SOORYAVANSHAM

Padmalaya Combines’ Sooryavansham is an unusual story about the relationship between a strict and rich father and his simpleton son whom he considers good for nothing. The son, however, loves his father and worships him. Now treated as a servant by everybody, he has a childhood girlfriend who studies in the city and whom he loves. But the girl spurns him because he is uneducated. Rather than let the girl win the wrath of his father, the son poses as if it is he who is not ready for the marriage. This infuriates the father even more. The girl, on her part, conveniently forgets the sacrifice the son has made for her. Enters another city-bred girl who falls in love with the simpleton. Although he considers himself much below her educated status, she coaxes him into agreeing to marry her. But his father orders him not to get married to the girl as he has assured the girl’s mother that the marriage would never take place. Rather than obey his father, the son revolts for the first time, and gets married to the girl. All hell breaks loose and the father throws the newly-weds out of his house after insulting them. The two start life from scratch but, by dint of hard work, earn name, fame and money. The wife becomes a Collector (after completing her IAS) and the husband, a business tycoon. Both of them, however, revere the father. A son born to them makes the grandfather soften his tough stand, by his cuteness and intelligence. Ultimately, the estranged father and son unite after years of separation.

Remake of the Tamil blockbuster of the same name, the film abounds in emotional scenes between father and son, some of which draw tears from the eyes. The unusual plot (story by Vikraman) unfolds on the screen, keeping audience interest alive, although the pace is slow at times. Comedy, at regular intervals, breaks the monotony of a tension-ridden drama. The first half is really wonderful. After interval, the screenplay takes recourse to clichéd situations at a few places. Aadesh K. Arjun’s dialogues are extraordinary and greatly enhance the impact of the drama. The build-up of the drama deserves special mention. Also deserving special mention are some scenes like the face-to-face meeting between the father-in-law and daughter-in-law (tear-jerker), the speech made by the son about his strict father, at the opening ceremony of the hospital (very emotional), the scene in which the father throws his son and daughter-in-law out of his house (truly dramatic), and the entire climax.

On the negative side is the double role of Amitabh Bachchan. In the role of the son, he looks too elderly. Several of the other important characters in the film are, curiously enough, South Indian film artistes, thereby giving the film a South Indian flavour. Music lacks a hit number — and that is a big minus point. Further, the title, too, has a South colour.

Although Amitabh looks too old for the son’s role, his performance is simply mesmerising. Both, as the father and the son, Bachchan acts with a rare maturity and delivers performances that are undoubtedly worthy of awards. His brilliant acting in the film will be discussed for a long time to come. His get-up and costumes in the father’s role are splendid. In summary, Amitabh Bachchan is just too good to be true. Soundarya may lack glamour and oomph but she, too, does a remarkable job. Not once do Amitabh and Soundarya go overboard. Jaya Sudha, too, is restrained as the wife of the older Bachchan. The voice of both the heroines have been excellently dubbed by Rekha. Anupam Kher is lovable as Amitabh’s confidant. He is superb in light scenes. Kader Khan is also terrific. Shivaji Satam is natural to the core. Bindu does an able job. Mukesh Rishi performs well. Rachna Banerjee, as Amitabh’s first girlfriend, is okay. Master Anand Vardhan is cool and confident.

E.V.V. Satyanarayana’s direction is fantastic but it must be said here that the treatment would be appreciated more by the class audience. Nevertheless, the director has added a lot of gloss and has treated the subject with freshness. Music should have been far better. ‘Dil mere’ is the best song but its repetition in the first half is a bit jarring. Song picturisations match the film’s mood. Action scenes are okay. Camerawork (Gopal Reddy) is breathtaking. Production values are very good. Technically, of a high order.

On the whole, Sooryavansham may have taken a slow start but it definitely has the merits (emotions, novelty, dialogues and extraordinary performances) to pick up by word of mouth and, thereafter, prove profitable.

Released on 21-5-’99 at Liberty and 19 other cinemas of Bombay thru Ethnic Enterprises. Publicity: below the mark. Opening: average. …….Also released all over except in East Punjab. Opening was dull at most of the places.

RAJAJI

Shivam Chitrya (Bombay)’s Rajaji is the story of a youth from a village, who shirks work and is so lazy that he decides to con the daughter of some rich business tycoon into marrying him. He succeeds in doing so but realises on the day of his marriage that the girl is not the daughter of a business tycoon but rather of the tycoon’s gardener! The young man’s frustration at being ‘conned’ gets the better of him and he confesses his evil designs but, in the same breath, blames his wife and father-in-law for having ‘fooled’ him into marriage. He also walks out on his wife, only to repent later. But while he is away, his father-in-law has become a multi-millionaire by winning a lottery. So, when he returns to make amends for his mistake, his pleas to win back his wife are interpreted as manifestation of his greed and designs to usurp the father-in-law’s wealth. He then decides to himself work hard and earn a lot of money. His wife has a change of heart and ultimately the two of them unite.

The first half has some entertaining moments, a couple of which are even hilarious. But the screenplay goes haywire after interval. The scene in which the hero gets drunk and confesses his designs (to hook a rich girl) is not just poor but also gramatically wrong. For one, he tries to justify his act by saying that many youngsters do similar things. How a wrong action can be sought to be made to look correct simply because a lot of people do the same wrong is not explained. Secondly, the hero blaming his wife for dressing up like a rich girl although she is poor (which, according to him, led him to think that she is rich), is simply ridiculous. Thirdly. the hero’s childhood friend, who exposes him at the start of the scene, has himself hooked a rich businessman’s ugly daughter; therefore, the friend’s outburst looks fake. The writer has tried to justify the scenes by making the hero talk out his frustration under the influence of liquor but that hardly justifies it. This whole scene is very important in the film, but, unfortunately, it drops the character of the hero so low that it becomes one which is almost beyond redemption. This is the film’s weakest point. Even otherwise, the second half takes recourse to clichéd situations. Climax is poor. Dialogues (Kader Khan) are fair.

Govinda does pretty well as usual, but he should guard against getting repetitive now. Raveena Tandon is fairly good. Satish Kaushik entertains at places. But Govinda and Satish Kaushik’s comedy is also too loud at places. Aroona Irani does an able job. Kader Khan is good. Shakti Kapoor has precious little scope. Mohan Joshi is average. Divya Dutta passes muster. Ranjeet fills the bill and so does Shagufta Ali. Dinesh Hingoo lends able support. Mushtaq Khan, Razzak Khan and Bobby Saini are so-so.

Director Vimal Kumar has not been able to continue the mirth of the first half, in the second half. The script (Satish Jain), covering the real drama, is quite shoddy and the director has not been able to salvage the film when the drama goes out of hand. Music (Anand Milind) is quite good. ‘Sunday ki raat thi’, ‘Tere pyar ne’, ‘Baj gaya tabla’ and ‘Saasuji tharo lalla’ are quite well-tuned. Picturisation of ‘Tere pyar ne’ is eye-filling. Camerawork is alright. Action scenes are okay. Production values are fair. Technically, okay.

On the whole, Rajaji suffers on account of a weak script and faulty characterisation of the hero. It cannot hope to fetch returns for its distributors. However, it may do somewhat better in Bombay and Maharashtra, where comedies are preferred.

Released on 21-5-’99 at Alankar and 21 other cinemas of Bombay thru ABC Pictures P. Ltd. Publicity: good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark at several places.

LATEST POSITION

The dull opening of SOORYAVANSHAM may not have shocked the trade, but it has definitely shaken the industry confidence.

…………

Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet is doing very well except in Bombay city and Delhi city. It is extraordinary in Bihar where it is expected to do a business of over 1 crore. It is also very strong in U.P., Gujarat, C.P.C.I. Rajasthan and Nizam. 2nd week Bombay 19,01,333 (51%) from 9 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,15,151 from 4 cinemas, 1st week Padra 1,32,053, Valsad 2,55,236, 2nd week Vapi 2,16,910, total 6,71,006, Rajkot 1,75,053 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 98,756; Kolhapur 1,43,494, Solapur 1,22,557; Delhi 12,82,674 from 6 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,66,614 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,71,124, Agra 2,26,212 (1st 2,86,710), Varanasi 2,04,417, Allahabad 80,962, Bareilly 1,24,083 (40.94%), Dehradun 1,10,000, Muzaffarnagar 82,000; Calcutta 10,90,765 from 13 cinemas; Nagpur 3,77,730 from 4 cinemas, Amravati 1,99,553, Akola 1,35,101, total 2,72,720, Raipur 2,07,012, Bhilai 1,56,058, total 3,32,062, Jalgaon 1,34,258; Jaipur 2,47,615, Bikaner 1,41,516; Hyderabad (gross) 6,07,767 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon, 1 on F.H.).

Kartoos 2nd week Bombay 22,09,980 (41.35%) from 12 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,10,660 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Vapi 2,47,313, Rajkot 82,450 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar (matinee) 19,051; Kolhapur 1,32,171, Solapur 1,25,302 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 13,84,099 from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,83,214 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,80,345, Bareilly 65,920 (29.48%), Dehradun 1,01,003 (1st 2,18,000), Muzaffarnagar 60,000; Calcutta 3,94,389 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 1,64,925 from 2 cinemas, Amravati (6 days) 75,714, Akola 89,025, total 2,86,416, Raipur (6 days) 51,186, Bhilai (6 days) 29,842, Jalgaon (6 days) 51,930, 1st week Chandrapur 1,76,304; 2nd week Indore 69,856, Bhopal (6 days) 1,27,852 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 2,33,983, Jodhpur 1,75,000; Hyderabad (gross) 9,88,357 from 9 cinemas (2 in noon, 1 on F.H.); Vijayawada 2 weeks’ total (gross) 4,01,158.

Sarfarosh is class A1 in Bombay. It is also strong in C.P. Berar (Maharashtra belt), Rajasthan and Nizam in spite of World Cup cricket matches. 3rd week Bombay 42,49,186 (84.93%) from 12 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,79,518 from 3 cinemas, Rajkot 1,04,176; Kolhapur 1,62,029, Solapur 1,65,128, 1st week Barsi 56,301; 3rd week Delhi 18,35,005 from 6 cinemas; Kanpur 2,70,775 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,07,153, Agra 1,82,318, Varanasi 1,79,857, Bareilly 60,269 (21.24%), Dehradun 1,64,153 (2nd 1,80,000), total 6,09,701, Muzaffarnagar 50,000; Calcutta 9,42,543 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 2,72,625 from 2 cinemas, Amravati 1,57,276, Akola 81,773, total 3,63,586, Raipur 70,518, Bhilai 75,632, 1st week Durg (6 days) 67,547, 3rd Jalgaon 95,225, 2nd week Wardha (6 days) 55,976; 3rd week Indore 1,86,160 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 6,28,458, Bikaner 1,35,946; Hyderabad (gross) 11,89,345 from 5 cinemas; Vijayawada (gross) 2,53,009.

Dada Ne Wahalee Dikri (Gujarati, TF) is growing day by day. It is poised for a long and meritorious run in Gujarat and Saurashtra. 4th week Ahmedabad 3,97,854 from 3 cinemas, Baroda 57,675, Rajkot 1,15,000. 14 prints are running in Gujarat & Saurashtra.

LEGAL FRONT
NO RELIEF FOR PRITAM JALAN IN ‘SOORYAVANSHAM’ CASE

West Bengal distributor Pritam Jalan failed to get any relief from the court in the matter of distribution of Sooryavansham in West Bengal. Jalan had been appointed by Padmalaya Combines to exploit the film on its behalf in West Bengal territory. Thereafter, Padmalaya sold the film’s distribution rights to Vijay Khemka. In the meantime, Jalan had booked the film at some cinemas and he moved the court to restrain Padmalaya from granting the distribution rights to anybody other than himself.

The court, while rejecting Jalan’s plea, instructed Padmalaya to ensure that the commitments of Pritam Jalan to the cinemas in which the film was booked by him, were honoured.

‘DAAG THE FIRE’ 100 DAYS’ FUNCTION AT UDAY, AKOLA

Deepak Joshi and Narendra Joshi of Narendra Films, Amravati, the distributors of Daag The Fire for C.P. Berar, announced bonus for the staff of Uday Talkies, Akola, where the film completed 100 days on 21st May. The celebration function was held on 21st at the cinema. The entire Akola film trade was present at the function. From Amravati, Sharang Chandak, Lokendra Jain, Arjun Bhateja and Gopal Rathi attended.

Priya Rajurkar and Sangram Rajurkar, proprietors of Uday Talkies, and Arun Bopshetty, manager, welcomed the guests. The function was followed by a pooja and lunch.

The film is completing 100 days all over the country today (22nd May).

Tanwani’s Praiseworthy Gesture

It sounds unbelievable. But it is true. Producer Gordhan Tanwani has, of his own accord, converted his MG royalty agreements of Ishq with most of his distributors, into those for outright sale. This means, large-hearted Tanwani has, with one stroke of his pen (he has dashed off letters to his distributors, to break the good news), decided to forgo all overflow that may accrue to him in the months and years to come. The agreements with his distributors are valid till 28th November, 2002. The outright status, as per his letters, comes into effect from 1st April, 1999.

Something which could easily pass off as an April fool joke for the simple reason that no producer has the guts to show such largesse, has come as a happy reality for the distributors of Ishq. In his letter, Tanwani has thanked his distributors for having stood by him and for having exploited his film to the best of their ability. He has also acknowledged their having given him overflow as well as having increased their MG royalty after the film was pronounced a hit. It may be recalled that Gordhan Tanwani, in a rare gesture, had, at the time of release of his film, asked his distributors to increase their MG royalties only if it succeeded at the box-office. When it did, his distributors unhesitatingly paid the balance MG royalties. They appreciated his concern for his distributors, which made him ask for the enhanced MG royalty only in the event of the film hitting the bull’s eye. According to Tanwani, the enhanced MG price was arrived at to cover his cost of production which was phenomenal. 

The producer’s concern for his distributors at the time of the film’s release has now given way to a rewarding gesture towards them. Tanwani has requested them not to henceforth send him any overflow and also to desist from sending him the business statements of the film, as the film was now theirs and only theirs, till 28th November, 2002. Why, Nizam distributor Ravi Machhar’s cheque for overflow for the month of April, sent to Tanwani before the letter reached Machhar, was forthwith returned by Tanwani’s office to Machhar, with thanks.

In these times of ever-growing greed of producers, the gesture of Gordhan Tanwani has come as a very pleasant surprise. A heroic act that deserves the highest praise.

Aditya Chopra Teams Amitabh, Shah Rukh In Yash Chopra’s ‘Mohabbatein’: Uday Chopra To Make Debut

Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan will come together for the first time in Yash Chopra’s Mohabbatein, to be written and directed by Aditya Chopra. Uday, younger son of Yash Chopra, will make his acting debut with this film in which he, too, will play a leading role. Two more young boys and three young heroines, besides the other cast, are being finalised. Jatin Lalit have been signed to score the music. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi. Cinematographer: Manmohan Singh. Art: Sharmishta Roy.

The film will be launched with song recordings in June.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Shool’ Complete

With the completion of the last 15-day shooting schedule last week, the entire shooting of Dream Merchants’ Shool is now complete. Starring Raveena Tandon, Manoj Bajpayee, Sayaji Shinde, Vallabh Vyas, Ganesh Yadav, baby Aavi, Virendra Saxena and others, the film is jointly produced by Nitin Manmohan and Ramgopal Varma and directed by E. Niwas. Music is scored by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Lyrics: Sameer. Writer: Anurag Kashyap. Editing: Bhanodaya. Background music: Sandeep Chowta. Cinematography: Hari Nair.

‘Bichhoo’ Shot For 11 Days

Guddu Dhanoa’s Bichhoo, presented by Narinder Dhanoa, was shot in its second schedule from May 9 to 19 at Kamal Amrohi Studios, Gorai island and on various locales of Bombay. Bobby Deol participated along with Farida Jalal, Mohan Joshi and junior artistes. The film, being made under the banner of Bhagwan Chitra Mandir, co-stars Rani Mukerji and Raj Babbar. Music is by Anand Raaj Anand, and lyrics, by Sameer. Veena Sood is the executive producer.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Double-Role Voice

Is Amitabh Bachchan the only one playing a double role in Sooryavansham? No! Rekha, too, plays a dual role. Rekha?!? Well, it’s actually Rekha’s voice ‘playing’ a double role. For, the actress has dubbed for both the heroines of the film, viz. Soundarya and Jaya Sudha. On whose request did Rekha agree to dub for the two heroines? Your guess is as good as ours. But it must be added here that Rekha has done a fantastic job of the dubbing.

Incidentally, Sarath Kumar had played a double role (of father and son) in the Tamil original version, also titled Sooryavansham. Sarath Kumar was passing through the worst crisis of his career when Sooryavansham was released, having given 14 flops in a row, and Sooryavansham changed all that when it turned out to be one of the biggest hits of Tamil cinema! In the Telugu remake (again titled Sooryavansham), it was Venkatesh who was cast in the double roles of father and son. In fact, insiders say that Vikraman, who was to have directed the Hindi remake also (he had directed the Tamil and Telugu versions), backed out after shooting for a few days, because he was unhappy about Amitabh’s double role in the film.

Distributor’s Dilemma

There are problems when a film doesn’t do well and there are problems when it does very well — as Bombay distributor Balkrishna Shroff (Shringar Films) is realising. The concern’s Sarfarosh is presently doing so well in Bombay that Shringar is experiencing a lot of trouble finding suitable cinemas for its other big film, Biwi No. 1, which releases next week. At Cinemax, Goregaon, Bombay, the latter was booked from 28th May onwards, and its publicity was also put up in time at the cinema. However, the excellent run of Sarfarosh there posed a serious dilemma for the distributor and quite understandably so. After all, it makes no business sense to take off a film which is doing terrific business at a cinema and replace it with another. Fortunately for Shringar Films, it also controls the cinema and so was able to shift Biwi No. 1 to New Era, Malad. However, the case is quite different at other cinemas outside Shringar’s control. Whether they will succeed in solving their dilemma remains to be seen.

Hogi Pair Ki Jeet

Producer Anil Sharma must be one hell of a patient man, going by the number of changes that have been made in the star cast of his recently released Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet. When the film was launched, the two lead pairs were Ajay Devgan – Mamta Kulkarni and Ayub Khan – Ayesha Julka. However, that had to change when Mamta’s refusal to attend the shooting schedules led to her being replaced by Shipla Shetty in the film. The film had been shot in 8 reels with Ajay, Ayub and Ayesha in the meantime. But even this star cast had to change when Neha was added to the cast in Shilpa Shetty’s place, and the Ayub-Ayesha pair was replaced by Arshad Warsi and Mayuri Kango. Thus the final casting was arrived at. However, there cropped up one small problem. Renuka Shahane, who was then playing Ajay and Ayub’s bua (paternal aunt) in the film, suddenly decided that she looks too young to play Arshad’s bua! She was promptly replaced by Ketki Dave and only then, things fell into place.

‘Taal’: Music Of The Saal?

Now some news on the music front. Subhash Ghai’s Taal is easily one of the most awaited musical albums currently. If the three songs from the album, that Information has heard, are anything to go by, the film’s music score may well go on to be the ‘music of 1999’. The combination of A.R. Rahman’s masterful compositions, Anand Bakshi’s simple yet rich and meaningful lyrics, and Ghai’s musical genius are bound to create a magic that may last for a long time. In fact, it is a measure of the supreme confidence of Tips in the film’s music that it has decided to release a hitherto unheard of 15 lakh cassettes in the first lot itself! Well, it looks like record-breaking times are here — at least, musically speaking!

PHOOL AUR AAG

P.K. Arts Creations’ Phool Aur Aag is about misunderstandings and how they are cleared at the drop of a hat! It is the story of two villages. A kind-hearted landlord (Mithun Chakraborty) is revered like God in his village. Once, he visits the other village and gets beaten up there by the villagers because of a misunderstanding. The hero of the second village is a young and tough guy (Jackie Shroff). After the incident, Jackie realises the mistake on the part of his villagers and he goes to Mithun’s village to apologise to him. Even while he is doing so, Mithun’s villagers run riot in Jackie’s village to avenge the wrong done to their ‘God’. This infuriates Jackie who assumes that the havoc in his village has been wreaked at Mithun’s behest. In the riotous revenge drama, Jackie’s parents and some others are killed. Then starts Jackie’s revenge. He creates circumstances which force Mithun to marry a girl from Jackie’s village. The marriage is an eyewash as the girl has been planted to kill Mithun. She, however, has a change of heart. Ultimately, Jackie too realises the innocence and goodness of Mithun. And all ends well.

The film tries to over-dramatise everything, with the result that the whole drama looks unbelievable. What is worse is that characters have a change of heart one after another just because of a dialogue or two. Screenplay is poor. Dialogues (Anirudh Tiwari) are good. Emotions touch the heart only at a couple of places, the rest falling flat.

Mithun Chakraborty does quite well. Jackie Shroff has also performed ably although he does suffer because of a weak characterisation. Archana is just about fair. Dalip Tahhil is appealing. Mohan Joshi is okay in a comic-villainous role. Shiva is average. Aroona Irani does a fine job. Ayesha Julka and Harish appear in a song dance only. Rakesh Bedi is alright. Avtar Gill, Kishore Bhanushali, Adi Irani, Pramod Moutho, Shyam Solanki and the rest pass muster.

T.L.V. Prasad’s direction is mechanical and no better than his script. Music is a letdown. Song picturisations are dull. A few action scenes (like the lathi fight and the climax fight) are exciting. Photography and other technical and production values are so-so.

On the whole, Phool Aur Aag is a sub-standard fare, with bleak chances at the box-office.

Released on 14-5-’99 at Shalimar and 11 other cinemas of Bombay thru K.K. Enterprises. Publicity: fair. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over.

LATEST POSITION

World Cup cricket is here. As cricket fans enjoy the bowling and batting, the box-office may take a beating.

Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet, as predicted last week, is good in U.P., C.P. and C.I. It is also fair in Bihar, Rajasthan and Nizam, but is below the mark in Gujarat, Delhi, East Punjab and West Bengal. 1st week Bombay 42,86,995 (66.32%) from 13 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 5,95,183 from 4 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot 1,99,639 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,38,512; Pune 5,20,195 from 2 cinemas, Solapur 2,31,362 from 2 cinemas; Delhi 25,90,863 (55.92%) from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,97,563 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,98,206, Agra 2,06,710, Varanasi 2,18,288, Allahabad 1,93,000, Meerut 2,48,620, Bareilly 1,69,232 (55.84%), Dehradun 1,50,000; Calcutta 20,25,273 from 21 cinemas; Nagpur 4,66,014 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,78,033, Akola 1,37,619, Raipur 2,14,231, Jalgaon 1,63,907, Chandrapur 1,64,337, Yavatmal 80,589; Bhopal 1,12,752 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 6,32,192 from 3 cinemas, Bikaner (6 days) 1,89,651; Hyderabad (gross) 26,24,528 from 12 cinemas (2 in noon).

Kartoos dropped after the first day at places, and after 3 days at other places. It has, however, fetched reasonable shares from several places. Is not up to the mark in Gujarat, Delhi, West Bengal and Bihar. 1st week Bombay 47,34,743 (82.64%) from 14 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 8,17,262 from 6 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot 2,14,487 from 2 cinemas, Jamnagar (matinee) 37,278, Bhuj 89,722; Pune 11,31,263 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 3,54,499 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 39,65,059 (60.65%) from 12 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,78,986 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,01,174, Varanasi 2,52,863, Allahabad 2,17,517, Meerut 2,27,052, Bareilly 1,61,576 (72.27%), Dehradun 2,18,000 (76.79%); Rohtak 37,312; Calcutta 16,34,883 from 13 cinemas; Nagpur 6,08,929 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,75,371, Akola 2,00,391, Raipur (6 days) 1,38,187, Durg 91,161, Jalgaon 1,28,385; Indore 1,78,000 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal (6 days) 3,02,381 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 8,00,861 from 4 cinemas, Jodhpur 4,08,000; Hyderabad (gross) 30,12,076 from 12 cinemas (1 unrecd., 1 in noon); Vijayawada 2,16,000.

Avaidh Sambandh (dubbed) 1 week Bombay 38,403 (25.88%); 1 week Jaipur 1,14,537.

Sarfarosh is extraordinary in Bombay and Maharashtra. It is steady in some ‘A’ class centres of other circuits, but drops quite a lot in other centres. 2nd week Bombay 44,32,299 (88.74%) from 12 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,66,309 from 3 cinemas, Rajkot 1,31,398, Jamnagar 76,000 (1 in matinee unrecd.); Pune 12,26,236 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,90,000, Solapur 1,98,541; Delhi 27,76,252 from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,17,506 from 2 cinemas; Lucknow 3,76,363, Agra 2,56,318, Varanasi 2,05,092, Allahabad 1,60,000, Bareilly 80,001 (28.20%), Dehradun 1,80,000; Rohtak 8,000; Calcutta 12,37,630 from 8 cinemas; Nagpur 3,90,992 from 2 cinemas, Akola 1,09,837, total 2,81,812, Dhule (6 days) 78,969, Raipur 88,134, total 2,71,629, Jalgaon 1,19,319, 1st week Wardha (6 days) 96,280, 2nd week Chandrapur 1,14,735, Yavatmal 33,185 (1st 1,43,771); Indore 2,15,272 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 7,57,592 from 2 cinemas, Bikaner (5 days) 1,20,056; Hyderabad (gross) 4,96,989, full.

ARCHANA JOGLEKAR WEDS

Actress Archana Joglekar got married to Dr. Nirmal Mulye on 30th April in Bombay. She will continue acting in films.

SC ASKS FOR PROGRESS REPORTS ON ‘FIRE’ CASE

The Supreme Court on 13th May asked the Union and Maharashtra state governments to file progress reports, within six weeks, on cases relating to violence which followed the screening of Deepa Mehta’s controversial film, Fire. Following the claim of the counsel for the victims that the state government was trying to cover up the case, the court ordered the governments to file copies of the FIR, chargesheets and other relevant documents. According to the counsel, out of the 400 people involved in arson in Bombay, only 25 had been arrested; and chargesheets were not filed in the court.

It may be recalled that the screening of Fire was followed by violence outside cinemas in Bombay and Delhi by a section of people, and several demonstrations were held by those objecting to the scenes of lesbianism depicted in the film. Among the people who suffered their wrath was thespian Dilip Kumar who, together with Mahesh Bhatt and others, petitioned the apex court for protection and the screening of the film without fear.

MULTIPLEX OPENS IN GANDHINAGAR

A three-screen multiplex, City Pulse, opened in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) on 7th May with the releases of KARTOOS and HOGI PYAR KI JEET. The third cinema will open shortly. Each of the three screens at the multiplex boasts of Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS), Dolby Digital DTS and Sony Stereo sound systems. Spread over 1,25,000 sq. ft. of land, the multiplex also houses a restaurant and an amphitheatre, apart from the cinema halls. Gaming halls, restaurants, an art gallery and a video games parlour will be added to the multiplex in its next phase.

YOU ASKED IT

What will be the next film from the R.K. banner?

– Rishi Kapoor is hearing a lot of stories but has not finalised any so far.

Why does our industry give so much importance to the luck factor?

– Because film business is speculative in nature. Speculation and luck, superstition etc. go hand-in-hand.

What gives the maximum joy and the maximum relief to a producer or director?

– Maximum joy comes when a producer’s/director’s film hits the bull’s eye. Relief comes when another’s film bombs. This is because the producer/director, whose film is due for release, starts comparing his film with the bombed film.

CENSOR NEWS

Puja Films’ Biwi No. 1 was given C.C. No. CIL/2/10/99 (UA) dt. 14-5-’99; length 4052.63 metres in 16 reels (cuts: 4.44 metres).

Padmalaya Combines’ Sooryavansham was given C.C. (in Hyderabad) No. CIL/28/34/99 (U) dt. 7-5-’99; length 5115.34 metres in 16 reels (cuts: 12.59 metres).

Shivam Chitrya’s (Bombay) Rajaji will be issued certificate on 17th.

IMPORTED FILMS

Warner Brothers’ The Matrix was given C.C. No. CFL/3/38/99 (A) dt. 10-5-’99; length 3735.07 metres in 7 reels (no cut).

20th Century Fox’s A Life Less Ordinary was given C.C. No. CFL/3/39/99 (A) dt. 14-5-’99; length 2842.25 metres in 12 reels (no cut).

Columbia Tristar Films’ Parent Trap was given C.C. No. CFL/1/8/99 (U) dt. 7-5-’99; length 3513.15 metres in 8 reels (cuts: 23.77 metres).

Aditya International’s Night Of The Scare Crow was seen on 14th.

Warner Brothers’ Analyze This, applied on 10th, was seen on 14th.

Indo Overseas Films’ Once Upon A Time In China & America was applied on 10th.

Paramount Films’ ED IV was applied on 13th.

20th Century Fox’s Bulworth was applied on 13th.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Brothers In Arms

Ever since brothers and C.P. Berar distributors Harikishan Laddha and Jaikishan Laddha parted ways about seven years ago, there hasn’t ever been a case when both have released new films on the same day. Until now, that is. For, the brothers are poised to release two big films simultaneously on 21st May. While elder brother Harikishan’s Laddha Bros. Films P. Ltd. is releasing Sooryavansham on that day, Jaikishan’s Jai Pictures will come out with Rajaji. Thus the two films will not only pit bade miyan against chhote miyan but also have the dubious distinction of pitting bade bhaiyya against chhote bhaiyya!

Gaana Aur ‘Sona’

As the Sona sona number of Biwi No. 1 is scaling up the popularity charts, our attention is drawn to the fact that almost every song, which has had the word sona in its mukhda, has been a hit in the past. Take for instance, O mere sona re (Teesri Manzil), Sona lai jaa re (Mera Gaon Mera Desh), Na maangoo sona chaandi (Bobby), Sona kitna sona hai (Hero No. 1), Sona sona, tera sundar roop salona (Hindustani), Sona sona (Major Saab) and scores of others. Each of these songs has been loved by the public and has, to some extent, added to the favourable fate these films have had at the box-office. Is this some sort of an indication for success? We hope not. Otherwise, our industry people, being the way they are, will soon start putting at least one Sona song in every film! That would be too bad, wouldn’t it?

Going Overboard

Even though the release of Biwi No. 1 (on 28th May) was still three weeks away, its publicity-savvy producer, Vashu Bhagnani, had already begun putting up the film’s posters and other publicity materials at Bombay’s cinemas (Metro, Chandan, Cinemax and others) since last week. This, in itself, may not be a wrong thing to do, but when a due-for-release film’s publicity overshadows that of a film currently showing at the cinema, then one is simply making tongues wag in the trade — even though unintentionally. The publicity of Biwi No. 1 at Metro has been so extensive that it appears as if the film has already released there! Apart from a stall selling Biwi No. 1 merchandise, the theatre sports a huge 60′ x 20′ hoarding and several other posters of the film. Luckily, at present, a repeat-run film is being shown there and so the publicity of Biwi No. 1 doesn’t really ‘harm’ anyone. However, the situation at Chandan cinema, Juhu (Bombay), which is currently showing Anari No. 1 and where Sooryavansham is due next week, is quite the opposite. Vashu’s extensive publicity for his film at this cinema has invited jocular remarks from the makers/distributors of the abovementioned two films who wonder whether it is their film/s which is/are running at the cinema or Biwi No.1.

Guest Director

Not many may be aware that a song was recently added in Sooryavansham. This song was picturised not by the film’s director, E.V.V. Satyanarayana, but by Gurudev Bhalla. Amitabh Bachchan was reportedly impressed by Gurudev’s work in a couple of music videos and it was Bachchan who asked Gurudev to picturise the last song of Sooryavansham. Gurudev did so three weeks back in Hyderabad. The song features Bachchan and Soundarya. Gurudev, incidentally, is the director of Xavier Marquis’ Samna.

LATEST POSITION

Bank and national holidays last week proved bountiful for the box-office.

Sarfarosh has done extraordinary in Bombay and Maharashtra. It is good in several other ‘A’ class centres, but collections started to drop at some places towards the end of the first week. 1st week Bombay 58,97,303 (93%) from 13 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Rajkot 1,67,292, Jamnagar 1,21,910, Adipur 1,13,698 (77%); Pune 15,79,591 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 2,56,414, Solapur 2,22,178 (100%); Delhi (6 days) 46,34,526 (75.57%) from 11 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 4,32,322, Kanpur 4,88,836 from 2 cinemas, Agra 4,35,635, Varanasi 2,62,788, Allahabad 1,93,525, Bareilly 1,99,402 (70.29%), Dehradun 2,69,500, Muzaffarnagar 1,35,000; Calcutta 23,67,220 from 14 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Nagpur 8,45,193 from 4 cinemas, Amravati 1,81,783, Raipur 1,83,503, Jalgaon 1,78,605; Indore 3,26,000 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 2,57,792 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 13,51,027 from 5 cinemas, Bikaner (gross) 2,90,565; Hyderabad (gross) 30,86,350 from 13 cinemas.

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King Kong (dubbed) did poor in 1st week in Bombay; Raipur (6 days) 25,600.

Jai Hind 2nd week Bombay (TF) 4,29,089 (40.10%) from 2 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Pune (TF) 50,435, Solapur (TF) 72,810; Delhi (6 days) 89,849; Kanpur (TF) 1,06,268, Lucknow (TF) 77,073, Agra (TF) 73,215, Varanasi (TF) 1,02,189, Allahabad (TF) 78,088; Calcutta 78,000; Nagpur (TF) 56,099 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (TF) 25,823, total 66,996, Raipur (TF) 28,346, 1st week Bilaspur (TF) 35,601; 2nd week Indore (TF; 6 days) 43,329 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal (TF) 40,000; Jaipur (TF) 1,36,717, Jodhpur (TF) 1,50,000, 1st week Bikaner (TF) 78,820.

Silsila Hai Pyar Ka 3rd week Bombay 10,23,071 (39.65%) from 6 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Pune 2,88,803 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 27,260; Delhi (6 days) 4,60,243 from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 56,597 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 95,823, Agra 45,852, Varanasi 39,603, Allahabad 22,218; Calcutta 3,13,510 from 3 cinemas; Jabalpur 57,825, total 2,14,969, Raipur 42,620, Bhilai 34,050; Bhopal 38,748; Jaipur 61,120.

Anari No. 1 4th week Bombay 18,08,669 (51.32%) from 9 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Pune 5,18,115 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 75,065, Solapur 1,03,836; Delhi (6 days) 5,31,076 from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur (6 days) 1,72,368 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,20,093, Agra 39,152, Allahabad 40,075, Dehradun 68,251 (3rd 84,162), Muzaffarnagar 32,000; Calcutta 1,59,319; Nagpur 1,07,320 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,25,653, Raipur (6 days) 68,360, Bhilai 35,400, 3rd week Durg 36,766, Jalgaon 1,01,380, 4th week Bilaspur 60,533; Indore 81,364, Bhopal 1,00,000; Jaipur 2,13,245 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 3,76,326 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

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‘SOLDIER’ SILVER JUBILEE

Tips Films’ Soldier entered 25th combined (silver jubilee) week on 7th May at Dreamland (matinee), Bombay and other centres of India. It is directed by Abbas Mustan and stars Bobby Deol and Preity Zinta. Music: Anu Malik.

‘HUM AAPKE DIL MEIN…’ CELEBRATES 100 DAYS

Producer D. Rama Naidu’s Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain completed 100 days on 1st May at Novelty Cinema, Bombay and other centres of India. Satish Kaushik has directed the film starring Anil Kapoor and Kajol. Music: Anu Malik.

DEEP JAIN’S DAUGHTER WEDS

Marriage of Kavita, daughter of Deep Jain of Film Jagat Enterprises, Delhi, with Manish was solemnised on 5th May in New Delhi at Hotel Park Royal. The wedding was a lavish and well-attended affair.

GIGANTIC MOVIE WORLD COMING UP IN AHMEDABAD

A new cineplex, consisting of three cinema screens, will open next year on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city. Spread over an area of 4,30,400 sq. ft., Movie World will also feature other leisure and entertainment activities apart from cinemas. The cinema complex is being designed by architect Hasmukh C. Patel who has bagged a lifetime achievement award at the hands of the president of India. The complex is owned by Rajshri group of companies, whose other holdings include Rajshri (erstwhile Ajay cinema), Bhavnagar, Dharam cinema, Rajkot, Pradeep cinema, Junagadh, and Shalimar and Rajshri cinemas in Gandhinagar.

The multiplex will house, among other things, bowling alleys, food parlours, outdoor games, miniature golf courses etc. The multiplex-cum-entertainment park will be made on the lines of Universal Studios in the USA.

NAZIA HASAN IN COMA

Nazia Hasan, the Pakistani singer who shot to fame with the ‘Aap jaisa koi’ song of Feroz Khan’s Qurbani, is battling for life at a London hospital. She slipped into coma on 30th April. Nazia, who is in her late 30s, has been suffering from blood cancer since the last couple of years.

Tolanis Gear Up For Prestigious Release

No distributor can, perhaps, claim to have acquired as many big films as the Tolanis have for C.I. After firmly establishing Sapna and Sangeeta as two leading cinemas of Indore, Arjundas Tolani and his two sons, Sanjay and Rajiv, have now acquired a line of biggies for distribution in C.I. The first to be released from among their acquisitions will be Vashu Bhagnani’s Biwi No. 1. The line-up includes such films as Arjun Pandit, Chal Mere Bhai, Hadh Kar Di Aapne, Aankh Micholi and Bichhoo.

The Tolanis plan to release Biwi No. 1 with a record number of 21 prints. They have finalised a number of cinemas already at competitive terms and the response to the film in exhibition circles is “fantastic”, according to their manager, O.P. Goyal. The Tolanis have commenced the film’s publicity in their circuit in right earnest. The designer posters are said to be attracting a lot of public attention.

Sanjay Tolani told Information, “Besides starting distribution in a big way, we will also be upgrading Sapna and Sangeeta cinemas soon. Tube-lifts will be installed at both the cinemas. They will also be equipped with air-conditioners shortly.” So lucky have Sapna and Sangeeta cinemas proven for the Tolanis that they’ve called their distribution office, Sapna Sangeeta Distributors.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Boney In Rama Naidu’s Shoes

It was all of a sudden that Boney Kapoor on 7th May launched a film with Satish Kaushik as director. Actually, the film, a remake of the Telugu hit, Pelli Cheskundama, was to be made by D. Rama Naidu. Then how did Boney come to launch it? The story goes like this. Rama Naidu had promised to acquire the Hindi remaking rights of another Telugu hit for Boney. But when Naidu did not succeed in bagging those rights, he gracefully gave up the rights of Pelli Cheskundama and asked Boney to remake the film instead of himself doing it. Of course, Boney jumped at the offer and launched the remake even before Rama Naidu would have! Story of one hero and two heroines, it is planned as a quickie by Boney. Boney and quickie? Yes, this time, the guy has even announced the release date — first week of April 2000! And Boney seems to be taking no chances. He consulted an astrologer who advised him not to leave his home for the film’s muhurt before 12.45 p.m. And so, the muhurt earlier fixed for 11 a.m. was ‘delayed’ by 2 hours. Incidentally, while Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai have already been finalised, the other heroine is to be finalised as yet. The role, according to Boney, is meaty. So who will be the lucky one?

Salman In Brief

Salman Khan stripped right down to his underwear during a dance routine at a stage show held in London on 3rd May. Salman performed the striptease amidst cheers from teenage girls in the audience while leaving older members quite aghast with his antic. It all happened when, in the course of dancing to a song, Salman threw off his jacket and then removed his trousers, too, to prance about the stage, clad only in his black brief and shoes. Amitabh Bachchan, Urmila Matondkar, Jaspinder Narula, Sunil Shetty and Tabu were among the other Bollywood personalities who attended the concert organised by Sony Entertainment Television and B4U.

Subsidy Amount Hiked

For the Marathi film industry, producer Satish Kulkarni’s contacts with ministers in the Maharashtra government have often proved useful. It was Kulkarni who had prevailed upon the government to increase the amount of subsidy payable by the state government to Marathi film producers from Rs. 12 to Rs. 15 lakh a couple of years ago. And this, in a purely personal capacity. Once again, Satish Kulkarni managed to convince the new chief minister, Narayan Rane, and deputy chief minister, Gopinath Munde, to further increase the subsidy amount — this time from Rs. 15 lakh to Rs. 16 lakh. This happened on 30th April at the Maharashtra state government awards function. Kulkarni seized the opportunity as both the ministers were together at the function and it took two minutes for him to convince them of the need to hike the subsidy amount! The CM and the deputy CM readily obliged and, therefore, the Marathi film producers are euphoric.

BIOSCOPE

BIWI NO. 1
Rib-Tickling Comedy

Vashu Bhagnani’s Biwi No. 1 is a rollicking comedy about extra-marital affairs. Salman Khan and Karisma Kapoor are blissfully married to each other for years. While Salman is a self-made advertising agency head and an ideal husband, Karisma is a caring wife who has supported her husband through thick and thin. She is also the quintessential Bharatiya naari who is content in living in her husband’s shadow. Their family is complete with two children who they dote on. However, after several years of living together, Salman begins to find a plain-Jane Karisma less attractive. He somehow begins believing that he needs a change. In walks Sushmita Sen, a model, whose only goal in life seems to be to marry a rich man so that she can live life in the lap of luxury. Salman happens to meet her and is instantly attracted to her. However, like any other erring husband, he fails to mention his marital status to Sushmita. Soon, they grow closer and Salman even takes Sushmita along on a business trip abroad. There, Anil Kapoor, who is the family doctor and a friend, spots them both together. Anil is on a holiday trip with his wife, Tabu. Salman somehow manages to convince Anil that he is only having a fling and that, he still loved Karisma too much to leave her for anyone else. Having been convinced that Karisma is not in any danger of being deserted by her husband, Anil leaves the matter at that.

Salman and Sushmita return to India, but their affair soon comes to the notice of Karisma. A hurt Karisma forbids Salman from entering their house. Salman, then, begins to have a live-in-relationship with Sushmita. When Anil Kapoor learns of this sudden turn of events, he apologises to Karisma for not having tipped her off about Salman’s erring ways earlier. He also exhorts her not to take the injustice meted out to her by Salman, lying down. Karisma then resolves to win her husband back. She devises a number of hilarious but effective ploys, in tandem with her children, her mother-in-law and Anil Kapoor, to create a negative impression of Sushmita in Salman’s mind.

This David Dhawan film boasts of a number of funny sequences and scenes that are expected to have the viewers rolling on the floor laughing. The film has a formidable star cast which includes Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Tabu, Sushmita Sen and Saif Ali Khan (playing a photographer who is in love with Sushmita). The music, scored by Anu Malik, is racy. The title track and Hai jawaani toh are the pick of the lot. The film releases in the middle of the cricket World Cup matches, on 28th May, and may still succeed in hitting the bull’s eye at the box-office, going by Vashu Bhagnani and David Dhawan’s 100% track record together.

SOORYAVANSHAM
A Father And Son Saga

Padmalaya Combines’ Sooryavansham depicts Amitabh Bachchan in the dual roles of a father and son. While the father is a rich and unflinchingly principled landlord, the son is more of the happy-go-lucky type. This becomes the cause for a great amount of friction between the two, which is aggravated by certain key incidents in their lives. The matter comes to such a pass that the son chooses to leave the comforts of his father’s house — a development which is well-exploited by the father’s villainous rival to further his own end. Eventually, however, the father and the son unite to destroy the villain, played by Mukesh Rishi. The romantic angle in the film is served by South’s Soundarya, who plays an IAS officer in love with the son. Jaya Kapoor nee Sudha plays the older Amitabh’s wife while debutante Rachana Chatterjee, Anupam Kher, Bindu, Shivaji Satam, Neelima Azim, master Anand Vardhan and Kader Khan comprise the rest of the cast.

This Hindi remake of the super-hit Tamil film, Sooryavamsam, is directed by the prolific Telugu film director, E.V.V. Satyanarayana. The film also marks the return of Padmalaya to Hindi films after a gap of 10 years. Anu Malik’s music and Sameer’s lyrics, both, combine to create a melodious score that is part-romantic and part-folk. The film is due for release on 21st May.

SIRF TUM
Love Story So Unusual…

Have you ever heard of a love story in which the lovers never meet? Well, that’s Sirf Tum. One may recall that when the Tamil film, Kaadhal Kottai, became a runaway hit, there was a scramble to acquire its Hindi remaking rights. The lucky producer was Boney Kapoor who, besides using his luck, had to also pay a hefty price for the rights. After buying the rights, he roped in Ahathian, the director who had made the original too. The remake may have taken a fairly long time in the making but Boney’s confidence in the project and its director was vindicated when Ahathian bagged the National Award two years ago for the same film.

Sanjay Kapoor and Priya Gill play the two romantics who never meet till the film almost ends. And yet, their romance blossoms. There’s a third angle to the story too. Sushmita Sen plays the ultra-rich boss of Sanjay Kapoor. She is head over heels in love with Sanjay, but will Sanjay agree to marry her? Not at all! Our man is in love with Priya Gill, so what if he hasn’t seen her and vice versa! A nail-biting climax sees the two love-birds unite. In the Tamil original, the audience is reported to have let out sighs galore for the hero and heroine. Will history repeat itself in Hindi? Sanjay and Priya fervently hope so. So does Sushmita Sen.

The music score by Nadeem Shravan is already very popular. In fact, Sirf Tum is one of the hot-selling albums today, not just in India but abroad too.

LEGENDARY KIDAR SHARMA NO MORE

Veteran writer-producer-director and poet Kidar Sharma passed away on the afternoon of 29th April after a brief illness, at Hinduja Hospital in Bombay. He was 90 and is survived by two sons and a daughter.

The living legend was to receive the Raj Kapoor award on 30th April at a function to be held by the Maharashtra government at the Shanmukhananda Hall in Bombay. It was Kidar Sharma who had discovered Raj Kapoor, besides other yesteryear stars like Madhubala, Geeta Bali, Bharat Bhushan, Mehtab, Mala Sinha and many more.

Among the feature films written and/or directed and/or produced by Kidar Sharma are Devdas, Vidyapati, Sapera, Aulad, Chitralekha (made twice), Arman, Gauri, Kaliyaan, Dhanna Bhagat, Neel Kamal, Suhag Raat, Neki Aur Badi, Theis, Jogan, Bawre Nain, Bedardi, Shokhiyan, Sapna, Gunah, Hamari Yaad Ayegi, Jhanjar, Fariyad, Maikhana, Pehla Kadam, Ashram, Vishkanya, Mumtaz Mahal, Bhanwara, Duniya Ek Sarai and Bheegi Palkein. He also made more than a dozen films for The Children’s Film Society.

He made short films for Doordarshan, including Aise Log Bhi Hote Hain, Kagaz Ki Nao, Ham Honge Kamiyab, etc.

It was an irony of fate that Kidar Sharma never received any government recognition during his lifetime. His other accomplishments include publishing his first book of poetry, entitled ‘Panchhee’, which was even autographed by the greatest Indian poet, Guru Rabindranath Tagore.

The success of Chitralekha led to Chandulal Shah of Ranjit Studios inviting Kidar Sharma to come to Bombay in 1941 and make films for him. Kidar Sharma worked for Ranjit Studios and wrote and directed films with some of the biggest stars of that time, like Motilal and Shamim in Arman, Prithviraj Kapoor in Vishkanya and Gauri (where he cast the unknown Monica Desai opposite him). This film also marked Raj Kapoor’s break as an assistant director. Kidar Sharma also made Mumtaz Mahal with Khursheed and Chandra Mohan, and Bhanwara with K.L. Saigal, Arun Kumar (Govinda’s father), and Chand Chakori, Dhanna Bhagat and Duniya Ek Sarai in which Meena Kumari got her break as a child star.

Finally, he made Jogan for Ranjit Studios, which starred Dilip Kumar and Nargis and is considered an all-time classic even today. Bulo C. Rani really blossomed as a music director in this film.

In 1945, Kidar was chosen for the first film delegation to Hollywood and the U.K., where he met Cecil B. DeMille and Walt Disney and big stars like Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard. On his return, he also started working as an independent producer-director and signed two complete unknowns as his leading stars, Raj Kapoor (who was working as an assistant to him) and Madhubala who was still a teenager, in a movie called Neel Kamal.

In the late ‘fifties, he was summoned by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who heard one of his lyrics and asked him to become director-in-chief of The Children’s Film Society. The first film he made for the society, Jaldeep, won the Venice Film Festival award.

In 1958, he was asked by the international producers, Shaw Brothers of Singapore, to come and direct films for them.

The films that have gone down in history as his all-time classics include Chitralekha, Jogan and Suhag Raat. Chitralekha was remade in the ‘sixties with Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar and Pradeep Kumar.

As an outstanding poet, he has written most of the songs sung by the great K.L. Saigal, including Balam aeo baso more man mein, Main kya janu kya jadu hai, So ja raj kumari so ja, Dukh kay din ab beetat nahi, Panchhi kahe hot udas, etc. His other memorable songs include Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahin and a song that Madhubala once asked him to dedicate to her before she died: Radha ko na tarsa, shyam puchhtayega.

Kidar Sharma will remain the grand old man and a creative legend of Indian Cinema.

MOHAN GOKHALE DEAD

Character actor Mohan Gokhale died in his sleep on 29th April due to a massive heart attack in Madras. He was in Madras for the shooting of Kamal Haasan’s Hey! Ram.

Mohan was 46 and is survived by his wife, a daughter, parents, a brother and a sister.

A graduate in Arts from Fergusson College in Pune, Mohan started theatre from his school days. He acted in a number of television serials in Marathi (like Shwetambara) and Hindi as well as films in Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati. He was the founder-member of the Theatre Academy in Pune. He had directed actor Nana Patekar’s first play in Marathi, ‘Bhau Murarrao’. Mohan Gokhale shot to fame in the TV serial Mr. Yogi in which he played the title role. He was currently being seen in the serials Zanjeerein, Alpviram and Aashirwad. Among his better-known films are Bhavni Bhavai (Gujarati), Mirch Masala, Holi, Sparsh and Mississippi Masala. He plays Gandhi in Jabbar Patel’s film on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. He had joined the film industry in 1977. He bagged the Maharashtra state government’s best actor award thrice for his roles in different Marathi films.

Mohan Gokhale was cremated in his home town, Pune, on 30th April.

SUDHENDU ROY NO MORE

Veteran art director Sudhendu Roy passed away on 25th April in Bombay. He was 78 and is survived by his wife and four children, one of whom is art director Sharmishtha Roy.

Sudhendu Roy had started his career with New Theatres, Calcutta. He migrated to Bombay in 1953 with Bimal Roy. He worked with such talented filmmakers as Bimal Roy, Hiten Choudhary, Gemini Productions, D. Rama Naidu and Yash Chopra. Among the films for which he had erected sets were Madhumati, Bandini, Sujata, Devdas, Kabuliwala, Biraj Bahu, Ram Aur Shyam, Kala Patthar, Lamhe and Darr. So sought-after was the art director at one time that the industry had to impose a ceiling on the number of assignments he undertook. Sudhendu Roy also directed two films, Saudagar (with Amitabh Bachchan and Nutan) and Uphaar (Jaya Bhaduri). Uphaar was India’s official entry to the Oscars.

Sudhendu Roy had an eye of a cinematographer. His sketches used to incorporate light and shadow in a manner that was almost photographic. He had a knack of visualising realistically and could say exactly how much of the set needed to be exposed. He had had no formal study in art but trained himself to draft and sketch. He was also extremely self-disciplined.

AUDIO CASSETTES SEIZED IN POLICE RAIDS

The police this week raided three premises in Bombay and seized duplicate audio cassettes of T-Series and other companies, inlay cards, a rewinding machine, empty cassette boxes and other property totally valued at Rs. 4,07,300. Two persons were arrested and cases registered against them under sections 51, 52A, 63, 65 and 68-A of the Copyright Act, 1957.

SHAAD SUES PUNJAB GOVERNMENT

Veteran Punjabi film producer, director and writer B.S. Shaad has filed a case in the Punjab high court against the Punjab government for recovery of subsidy amounting to Rs. 12 lakh due to him for his Punjabi film, Laali. It may be recalled that he had on 19th January sent a legal notice to the government, which evoked no response.

Shaad made Laali and also completed due formalities for claiming subsidy from the government. However, the government appeared to be ignoring his claim. Subsequently, he pursued the matter through CHAMPP, IMPPA and FMC, but to no avail. Driven to his wits’ end by the government’s silence on the issue, Shaad filed the case.

RAID ON TOURING TALKIES

A raid conducted recently on Vaibhav Touring Talkies, Alas, district Kolhapur, resulted in the  arrest of the cinema owner, Ram Upadhye, for screening Yeshwant illegally. Although the print could not be seized, the owner confessed in his statement to the police that a print of Yeshwant was screened by him illegally for two days. An FIR was filed and the cinema owner was later released on bail. According to him, the print was supplied to him by one Ram Bhosale of Miraj and smuggled from the Karnataka border. The police is investigating the case.

‘BORDER’ DIGI-BETA TAPES STOLEN

Kewal Suri’s Maruti Zen was stolen on 24th April from the crowded Lokhandwala area in Andheri, Bombay. There were three Digi-Beta cassettes of Border in the car, and they too were stolen alongwith the car. Kewal Suri holds the all-India video rights of the film.

CHANDRACHUR SINGH WEDS

Actor Chandrachur Singh got married to Avantika on 27th April in Delhi.

JALIANWALA BAGH AWARD FOR ‘SHAHEED-E-MOHABBAT’

Gurdas Maan and his wife, Manjit, were recently felicitated in London by a local cultural organisation, Jalianwala Bagh (UK), for making Shaheed-E-Mohabbat. Gurdas Maan was presented the best actor award, and Manjit Maan, the best film award for Shaheed-E-Mohabbat.

Gurdas Maan and his group performed stage shows in a number of cities of the UK from 31st March to 21st April.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Kohram’ Negative Cutting

The first negative of producer-director Mehul Kumar’s Kohram was cut on April 29 at Adlabs. Dilip Sen Sameer Sen will record the background score from May 12 at Saba Studio. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar, Jaya Prada, Tabu, Mukul Dev, Ayesha Julka, Mukesh Rishi and Danny with Jackie Shroff and Kabir Bedi in special appearances. It is scheduled for release in July. Dialogues: Iqbal Durrani. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi & Dev Kohli. Cameraman: Rasool Ellore. Action: Bhiku Verma. Editing: Yusuf Sheikh.

‘Chal Mere Bhai’ Bangalore Spell Complete

An 8-day shooting stint of Neha Arts’ Chal Mere Bhai was completed in Bangalore on April 29. Two songs and scenes were picturised on the entire cast including Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Dalip Tahhil, Sushma Seth, Shakti Kapoor, Himani Shivpuri, Satish Kaushik, Asrani, Javed Khan, Ghanshyam, Suresh Bhagwat, Shiva, Rajoo Shreshtha and Shahbaaz Khan. The film is being produced by Nitin Manmohan and directed by David Dhawan from a story by Ikram Akhtar and screenplay written jointly by Ikram Akhtar and Yunus Sejawal. Dialogues: Rumi Jafri. Music: Anand Milind. Lyrics: Sameer. Cinematography: Harmeet Singh. Choreography: Ganesh Acharya. Art: R. Verman. Editor: A. Muthu. Gaurav Digital presents the film.

‘Hadh Kardi Aapne’ 10-Day Spell In America

The final 10-day shooting spell of R.R. Productions’ Hadh Kardi Aapne will commence on May 8 in America. The film, being produced by Rajeev Anand and Rakesh Malhotra and directed by Manoj Agrawal, stars Govinda, Rani Mukerji, Nirmal Pandey, Ritu Shivpuri, Helen Brodie, Paresh Rawal, Satish Kaushik, Johny Lever (in a double role), Avtar Gill, Tanaaz Currim, Navneet Nishan, Himani Shivpuri, Smita Jaykar, newcomer Kanchi Kaul and Tinnu Anand. Story-screenplay: Satish Jain. Dialogues: Aadesh K. Arjun. Music: Anand Raaj Anand. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi.

‘Haseena Maan Jayegi’ Shooting, Dubbing Complete

The entire shooting and dubbing of Rahul Productions’ Haseena Maan Jayegi are complete. Recording of background music will commence on May 6. Produced by Smita Thackeray and directed by David Dhawan, the film stars Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, Karisma Kapoor, Pooja Batra, Aroona Irani, Paresh Rawal, Kader Khan, Satish Kaushik, Mohan Joshi, Aasif Sheikh and Anupam Kher with Bindu and Asrani in guest roles. Story-screenplay: Yunus Sejawal and Imtiaz Patel. Dialogues: Rumi Jafri. Music: Anu Malik. Lyrics: Sameer. Cinematography: K.S. Prakash Rao. Editor: A. Muthu. Action: Mahendra Verma. Choreographer: Ganesh and B.H. Tharun Kumar. Bharat Shah presents the film.

‘Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai’ Major Schedule Complete

Super Good Films’ Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai was shot in a 23-day stint till April 23 at Ramoji Rao Studios, Annapurna Studios and on locales in Hyderabad. Govinda, Rani Mukerji, Apoorva Agnihotri, Deepak Tijori, Farida Jalal, Kishore Bhanushali, Pramod Moutho and Om Puri participated. The film, which is almost complete, is being produced by R.B. Choudhary and directed by Kirti Kumar. Story: Sasi. Screenplay: S.M. Ahale. Dialogues: Javed Siddiqi. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi. Music: Uttam Singh. Art: Gappa Chakraborty. Cinematography: Peter Pereira. Dances: Ganesh, Raju Sundaram and Chinni Prakash. Balram Sharma is the film’s co-producer.

YOU ASKED IT

Will the entry of foreign production companies, in Bollywood augur well for us?

– Their entry may well change the face of Bollywood in the years to come.

What do you think of the producers who will release their star-cast films while the World Cup cricket matches are on?

– These producers had to choose between getting their films in opposition of other big films or cricket matches. They opted for the latter. A lot depends on how the matches progress.

Among producers, distributors and exhibitors, who, according to you, are the most harassed lot?

– The producers, because there’s no unity in the production sector. Everybody seems to be taking the producer for a ride and, in the absence of a strong trade association of producers (thanks only to lack of unity), the producer has to bear with all the tantrums and humiliation.

Will the concept of multiplexes succeed in a city like Jaipur?

– It will succeed wherever people have spending power, and Jaipur is no exception.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Power Of Good Music

The opening of Sarfarosh in several circuits took the industry by surprise. It is a commonly known fact that Aamir Khan acts in a very limited number of films. This, coupled with the film’s publicity, had raised hopes in the trade that the film may open well. Besides, the film was the solo major release of this week, implying thereby that it did not have to vie for public attention. And it is vacation time in many parts of the country. But despite all these points in favour of Sarfarosh, the film opened to ordinary houses in circuits like C.I., East Punjab and Rajasthan. The reason: the film does not have popular music. Which gets us to the important role music today plays in ensuring a good initial. Like it had happened in the case of Shah Rukh Khan’s Duplicate, it has once again happened with Sarfarosh. Even Duplicate took a decent opening only in Bombay but in the rest of the country, the initial was far from encouraging. This, because its music was not up to the mark although it was definitely better than the music of Sarfarosh.

Dancing Surprise

Trust Boney Kapoor to spring surprises. After having got melody queen Lata Mangeshkar to make a cameo appearance in his Pukaar, Boney is at it again. This time over, he has roped in Prabhu Deva for a dance item for Pukaar. Initially, the song was planned to be picturised on Madhuri Dixit and a robot. No sooner did Prabhu Deva happen to hear A.R. Rahman’s composition, he, of his own accord, expressed a desire to choreograph the song. While Boney and director Rajkumar Santoshi were only too happy with Prabhu’s keenness, they went a step ahead and asked him not only to choreograph the number but also dance alongwith Madhuri for it. So the robot is out and Prabhu Deva is in. Rehearsals have begun in right earnest in Madras, and shooting may commence next week on several sets being erected for the song picturisation in Hyderabad. But what is it that prompted Prabhu to make a special appearance for the song. Well, wait till you hear the song. Que sera sera sera (a well-known Latin phrase) goes the song and is it good? No, it’s too good!

Manoj Kumar: Analysing Failure

It requires guts to admit one’s failure and Manoj Kumar is a gutsy man. Not only does the maker of many a hit concede that his latest, Jai Hind, has not fared well, but he has also analysed the reason for the audience rejecting the film. Jai Hind was started more than five years ago and the delays in completing the film seem to have taken their toll on the project. “When Jai Hind was launched, the Kashmir issue affected every Indian, but the problem had been solved by the time the film hit the screens,” reasons Manoj Kumar. “My well-wishers did caution me to scrap the film when artistes like Manisha Koirala started troubling me for dates and when the Kashmir problem got solved in the meantime. But I refused to do so as it was a question of the reputation of my banner. I’ve learnt a lesson from the failure of Jai Hind — never make a film on a temporary problem because if the problem is no longer there, the audience will not feel for the project. You can’t serve dry fruits in summer. You want fresh fruits. Even paneer masala or chicken moghlai will be abhorred by people if they are stale, but simple dal, if fresh, will be relished,” says Manoj Kumar. Very true, Manoj-ji.

Diaries For Sale

Producer Vashu Bhagnani seems to get better and better with each of his films. Take for instance, his novel publicity idea for his forthcoming Biwi No. 1. He has had a large number of Biwi No. 1 diaries made (a cheaper version of the one which we wrote about a few weeks back) to be sold to the patrons inside main cinemas in main cities of every circuit. In fact, he is currently busy setting up the stalls to sell these diaries at various places all over India. The diary,  containing eye-catching pictures and autographs of the Biwi No. 1 team, is priced at Rs. 125 and should be a good buy for avid cinegoers, except that the price is a bit on the higher side. “Actually, Rs. 125 is itself the cost price of the diary for me”, explains Vashu. “The objective behind selling the diaries is not to make money, but to create awareness about my film as well as give the patrons something of sentimental value.”

The Slap That Echoed Far, The Slap That Launched A Star

As legendary director Kidar Sharma departs to meet his Maker this week, let us savour an interesting memory that truly brings out the character of the man. The incident dates back to the ‘forties when a young Raj Kapoor was still a fortune-hunter in the film world and was working with director Kidar Sharma as his assistant. Raj Kapoor’s main responsibility at that time was to sound the clapper-board before every shot. Raj, who even then was fixed on the idea of becoming an actor, would invariably try to push his face in front of the camera for a few seconds before sounding the clapper-board. Once, it so happened that Raj was, as usual, preoccupied with himself in front of the camera, so much so that when he sounded the clapper-board, the false beard of the performing artiste got stuck in it and came off. The very next moment, the entire crew was in peals of laughter. Kidar Sharma, being the short-tempered man he was, walked straight up to Raj Kapoor and gave him a resounding slap on his cheek. Everyone in the unit was aghast. After all, Raj was the son of one of the foremost stage and film actors of India. However, the incident served as a blessing in disguise for Raj’s acting career which was yet to take off. For, Kidar Sharma was so impressed with the pain he saw in Raj’s eyes after being slapped that he instantly made up his mind to bring him in front of the camera. And soon enough, he began Neel Kamal (1948) with Raj Kapoor in the lead. The rest, as they say, is history.

INFORMATION MEETS

“People tell me, ‘Vashu, you are a very blunt businessman’. But, let me tell you that I am a very sentimental person. If someone speaks ill of me,
it hurts me a lot.”

– VASHU BHAGNANI

RAJ VAIDYA

He is arguably one of the most successful producers on the scene today. Having switched vocations barely half a decade ago, he scored an instant hit with his debut production project, Coolie No. 1. Just four films later, he is in a position to demand what he terms as ‘munh-maanga daam’ for his multi-starrer, Biwi No. 1. Yet, Vashu Bhagnani appears far from being flattered, and he doesn’t even get carried away with the industry’s growing expectations from him. In fact, he has decided to keep the film for many of the circuits with himself. He says, he is willing to take the risk more because ‘I don’t want to lose people today’ (in case the film flops) than for any business considerations.

We caught up with Vashu Bhagnani on a typically hectic day at his office. Biwi No. 1 is close to releasing, and its publicity materials and promotional trailers are in the process of being despatched to the various distributors. Amidst the flurry of activities, Vashu spent time with us and shared with us his thoughts on relationships in the industry, his disappointments and his astute business sense.

You have a 100% successful track-record, which could be both, a blessing (as it means that it is the distributors who run after you to buy your films and not vice versa) or constant pressure of having to live up to everyone’s expectations. How do you look at it?

Actually, it is both. If the expectations grow with every film you make, then it will also drive you to achieve higher and higher every time, isn’t it? I started with Coolie No. 1 and then went on to make Hero No. 1, Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and now, Biwi No. 1. With each of my films, I have gone better than the previous. People say that BMCM didn’t do very well, but I would beg to differ. Businesswise, it was better than PKTDK. (Perhaps, Vashu is not taking into account the prices of the two films while comparing them.) Anyway, the point is, I have grown commensurately with the rise in people’s expectations in my abilities as a producer. Of course, a time may come when I may feel that a certain film of mine hasn’t been up to my usual standards. But then, I will be forthright about it rather than bluff the audience into believing that it is as big as say, Biwi No. 1. I’ll tell them through the media, ‘Look, even though this is my film, it isn’t Biwi No. 1. It is a good film, nevertheless, and do see it. But please don’t come to the cinema expecting it to be a Biwi No. 1 or BMCM or whatever’. Luckily, this hasn’t happened so far.

Making a bigger film than my previous one has never been a criterion whenever I have embarked on a project. I basically look for a good plot and for good artistes who would be perfect for it. I would never do something like signing, say, Shah Rukh Khan just to increase the business prospects of a plot ideally suited for, say, Govinda. I will only take those who fit the requirement of the plot. I don’t want to cheat my audience. I have laboured to create my place among the audience, which I don’t want to lose overnight. It has taken me six long years to get here and I don’t want to lose it all in a day’s time. I have seen people in this very industry, who have not achieved success even after decades. Fortunately, I have tasted only success ever since I have entered the industry. I firmly believe that this has been possible solely because of some divine grace. I don’t want to lose this opportunity by being ungrateful. I don’t want to exploit people. Yes, it is possible that I could get whatever price I want by going around telling people how much I have spent on my film. But I do not want that kind of money. In fact, I am releasing Biwi No. 1 myself in almost 60% of the territories. It doesn’t matter to me if I get less money that way.

But isn’t there a huge risk involved in it? After all and with due respect to your track-record, no one is infallible….

But that’s precisely my point. I don’t want to exploit anyone, like I said earlier. If the film works with the masses, the money will naturally follow. But if it doesn’t, I don’t want to lose my distributors by giving them big talks and extracting an exorbitant price from them. Another reason why I have turned down distributors for Biwi No. 1 is the fact that my expectation from the film is much greater than theirs. Their price can never match mine because I know exactly how much money I have spent on the film. Supposing our prices matched, even then, it is said that bahut zyada price lena bhi bura lagta hai. Today, the film is complete and the hype surrounding it is making a lot of distributors approach me. I am getting more offers than I need, but I am turning them down. This is simply because, if the film flops, no matter who loses money, ultimately, it would be I who would get bad-dua. I do not want to lose people today.

And yet, when a number of distributors approached you for Gujarat-Saurashtra, you quoted them fantastic prices and terms. Why?

That is true. Kyon ki ya to mujhe bahut bada paisa chaahiye ya kuchh bhi nahin. Either I take a lot or I don’t take anything at all. But when I take, people should say ki Vashu ne kya paise liye! Or, that he asked for so much that nobody was willing to give him. I am willing to accept both.

That is all very well but couldn’t the current trend among distributors, to shirk from paying overflows, be the real reason behind your decision of keeping the film with yourself?

No, no. That’s not the reason. It isn’t what I am talking about. What you are saying is the business aspect of it. As a businessman, you are free to choose something if it suits you and reject what doesn’t. What I am talking about is interpersonal relationships. I don’t care for anyone when it comes to business. No one at all. Yet, it is also true that I have always put relations over and above business.

Talking of relations, you seem to have a very good working relationship with director David Dhawan. Barring PKTDK, all your films have been directed by him.

Firstly, David-ji ke saath mere ghar ke relations hai. I have always thought of him as an elder brother. I had already made Coolie No. 1 and Hero No. 1 with him, when he began working on BMCM for another producer. But some time through the project, circumstances developed in such a way that I had to enter the project. As far as Biwi No. 1 is concerned, I had selected the subject myself after seeing a film (Sati Leelavathi in Tamil) in Madras, three years ago. I came back to Bombay and told David about it. I also gave him a VHS of the film and suggested that he remade it. When he saw the film, je hust loved it and asked me if I would produce the remake. So I went and bought the rights of the original. Then we spent a lot of time working on the script and deciding who fits perfectly in which role. Eventually, we launched the film.

David and I have spent so much time working together that we share an excellent rapport. After all, we have made four films together, and if each film has taken about 90 days to make, it simply means that we’ve had meals together for 360 days. Ab jis ke saath insaan 360 din namak khaayega, woh dost toh ban hi jaayega, na!

To change tracks, isn’t it sheer bravado that you have decided to release BIWI NO. 1 thick in the middle of the Cricket World Cup?

You could say that but then, you couldn’t be any farther from the truth. Let me explain. Firstly, whenever I release the film, be it two weeks from now or after the World Cup, someone from the industry will lose some money if his film is competing against mine. Why should I do that? Why should I bite the very hand that has not only fed me but has also given me so much more? I’d rather take away from another industry that either the film industry or I are not concerned with. Hum log aapas mein industry ko kyon divide karein?

Secondly, I feel, this whole talk of the World Cup majorly affecting movie collections is a myth. As per my calculations, the maximum it could affect is by 10-20%. You may think, I’m being unduly optimistic, but let me tell you that if you print my calculation in your issue, I’m sure that it will receive many replies. I am ready to change my name if it doesn’t. It goes like this — we run films in 4 shows daily. Since the World Cup matches will begin only at 3.15 p.m., the 12 o’clock show will remain unaffected. The 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. shows will, of course, be affected. The 9 p.m. show, contrary to popular belief, will not be affected. Let me explain how. Even though the matches will officially end at 9.15 p.m., sometimes, the matches may end earlier than that, or the interest in the match may be over before its end. So, all in all, a maximum of two shows will be affected, that too only on the days of the matches. And to what extent? Let’s say, 20%. Even then, the tally at the end of the day will still read: 12 noon show – 100%; 3 p.m. – 80%; 6 p.m. – 80%; and 9 p.m. – 100%. Average collectoins for a day will still read 90%. And if I am scoring 90% on a match-day, then I am definitely a winner. This, when I am not even taking into account the fact that not all the matches in the World Cup are going to generate an equal amount of interest. I could lose much more if my film were to be pitted against another. But since no other major films are releasing during the World Cup, my film will get a clear field for three straight weeks. This should prove advantageous to it, don’t you think?

And finally, if the World Cup boasts of many a good team, even I can say that I have an excellent team. I mean, what would you call a combination of Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Tabu, Sushmita Sen, David Dhawan, Anu Malik and the title value of Biwi No. 1?

Coming to one of your most-known passions — publicity. How much importance do you give to publicity?

You have rightly termed it as ‘passion’, I strongly believe that koi bhi kaam karne ke liye shauq hona chaahiye. I am constantly thinking of ways of doing things better and better. I don’t like to compromise on anything that is within my powers. Maine kabhi apne aap se dhokha nahin kiya. Sometimes, when I go abroad and see the way things are publicised, I realise that there are so many things that I haven’t done yet. I see the ads everywhere, in papers, on TV, etc., and there are so many ideas that I would like to incorporate in my publicities, for example, I would love to do something on the lines of the Liril ad, but often, my budget doesn’t allow me to. So, I do the maximum I can under the circumstances. For example, today, a particular poster of Biwi No. 1 costs me Rs. 35,000, which means about 40 such posters would set me back by approximately Rs. 10 to 15 lakh. This is a big sum in today’s times, but I spend it because I am trying to derive creative satisfaction out of my work. Otherwise, you could make 10,000 or even a lakh posters in Rs. 15 lakh. Par uss mein phir woh satisfaction waali baat nahin hogi.

Similarly, as a producer, I hold nothing back every time I make a film. I cannot direct, so I don’t waste my time interfering with that. Whatever creative input I can add, which is within my mental capacity and powers, I do. I am constantly striving to stretch my abilities and that only happens because I am extremely passionate about my work.

Five films in six years. What has the experience been like?

To tell you the truth, right now, I am very confused. Mera dil karta hai ki mujhe ab zyada din industry mein rehna hi nahin hai. I just can’t understand the way people deal here. I can swear that I have never ever worked with anyone with a malafide intention and yet, I hear a lot of people spreading all kinds of lies about me. I have failed to understand who to trust and who not to. I have no other interests, besides my work and my family. I just happen to love my business and dealing with people, and my family. So, I get hurt quickly when I hear that someone has spoken rubbish about me. I am the kind of person who starts loving someone even if I have had a single meal with him. So, I feel I do not deserve this.

People tell me, ‘Vashu, you are a very blunt businessman.’ But let me tell you that I am a very sentimental person. If someone speaks ill of me, it hurts me a lot, but I prefer not to talk about it. Instead, I ask myself why the person did so. Like I said earlier, I have always put relationships over and above film business. That’s why a loss in business never affects me as much as a breach of faith does.

I have never cheated anyone. I don’t ever bargain. My friends tell me, ‘Vashu, now that you have become a big producer, you should not pay your stars so much.’ But I don’t agree. Why should I agree? Today, it is because of the stars that I’m selling my film. Vashu Bhagnani cannot sell. I sell because I have a Salman or an Anil or such. Eventually, it is the product that sells. So, I turn back to my friends and ask, ‘Agar Vashu Bhagnani chalta hai toh woh kisi bhi aire gaire ko hero lekar film hit kar ke dikhaaye.’ They cannot reply to that.

SHOWBIZ TODAY

THE MAKING OF A MULTIPLEX

Maharashtra Government Approves G2000 In Pune

KOMAL NAHTA & RAJ VAIDYA

The word is finally out. The Maharashtra government has very recently given a nod to the construction of multiplexes in the state. It may be recalled that a couple of years ago, the state government had negotiated a proposal for multiplexes with the US-based Warner Bros. However, nothing came of it and the proposal was scrapped after a few meetings between the two parties. Sources say that that may have been due to the inability of the Warner officials to cope with the tremendous amount of red tapism involved in interacting with the government. Be that as it may, the government policy on multiplexes remained on ice thereafter. Until now, that is.

In its first-ever policy decision on the subject, the Maharashtra government has approved a proposal for an entertainment complex which also includes a multiplex, to come up in Pune soon. The government has broadly defined its tourism policy (multiplexes have been made a part of the tourism industry) and paved the way for future multiplexes in the state by providing a number of incentives for projects of the same nature.

The construction work of the abovementioned complex, G2000, is already under way in Pune. When completed, it will have a business hotel, a cultural centre, an exhibition hall, bowling alleys, a video games parlour, restaurants and so on, apart from a multiplex comprising four screens.

We met the brain behind the project, Hemant Manmohan (brother of producer Nitin Manmohan), to find out more about the venture, the government policy and the future of multiplexes in India. For, when the history of multiplexes in India is written, the name of Hemant Manmohan shall be written in golden letters.

Firstly, how did the idea of setting up a multiplex come to you?

In my opinion, multiplexes will become the order of the day very soon. Today, several small cinema halls that have come up in Bombay, have brought back the audience to cinemas. The bottom line is to provide quality service — good projection and sound, comfortable seating and a few other value-additions — which is what has made these cinemas viable recreational spots for people. However, increasing costs, taxes and other difficulties prevent most other cinemas from providing facilities of a similar standard. But imagine a cinema complex with a number of screens under a single roof and decidedly smaller seating capacities — that becomes a viable proposal for both, people and the trade.

That’s true. But, why Pune and not Bombay?

I believe that Pune has tremendous potential to generate tourist traffic. Being an industrial city, it continues to attract a large number of people from all parts of India. These people have nearly the same spending power as those in Bombay. I have a number of business interests in Pune and constantly shuttle between Bombay and Pune. I have personally known of a number of business ventures that have succeeded in Pune despite the skeptical view about the spending power of Puneites. Take the case of Domino’s Pizza. They run 17 parlours in Pune and, at any given time, the waiting period at these parlours is two hours! Having been convinced so, I hired a marketing company to do a survey to ascertain the viability of my project and, as expected, the findings were favourable.

Another reason in choosing Pune over Bombay was that I already had a plot of land on prime location there. Years ago, I had bought it with the intention of setting up a business hotel on it. Due to certain reasons, that project hadn’t taken off and I was looking to using it in some way. So, when the survey results reiterated my instincts, I quickly got the project report of the venture made, and applied to the Tourism Finance Corporation Ltd. for finance. They approved my application and I began the construction work.

Even before getting an approval from the government? That is surely putting the cart before the horse…

…You can say that, but the truth is that I was always convinced of the viability of the project. Likewise, I was also sure of getting the government to approve it. You see, even though I didn’t have a formal approval from the ministry, I had won the support of a few dynamic bureaucrats therein. They had given me to understand that they were looking at the proposal in a very positive manner. That was enough for me to begin work.

And how did the final approval come about?

Oh, that was a long process. I had applied for the permission to set up an entertainment complex way back in August ’98. My earlier experiences had proved to me that whenever one approached the government with a proposal for a cinema hall, one had to face a lot of negative attitude from the people concerned. Since my project was much more than a cinema complex alone, I decided to approach the tourism ministry. Sadly, when I first applied, there was no clear state policy on tourism. So, I went to Gujarat, which had a fairly decent tourism policy, especially in regards to development of entertainment complexes. I gathered all details of the policy and presented it to the Maharashtra tourism ministry. Slowly, I could see that the people concerned were beginning to see sense in what I was proposing. I must add here that I particularly paid attention to the paperwork throughout the process, which must have gone in my favour. My proposal was approved over similar ones submitted by two big groups in the field.

Can you briefly describe the complex?

Sure. The complex will be called G2000 and will have several levels, each devoted to a specific purpose. The main features of G2000 are a cineplex with four screens and a total seating capacity of more than 1,400; a business hotel with 64 suites, which will be managed by the Taj Group; a cultural centre consisting of an exhibition hall; a rooftop auditorium which can be used to stage plays as well as screen films; bowling alleys; a video game parlour; a MacDonald’s outlet; a 2-level underground parking lot, and so on. We plan to have G2000 in operation by April next year.

MAHARASHTRA GOVT.’S POLICY FOR CINEMA MULTIPLEXES

The Maharashtra government has announced the policy for cinema multiplexes valid all over Maharashtra including Bombay city. The policy for multiplexes is actually a part of the Tourism Policy announced to coincide with the Year of Tourism. The Tourism Policy has four components of which the third component relates to the package for multiplexes.

Excerpts from the policy:
“The multiplexes will have criterion for minimum number of screens for Bombay city and outside Bombay, and can have tourism related amenities within the multiplexes.

“The multiplexes shall be eligible for exemption from entertainment duty for a period of 4-5 years. They will also be entitled to stamp duty relief if they are located outside the municipal limits.

“For the projects of Indian entrepreneurs, joint venture projects and 100% projects of foreign companies, there shall be different norms within the multiplex policy.

“The cinema houses in the multiplexes will be exempted from sales and purchase tax for the cinematographic equipment purchased by them.

“Existing cinema houses can also convert into multiplexes under the policy.”

The Tourism Policy shall be implemented by a single-window clearance system.

JAI HIND

Vishal International Productions (P.) Ltd.’s Jai Hind (UA) is a patriotic tale mixed with romance, revenge and terrorism. The film moves on too many tracks and therein lies the real problem because no track gets enough footage for due justification. Two retired colonels are at loggerheads with each other because one of them had been a traitor to the country. The grandson of the traitor and the grand-daughter of the other colonel fall in love but have to surmount a number of obstacles, including the one created by the girl’s grandpa, before uniting in matrimony. There is also a Brahmin’s daughter who loves the colonel’s grandson. There is another romantic track of a Muslim boy and a Muslim girl. The people of the various communities are like members of one large family but terrorists strike and create a sort of communal war between them. Ultimately, not only do the communities realise their folly and eliminate the villains, but the lovers also come together. The Brahmin’s daughter sacrifices her life to save her beloved’s. The traitor colonel also atones for his treachery.

Besides the different and too many tracks on which the film moves, what bogs down the drama is the lack of novelty, and incidents which appear exaggerated and/or unreal. For instance, the scene in which the colonel makes a fool of the militarymen in the pre-climax looks childish. Dialogues are quite good but not clapworthy. Emotions do not touch the heart anywhere. The romance, too, is not heartwarming.

Rishi Kapoor is alright but showing him as a terrorist in a part of the film appears quite ridiculous. Kunal Goswami does an average job. Shilpa Shirodkar’s is the best performance in the film. She stands out in a sacrificing role and delivers an absolutely sincere performance. She yet again proves that she has plenty of talent. Manisha Koirala looks disinterested in her work. Raveena Tandon gets less scope and is okay. Pran is quite impressive. Amrish Puri is average. Prem Chopra is loud at places. Mohnish Bahl is quite good. Shahbaaz Khan does a fair job. Bindu and Sadashiv Amarapurkar irritate more than entertain with their ‘comedy’. Master Krishna leaves a mark. Beena, Anjana Mumtaz, Rana Jung Bahadur, Monty Nath, Ajit Vachani, Yunus Perwaiz and the rest fill the bill.

Direction is handicapped by an unexciting script. Music is melodious and lyrics of the songs are meaningful but there’s no song which stands out. Song picturisations remind of Manoj Kumar’s earlier films. Photography is okay. Action scenes are fair. Production and other technical values are alright.

On the whole, Jai Hind has little to fall back upon except its tax-free tag in various states.

Released on 23-4-’99 at Minerva and 13 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity & opening: fair. …….Also released all over.

TIME AUDIO SELLS MUSIC REPERTOIRE TO TIPS

Tips has bought over the entire music repertoire of Time Audio. Henceforth, the Shah brothers (Dhirubhai and Pravin) of Time will not deal in audio rights of films. They will, however, continue to produce films and also deal in video rights.

NEW CINEMA TO OPEN AT MUZAFFARNAGAR

A new cinema, Saraswati Palace, is scheduled to open in Muzaffarnagar (U.P.) on 7th May with Kartoos. The cinema has 882 seats and its per show capacity is Rs. 9,980. Its capacity for 28 shows is Rs. 2,79,440. The cinema is controlled by Kanpur Films, Delhi.

SUNIL DUTT INJURED

Sunil Dutt was slightly injured after bumping into the windscreen of a vehicle he was travelling in when it suddenly screeched to a halt. The incident occurred on 17th April at Chitaun, south of Kathmandu. According to Sunil Dutt, when the driver applied the brakes, the impact threw his head right on to the windscreen and he received a slight cut on his forehead. Sunil Dutt is on a world tour for peace.

NEW CINEMA TO OPEN AT CHANDRAPUR

Shiv Chitramandir, a new cinema, is due to open shortly in Chandrapur (Maharashtra). Owned and controlled by Buradkar & Sons, who also own and control Rajkala Mandir, Chandrapur, the new cinema has a seating capacity of 859. The admission rates are: Private Circle (65 seats) Rs. 25; Balcony (322 seats) Rs. 20; Reserve (365 seats) Rs. 10; Front (107 seats) Rs. 7. The nett capacity per show is Rs. 7,235 and that for 28 shows is Rs. 2,02,606.

O.P. RALHAN DEAD

Veteran producer-director-actor O.P. Ralhan died at his residence in Bombay on 20th April following a massive heart attack. He was 71.

O.P. Ralhan became the talk of the industry when he directed Phool Aur Patthar, starring Meena Kumari and Dharmendra. After that, he made a number of films including Hulchul, Talaash, Gehra Daag, Pyaas, Paapi and Bandhe Haath. He played the comedian in several films including his own. He had a dream of making a film on the life of Ashoka The Great. But the dream, nurtured for years, remained just that.

Chautha was held on 23rd April in Bombay. O.P. Ralhan is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

MULTIPLEXES IN JAIPUR TOO

The concept of multiplexes seems to be catching on. After Maharashtra, where several multiplexes are being planned, at least two multiplexes are in the offing in the pink city of India.

Navratan Kothari has decided to construct a multiplex with four cinema screens, in Jaipur. Rehmat Khan of Ankur cinema, Jaipur, is also planning to build a multiplex with two screens.

The Rajasthan government has so far not devised any policy to encourage multiplexes in the state, but efforts are on to persuade the government to announce one soon.

‘SHAKTIMAAN’ MATTER ON 13TH JULY

Retired judge H.L. Anand has been appointed in place of Justice Ms. Seth to decide on the impact of Mukesh Khanna’s television serial on Doordarshan, Shaktimaan, on children. The appointment was made by the Delhi high court on 23rd April. The matter has been adjourned to 13th July. It may be mentioned here that from the 3-member committee appointed by the high court, Justice Ms. Seth had asked to be excused.

NANABHAI BHATT DEAD

Veteran producer-director Nanabhai Bhatt passed away on 23rd April at Nanavati Hospital in Bombay due to a massive cardiac arrest. He was 87 and is survived by one of his two wives, Hemlata, besides four sons viz. Robin Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt and Parmesh Bhatt, and four daughters.

Nanabhai Bhatt had directed over a hundred films. Notable among them were Sindbad The Sailor, Mr. X, Lal Quila, Balak Aur Jaanwar, Zimbo Comes To Town, Bekhabar, Kangan, Madam XYZ and three Gujarati films, Gajra Maroo, Dharti Mata and Jaya Parvati. Among the actors and actresses who had worked with him in most of his films were Ashok Kumar, Pran and Nirupa Roy, whom he also considered as close friends.

Mahesh Bhatt told Information, “My father belonged to the breed of filmmakers, like Homi Wadia, who believed in simple story-telling and entertaining the audiences. I had the privilege of writing the story and screenplay of his Jeevan Rekha which starred Tabrez and Farida Jalal in the lead, while I was associated with Raj Khosla. He started the trend of directing films over the telephone, which I followed.”

CENSOR NEWS

Cinematt Pictures’ Sarfarosh (revised) was given C.C. No. CIL/3/20/99 (A) dt. 20-4-’99; length 4562.17 metres in 16 reels (cuts: 2.83 metres).

Satya Sai Films’ Khooni Ilaaka – The Prohibited Area was given C.C. No. CIL/3/21/99 (A) dt. 22-4-’99; length 2572.38 metres in 14 reels (no cut).

Raaj N Raaj Combines’ Shikaar has been passed for adults, with cuts.

Shiv Shakti Production’s Benaam, seen on 20th, has been passed for adults, with cuts.

Sachi Arts’ Kavita Oh My Love (length 3685.37 metres in 14 reels), applied on 20th, was seen on 22nd.

Sai Baba Films’ Aaya Yauwan Jhoomke was seen on 23rd.

Nishu Art’s Phool Bani Phoolan (length 3298.58 metres in 14th reels) was applied on 23rd.

REGIONAL FILMS

Abbasi Films’ Chhel Chhabili Chhori (Rajasthani) was given C.C. No. CIL/1/21/99 (U) dt. 22-4-’99; length 3689.26 metres in 15 reels (cuts: 155.45 metres).

Koneru Films’ Gudachary 001 (Telugu; dubbed version of Knock Off), seen on 19th, has been issued C.C. No. CFL/3/36/99 (A) dt. 22-4-’99; length 2501.07 metres in 5 reels (no cut).

Priyasi Films’ Biah (Bhojpuri), seen on 19th, has been passed with U certificate, with cuts.

Saras Chitra’s Bhai Maro Rakhwalo (Gujarati, revised; length 4093.18 metres in 14 reels), applied on 19th and seen on 21st, has been passed with UA certificate, with cuts.

Mehndi International’s Meera Dataar (Gujarati; length 3895.86 metres in 14 reels) was applied on 22nd.

TRAILERS

Trailer of Cinematt Pictures’ Sarfarosh was given C.C. No. CIS/3/20/99 (A) dt. 20-4-’99; length 100.35 metres (cuts: 0.23 metres).

Trailer of Koneru Films’ Main Hoon Baazigar (dubbed) was given C.C. No. CFS/3/24/99 (A) dt. 19-4-’99; length 57.15 metres.

IMPORTED FILMS

Venus Films International’s African Thrills has been passed with U certificate, with cuts.

American Vision International Ltd.’s Dr. Butcher M.D. was seen on 19th.

Columbia Tristar Films’ Cruel Intentions, applied on 19th, was seen on 21st.

Accord Tele Cells’ Swedish Love Story, applied on 20th, was seen on 21st.

Zackria Films’ Foreign Bodies (revised) was applied on 21st.

Film India’s 11 Days 11 Nights (revised) was applied on 21st.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

History Repeating Itself?

It had happened in the case of Vashu Bhagnani’s Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and it is happening once again in the case of Vashu’s Biwi No. 1. When the audio of BMCM was released, the trade had dismissed if off as an average album although some weeks later, those who said so had to eat humble pie because the music caught on with the masses. This time over too, the trade people seem to be a little sceptical about the music of Biwi No. 1. But let it be said that in a few weeks from now, the music of Biwi No. 1 (Anu Malik; Sameer, Dev Kohli and Sukhwinder) is bound to grow and pick up. Besides the title song which, incidentally, is already coming on people’s lips, there are other numbers too which have what it takes to make songs popular. ‘Sona sona’ is a lovely racy number that may soon go ahead of the title song in popularity. Its picturisation (on Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen) on foreign locales is eye-catching not just because of the beauty of the locations but also because the choreography (Ganesh) is simple yet wonderful. The ‘Chunnari Chunnari’ song is also very tuneful. The ‘Mehbooba’ song is another catchy one, this picturised on Anil Kapoor and Tabu, in snow-laden Switzerland. The ‘Jungle’ song has Karisma Kapoor looking wow, and the ‘Mirchi’ song, as expected, is a fun song, but with an underlying current of tension. Then there’s a song which can move the womenfolk to tears. The ‘Om Sai Ram’ number, picturised on children performing on stage in a school function, makes Salman Khan cry and Karisma Kapoor sob in the film. It can be expected to make the audience weep too, such is the lyrical value. All in all, the songs of Biwi No. 1, directed by David Dhawan, have it in them and are also a treat for the eyes.

On 28th May

While on Biwi No. 1, Vashu Bhagnani had planned to release 500 prints of the film in its first week but that, according to Vashu, “seems impractical”. Still, if all goes well, a total of 400 prints might be taken out for the premiere release of the film in India and Overseas. In the meantime, Vashu is thrilled with the chain of cinemas booked in Delhi and U.P. by his distributor, Brijesh Tandon, who is a leading cinema controller of Uttar Pradesh. And yes, unlike other films directed by David Dhawan, this one has a running time of 2 hours and 35 minutes and isn’t too short. Biwi No. 1 will now come on 28th May, as originally planned, and not on 11th June, as had been rescheduled last week.

SILSILA HAI PYAR KA

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

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

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

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

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

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

ZULMI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BANK FINANCE FOR FILMS ON ANVIL?

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

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

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

RAMESH PATEL DEAD

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

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

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

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

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

YOU ASKED IT

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Sooryavansham’ Towards First Copy

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

‘Chal Mere Bhai’ In Bangalore

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

MIX MASALA

GOOD ACTOR, GOOD PRANKSTER

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

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

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

No Male Chauvinism, This

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

Publicity, Not Akshay, Does The Trick

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

Dancing Hero Caught On Wrong Foot

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

Release Postponed

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

Enough Of Prateeksha: Bank Now Wants ‘Prateeksha’

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

300 Films In 365 Days

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

Canteen Competition

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

ANARI NO. 1

A.K. International’s Anari No. 1 is a comedy film which has a fair dose of the crime angle too. A rich business tycoon has a look-alike who is a waiter in a hotel. The waiter kidnaps the tycoon, impersonates him (the tycoon) and enters his house with a view to rob a few lakh rupees. But the business tycoon’s mother is such a simpleton and loving lady that the waiter has a change of heart. Soon thereafter, the tycoon is kidnapped by a criminal seeking a hefty ransom, and it is the waiter who rescues him from the criminal’s clutches.

The film is quite a half-baked attempt at comedy. Several of the comic punches are childish and/or repetitive, and, therefore, do not have the desired effect on the viewer. The first half is somewhat better but the post-interval portion lacks the punch for the major part. The crime angle, especially, is boring and has been handled without finesse. Even the cinematic liberties are of the kind that would prompt the audience to think whether they were at all justified. For instance, the tycoon is kidnapped by the waiter but, rather than hiding him in a secluded or unknown spot, the waiter keeps him in a luxury van which itself is a stolen one. The van is one of its kind and would naturally be spotted by anybody. The confusion which the double role of Govinda creates in Kader Khan’s mind is hardly funny because it is too repetitive. Even the emotional angle looks contrived, given the comic flavour of the film. Dialogues should have been more punch-packed. Climax is weak; what’s more, important characters like the heroine, the hero’s best friend and the second heroine’s father are simply not seen in the end.

Govinda does well in a double role and makes some scenes hilarious with his sheer acting prowess. But even he has not been able to rise above the dull script. Raveena Tandon does well initially. She has no role worth a mention in the latter part. Simran is no match for the second Govinda and she manages to do just about a fair job. She exposes quite uninhibitedly though. Aroona Irani should have had a more substantive role. She performs ably. Kader Khan is not impressive at all. Satish Shah is natural to the core and complements Govinda ably. Shatru (Adi Irani) makes a weak villain. Prem Chopra, Himani Shivpuri, Ghanshyam, Sonia Sahni, Satyen Kappu and master Frank Anthony lend average support. Johny Lever, in a friendly appearance, is excellent. Piloo Wadia, Razzak Khan, Dinesh Hingoo and Dilip Sen are able.

If Kuku Kohli’s direction is quite good, his writing leaves plenty to be desired. The script of such a film proves two points — one, that it is not easy to make people laugh since comedy is a serious job; and two, brevity is the soul of wit. Several humorous scenes lose their impact if only because they are stretched too much. Further, the film, at several places, looks like a rush job. Music is too tapori in nature. ‘Dheere dheere’, ‘Kurta phaad ke’ and ‘Main hoon ladki kunwari’ are for the masses, but the upper class audience may not like the songs. Govinda is a delight to watch in the ‘Main hoon ladki kunwari’ song. Action scenes are fair. Camerawork is okay. Production and technical values are alright.

On the whole, Anari No. 1 may make the audience laugh at places but getting a smile on distributors’ faces is a far cry. It should definitely do a bit better in Bombay and the rest of Maharashtra.

Released on 9-4-’99 at Maratha Mandir and 21 other cinemas of Bombay by Vimal Agarwal thru R.M. Ahuja & Co. Publicity: very good. Opening: excellent. …….Also released all over. Opening was very good in C.P. Berar but not up to the mark in Delhi, Bengal, Bihar, C.I. and Rajasthan.

‘KKHH’ SILVER JUBILEE

Yash Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai completed 25 weeks of its run on 8th April. Written and directed by debut-making Karan Johar, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Ranee Mukerji, Salman Khan (special appearance), Anupam Kher, Farida Jalal, Johny Lever, Archna Pooran Singh, baby Sana Saeed and master Parzan Dastur. Music: Jatin Lalit.

N.N. SIPPY FILES CONTEMPT PETITION AGAINST MPA, MAYAWALA, MISHRA

The Bombay high court on 7th April directed the Motion Pictures Association (MPA), Delhi, to register N.N. Sippy’s Silsila Hai Pyar Ka. Sippy had filed a contempt of court petition (no. 42 of 1999) against the conduct of the MPA in not registering his film till he settled the claims of Super Art International, Delhi. This, in spite of various orders passed by the high court in suit no. 1297 of 1995, restraining the MPA from implementing the resolution to not register Silsila Hai Pyar Ka until the claims of Super Art International were settled by Sippy. Justice B.N. Srikrishna passed the urgent order in the aforesaid contempt petition which will come up for admission on 19th April. Rajesh Mishra, proprietor of Super Art International, Delhi, the MPA, G.S. Mayawala (hon. general secretary of the MPA) and other office-bearers of MPA have been made parties in the contempt petition.

It is learnt that Silsila Hai Pyar Ka was finally registered by the MPA on 9th April.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Kohram’ Last Schedule

Following a 15-day schedule in Bombay till April 3, producer-director Mehul Kumar’s Kohram will now be shot in its last schedule from April 11 to May 5 at Chandivali Studios on a basti set and on locations in Jammu and Vaishno Devi. A song and the climax will be picturised. The entire cast will participate. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar, Jaya Prada, Tabu, Ayesha Julka, Mukul Dev, Mukesh Rishi, Danny and Jackie Shroff (in a special appearance). Kabir Bedi makes a guest appearance. Music: Dilip Sen Sameer Sen. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi and Dev Kohli. Dialogues: Iqbal Durrani. Cinematography: Rasool Ellore. Editing: Yusuf Sheikh. Art: R. Verman. Audiography: Jagmohan.

‘Hello Brother’ Unit Back From Mauritius

The unit of G.S. Entertainments’ Hello Brother returned from Mauritius on April 4 after completing a 20-day shooting stint. Two songs and climax scenes were picturised on Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Ranee Mukerji, Johny Lever, Neeraj Vora, Razzak Khan and Shakti Kapoor. The film, now 75% complete, is being produced by Bunty Walia and Sohail Khan, and written and directed by Sohail Khan. Lyrics: Sudhakar Sharma, Faaiz Anwar and Jalees Sherwani. Music: Sajid-Wajid and Himesh Reshammiya.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Hinduja brothers, Srichand and Gopi, who finance films, top the list of the richest non-resident Asians in London. Their wealth is estimated at 1.3 billion pounds. On the third position is Subhash Chandra of Zee TV, whose wealth is estimated at 450 million pounds. The list of the 200 richest Asians in London was published this week.

* B.R. Chopra’s epic serial, MAHABHARAT, will now be dubbed in Gujarati and English too. Its Gujarati dubbing muhurt was held on 1st April. It has earlier been dubbed in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Bhojpuri. The serial has been shown on/in BBC-London (twice), Mauritius (twice), Indonesia (twice), Nepal (twice), Thailand, East Africa, USA, Canada, West Indies, Malaysia and Iran (a Muslim country).

* Bappi Lahiri will make a special appearance in BOMBAY GIRLS.

* Smruti cinema of Nagpur is the only cinema in the whole of C.P. Berar to have collected over Rs. 1 crore (nett collections) in the financial year ended 31st March, 1999.

MPA: Most Painful Association

More and more producers are becoming disillusioned with the working of the Motion Pictures Association, Delhi. Besides the MPA’s rigid stand in the case of the registration of N.N. Sippy’s Silsila Hai Pyar Ka (read details elsewhere in this issue), yet another incident has been brought to our notice, which exposes the functioning of the Association.

Vijay Pal Singh, the Delhi-U.P. distributor of Manoj Kumar’s Jaihind, a while ago, pleaded inability to take the film’s delivery and asked to be relieved. The Acquiring Committee of the MPA opined that if Manoj Kumar would return the Rs. 5 lakh of Vijay Pal Singh to him within 10 days, no interest would be payable (by Manoj Kumar). Failure to make payment within 10 days would, however, make Manoj Kumar liable to pay interest.

Manoj Kumar and his new distributors, Magnum, returned the Rs. 5 lakh to Vijay Pal Singh within the prescribed time limit, but were shocked when, thereafter, the executive committee of the MPA asked them to pay interest also. No cognisance was taken of the fact that it was Vijay Pal Singh who was the defaulter, and not Manoj Kumar. The decision of the Acquiring Committee too was overlooked! Insiders reveal that the executive committee in general and G.S. Mayawala (hon. general secretary of the MPA) in particular decided in favour of making Manoj Kumar pay interest as, according to them, Manoj Kumar and Magnum could easily afford the burden of the interest whereas Vijay Pal Singh was in a financially bad shape and, therefore, the interest (of approximately Rs. 80,000) would be of great assistance to him.

If the financial backgrounds of persons rather than the merits of a case will decide who is to pay whom and how much, God save the producers from the clutches of the MPA and its crazy decisions! For, it is personal whims and fancies as well as prejudices that guide decisions there rather than rules which should be the same for everybody.

Distributors, Samjha Karo!

Both the films had hit music. Both were ‘hot’ before their release. And both the films starred Khans — one, Shah Rukh Khan, and the other, Salman. The end result of both the eagerly awaited films has been the same.

Like Dil Se.., last week’s Jaanam Samjha Karo is also all set to make holes in the pockets of its distributors. The producer of Jaanam Samjha Karo must be having the last laugh. And it must be one wicked laugh. For, he succeeded in getting all his distributors to hike the price after showing them the film!

This brings us to the question: How did the distributors agree to pay more after seeing the film? It had an apology of a story. Its screenplay was full of flaws. Perhaps, what the distributors got bowled over by were the songs and the presence of Salman Khan. Maybe, also the fact that a producer had the courage to show his product before asking for a price hike, must have made a difference. These days, producers keep their films under wraps but yet, insist on their distributors to increase the price at the time of release. The producer of Jaanam Samjha Karo acted differently and succeeded in his mission.

How differently do distributors view films in which they have a stake from, say, persons unconnected with the films or even from the audience? Perhaps, distributors, who have invested in a film, come to treat it as their ‘child’. And does anybody dislike his own child? Keeping a little distance from the ‘child’ would ensure that distributors don’t lose their objectivity. Actually, it is wrong for them to even treat a film they are distributing, as their baby. If at all, it is the baby of the producer and the director. For them, it is a product in which they deal. So why at all should they get so personal in the first place?

Had even one distributor remained objective in his judgement, he would not have hiked the price. Another area in which distributors err is in applying logic to gauge a film’s business potential. The only logic that can be applied to assess a film’s business is that it clicks if it is liked by the audience, and doesn’t, if it is not liked. All the other things are secondary. But what the distributors of JSK must’ve calculated is the craze for Salman Khan. What they must’ve also considered in judging the film’s potential is its hit music. They must have not overlooked the fact that it was soon going to be vacation time. But what they all forgot to consider is that all of the above considerations merit attention if and only if a film has intrinsic worth. If not, the above don’t matter much. Dil Se.. had, in recent times, proved it. And still the distributors of Jaanam Samjha Karo chose to ignore the lesson taught by Dil Se... They must now all be crying. But it’s too late!

– Komal Nahta

Cinema Controllers’ Condition: Cause For Concern

Cinema controllers are the worst hit these days. On the one hand are the huge rentals they are required to pay the landlords. And on the other, films doing so badly at the box-office that they often have to give some share to distributors even though films incur deficits. That is to say, controllers or weekly contractors have to fulfil their weekly obligations to landlords and, at the same time, cannot ignore the interests of distributors. As a result, many controllers are facing heavy losses in their business and are contemplating giving up control of cinemas.

The situation is as alarming in Bombay as in other circuits. The poor performance of films and their short run, coupled with a slow flow of releases, have made controllers press the panic button.

Metro, one of the most prestigious main cinemas of Bombay, has been forced to screen Hote Hote Pyaar Ho Gaya from 23rd April on percentage basis rather than on the usual theatre rental. Another main cinema of Bombay — Minerva — has been given up by its controllers (V.I.P.) and its bookings are now being done by the landlords themselves (Mehras). The weekly rent has resultantly come down by almost a lakh of rupees.

There is one controller of Bombay and Maharashtra, who is reported to be incurring a loss of almost a lakh of rupees every week. The case of Bombay’s Central Plaza, renovated recently at a heavy cost, is truly pitiable. The cinema has not been doing well despite the renovation and the latest sound system. It offered a heavy MG to the distributor of Jaanam Samjha Karo and with the film faring the way it is, the cinema now stands to lose heavily in this deal. Why, the film did not draw full houses in its very first week at the cinema.

The position of cinemas other than the main cinemas is no different. Cinemax, Jaya and Diamond cinemas of Bombay have been screening films which haven’t collected enough to even cover the rentals!

The percentage collections of various films in Bombay in the week from 2nd April to 8th April, 1999 are worth taking a look at:

Film                                                          Week                                    Percentage

Jaanam Samjha Karo                              1st                                           75.06%

Putlibai                                                      1st                                           48.24%

Purnasatya                                                1st                                           27.67%

International Khiladi                               2nd                                         37%

Kahani Kismat Ki                                     2nd                                         18.25%

Aarzoo                                                       3rd                                          33% 

Aaag Hi Aag                                             4th                                          26.74%

Lal Baadshah                                           5th                                          14.88%

Kaun                                                         6th                                          31.46%

Kachche Dhaage                                      7th                                          31.24%

Daag The Fire                                          8th                                          28.70%

Hum Aapke Dil Mein ….                          11th                                        37%

Bade Miyan Chote Miyan                        25th                                        30.67%

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai                               25th                                        26.15%

Of course, the week was not exactly the best because examinations of schools and colleges were on and there was also the opposition of cricket matches. In some parts of the country, the terrible summer heat also adversely affected collections in the afternoon shows.

But if the box-office scenario doesn’t look up soon, tougher times are ahead for controllers. Are they heading for a catastrophe?

 – Gautam Mutha

COMMENTS

O.P. BANSAL (Rajsthan distributor)

We conveniently blame the public for not patronising cinemas when, actually, the fault lies with our films and their prices, with theatre rentals and admission rates.

FIROZ NADIADWALA (Producer)

Unless a film is a major hit, distributors never give overflow to producers. ‘Overflow’ actually means that the flow (of funds) is over.

MADHUMALTI (Bombay distributor & Marathi film producer)

High admission rates in cinemas are killing the industry. People prefer visiting hotels to cinemas because they know that new films can be seen free on cable TV and satellite channels after some weeks of their release. The scene is so bad that I am afraid to produce a film. If the public is not coming to see Hindi films, how will they be keen to see a Marathi film?

RAMESH RAIKER (Bombay-Karnataka distributor & exhibitor)

If I, as an exhibitor, can survive the coming two months in the face of opposition of World Cup cricket and poor flow of releases, I can safely hope to survive for the next 20 years.

BRIJESH TANDON (U.P. cinema controller & Delhi-U.P. distributor)

The response among exhibitors to my BIWI NO. 1 is simply fantastic. The terms I am being offered are mind-blowing and, at places, comparable to those of KKHH. Equally fantastic is the publicity material of the film.

VIMAL AGARWAL (Bombay distributor)

Theatres the world over don’t charge rentals. The system of rentals exists only in India. In other countries, films are screened in cinemas on percentage basis.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

High Admission Rates Prove Suicidal

While cinemas of Aurangabad realised the importance of reasonable admission rates and brought down their rates one by one, the C.I. distributor of Jaanam Samjha Karo seemed to have burnt his fingers on the count of admission rates itself. Since the tax-free service charge of Re. 1 per ticket was to come into effect in the state of Madhya Pradesh from 1st April, the distributor of JSK decided to hike admission rates by further Rs. 4 in the hope that the paying public would be led to believe that the entire hike was prompted by governmental action. But the tax-free service charge did not become operative from 1st April. Therefore, the hike of the entire Rs. 5 per ticket was due to the distributor’s action. Result: the film did not command even a decent initial in C.I. Yet another pointer to the harm which high admission rates can do to a film.

Looking Before Leaping

While on the topic of admission rates in cinemas, it would not be out of place here to mention that the dull opening of several films these days is also sometimes due to the high rates of admission. Since rates are quite prohibitive, middle-class and lower middle-class audience wait for a film’s reports to be out, before they visit a cinema to see it. When admission rates were more affordable, it was a different story, but now, one has to think twice before going to a cinema. As a cinegoer quipped, “When a consumer asks the rates of vegetables to three vegetable vendors before buying them, how can you expect him to rush to a cinema on the first day itself? And the rates of vegetables are Rs. 20 to 25 per kg. while cinema tickets for a family of five or six can cost up to Rs. 200!”

Guddu’s Good Deed

In last week’s issue, we had carried a news item of famous qawwali singer Naseem Bano’s plight and how producer-director Guddu Dhanoa planned to pay her a visit. Well, Guddu did pay the legendary singer a visit on 3rd April and was moved to tears on seeing her living in the staircase of a building at Antop Hill, Bombay. He shifted her to hospital that very moment, and the singer is now undergoing treatment for paralysis. Guddu’s good deed went unnoticed when a leading Bombay newspaper incorrectly reported that Maharashtra’s cultural affairs minister, Pramod Navalkar, had got the singer admitted to Guru Nanak Hospital. But, as Guddu puts it, “Who gets the credit is not important. What is important is that Naseem Bano is now being looked after.”

Hollywood Versus Bollywood

Imagine Subhash Ghai showing the trial of his under-production film, Taal, to Yash Chopra, Rajkumar Santoshi, Rakesh Roshan, Shekhar Kapur, Sooraj Barjatya, Dharmesh Darshan, Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Raj Kanwar etc. Or Sooraj showing his current venture, Hum Saath Saath Hain to 10 other directors. Unimaginable, isn’t it? But that’s what Hollywood’s George Lucas did. He showed his under-production Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace to friends Steven Spielberg, Ran Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Frank Darabont and Larry Kasdan. Most of his friends hadn’t liked his first Star Wars. After releasing his current film on 19th May, George Lucas will start writing the script of his next Star Wars film which will begin in June 2000.

JAANAM SAMJHA KARO

Karishma International’s Jaanam Samjha Karo is the story of a Casanova and a club danseuse. The danseuse yearns to be married to a decent guy but her profession is such that she is also sceptical about whether she would ever find a decent match. Add to that, her aunts who would rather that she danced and thereby earned money for them. It so happens that the Casanova, who is heavily into womanising, is one day forced to project the girl as his wife in order to win the approval of his grandfather. The grandpa is thrilled with his grandson’s choice, and the girl herself is keen that the drama turns into reality. But before that happens, some misunderstanding takes place between the girl and the boy. Ultimately, the two do get married.

On the plus side of the film are its music, the presence and popularity of Salman Khan, the sincere performance put in by Urmila Matondkar and the mangalsutra angle in the drama. But on the negative side, the story offers nothing new, and the screenplay has been very shoddily written. The scripting (Rajkumar Santoshi) is so half-hearted that hardly anything makes an impact on the audience. No care has been taken of continuity, and characters flit in and out of India as if they were going for a walk. The first half is quite pathetic with excessive songs, a couple of which aren’t even very appealing musically. What, however, saves the drama from deteriorating too much is Jaspal Bhatti’s comedy. The post-interval portion is somewhat better. But even here, emotions fall flat and fail to touch the heart because there’s no proper justification for them. Climax is inappropriate. The four to five reels before the climax are the only good part of the film. The change of heart of at least three characters in the film (Salman Khan, Monica Bedi and Sadashiv Amarapurkar) is the least convincing and appears to be an attempt at wrapping up the drama. Dialogues are witty at several places and hilariously entertaining at several others.

Salman Khan scores in light scenes but his lack of interest in the film is all too evident at several places. His performance is, therefore, not consistent. But he looks simply dashing and dances just too wonderfully. Urmila Matondkar delivers a sensitive performance and is endearing. Shammi Kapoor’s character lacks the desired sensitivity; he does fairly well. Jaspal Bhatti is excellent and brings the house down with laughter but only on a couple of occasions. Monica Bedi is poor. Shakti Kapoor fails to impress. His coming to India all the way from London in the climax looks ridiculous, to say the least. Sadashiv Amarapurkar is average. Rohini Hattangady leaves a mark. Laxmikant Berde has been wasted. Bindu, Navneet Nishan, Kannu Gill, Mushtaq Khan, Grusha Kapoor, Ghanshyam, baby Gargi, baby Ashwini, Ashwin Kaushal and Deepshikha are barely average. Asha Sharma lends fair support.

Andaleb M. Sultanpuri does not make too impressive a debut as director. Not only is his understanding of the script not proper, his shot takings also leave a lot to be desired. Anu Malik’s music score is excellent. ‘Love hua’, the title song and ‘Sabki baaratein aayee’ are the three best numbers. ‘O ho Chandni’ is also well-tuned. The dance steps and locations on which the songs have been picturised are both very beautiful. The picturisation of ‘Love hua’ is superb. Foreign locations are quite eye-filling. But W.B. Rao’s lighting and camerawork in indoor shooting are shockingly poor!

On the whole, Jaanam Samjha Karo has good initial value, limited entertainment value for youngsters only, Salman Khan and hit music on the positive side, but a weak script on the negative side. Considering its high price and lack of substance to sustain, it will barely manage to reach the average mark. Business in Bombay and South will be better.

Released on 2-4-’99 at Central Plaza and 20 other cinemas of Bombay by Vimal Agarwal thru R.M. Ahuja & Co. Publicity & opening: excellent. (Some shows in some Bombay cinemas were cancelled on Friday due to tension.) …….Also released all over. Opening was bumper except in C.I. (partly due to hike in admission rates).

LATEST POSITION

The Idd holiday on 29th March helped boost collections. …….With vacations around the corner, better times seem to be ahead for the box-office.

International Khiladi has generated good shares in the 1st week due to a bumper opening and an additional holiday, but collections at many places dropped quite dramatically from 5th day onwards. The 2nd week started quite dull at many centres. 1st week Bombay 55,02,838 (77.15%) from 14 cinemas (12 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 11,99,869 from 8 cinemas (1 in matinee), Padra 1,52,429, Rajkot 2,62,664 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,69,711, Adipur 1,16,582; Solapur 2,90,658; Delhi 43,85,954 (70.94%) from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 4,34,031 (100%), Agra 4,60,525, Varanasi 2,84,121, Allahabad 2,48,653, Bareilly 2,09,598 (93.75%), Hardwar 96,000 (52.48%); Calcutta (6 days) 25,77,075 from 19 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Nagpur 5,88,278 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,64,208, Amravati 2,07,697, Akola 2,09,547, Raipur 1,76,946, Bhilai 1,47,601 from 2 cinemas, Durg 74,596, Jalgaon 2,08,938, Bilaspur 1,27,609 from 2 cinemas; Indore 1,28,000 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 2,61,893 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 8,26,962 from 4 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 32,98,604 from 17 cinemas; Vijayawada (gross) 2,24,000.

………..

‘GODMOTHER’ PRODUCERS TO MOVE AHMEDABAD HIGH COURT

Gramco Films, the producers of Godmother, have decided to move the Ahmedabad high court to appeal against the judgement delivered recently by a Rajkot court on the film’s release. The film has been at the centre of a controversy ever since it was alleged that the central character in the film (played by Shabana Azmi) closely resembled Santokben Jadeja, well-known for her political connections.

Santokben approached the Rajkot court, seeking a ban on the release of the film, on defamation grounds. The Rajkot court ruled that Godmother could be released after two specific scenes were altered. One scene shows Shabana lighting a cigarette in a taluka panchayat, and the second scene shows her drinking an intoxicating potion and thereafter engaging herself in a song sequence.

The film, it may be mentioned here, has already been cleared by the CBFC.

GANDHI BABU DEAD

Orissa distributor Gandhi Babu expired at a hospital in Cuttack on 9th March. He had been rushed there from Behrampur four days earlier, following sudden illness. He was a partner in Hira Mani Films, Cuttack.

TELUGU FILM BANNED

Telugu film English Pellam East Godavary Mogudu has been banned by the Andhra Pradesh government because it contains scenes allegedly violating the norms of judiciary and demoralising the status of judges. The film’s screening has been terminated from several centres of Andhra Pradesh after a two-week run.

BAN ON HINDI FILMS IN NEPAL LIFTED

The ban on Hindi film screenings in Kathmandu was called off after just 10 days of its imposition. The ban had to be withdrawn as there aren’t enough Nepalese films to be screened in all the cinemas of the capital city of Nepal.

The ban had been announced by the Nepal Democratic Co-ordination Front ostensibly to prevent the Nepalese culture from being corrupted by Hindi films. It had come into effect from 15th March. The decision to lift the ban was taken at a meeting of the NFDC and the Nepal Motion Picture Association as well as the Producers’ Association, held on 23rd March. However, all cinemas of Kathmandu valley will be required to screen Nepalese films for 150 days in a year. The condition of compulsory screening of Nepalese films will spread to cinemas outside Kathmandu gradually.

*           *           *

The 6 p.m. shows in Nepal are the weakest due to the poor law and order situation in the country. After the initial two or three days, the cinemas record barely 10 to 15% collections in the 6 p.m. shows. In Kathmandu, it is the 3 p.m. show which is the strongest while in places other than Kathmandu, it is the 12 noon show that is strong.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Hindustan Ki Kasam’

The recording of background music for Devgan’s Films’ Hindustan Ki Kasam began on March 30 at Sunny Super Sounds. The film is produced and directed by Veeru Devgan. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Manisha Koirala, Sushmita Sen, Prem Chopra, Shakti Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, Farida Jalal, Navin Nischol, Shahbaaz Khan, Pramod Moutho, Kashmira Shah, Johny Lever, Goga Kapoor, Brij Gopal, Pinky Chinoy, Kader Khan and Mallika. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi. Music: Sukhwinder Singh. Dances: Raju Khan. Action: Jai Singh. Art: Bijon Dasgupta. Sound: Rakesh Ranjan. Editor: Suresh Chaturvedi. The film is presented by Bharat Shah.

‘Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai’ In New Zealand

Producer-director Rakesh Roshan and the entire unit of Film Kraft’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai will leave for Christ Church and Queenstown in New Zealand on April 6 for a 19-day shooting stint. Two songs and several scenes will be picturised on Hrithik Roshan, Amisha Patel and Tanaaz Currim (who has been added to the cast). The film co-stars Ashish Vidyarthi, Dalip Tahhil, Farida Jalal, Payal Malhotra, Mohnish Bahl, Rajesh Tandon, Vrajesh Hirjee, Satish Shah, master Abhishek and Anupam Kher. Story-screenplay: Ravi Kapoor and Honey Irani. Dialogues: Sagar Sarhadi. Music: Rajesh Roshan. Lyrics: Saawan Kumar, Ibrahim Ashq and Vijay Akela. Cinematography: Kabir Lall. Action: Tinnu Verma. Sound: Navin Zaveri. Dances: Farah Khan. Editor: Sanjay Verma.

ANNOUNCEMENT & LAUNCHING

Shakeel Noorani Teams Govinda, Twinkle In ‘Joru Ka Ghulam’

Noorani Films Corporation’s Joru Ka Ghulam was launched on March 27 with the recording of a song penned by Sameer, set to tune by Aadesh Shrivastava and rendered by Sonu Nigam and chorus. The film stars Govinda, Twinkle Khanna, Johny Lever, Satish Kaushik and Paresh Rawal. It is being produced and directed by Shakeel Noorani. Writers: Yunus Sejawal and Ikram Akhtar. Cinematography: Dinesh Telkar. Dances: Ganesh. Art: Vasant Katkar. Sound: S.K. Srivastava. Editor: Sudhir Verma.

Guddu Dhanoa’s ‘Bichhoo’ Rolls With Week-Long Schedule

Guddu Dhanoa’s Bichhoo, presented by Narinder Dhanoa, went before the camera on March 24 with a week-long schedule (till March 30) at Ace Jam, Gateway of India and on various locales in Bombay. Bobby Deol participated alongwith Virendra Saxena. Being made under the banner of Bhagwan Chitra Mandir, the film co-stars Ranee Mukerji and Raj Babbar. It has music by Anand Raaj Anand and lyrics by Sameer. One song has already been recorded. Veena Sood is the executive producer.

Maharashtra Government Announces Policy For Cinema Multiplexes

The Maharashtra government has announced the policy for cinema multiplexes, valid all over Maharashtra including Bombay city. The policy for multiplexes is actually a part of the Tourism Policy announced to coincide with the Year of Tourism. The Tourism Policy has four components of which the third component relates to the package for multiplexes.

Excerpts from the policy:

“The multiplexes will have criterion for minimum number of screens for Bombay city and outside Bombay and can have tourism-related amenities within the multiplexes.

“The multiplexes shall be eligible for exemption from entertainment duty for a period of 4-5 years. They will also be entitled to stamp duty relief if they are located outside the municipal limits.

“For the projects of Indian entrepreneurs, joint venture projects and 100% projects of foreign companies, there shall be different norms within the multiplex policy.

“The cinema houses in the multiplexes will be exempted from sales and purchase tax for the cinematographic equipment purchased by them.

“Existing cinema houses can also convert into multiplexes under the policy.”

The Tourism Policy shall be implemented by a single-window clearance system.

FIVE MULTIPLEX PROPOSALS ALREADY CLEARED

The Maharashtra government has issued letters of intent to five parties for construction of cinema multiplexes in the state. Of the five, three projects okayed are those of producer Nitin Manmohan and his brother Hemant; Videocon; and Modi International.

Nitin and Hemant have already started work on their project in Pune. Their multiplex will have four cinema screens. Manmohan Shetty (of Adlabs) is also planning to construct a multiplex in Bombay city. Bharatbhai Shah, whose multiplex is coming up in Gujarat, is also reportedly contemplating building one in Bombay.

Trade Ecstatic
Industry Hails Multiplex Policy

SHYAM SHROFF
(Distributor, Exhibitor)

“I am extremely positive about the new policy. My prediction is that there would be nearly 500 new screens that will come up in the next couple of years in Maharashtra, thanks to this policy. This will definitely provide a more conducive situation for distributors.

“I do not think, the admission rates will reduce drastically right away. So, I feel, there is no immediate cause for concern for the existing cinema owners. The entertainment tax that goes to the government will now go to the builders of multiplexes in return for their investments. Thus, the admission rates will remain unchanged for a while. It is only when a lot of cinemas come up and start competing against each other that the admission rates will begin to be slashed.

“It must be pointed out here that even though the government has taken the right step in formulating this policy, there are still a few areas in film business that are continuously being ignored. I was just talking to a government official the other day about it. I told him, ‘It is nice that you are boosting the development of multiplexes and all that, but how do you plan to contain cable piracy? How can you expect people to go and spend Rs. 60 and 70 in cinemas, when they can view the same film at home without spending any money, so to speak.’ I also told him that, on the one hand, the government asks us to make films of international standards and, on the other, the same government imposes so many rules and regulations on us. These things must be considered with gravity before going all out in praising the policy.”

PRANLAL DOSHI
(Exhibitor)

“Though I haven’t read the policy yet, going by the proposal, I can say that it is a welcome step. Yet, certain things need consideration. As we all know, multiplexes will require large areas of land, which is simply not available in a city like Bombay. I would like to ask the government if it is going to provide FSI.

“Secondly, the existing cinemas will be affected very badly by the tax holiday offered to multiplexes. I mean, it doesn’t seem fair that one cinema pays 60% entertainment tax while another pays nothing at all. In fact, we (CEAI) will be meeting the concerned government officials very soon and will make a case for them to ease the present structure of entertainment tax.”

VINAY CHOKSEY
(Distributor, Exhibitor)

“The policy will prove beneficial to the distributors because it will lead to more screens. As regards the fate of existing cinemas, I do agree that it isn’t a good omen for them. But, in my opinion, the multiplexes will mostly attract big films with big star cast etc. while the old cinema halls will continue to remain good outlets for ‘B’ grade films.

“Another thing that should go in favour of the existing cinemas is the high price of land in cities like Bombay. Construction of new multiplexes will require large areas of land, which when bought will not be so cost-effective keeping the low returns from exhibition in mind. So, eventually, there will remain only two options — you construct one on a plot lying idle with you or convert an existing cinema into a multiplex.”

SHRAVAN SHROFF
(Distributor, Exhibitor)

“If I were asked to, I would give the Maharashtra government 1000 points out of 100 for formulating the policy. The best thing about it is that it is not protectionist like the usual government policies. No one is unduly protected under it. Of course, the existing cinemas will have to pull up their socks and improve or else face closure. On the brighter side, they also have the option to convert into multiplexes. After all, they have an established presence and infrastructure, and can be converted into multiplexes in six months flat. This should prove very advantageous to the existing cinemas. Apart from that, the policy will lead to a larger number of screens which, in turn, well lead to a growth in the number of films being produced. All in all, both, as a distributor and as an exhibitor, I am more than happy with the policy.”

KIRAN SHANTARAM
(Producer, Exhibitor)

“I am not exactly aware of the issue. But it appears to be a very good policy on the face of it. This is the time for multiplexes and it is heartening to see that the state government has decided to encourage them.”

SAAWAN KUMAR TAK
(Producer-Director)

“Anything that eases the burden of entertainment tax on films is a welcome step. I am completely pleased with the policy. As far as existing cinemas are concerned, their owners will scramble to sell them in favour of multiplexes as soon as the policy comes into effect. So, one need not be unduly worried about their fate. A larger number of screens will be available for films which will also prove to be a boon for the industry.”

PARVESH MEHRA
(Exhibitor, Producer)

“The policy is the sign of our times. Obviously, the existing cinemas will have to either make way for multiplexes or perish as soon as the policy comes into effect. I am more than happy with the policy.”

DO YOU KNOW?

* JAANAM SAMJHA KARO is the first film to have been released simultaneously in two cinemas in the same complex — Ramakrishna 70mm and Ramakrishna 35mm — in Hyderabad.

* INTERNATIONAL KHILADI has created theatre records in 1st week at the following cinemas of the following stations of U.P.: Vasant, Ghaziabad (2,91,520/-), Darpan, Saharanpur (2,29,100/-), Nandan, Aligarh (2,53,679/-), Vishwamitra, Allahabad (2,48,652/-), Dilshad, Moradabad (2,27,312/-), Jubilee, Gorakhpur (2,18,212/-), Prabhat, Dehradun (2,32,217/-), Maya, Muzaffarnagar (1,75,438/-), Saraswati, Varanasi (2,84,121/-), Nishat, Shahjahanpur (1,33,100/-; city record), Prasad, Bareilly (2,09,589/-), Shubham, Lucknow (4,34,030/-, all full) and Menka, Meerut (2,33,478/-; all full).

* INTERNATIONAL KHILADI has created a theatre record by collecting 2,07,697/- in 1st week at Shyam, Amravati.

YOU ASKED IT

You editorial about script writers last week was depressing. Why do you write such pieces?

– If reality is depressing, why don’t you want to face it? Will turning your face away from reality improve matters? If yes, you are right. If not, the situation must improve and for that, it is imperative to first face the situation.

Why is so much street publicity of films done in Bombay and not in other circuits?

– Perhaps, because the producers live in Bombay!

Dil Se.. was shown on Zee TV last Sunday. Will its all-India distributors not claim compensation from the makers?

– If they go to court, they will succeed because the distribution agreements must’ve specified that the producer cannot sell satellite rights so soon. 

THE HUMANE SIDE OF THE FILM INDUSTRY

That the industry is not so ruthless after all has been brought out by what producer-director Guddu Dhanoa plans to do today (3rd April). A news item in a national daily this morning spoke of the pitiable condition in which celebrated qawwali queen of yesteryears, Naseem Bano, is today. The singer, whose voice once upon a time serenaded presidents and entertained the who’s who of the world, today lies huddled in a dark and smelly enclave beneath the staircase of the building in the central government servants’ colony at Antop Hill in Bombay. She is a victim of paralysis and is, therefore, immobilised.

A stranger, who happened to visit his relatives in the colony some time back, recognised her and is now ensuring that the relatives provide Naseem Bano food, at least.

Naseem Bano has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Sanjay Khan and Kader Khan in the industry and is expecting one or more of them to help her. When the stranger contacted Dilip Kumar, the thespian is reported to have asked him to write out his petition!

Now coming to the not-so-ruthless-after-all side of the industry. On reading the emotional report in the morning paper, Guddu Dhanoa has decided to visit the great singer today itself. And this, even though he has never met her all his life. Said Guddu to Information, “It is really unfortunate that nobody should be coming to Naseem Bano’s assistance. I hope, our singers and others in the music industry do something for the celebrity of her times.”

Shocking Statistics

The first quarter of 1999 has gone and it has left the film industry in not too happy a position. Of the 27 films released in the first three months of the year, including three dubbed and one in English-Hindi, barely have 15% proved earners. Not a single of the winners has been a universal hit. If Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain is expected to do a business of almost Rs. 3.75 to 4 crore in Bombay, it has not done well in Rajasthan where it will not even cover its cost! That is to say, business has not been uniform.

It would alarm many to know that the production, distribution and exhibition sectors have suffered losses of over Rs. 33 crore in the last three months. Producers of a majority of the released films have suffered losses on the table because of inability to recover the total cost of production from territorial sales. Of course, some of them will earn from sale of satellite television rights but that at a later date. Some others, whose films have bombed and do not star saleable heroes, may not even earn much from satellite, cable TV and other rights. For the distributors and exhibitors, there’s no scope for reducing their losses.

Another alarming feature of the releases of the first quarter is the delivery hassles that producers and distributors had to engage themselves in. Whether it was a mega project like Aa Ab Laut Chalen or a small film like Kahani Kismat Ki, there were tensions in the release of 16 of the 27 films — that is, in more than 59% of the total number of films released. The tensions were, of course, varied. In the case of some films, distributors pleaded inability to take deliveries at the contracted price; in a few cases, producers cried foul and announced a price hike to tide over difficulties. Some films simply couldn’t be released in several circuits due either to lack of buyers or to existing buyers developing ice-cold feet. Among the films in the last category are Lo Main Aagayaa, Jahan Tum Le Chalo, Chalo America, Krantipath, Aaag Hi Aag, Kahani Kismat Ki, to name a few. At least 17 of the 24 Hindi original films released between January and March were either star-cast films or made by regular banners or both of the above. And there were delivery problems in at least 11 of these 17 films.

Shocking statistics, all this! But, as we all know, the industry is full of shock-proof people. For how long will they remain shock-proof? That is the question.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Great News

The best news for Bollywood in a long time is the Maharashtra government’s new policy for cinema multiplexes in the state, gazetted recently. Not only are big film people keen on constructing multiplexes in Maharashtra because of the lucrative benefits attached but even industrial houses, not connected with the film world, can be expected to jump onto the bandwagon. What’s more, foreign companies, which had been eyeing the Indian entertainment market for a long time now but were sceptical to make a headway because of the vagaries of the production and distribution sectors (not to talk of the indiscipline and lack of organisation), will now feel secure in investing in multiplexes. For, there will be none of the indiscipline and vagaries of the other two sectors, in the exhibition sector.

Comedy Film Takes Serious Turn

“David Dhawan murdabad.” This and similar slogans were heard at Palpa, a ‘C’ class centre in Nepal on 27th March. David Dhawan’s Gharwali Baharwali was running at the centre when the incident took place, in which irate students tore the film’s posters and even tried to set the reels of the film on fire. The audience in Nepal don’t seem to have forgotten the “incorrect portrayal” of Nepal, its women and its culture, by David in the film. The screening had to be stopped and the film was discontinued immediately. Palpa is not the first place from where Gharwali Baharwali had to be discontinued. Consequently, the Nepal distributor (Bara Movies) has had to suffer a heavy loss for the compensation of which he is running from pillar to post — sorry, from the film’s Bihar distributor to its producer. Neither the Bihar distributor nor producer Tutu Sharma have volunteered to come to the Nepal distributor’s rescue. The Nepal Motion Picture Association has requested Tutu to compensate the Nepal distributor but since the Association is getting no response from Tutu, it has decided not to register any future film of Tutu Sharma.

Fatal Shock

For quite some time now, there has been talk in trade circles about the high risk involved in the huge gamble our films have become today. Now comes a tragic bit of news that further substantiates the point. Following the demise of Orissa distributor Gandhi Babu in Cuttack on 9th March, his partner, Naresh Malhotra, sent a letter to financier Dinesh Gandhi whose Laawaris was the last film their concern had distributed. In the letter, Naresh Malhotra explains that Gandhi Babu had only recently resumed distribution activity, after a gap of 10 years, with the Anil-Juhi starrer, Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate. The film fared miserably and Gandhi Babu suffered a loss of Rs. 5 lakh. Some time later, there was a difference of opinion between the partners (Gandhi Babu and Malhotra) over the Akshaye Khanna starrer, Laawaris. While Naresh Malhotra did not want to take delivery, Gandhi expressed hope in the film and insisted that they go ahead and release it. He got the contracted price reduced by Rs. 3 lakh from the producer, and released the film in Orissa on 5th March. Unfortunately, the film’s poor opening and a dismal audience turnout at a Behrampur cinema on the release day gave him a mental shock. So big was the shock that he had to be rushed to a Cuttack hospital where he succumbed to death four days later.

Will this unfortunate death serve as an eye-opener for all?

Shah Rukh’s New Fan

Among Shah Rukh Khan’s fans, who must be countless, there’s a new addition. Star-secretary and producer Rikku is the actor’s newest fan. Ever since Shah Rukh made a special appearance in Gaj Gamini, being produced by Rikku and M.F. Husain and directed by the latter, Rikku can’t stop singing the actor’s praises. And not just because Shah Rukh has worked in the film for free. But also because he co-operated splendidly and worked sincerely for five days (seven shifts) during which he completed his work in the film. Shah Rukh readily agreed to make a special appearance in the film when its heroine, Madhuri Dixit, requested him to do so.

Three Cheers To Three Heroes

The bumper opening which Jaanam Samjha Karo has taken this week, once again proves three things: (1) that hit music has a magical effect on a film’s initial value; (2) that promotion on television helps a film tremendously; and (3) that Salman Khan is a hot favourite of the youngsters. So three cheers to the three heroes — Anu Malik, Tips (for fabulous promotion) and Salman Khan.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Agency For Writers

Dear Sir,

I have read your editorial Films Today: Bodies Without Backbone with tremendous interest. It is a timely piece of writing. It couldn’t have been written with more sensitivity, more anguish. You have rightly issued a warning that if no corrective measures are taken sooner rather than later, nothing will stop the apocalypse.

Undoubtedly, the quality of scripts of our films has deteriorated progressively whereas the filmmaking techniques have improved vastly, and production costs, sky-rocketed. But who is to blame for the present sorry state of affairs? Not film writers, indeed. They must be a clever lot if they can palm off bad scripts; and producers must be patently naive to accept them.

After all, who decides on scripts? Producers and directors, of course. Then why do they buy bad scripts? Robert Evans, a former head of Hollywood’s Paramount Pictures, once observed: The script is your biggest star, and the mistake too many of us make is covering up inferior material with star names. Isn’t this true of Bollywood too? No one has the time and patience to look for good stories. And you’ve observed rightly: Producers are in a hurry to make proposals. Directors can’t afford to waste time on story-sittings because they have other projects in the pipeline. Then, if their films bomb, why blame writers?

It is true that good scripts do not come easily — even in Hollywood! Syd Field, a Hollywood writer and producer, observes in his book Screenplay: The Foundation Of Screenwriting that, on an average, 99 out of 100 screenplays he read weren’t good enough to invest a million or more dollars in.

If that is the situation in Hollywood, we cannot expect it any better in Bollywood. Then what is the way out? Robert Evans has a suggestion: I would have six people working for me finding good writers and interesting screenplays. What with the never-before budgets of their films, Bollywood producers should have the financial resources and the inclination to emulate Mr. Evans. But has any Bollywood producer worth his name taken such a step so far?

The popular harangue remains, nevertheless, that there are no good writers available. Even stalwarts like Mr. Yash Chopra and Mr. Subhash Ghai have made such observations in the press. This is a defeatist attitude. I do appreciate that it is not humanly possible for producers and directors to entertain and listen to every writer worth his salt, who approaches them.  For, to be a writer for films does not need any education or training. Anybody can proclaim himself to be a film writer.

Then what should a really competent and genuine but uninitiated writer do to gain access to genuine and serious producers/directors to show them his wares? As in advanced countries, here we do not have the institution of literary agents who assess a new writer’s work and liaise with producers on his behalf. I suggest that the Film Writers’ Association ought to give a thought towards forming an agency which could assess the work of its members to recommend to producers and directors — of course, on merit.

– CHIRANJIT DHAWAN
Bombay
(Chiranjit Dhawan is a novelist, film writer & journalist)

INFORMATION MEETS

“I turned a producer out of compulsion.
Once the film’s shooting is complete,
the producer starts thinking of the vyaj factor.”

– KUKU KOHLI

KOMAL NAHTA

There’s simply no time.  He has to zip off to Shreenathji for which he has to board the flight to Udaipur. But before that, he has to complete so many things on hand, which includes meeting a number of visitors. Still, Kuku Kohli doesn’t lose his nerve and has the courtesy to ask you, “Kya lenge aap?” You smile, “Kuchh nahin, bas aapka interview lenge.” The joke is not lost on him — well, actually, how can it? After all, his Anari No. 1 is a comedy supposed to be full of jokes. Anyway, that sets the ball rolling for a free tête-à-tête over glasses of delicious chhas.

Kuku Kohli may not exactly be very publicity-savvy but he comes across as a straightforward person and a down-to-earth one at that. In between his professional history, the director of such films as Phool Aur Kaante, Suhaag and Haqeeqat spoke about his new film, what made him turn producer, how he managed to complete a Govinda starrer in less than a year and other things.

The first question, obviously, would relate to the quick completion of your film. How did you manage to complete ANARI NO. 1 in less than a year’s time despite the fact that it stars Govinda?

– The most important reason for completing the film so fast is that I had a ready script in my hands when I started the film. Since I was very clear about the script, I could manipulate the dates. The credit also goes to Aroona ji (Aroona Irani) who has handled the project very well. She has been a great organiser. A director couldn’t ask for a better producer than Aroona ji. I never had to wait for anything. Even when there was a shift of location, she used to organise things at the new location before we used to reach there. We always used to work with two cameras and had two generator sets when shooting on different locations. This ensured that most of the field-work was done before I reached the second location. My artistes also cooperated wonderfully. Govinda may have any kind of reputation but let me tell you, he never came late on our sets, nor did we have any date problems with him. In fact, our film would have been complete and released on 22nd November last year had it not been for the death of Govinda’s father. That calamity in the actor’s life did affect us but we managed to complete the film quite fast despite that.

If Govinda was not troublesome, what manipulations did you have to do?

– (Laughs) No, no, I didn’t mean manipulations in that sense. What I did mean was manipulation of staff, unit hands etc. A producer or director has to constantly manipulate things, he has got to be smart, he has to manipulate equipments, staff. There has to be perfect co-ordination between the production and organisation staff. If there is no proper co-ordination, a producer can lose upto 50, 60 or even 70 shifts. Translated in monetary terms, this could mean a loss of 1.5 to 2 crore. I may have directed only five films but I’ve been in this industry for 28 years and I’ve seen a lot.

Did the fact that Aroona Irani is an artiste also help in the quick completion of the film?

– Yes, it did. The other artistes gave her a lot of cooperation. And not just because she is herself an artiste but also because Aroona ji works like a unit hand, she is out of her room at 6 o’clock on an outdoor schedule if the shooting is to begin at 7 o’clock. I can make a film in 50 days provided I have a producer like Aroona ji. Would you believe that Govinda’s entire work has been completed in 39 shifts only?

How many shifts did the entire film take to complete?

– Less than 50.

Why does everyone say that your film has been made in the David Dhawan mould? Is it true?

– Maybe because the film is titled Anari No. 1. Actually, I had wanted to title it Anari but that title was with D. Rama Naidu. Anari No. 1 was the next best choice.

But does your film have the David Dhawan brand of comedy?

– Anybody can make a comedy film. It is because David has given so many comedy hits that everybody has started calling comedy films the David Dhawan brand. I have made Suhaag earlier, which also was a comedy. Akshay Kumar’s character was comic in that film. Anari No. 1 has good emotions too, besides comedy. Its story line is not thin. There’s a message too in the film.

Is it so important to have a message in a film? Do audience really care for messages?

– If you can give a message or convey something more than the story, it’s good.

But do cinegoers attach any significance to messages in a film?

– If there’s a good message conveyed through the film, they’ll respect the film and its maker. All big makers give some message or the other in their films. This is much the same case as the difference between old songs and new. The old songs had depth, the new ones don’t have it.

Is it because your earlier films didn’t have messages that you have not got your due as a filmmaker despite the fact that you have given a super-hit and at least two other successful films?

– On the contrary, all my films have had some message or the other. As regards not having got my due, I think, it’s all destiny. I’ll give you an example. When you go to Juhu Beach, you may dig a hole in the sand and find water after one foot, but another person may not find water for 10 feet. So it’s all a matter of luck which, in our industry, counts a lot. Luck may be the factor responsible for me not getting my due. Maybe, there’s still time for the recognition. But let me tell you, I’m working sincerely with whatever experience I have. And yes, maybe, I’m not aware of the manipulations that one has to resort to in the industry to get his due. Here, I use the word ‘manipulation’ as it should be used.

How did you think of turning a producer?

– It was out of compulsion. After completing shooting, promotion and release of a film are equally important. Releasing a film today is not a simple task. There’s a tendency among producers to push everything and hurry up at the time of release. However, if you are the producer also, you have things under your control. You can’t do the detailing if you are only the director. Producers, once the film’s shooting is complete, start thinking of the vyaj, about the interest factor. That is also the reason I’ve decided to be more careful about the producers for whom I direct films in future. I don’t want to make films for producers who are only money-minded, they must be ambitious too, they must be concerned not just with the money aspect but with their name too.

Which of your producers let you down so badly that you decided to turn a producer?

– Not “let me down”, but I wasn’t too happy with all my producers. Some producer had a problem of funds, some producer had some other problem.

How do you go about making a project?

– Unless I like a subject, I don’t start work on it. The subject should inspire me. Then, based on the subject, I decide on the artistes. When I was developing the subject of Anari No. 1, I had only Govinda in mind. I went to Ooty to sign him after being convinced about the subject and his suitability in it.

Weren’t you apprehensive of his reputation of being a troublesome artiste?

– It is wrong to blame the artistes alone. Producers force stars to sign their films even if they (stars) don’t have the required dates to give them. The producer may be wanting to get money out of his financier, so we can’t blame the actor alone. Producers, directors, artistes, all are to be blamed. When the artiste signs a film in such conditions and shoots for a couple of days, after which he is unable to give more dates, relations between the producer and the artiste get strained. But while blaming the artiste, the producer forgets that it is he who had not taken the dates in advance. But things are changing now, only genuine makers will survive.

What changes have you noticed in the economics as well as style of filmmaking in your 28-year career?

– There has been a great deal of change in the economics of filmmaking over the years. So also the style has undergone a sea-change. Now we have only three or four heroes to choose from and three or four heroines. Actually, the artiste has more choice than the maker because he or she can choose among the directors he/she wants to work with. The star-system has always been there. The style of filmmaking has changed. Because the audience today has so many satellite channels as an alternative mode of entertainment, the thinking of the cinegoers has changed. Earlier, our films and songs had depth, today, there’s no depth. Like life, which has become fast, very fast, even our films have become fast. In the good old days, a couple of reels used to be consumed in the hero expressing his love for the heroine. But today, there’s no time for such trivia. Forget ‘I love you’, today, the hero would ask the heroine out in a jiffy with, ‘Are you coming with me?’. On television as well as in real life.

What after ANARI NO. 1?

– Besides the film I am directing for Vimal Kumar, with Govinda in the lead, I have two more subjects ready. I’ll launch my own production venture in September or October.

INTERNATIONAL KHILADI

D.M.S. Films’ International Khiladi (A) is a romantic-action-suspense thriller. But while the romance in the film is not too interesting, and the suspense, not very convincing, the action and stunts are quite exciting. The story is about an international don who falls in love with a journalist. But the journalist frames him in a rape-and-murder case because of which the don is sentenced to death. To prove his innocence in the rape and murder, the don escapes from custody with the connivance of the police. He confronts his girlfriend and, after exchanging notes, the two become friends once again. The real killer’s identity comes as a surprise rather than a shock which would have been more desirable.

The story is quite confusing and gets boring at several places. The first half is pretty lengthy. Judicious editing in the post-interval portion too could help keep a tight pace. There are some inherent drawbacks in the scripting. For instance, the killing of the journalist’s brother, which is so important in the drama, does not have the desired impact because of two reasons — he is not a known actor and his character is not too important in the film. The don’s activities are not shown and so, his ferociousness is just not established. The suspense is so long-winding that it begins to irritate towards the end, more so because it does not involve the audience in any guessing game. The heroine, to frame the hero, testifies in court that she has been raped by the hero, but she does not even have to undergo a medical examination (to establish the veracity of her statement) before the hero is sentenced to death! Screenplay is patchy; characters (like the don’s enemy and the journalist’s cameraman) disappear for reels together. Besides, there are too many turns and twists in the drama, not all of which are palatable.

Comedy punches, especially of Johny Lever, are entertaining. Action and some stunts are also enjoyable. But the computer graphics, especially in the climax, are weak and dilute the effect. Aadesh Shrivastava’s music is a major drawback.

Akshay Kumar looks handsome with a perfectly chiselled body. He acts quite well. Twinkle Khanna has slimmed down and looks beautiful. She does a fair job but needs to seriously do something about her gruff and unclear voice, especially in dramatic scenes. Rajat Bedi is okay. Vivek Shauq hardly impresses; his role required a far superior actor. Gulshan Grover acts ably but his dialogues in Hindi-English, although a novelty, will be difficult to comprehend, more so in small centres. Johny Lever is wonderful but he gets limited scope. Mukesh Khanna is impressive. Asrani, Avtar Gill, Shahbaaz Khan, Gajendra Chauhan  and the foreign wrestlers lend fair support. Master Omkar Kapoor has been made to speak dialogues that don’t suit his age.

Umesh Mehra’s direction is alright, but a simpler narration and crisper editing would’ve helped. Music is a letdown. Except for ‘Lutiya gaya’ and ‘Chhookar mere man ko’, which are reasonably well-tuned, the other songs are pathetic. Camerawork (S. Pappu) is eye-pleasing and so are the foreign locations. Action (Bhiku Verma) deserves praise. Production values are of a good standard.

On the whole, International Khiladi has fantastic initial value because of the hype and hoopla but it has no sustaining power whatsoever. It will, therefore, prove to be an average fare, with better chances in circuits like East Punjab and C.I.

Released on 26-3-’99 at Minerva and 25 other cinemas of Bombay thru Dilsa Distributors Combine. Publicity: excellent. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was fantastic everywhere. (1st day Jalandhar 1,16,000/-, better than Kachche Dhaage and Daag The Fire. Drop in collections was noticed at places on 2nd day.)

KAHANI KISMAT KI

Suchitra Films Enterprises’ Kahani Kismat Ki (A) is a routine family potboiler, depicting the travails of a grandson, who retrieves his ancestral property from the clutches of an evil business magnate, in order to save his ailing grandmother from dying. There is a sub-plot, which involves a womanising business magnate, his wife and the wife’s ex-lover. The ex-lover, who is also a lawyer, is defending the business magnate, framed for murdering his girlfriend. The identity of the actual killer provides a twist in the otherwise insipid courtroom drama of the sub-plot. However, the suspense angle remains uninteresting due to very poor scripting. The goings-on get complicated in the second half and the film becomes dull as the lengthy courtroom scenes drag the drama to boredom. In short, nothing interests the viewer.

Mithun Chakraborty does a fair job as the grandson. Asha Singh is good in the role of his grandmother. Milind Gunaji, as the womanising business magnate, is quite good. Ayesha Julka, as his wife, acts well. Sharad Kapoor’s portrayal of her ex-lover is fair. Deepshikha, in the role of Milind Gunaji’s girlfriend, fails to impress. Shama Deshpande, Mohan Joshi, Laxmikant Berde, newfind Roma, Rajoo Shreshtha and Anil Nagrath lend ordinary support. Naghma, in a special appearance, has been wasted.

Farogh Siddiqui’s direction is no better than the script. The subject had scope for dramatic and tense moments but they are almost totally missing. Musically, fair. The film does not have a single hit number. The picturisation of songs is poor and routine without any discernible expense or an eye for visuals. Production and technical values are okay. Action scenes in the climax are good but not thrilling enough.

On the whole, Kahani Kismat Ki is a poor fare and will disappoint its distributors.

Released on 26-3-’99 at Alankar and 11 other cinemas of Bombay thru Raj Enterprises. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released in Bengal and C.P. Berar.

KARNATAKA FILM INDUSTRY BANDH FROM APRIL 2

The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, in its general meeting held on 25th March in Bangalore, gave a call for a total bandh of the Karnataka film industry from 2nd April. The call for the bandh has been issued in protest against the state government’s “step-motherly treatment towards distribution of non-Kannada films in Karnataka”.

The Karnataka government has imposed a 2% turnover tax and 4% sales tax on film distributors with effect from 1987. Although notices were being issued by the sales tax authorities to film distributors, the recovery proceedings have been initiated now, with retrospective effect. This means that each distributor of non-Kannada films in the state will have to fork out accumulated turnover and sales taxes from 1987. In some cases, the tax may amount to over a crore of rupees! Thus driven to a no-option situation by the government, the distributors have announced a complete trade closure from April 2.

NARENDER NATH DEAD

Character actor Narender Nath, brother of Prem Nath, Rajender Nath & Mrs. Krishna Raj Kapoor, died after a prolonged illness at his residence in Jabalpur on 24th March. He was 56. He had acted in over 50 films such as Jawani Diwani, Khote Sikkay and Sawan Bhadon.

R.V. ISHWAR NO MORE

R.V. Ishwar, ex-secretary of the Film Producers Guild of India Ltd., passed away on 19th March at his residence in Bombay.

Ishwar was secretary of the Guild for 40 years and contributed his mite to the film industry.

A condolence meeting will be held on 31st March at IMPPA House at 5 p.m.

TAX-FREE SERVICE CHARGE OF RE. 1 PER TICKET IN M.P. TOO

The Madhya Pradesh government has permitted cinemas in the state to levy Re. 1 per ticket as a tax-free service charge with effect from April 1. The CCCA had been pleading for the charge since a long time. The M.P. government has finally acceded to the demand and brought the state at par with states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

All cinemas in cities with a population of 1 lakh or more are entitled to levy the tax-free service charge.

SHARAD ACHARYA DEAD

Sharad Narayan Acharya, the owner of Amar and Sharad cinemas in Chembur, Bombay, expired on 25th March. The cinemas remained closed for the day. He was the ex-mayor of Bombay.

Although being affiliated to the ruling Shiv Sena party in Maharashtra, Sharad Acharya’s fair-play came to the forefront when he accompanied a delegation of the film industry in Maharashtra, as an exhibitor and not as a partyman, to appeal for reduction in entertainment tax in the state in 1997.

ENTERTAINMENT TAX ON CABLE OPERATORS

The Madhya Pradesh government has imposed entertainment tax of Rs. 25 per cable connection, on cable TV operators in the state. The tax is effective from April 1, 1999.

GRANT INFRASTRUCTURE STATUS TO EXHIBITION SECTOR: CCCA TELLS GOVT.

Following the adoption of a resolution passed by the executive committee of the Central Circuit Cine Association last week, CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain has urged the prime minister as well as ministers for finance, industries and information & broadcasting, to grant the status of ‘infrastructure’ to the film exhibition sector by bringing it within the purview of section 10(23)G of the Income-Tax Act. Such a step is ‘an inevitable must’ after the acceptance of the film industry as ‘industry’ by the government, says Jain. Moreover, according to him, since the film exhibition sector forms the infrastructure for the film industry, it was only logical to include it in the definition of ‘infrastructure’ as enlarged in the Finance Acts of 1996, 1997 and 1998. Such a move will facilitate more investment in the exhibition sector and lead to maximisation of exhibition facilities and increase the availability of cinema seats to the growing population of India, feels Jain.

JATIN LALIT GRANTED BAIL

Music directors Jatin and Lalit, who were on 9th March remanded to judicial custody till 23rd March in a criminal case against them, were granted bail on 19th March.

DADA KONDKE’S BIOGRAPHY

Dev Anand recently released the biography of late Dada Kondke. Titled ‘Ekta Jeev’, it is in Marathi. The book is a narration by Dada himself, in which he talks about his life’s journey as a man and as an actor. It has been penned by Anita Padhye and published by Majestic Prakashan.

STATIC-CUM-MOBILE DISPENSARY FOR CINE WORKERS

Union labour minister Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya on 16th March inaugurated the first static-cum-mobile dispensary at Ujala Sewa Sadan Committee, Andheri (East), Bombay. The dispensary is exclusively for the benefit of cine workers. Shatrughan Sinha was the chief guest on the occasion. Chandrashekhar presided over the function.

The dispensary has been started by the Welfare Commissioner, Labour Welfare Organisation, Nagpur region, Nagpur, which comes under the ministry of labour.

YOU ASKED IT

Don’t you think, too many films pairing Govinda and Ranee Mukerji have been announced?

– I also think as you think. Let’s now see, how many of these are completed!

With so many Mithun starrers waiting to be released, what will the scene be like in the coming months?

– This week’s Mithun starrer has opened to dismal houses. It hasn’t even opened in more than half the country. The going won’t be smooth for his forthcoming films. If you remember, we had forewarned  the trade several months back in our editorial on the glut of Mithun starrers.

Do you have any information about producer A. Purnachandra Rao? Isn’t he planning a film now?

– A. Purnachandra Rao has quit the film industry. He is now leading a retired life in Ooty.

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

Directors Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar are in London and will be back on 30th March.

Mr. Shyamsunder Jalani of Marudhar Cine Movies, Jaipur, currently in Bombay (536-1525/1684), will return to Jaipur on 28th March.

Mr. Lakhpat Bhandari and Mr. Sandeep Bhandari of Shri B.C.B. International, Jaipur are at Hotel Evergreen (386-3489/4214) and will return to Jaipur this evening (27th March).

PRODUCTION NEWS

90-Day Schedule Of ‘Refugee’ Progressing

The 90-day marathon shooting schedule of J.P. Films’ Refugee, being produced and directed by J.P. Dutta, will be completed on April 15. With this, 90% shooting of the film will be complete. The film was shot in Bhuj and Bombay and thereafter in Jaipur (from March 16 to 22). The unit will shift to Indore where shooting will be held from April 1 to 15. Introducing Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor, it stars Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty, Anupam Kher, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Reena Roy, Sudesh Berry, Padmini Kapila, Punit Issar, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mukesh Tiwari, Shadab Khan, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Arif Zakaria, Avtar Gill and Amit Ghanshyam. It has music by Anu Malik and lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Dialogues: O.P. Dutta. Cinematography: Bashir Ali. Action: Bhiku Verma. Choreography: Saroj Khan. Sound: Buta Singh. Editor: Deepak and Vilas.

Ashok Mehta’s Film Progresses

Ashok Mehta Visuals’ Prod. No. 1 was shot for 12 days recently in Bangalore at the race course and on locales. The film is being produced, directed and cinematographed by Ashok Mehta from his own story. It stars Arjun Rampal, Manisha Koirala, Danny Denzongpa, Suresh Oberoi, Mohan Gokhale, Shubhangi Gokhale, Sushma Seth, Kiran Kumar, Farida Jalal, Paresh Rawal, Saurabh Shukla, Kamal Chopra and Sonali Bendre in a guest appearance. Screenplay: Raj Marbros. Dialogues: Hriday Lani. Lyrics: Javed Akhtar. Music: Rajesh Roshan. Dances: Saroj Khan. Action: Amin Ghani.

‘Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega’

Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment’s Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega will be shot from April 2 to 10 at Filmistan Studios on a set erected by art director Sharmishta Roy. Director Raj Kanwar will picturise scenes on Salman Khan, Preity Zinta, Neeraj Vora and others. Ranee Mukerji also plays the female lead in the film which co-stars Shakti Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Himani Shivpuri and Sushma Seth. It is being produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. Screenplay: Rumi Jafri. Scenario: Rakesh Mandotra. Dialogues: Javed Siddiqi. Lyrics: Sameer. Music: Anu Malik. Action: Abbas. Cinematography: W.B. Rao. Editor: A. Muthu.

‘Biwi No. 1’ Stint Complete

Puja Films’ Biwi No. 1 was shot in a 15-day stint till March 23 at Mehboob Studios and St. Andrews School. Two songs and scenes were picturised on Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Sushmita Sen and a crowd of 500 children. The film is being produced by Vashu Bhagnani and directed by David Dhawan. Writer: Rumi Jafri. Dances: Ganesh and B.H. Tharun Kumar. Lyrics: Sameer, Dev Kohli and Sukhwinder Singh. Music: Anu Malik. Art: R. Verman. Sound: Jagmohan. Editor: A. Muthu.

DO YOU KNOW?

* West Bengal distributor Bijay Bagadia has released 20 prints of INTERNATIONAL KHILADI in 35 cinemas.

* Heer Palace, Kanpur has had a face-lift during the past year. A central air-conditioning plant became operational at the cinema from 15th March ’99. Moreover, two Kirloskar-Cummins generators have also been installed there in order to ensure that there is no interruption in the viewing pleasure of the patrons in case of power failure. The existing Dolby Ultra Stereo sound system at the hall is slated to be further upgraded with the installation of DTS equipment in the near future. The toilets at the cinema have also been renovated, and plans are afoot to add an exclusive canteen for the patrons of balcony/dress circle class. The cinema, established by late B.P. Singh, is looked after by his sons, N.K. Singh and S.K. Singh.

* Sunder F. Rai is once again getting into Overseas distribution in a fairly big way. He has acquired the rights of HYDERABAD BLUES and two forthcoming films of producer Mukesh Bhatt.

THREE DAUGHTERS AND A SONG

* Rajeshwari (daughter of late music director Laxmikant), Antara Chowdhary (daughter of late Salil Chowdhary) and Reema Lahiri (daughter of music director Bappi Lahiri) sang a song together for Kamarindo Films’ BOMBAY GIRLS recently. The music was scored by Bappi Lahiri.

CENSOR NEWS

Karishma International’s Jaanam Samjha Karo was given C.C. No. CIL/1/17/99 (U) dt. 24-3-’99; length 4482.62 metres in 17 reels (cuts: 50.02 metres).

Chaudhry Enterprises’ Zulmi was given C.C. No. CIL/3/15/99 (A) dt. 25-3-’99; length 4144.33 metres in 15 reels (cuts: 36.88 metres).

Wellmake Films’ Putlibai was given C.C. No. CIL/2/6/99 (UA) dt. 25-3-’99; length 4022.17 metres in 16 reels (cuts: 159.50 metres).

Satya Sai Films’ Khooni Ilaaka – The Prohibited Area was seen by the revising committee on 22nd.

Nirmala Movietone’s Tower House (length 2939.98 metres in 13 reels), applied on 23rd and seen on 25th, has been offered A certificate, with cuts.

Octroi Department Unearths Mini Scam In Bombay Film Industry

Raw Stock Dealer’s Not-So-Clean Deals Exposed

The Octroi department of the Bombay Municipal Corporation on 23rd March unearthed a mini scam in the film industry. A dealer in film positive has been found to have evaded octroi duty on the raw stock, running into a couple of crores of rupees. The same dealer is also reported to have evaded excise duty of several crores of rupees on the raw stock ‘manufactured’ by him in Pondicherry.

The interesting part of the scam is that the dealer has played quite safe because the invoices for the film positive were made in the names of individual distributors who purchased the raw stock from him. However, since he used to charge the distributors the lumpsum (final) price, they (distributors) often did not ask him for the octroi receipts. Taking advantage of this situation, the dealer avoided paying octroi in many occasions.

The octroi department, after unearthing this scam, swooped on Adlabs on 23rd March when the deliveries of International Khiladi were about to be effected. The octroi department’s officials stopped all deliveries and asked the dealer, on whose stock octroi had not been paid, to produce the octroi receipts. The dealer reportedly presented old octroi receipts but couldn’t succeed in his game plan. Following this, an army of octroi officials visited Adlabs on Tuesday night.

It required the intervention of Bharatbhai Shah to ensure that deliveries of the prints were effected. Bharat Shah reportedly spoke to the mayor and promised that the dealer would pay up all the dues.

Ramesh Arote, superintendent inspection, vigilance, in a chat with Information, admitted that an enquiry had been started against the dealer. He refused to divulge any more information as, according to him, investigations are on.

In the meantime, the octroi department is contemplating taking legal action against all those distributors who purchased their stock from this dealer but on which octroi was not paid. Obviously, there is widespread panic among such distributors. Some of them, however, are still unaware of what transpired in Bombay on Tuesday.

Films Today: Bodies Without Backbones

Filmmaking has become more risky today than it ever was. Production costs have increased manifold, star prices have defied all economic calculations to reach the sky, post-production activities too now take away a heavy packet. While all this may be fine, what isn’t is that our stories are not good enough to keep pace with and so justify the spiralling costs. That is to say, our film scripts, generally speaking, are deteriorating. Even if they aren’t worse today than, say, two years ago, they definitely haven’t improved — again, generally speaking. And so with costs having increased so much, when scripts haven’t improved, the situation is worse than what it was a few years ago.

While producers are busy in making bigger and bigger projects, directors are interested in showing more and more gloss on the screen, choreographers are concentrating on style, sound is being updated, nobody seems to be even concerned about what is actually the backbone of a film — the script.

Our writers, with a very very few exceptions, seem to be taking a nap that could put the legendary Kumbhkaran to shame. Their eyes are only open for the latest Hollywood films. And their minds — well, they are almost always permanently shut. Perhaps, even they aren’t aware of the importance of a good story for a successful film. Or, if they are aware, they find themselves ill-equipped to deliver the goods. But, unfortunately, nobody has the time to question them. Producers are in a hurry to make proposals. Directors can’t afford to waste time on story-sittings because they have other projects in the pipeline.

Quite sadly, the script, which should be the concern of every single person associated with a film, has actually become the concern of nobody, not even the writer! Today, it is an unfortunate situation. Tomorrow, when even bigger and bigger films are made and released, it will not merely be an unfortunate situation. It will be CALAMITOUS. And this is no empty threat. For, the writing is on the wall.

To say that our writers, directors and producers need to pull up their socks would be the understatement of the decade. They need to now open their eyes to the realities and shut their eyes to foreign films. They need to take out their thinking caps from their attics where they’ve been gathering dust for years now. They need to become serious.

Producers and directors also need to introduce fresh writers into the stream. New blood would bring in new ideas — hopefully.

More importantly, all of us need to think for a while. Even if one film producer/director/writer is convinced of the seriousness of the current situation and takes corrective action after reading this piece, it will be worth the pain I’m experiencing while writing it. If not…

…If not, we all will shed tears together. And I promise, that day is not far.

– Komal Nahta

APRIL FOOL JOKES

What’s April Fool’s Day if without April Fool jokes? So here are some jokes which our folks can play on the industry on 1st April.

Govinda: Should report before time on the sets.

Mithun Chakraborty: Refuse a film offer.

Dev Anand: Announce his retirement. From acting as well as direction.

Jackie Shroff: Announce the release date of Grahan.

Boney Kapoor: Launch a quickie with Rajkumar Santoshi.

Jawaharlal Bafna: Start a film with Mithun Chakraborty and call it Bhaag Hi Bhaag. No, he shouldn’t run away after its release!

Anu Malik: Promise to give only original tunes — that is, tunes which have been heard originally.

Subhash Ghai: Announce a film with Salman Khan, to begin after Taal and titled Gaal Ho Gaya Laal.

Juhi Chawla: Announce to the world that she is still not married to Jai Mehta.

Manisha Koirala: Declare that she is off drinks forever.

Bobby Anand: Refuse to buy a film because it is high priced.

Ram Gopal Varma: Announce yet another horror film after Raat, Drohi and Kaun and call it Gone. Because it is bound to go like his earlier horror films.

Rajkumar Santoshi: Launch a film which will not be presented by Bharat Shah, not take years to complete and will not be reshot at all. But call it China Gate.

Akshay Kumar: Tired of playing ‘Khiladi’ again and again, he should prompt Keshu to launch Billadi (meaning ‘Cat’ in Gujarati). Like a cat has nine lives, Akshay may get at least a second lease of life with Billadi.

Shekhar Kapur: This International Khiladi should join hands with Sibte Hasan Rizvi to make a sequel to Joshilay. Behoshi? Le!

Mukesh Bhatt: Should spring a surprise on friends by speaking no lies on April 1.

Saawan Kumar: After Mother 98, announce Father 99 and Child 2000 — the former to star Ajay Devgan and the latter, his child-to-be-born.

Rishi Kapoor: Live up to the title of his film, Aa Ab Laut Chalen, and announce his return to what he knows best — acting.

Ketan Desai: Announce a quickie with Sanjay Dutt (!) and Salman Khan — and title it Yeh Hai Halwa.

Ramesh Taurani: Sign Chandrachur Singh again for his next, after Friends, titled Foes.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Dedication, Barjatya Style

Even though there are more than seven months to go before the Barjatyas release their Hum Saath Saath Hain (on November 5), preparations for the same have begun in right earnest. Ajit Kumar Barjatya undertook a trip to several ‘A’ class centres of Uttar Pradesh earlier this week and, accompanied by his wife, visited cinemas there. They were at Novelty cinema of Lucknow for two hours. They also visited Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi with a view to be updated about the cinemas there and the facilities offered by the cinemas. That’s what one calls dedication!

New Media Moghul?

L.N. Mittal, the richest Indian on earth, has teamed up with Hindi film exporter Kishore Lulla to launch a new Overseas Hindi movie channel for the British, USA and Canadian markets. Lulla holds the Overseas rights of nearly 1,000 Hindi films. The new Hindi channel will go on air in the U.K. in July this year and will begin its operations in the USA and Canada by next year. Mittal is reportedly financing a number of Hindi films, currently on the floors, through a holding company, LMB Associates. London-based L.N. Mittal’s main business is steel, and he heads the Ispat International Group.

Hit Music Score

The music of Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai is a surefire hit. Besides the title song, two others numbers rendered by Lucky Ali are sure to climb the popularity charts rapidly once the film’s album is released. In fact, so beautiful are Rajesh Roshan’s compositions that people at HMV had a tough time deciding which song should be the first on the film’s audio cassette! Inspired by the lovely music score and because the film is the launching pad of his son, Hrithik, dad Rakesh Roshan is not sparing any efforts nor saving any money to make the songs a visual treat too.

AARZOO

Dayavanti Pictures’ Aarzoo (UA) is a love triangle which is an insult to the viewer’s common sense. The story is one which has been seen in many films earlier and the screenplay is poor.

A rich girl is in love with a pilot but her father is keen that she get married to her childhood friend. The father’s keenness stems from the word he had given to the boy’s dying father. To ensure that his promise is fulfilled, the girl’s father hatches a conspiracy to kill the pilot and almost succeeds. But the pilot survives the stage-managed deadly accident and returns, after years, to seek revenge and win his girlfriend back (who by then is married to the same childhood friend and has also given birth to the pilot’s child). The pilot’s return coincides with the realisation that dawns on the lady about her husband’s (childhood friend’s) true love for her and she is ready to consummate her marriage after so many years. Torn between her lover and her husband, she finds herself in a dilemma but the convenient script, that doesn’t care for logic, comes to her rescue — her husband is killed in the climax, and she returns to her lover.

As the film progresses, one thing emerges quite clearly — that the sole intention of the producers was to make a fast buck and to take the distributors for a royal ride. For, although the film has been shot on eye-pleasing locations and has reasonably lavish song picturisations, no care has been taken of the script and even the making, the two most important things in a film. The cast seems to be totally disinterested.

The heroine shuttles between the two heroes as if she were a ping pong ball. Towards the film’s ending, it almost appears as if she is in a win-win situation because she is bound to get at least one of the two heroes! The pilot is presumed dead but when he returns after about seven years, his grouse is that his lady love did not have the patience to await his arrival! But how should the lady ever know that the pilot was alive? So why blame her? To justify the pilot’s grouse, the lame excuse given is that he (pilot) had written letters to her during that period — letters that never reached her. But when the pilot suspected foul play in the accident that almost claimed his life, why didn’t he suspect similar foul play in the communication through letters? Writer Reema Rakesh Nath and director Lawrence D’souza have no answer to this question as to innumerable others. For instance, why does the childhood friend cry at the girl’s engagement ceremony and guzzle drink after drink in spite of having voluntarily sacrificed his love? Why does the heroine not tell the pilot at the first given chance that her child had been fathered by him and not by her legally wedded husband? Why does the second hero’s diary, set afire, burn the whole room, but yet remain intact for the heroine to read it?

The film relies heavily on clichés. The ‘statue’ punch has not only been seen in many earlier films but has been done to death. The ‘Maa Sheranwali’ song springs up from nowhere and its relevance in the pre-climax (when the pilot’s letters come falling out from behind a Maa Sheranwali calendar) will be lost on the audience due to its poor handling. The point about the pilot being unconscious for several years together, sounds ridiculous! The comedy scenes in the first half are too poor to evoke laughter. The love angle of the childhood friend looks unbelievable as it is sought to be established through a dull song and his diary jottings. Care has not even been taken of the geographical details. The childhood friend returns from abroad but is received at the airport which also is located abroad! The confrontation between the lady and the pilot in the pre-climax is half-hearted. The last four to five reels of the film have been mixed wrongly — there’s no lip-sync with the dialogues spoken. The dialogues are routine.

Madhuri Dixit looks too mature and seasoned to play the role written for her. Even an excellent performer like her has not been able to rise above the dull script. She has, however, looked pretty at places. Akshay Kumar does an average job and looks lost in the second half. Saif Ali Khan is mechanical. Amrish Puri is so-so. Paresh Rawal is competent and raises laughter at places. Aroona Irani has been hopelessly wasted. Laxmikant Berde, too, has no worthwhile role. Reema, Tej Sapru, Mohan Joshi, Mukesh Rishi, baby Sadat, baby Ghazala and baby Sundas lend average support.

Lawrence D’souza’s camerawork is very good but the same can’t be said of his direction which is dull, to say the least. Music is a mixed bag. The ‘Ab tere dil mein’ is very well-tuned; the ‘Saajan’, ‘Tu soni kudi’ and title tracks are good. But the engagement song and the ‘Mehbooba’ number are poor. Foreign locations are extremely eye-pleasing. Action scenes look contrived. The gliding scene in the climax is unintentionally hilarious! Editing is poor. Background music is ordinary. Technically, weak (as mentioned above).

On the whole, Aarzoo is an insipid fare and an exercise in futility at the expense of gullible distributors who will stand to lose heavily.

Released on 18-3-’99 at Metro and 2 more cinemas and on 19-3-’99 at 15 other cinemas of Bombay by Dayavanti Distributors thru Shringar Films. Publicity: very good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor in several circuits. (A disastrous drop in collections was noticed in cities like Indore on the 2nd day.)

RAMESH SHARMA SHOT AT

Producer Ramesh J. Sharma was shot at by unidentified persons on the evening of 19th March at Bandra Reclamation in Bombay. He was rushed to the nearby Lilavati Hospital at Bandra, where, at the time of going to the press, he was being operated upon. The operation, according to his wife, was to last five hours. The bullets were fired on his face and abdomen, it is learnt. Ramesh Sharma was supervising a set being erected for his BAAGHI when the assailants attacked. A couple of arrests have reportedly been made.

ANOTHER CINEMA CLOSED

One more cinema of Shahdol (C.I.) — Kiran — has downed shutters. Now, only one cinema is running at Shahdol.

U.P. GOVT. GETS TOUGH ON COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS

The Uttar Pradesh government has notified that all cable operators must produce before the district entertainment tax officer, the copyright certificates of all films to be shown on their networks, seven days prior to their telecast. It has further notified that in case a cable operator fails to produce the certificate at least three days before a film’s telecast, his licence would be revoked. Accordingly, all entertainment tax officers in the state have been directed to prepare a list of all films shown on cable TV and launch proceedings against defaulters in this regard. An additional licence fee of Rs. 100 per connection has also been levied on the cable operators apart from the existing annual fee of Rs. 2,400.

JAWAHARLAL BAFNA BACK HOME

Producer Jawaharlal Bafna, who had left home on 12th March after the release of his Aaag Hi Aag that day and who was untraceable since then, finally returned home on 15th night. He had been to Ahmedabad, says he.

NEW CINEMA IN BOMBAY

Sahitya Sangh Mandir in Bombay, which exclusively staged plays so far, has also begun screening films with Vahinichi Maya (Marathi; tax-free) from yesterday (19th March). The auditorium has a seating capacity of 818 and will screen only Marathi films in 2 shows daily. On weekdays, films will be screened in the 12.30 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. shows and on Saturdays and Sundays, in the 12.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. shows. The tax-free admission rates are Rs. 9.75, Rs. 12.85, Rs. 16 and Rs. 19.10. Further details about the cinema, controlled by Shenoy (of Milap cinema, Kandivli, Bombay), can be had on telephone nos. 385-6303/387-6158.

INDIA’S FIRST MULTIPLEX IN AHMEDABAD

Come 30th April and Ahmedabad will have a designer multiplex called City Pulse Entertainment Complex. Located on the Ahmedabad Gandhinagar expressway, this complex has three cinemas with seating capacities of 550, 450 and 240. There is a common projection room. Besides the cinemas, it has restaurants, fast food joints, bowling alleys, video parlours, an art gallery, 5-star suites and a swimming pool.

The cinema complex has been constructed by Ashok Purohit who is also a leading architect of the walled city of Gujarat. The cinemas will be managed by Nandu Bohra.

VATSA OFFICE ATTACKED: RAVI BURMAN ESCAPES UNHURT

A group of depositors of Vatsa Corporation Limited attacked the Vatsa Music office at Fort (Bombay) recently. They also threatened to beat up Ravi Burman, the chairman of the company.

Due to persisting financial problems, Vatsa has not been able to pay back the interest money and principal amounts to its depositors.

The mob forcibly entered the premises, breaking the glass door, window panes and other furniture. Burman, who was in his cabin, escaped unhurt.

PRODUCER ASHOK ROY DEAD

Producer Ashok Roy died at a hospital in Bombay on 19th March due to a liver problem. He was 63 and is survived by his son, Sanjay Roy (who is working as Vimal Kumar’s chief accountant), and a daughter.

Ashok Roy had produced Ek Khilari Bawan Pattey. Before turning producer, he used to work as the general manager of J. Om Prakash’s production concern. He also worked as the production incharge of Surinder Kapoor’s company and N.P. Ali’s company.

MOTI SAGAR DEAD

Yesteryears’ hero Moti Sagar passed away on 14th March in Bombay following a cardiac arrest. He was 72 and is survived by three daughters, including singer Preeti Sagar and television anchor-person Namita Sagar.

Moti Sagar had acted in films like Apna Ghar, Burma Road and Chhoti Chhoti Batein. At the time of his death, he had been producing and directing the TV serial Phulwari Bachchon Ki since the last seven years.

MUSIC DIRECTOR EJAZ HUSSEIN NO MORE

Music director Ejaz Hussein of the music director duo Pradeep Udhas – Ejaz Hussein passed away in Bombay on 6th February due to a cardiac arrest. The duo has composed the music for the ready-for-release Hote Hote Pyaar Ho Gaya. Ejaz is survived by his wife and two sons.

FIRST SUPERMAN OF FILMS PASSES AWAY

Kirk Alyn, the first Superman of films, died on 14th March in Woodlands, Texas (USA). He was 88. Kirk, at the age of 37, played the title role in Columbia’s Superman for the first time and once again played Superman in Atom Man Vs. Superman in 1950.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Haseena Maan Jayegi’ Last Schedule

Anu Malik recorded the seventh and last song of Rahul Productions’ Haseena Maan Jayegi on March 16 at Empire Audio Centre. It was penned by Sameer and rendered by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. The film is being produced by Smita Thackeray and directed by David Dhawan. The last two songs of the film will be picturised from March 24 to 30 in Bombay on Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, Karisma Kapoor and Aroona Irani. Also in the cast are Pooja Batra, Paresh Rawal, Kader Khan, Satish Kaushik, Mohan Joshi, Aasif Sheikh and Anupam Kher alongwith Bindu and Asrani in guest appearances. Story-screenplay: Yunus Sejawal and Imtiaz Patel. Dialogues: Rumi Jafri. Cinematography: K.S. Prakash Rao. Action: Mahendra Verma. Art: R. Verman. Dances: Ganesh and B.H. Tharun Kumar. Sound: Vinod Potdar. Editor: A. Muthu. The film is presented by Bharat Shah and is being readied for June 24 release all over.

‘Sooryavansham’ Post-Production Work In Madras

Padmalaya Combines’ Sooryavansham was shot from March 1 to 16 in Hyderabad. Climax scenes and a song were picturised on the entire cast. Dubbing of the film began on March 17 at Media Arts in Madras. Amitabh Bachchan is completing his dubbing first. The recording of background music will begin from March 26. The shooting of the film is already complete except for the picturisation of two songs to be done from March 31 to April 9. The film is being readied for release on May 6. Others in the cast are Soundarya, Anupam Kher, Bindu, Shivaji Satam, Mukesh Rishi, Jaya Kapoor, Rachna Banerjee, master Anand Vardhan and Kader Khan. Producer: G.A. Seshagiri Rao. Director: E.V.V. Satyanarayana. Story: Vikraman. Music: Anu Malik. Lyrics: Sameer. Dialogues: Aadesh K. Arjun. Choreography: Chinni Prakash. Cinematograhy: S. Gopal Reddy.

MUSIC INFORMATION

HMV Celebrates 50 Years Of R.K.

HMV has released a 3-cassette pack of R.K.’s hits, titled ‘R.K. Films – A 50 Year Celebration’.

CENSOR NEWS

A.K. International’s Anari No. 1, applied on 16th and seen on 17th, has been issued C.C. No. CIL/1/15/99 (U) dt. 18-3-’99; length 4573.52 metres in 18 reels (no cut).

D.M.S. Films’ International Khiladi, seen on 15th, has been issued C.C. No. CIL/3/14/99 (A) dt. 19-3-’99; length 5270.83 metres in 18 reels (cuts: 99.19 metres).

Matharu Films’ Lafda was given C.C. No. CIL/3/13/99 (A) dt. 12-3-’99; length 3972.95 metres in 15 reels (cuts: 191.48 metres).

Gulab Films’ Bhoot Ka Darr was given C.C. No. CIL/1/14/99 (U) dt. 17-3-’99; length 2327.17 metres in 13 reels (no cut).

Goel Screencraft’s Safari has been passed with U certificate, with minor cuts.

Karishma International’s Jaanam Samjha Karo, see on 16th, has been passed with U certificate, with cuts.

2000 Films’ Tan Aggan (revised) has been passed for adults, with cuts.

Well Make Films’ Kaamdev has been refused certificate.

YOU ASKED IT

What is the meaning of Gaj Gamini, the title of M.F. Hussain’s film? Is Shah Rukh Khan playing a role in the film.

– The title signifies a woman who has the gait (walk) of an elephant. Yes, Shah Rukh Khan will make a special appearance in the film.

What do you think of the multiple film awards functions?

– It’s a joke, so just enjoy it! Jokes apart, the awards functions serve to fan the massive egos of the industry people who will keep cribbing about them and yet keep attending all of them and, maybe, even performing in them.

How is it that Deepak Sareen has not bagged any directorial assignment after the success of Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai?

– Maybe, because of his shy disposition, he may not be pushing himself in this dog-eat-dog industry. He is already directing Tips’ ALBELA. A couple of more announcements with Deepak as director are on the cards.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Talent Waiting To Be Tapped

Mazhar Kamran is an interesting person to talk to, apart from being an ace cinematographer that he, obviously, is, as proved in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya and Kaun. A graduate from FTII, Pune, Kamran got his first big break when Muzaffar Ali (he directed Umrao Jaan, remember?) offered him the lesser-known Husn-E-Jaana for BiTV. A few documentaries and short films later, Kamran landed the plum assignment of cinematography of Satya. At that point, Satya had already been shot 25% by American cinematographer Gerard Hooper. Recounting the experience, Kamran says, “I was extremely surprised when Varma offered me Satya. He had called me after a common friend had suggested my name to him. We had a very informal chat. At the end of it, he told me, ‘You are doing my film.’ Just like that, I asked him if he would like to see my previous work, and he said that there was no need for it. He said, as long as I was confident of doing my job, he had no problems!” That Kamran not only did his job, but more, is evident from the ‘real’ visual appeal of Satya. This must have been the reason why Ram Gopal Varma signed Kamran on for his next, Kaun, a couple of weeks before the release of Satya.

Kamran is currently negotiating a few offers, but “nothing concrete at the moment”. He feels that not knowing many people in the industry may prove to be a disadvantage for him. But that shouldn’t come in the way of real talent, should it?

Love Is In The Air…

And this snippet requires absolutely no comment. Take a look at the films lined up for release in the next few weeks — Silsila Hai Pyar Ka, Hote Hote Pyaar Ho Gaya, Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet, Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi, Pyar Koi Khel Nahin.

Now, if only everyone in the industry loved each other so much. Alas…..

Dream Merchant

It’s An Ad Mad World Of Bollywood

Film artistes are doing more commercial advertisements than films these days. Or so it appears if you go by the number of times the commercials are repeated every day on every satellite channel. Aamir Khan may not have sold his Sarfarosh the way he is hard-selling Coke these days. Cool dude Salman Khan makes you reach out for the cool Thums Up in its commercial even as he ‘sells’ Jaanam Samjha Karo in another ad. Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Ranee Mukerji, the trio that made millions of hearts go aflutter in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, are these days trying to sell you Pepsi. And so, naturally, I had to dream about our stars and the products they’d endorse.

Sunny Deol was the ideal choice for Iodex. His back problem is by now as famous as his dare-devil stunts on screen. Imagine Sunny Deol exhorting the public to buy Iodex with the line,

“Iodex maliye, shooting pe chaliye.”

Govinda, I dreamt, was trying very hard to bag the ad film of HMT Watches, after the commercial of Godrej’s Ganga Soap in which he acted under the direction of none other than Shekhar Kapur. But the HMT people were wary of his reputation of being late everywhere. Govinda, it seems, put them at ease by writing his own ad script for HMT:

Main to late late jaa raha tha
Main to producers ko sataa raha tha
Late late ja raha tha
Producers ko sataa raha tha
Achhee ghadi na mili to main kya karoon
Achhee ghadi na mili to main kya karoon

After this song, Govinda would break into a jig with the following song:

O kaale patte wali tera naam toh bata
O gol dial wali tera naam toh bata
Tera naam toh bata, tera naam toh bata

Obviously, the naam of the gold dial and kaale patte wali watch will be HMT. After the HMT blah-blah, Govinda would finally announce in his typical English:

I was always late
Till Watch No. 1 became my new mate
Now you see my success rate
It will really be great.

Last heard, Govinda was late for the shooting of the commercial by just 14 hours. And so, he’s out!

Kashmira Shah had been roped in for the Roopam ad. The ad was short, like her mini dresses in films, and sweet, not like the fate of some of her releases. Clad in clothes, Kashmira would announce:

“Jee haan, main bhi kapde pehenti hoon
Agar woh Roopam ke ho”.

Ting Tong!!

The makers of Moov ointment, I dreamt, were roping in the all-India distributors of films starring Akshay Kumar and Akshaye Khanna. “Aa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a hamari kamar”, the distributors would wail in chorus.

“Kamar mein dard hai?”,
Akshay Kumar would ask.
“Toh Moov lagaao”,
Akshaye Khanna would advise.
“Arrey nahin, hamari toh
kamar toot gayee re,
aisi filmein release kar-kar ke”,

the distraught distributors would reply.

“Toh phir Move ho jaao”,
Akshaye would say,
“Aur hamari agli filmein mat kharido”,
Akshay Kumar would conclude.

Shah Rukh Khan would advertise for Balbharti Learner’s Hindi Academy.

“Jaise maine seekhi, aap bhi
seekhiye — shudh Hindi —
Balbharti Learner’s Hindi Academy se.
K.K.K.K…..se Kiran.
D….D….D…. se Darr.”

Aishwarya Rai seemed to be the first choice for the Kitply ad film. The whole ad would be in the same format as at present except for the end. In the ad currently on air, the model, drenched in pouring water, shouts, “Arrey bhai, main Kitply nahin hoon.” In the new ad, a drenched Aishwarya, clad in Jeans, would sob,

“Arrey bhai, aur paani daalo,
aakhir main bhi Kitply hi hoon.”

The only hitch is, the wooden actress is demanding the price of rosewood for the Kitply commercial.

K.C. Bokadia and Amitabh Bachchan would come together again. No, no, not for a feature film but for an ad film. In the typical Bokadia style, the product to be advertised would be decided later but the catchline had already been finalised. Just like Bokadia’s scripts are finalised after his shooting schedules! Anyway, without being bitchy, let’s come back to the catchline. Actually, one of the following two short-listed catchlines was to be finalised. While Bokadia preferred the former, Bachchan was keen on the latter. The two catchlines:

(1) Bore ka jhatka dheere se lage.
(2) Crore ka jhatka dheere se lage.

Rakesh Roshan, I dreamt, had been approached to appear in the commercial for Head & Shoulders Shampoo. Roshan Sr. was priding himself in the industry, saying that the H & S people had selected him, only because he was the only successful filmmaker who had his head on his shoulders. Did the others have their shoulders on their heads? Anyway, Rakesh Roshan would move round and round like Pooja Batra does in the Head & Shoulders commercial. Only thing, since Rakesh is bald, there wouldn’t be the healthy flowing hair. The punch-line would be:

Head & Shoulders apnaayen.
Na rahega baal, na bajegi dandruff ke kaaran band!

Quite a Bald & Beautiful ad, this.

Mahima Chaudhry, I dreamt, had been thrown out of the Nirma detergent ad. The ad filmmaker was none other than Raj Kanwar and, therefore, poor Mahima couldn’t get her lines properly. Perhaps, she was so obliged towards Raj Kanwar that she kept making a mistake. Instead of singing.

Nirma detergent tikiya
Iske jhaag ne jadoo kar diya,

the discovery of Subhash Ghai kept singing,

Nirma detergent tikiya
Iske Daag ne jadoo kar diya.

The ad film producer was livid. “Listen,” he thundered, “Nirma is for removing daags, not for creating daags. If we have to make a film for daag, we’d rather take Monica Lewinsky to act, and Bill Clinton to direct, not you and Raj Kanwar.” Mahima blushed — at the producer’s sense of humour — and wept at being thrown out.

Rambha had been signed for the Close Up commercial but language was her problem. Able to understand neither English nor Hindi, the sexy actress, nevertheless, flew from Madras for the shooting. She reported in a mini frock with cycling shorts underneath. Everytime the director shouted, “Action”, Rambha would lift her mini up. The perplexed director didn’t know what had hit this Rambha-ho-idli-sambhar-ho and ‘closed up’ on her. To his dismay, he realised that Rambha had mistaken the commercial as one for Clothes Up instead of Close Up! Curtains down!!

Salman Khan was planning to do a commercial for VIP Underwears. With his penchant for posing topless with his Calvin Klein underwear band showing from under his pants, the sexy Khan would declare:

“Ab yeh Under ki baat hai!”

The only product, perhaps, for which a suitable star was not being found was Fair & Lovely cream. When approached, Mamta Kulkarni said, she’d rather appear in an ad for Bare & Lovely. Hairy Anil Kapoor scoffed at the offer of Fair & Lovely and announced that he was due to shoot topless for a commercial of Hair & Lovely.

Gosh! I woke up with a start. I had dreamt too many things, some of them frighteningly funny and some scaringly stupid. It was, so to say, a Nightmare & Lovely!

– Komal Nahta