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

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Hindustan Ki Kasam’ Shooting Complete

The entire shooting of Devgan Films’ Hindustan Ki Kasam is complete following the conclusion of the last 10-day shooting spell in Los Angeles. The background score for the film will be recorded from March 15 at Sunny Super Sounds. Starring 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, Salim, Navin Bawa, Goga Kapoor, Ghanshyam, Brij Gopal, Pinky Chinoy, Noopur, Kader Khan and Mallika, it is produced and directed by Veeru Devgan. Dialogues: Tanveer Khan. Music: Sukhwinder Singh. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi. Cinematography: Ishwar Bidri. Action: Jai Singh. Choreography: Raju Khan. Art: Bijon Dasgupta. Editor: Suresh Chaturvedi. The film is presented by Bharat Shah.

LATEST POSITION

Examinations are affecting collections all over the country.

Lal Baadshah dropped a lot from 4th day onwards. Is very poor in Bombay and Delhi but quite good in U.P.. 1st week Bombay 37,40,310 (57.28%) from 14 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,19,384 from 5 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Adipur 1,08,225 (66.69%), Patan 1,42,084; Pune 7,67,703 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 26,09,032 (38.95%) from 12 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,08,782 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 2,73,512, Varanasi 1,98,836, Allahabad (38 shows) 3,11,000, Bareilly 1,76,066, Hardwar 55,000; Rohtak 30,000; Calcutta 32,71,062 from 27 cinemas; Nagpur 4,34,892 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,58,436, Amravati 1,58,641, Akola 1,51,208, Wardha 70,974, Bilaspur 1,63,073 from 2 cinemas; Indore 3,40,574 from 3 cinemas (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,35,470 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 11,02,552 from 5 cinemas, Bikaner 2,27,650 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 7,24,578 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon), share 21,72,000 (including 14 fixed hire cinemas and Aurangabad).

Laawaris is extremely poor at most of the places. 1st week Bombay 20,45,408 (46.80%) from 10 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,70,014 from 3 cinemas (3 unrecd.); Pune 5,81,468 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,02,240 (1 unrecd.); Delhi 14,92,807 (30.66%) from 9 cinemas; Kanpur 1,00,709, Lucknow 1,60,619, Varanasi 1,24,830, Allahabad (38 shows) 1,35,000, Bareilly 47,328; Calcutta 9,45,452 from 22 cinemas; Nagpur 1,76,473 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 75,293, Amravati 1,21,520, Akola 43,404, Gondia (gross) 82,762, Chandrapur 1,21,134; Jaipur 1,19,730; released this week in C.I. and Hyderabad.

Kaun is good only in Bombay and a few other centres. 2nd week Bombay 18,02,931 (81.80%) from 4 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,12,647 from 3 cinemas; Pune 2,42,759, Solapur 63,052 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 12,53,896 from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 49,456, Lucknow 62,554, Varanasi 41,132, Allahabad 40,100; Calcutta (27 shows) 1,47,322; Nagpur 1,59,125; Indore 28,691, Bhopal 39,282; Hyderabad (gross) 2,54,169; Davangere 87,318, 1st week Bellary (Telugu) 56,218.

Kachche Dhaage will fetch commission in some circuits and overflow in some. 3rd week Bombay 14,61,084 (55.95%) from 7 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,05,473 from 4 cinemas (1 unrecd.), 1st week Kadi 1,08,518, 3rd week Jamnagar 46,775; Pune 4,88,895 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 74,818, 1st Barsi 50,711; 2nd week Bijapur 80,000; 3rd Delhi 17,55,021 from 7 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,79,000 (1 unrecd.), Lucknow 3,08,427, Varanasi 1,60,727, Allahabad 1,37,380, Bareilly (6 days) 1,03,417, Hardwar 31,552; Rohtak 18,129; Calcutta 4,89,130 from 6 cinemas; Nagpur 1,69,589 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,70,461, Amravati (6 days) 75,499, Akola 62,970, total 3,73,934, share 2,66,320, Dhule 57,250, Durg (6 days) 47,363, 1st week Bilaspur 64,277; 3rd week Bhopal (6 days) 79,645; Jaipur 4,73,312, Bikaner (gross) 94,626; Hyderabad (gross) 3,05,585; Mangalore 93,649, 1st week Shimoga 87,842.

Daag The Fire 4th week Bombay 3,18,793 (35.24%) from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); 1st week Padra 1,31,229; 4th Pune 1,27,790 from 2 cinemas, Solapur 48,830, 1st week Barsi 37,622; 4th week Delhi 90,880 (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,29,484 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,64,285, Varanasi 1,48,246, Allahabad 96,000, Bareilly 72,938, Hardwar 37,000; Calcutta 1,18,518; Nagpur 64,423 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 62,055, total 4,54,363, Amravati 93,680, Akola 75,431, total 4,74,522, share 3,50,583; Indore 80,000, Bhopal 68,484; Jaipur 1,48,831, Bikaner 35,853; Hyderabad (gross) 2,84,542 from 2 cinemas.

Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain 7th week Bombay 16,35,348 (49.95%) from 8 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,44,729 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 80,611; Pune 3,84,027 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (14 shows) 96,090; Delhi 2,16,389 from 2 cinemas; Kanpur 1,42,348 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,84,217, Varanasi 1,02,101, Allahabad 40,100, Bareilly 18,827; Calcutta 1,47,322; Nagpur 1,10,161 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 36,900, total 5,97,719, Amravati 73,275, Akola 34,050, total 6,25,200, Dhule 32,325, total 4,77,021; Hyderabad (gross) 2,54,382.

‘MOTHER 98’ TAX-FREE IN U.P.

Producer-director Saawan Kumar’s Mother 98 has been granted exemption from payment of entertainment tax by the Uttar Pradesh government. The film has already been granted a similar exemption in Delhi.

‘GODMOTHER’ RELEASE PERMITTED

Santokben Jadeja, on whose life story Godmother is alleged to be based, has appealed to the Gujarat high court against an order passed by the Rajkot city civil judge, allowing the release of Gramco Films’ Godmother, with cuts in two scenes. Santokben Jadeja, a former MLA of Gujarat assembly and a self-styled lady don of Saurashtra, had earlier moved the city civil court with a petition, seeking a stay on the release of the film which, according to her, was based on her real-life story. She had stated in her petition that the character based on her (played by Shabana Azmi in the film) is shown smoking and consuming alcohol, which would damage her reputation beyond repair within her community. Gramco’s advocates counter-argued that the similarity, if any, between their film’s character and Santokben Jadeja was only coincidental. Upon hearing the arguments for both the parties, the city civil court judge viewed the film on 10th March. Subsequently, he passed an order allowing the release of Godmother, provided the producer suitably changed two scenes depicting Shabana’s character consuming alcohol and smoking.

STANLEY KUBRICK DEAD

Hollywood director Stanley Kubrick, well-known for his 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove, died in London on 7th March. He was 70 and leaves behind his wife and three daughters.

Paying tributes to him, Warner Bros. chairman and co-chief executive officers Robert A. Daly and Terry Semel said, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Stanley Kubrick, a towering figure in the world of films and a deeply loved and respected member of the Warner family for nearly three decades. Stanley’s unique vision and protean abilities as filmmaker have fascinated and inspired audiences and colleagues for almost half a century….. We are fortunate to have screened the just completed Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley’s final picture, last week.”

‘TVS SA RE GA MA’ SET COLLAPSES, 30 INJURED

Nearly 30 persons were trapped when a makeshift set of the popular TV programme, TVS Sa Re Ga Ma (Zee TV), collapsed at the Taj Mahal in Agra on 11th March. The incident, which occurred at about 10 p.m., resulted in injuries to a number of fans who were present on the set. None of the cast was present on the set when it collapsed.

AUDIO PIRATE NABBED

The MIDC, Andheri (Bombay) police raided the premises of one Ashok Kumar Baijnath Rai and seized over 7,000 fake audio cassettes (including over 2,000 duplicate cassettes of T-Series) and other materials and duplicating equipments, totally valued at more than Rs. 3,40,000 on 11th March.

JATIN, LALIT ARRESTED

Music directors Jatin and Lalit, accused of assaulting the lobby manager of Hotel Centaur, Juhu, Bombay, in 1989, were on March 9, 1999 remanded to judicial custody till March 23, by metropolitan magistrate of Bandra (Bombay) court, B.A. Shelar. They were sent to Arthur Road jail. While Jatin was arrested on 9th March, Lalit surrendered before the court on 10th. Both were declared absconding by the court last month after they failed to attend hearings.

On August 13, 1989, the Santa Cruz police had registered a case against four persons — Jatin, Lalit, Vinod Bhat and Salma Bihari — for assaulting Kishore Naik, the lobby manager of Centaur Hotel. All the four were arrested and released on bail the next day. The police later filed the chargesheet and the court framed charges against the accused on December 23, 1993. As the accused failed to attend most of the hearings in the case, and a non-bailable warrant, issued in November ’98, could not be executed as the accused had shifted their residences, the court declared the accused as absconding. Bhat and Bihari are yet to be traced.

‘JAIHIND’ TAX-FREE IN MAHARASHTRA, U.P., GUJARAT

Manoj Kumar’s Jaihind has been granted entertainment tax exemption for a year in Maharashtra. It has also been granted tax exemption for two months in Uttar Pradesh and for six months in Gujarat.

UNI TENDERS APOLOGY TO MUKESH KHANNA IN DELHI HC

As in his popular TV serial, SHAKTIMAAN, Mukesh Khanna proved the hero in real life too when one of the premier news agencies of the country, United News of India (UNI), tendered an apology to the actor-producer in court. Mukesh Khanna had filed a defamation suit against UNI for flashing false news about children immolating themselves after seeing his serial, in the hope that the serial hero, Shaktimaan, would come to their rescue. He had also filed a suit against Doordarshan which decided to take his serial off air (intimated vide DD’s letter dated 24-2-’99) despite a contract for 104 episodes. According to Mukesh Khanna, DD’s action to take his serial off air was based on the news items flashed by UNI.

The counsel for UNI, in a hearing of DD and defamation suits in Delhi high court in the courtroom of Justice M.K. Sharma on 11th March, admitted that the news reports about SHAKTIMAAN having inspired children to have set themselves afire, flashed by it (UNI), were incorrect and a bonafide mistake on its part for which UNI was tendering an apology and expressing regret.

In view of the admission of inaccurate reporting by UNI and in view of its apology for the same, which were recorded by the Delhi high court in suit no. 484/1999, additional solicitor general C.S. Vaidyanathan, appearing for Doordarshan, told the court that DD would reconsider its decision to take SHAKTIMAAN off air and, therefore, sought a short adjournment.

The matter will now come up for further hearing on 17th March.

Arun Jaitley, with Rajat Sethi, appeared for Mukesh Khanna. T.L. Garg appeared for UNI.

JAWAHARLAL BAFNA MISSING

Producer Jawaharlal Bafna, whose Aaag Hi Aag has been released this week, left his office on Friday (12th March) morning and is since untraceable. His family filed a complaint with the Oshiwara police station but his whereabouts was not known till late Friday night.

Bafna’s son, Deven, told Information on Friday night at 12.15, “Daddy was feeling very low and dejected since the last 2-3 days. He was unhappy with the behaviour of some of his distributors who took deliveries at reduced prices, saying that he (Jawaharlal Bafna) was in plus, when the fact is that my daddy was in heavy deficit even after all the deliveries were effected.” The C.P. Berar distributor did not take delivery.

Jawaharlal Bafna, instead of returning home, slept in his office on the night of 11th March (Thursday) after effecting all the deliveries. His Delhi-U.P. distributor was also with him that night. On Friday, he left his office without informing anybody. A hand-written note, found in his drawer, mentioned that he had been honest in his dealings but honesty and sincerity did not pay in life. The note also said that he was not fit for this world, that he was leaving his place and that nobody should try to search for him. A line was also mentioned for Mithun Chakraborty to the effect that he should not loot people. Mithun had allegedly agreed to work in Aaag Hi Aag at a price lower than his market price because Bafna had suffered losses in his earlier film, Dadagiri, which also starred Mithun. But, according to Deven Bafna, “Mithun refused to complete his dubbing unless he was paid more money although the contracted amount had already been paid to him.”

CCCA FOUNDER-PRESIDENT H.N.S. RAO DEAD

Industry Loses Honest, Sincere Leader

C.P.C.I. Trade Mourns Subbarao’s Death

C.P. Berar distributor and founder-president of the Central Circuit Cine Association, H.N. Subba Rao, breathed his last at 7.30 p.m. on 9th March at his Bhusawal residence after a brief illness. He was 89. The news of his demise spread like wild fire in the C.P.C.I. Rajasthan trade. The Amravati and Indore trades held condolence meetings on 10th. All the business establishments and the offices of CCCA at Bhusawal, Indore, Amravati and Jaipur remained closed on 10th in his honour.

Born on 25th August, 1910 in Mysore, H.N.S. Rao’s first brush with the film industry was when he joined Baburao Pai’s Famous Pictures in Bombay after matriculating and completing a course in typewriting and shorthand in 1927. Although he joined as a stenographer, his quest for learning saw him working in all the departments. He was deputed to the concern’s Delhi office for a few months and in 1932, he was elevated to the post of branch manager of the Calcutta office. He was called to Bombay again and asked to set up a new distribution office, Kolhapur Talkie Distributors. He also briefly looked after the production work when Famous Pictures branched out into film production. But since distribution was where Subbarao’s (as he was called) heart was, he was shifted back to film distribution where he continued till 1937.

On 1st January, 1938, Famous Pictures opened its Bhusawal office, and Subbarao shifted base there. He later became a partner in the concern and when the other partners retired, he took over the firm. His honesty and sincerity, which he was known for when he was employed at Famous Pictures, continued to be his greatest assets till he breathed his last. The tradition of sincerity and honesty is being carried on in the same vein by his sons, H.S. Pandurang Rao and Anant Rao.

H.N.S. Rao distributed over 200 films, many of which were jubilee hits. He was the regular distributor of films produced by Mehboob Khan, Raj Kapoor, K. Asif, Prabhat Film Company, O.P. Ralhan and Atmaram.

H.N.S. Rao was the founder-member of the first executive committee of the CCCA and was also the member of the committee which drafted the constitution of the FFI. In the CCCA, his opinions at annual general meetings and otherwise were always greatly valued. For his valuable contribution to the film trade of C.P.C.I. Rajasthan, in particular, he was honoured at the hands of then president of India, P. Venkataraman, on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the film industry, in Madras.

He also founded a number of educational, social, cultural and charitable organisations including the society which runs an arts, science and commerce college in Bhusawal. The computer lab, which was funded by him, at the college is named after him.

The cine trade of Indore and the staff of the administrative office of the CCCA in Indore on 10th March condoled the death of H.N.S. Rao, at Film Bhawan. The condolence meeting was chaired by the honorary treasurer of the CCCA, Ramesh Sureka, who, paying tributes to the departed soul, said that the sad demise had caused an irreparable loss to the CCCA and the film fraternity. G.S. Gupta referred to him as the Gandhi of the CCCA. Joharilal Jhanjharia recalled his association with H.N.S. Rao since the time the CCCA was founded and his heroic efforts for the growth of the film industry that had made him a living legend. M.L. Jain recounted that Subbarao was a man of principles and a no-nonsense leader. Govind Acharya gratefully acknowledged that he had learnt a lot from H.N.S. Rao. Uttam Nahar and Jitendra Jain appreciated the late leader’s humane qualities, open-mindedness and zest for the betterment of the film fraternity. J.P. Chowksey also paid glowing tributes to Subbarao.

The meeting adopted the condolence resolution moved by Ramesh Sureka, a copy of which was later sent to the bereaved family. The meeting ended after a 2-minute silence was observed. All the film offices of Indore as well as Film Bhawan remained closed on 10th.

A meeting of the Amravati cine trade was held on 10th under the chairmanship of CCCA vice president Vijay Rathi to pay homage to H.N.S. Rao. Glowing tributes were paid to the visionary and leader. His death was mourned and it was mentioned that the industry had lost a sincere and devoted worker. Two minutes’ silence was observed. A copy of the condolence resolution passed at the meeting was sent to H.S.P. Rao.

RAM UDAR JHA NO MORE

Bihar distributor and exhibitor Ram Udar Jha expired at Muzaffarpur on 4th March. He was 70 years old. He had also produced Hindi and Bhojpuri films.

Jha owned Jawahar Picture Palace, Muzaffarpur. A condolence meeting to mourn his demise will be held at Muzaffarpur on 15th March.

ANNOUNCEMENT & LAUNCHING

Bobby Deol, Ranee In Guddu Dhanoa’s ‘Bichhoo’

Guddu Dhanoa’s Bichhoo, being presented by Narinder Dhanoa and starring Bobby Deol, Ranee Mukerji and Raj Babbar, was launched on March 10 with a song recording at Sunny Super Sounds. The song, penned by Sameer and tuned by Anand Raaj Anand, was rendered by Jaspinder Narula and Harry Anand. Being made under the banner of Bhagwan Chitra Mandir, it will go before the camera next month with regular schedules every month. The film’s executive producer is Veena Sood.

YOU ASKED IT

Does Karisma Kapoor play a double role in Silsila Hai Pyar Ka?

– No, she doesn’t, although the promotional trailer of the film, on air on satellite channels, gives that impression.

What has happened to the unofficial ban on the release of dubbed Hollywood films in Bombay?

– The ‘ban’ continues. There’s been no settlement of the issue as yet. The foreign companies and the IMPDA, TOA, CEAI etc. have not yet met after the initial joint meeting.

Which heroine will Kajol’s marriage benefit the most?

– Karisma Kapoor, of course! Although Kajol will continue acting, she will definitely do fewer films.

MIX MASALA

CAR THEFTS

Anupam Kher’s car was stolen earlier this week, together with his cell-phone while he went to pray at a Hanuman temple at Tardeo, Bombay. The temple used to be frequented by Kher during his struggling days. Perhaps, this was God’s way of telling him that, may be, he doesn’t visit Him as often as he used to!

Incidentally, producer-secretary Rakesh Nath’s (Rikku’s) Tata Safari was also stolen from Andheri (D.N. Nagar) some days ago.

A SLANGING MATCH

Close on the heels of the news about the cricket match between Bombay distributors and exhibitors to be held today (13th March) comes another news that the match has now been cancelled. Producer Vashu Bhagnani was to present Biwi No. 1 trophies to the best batsman, best bowler, best fielder and the best team. He was to also display banners of Biwi No. 1 at the ground. This, it appears, became the bone of contention for a few distributors who raised a hue and cry over it. Their argument was that if everyone was required to pay Rs. 500 for participating in the match, why should the organisers single out Vashu for preferential treatment? The organisers, who have since dropped the idea of holding the match, argue that the sum of Rs. 500 was being charged only to keep the free-loaders out from the dinner and the cocktails after the match. The actual bill was to be footed by Vashu and once the match was over, the sum was to have been refunded to every participant, they conclude. It is difficult to ascertain what is true and in such a scenario, as always, a great deal of bickering, bitching and backbiting is being indulged in by both sides. Shall we call it Bitching No. 1, Bickering No. 1 and Backbiting No. 1?

DO YOU KNOW?

* At Ashok cinema, Patna, it was double celebration time. SOLDIER celebrated 100 days at the cinema in regular shows and FIRE celebrated 100 days in morning shows.

* Ashok cinema, Patna, completed its golden jubilee on 3rd March, 1999. The cinema was opened on 3rd March, 1949 by the first Indian governor of Bihar, M.S. Anney. He had then described the cinema as the best of Bihar. Since then, the cinema has been known as the pride of the capital (city).

* Music director and lyricist Anand Raaj Anand’s brother, Harry, made his debut in playback singing on 10th March. Harry Anand lent his voice to a song of Guddu Dhanoa’s BICHHOO alongwith Jaspinder Narula.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

A News, Out Of Sur, Out Of Taal

The film industry woke up with a jolt last Sunday (7th March). Two persons (a male and a female), identifying themselves as Mukta Arts’ employees, phoned nearly 25 people from the industry, between 4 and 4.30 a.m. and informed them that Subhash Ghai had expired a couple of hours before. While some were told that he expired due to a heart attack at 2.30 a.m., others were informed that he was murdered. Obviously, the news spread like wild fire throughout the industry and within the next few hours, Ghai’s residence (it was a Sunday) was inundated with phone calls to verify the news because many of them believed the calls to be a hoax. Of course, Ghai himself answered many of the telephone calls. In fact, after attending the calls, he rushed straight to the shooting of his forthcoming Taal. Evidently, some miscreants had played a prank by spreading rumours of Subhash Ghai’s death. It was only by late afternoon that day that all in the industry learnt of the falsity of the news, and his mobile phone and the phones at Subhash Ghai’s residence stopped ringing.

While Subhash Ghai must have been greatly inconvenienced by the whole incident, he may, perhaps, take solace in the Hindu belief that several years are added to the life-span of a person in the event of rumours being spread about his death.

‘Biwi No. 1’ Right In Midst Of Cricket Fever

The period between 14th May and 20th June this year is taboo as far as new releases are concerned. With the World Cup cricket matches scheduled to be held at that time, producers and distributors are wary of releasing any big film in opposition. But Vashu Bhagnani is doing exactly what the rest of the trade may term as committing harakiri. He is moving full steam ahead to release his Biwi No. 1 on 28th May. And he has a strong logic for his plans. Says he, “By 28th May, the public will have had a good dose of cricket and will be yearning for a change. Since no major film is scheduled for release in that period, Biwi No. 1 will get the benefit of this desire for a change.” God willing!

Akshay And Action

The new promotional trailers of International Khiladi seem to have done the trick. Full of action and breathtaking stunts, the trailers have excited the exhibitors of U.P. in a big way. For, they are paying fancy terms to the film’s distributor. After all, like the audience, even the exhibitors are waiting to see Akshay Kumar in what he is best — action and stunts!

Heroine Changed

Karisma Kapoor has been replaced by Preity Zinta in Sajid Nadiadwala’s Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega. Although grapevine has it that the reason for Karisma walking out of the film was her fallout with choreographer Farah Khan (who will choreograph the songs of Sajid’s film), producer Sajid insists, it is purely due to date problems. That Karisma hurt her foot recently is common knowledge. Because of the foot injury, the talented actress could not shoot for several days, which resulted in postponements of her shootings. This, according to Sajid, was affecting his film’s shooting schedules from April onwards and he, therefore, opted for Preity. Coming back to Karisma and Farah Khan, the two were reportedly involved in an unpleasant encounter of the sad kind at a recent party. Propounders of the Karisma-Farah enmity theory as being the cause for the walkout by Karisma from Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega reveal that the actress made it clear to Sajid that she would not work with Farah Khan. The producer, they say, refused to replace Farah. Of course, Sajid refutes the entire story and maintains that the change in heroine was necessitated only because of date problems. Anyway, the film now stars Salman Khan, Ranee Mukerji and Preity Zinta.

Manoj Kumar’s Success Story: How It Began

The incident mentioned below was conveyed to us by Manoj Kumar earlier this week when the topic of discussion was Akshaye Khanna and his films. Like many in the industry, Manoj Kumar too felt that it was very sad that the films of a talented boy like Akshaye were flopping one after another. Expressing sympathy thus, Manoj Kumar related an incident of the time when he had joined the industry as an artiste. He too had a line of flops — six, to be precise, one after the other. Like Manoj Kumar today is feeling sad for Akshaye, (late) Om Prakash at that time felt sorry for Manoj. In one meeting with Manoj Kumar, the veteran actor told him, “You are so good-looking and you also act well, it’s a pity that your films are not doing well.” Saying this, Om Prakash advised Manoj to visit Haji Malang, a pilgrim place near Bombay. Manoj Kumar heeded Om Prakash’s advice and went to pray at Haji Malang. He recalled the long uphill walk to the dargah where he prayed for success. When he was climbing downhill, he heard a voice from behind him, which said, “Jaa, ikattees tareekh ko milenge.” He turned around and saw and old man dressed in clean white clothes and with a flowing white beard. Although he was standing where many beggars were stationed, Manoj Kumar recalled that he didn’t look like a fakir. When the unsuccessful actor asked him what he meant to say, the man in white replied, “You will taste success from 31st.” The premiere of Manoj Kumar starrer Hariyali Aur Raasta was held on 31st of that month and, sure enough, Manoj had the first taste of success with that film and how! Hariyali Aur Raasta proved a silver jubilee hit and from there began the success story of Manoj Kumar. The successful actor went to Haji Malang on many occasions after that “but,” he says ruefully, “I never saw that man in white ever again.”

Maybe, Akshaye can take a leaf out of this and visit Haji Malang.

Jai State Governments

At a time when entertainment tax is being considered one of the biggest evils in the industry, it comes as a perfect gift for Manoj Kumar that not one or two but a total of seven state governments have exempted his Jaihind from entertainment tax. The Maharashtra government has been the last to grant the film exemption but it has given the relief for one full year. The other states in which the patriotic film is tax-free are Gujarat, Delhi, U.P., M.P., Rajasthan and Haryana. This now should really excite the distributors. For, few films create such history even before they are released, right?!

‘Khiladi’ Ek, Films Anek

It is well-known by now that Akshay Kumar is the reigning hero as far as Khiladi films are concerned. He has already starred in Khiladi, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Sabse Bada Khiladi, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi and Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi while his International Khiladi is due for release on 26th March. What is, perhaps, less known is the fact that the word ‘Khiladi’ has been quite popular with producers for years now — much before Akshay came on the scene. The first of the ‘Khiladi’ films was Khiladi itself, made way back in 1945. Later, four more films were made with the same title, one each in 1950, 1961, 1968 and, of course, the Akshay-starrer in 1992! Then, there was Ek Khilari Bawan Pattey made in 1972, Do Khiladi (1976), Khel Khilari Ka (1977), Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977), Paanch Khiladi (1986) and Khatron Ke Khiladi (1988). Moreover, the Hindi dubbed versions of four films were also titled Khel Khiladi Ka, Khiladi No. 1, Kanoon Ka Khiladi and Ek Anari Do Khiladi. All in all, a whopping 20 films have the word Khiladi in their titles. So, shall we say, “Well ‘play’ed, Khiladi!”?

Filmi Threats

A producer-director of ‘B’ grade film reportedly threatened the CBFC officials recently that he would have their whole office burned down if his film was not passed without cuts! The film in question was actualy made in the ’80s. Now, nearly a decade-and-a-half later, the man has applied for a certificate for the same film which includes all the portions originally ordered by the censors to be cut. Obviously, this producer-director thought that he could terrify the examining committee and also the censor chairperson. But, of course, nobody took him seriously and chose to simply dub the threats as part of his madness.

Naam — The Title

The fad of adding English words to Hindi film titles is catching on fast these days. Daag The Fire has already been released and Manoj Kumar’s Jaihind The Pride has been retitled just Jaihind. Even then, several under-production films have English words attached to their titles. Take a look at the following: Woh – The Killers, Khooni Ilaaka – The Prohibited Area, Kaaran – The Reason, Jadh – The Root Cause, Tabaahi – The Destroyer, Dal – The Gang and Tapish – The Burning Desire. Now, what do you say to this Paagalpan – The Madness?!?

Dream Merchant

Buraa Na Mano, Holi NAHIN Hai!

I received a call from BBC, London earlier this week. The caller asked me if I could speak about Bollywood’s Holi bashes this year, on their programme the next evening. I told them, there hadn’t been any major Holi celebration parties this year but having said so, I dreamt about Holi in Bollywood. I dreamt that….

….Aamir Khan had all the plans to have a Holi party. He had even booked Rajkamal Studio for it and was making sure, the studio floor would accommodate the invitees. He had taken details of the floor size and painstakingly calculated how many people it could comfortably hold. Since several of the invitees would be under the influence of bhaang or some alcoholic drink, he was making an allowance for more body space. He had asked his office staff to give him the exact details of how many among the invitees were fond of drinking, what they preferred to drink, whether they would come single or with their spouses etc. etc. The calculations and statistics were taking so long to compile that the earliest that perfectionist Aamir’s Holi bash could take place would be sometime around Diwali. And so the plan was abandoned.

Govinda almost had a Holi party. Except that his invitations reached exactly the way he reaches on producers’ sets — late! Everyone I contacted lamented, they received Govinda’s invitation for the 9 o’clock shift — sorry, party — at 2 p.m. on the Holi day.

Rajkumar Santoshi had decided on a unique Holi bash — only for senior citizens. The invitations had been sent to actors, actresses and technicians in the industry, who are more than 70 years of age. Insiders revealed, young Dev Anand refused to accept the invitation. Insiders also revealed, Urmila Matondkar was the only non-senior citizen lucky to have been invited for the Holi party and the Rangeeli heroine had agreed to make a brief 5-minute appearance. But this Holi party was cancelled at the eleventh hour as Santoshi was not santosh with his own concept of ‘senior citizens Holi’. In keeping with his spirit of re-shooting, he told his staff to re-arrange a new Holi bash, so what if it was delayed — this was in keeping with the delayed status of his films. I am told that the Holi bash, which ultimately never took place, was to have been presented by Bharat Shah, whatever that meant.

Akshaye Khanna said, he had no reason to celebrate any festival, Holi or Diwali. And anyway, after the debacle of Doli Saja Ke Rakhna, the young actor is allergic to anything that even rhymes with ‘Doli’. “Please yaar, Holi se bachaa ke rakhna,” he pleaded.

Shah Rukh Khan, on the other hand, sent out invitations for a Holi gathering on — hold your breath! — top of a train. The invitees would be required to smear colours on each other’s faces while they danced atop a moving train. Shah Rukh had even booked the Rajdhani Express for the express purpose of the Holi get-together. But, but…. man proposes and Indian Railways disposes! The party got cancelled because the Rajdhani Express of 2nd March arrived in Bombay from Delhi in the evening instead of morning, as was scheduled.

Manoj Kumar decided to have Holi celebrations at his bungalow but said, he would restrict the colours to be used to just three — saffron, white and green. Even as everybody was appreciating the patriotic flavour of his Holi party, Manoj Kumar had to issue a cancellation notice because he had to rush to Gujarat with a print of his Jaihind for its tax exemption!

Aishwarya Rai declined to play Holi with colours. Instead, she said, she would burn Holika by consigning every piece of wood in her house to the flames. At least then, she thought, critics would stop calling her wooden. Touch wood!

Saif Ali Khan almost coaxed Salman Khan into hosting a Holi get-together. But the super-successful Khan told Saif, “Holi ko maar goli, chal shikaar khelte hain.” Saif hung up the telephone like a frightened kid and never stepped out of his house — neither to play Holi nor to shoot goli!

Mithun Chakraborty issued invitation cards for his Holi party. But since he insisted, everyone come to Ooty, nobody obliged. Well, almost nobody. T.L.V. Prasad and Jackie Shroff did go to Ooty but were disappointed to see Mithun playing Holi in four shifts. They soon shifted base to Bombay again, with a red face — not reddened by gulaal but due to embarrassment for having flown to Ooty and returned without playing with colours.

Vikram Bhatt scoffed at the very idea of playing Holi. I learnt later that the poor guy, fed on Hollywood films, simply didn’t know what Holi was and what it signified. When Aamir explained to him on telephone that one burns wood a day before Holi, Vikram couldn’t believe his ears. “Burn wood on Holi? You mean Holiwood in Bollywood?” Aamir disconnected the line.

Sridevi didn’t play Holi simply because she didn’t know that 2nd March was Holi day. She confessed to Rajkumar Santoshi’s wife the following day, “Aie aie yo, Boney-ji told me on 1st that it was Holi day on 2nd, but I thought, he meant to say that he won’t go to office. So I made plans to go on a picnic with him to a crowded place like Juhu Beach to feel like a commoner. After all, what do you do on a holiday?”

– Komal Nahta

LAL BAADSHAH

BMB Productions’ Lal Baadshah (A) is the story of a do-gooder who is a virtual one-man army. Inhabitants of a small town are terrified by the local don who is abetted in his criminal activities by his brother (a corrupt police officer) and father. But Lal Baadshah comes to their rescue time and again and vows to finish the don and his family. In their various confrontations, Lal Baadshah keeps scoring over the villains till finally, one day, he comes in their clutches. It is then revealed to the audience that the don’s father had an axe to grind with Lal Baadshah’s father who is presumed dead but is actually alive. The father and son ultimately join forces to eliminate the family of villains.

The story is as routine as routine can be but there is a good dose of action to keep the masses happy. The script is loose and shabbily written. For instance: the don’s activities are never shown and he is established as a don only through dialogues; the don’s father becomes the sworn enemy of Lal Baadshah’s father because he wants to lay his hands on the king’s treasure, but nothing is spoken of the treasure or its whereabouts thereafter! The romantic portion is weak and emotions are fair. Dialogues sound good at many places because of Amitabh Bachchan’s style of speaking. The second half is routine and tends to bore.

Amitabh Bachchan does a reasonably good job as Lal Baadshah. His romantic encounters with the heroine look funny because of the age difference between him and her. His Bhojpuri dialect will go down well with the audience in U.P. and Bihar mainly. In the role of the old father, he is average. The father’s wig looks funny. Manisha Koirala is ordinary and spoils the couple of comedy scenes she has, because of her mechanical performance. Her role is small and she remains out of the scene for long intervals. Shilpa Shetty is okay. Amrish Puri is effective. Raghuvaran makes an average don. Mukesh Rishi, as his brother, is fairly good. Nirupa Roy is so-so. Radhika does well in a brief role. Shakti Kapoor lends comic relief and should have had a better role. Prem Chopra gets very limited scope. Pramod Moutho and Mahesh Anand fill the bill. Naghma has been wasted in a song-dance.

Direction is aimed at satisfying the masses. Of the songs, ‘Dhanno ki aankh’ is very good. A couple of other songs are okay but the ‘Mera munna’ number is dull. Camerawork is quite appealing. Action scenes are well composed. Production values are alright.

On the whole, Lal Baadshah has an impressive initial value and masala for ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres but does not have the power to sustain and go for a long run. An average fare, it will do well in U.P., Bihar and Rajasthan because of the Bhojpuri dialect of the hero and the action.

Released on 5-3-’99 at Dreamland, New Excelsior and 19 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity: very good. Opening: below the mark. …….Also released all over. Opening was mindblowing in U.P. (released on 2nd March), West Bengal, Bihar, C.P. Berar, C.I. and Rajasthan (1st day Jaipur: an astounding 2,74,000/- from 5 cinemas!).

LAAWARIS

Lama Productions’ Laawaris (UA) is a masala film with a routine story. It is about an orphan picked up by a don and groomed to become a law-breaker. He terrorises people of the basti in which he lives and tries the same with a lawyer and his wife who shift into the basti with their little kid. Although the lawyer’s practice isn’t going great guns, he is a man of principles and refuses to surrender to the arm-twisting tactics of the orphan boy and his gang. He even has altercations and fights with the boy. Gradually, the orphan begins to like the lawyer and his family. He also falls in love with a girl who happens to be the lawyer’s assistant and also the niece of the corrupt police commissioner. While the lawyer’s wife helps the orphan come closer to his beloved, the lawyer himself can’t forgive the orphan and becomes instrumental in breaking the relationship between him and his beloved. Soon thereafter, the orphan’s girlfriend, in frustration, agrees to get married to the don’s good-for-nothing son. But the orphan tries to win her back and by this time, he even has the lawyer on his side. The climax involves getting the two lovers together while eliminating the don and his huge gang. It abounds in action.

The story is very run-of-the-mill but the only redeeming factor is that writer Honey Irani’s characterisations are likeable as well as believable. However, the screenplay is replete with oft-repeated situations which are, therefore, predictable at every stage. Kamlesh Pandey’s dialogues are excellent at quite a few places. But all said and done, the audience’s thirst for novelty remains totally unquenched.

Akshaye Khanna acts freely and is endearing in light scenes. But he could have done better in dramatic scenes. Manisha Koirala looks disinterested in her work and delivers her dialogues as if she were a super-fast train! Jackie Shroff gives a restrained performance as the principled lawyer. He looks too fat, though. Dimple Kapadia comes up with an absolutely brilliant show and is as natural as natural can be. Govind Namdeo does an able job. Pramod Moutho is fair. Anita Kanwal, as his wife, shines. The scene in which she threatens to kill Pramod Moutho is clapworthy but it should have had more dialogues. Raza Murad, Parmeet Sethi, Johny Lever (not very hilarious) and Dinesh Hingoo lend good support. Rajesh Joshi, Jeetu Arora, Sanjeeva, Yogee, Milind Inamdar, Ankush Mohit and the rest are adequate.

Shrikant Sharma’s direction is fairly good but he has not been able to give anything new to the audience, nor has he made the drama exciting. Even the romantic portion is dull. Music (Rajesh Roshan) is very good. But the absence of a hit number is sorely felt. ‘Aa kahin door’ and ‘Maine kya kaha’ are well-tuned songs. Action scenes (Raam Shetty) are wonderfully composed. Camerawork is alright. Editing should have been much more smooth. Production and other technical values are of standard.

On the whole, Laawaris is a dull fare because it has no novelty and no excitement in the drama. Since it has opened to poor houses (almost all over India), it will entail heavy losses to its distributors in spite of having abundant action in the second half.

Released on 5-3-’99 at Alankar, Metro (matinee) and 15 other cinemas of Bombay thru B.R.A. Corporation. Publicity: excellent. Opening: average. …….Also released all over. Opening was pretty weak almost everywhere.

LATEST POSITION

The Holi holiday on 2nd March proved bountiful for the box-office. The examination period, however, has begun to adversely affect collections at the ticket-windows.

Kaun has been totally rejected everywhere except in Bombay and some parts of Maharashtra only. 1st week Bombay 27,59,654 (82.08%) from 6 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,10,470 from 6 cinemas, Rajkot (matinee) 14,550, Jamnagar 44,415 (1 in matinee unrecd.); Solapur 1,25,828 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 19,14,999 (52.62%) from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 1,08,802, Lucknow 1,17,639, Varanasi 70,125; Calcutta 3,91,931 from 3 cinemas (discontinued from a few cinemas after 3-4 days due to dismal attendance); Nagpur 2,43,268, Amravati 97,994; Indore 1,44,835 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,13,368 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 1,61,198 from 1 cinema (discontinued from 2nd cinema after 2 days due to extremely poor collections); Hyderabad (gross) 6,33,686 from 4 cinemas (1 in Hindi and 3 in Telugu); Davangere 1,23,167.

…………

Kachche Dhaage has dropped, but is still on the better side. 2nd week Bombay 38,42,747 (65.55%) from 13 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 5,31,113 from 5 cinemas, 1st week Visnagar 1,25,500, 2nd week Padra 1,35,299, Rajkot 93,237, Jamnagar 1,26,582 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Bhuj 79,367, Patan 1,17,812, total 3,07,390; Solapur 1,08,736; 1st week Bijapur 1,73,315; 2nd week Delhi 37,27,547 from 11 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,52,205 (1 unrecd.), Lucknow 2,70,464, Varanasi 1,73,598, Bareilly (6 days) 1,34,857 (55.46%), Hardwar 56,682; Calcutta 10,26,455 from 10 cinemas; Nagpur 4,92,591 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,12,079, Amravati (6 days) 1,33,599, Akola 1,10,041, total 3,10,944, Raipur (6 days) 1,06,701, Bhilai (6 days) 69,734, Durg (6 days) 56,231, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,13,492 (1st 1,91,673), 1st Yavatmal 1,09,992; 2nd week Bhopal 1,13,232; Jaipur 5,24,886, Ajmer 1,39,133, Bikaner (gross) 1,72,914; Hyderabad (gross) 7,01,126 from 3 cinemas; Mangalore 1,03,985.

Daag The Fire 3rd week Bombay 5,76,355 (49.69%) from 3 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,23,426 from 3 cinemas, Rajkot 94,022; Solapur 78,658; Delhi 6,37,663 from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,60,153 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,76,166, Varanasi 64,914, Bareilly 85,340 (31.06%), Hardwar 80,000; Calcutta 4,23,316 from 7 cinemas; Nagpur 88,459 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 81,921, total 3,92,308, Amravati 1,22,780, Akola 1,06,190, total 3,99,090, share 3,05,500, Raipur 63,355, Bhilai 49,292, Jalgaon 81,856, total 4,22,661, Chandrapur 75,304, total 3,69,908, Yavatmal 47,194; Indore 1,82,102 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal 1,13,312; Jaipur 2,32,645, Bikaner 55,935; Hyderabad (gross) 5,37,569; Davangere 76,349.

Aa Ab Laut Chalen 6th week Bombay 5,76,158 (47.98%) from 2 cinemas; Ahmedabad 1,56,680 from 2 cinemas, 1st week Cambay 70,519, 6th week Rajkot (mg. shows) 21,477, Jamnagar (noon) 17,396; Solapur (matinee) 9,190; Delhi (TF) 3,86,730 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 32,000, Lucknow 1,00,092, Varanasi 59,835, Hardwar 23,000, Muzaffarnagar 30,000, total 1,40,000; Calcutta 1,41,735; 5th week Jabalpur (TF) 37,649, total 3,46,767, 6th week Amravati 47,166, 2nd week Akola 56,000, 6th week Raipur (TF) 76,448, total 5,74,163, 4th week Chandrapur 68,098, total 3,78,417; 6th week Indore (TF) 91,470, 4th Bhopal (TF) 1,08,000; 6th week Hyderabad (gross) 2,73,643; 1st week Bellary 83,849.

Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain 6th week Bombay 24,28,474 (60.28%) from 9 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,96,367 from 3 cinemas, Baroda 1,39,214 (5th 1,13,952), Rajkot 1,12,961 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 46,548; Solapur (14 shows) 1,05,107; Delhi 6,03,662 from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 1,59,402 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,21,698, Varanasi 94,000, Bareilly 24,498 (9.43%); Calcutta 4,12,528 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 1,31,316 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 41,891, total 5,60,820, Amravati 86,451, Akola 47,897, total 5,91,465, Raipur 65,041, Bhilai 56,909, 4th week Jalgaon 80,000, 6th Chandrapur 67,008, total 6,55,488; Jaipur 2,46,534 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 3,10,596.

Fire (dubbed, revived) 1st week Bombay 20,77,431 (62%) from 6 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Delhi 11,15,322 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 56,790.

JAGMOHAN PASSES AWAY

Music director Jagmohan Bakshi (of Sapan-Jagmohan music director duo) passed away on 26th February in Bombay following a cardiac arrest. He was 69 and is survived by his wife, son and two daughters. The last rites were performed on 28th after his son’s arrival from abroad.

Jagmohan (like Sapan) was humble, polite and a simple person who never sought any publicity for his work.

Not many may be aware that Jagmohan started his career in 1951 as a playback singer with Navketan’s Taxi Driver under the baton of late S.D. Burman. He gave his voice to a song, Dekho maane nahi roothi hai haseena, which was picturised on Dev Anand.

In 1954, he formed a team with Sapan Sengupta and the duo scored music for as many as 90 films — 56 Hindi, 18 Punjabi and 16 Bengali. Their first assignment as music directors was a Punjabi film, Jijaji, which had super-hit songs. Their first Hindi film was Begana. One of its songs, Phir woh bhuli si yaad aayi hai, rendered by Mohd. Rafi, is still remembered. The duo’s other notable films were Chetna, Do Raha, Call Girl, Sajjo Rani, Mera Jivan and Darwaza.

Of late, Sapan Jagmohan were occupied with providing music for Hindi TV serials.

FILM INDUSTRY WITHDRAWS CALL TO BOYCOTT FILM CITY

The Federation of Western India Cine Employees, Film Makers Combine and Association of Motion Picture & TV Programme Producers have decided to revoke their call to boycott Film City. The decision to withdraw the boycott was taken on 4th March following a meeting of film industry representatives with Maharashtra minister for cultural affairs, Pramod Navalkar, and joint commissioner of police, Bombay, Dr. P.S. Pasricha. During the meeting, both, Navalkar and Pasricha, assured full protection to all film units and members of the film industry at Film City. Later on 4th March, the FWICE, FMC and AMPTPP unanimously decided at a joint meeting that only FWICE will be recognised by the film industry and no other group of workers would be granted recognition.

Earlier, on 26th February, FWICE, FMC and AMPTPP had issued a joint call to boycott Film City with immediate effect. The decision was taken soon after some Bharatiya Kamgar Sena activists stormed the sets of Dreamz & Filmz Pvt. Ltd. and disrupted the set-construction activity there. The BKS activists had taken this course following the producers’ refusal to meet their demand to employ their workers in the set construction. They (BKS activists) even got physical with the producers’ workers and the latter too retaliated. In the exchange of blows and fisticuffs, at least 3 BKS activists were injured badly and had to be hospitalised. The police arrested members of both the groups.

YOU ASKED IT

What must be the number of audio cassettes of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai that’ve been sold so far?

– Sony Music has so far sold more than 53 lakh units of the film.

Why has the Gujarat sub-territory suddenly become so cold?

– Artificially high prices of films for the sub-territory have led to heavy losses for the sub-distributors. The sub-circuit was, therefore, bound to become cold.

Why do star prices and film prices not come down to more realistic levels?

– Because of insecurity and greed of artistes and producers.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Amitabh Bachchan performed a daring stunt recently for Mehul Kumar’s KOHRAM despite the director and action director (Bhiku Verma) insisting that he use the services of a duplicate. Riding down the steps of Mount Mary’s church at Bandra, Bombay, atop a heavy motorcycle, Amitabh had to next cling on to a moving truck on its underside.

* LAL BAADSHAH has created a pink city record by collecting 2,74,000/- on the opening day (5 cinemas; 5 shows in 4 cinemas, and 6 shows in 1 cinema) in Jaipur. One show was held at Paras cinema on Thursday night without publicity and that was full. …In Jodhpur, the film collected 98,000/- on the first day at Nasrani cinema.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Kuch Kuch Naya Hai

The teaser trailer of Boney Kapoor’s Sirf Tum as well as the trailer (which is now on air on satellite channels) have been conceptualised by Karan Johar. The teaser trailer did not have the film’s title. Nor did it show any faces; it just showed two hands meeting, and a caption to the effect: ‘Can you ever fall in love with a person whom you’ve never met?’ The caption captures the essence of the film because…….. saying anything more would be giving out the film’s story. So we leave it at that.

Unusual Does The Trick?

The unusual invariably does the trick. Like it has done in the case of Guddu Dhanoa’s new film, titled Bichhoo. The unusual film title has drawn distributors’ attention to the film for which deals have been finalised for almost all the territories. Incidentally, Sudesh Gupta, manager of Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts, happened to see the logo of Bichhoo. He swears, it is imaginative and fantastic. The logo has been designed by Valles Publicity.

“A film’s climax shouldn’t look like a climax, it should be the culmination of the entire drama.”

– SUBHASH GHAI

The entire floor of Filmistan Studios has been converted into a studio of a huge entertainment company. The studio is very futuristic in its look, what with a dancing floor, a cafetaria on top, an office etc. etc. The eye-catching set is the brainchild of art director Sharmishta Roy and the film for which it has been constructed is Subhash Ghai’s Taal. Ghai is shooting a music piece on the set, involving plenty of dancers and musicians, and choreographing the same is young Ahmed Khan.

Subhash Ghai, after hours of rehearsals, sets the camera and discusses the shot with his cameraman, Kabir Lall. Since it is an elaborate shot, requiring the use of a crane and trolley, the exact timing of the camera movements is of paramount importance. Once the detailing of the camera movements is taken over by Kabir, Ghai goes to the area where the musicians are seated and gets the seating arrangements reorganised. All this, while Ahmed Khan is making the dancers rehearse and perfect their steps.

The scene requires, besides the dancers and the musicians, Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Alok Nath, Mita Vashisth and Saurabh Shukla to participate. Anil is the rich studio owner, and the scene shows his team rehearsing for a show. Aishwarya and her father, who’ve come to Bombay from a small-time town, have been called that day by Anil Kapoor for a possible job offer (for Aishwarya). Mita Vashisth is Aishwarya’s aunt who is negotiating the deal. Saurabh Shukla plays Anil’s secretary.

Aishwarya and her father have never seen anything like this studio ever before and quite understandably so. They stare wide-eyed and even while they are waiting to be called by Anil, they see him oversee the rehearsal and just walk away from there into his chamber on the mezzanine floor without so much as even acknowledging their presence. This perplexes them and they wonder why he did not talk to them as he himself had asked them to see him. His secretary puts them at ease and tells them that his boss has four eyes, two in the front and two behind, and that his eyes at the back of his head had seen Aishwarya and the others waiting and that he would therefore call them. Sure enough, just then, Anil Kapoor calls out to the three waiting for him.

There are several takes before the shot is okayed. In between shots, Subhash Ghai reveals a part of the story and says, he is very pleased with the climax he has shot. Climax shot? “Yes,” informs Ghai, “I have already shot the difficult climax.” Explaining why he had shot the climax first, much before a major part of the film, he says, “Very often, climax, when shot last, looks very different from the rest of the film. This time, therefore, I decided to shoot the climax much in advance so that the portions before the climax can be shot in relation thereto. The idea is that the climax shouldn’t look like a climax but should be the culmination of the entire drama. Once the climax is shot, I can make sure that the earlier part of the film is going in the right direction.” Elaborating further about the climax shooting, Ghai says, “Anil fell ill while shooting it — he was so tense because it was a difficult climax for him and he obviously wanted to give his best.” Subhash is more than happy with Anil’s performance in the climax. In fact, Ghai is totally sold on Anil’s sincerity and jokes, “I wonder what Anil’s old age will be like, the guy is so hyper.”

Was the poor fate of Akshaye Khanna (the other hero of Taal) starrers disturbing Ghai? “I’m not disturbed, but the responsibility on my shoulders has increased. Akshaye is a good actor and he deserves a hit. I hope, he gets it fast because otherwise, the best of actors can be shattered.”

Talking of his scripting, the filmmaker reveals how he had not been able to control his tears when he was writing one particular emotional scene between Aishwarya and Alok Nath. “The tears just welled up in my eyes and came right on the paper on which I was writing the scene.” How had the scene, which had made him cry while writing it, shaped out to be on celluloid? “Oh, fantastic,” says Ghai contentedly.

Taal is being readied for release in August. Considering that the entire talkie portion will be complete after the current schedule which will stretch till mid-April, the release date should not be difficult to meet. After the ongoing shooting spell, only a song and a rain sequence will remain to be picturised. Talking of songs brings one to the film’s music director, A.R. Rahman. Just the music piece being shot then gives an idea of how brilliant the songs of the film must be. The effort that has gone into preparing and recording the songs is too much. And not just because A.R. Rahman had preferred to record the songs of Taal only in the nights. Maybe, that is when he had his sur and taal the rightest!

– Komal Nahta

KAUN

Kshitij Production Combines’ Kaun (A) is a real-time suspense drama aimed at terrifying the audience. It is about a girl who is scared stiff because she is alone at home (a huge home) on a stormy, rainy evening. The television news announces that a psychopathic killer is at large, which terrifies the girl even more. Suddenly, her doorbell rings and a man, asking for somebody, begs of her to let him in till the weather clears. She refuses. He persists. And finally, she finds him in her house. His behaviour makes her imagine, he is the killer. Even while she is trembling with fear and he is shivering of cold, a second intruder comes into the house. The two guys accuse each other of being the dreaded psychopath. The petrified girl is confused and since the suspense is about who the killer is, the audience is supposed to get into a guessing game. The ending, which deals with the revelation and much more, solves the mystery. The first half hardly moves. In the second half, the wordy duel between the two guys is entertaining but even though the audience may enjoy the war of words, its thirst for fright remains unsatiated. Also, this very entertaining bit detracts the story from the horrifying drama, which is not desirable. Because, since the entire film is shot in one bungalow only, it becomes a tedious and monotonous exercise for the viewer.

The film has just three characters. The three players and sound (effects and background score) play important roles in the 1-hour-56-minute drama. Although director Ram Gopal Varma has tried to exploit the lurking fear in a viewer’s mind, writer Anurag Kashyap lets him down badly, with a script that gives too much time to the audience to think. In this kind of films, the ideal situation would be to provide edge-of-the-seat thrills and chills and that would be possible only in a fast-paced drama. But the movement in Kaun is slow at many places, which raises questions in the viewers’ minds — questions like why the girl does not run out of the house and lock the two intruders inside, why she lets the first one in, etc. If the writer and director would like the audience to believe that there are no neighbours or neighbourhood, the same should have been established. Of course, the film’s ending answers the above questions that come to mind, but then, new questions arise at that point — questions like why the girl did not let the guys inside the house willingly, etc. In fact, the last scene in the film shows the girl rejoicing the fact that someone is knocking at her door again — something she wasn’t excited about when the drama started in the same fashion.

Another major drawback of the film is that it seeks to terrify through sound rather than substance. That is to say, the sound effects are more scary than the drama. The absence of songs and the short length of the film may be justified as far as the subject goes but since the merits are lacking, these become negative factors for the traditional audience. Besides, a major part of the drama looks unbelievable and unrealistic.

Urmila Matondkar does well in some scenes but is average in others, may be because the conviction in the drama is absent. Manoj Bajpayee acts ably but his character gets boring at places. However, even his performance is not flawless. For instance, when he fears that there’s yet another intruder in Urmila’s house (towards the ending), he shouts out to her repeatedly, to be careful and sometimes does so in a sing-song way (Ma’am, ma’am, ma’…….am)! Sushant Kumar fails to impress. His expressions do not befit his character and his dubbing also is dull.

Ram Gopal Varma’s shot compositions and takings are beautiful but much more effort should have gone into the script to have made it a terrifying drama. Although the man deserves to be complimented for trying out something different from the usual commercial stuff, his lapse in selection of a plausible script needs to be criticised. Editing should have been much more crisp. Action scenes are reasonably well composed. Sound effects are absolutely astounding. Background music is also wonderful. Photography is good.

On the whole, Kaun does not have enough material to scare the viewer and, therefore, does not serve the purpose for which it was made. A film for very selected cinemas in a few major cities only, especially of Bombay, Maharashtra and Southwards, it will entail losses to most of its distributors.

Released on 25-2-’99 at Metro and 26-2-’99 at 9 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity: very good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was disastrous at many places.

LATEST POSITION

It was a normal week. ….Collections in several parts of the country are likely to be adversely affected due to pre-Holi days.

Kachche Dhaage has done very well in 1st week but the drop from 5th day onwards was too noticeable everywhere. It has collected excellent at ‘B’ class centres too. 1st week Bombay 54,54,720 (79.91%) from 14 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 13,97,298 from 8 cinemas, Padra 2,00,154, Rajkot 1,71,160 from 2 cinemas, Jamnagar (matinee) 32,000 (1 in regular unrecd.), Patan 1,89,578, Bhuj 1,27,696; Pune 13,58,353 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 2,17,389, Solapur 3,04,266 from 2 cinemas; Belgaum 1,12,799 (100%), Dharwad 1,43,791; Delhi 57,76,205 (77.97%) from 13 cinemas (1 unrecd., 1 on F.H.); Kanpur 6,35,950 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,33,517, Varanasi 2,44,054, Bhadohi 1,34,373 (88.18%), Alllahabad 1,97,552, Meerut 2,62,668, Bareilly 2,58,156 (91%), Dehradun 2,41,680 (83.85%), Hardwar 1,00,123, Muzaffarnagar 1,74,468; excellent in East Punjab, Ludhiana 3,80,996 (100%), Rohtak 58,664; Calcutta 24,75,625 from 18 cinemas; did very well in Bihar in 1st week; Nagpur 9,00,158 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 3,08,515, Akola 2,00,903, Raipur (6 days) 2,10,621, Bhilai (6 days) 42,663 (1 unrecd.), Durg (6 days) 1,18,952, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,73,443; Bhopal 1,78,755 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 12,75,154 from 4 cinemas, Ajmer (29 shows) 1,71,636, Bikaner 2,56,566; Hyderabad (gross) 34,08,713 from 15 cinemas.

………..

Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain 5th week Bombay 20,69,439 (65.05%) from 8 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,09,953 from 3 cinemas, Baroda 1,13,953, Rajkot 90,740 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 40,000; Pune 5,28,608 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,48,357, 1st week Barsi 57,202; 5th week Delhi 5,88,685 from 4 cinemas; Kanpur 1,48,165 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,27,856, Varanasi 85,521, Allahabad 56,483, Meerut 91,903, Bareilly 32,022 (10.56%), Dehradun 99,654 (4th 1,39,000), Hardwar 18,000; Calcutta 4,11,792 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 2,52,951 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 64,055, total 5,18,928, Akola 61,122, total 5,43,568, Raipur 82,469, Bhilai 86,432, 3rd week Jalgaon 89,003, 5th Gondia (gross) 56,866, Chandrapur 66,524, total 5,88,480, Yavatmal 25,539, total 2,78,730; Jaipur 1,62,578, 4th Bikaner 51,580; 5th week Hyderabad (gross) 3,07,795.

AJAY DEVGAN WEDS KAJOL

Ajay Devgan got married to Kajol at a simple ceremony at the former’s house on 24th February. Only family members and close friends were present. The wedding was a low-key affair, presumably due to the recent demise of Ajay’s grandmother.

YOU ASKED IT

Why do producers have to go to court to restrain cable operators from screening their films when the law itself does not permit the operators to screen them?

– That’s the tragedy of the country we live in. And the worst part is that in spite of being restrained by court orders, cable operators do show films.

In your item on the big films due for release in 1999, the name of Venus’ Josh was missing. Will Josh not come this year?

– The list of releases was not exhaustive. JOSH will definitely be released in 1999.

Is Ram Gopal Varma’s Mast half-complete? I hear, it will be released next year. Is that so?

– MAST will be complete by June/July and the film will be released in August/September this year. Although it stars Urmila Matondkar with a newcomer (Aftab), the film is a big-budget extravaganza with many songs.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Karisma Kapoor, who has not had a single release since over a year, after DIL TO PAGAL HAI, may well be seen on screen for the first time in 1999 in N.N. Sippy’s SILSILA HAI PYAR KA. As if to remind the world that her last film was DIL TO PAGAL HAI, the new film has a song with the title of Yash Chopra’s film in it. That and the film’s title song are good, catchy numbers. There’s one more ‘Padosan’ song which is also good.

* Amitabh Bachchan was accorded the status of presidential guest by the Sri Lankan government during his first ever visit to the country from February 1 to 14 for the shooting of Padmalaya’s SOORYAVANSHAM.

* Vinod Khanna will be seen in a TV serial for the first time on 1st March on DD1 in SHOORVEER MAHARANA PRATAP. He plays the title role in it and his heroine is Poonam Dhillon.

Dream Merchant

Budget Blues

With the Union Budget to be announced, there’s a lot of speculation in the trade about what the Budget proposals have in store for the film industry. With so much talk about the Budget, I dreamt about the industry people’s expectations from the Union Budget to be presented in Parliament today, 27th February. I dreamt about what the following people had to say about their hopes/expectations from the Budget.

Govinda was praying that the Budget allowed producers to claim 10% of the actual expenditure incurred on a film, as Artistes’ Late-Coming Expenditure. For that, the only proof required to be submitted would be a contract with the Hero No. 1. No proof of actual cash outgoings would be insisted upon by the Income-Tax Department.

Anil Kapoor said, he had inside information that producers who signed stars who do not command an initial, would be given a rebate of 20% of their profits. The government was doing this, according to Anil, “at the behest of the anti-Khan lobby” because only films starring the three Khans — Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman — were opening to bumper houses.

Mithun Chakraborty said that he had used top connections to ensure that the new Budget would make it mandatory for all producers to shoot at least one schedule in Ooty. If a producer failed to shoot at the hill-station, he would not be entitled to the benefits of the two new sections viz. section 80-OO and section 80-TY to be introduced in the Income-Tax Act. Mithun, however, refused to divulge the details of the new sections.

Sunil Shetty was hoping that the new Budget proposals would give at least some relief or rebate to producers who made films on sports, whether cricket, football, kho-kho or hu tu tu. This, he said, would encourage producers to risk their monies on sports films despite the debacle of sports films, which, he felt, would go a long way in including the sportsman spirit in today’s youth — and producers alike!

Juhi Chawla, who has given up non-vegetarian food and has turned vegetarian, hoped, the government would do something about non-vegetarian jokes in films. She felt, a penalty calculated at 2% of the net profit of the producer for every 100 prints of the film taken out would be a good deterrent.

Mahesh Bhatt said, biographical films needed to be given a push and so also remakes of Hollywood films, the latter because they would expose Indians to the culture of the West. He also said that he had been assured by the Union finance minister that producers of biographical films would not be required to pay income-tax on profits from those films provided they were a true account of the lives of the people whose biographies they dealt with. Producers of remakes of foreign films would be granted a special deduction calculated at 5 times the cost of VCR, LD player, video cassettes, LDs etc. with no upper limit. This would be allowed under a new section 80-HFC to be introduced after section 80-HHC of the Income-Tax Act, which deals with exports of films. According to an inside source, the ‘HFC’ in 80-HFC stands for ‘Hollywood Films ki Chori’!

Chandrachur Singh, Arshad Warsi, Mukul Dev and Sharad Kapoor were hoping that the Budget would give special concession to makers of films starring newcomers. The definition of a “newcomer” would include every artiste who has no successful solo starrer to his credit. Thus, every artiste would continue to be a newcomer (for the purpose of the special concession to his producer) till the time at least one solo starrer of his proved a success.

Gulshan Rai, Subhash Ghai, Gordhan Tanwani and Shekhar Kapur were very hopeful that a new chapter in the Income-tax Act would be added in this year’s Budget. It would deal with producers’ expenditure under the head of extortion money. They said, they had reliable information that payments made to extortionists would be allowed as revenue expenditure if made at least 3 months before the end of the financial year for which it would be so allowed. If, however, the money was paid less than 3 months before the year-end, only 50% would be allowed as expenditure and the balance would have to be capitalised and could be written off in the books of account over a period of 3 years. To avail of the benefits under the new chapter, producers would have to prove that they, in fact, received threatening calls from extortionists and they did try to avoid the expenditure. A proviso in the chapter would make it mandatory for all producers to make payments to extortionists by account payee cheques or demand drafts only. Confirmation letters from the extortionists would be required to be submitted by producers alongwith their returns of income.

Actors like Akshay Kumar and Akshaye Khanna were very sure that as per their request, the Budget would provide for suitable amendments in the I-T Act so that actors whose three films flop in a row in one year would not be required to pay any income-tax for that year. Like every dark could has a silver lining, every third consecutive flop would have a tax-free lining.

Overseas distributor Kishore Lulla had dashed a telegram to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The telegram requested for free trade between India and Pakistan and a tax holiday of 10 years for profits earned from export of Indian films to the neighbouring country. Of course, the prints of the films would have to be transported to Pakistan by bus! Yes, by the historic bus to Lahore.

– Komal Nahta

INFORMATION MEETS

“For me, it was never the question of choosing art over commerce or vice
versa. I wanted to make something
that was entertaining and that people
would want to see.”

– JOHN MATHEW MATTHAN

RAJ VAIDYA

John Mathew Matthan is reluctant to talk about Sarfarosh, his maiden venture as producer-director. At least this much is clear within the first few minutes of the conversation. ‘I’d rather you see it and then, tell me what you think of it’, says he and you realise that his reluctance to talk about the film does not stem from a fear of shooting his mouth. It actually signifies the supreme confidence that he has in his film. And why not? The trade buzz on this Aamir Khan starrer is encouraging, to say the least.

Having been an ad filmmaker for more than a decade and a half, Matthan returns to his first love, feature films, with Sarfarosh. In his first-ever interview with the press, he comes across as a confident, intelligent and a completely unassuming person. He also has a great sense of humour. Like when asked what genre did Sarfarosh belong to, he says, ‘Even I don’t know. In fact, I am waiting for the film to release so that I can go to a video library and see whether they slot it as action, drama, or other. Then I’ll know!’

You seem to be one of the very few people who have made a successful transition from ad films to feature films. Why don’t you start by telling us how it all began?

Actually, I started my career in feature films and then switched over to advertising. You see, I had just finished a post-graduate diploma in Mass Communications from Xavier’s, Bombay when I got my break as chief assistant director to Govind Nihalani in his directorial debut, Aakrosh (1980). Later, I was the first assistant director in the Oscar-winning Gandhi (1983). But, by then, I also realised that it was very difficult to survive as just an assistant in the film industry as one only gets paid a pittance. So, I turned to making ad films, primarily in search of security. During the next 12 or 13 years, I went on to make nearly 400-500 ad films on almost every conceivable product under the sun. I have made ad films for the entire range of, say, detergents, be it Wheel, Surf, Rin, OK or Nirma. I also made the first ever Garden sarees ad, apart from those for Tips & Toes, Lifebuoy soap and countless others. In the process, I gained a tremendous amount of confidence in my abilities and earned some money too.

You obviously had it really good as an established ad filmmaker. What prompted you to venture back into the uncertain world of feature films?

After having made such a huge number of ad films, I had reached a point where I was fed up of them. Moreover, I had found the financial security that had prompted me into this field long ago. I also had the confidence that I could now direct a feature film. So, I guess, it was a logical switch back to full-length features. This decided, I began to think about the kind of film I wanted to make. I knew that at that time, it was easier to get a nod from NFDC or to raise funds for a small film, and go ahead and make it. But then, I also realised that those kind of films do not get the right exposure. So, I decided against that route. I wanted my film to get exposure. I mean, what is the purpose of making a film if it is not going to be seen by the audience? Ultimately, films are made for the audience to see, and the only way to ensure this is to make a mainstream film. For me, it was never the question of choosing art over commerce or vice versa. I wanted to make something that was entertaining and that people would want to see. With this in mind, I started working on the script for Sarfarosh. I chose a subject which is modern and, in many ways, unique to today’s times. The film is about the perilous nature of lives ordinary citizens lead in the grim shadow of the constantly increasing terrorism.

Sounds interesting, but how did you manage to rope in Aamir Khan in the project, considering your newcomer status as producer-director?

Even while I was scripting Sarfarosh, it was clear to me that Aamir could be one of the better options to play the lead. So, once I had completed scripting, I approached Aamir with a request to hear out the script. He gave me an hour at Sunny Super Sounds where he was to participate in the background score for one of his films. I explained to him that my script was three hours long and hence it wasn’t possible for me to narrate it in an hour. He respected that and, within a week, gave me the time I required. I went and just read out the script — not narrated it in a dramatic manner — and was pleasantly surprised at the end of it when Aamir said, he would do the film. I guess, what worked in my favour initially was the fact that I had a bound script on my hands. Later, Aamir did take a little time in checking me out, but that was simply because this was my maiden venture as a producer, and Aamir was naturally concerned about my being able to back it up financially. Here, Manmohan Shetty of Adlabs gave me a lot of support. I have had a nearly 20-year-long association with him and it was he who assured Aamir that the film wouldn’t run into any sort of trouble. Not only this, he also organised finance for the film. Soon, Aamir gave his nod and the project took off.

How much time did you spend in the scripting?

The scripting of Sarfarosh took nearly six to eight months. That was because I did a lot of research before actually sitting down and writing the film. Everybody asked me why I was wasting my time and whether I was going to make a documentary on terrorism. But, I am of the opinion that it is not possible to understand terrorism sitting in Bombay. You have to go out there were it is rampant and meet people who are affected by it. You must also meet people who have been a part of it and those who are against it. Only then can you begin to write about it in a knowledgeable manner. Meeting all these people helped me a great deal while scripting Sarfarosh. I was able to extract so many real-life stories from them and, in some instances, even dialogues. I later incorporated quite a lot of these in my original plot.

What kind of film is SARFAROSH?

It is really difficult to categorise Sarfarosh in a particular genre. I’d rather you see the film and tell me where it fits in. It has all the elements of a commercial mainstream film. The film opens in New Delhi where Aamir resides with his family. He is still studying in college and, one fine day, bumps into Sonali Bendre and they both experience the sparks of love. However, their romance ends prematurely when Aamir’s family is affected by terrorism and has to abruptly shift to Bombay. Once in Bombay, Aamir, a graduate now, lands himself a respectable job and begins a new chapter in life, until a chance meeting with Sonali at a ghazal concert revives his love. Matters soon come to a head when the dark shadow of terrorism catches up with his family.

Sarfarosh is an intense film and required an equally intense background score. I am fortunate that my team of musicians (refuses to name them for some reason) have given me a score that is better than what I had expected. Jatin Lalit have, likewise, given me a wonderful musical score, in six songs that befit the theme.

An increasing breed of new directors and screenwriters hate the compulsion of including songs in each and every film, regardless of its theme. What are your views?

All I can say is that one has to accept reality. If you choose to make a mainstream commercial film, then you must also accept that there will be six or seven songs in it. As a director, it becomes your job to figure out how to do it. I agree that Sarfarosh is not really a subject where there is great scope for songs. But, I couldn’t let that interfere and trouble me when I started off because my attitude towards songs would be negative then. Moreover, making a songless film with Aamir Khan is like making a statement and I did not want that. So, I accepted this compulsion right from the start and also figured out a way to do it.

Out of the six songs in the film, the title song, Sarfaroshi ki shama dil mein jalaa lo yaaron / Zindagi maut na ban jaaye sambhaalo yaaron, sets the framework of the film. Then, there is a ghazal being sung at the concert where Aamir and Sonali meet in Bombay. A flashback incorporated in the ghazal tells the audience about their love affair in New Delhi. Thus, the ghazal becomes a part of the narrative. The remaining songs, I have used as relief points in the film.

Coming to Aamir, what has been his contribution to SARFAROSH, apart from acting?

Aamir has been an excellent support to me throughout the film. He stood by me through everything and continues to do so even now. He is not the kind of an actor who just comes on the sets, does his job and leaves. He contributes a lot to the film in a very positive way. He has also been very respectful to me. See, when I began the film, I had not worked with anyone in my unit and hence my crew and the artistes probably did not know how to treat me. So, the respect they gave me was because of the respect Aamir gave me. There were also times when I wanted a particular thing in a particular way. It is to Aamir’s credit that he trusted my judgement and saw to it that I got what I wanted. He had the confidence to trust me and I owe him that.

Being a first-time producer, how was your experience with the trade?

Well, I have closed all territories except Andhra… so, I guess, the experience has been good. I must confess that I did not get the price I had in mind, but still managed a very good one in spite of having absolutely no track record in feature films.

Finally, what was the controversy surrounding SARFAROSH which led to the change of distributor for Bombay territory?

I would not like to comment on that. All I can say is that wait for ten days and it will all clear up. The matter is currently being sorted out by IMPDA.

KACHCHE DHAAGE

Tips Films P. Ltd.’s Kachche Dhaage (UA) is a thriller. The story of the misadventures of two step-brothers who are jointly framed for terrorist activities, the film deals with their travails as also their relationship and ultimately with how they come out of the frame-up. The first half is very good and credit for this goes to story and screenplay writer Anjum Rajabali who keeps the audience guessing about what the next scene would be. The second half becomes routine but again, once the revelation of the traitors comes, it becomes exciting and interesting. The ending, however, is hurried and looks quite abrupt. Romance is almost totally absent in the film which abounds in action. Emotions do touch the heart at a couple of places although there was scope for some more of them. Dialogues (Milan Luthria and Sanjay Chhel) are very good and punch-packed at several places. The little jokes between the two heroes are enjoyable.

Ajay Devgan does an excellent job as the illegitimate child angry with the whole world. He lends an impressive intensity to his character and uses his eyes to convey a lot of his emotions. Saif Ali Khan, as the flamboyant city boy, is truly lovable and easy-going. Between the two of them, they make the audience laugh at several places. Manisha Koirala has been wasted; she appears in songs and a few scenes but doesn’t get any scope whatsoever to act. She looks pretty. Namrata Shirodkar does quite well. Govind Namdeo is absolutely natural and shines as the overambitious police officer. Sadashiv Amarapurkar is effective. Vineet Kumar is good. Maya Alagh, S.M. Zaheer, Mahavir Shah, Rajesh Vivek, Annu Kapoor, Parmeet Sethi, Simran, Ishrat Ali, Sanjay Goradia and the rest lend good support.

Milan Luthria makes a reasonably confident debut as a director. Although his narration is not without avoidable flaws, he, nevertheless, shows the spark. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s music and Anand Bakshi’s lyrics make a good combination. ‘Dil pardesi ho gaya’, ‘Ishq di galli’ and ‘Dil dena hee painda hai’ are wonderful songs. The ‘Dhola’ number is also very melodious but it comes at an inappropriate time. The ‘Nawazta hai jo sabko woh dilnawaz hai tu’ qawwali, rendered by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, is excellent and holds special appeal for the Muslim audience. Its picturisation too is beautiful. But a couple of other songs should have had better picturisations. Tinnu Verma’s action scenes and thrills are brilliant. In fact, action is a major plus point of the film. The train sequence is quite breathtaking. Camerawork (Gopal S. Reddy) is wonderful. Editing is crisp. Background score is very effective.

On the whole, Kachche Dhaage has an appealing first half, abundant action, melodious music and praiseworthy performances of the two heroes on the plus side but too routine a second half on the weak side. Having taken a flying start, it will yield returns to its distributors. The film has special appeal for Muslim centres.

Released on 19-2-’99 at Maratha Mandir and 22 other cinemas of Bombay thru Devgan’s Entertainment. Publicity & opening: excellent. (A record number of 82 prints have been released in a record number of 101 cinemas in the circuit.) …….Also released all over. Opening was extraordinary in U.P., East Punjab and Rajasthan.

LATEST POSITION

After DAAG last week, KACHCHE DHAAGE this week has also opened to very good houses almost everywhere.

Daag The Fire has amassed excellent shares in the 1st week due to the bumper opening. 1st week Bombay 49,59,116 (85.55%) from 12 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 12,21,073 from 7 cinemas, Rajkot 1,64,454; Pune 10,74,577 from 4 cinemas, Kolhapur 2,13,000, Solapur 3,07,963 from 2 cinemas; Belgaum 1,47,693; Delhi 48,79,852 (81.24%) from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 5,71,055 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,40,348, Varanasi 2,90,220, Bareilly 2,17,000 (78.98%), Dehradun 2,28,512; Calcutta 26,50,432 from 19 cinemas; excellent in Bihar; Nagpur 7,52,348 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,00,074 (100%), Amravati 2,58,000, Akola (29 shows) 1,70,000 (100%), Raipur 1,84,044, Bhilai 1,60,000, Jalgaon 2,30,657, Chandrapur 2,00,051, Yavatmal 1,36,764; Indore 3,74,295 (77.38%) from 2 cinemas (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 3,97,971 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 10,67,084 from 4 cinemas, Bikaner 1,94,600; Hyderabad (gross) 32,34,130 from 14 cinemas (1 in noon); Guntur (gross, 5 days) 77,964, Ongole (gross, 5 days) 79,866.

………….

Bombay Boys (dubbed) 1st week Bombay 79,920 (19.30%) from 1 cinema; Lucknow 1,27,739; Jaipur 1,19,533.

………….

Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain 4th week Bombay 33,41,949 (78.51%) from 10 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,66,946 from 2 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Rajkot 1,37,460 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 3rd week Jamnagar 63,130; 4th week Pune 6,50,965 from 3 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,62,349, Solapur 1,73,813; Delhi 13,58,131 from 6 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,45,297 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,98,498, Varanasi 1,19,719, Bareilly 46,498 (15.34%), Dehradun 1,39,000 (3rd 1,46,002), Hardwar 40,000; Rohtak 5,089; Calcutta 5,31,555 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 3,34,297 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 87,207, total 4,54,872, Amravati 1,27,651, Akola 93,005, total 4,82,445, Raipur 1,08,187, Bhilai 96,247, 2nd week Jalgaon 1,20,841, 4th week Gondia (gross) 65,922, Chandrapur 84,456, total 5,21,956, Yavatmal 34,614 (3rd 46,008), Bilaspur 87,162; Jaipur 2,10,900, 3rd week Bikaner 79,201; 4th week Hyderabad (gross) 4,92,885 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon).

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai 18th week Bombay 9,15,021 (40.52%) from 4 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Baroda 92,340; Pune 5,62,196 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 87,000, Solapur (matinee) 32,050; Delhi 1,56,947 (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,24,624 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,30,810, Dehradun 48,000, Hardwar 19,000; Calcutta 1,48,648; Nagpur 66,879, 13th week Jabalpur 98,481, total 22,15,771, 18th week Amravati (6 days) 50,560, Akola 45,173, total 17,60,000, 5th week Durg (6 days, gross) 29,128, total 2,87,922, 6th week Balaghat (5 days) 22,340, total 3,38,546; 18th week Indore  55,936, Bhopal 91,931; Jaipur 4,33,307; Hyderabad (gross) 3,05,856.

‘FIRE’ CLEARED AGAIN BY CBFC

Deepa Mehta’s Fire has been cleared by the CBFC again. It had been referred to the Central Board of Film Certification by the I & B ministry following violent protests against the film’s screening in Bombay and Delhi in December ’98. It is likely to be released again in Bombay next week. It was re-released in Delhi this week. It has been running in other parts of the country.

MADHOO WEDS

Actress Madhoo got married to Anand Shah, cousin of Jai Mehta and Juhi Chawla, on 19th February. Jai and Juhi will hold a reception in their honour this evening (20th February) at their residence at Malabar Hill, Bombay.

ARSHAD WARSI WEDS

Arshad Warsi got married to his girlfriend, Maria, on 14th February in Bombay.

HRITHIK ROSHAN INJURED

Hrithik Roshan was injured on the set of Kahoo Naa…Pyaar Hai on 13th February while doing a stunt scene. His injury may not permit him to do stunts for about a fortnight and, therefore, producer-director Rakesh Roshan has postponed the erection of a set for the film, at Film City, on which shooting was to start shortly.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

1999 — The Year Of Excitement Galore

The year 1999 is easily one of the most crucial years in the history of film trade. For, rarely, if ever, have so many big films been released in a single year as will be released in 1999. Just take a look at some of the big films due in the rest of 1999: Jaanam Samjha Karo, Lal Baadshah, Sarfarosh, Pukaar, Pyar Koi Khel Nahin, Aap Mere Hain Sanam, Anari No. 1, Arjun Pandit, Badshah, Biwi No. 1, Chal Mere Bhai, Champion, Dil Kya Kare, Dillagi, Farz, Haseena Maan Jayegi, Hindustan Ki Kasam, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Hum Saath Saath Hain, Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai, Kohram, Kunwara, Mann, Albela, Mast, Mela, Refugee, Chhalia, Sooryavansham, Taal…… Phew! And the above list is not exhaustive by any means.

As if this weren’t enough, there are several other films which may be included in the above list on the strength of their casts, if not for their directors. These include Laawaris, Khauff, 1947 (Earth), Friends, Hum To Mohabbat Karega, Jaanwar, Kartoos, Khoobsurat, One Two Ka Four, Rajaji, Shikari, Silsila Hai Pyar Ka, Takshak, Hadh Kardi Aapne and S. Raamanathan’s untitled film with Amitabh.

It is plain to see from the above list that a lot depends on the outcome at the box-office this year. A lot many fortunes will be made or, God forbid, if many of these big films bomb, a lot is also at stake. We will only have to wait and see how the industry fares during this booming — if we may use the term — year. In the meantime, the trade may look ahead with optimism brought in by HADMRH and Daag The Fire.

History Repeats

For Anil Kapoor, the behaviour of D. Rama Naidu’s Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain at the box-office has not been too different from how his Judaai had behaved. Like Judaai, it took the audience lesser time than the trade people to accept HADMRH as a hit. And just as Judaai was comparatively weak in Rajasthan, HADMRH too had a terribly slow start. Of course, Judaai did consolidate its position in Rajasthan after about 4 weeks of its release and so Anil is hoping, HADMRH too repeats the Judaai trick in the Rajasthan territory.

Manisha And 1999

In spite of having had a dismal 1998 (in which she gave super-duds like Yugpurush, Achanak, Maharaja and Dil Se..), Manisha Koirala has a lot to look forward to in this year. She is all set to invade the box-office with a string of releases in the coming few months. Opening her 1999 account with Ajay-Saif starrer Kachche Dhaage (released yesterday), Manisha’s further releases include the Jackie-Akshaye starrer Laawaris (releasing on 5th March) and K.C. Bokadia’s Lal Baadshah (in March). The months of April and May may well see the release of her other films like Manoj Kumar’s Jaihind, JSEL’S long-delayed Grahan, Firoz A. Nadiadwala’s Kartoos, Madan Mohla’s Chhupa Rustam and director Sanjay Gupta’s Khauff. Still later, there will be Hindustan Ki Kasam, Mann, Moksha and Champion.