecutive National Award. He bagged one in 1996 for Saaz and the next year (1997) for Border. The only other person to have completed a similar hat-trick is Javed’s wife, Shabana Azmi. She picked up National Awards for the best actress in three consecutive years in the ‘eighties — for Arth in 1983, for Khandhar in 1984 and for Paar in 1985. What’s that they say about it all being in the family? And what’s that famous saying which goes: Behind every successful man, there’s a woman. Rephrased, it could read thus in this case: Before every successful man, there’s an equally successful woman.

Pitting ‘Pardes’ Against ‘Taal’

Subhash Ghai is angry with STAR TV. For, the channel was planning to do something that they were well within their legal rights to do but which appeared too unethical to be true. STAR, which holds the satellite rights of Ghai’s Pardes, planned to air the film on 14th August, a day after the release of Ghai’s new film, Taal. Obviously, the intention was to cash in on the publicity of Taal, besides, of course, the relevance of the film to the Independence Day (15th August). But in cashing in on the publicity of Subhash Ghai’s Taal, the channel would, perhaps, also be cutting into the revenues of the same film because a free Pardes on television could pose a formidable competition to a paid-for Taal. Which means, in effect, STAR TV would be using Ghai’s own film, acquired from nobody but Ghai himself, to possibly harm Ghai. The filmmaker registered his objection to the telecast date and one hears that STAR may take cognisance of the same and postpone the telecast by two weeks. Not just Ghai himself, even the Producers’ Forum, of which he is a member, lodged its protest with STAR TV.

Aish Hi Aish

After a prolonged dull phase initially, Aishwarya Rai has definitely found a ray of hope after the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Her performance in the film has earned her widespread recognition as an actress of calibre. Now, even Yash Chopra has cast her, opposite Shah Rukh Khan, in his soon-to-be-launched Mohabbatein. If Taal clicks, Aishwarya would consolidate her position further in the coming months. Apart from Mohabbatein, her other films on hand include Rajkumar Santoshi’s as-yet-untitled film, director Deepak Sareen’s Albela (opposite Govinda), Raj Kanwar’s Dhai Akshar Prem Ke (opposite Abhishek Bachchan), Mansoor Khan’s Josh and Boney Kapoor and Satish Kaushik’s next (opposite Anil Kapoor). Interestingly, at least three of the above films — Mohabbatein, Rajkumar Santoshi’s next and Josh — have Shah Rukh Khan as her co-star.

It sure looks like smooth sailing for Aishwarya Rai then. Or shall we say, it’s aish hi aish for Ash?!!

Himesh On A High Note

Music director Himesh Reshammiya is in news these days because both the songs composed by him for Hello Brother — Gheoon tak and Teri chunariya — are absolutely racy numbers being loved by people who’ve heard them. Although Himesh is not in favour of sharing the credit for music direction with anybody as he used to in the earlier stage of his career, he has made an exception in Sohail Khan’s Hello Brother in which he shares the credit with Sajid Wajid. “That’s because Sohail Khan gave me a break in Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya and so I will never say “no” to him even if that means one or more other music directors in the film, besides myself,” says a grateful Himesh. The other two prestigious films Himesh is scoring music for — and both these projects are solo — are Gordhan Tanwani’s untitled film being directed by David Dhawan and starring Salman Khan and Karisma Kapoor, and Pranlal Mehta’s Chalo Ishq Ladaye, being directed by Aziz Sejawal and with Govinda and Rani Mukerji in the lead. Another film to be launched shortly is Sohail Khan’s Aryan.

The Jinx Story

The Manisha Koirala – Khan jinx has now been fortified with the failure of Aamir Khan – Manisha starrer Mann. The previous examples, we repeat, have been Majhdhaar, Sangdil Sanam and Khamoshi (with Salman Khan), Guddu and Dil Se.. (with Shah Rukh Khan), and Akele Hum Akele Tum (Aamir Khan). As if to give an extension to this jinx story, a devil-mind has brought to our attention that Manisha was a jinx even for a film produced and directed by a Khan, the film being Feroz Khan’s Yalgaar! And one more point, which the devil-mind did not fail to point out, is that Manisha had formally released the music of Feroz Khan’s Prem Aggan which marked the debut of Fardeen Khan. Manisha had released the music cassette jointly with Sanjay Dutt. The fate of Prem Aggan at the box-office is too well-known to be mentioned here!

Why A Flop?

Heard this one at a filmland party.
“Why is Pyaar Koi Khel Nahin dubbed a flop?”
“Because film ke tickets ka koi sale nahin!”