AGNICHAKRA

Jyoti Art Production’s Agnichakra (UA) is the usual story of good versus evil. An honest and upright police officer is killed by some terrorists whom he is out to exterminate. A new officer is appointed in his place to complete the unfinished task. There is also the murdered officer’s younger brother who swears revenge against the culprits. The third group of revenge-seekers comprises a co-officer of the murdered police officer, his beloved and another young man.

The story has absolutely no freshness whatsoever. Screenplay cares little for continuity and is a hopeless attempt at writing. Dialogues are commonplace. The film has taken many years in the making and it shows not only in continuity jerks but also in the appearances of the stars who come in varying shapes and sizes in different scenes.

Govinda does well in the first half. He, however, doesn’t impress thereafter and also gets less scope after interval. Naseeruddin Shah acts with a lot of sincerity. Dimple Kapadia passes muster. Vishal Khanna does not impress. Anupam Kher is okay. Pramod Moutho does an average job and so does Satish Shah. Raj Kiran, Beena, Brando Bakshi, Soni, Ruhi Sawant, Bindiya Gill, Somy Ali (she springs up from nowhere in a song sequence), Manmoujee, Birbal and the rest don’t add anything to the dull proceedings.

Direction is so-so in the first half but in the second, the aim seems to have been simply to complete the film any which way. Music is a letdown like the rest of the film. Photography and other technical values are average. Action scenes look outdated.

On the whole, Agnichakra is a poor fare.

Released on 26-9-’97 at Shalimar and 7 other cinemas of Bombay thru Solanki Movies. Publicity & opening: dull. …….Also released all over except C.P. Berar. In Calcutta, the film could not open on Friday due to the non-arrival of prints. It is likely to open there today (27th September).

DHIRUBHAI SHAH ARRESTED UNDER COFEPOSA

Music company owner, video distributor and producer Dhirubhai Shah was arrested under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange & Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA), 1974 on 23rd September night for his alleged involvement in a Rs. 22-crore hawala racket. The Bombay city police detained him for alleged violation of foreign exchange regulations. He has been committed to the Yerawada jail in Pune.

The order for his detention and committal was issued in April 1996 but Dhirubhai had been absconding since then. A metropolitan magistrate had proclaimed last month under the Criminal Procedure Code that his property be attached. Dhirubhai was also questioned by the crime branch of police in connection with the recent murder of Gulshan Kumar.

ANOOP KUMAR DEAD

Actor Anoop Kumar passed away on 20th September at 4.15 a.m. following cardiac arrest in a hospital at Juhu, Bombay. He was 72 and is survived by four daughters and a son. He had been ailing since almost two months.

Anoop Kumar belonged to the famous Ganguly family and teamed up with brothers Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi. He played the role of the eccentric brother who keeps popping into the frame with funny one-liners.

He made his debut in Zaraa Palat Ke Dekho in 1950. He also acted in Firdaus, Dekh Kabira Roya, Junglee, Prem Pujari and the recent Rock Dancer. He had also produced Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool in 1969. In 1991, he produced the TV serial Bhim Bhawani, featuring himself and Ashok Kumar.

SC ASKS SUBHASH GHAI TO PAY PENALTY

The Supreme Court on 22nd September asked producer Subhash Ghai to pay an additional Rs. 1 lakh as penalty to the Archaeological Survey of India for damaging the Fatehpur Sikri monument during the shooting of his Pardes there. According to the court, the producer had violated certain conditions of the agreement with the ASI for location shooting inside the monument at Agra. Ghai had already paid Rs. 1 lakh to the ASI.

A bench of Justice S.B. Majmudar and Justice S. Saghir Ahmad passed the direction on a public interest litigation by residents of Fatehpur Sikri, alleging that damage had been done by the film’s unit during the shooting. The court said that the additional amount of Rs. 1 lakh would be utilised by the ASI for the upkeep of the monument.

LABOUR STRIKE IN TWO BOMBAY CINEMAS

Regal and Capitol cinemas of Bombay are closed for three days since 26th September following a strike call given by the Bombay Labour Union to which the workers of the two cinemas owe allegiance. The main demand of the workers is for a hike in wages. The cinemas are owned by Sidhwas (Globe Theatres P. Ltd.).

‘BORDER’ 100 DAYS’ PARTY AT RAJKAMAL, AKOLA

A dinner party was hosted on 24th September at Rajkamal cinema, Akola, to mark the 100 days of Border. The cinema owners, Suresh Joharle and Vitthal Rathi, invited the proprietors, managers and staff members of all the cinemas of Akola and the entire Akola trade. The C.P. distributors of Border, B.N. (Laloo) Kabra (Vishwajyoti Films, Bhusawal) and Narendra Agrawal, could not attend the function as they were in Jaipur to attend the annual general meeting of the CCCA. A month’s salary as bonus was also distributed to the staff of Rajkamal, Akola as well as to A.V. Gawande, local representative of Vishwajyoti Films, Bhusawal.

Santosh Singh Jain Re-Elected CCCA President

Santosh Singh Jain was re-elected president of the Central Circuit Cine Association for 1997-98 at the first meeting of the newly elected executive committee held on 25th September in Jaipur at Ravindra Manch. Vijay Rathi was re-elected vice president. S.K. Surana and Ramesh Surekha were elected hon. secretary and hon. treasurer respectively.

Earlier in the day, at the elections to the executive committee, a total of 450 votes were polled. Of these, 48 were declared invalid. The following members were declared elected:

C.P. Berar Exhibition: Azad Laddha (polled 373 votes), S.K. Surana (368), Vijay Rathi (340) and Mahendra Jain (312).

C.P. Berar Distribution: The following were declared elected unopposed: Bharat Khajanchi, Ramkisan Kasat, B.N. (Laloo) Kabra and Dilip Mudliar.

C.I. Exhibition: Uttam Nahar (380 votes) and Ramesh Surekha (346).

C.I. Distribution: There was no polling and the following two were declared elected unopposed: Santosh Singh Jain and Vinod Malhotra.

Rajasthan Exhibition: Kishanchand Jain (267) and Mohan Godha (265).

Rajasthan Distribution: Nandkishore Jalani (354) and Mohan Godha (305).

Liyakat Ali was the most notable loser. Having contested in the Rajasthan Exhibition sector, he polled only 153 votes.

All the 16 candidates elected belong to the Santosh Singh Jain panel. Actually, Liyakat Ali was the lone strong opposition candidate, the other candidates in the fray standing bleak chances of winning. Ramdhan Mamoria and Rajendra Mamoria had withdrawn from the battle.

O.P. Goyal, Ramdhan Mamoria and Pramod Munot were co-opted to the executive committee.

Earlier, on 24th September, the CCCA’s annual general meeting was held at the same venue — Ravindra Manch — in Jaipur.

Both, the annual general meeting and the elections, were ‘cold’ affairs. Since there was no opposition worth the name, no heat had been generated this year in the CCCA elections. There was, therefore, a record low turnout for the AGM and elections.

BATTLE OF WORDS BEFORE ELECTIONS

At the luncheon party held on 24th September at Ravindra Manch, there was a heated exchange of words between Rajendra Mamoria and Naraindas Mukhija. The latter had allegedly secured withdrawal letters from Ramdhan Mamoria and Rajendra Mamoria (both opposition candidates) on the pretext that one’s letter would be deposited with the CCCA and the other would be taken on Santosh Singh Jain’s panel. But both, father and son, were kept out of the panel, which hurt Rajendra no end.

Rajendra blamed Sethji (Naraindas Mukhija) of playing games and resorting to dirty politics for no justifiable reasons. Of course, ultimately, Ramdhan Mamoria was co-opted on the committee on 25th. Maybe, he would not have been co-opted had it not been for the tantrum thrown by son Rajendra.

LUCKY LIYAKAT, UNLUCKY LIYAKAT

Liyakat Ali’s defeat in the elections came as quite a shock. More than the defeat, it was the huge margin by which he lost, that shocked the trade.

Just a fortnight back, Liyakat Ali had met with a terrible accident near Bikaner when the brand new Maruti Zen car, in which he was travelling, had a head-on collision with a truck. Although the car was smashed into a thousand pieces, Liyakat and Satyawan Pareek, who was travelling with him, had a Providential escape. This, incidentally, was the third accident Liyakat met with in the last three years.

So while Liyakat was lucky in personal life, he remained unlucky in public life.

WORRIED LOT

The mood at the AGM and elections of the CCCA was anything but upbeat. With films falling like nine pins, distributors and exhibitors were a worried lot. S.K. Surana, distributor and exhibitor of C.P. Berar, lamented that box-office attendance was declining because the benefit of reduction in entertainment tax was not being passed on to cinegoers. Rajasthan distributor and exhibitor O.P. Bansal remarked, “Artificial film prices had to come down to the real level. We will now hear of film prices being reduced at the time of delivery every week.”

LUNCH & DINNER

Dinner for the delegates at the CCCA elections on 25th September was hosted by Rajasthan distributor and exhibitor O.P. Bansal. CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain held a lunch party on 26th for a select gathering at his Jaipur residence.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Banarasi Babu’ Complete

With the conclusion of a 5-day stint in Bangalore recently, the entire shooting of Sapna Arts’ Banarasi Babu is complete. Govinda, Ramya, Asif Sheikh, Sanam, Shakti Kapoor and stuntmen participated. Directed by David Dhawan for producer Nandu G. Tolani, the film co-stars Bindu and Kader Khan. Writer: Rumi Jafri. Music: Anand Milind.

‘Dus’ Director Not Finalised So Far

Nitin Manmohan has clarified that no director has as yet been finalised to complete Neha-MAD Film Combines’ Dus which was being directed by late Mukul Anand.

YOU ASKED IT

When distributors, due to cut-throat competition, give several lakhs more than the price they originally offer for a film, why do they feel sad to increase a couple of thousands in cinema rentals?

– Perhaps, because they realise that they’ve paid too high a price for the film and, therefore, want to save as much as possible thereafter.

Why is there no heat in the elections to any trade association this year?

– Trade associations are becoming less and less important in a member’s life. Therefore, there’s no urge to serve the industry by getting elected to the executive committee of any association.

For a ‘hot’ film, how much can a producer cover from sale of theatrical rights for the various circuits in terms of percentage of a major circuit?

– Upto 550 to 600% (including Overseas rights and excluding audio rights).

Laughter, The Best Medicine

With Sanjay Gupta not having made it even with Hameshaa, a film about punar-janm (reincarnation), a wag remarked: “Now Sanjay Gupta must take a punar-janm, figuratively speaking, by changing his style of filmmaking if he wants to succeed.

* * *

Raveena Tandon has recovered from brain fever (meningitis). Before that, Neelam had also suffered from brain fever. So we have proof that at least two of our heroines have brains.

* * *

Q: What did Arshad Warsi tell Chandrachur Singh after the debacle of Betaabi?
A: “Chandrachur, tere mere sapne ho gaye chur-chur!”

* * *

After the release of Main Solah Baras Ki, Dev Anand will launch Main Ek Sau Solah Baras Ka. Dev himself will play the central character in the film.

* * *

Q: Why did Mere Sapno Ki Rani not fare well at the box-office?
A: Because the audience felt, Urmila was too heavily covered with clothes.

* * *

Q: Then why did Daud flop?
A: Because the audience felt, Urmila was too scantily dressed.

* * *

Q: Why are two films of David Dhawan (DD) being released together, on 10th October?
A: One film is DD1 and the other is DD Metro!

* * *

Q: Why are all big (cost-wise) films re-edited after release?
A: Because before release, the makers think of only their money spent on filming the scenes and songs. After release, they have to think of the bored public’s money.

* * *

Q: What did Rishi Kapoor tell his hero (Akshaye Khanna) and heroine (Aishwarya Rai) in the USA (where he is shooting) after the debacle of …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya and Mohabbat?
A: Aa ab (India) laut chalen!

* * *

Points To Ponder

What happened with the makers of Hameshaa two weeks back and with the producers of Mohabbat last week is suggestive of an emerging trend. We may now hear of more cases of distributors of one or the other circuits pleading inability to take delivery of the film at the contracted price. This is because film prices are false today and they have been so for the past two or three years. Producers made their money in these three years, now it’s their turn to panic. To panic because their share of profit has declined, not because they are making a loss. Not as yet, at least.

* * *

It’s good that Ishq has been postponed, although the reason why its release has gone ahead by four weeks (from 31st October to 28th November) isn’t good. Aamir Khan hurt his leg and hand while shooting for Mela, and since a song, which remains to be picturised for Ishq, would require the participation of Aamir (besides Ajay Devgan, Juhi Chawla and Kajol), the same (song picturisation) has had to be postponed. In a way, it’s good because there was too much of a rush on Diwali. There are now four confirmed releases on Diwali, viz. Dil To Pagal Hai, Ghulam-E-Musthafa, Grahan and Bhai. Incidentally, while on the song of Ishq, this same song was to have featured Amitabh Bachchan too. Why, Sudesh Bhosle even imitated Amitabh’s voice beautifully in the Mr. Lova song which, by the way, should soon become a hit with the masses.

* * *

Amitabh Bachchan’s next release will be K.C. Bokadia’s Lal Badshah, Amitabh himself said this, earlier this week in Jaipur when he was chatting with the press which had gone there to cover the films’ shooting. His Major Saab, he added, will be released early next year, after Lal Badshah.

* * *

Ram Gopal Varma has changed the leading lady of his new film, Satya. Pardes girl Mahima Chaudhry is out and in her place has come Urmila Matondkar. Don’t ask why — it could start a whole new controversy, and the industry has had more than its share of controversies in the last two months.

* * *

Plus Channel had unwelcome visitors on the morning of 26th September. The income-tax department carried out raids on its premises. I’m sure, they must have found Plus in minus.

* * *

The Meri Awaz Suno finals were held last week at a well-organised function at St. Andrews auditorium at Bandra, Bombay. Like last year, two participants — a girl and a boy — were declared winners. This television show, produced by Metavision, kept its promise last year when an audio cassette of the winner (male), Pradeep Somasundaram, was released by HMV recently. A solo cassette of the female winning voice, Sunidhi Chauhan, is due for an early release. Sanjeev Kohli, the active partner in Metavision, deserves praise for arranging an enjoyable evening where the finalists regaled the invited audience. While Annu Kapoor, who has been compering the show for the last two years, makes an excellent host, he must guard against shedding tears in front of the camera. The guy even cried (tears of joy?) in the finals function but, let me tell you, nobody was moved one bit. Hold back your tears, Annu, you are more appealing without them.

* * *

Producers and distributors should do some re-thinking on the topic of releasing films on Thursday in some circuits and on Friday in other circuits. If the public report of a film is poor on Thursday, exhibitors and sub-distributors, who usually wait till Thursday afternoon for making payments to distributors of the circuits in which the film is due for release on Friday, start making excuses. This lands the distributors into trouble. Why not release films on the same day in all the circuits — whether on Thursday or Friday.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Two Together

After a fairly long break, producer D. Rama Naidu will now start two Hindi films — the first in January ’98. Anil Kapoor has so far been finalised to play the hero in the first venture which will be a remake of the Telugu blockbuster Pavitra Bandham. The heroine is still to be finalised but, to quote Suresh, the dynamic young son of Rama Naidu, “That shouldn’t be a problem. It’s the kind of role any heroine would yearn to do. We have some heroines in mind and we’ll finalise the one who can give us priority dates.”

Four-Week Delay For ‘Ishq’

Producer Gordhan Tanwani has postponed the release of his Ishq by four weeks. Instead of Diwali, it will now come on 28th November. The reason for the rescheduling is the picturisation of a song which still remains to be done. Aamir Khan has hurt himself and will, therefore, not be able to participate in the picturisaton of that song. Yes, this is the same number in which Amitabh Bachchan was to have featured. But the latest news is that the makers will not be featuring Bachchan in the song which will be picturised on the four lead players — Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla, Ajay Devgan and Kajol.

Well, actually, this seems to be a bad season for the community of artistes. A few days back, Raveena Tandon was hospitalised. A couple of months back, Rajesh Khanna burnt his legs rather badly in Delhi when a container of boiling hot water fell on them. Khanna had to undergo skin grafting to treat the burns.

Flop? Who Cares?!?

Believe it or not but Chandrachur Singh has no dates to give for at least a year. And the price he is quoting is too phenomenal to be true. This was before the release of Betaabi. After its debacle too, the scene hasn’t changed. That’s how the film industry functions!

Good Reports

A Bombay distributor recently visited pilgrim place Shirdi. He had undergone some blood tests, the reports of which showed that everything was normal. Said he, “These days, film reports are never good. Therefore, a good blood report is enough reason to visit Shirdi and thank the Lord.”

The Bigger Bombs

And to end this column with a joke.
Q: How did Plaza cinema in Bombay survive the bomb blast in 1993?
A: It had screened bigger bombs than the bombs of 1993 — that’s how!

NAMAK

Kawal Films’ Namak is a stale film about a young lad who is brought up in his master’s house, like a family member. He repays the goodness of his master by exposing the scheming family members of his master, who are out to usurp the wealth of the rich master. In doing so, he has to undergo a lot of hardships.

The film has a poor story, and its screenplay cares little for logic. No attention has been paid to the characterisations. The drama moves on in a routine fashion and fails to involve the viewer. The climax is also not exciting. Dialogues are ordinary.

Sanjay Dutt does a fair job. Shammi Kapoor is alright. Farha has no role worth a mention. Prem Chopra, Shakti Kapoor and Gulshan Grover are impressive. Raza Murad passes muster. Amita Nangia and Sahila Chaddha fill the bill. Nirupa Roy, Preetam Oberoi, Jagdeep, Paintal, Dinesh Hingoo and the rest lend the desired support.

Direction is dull. Music is a letdown. Action scenes are so-so. Photography and other technical values are ordinary.

On the whole, Namak is a non-starter.

Released on 20-12-’96 at Shalimar, New Excelsior (matinee) and 3 other cinemas of Bombay thru Sumit Films. Publicity: good. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over.

CBFC SEES ‘MAACHIS’ AGAIN

Gulzar’s Maachis was seen again by the CBFC on 20th December under the instructions of the I & B ministry.

VED PAL DEAD

Music director Ved Pal breathed his last on 19th December in Bombay. He was 73 and had been ailing. He is survived by three sons.

Ved Pal was scoring the music of Arman at the time of his death. Among his well-known films are Souten Ki Beti, Oh Bewafaa, Maya Sundari, Gunehgar, Sant Tukaram, Bhoot Nath, Aai Phirse Bahar etc.

P.D. MEHRA UNWELL

Writer, producer, director P.D. Mehra suffered a heart attack on 6th December in Delhi. He has been since flown to Bombay and is presently recuperating at home.

I-T RAIDS ON INDUSTRY PEOPLE

The income-tax authorities swooped upon the film industry when simultaneous raids were conducted on several industry people in Bombay on 18th December. Among those raided were David Dhawan, K.C. Bokadia, Sunil Shetty, Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Kumar Sanu, Moranis, Bunty Soorma, Karisma Kapoor, Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt, Nandu Tolani, Rikku (Rakesh Nath), star secretary Jatin etc. The investigations continued on 19th too, and several shooting schedules on 18th and 19th went haywire with the stars raided not reporting for shootings.

‘MAACHIS’ TAX-FREE IN DELHI

Gulzar’s Maachis has been granted exemption from payment of entertainment tax in Delhi for three months from 20th December.

B.R. CHOPRA’S GRAND-DAUGHTER TO WED

Marriage of Pooja, grand-daughter of B.R. Chopra and daughter of Ravi Chopra, with Varun will be solemnised on 28th December at the Royal Western India Turf Club, Bombay.

DO YOU KNOW?

* The title KAMASUTRA is registered in favour of producer B. Gupta. Mira Nair, who has made a film of the same name, actually has the title A TALE OF LOVE – KAMASUTRA registered in her favour.

MIX MASALA

OBJECTIONABLE BUT WORTHY OF TAX EXEMPTION

Isn’t it strange that two members of the BJP took objection to the contents of Maachis, in Parliament, and the same film has been granted tax exemption by the BJP government in Delhi?

CENSOR NEWS

Shree Krishna International’s Ajay was given C.C. No. CIL/2/40/96 (UA) dt. 20-12-’96; length 4111.75 metres in 16 reels (cuts: 178.61 metres).

Prathima Distributors P. Ltd.’s Jeeo Shaan Se (revised), seen on 12th, has been passed for adults, with cuts.

Ketan Mehta Films P. Ltd.’s Aar Ya Paar (length 4524.76 metres in 16 reels), applied on 13th and seen on 16th, has been offered A certificate, with cuts. It has been referred to the revising committee by the producer.

YOU ASKED IT

What are the chances of the cinema closure in Maharashtra from 1st January, ’97 being averted?

– The chances of the state government giving an extension to the present entertainment tax structure are bright. So, there may not be any necessity of a closure, after all. But one has to wait for the government decision to come.

What lesson should the film industry learn from the simultaneous income-tax raids conducted on industry people this week?

– That, like film business, the income-tax department is also most unpredictable!

With big films being announced every week and being sold at fancy and unheard of prices, where is the crisis in the industry, about which one is so used to hearing?

– There’s no crisis now. There’s a fear that the high prices will lead to a crisis. But that too is a fear. So, don’t you worry, dear!

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

Mr. R.R. Khajanchi of Khajanchi Film Exchange, Amravati, is in town (493-0645) and will return to Amravati on 22nd December.

Mr. J.P. Chowksey of Prachi Films, Indore, returned to Indore on 20th December and will come to Bombay again on 24th.

Mr. Anil Thadani of A.A. Films, Bombay, left for Pune on 20th December and will return today (21st).

Mr. Niraj Manchanda of Niraj Movies, Calcutta-Bombay, left for Calcutta on 20th and will be back after 2 days.

Mr. Ravi Machhar of Abhinay cinema, Aurangabad, left Bombay for Bangalore today (21st December) and will return to Bombay (98200-31295) tomorrow.

Entertainment Tax In Maharashtra

Crucial Cabinet Meeting Next Week To Decide About Cinema Closure

Will the Maharashtra film industry close down its exhibition outlets from the new year or won’t it? This is the question doing the rounds of film circles all over India. Although industry leaders insist that the closure of cinemas from 1st January ’97 is definite, a last-minute withdrawal of the bandh is not ruled out. This would happen if the Maharashtra government accedes to the demand of the industry for continuation of the benefit of reduced (50%) entertainment tax in the state. The prevailing tax structure would come to an end on 31st December, ’96 and it is feared that the government would enhance entertainment tax in the new year.

It is rumoured that the practice of exhibitors, especially in Bombay city, to enhance admission rates to “unreasonable” levels is what has agitated the government. It is felt by the government that the benefit of reduced entertainment tax is not being passed on by the film industry to cinegoers because the latter are forced to pay even more due to increased admission rates. However, this allegation is not wholly true because the practice of increasing admission rates is prevalent mostly in Bombay city, and that too, only a few selected cinemas resort to hiking their rates.

In the meantime, a delegation of many leading exhibitors and distributors of C.P. Berar (Maharashtra region), headed by CCCA vice president Vijay Rathi, met Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi and deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde on 18th December in Nagpur and submitted a memorandum to them against the proposed hike in entertainment tax. The ministers gave a patient hearing to the delegation and assured it that its proposal would be kept before the cabinet meeting to be held in Bombay on 24th December. A further extension of the reduced entertainment tax structure for three months is not ruled out, reveal insiders. After three months, the new tax structure will be based on the report of a committee which is being appointed for the purpose. Another source informs that while 50% entertainment tax will be maintained, the rate of tax will be higher in the case of admission rates beyond a certain limit, say, Rs. 30 or Rs. 40.

Vijay Rathi told Information, “The chief minister and the deputy chief minister were very sympathetic to the demands of the film industry.”

In the meantime, Judwaa did not release this week due to the impending cinema closure. Ram Aur Shyam and Namak, however, have been released. Suneel Darshan’s Ajay is slated for release next week even despite the possibility of a closure in Maharashtra from 1st January, 1997. The production sector is not likely to join in the closure. Therefore, shootings, recordings and all other production and post-production work will continue as usual.

Dream Merchant

Income-Tax Raids: The Inside Story

I had had a tax-filled week. First, it was the computation of my income for payment of advance tax before 15th December. Then, it was the issue of entertainment tax in Maharashtra. Wherever I went, that was the topic of discussion. As if entertainment tax wasn’t enough — the rate (50%) as well as the topic — came the income-tax raids on my many friends in the industry. Why, I even dreamt of the tax raids when I tried to relax my taxed brains last night.

I saw a team of income-tax officials enter the house of David Dhawan. “Where’s all the black money you take?”, they asked David who didn’t look one bit disturbed. “See,” David warned the officials, “you will never succeed in anything if you approach me alone. If you want 100% success, you must raid me and Govinda together. Ours is a hit team with 100% success ratio. It’s the Team No. 1.” One of the officials shot back, “Oh shut up. Where is your money no. 2? Is it under your khatiya? If so, please sarkailo khatiya.” “Stop it, stop it,” screamed David. “Don’t you know, I’ve stopped picturising double-meaning songs. Please don’t start it all over again. And see, you shouldn’t be troubling me at this time. I’m about to start my Bade Miyan Chote Miyan with Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda. I’ve got to go for its photo session.” Punching him in his protruding stomach, the official said, “You motay miyan, don’t try to confuse us with bade miyan and chote miyan. But if you so plead, we will come after your photo session.”

So saying, they left from there and came to Gaffarbhai Nadiadwala’s residence. “What’s the harm in accepting black money?”, asked Nadiadwala innocently. “After all, if I can make a film titled Lahoo Ke Do Rang, I can surely accept payments for it with money of do rang — white and black.” Seeing Gaffarbhai spell out his dealings so clearly in black and white, the I-T sleuths decided to exempt him.

They then reached Madhuri Dixit’s well-furnished apartment. Madame Madhuri was away in Ooty, shooting for Pukaar, and it was her father who attended to the I-T officials. “See, let me tell you one thing very frankly,” he whispered. “All these years, my daughter was no. 1. But 1996 has been unlucky for her because her films have bombed. The trade says, she is slipping from her no. 1 position. To match her new no. 2 position, Madhuri has started accepting payments in no. 2, only from this year onwards.” One official, with an investigative bent of mind, asked, “Then who is the current no. 1 heroine?” Pop came the reply from ex-no. 1’s pop, “Rani Hindustani — Karisma Kapoor. You must raid her residence.”

And sure enough, the team of the income-tax men landed in Karisma’s home. Poor Karisma didn’t even know what was income-tax and who were income-tax officers? She viewed them as one would, an alien, and instantly broke into a song, “Pardesi pardesi aana nahin / Mujhe chhod de, mujhe chhod de.” Then, like the defiant Aarti of Raja Hindustani, who kisses Aamir Khan at the end of the Pardesi song, in front of her father, Karisma smooched all her black money right in front of the I-T guys. When the shocked officials asked her to sign the statement of unaccounted money they had found in her house, she refused point blank. “I didn’t sign the divorce papers in Raja Hindustani and look, what a big hit the film has become. Since then, I’ve decided not to sign any papers. I won’t be filing my tax return from now on because I can’t sign it.” Thus saying, Karisma burst into tears à la Raja Hindustani. The officials beat a hasty retreat. How could they antagonise the no. 1?

So they decided to go to the house of a hero who wasn’t no. 1. They chose Sunil Shetty but within minutes of reaching his house, the officials came out weeping. “We shouldn’t have come here,” sobbed one officer as another one tried to console him. “Poor guy, he has given so many flops, how can he have any money — black or white? As a noble gesture, let the I-T department give Shetty some funds.”

Next on their list was Shah Rukh Khan. The actor was flabbergasted on seeing the I-T sleuths because only recently, the I-T department had felicitated him for being an honest tax-payer. In his Darr style, he began to stutter, which showed that he was indeed daraa hua: “You first f-f-f-f-felicitate me and now you f-f-f-f-…….” An impatient officer interrupted, “We f-f-f-f-f-forgot the past, now you f-f-f-f-f-forgive us for our present lapse.”

By now, it was almost time to call it a day. But the sleuths tried to squeeze in one more name. They knocked on the office door of K.C. Bokadia. The simpleton that Bokadia is, he blurted out the truth. “If you think, I have been dealing in black money, let me tell you, you are sadly mistaken. Amitabh Bachchan is not charging me a single naya paisa (black or white) for Lal Badshah. He volunteered to do the film for free because before his retirement, it was only my Aaj Ka Arjun which clicked from among his last lot of films. Amitabh needs me more than I need him.” One of the officials remarked, “But you do have stocks of black money.” An excited Bokadia exclaimed, “Black money and me? I don’t have any money — black or white. Haven’t you seen my last 15 films? They were all major flops. Sit down and watch them on television for yourselves to judge the amount of losses I’ve made in them.” And Bokadia began to adjust his VCR and television set to start his last debacle called Aashique Mastane. The I-T sleuths screamed in unison, “Please don’t raid our brains. We believe every word of what you say. But we beg of you to let us go.”

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

We Two, Our Four

‘V’ for Venus. And ‘V’ for V.I.P. Enterprises. Well, the two V’s have joined hands for not one or two, but as many as four films. V.I.P. Enterprises will be distributing four of Venus’ films in Bombay. And Vinay Choksey (another ‘V’) of V.I.P. hopes, this mega-deal spells ‘v’ictory for them. The four films acquired by V.I.P. are Josh (starring Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Saif Ali Khan; directed by Mansoor Khan), Badshah (starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol; directed by Abbas Mustan), Dhadkan (starring Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty and Arbaaz Khan; directed by Dharmesh Darshan) and Yes Boss (Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla; directed by Aziz Mirza). If four of Venus’ films are with V.I.P. for Bombay, Venus has also joined hands with Tolu Bajaj for Delhi-U.P. in four of their many projects. The four films of Venus to be released by Tolu in Delhi-U.P. are: Mela, Dhadkan, Keemat and Aar Ya Paar (the last-named film is a Venus presentation).

Costly ‘Mela’: The Rush Has Already Started

While on Venus, their Mela is absolutely ‘hot’ if the offers the film’s Bombay distributor, Anil Thadani, is getting are any indication. When Anil acquired the film last week at a fancy price, he was a bit scared — if only for the heavy price he was paying. But no sooner did the news spread that Mela had been acquired by Thadani than he was flooded with offers for partnership in Bombay distribution. According to Anil, he has as many as nine or 10 standing offers for partnership, even at the fancy price. So, fancy price apart, it is the film that has caught the fancy of the trade, it seems. It would be interesting to mention here that Mela is just about a reel-and-a-half complete. According to its director, Dharmesh Darshan, it will be ready for release by the end of 1997. Incidentally, the folders of Mela and the special expensive envelopes in which they came (distributed last week alongwith copies of Film Information) won a lot of praise. They were designed by Himanshu and Rahul Nanda.

Disproportionate Ratio

Is C.P. Berar 40% of a major circuit? Not at all, feels C.P. Berar distributor Pramod Munot. Says he, “If you compare the businesses of 10 hit films in the different circuits, you will find that the business of all the 10 films in C.P. is much less than 40% of the business in the circuit where they have done the highest business. So how can C.P. be 40% of a major territory?” According to Munot, the ratio of C.P. Berar should be a maximum of 30% of a major circuit, whether the major circuit is Bombay or Delhi-U.P. With film prices threatening to touch the sky, Munot also feels that he is no longer a distributor as he does not feel like taking such dangerous risks. “At best, we are film exploiters, but not distributors,” he concludes.

To The Point

The CBFC has suggested that dubbed versions of films should be treated as fresh films for the purpose of certification. Rightly has the AMPTPP described the suggestion as impractical. Why does the CBFC want to increase its work load? Any logic?

* * *

The music of Ramgopal Varma’s Daud is being spoken of in superlative terms. Nizam distributor and exhibitor Ravi Machhar (who is not the distributor of Daud) says, “The Shabba Shabba hai rabba song will be a super-duper hit.” The Zahreelay zahreelay number is yet another hit song The magic of the A.R. Rahman and Varma combination again after Rangeela.

* * *

The staff at the CBFC office in Bombay were pretty cooperative with producer Suneel Darshan during the censorship of his Ajay this week. They did not throw any tantrums when the video cassette of the film, submitted by Suneel, was found to be defective. What’s more, they viewed the fresh cassette, verified the cuts and issued the certificate — all on 20th December — so that Suneel could effect delivery to the Overseas distributor for release next week.

* * *

Producer-director Suneel Darshan is taking a big risk by releasing his Ajay next week. If the Maharashtra cinemas close down from 1st January, ’97, it will be sad for the film. If they don’t, Suneel will have the last laugh.

* * *

Of all the Amitabh Bachchan starrers announced or being made presently, it will be Bade Miyan Chote Miyan that will be the most sought-after by distributors. The set-up (bada B, chhota G and double D — Bachchan, Govinda and David Dhawan) looks just too wonderful.

– Komal Nahta

MAJOR SAAB

Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd.’s Major Saab (UA) is a love story set against the army backdrop. Although the romantic tale has nothing to do with the military backdrop, the two main characters in the film are armymen. Thus, although the title gives the impression that the film is about the army, it actually turns out to be like any other love story. The title may, in this sense only, be construed to be less appropriate, but it is this very military background of the film which distinguishes it from other romantic dramas and lends freshness to an otherwise routine subject. Further, because of the two characters being in the army, the writers have been able to pack in a handful of truly nationalist dialogues with a lot of patriotic flavour, something which the audiences are bound to appreciate and even applaud.

Amitabh Bachchan plays the title role, incharge of a group of cadets whom he is imparting training to. One of the cadets is Ajay Devgan who is forced to join the army but has no intentions of remaining there. In fact, he keeps breaking the strict rules of the army, much to the annoyance of the major who is a strict disciplinarian. But gradually, the soft inside of the tough major wins over the disobedient cadet and he promises to follow in the footsteps of the major. On his part, the major helps the cadet (whom he starts treating like his son) free his beloved from the clutches of her devious brother and another evil don. For this, the major himself flouts the army rules.

The first half is slow and dull, and belongs to Ajay Devgan who, with his pranks, keeps the interest alive to some extent. The second half belongs to Amitabh Bachchan and, although lengthy and repetitive, this part is better. The ‘Sona Sona’ song in the pre-climax is the best thing in the film and it rejuvenates the audience to participate in the drama in the form of thunderous applause, whistles, cheers and even dancing with Bachchan. Credit for this goes as much to the music (Aadesh Shrivastava) as to the picturisation and Amitabh’s fabulous dance. Climax has plenty of action but is average. Dialogues (Santosh Saroj) in praise of Indians and the Indian jawans are brilliantly worded. Emotions are almost absent although there was much scope for them in the scenes between Amitabh and Ajay and between Ajay and Nafisa Ali (Amitabh’s wife). Robin Bhatt and Santosh Saroj’s screenplay has several flaws and is not even smooth. For instance, Ajay promises to become another Amitabh but the promise is not even sought to be fulfilled. Sonali’s change of mind (about marriage) and her brother’s change of heart appear ridiculous.

Amitabh Bachchan looks superb in the get-up of a major. His performance is even more superb. He plays his role to perfection, using his voice, expressions and body language fabulously. His dance, as said above, is the best (most superb) thing in the film and, in fact, the song and dance (choreographed by Ganesh) alone are enough to see the distributors of the film through. Ajay Devgan also acts very ably. If he is very good in action scenes, he is even better in the scenes which require him to perform. Sonali Bendre does an average job. Nafeesa Ali looks pretty and acts reasonably well, but her dialogue delivery is not good. Mohan Joshi performs well. Ashish Vidyarthi is also good as Sonali’s brother. But his character changes a bit too often. Mushtaq Khan leaves a mark. Navin Nischol and Siddharth provide good support. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is wasted. Shahbaaz Khan, Vikas Anand, Dinesh Hingoo and the others lend fair support.

Tinnu Anand’s (Verinder Raj Anand’s) direction is quite alright but his sense of editing leaves a lot to be desired. On the music side, the ‘Sona Sona’ song is a rage. Of the other numbers (Anand Raaj Anand), a couple of them are good but their picturisations are dull. Ravi K. Chandran’s camerawork is excellent and the same can be said about Sabu Cyril’s art direction. Action scenes (Bhiku Verma) are well composed. Editing is loose, and the film’s merits will improve if it is further edited by about 10 minutes.

On the whole, Major Saab will not get any critical acclaim or appreciation and may not have a long run, but it will definitely keep its distributors smiling due to four main reasons — ‘Sona Sona’ song and dance; Amitabh Bachchan’s performance; the bumper opening it has taken; and its reasonable price. These four factors outweigh the minus factors, namely, ordinary script and loose editing. Business in North India and Bihar should be better.

Released on 25-6-’98 at Metro and on 26-6-’98 at 19 other cinemas of Bombay by AB Corp. thru Shringar Films. Publicity: extraordinary. Opening: simply astounding. …….Also released all over. Opening was cinema-shattering everywhere except (surprisingly) in Jaipur.

LATEST POSITION

MAJOR SAAB has taken a bumper start. This, coupled with the success of last week’s release, GHULAM, has improved the generally dull first half of 1998.

Ghulam, as predicted, is the best in Bombay, Maharashtra and South (A1) and has done well in all the other circuits. It dropped quite badly in Gujarat and Saurashtra from mid-week. 1st week Bombay 59,26,533 (99.99%) from 14 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 14,29,544 from 7 cinemas, Padra 1,94,192, Rajkot 1,59,346, Jamnagar (matinee) 38,763; Solapur 2,17,038 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Belgaum 1,42,653 (100%); Delhi 33,75,118 (86.84%) from 8 cinemas; Kanpur 4,69,447 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,62,029, Agra 2,75,726, Allahabad 1,68,500, Meerut 1,78,271; Calcutta 27,73,744 from 21 cinemas (other cinemas were on F.H.); Nagpur 8,53,514 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,48,933 (100%), Amravati 2,66,661, Akola 1,86,308, Raipur 2,04,840 (73.62%), Chandrapur (29 shows) 2,15,765; Indore 3,99,000 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 3,56,387 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 7,82,318 from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad 31,38,710 from 12 cinemas (1 in noon), share 17,19,432.

Maut Ke Saudagar (dubbed) 1st week Agra 85,145; Jaipur 1,46,169.

Gharwali Baharwali 2nd week Bombay 24,74,620 (60.47%) from 8 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,28,389 (2 unrecd.), Rajkot 1,70,085, Jamnagar 1,31,493 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Adipur 2 weeks’ total 2,00,199; Solapur 1,30,603 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 22,12,143 from 9 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,88,787 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,26,348, Agra 98,747, Allahabad 94,500, Bareilly 59,506 (26.63%), Hardwar 26,000; Calcutta 4,89,017 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 1,89,651 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,21,628, total 2,86,771, Amravati 1,45,455, Akola 1,34,994, total 3,03,765, Raipur 1,24,610, Durg 77,596, Yavatmal 95,774; Indore 1,26,628 (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,94,939 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 1,87,010, Jodhpur 1,90,000, Ajmer 89,624; Hyderabad 3,40,472.

Achanak 2nd week Bombay 8,59,243 (47.54%) from 6 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,59,468 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot (matinee) 7,773; Solapur 91,850; Delhi 7,39,616 from 5 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,19,588 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,77,788, Allahabad 48,000, Meerut 90,400, Bareilly 46,051 (21.31%); Calcutta 2,66,241 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 1,08,277 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 37,783, Amravati 70,629, Raipur 50,272, 1st week Jalgaon 1,33,240; 2nd week Indore 45,000, Bhopal 82,338; Jaipur 2,58,810 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 1,81,349 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon).

Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai 5th week Bombay 14, 25,593 (67.17%) from 5 cinemas (3 on F.H.), good; Ahmedabad 47,189, Jamnagar 50,208; Solapur 54,630, 1st week Barsi 36,254; 5th week Belgaum 83,967; Delhi 23,98,043 from 6 cinemas, very good; Kanpur 93,815, Lucknow 1,03,245, Agra 95,671, Allahabad 39,109, Bareilly (6 days) 46,820 (24.27%), 1st week Hardwar 56,098; 5th week Calcutta 3,84,718 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 1,47,781, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,04,066, Akola 50,954, total 3,68,074, 4th week Raipur 57,348, 5th week Jalgaon (6 days) 38,665, Chandrapur 80,298, total 5,76,524, 3rd week Yavatmal (6 days) 22,644, 4th week Bilaspur 32,643; 5th week Bhopal 1,66,466, excellent; Jaipur 2,80,987, very good, 4th week Bikaner 96,375; 5th week Hyderabad 4,14,710 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

ASHA PAREKH APPOINTED CBFC CHAIRPERSON

Asha Parekh has been appointed chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification. She is the first lady to be appointed to chair the organisation and she succeeds Shakti Samanta.

Asha Parekh’s term is for a period of three years.

YOU ASKED IT

Why was Major Saab sold at a reasonable price to its distributors? Were they not willing to buy it for more than 1.25 to 1.5 crore?

– AB Corp. compensated its distributors for the losses of MRITYUDAATA and SAAT RANG KE SAPNE by keeping the price of MAJOR SAAB reasonable.

It is true that Ghulam has not done well in the USA?

– Yes, it is a shocking fact!

What is the title of the new Assamese film which has hit the bull’s eye?

– Ashok Kumar Bishaya’s JOUBAND AMANI KARE (which means JAWANI DEEWANI in Hindi). It is the biggest blockbuster in Assamese.

PEOPLE
Are talking about

** The brilliant opening of Major Saab all over the country. Amitabh Bachchan has not lost his charisma, that’s the general opinion.

** The wonderful gesture of producer-director K.C. Bokadia who gave Amitabh Bachchan the super-hit Sona Sona song for Major Saab. The song was recorded (by Aadesh Shrivastava) for Bokaddia’s Lal Baadshah but Amitabh liked it so much when he heard it that he jumped to pick up the song when Bokadia announced that there was no situation for it in Lal Baadshah. By the way, a super-hit number like Sona Sona needs no situation.

PEOPLE
Are happy about

** The return of the good times. Major Saab has taken a flying start, Ghulam has clicked, Gharwali Baharwali will fetch commission in some circuits, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai is steady at medium collections since several weeks.

** Asha Parekh being appointed chairperson of the CBFC.

PEOPLE
Are scared about

** Two love stories, namely Kareeb and Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, scheduled for release one after the other. The former is due on 17th July while the latter will come on 24th July.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Delivery Problem Of A Different Kind

Major Saab had yet another hiccup — this time due to a technical snag — just before the preparation of the film’s final prints. There was reportedly a technical problem in the film’s sound negative. The rectifications took some time and, as a result, the sound negative could not be delivered to Adlabs in time for the preparation of the final prints. Much to its credit though, Adlabs successfully managed to deliver all the final prints of the film, as scheduled. But there was virtual maara-maari for the prints, among the various distributors. In the meantime, Delhi-U.P. distributor G.D. Mehta raised his order of prints by 5 at the eleventh hour (thanks to the last-minute booking in some stations). With these extra prints, G.D. Mehta’s tally has gone up to 45 prints. The total number of prints of Major Saab has crossed 280.

Top Distributors, Petty Rivalries

The scene in Delhi-U.P. exhibition trade is rather sad. Distributors of this circuit go to court against exhibitors, at the drop of a hat. This court-going practice is born out of the jealousies among some leading distributors of the territory. Reportedly, the distributors adopt dog-in-the-manger policy and try to block cinemas with their films so that the other distributor/s cannot get a good chain of cinemas for his/their releases. The professional enmity between some of the distributors is so bitter that a distributor would prefer paying deficit to a cinema rather than discontinuing his film to make way for his rival’s film. The classic case was a recent one in which a distributor knocked the doors of the court against an exhibitor who threatened to discontinue his film to accommodate another distributor’s film. So keen was a third distributor (not in any way connected with the film showing at the said cinema or with the film trying to be accommodated) to see that the new film should not be able to bag the cinema that he even told the complainant-distributor to not just go to court but also take some 10 thousand rupees from him towards the cost of litigation! All because this third distributor may have had an axe to grind with the second distributor. A case of dushman ka dushman, dost! All this pettiness among top distributors also affects exhibitors who often find themselves unnecessarily dragged into controversies. Obviously, the exhibitors can’t take sides because they have to deal with all the distributors. Incidentally, this cut-throat competition among distributors has prompted them to become cinema controllers too.

Titanic Rumours

Rumours are rife in the industry that two films are simultaneously being made, each based on the Hollywood blockbuster, Titanic. The two films being talked about are Indra Kumar’s Mann and Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. In reality, there is no truth in the rumours as both the films have different stories from each other as well as from the Hollywood blockbuster. The only similarity among them is that each of these films is to be shot aboard a ship — a fact which may well have sparked off the rumours. Last heard, Rakesh Roshan was planning a trip to Greece to find a suitable ship for his film while Indra Kumar has already found his ship in Singapore.

Asha Parekh In A New Role

Asha Parekh is the first lady to be appointed chairperson of the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC). She takes over from Shakti Samanta whose 7-year stint (the longest ever in the CBFC) ended on 24th June, 1998. Asha Parekh may be the first lady to be appointed chairperson of the CBFC, but, technically, she is not the first woman to occupy that chair. That distinction is already reserved for Aparna Mohile who was the acting chairperson of the CBFC in 1982 and ’83 — from 11th August, ’82 to 14th March, ’83. She is presently the Postmaster General, Maharashtra. Asha Parekh is officially the 21st chairperson of the CBFC, but since two earlier chairmen were reappointed on two separate occasions (B.D. Mirchandani — 15-6-’54 to 9-6-’55, re-appointed from 25-3-’60 to 1-11-’60; and D.L. Kothari — 22-11-’59 to 24-3-’60, reappointed from 2-11-’60 to 22-4-’65), she becomes the 19th person to hold the office since CBFC’s inception in 1951.

HERO HINDUSTANI

R.G. Films (India)’s Hero Hindustani is a comedy fare with some emotions thrown in too. A millionaire Indian, settled in London, compels his grand-daughter to go to India and get married to the (Indian) boy selected by him. The grand-daughter loves somebody else in London and, with the aim of fooling her grandfather, agrees to follow his instructions but on the condition that she will go to India unannounced and marry the selected boy only if found suitable. In India, she meets a tourist guide who is young, smart, talkative and intelligent. She takes him along to London and bluffs to her grandfather that he is her Indian husband. The guide is least interested in marriage, but he slowly and surely wins the heart of the old man. Not only that, he also wins over the girl herself who used to hitherto hate him.

The film has several light moments but while some of them are enjoyable, others are oft-repeated and, therefore, lack freshness and novelty. The story, which reminds of Manchali, looks somewhat farcical but is not completely hilarious to offset its farcical character. There are some emotions but, except in one scene, they don’t really touch the heart. Dialogues are quite nice.

Arshad Warsi does well. Namrata Shirodkar is fair and makes a real impact in a dramatic scene towards the end. Paresh Rawal performs ably. Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor and Asrani lend a few enjoyable moments. Parmeet Sethi, Reena Kapoor, Sanam Patel, Bharat Kapoor, Shehzaad Khan and the rest of the artistes are alright.

Aziz Sajawal’s direction is reasonably good but he could have added more punch to the drama and made it into a hilarious entertainer. Music is appealing although the absence of a hit number is sorely felt, more so because the film has no popular lead stars. All the same, the title song, ‘Deewana deewana’, ‘Aisi waisi baat nahin’ and ‘Chand nazar aa gaya’ are hummable. Song picturisations are eye-pleasing. Action is functional. Camerawork (Najeeb Khan) is of a good standard. Editing should have been better. Production and other technical values are nice.

On the whole, Hero Hindustani is a fair entertainer but will suffer mainly because of its lead artistes who don’t have any star-status. Its chances in circuits like East Punjab, Bengal, Bihar and Rajasthan are bleak, and in Maharashtra, fair.

Released on 20-10-’98 at Metro (matinee) and 3 other cinemas and on 23-10-’98 at 11 more cinemas of Bombay by Shreeji Enterprises thru Shringar Films. Publicity: very good. Opening: quite good. …….Also released all over. 1st 3 days Ahmedabad 84,266/-, Rajkot (matinee) 18,758/-, Solapur 63,062/-, Varanasi 24,925/-, Allahabad 51,500/-, Lucknow (2 days) 90,218/-, Nagpur (3 days) 91,639/- from 4 cinemas, Akola 48,200/-, Raipur (2 days) 43,365, Jabalpur (2 days) 48,688/-, Amravati (2 days) 55,728/-, Jodhpur 77,000/-, Bikaner 66,057/-, Hyderabad 4,21,235/- from 4 cinemas.

LATEST POSITION

Diwali this year has been joyous for the film industry as both the major releases of last week, BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN and KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI, have done extraordinary business in the holiday week. In Bombay city-suburbs, it is after ages that two films have recorded 100% collections in the first week.

Bade Miyan Chote Miyan has recorded mind-boggling collections amidst mixed reports. Quite a heavy drop was noticed mid-week onwards in West Bengal and Rajasthan. Also dropped on 8th day in C.I. It is super-strong in Bombay. 1st week Bombay 61,08,012 (100%) from 14 cinemas (9 on F.H.), Amar-Chembur 4,15,425; Ahmedabad 14,40,826 from 6 cinemas, Baroda 100%, Rajkot 3,15,700 from 2 cinemas, Jamnagar 1,79,231 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee, 1 unrecd.), Bhuj 1,46,848; Sangli 100%, Kolhapur 2,61,909, Solapur 4,16,958 from 2 cinemas; Hubli 1,84,599 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), Belgaum 1,12,799 (100%); Delhi 66,39,906 (88.46%) from 15 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,96,415 (1 unrecd.), Lucknow (26 shows) 4,43,547 (1 unrecd.), Varanasi 2,16,775, Allahabad 2,74,000, Meerut 2,63,760 (100%), Bareilly (6 days) 1,83,461 (73.77%); Rohtak 70,821; Calcutta 34,59,904 from 24 cinemas; Nagpur 10,63,969 from 6 cinemas, Jabalpur (3 days) 1,97,214, Amravati (3 days) 1,36,032, Akola (3 days) 1,44,873, Raipur (3 days) 2,77,497 from 2 cinemas, Durg (3 days) 1,16,451, Jalgaon (3 days) 1,57,444 from 2 cinemas, Bhusawal (2 days) 100%, Wardha (3 days) 53,029, Chandrapur (4 days) 1,44,900, Yavatmal (3 days) 91,200, Khandwa (3 days) 1,06,438 from 2 cinemas; Indore 4,73,970 (60.82%) from 3 cinemas (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 6,42,700 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 15,09,871 from 6 cinemas; Hyderabad 41,86,713 from 16 cinemas (3 in noon); Bangalore share about 15,00,000 from 8 cinemas; Vijayawada 2,95,330.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai has collected outstanding and the appreciation is outstanding. 1st week Bombay 60,60,084 (100%) from 12 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 15,60,208 from 5 cinemas, Baroda 2,24,855 (100%), Valsad 3,49,644 (94.40%), Padra 3,01,176, Rajkot 1,70,680 (1 unrecd.), Jamnagar 1,91,768 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Adipur 1,49,830, Anjar 92,500; Kolhapur 100%, Solapur 2,25,595 (100%); Hubli 3,43,403 (100%), Belgaum 1,27,890 (100%); Delhi 49,64,896 (93.10%) from 9 cinemas, Ghaziabad 2,78,249, total 57,81,757 from 11 cinemas; Kanpur 6,80,591 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow (30 shows) 5,58,120 (100%), Varanasi 3,69,908, Allahabad 2,28,100, Bareilly (6 days) 1,82,612 (75.10%), Hardwar 1,52,000; Rohtak 47,941; Calcutta  27,02,771 from 12 cinemas (others were on F.H.); Nagpur 8,19,640 from 3 cinemas, Amravati 2,80,036, Akola 1,95,000 (100%), Raipur (6 days) 1,71,512, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,76,045, Gondia (30 shows) 1,26,475, Chandrapur (29 shows) 2,15,930; Indore 6,29,498 (75.96%) from 3 cinemas (1 on F.H.), Bhopal (3 days) 1,95,701; Jaipur 11,93,358 from 3 cinemas, Ajmer (29 shows) 1,58,766, Bikaner 2,42,938, did wonderful in Kota; Hyderabad 41,91,493 from 15 cinemas (2 in noon), share 23,64,572; Bangalore 1st week share about 18 lakh (excellent); fantastic in Overseas — 1st week’s figures are all-time records in London and USA.

……….

AJIT BIDS ADIEU

One of the most popular villains of Hindi cinema, Ajit, passed away on 21st October at a private nursing home in Hyderabad. He was 76. Earlier last week, he had been admitted to the nursing home following a heart attack. He was buried on the morning of 22nd at the Jamali Kunta burial ground near Golkonda Fort in the city.

Ajit’s real name was Hamid Ali Khan. Born in 1922 in Hyderabad, he ran away from home in the early forties to try his luck in Hindi films. After a long struggle, he received a big break when he starred as a hero in Dholak in 1951. The film’s flopping at the box-office only lengthened Ajit’s struggling period until K. Asif’s Mughal-E-Azam released in 1960. His portrayal of Durjan Sinh, the loyal Rajput ally of Prince Salim, in the film won him instant recognition. Ajit began getting roles regularly thereafter.

In the mid-sixties, Ajit switched to another area of acting which, in no time, became his speciality. He played his first role as a villain in Suraj in 1966 and soon, developed a style of his own through successive films. His trademark dialogue delivery together with his natty sense of dressing and polished performances almost immediately catapulted him to the numero uno position among the villains in Hindi films. Together with his favourite sidekicks, ‘Mona Darling’ and ‘Raabert’, Ajit made a permanent place in the hearts of millions by proclaiming ‘Saari duniya mujhe Loin ke naam se jaanti hai!’ in Kalicharan. In fact, Mona Darrrling, Raabert (Robert) and Loin (Lion) continue to spawn off many a joke even today.

In a career spanning over four decades, Ajit acted in more than 200 films. Among his best remembered films are Shikari, Maa Ke Ansoo, Naya Daur (where he played a parallel lead with Dilip Kumar), Raja Aur Rank, Heer Ranjha, Jeevan Mrityu, Dharma, Jugnu, Kahani Kismat Ki, Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Zanjeer, Kalicharan, Mr. Natwarlal, Ram Balram and Razia Sultan.

Ajit quit acting in the early eighties following a by-pass surgery in the US. He later made a comeback with Police Officer in 1992 and subsequently, he acted in Jigar too. Later, he played some insignificant roles in a few other films. His last film was Dev Anand’s Gangster.

PRODUCTION NEWS

Raj Kanwar’s Film In Mauritius

An 11-day shooting spell of Inderjit Films Combine’s Prod. No. 2 will commence in Mauritius from Oct. 28. Two songs will be picturised featuring Mahima Chaudhry and Chandrachur Singh. The film also stars Sanjay Dutt, Shakti Kapoor and Raj Babbar. It is being produced and directed by Raj Kanwar from a screenplay by Robin Bhatt and Akash Khurana. Dialogues: Jainendra Jain. Choreographer: B.H. Tharun Kumar. Music director Rajesh Roshan has recorded all the seven songs penned by Sameer.

DO YOU KNOW?

* DDLJ has collected 55.72 lakh in 100 weeks’ run in matinee shows at Maratha Mandir, Bombay. The average collection of the 100 weeks is 74.48% of the capacity. It is now running in 101st week (154th combined week).

* Naaz cinema of Bombay, which had been boycotted by Hindi film distributors, has restarted screening Hindi films now. It ran GAMBLER (r.r.) last week and is currently screening DUSHMAN (r.r.).

* To cash in on the success of PYAAR TO HONA HI THA, Bombay distributors Mahalakshmi Film Distributors, will revive the Ajay Devgan starrer, HAQEEQAT, from 30th October in Bombay city & suburbs, with 15 prints. The concern has decided to use the chain of cinemas which it had booked for its PARDESI BABU (now postponed).

* Three hundred ladies were allowed free in every show on the opening day of SOON LADKI SASARCHI (Marathi; TF) at Shree Natwar, Jalgaon.

* TITANIC will be the first Hollywood film to celebrate silver jubilee (next week) at Rajshree, Baroda.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

The Worst Maintained Cinemas

In the Film Information opinion poll  conducted by us last week (results printed in our Silver jubilee-cum-Diwali bumper issue), distributors reacted differently to our poser about the worst maintained cinemas in Bombay. While some refused to comment, there were a few who said, the list was long, very long. A couple of them opined that 75% of the cinemas were badly maintained. A summary of the replies of the various distributors confirmed that the worst maintained cinemas of Bombay are: Naaz, Dreamland, Shalimar, Super, Imperial, Hindmata, Star, Nandi, Sangam, Sangeeta, Uday, Odeon, Mehul, Pratap, Moti, Alankar, Royal, Nishat, New Roshan, Gulshan, Alfred…..

Quotable Quotes on CENSORSHIP….

“Censorship should be totally abolished. Cricketer Mohinder Amarnath once said that the Indian Cricket Board selectors were a pack of jokers. I would like to say that the censor board consists of a pack of jokers. They have given my Jaihind a ‘UA’ certificate while giving the trailer an ‘A’. Now, what could be a bigger joke than this?”

– Manoj Kumar

“Khatam kar do censors ko! Sab katke haath mein de dete hain aur maal khaate hain industry ka!”

– Farooq Sayed

“In my opinion, no cuts should be ordered in a film certified for adults. The audience today are mature enough to appreciate bold scenes.”

– Mukesh Bhatt

ON THE CURRENT STATE OF FILMS….

“Producers and directors have lost their status. When I entered the film industry, people used to say ‘Yeh Mehboob Khan ki film hai, yeh Raj Kapoor ki film hai, yeh K. Asif ki film hai’. Today, the audiences say, ‘Yeh Shah Rukh ki film hai, yeh Salman ki film hai’. It is not a healthy sign.”

– Manoj Kumar

“Today, stars lack basic morals. They have no business ethics or commitment towards their producers. This is one of the most serious problems with our industry.”

– Devendra T. Shah
(Bombay distributor)

“All steps are futile in a country like India.”

– Manoj Khivasara (Bombay distributor)
(When asked what could be done to tackle the menace of cable piracy in India.)

“Hire mafia or Shiv Sena to tackle the problem.”

– Ramesh Sippy (Bombay distributor)
(When asked what would be the most effective step against cable menace.)

“Stink!”

– Shyam Shroff (Bombay distributor & financier)
(When asked what his main complaint against cinemas was.)

“The one in which we all distributors are situated.”

– Ashok Ahuja (Bombay distributor)
(When asked to name the worst cinema in Bombay.)

Kajol Charisma

Kajol has undoubtedly emerged as the queen of the box-office in the past year or so. As many as four out of her five films released since Diwali ’97 have proven trumps at the turnstiles. Her tremendous rise to the top-notch spot in the past year began with Indra Kumar’s Ishq, followed by Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha and now, Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Only one of her films, Dushman, didn’t do well in this period, and even then, she walked away with a lot of critical acclaim for her performance in that film. No wonder then that the Film Information Opinion Poll ’98 showed as many as 66% of Bombay distributors voting in her favour when asked who the best heroine vis-à-vis her price was today. Considering the fact that KKHH hadn’t even released when we conducted the poll, the number should be much higher now, since KKHH seems all set to break many existing records at the box-office.

Incidentally, the Shah Rukh – Kajol combination is fast becoming one of the most successful star-pairs of Indian cinema. They have so far appeared together in four films, each of which has been a super-success. The films, as we all know, are Baazigar, Karan Arjun, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and now, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

HAZAAR CHAURASI KI MAA

Udbhav’s Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (A) is the story of the mother of a revolutionary boy who is part of the Naxalite movement in Calcutta. The mother is unaware of her son’s activities till after he is killed. To find out more about him and his work, she goes to meet the mother of a friend of his (who was also killed alongwith her son) and her son’s girlfriend. Both of them throw light on her son’s activities and she understands him better after his death. Ultimately, the mother also becomes a human rights activist. But before that, she emerges as a bold lady who is quite different from the traditional, submissive, unprotesting, tolerant upper-middle class wife and mother working in a bank.

The film, based on Mahasweta Devi’s Bengali novel, is aimed at the elite audience and connoiseurs of art cinema. The story itself has little entertainment value and is depressing, besides being thought-provoking. The pace is extremely slow and it moves on a single track. There are no songs, no comedy, no romance.

The narration has some scenes which move the viewer, a couple of them even stun him. For instance, the climax, in which the mother catches the leg of the killer tight and does not let him escape, the scene in which she identifies the corpse of her son, the scene in which the mother of her son’s friend recounts her agonising tale, the brutal murder of the four friends in front of the parents of one of them etc. Dialogues are natural to the core.

Jaya Bachchan excels in the role of the sensitive mother. She guards against going overboard and performs wonderfully. Seema Biswas is also superb as the mother of the friend of Jaya’s son. Nandita Das, as the son’s beloved, is excellent and very natural. Joy Sengupta is very good as the son. Anupam Kher does a fine job. Milind Gunaji and the others lend good support.

Director Govind Nihalani’s narration of the subject is such as would appeal to the class audience only. Background score is effective. Camerawork is very nice. Technical aspects are of a good order.

On the whole, Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa is a slow fare for select cinemas in very select cities only. Its commercial prospects are as grim as the subject it tackles.

Released on 19-3-’98 at Metro and on 20-3-’98 at 1 more cinema of Bombay thru Shringar Films. Publicity: quite good. Opening: poor.

NOW IN BOMBAY
BADA DIN

Gramco Films’ Bada Din is about an aspiring singer who couldn’t care less about anybody else in the world. He suddenly finds himself protecting a young eye-witness to a murder because the police fails to give him protection. When confronted by the murderers, he even musters courage to give them a tough fight and declares that he has become a fearless man now.

The film has a Christian backdrop as two principal characters are Christian. That itself limits the film’s prospects to a large extent. Further, the drama moves on almost a single track, the other tracks being there just for namesake. The treatment of the offbeat subject is of the kind which would be appreciated by very select audience. The film’s pace is slow and at the end of it, one gets the feeling of it being much ado about (almost) nothing. Dialogues are alright but several dialogues are spoken in English, and that limits their appeal.

Shabana Azmi plays the Christian lady with aplomb. She is as natural as natural can be. Mark Robinson acts with confidence in his first film but dances quite awkwardly. He doesn’t look the traditional hero. Tara Deshpande has a small role and is okay. Abhay Chopra plays the villain ably. Sanjay Pathak is effective. Alok Nath is superb as the main villain, Irfan Khan, Pramod Singh and the rest of the cast provide good support.

Anjan Dutt’s shot takings are good but his handling of the dark subject is aimed at ‘entertaining’ the class audience only. Music (Jatin Lalit) is very good. ‘Meri aankhon mein tum ho’, ‘Suno zara’ and ‘Na koi tera’ are very well-tuned songs. Camerawork is good. Production values are so-so. Technically, appropriate.

On the whole, Bada Din has nothing big about it except its title. Returns, too, will be very small.

Released on 20-3-’98 at Minerva thru Gramco Films. Publicity: average. Opening: poor.

RAJASTHANI CINEMA’S FIRST LYRICIST, DIALOGUE WRITER DEAD

The first dialogue writer and lyricist of Rajasthani films, P.N. Sharma, expired on 16th March in Jaipur due to old age. He was 95.

Better known as Dr. Prabhu Narayan Sharma ‘Sahriday Natyacharya’, he wrote the songs and dialogues of the first Rajasthani film, Nazrana, made in 1942. He was also an author and dramatist. Thirty books written by him, have been published. Sharma also wrote, directed and acted in several Sanskrit and Hindi stage-plays. It was for his contribution to Sanskrit and Hindi stage that he was conferred the title of Natyacharya in 1934.

NEW CINEMA IN AURANGABAD

A new cinema, Nupur Cinetorium, will open on Gudi Padwa day (28th March) in Aurangabad near CIDCO fire brigade in the Radhika shopping arcade. Owned by Rajesh Patel, it has a seating capacity of 1,002 and is equipped with Ultra Stereophonic and DTS sound systems and a modern projector which been installed by Monee & Co. The cinema will be thrown open to the public from 3rd April. It is air-cooled and is the 14th cinema in Aurangabad.

LARGE ATTENDANCE AT SIPPY’S DAUGHTER’S WEDDING RECEPTION

Priya, daughter of Bombay distributor Ramesh Sippy, got married to Rajeev on 17th March. The reception at NSCI, Bombay, was very well-attended by industry people.

For The First Time, Perhaps….
….Dada Kondke’s Name Brought Tears To The Eyes

Dada Kondke, the comedy king of Marathi films, died of a heart attack in the early morning hours of 14th March. He suffered the attack at his residence and was rushed to a hospital in Dadar, where he was pronounced dead before admission. Dada was 66 and single. He was cremated the same day.

Born in 1932, Dada’s real name was Krishna as the day of his birth happened to be Gokul Ashtami. Actor-producer-director-writer Dada Kondke was well-known for his brand of comedy films and double-meaning dialogues. He played the role of a village bumpkin to perfection, his innocent face and his trademark half-pant attire, complete with a string hanging down, adding to his character. For connoiseurs of Dada’s films, the very mention of his name brought a smile to their lips.

Dada Kondke had made 15 Marathi films, besides four in Hindi and two in Gujarati. His Marathi films were Songadya (which had the all-time hit song, Kay ga Saku, bola Dajiba). Ekta Jeev Sadashiv, Andhala Marto Dola, Pandu Hawaldar, Tumcha Amcha Jamla, Ram Ram Gangaram, Bot Lavin Tithe Gudgulya, Hyoch Navra Pahije, Aali Angavar, Muka Ghya Muka, Mala Gheoon Chala, Sasarcha Dhotar, Wajvoo Ka?, Yevoo Ka Gharat and Palva Palvi. His Hindi films were Tere Mere Beech Mein, Andheri Raat Mein Diya Tere Haath Mein, Aage Ki Soch and Khol De Meri Jubaan. His nine consecutive Marathi films had celebrated silver jubilee (some of them were even golden jubilee hits), a feat that found a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Dada is survived by his sister and nephew, Vijay Kondke, also a producer-director. He had just recently decided to dub his Marathi films in Hindi and was, in fact, dubbing Aali Angavar at the time of his death.

Like his films, Dada used to make people laugh with his stock of jokes and wit and humour. He used to tell of his attempt to sign a leading Hindi film actress years ago. The actress in question quoted him an abnormally high price which Dada agreed to pay. But when she was told by Dada that he would be her co-star, she refused and asked to be cast opposite a better hero. Upon which, Dada is said to have demanded back the signing amount he had paid her, telling her that he had agreed to pay her more than her market price, only because she would have to star with a person with an ugly face. Dada’s favourite co-star in Marathi films was Usha Chavan with whom he acted in 10 films. She was also his co-star in his first two Hindi films.

Dada owned two studios, one at Ingavli and the other at Khadakvasala near Pune. He also had distribution offices in Bombay and Amravati.

AKBAR BAKSHI NO MORE

Well-known action director Akbar Bakshi passed away on 19th March in Bombay at his residence following a heart attack. He was 48 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. He was cremated the same day.

Akbar had composed the action for almost 75 films. He was the favourite action director of Akshay Kumar and had composed the stunts for almost all his films including the daredevil ones in Sabse Bada Khiladi, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi and Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi. Among the other films he had directed the stunts for were Paanch Paapi, Aakhri Ghulam, Kala Dhanda Goray Log, Nagina, Khiladi, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Insaaf, Tarazu, Baazigar, Yes Boss, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Gambler, Karmyoddha and 2001. He used to assist Mohammed Ali before he turned independent with Pahlaj Nihalani’s Paap Ki Duniya, directed by Shibu Mitra.

Umesh Mehra described Akbar Bakshi as a hardworking and technically sound action director who used to plan things properly. Akbar had also composed the fights in two English films, The Far Pavilions and Queenie, and a Bengali film of actor Prasenjit. Among his forthcoming complete and incomplete films are Keemat, Duplicate, Angaaray, Barood, Soldier, Shivam, Baadshah and Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin.

PREM SETHI DEAD

Producer Prem Sethi expired on 14th March at Nanavati Hospital in Bombay where he had been operated upon for a spinal ailment. Although the operation was successful, Sethi passed away on the morning of 14th following some complications. He was 70 and is survived by a wife, two sons and a daughter. He was cremated the same day.

Prem Sethi had produced films like Mastana (with Motilal as hero), Pocketmaar, Sharabi (both starring Dev Anand) and Gumrah (starring Subhash Ghai).

C.S. OZA DEAD

C.S. Oza of Jalaram Films, Indore expired on 19th March in Indore. He had been suffering from cancer.

YOU ASKED IT

The government denied permission for shooting Seven Years In Tibet in India for political reasons but now, the film has been passed by the CBFC for screening in India? How is it?

– The permission not granted was for shooting. The CBFC may have considered it fit for exhibition, so it cleared the film.

It is said that production has declined in the past 2-3 years, yet the number of releases every year is almost the same. How is that possible?

– In the past two to three years, the number of dubbed films hitting the screens has increased. Besides South films, we also have Hollywood films being dubbed in Hindi now. Therefore, even though film production has decreased, the number of releases hasn’t.

Who is the number 1 music director today?

– There’s none who can claim to be the numero uno among music directors. Nobody has the consistency to entitle him to claim the no. 1 title.

FILM INDUSTRY MINISTRY

Prime minister: Santosh Singh Jain

Home minister: Sreedevi

Information & Broadcasting minister: Harish Sughand

(Cultural) Affairs minister (read that: Love Affairs): Pooja Bhatt

Deputy (Cultural) Affairs minister: Manisha Koirala

(External) Affairs minister: Chunkey Panday

Finance minister: Bharatbhai Shah

Defence minister: Amitabh Bachchan (he has to always defend himself and ABCL)

Deputy Defence minister: J.P. Dutta

Education minister: Govinda

Law & Justice minister: Sanjay Dutt

Deputy Law & Justice minister: Aditya Pancholi (for always taking law in his hands)

Human Resource Development minister: Asha Chandra

Food minister: Guddi Maruti

Health minister: David Dhawan

Commerce minister: Boney Kapoor

Industry minister: R. Mohan

Textile minister: Mamta Kulkarni (you know why!)

Tourism minister: Yash Chopra

Deputy Tourism minister: Mithun Chakraborty

Railway minister: Manoj Kumar (he never travels by aeroplane)

Ministers for Science & Technology: Ram Gopal Varma & Shankar

Power minister: G.P. Sippy (for, he is most power-hungry)

Forest minister (read that: Jungle minister): Dinesh Patel

Telecommunications minister: Anupam Kher (for his love for the phone)

Speaker: Nana Patekar (forget Khamoshi!)

DO YOU KNOW?

* Financier Dinesh Gandhi can swear by Mehul Kumar’s honesty. That is why his finance arrangements with Mehul Kumar used to be all oral with nothing being signed or sealed. For one of his films (financed by Dinesh Gandhi), Mehul Kumar had sold off two prints (taken out for Saurashtra; the film was being distributed in Saurashtra by Mehul Kumar) to the Orissa distributor of the film, and he showed the receipt of money from the Orissa distributor, in the account submitted to Gandhi. Dinesh Gandhi was thrilled beyond words by Mehul Kumar’s honesty, and complimented him for it, saying that had the transaction not found a mention in the statement, he (Dinesh Gandhi) would never even have known that it had taken place. In other words, Mehul Kumar could have pocketed the money, but preferred not to do it. Honesty is still the best policy for some!

* India’s new home minister, Lal Krishna Advani, had in 1977, performed the muhurt ceremony of J.G. Mohla’s (father of producer Madan Mohla) film, YOGESHWAR KRISHNA. Although the film never got completed, it starred top names like Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Shashi Kapoor, and was to have been directed by Ramanand Sagar. It was launched at Natraj Studios. At that time, L.K. Advani was the I & B minister, and Morarji Desai, the prime minister. Incidentally, Morarji Desai had worked on the script of YOGESHWAR KRISHNA with J.G. Mohla.

* Rajesh Roshan’s music score in Dinesh Gandhi’s Jackie-Akshaye Khanna-Manisha starrer, LAAWARIS, is very good. Of the five songs recorded, two should become very popular once the music is released. One more song may be added. Incidentally, no song has been picturised on Jackie and his co-star, Dimple Kapadia.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Flexibility, Tutu Style

Producer Tutu Sharma has decided not to be rigid about the release date of his film, Gharwali Baharwali. He would rather come in a week in which there aren’t any other big films scheduled for release than clash with one or more biggies. Say he, “I’ll be ready for release by mid-May but I’ll wait for a clear week. I have no ego problems and I don’t mind postponing my film by one, two or more weeks if another or other films are announced for the week in which I’ve planned my release. I’ll not indulge in the usual ‘Why should I postpone my films?’ or ‘If the other guy is scared, let him postpone his release, I’m not scared of anyone’ type of comments. It’s so silly, we indulge in such ego talks and, in the process, get big films to release simultaneously, thereby cutting into each other’s collections. What is the sense? Let us also think about our distributors because it is they who would suffer more due to ego hassles between producers.” Right, Tutu, right. There indeed is no sense in such clash of releases. If more producers thought like Tutu, it would be really nice.

Two Together

Producers Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria are planning to start not one but two films, both to be directed by Indra Kumar. While the first will star Aamir Khan and a heroine (to be finalised), the other — Rishta — will have Anil Kapoor paired with two girls. And before you think, these two films will take four years to complete, let it be said that it won’t be so. The Aamir starrer will be launched in June with a 45-day shooting schedule, and Rishta will go on the sets in August. Both will be completed fast which, for Indra Kumar, should be a record. Yes, Indra is out to prove that he doesn’t need years to complete a film. And yeah, for the Aamir starrer, the duo has signed a new duo to score music. It is music director Shravan’s sons, Sanjeev and Darshan, who will be providing music in the film. “They are damn good,” is how Ashok Thakeria describes the talented team of Sanjeev-Darshan.

Confidence, Bokadia Style

Barely has K.C. Bokadia completed Hitler and is on the verge of completing Lal Baadshah (directed by himself) than he is already planning two or three more projects. One film that he will direct will star Sunny Deol (in a special role) and Arshad Warsi. It is being produced by film agent and producer B.R. Sahni’s nephew. Bokadia has a couple of other projects in mind, which may or may not be directed by him. In the meantime, with a few days’ shooting remaining to complete Lal Baadshah, he is already on to its post-production work and is dead sure that he will manage a May release for the film. About no other film has Bokadia been so sure as he is about Lal Baadshah. Unlike many producers who are secretive about their film before release, Bokadia doesn’t mind showing friends scenes and songs from the film. That’s confidence, baadshah style!

Public Or Private Choice?

The Zee Cine awards which were presented last week profess to have been decided by the public. Can the public be so foolish as to not vote for Tabu either in the best actress or best supporting actress category for her performance in Virasat? Compare her non-inclusion in any category with the inclusion of Sapna Bedi and Shrabani Mukerji (both for Border) in the supporting actress category. Sapna Bedi’s role was completely chopped off a few days after the release of Border, and Shrabani hardly had a role to perform. Then how did the public vote for the two girls? Likewise, while Anil Kapoor was not nominated for the best actor award for his performance in Virasat, an inconsequential actor like Rajeev Goswami in an insignificant role in Border was nominated in the best supporting actor category. Did you ask, who Rajeev Goswami was in the film? Well, many people have been asking the same question. And Zee’s reply, obviously, is that it is the people’s choice. So much for the so-called democratic way of selecting the award-winners! No, people are not so stupid . Then who is? Let the people decide now.

Boney Oopar Neeche

Producer Boney Kapoor these days oopar neeche ho raha hai. Literally! No, not because a very long shooting schedule of his Pukaar is in progress but because the shooting of his Sanjay Kapoor starrer will also begin next week. But why ooper neeche? Well, because the Sanjay starrer will be shot ooper — in Delhi, that is — and Pukaar is being shot neeche — in Hyderabad.

CHINA GATE

Santoshi Productions’ China Gate (UA) is the story of ten honest armymen who were dismissed for an error they had committed. They meet after 17 years of their dismissal and set out on a mission — to rid a village of the clutches of a sadistic dacoit who has made the life of the villagers hell. The story is heavily inspired from Sholay and the Japanese film, Seven Samurai. Yet, the novelty of ten old men on a mission is interesting and even enjoyable in the first half. The drama takes a serious turn after interval and that’s when the film loses grip. The incidents from the personal lives of the oldies don’t have the desired emotional effect. The Hindu-Muslim sentiments also look contrived. The interaction of some of the armymen with the little girl in the village also looks forced and has no impact on the viewer. In short, several portions of the second half look fake. The climax, abounding in action, is once again impressive. Even other than the climax, the film has plenty of action. But it moves on a single track with hardly any interesting diversions. As a result, ladies patronage will be limited. Devoid of star value and romance, the film relies on light moments and gags in the first half and drama in the second. Dialogues are good but only at places.

Performances of almost everybody are wonderful. Naseeruddin Shah does a marvellous job and shines as one of the most important members of the team. Om Puri is also fantastic as the leader of the group. Danny Denzongpa is superbly restrained. Amrish Puri is lovable and deserves kudos for a brilliant job done naturally. Jagdeep’s comedy is very good. Anjan Srivastava is effective. Viju Khote is quite good. Kulbhushan Kharbanda lives his role. Tinnu Anand acts ably. K.D. Chandran gets the least scope but is good. New villain Mukesh Tiwari does well but is definitely not brilliant enough to match the force of the ten-man army. His voice is not up to the mark for the character he plays. He is bound to be compared to Amjad Khan of Sholay and that won’t be good for him. Mamta Kulkarni does fairly well in a brief role. New hero Samir Soni impresses with a confident debut. Paresh Rawal infuses life in the second half with a performance that’s extraordinary. Ila Arun, Harish Patel, Jeetu Verma, Anupam Kher, Shivaji Satam and Girish Karnad (in a special appearance) lend the desired support. Urmila Matondkar’s dance is a highlight.

Rajkumar Santoshi’s shot takings are splendid and he has been able to keep the audience’s interest alive even without stars. His direction is excellent, but the same cannot be said of his choice of the subject. Although the screenplay (Rajkumar Santoshi, Anjum Rajabali and K.K. Raina) is well-written, the heavy inspiration from a classic like Sholay for a big canvas film as this is unpardonable and it will limit the prospects greatly. More so, because the film lacks star power. The expenditure incurred on the film warranted (i) a more promising subject with scope for romance, music etc. and (ii) star value. Besides, the writers have not been able to come up with a single novelty in the entire film!

The theme song is passable but ‘Chhamma Chhamma’ is very well-turned and has a lovely picturisation. The background score is effective. Tinnu Verma deserves high praise for his stunts; the action scenes are fantastic and those involving horses are mind-boggling. Camerawork (Piyush Shah) is fabulous. Production values are grand. Technically, brilliant. The titles in the film are not only novel but they are also beautifully done.

On the whole, China Gate is a well-made action film but suffers on account of its similarity to Sholay. Besides, there’s too heavy a price which doesn’t quite go well with the lack of star names and also a below-the-mark opening. Even if it picks up, its heavy price will spell danger for its distributors. It will prove to be a loser in most circuits, with some chances in Bombay and Maharashtra.

Released on 26-11-’98 at Metro and on 27-11-’98 at 19 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity & opening: good. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull in some circuits and poor in some others.

DOLI SAJA KE RAKHNA

Ram Creations’ Doli Saja Ke Rakhna is a love story with a difference. As in many previous love tales, in this film too, the girl and the boy in love elope because both their families are against the marriage. But, unlike in other romance dramas, the boy and the girl in this case decide (just when they are about to get married) that they would be cheating on their families if they got married against their wishes, and, consequently, they sacrifice their love for each other because of the love for their parents. The families of the two start searching for matches for their respective children, but in the end, they realise that the two lovers are the best match for each other. They then get the two of them married.

The concept of the families uniting the two lovers is novel in thought as well as execution. The whole unity drama has been executed with such aplomb and sensitiveness that it would make people cry. The first half is a bit slow but what makes up for the slow pace is the genuineness of the hero. His character is that of an honest and forthright young boy, something that endears him to the audience instantly. A few reels after interval (the portion involving the fisherfolk of Goa) are boring. But once that chapter of the drama comes to almost its end, the pace picks up and so does the emotional content. The story (Fazil) is new and par excellence, but the screenplay is weak and loose at places. The girl’s family opposing her relationship with the boy does not appeal because the reason for the opposition has not even been attempted to be explained. Further, the Malayalam film remake has too much of a South flavour. In the initial reels, the behaviour of two (Paresh Rawal and Tej Sapru) of the three brothers of the heroine is irritating because their deeds do not befit their social status. Dialogues are appropriate.

Akshaye Khanna endears himself to the audience not only because of his characterisation but also because of his brilliant performance. But the masses will miss his heroism because there is not much scope for heroism in the usual sense of the word. Jyotika Sadanah lacks glamour and considering that the film is a love story, this turns out to be a major drawback; she, however, performs naturally in her maiden venture. Moushumi Chatterjee and Aroona Irani are excellent. Their scene in the climax is fantastic. Anupam Kher also delivers a good performance. Paresh Rawal is impressive in emotional scenes. Tej Sapru also acts well. Mohnish Bahl makes a mark. Innocent’s comedy is ordinary. Amrish Puri is alright but his portion of the drama needs to be edited; the editing will help, and if the producer and director don’t reduce his scenes, distributors/exhibitors are bound to do so. Ninad Kamat and Umesh Shukla, as Akshaye’s friends, are lovable. Suresh Menon is average as the third friend. Mink’s dance is sexy. Viju Khote, Darshan Bagga and Nandu lend the desired support.

Priyadarshan’s direction is good but he does falter at places and has not been able to make the narration racy enough for a love story. In fact, the slow pace is the film’s undoing. A.R. Rahman’s music is a letdown as the love story needed a hit or super-hit score. ‘O kissa hum likhenge’, ‘Chal khewa re khewa’ and ‘Yeh khoya khoya rahta hai’ are fair numbers. The ‘Bol sajni mori sajni’ number needs to be deleted. Song picturisations are a treat for the eyes. Camerawork is masterly. Sabu Cyril’s art direction is terrific. Action scenes are lovely, especially the one in the campus.

On the whole, Doli Saja Ke Rakhna has a slow pace, an unglamorous heroine, ordinary music and a shockingly slow start as its biggest drawbacks, and emotions as the only strong plus point. It will, therefore, entail losses to its distributors. It will do somewhat better in Bombay and Maharashtra.

Released on 27-11-’98 at Central Plaza and 8 other cinemas of Bombay by Mark Films International thru Balaji Enterprises. Publicity: very good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. The opening was very poor everywhere (in the region of 15%-20%!) except Bombay.

LATEST POSITION

SOLDIER has done pretty well everywhere and is the best in Delhi-U.P., Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan and Nizam.

Soldier 1st week Bombay 48,95,824 (88.55%) from 13 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 11,44,114 from 5 cinemas, Padra 2,14,206, Rajkot 1,85,205; Pune 12,66,446 from 4 cinemas, Kolhapur  2,37,909, Solapur 3,41,501 from 2 cinemas; Belgaum 1,27,890 (100%); Delhi 61,00,133 (94.39%) from 13 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 7,57,039 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,59,368, Agra 3,91,889, Allahabad 2,04,932, Meerut 2,33,002 (100%), Bareilly 2,61,892, Hardwar 1,15,544; Amristar 55,270; Calcutta 27,15,055 from 15 cinemas (11 on F.H.); Nagpur 8,20,453 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,24,865, Amravati (6 days) 1,75,624, Raipur (6 days) 2,22,586, Bhilai 2,68,664 from 2 cinemas, Durg 1,53,299; Indore 2,09,623 (85.90%, 4 on F.H.), Bhopal 4,70,426 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 44,89,210 from 14 cinemas, highest ever.

……………

Mehndi is doing well in C.I. 2nd week Bombay 4,01,538 (65.91%) from 2 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 79,129, Baroda 60,641, Rajkot (matinee) 7,070, Jamnagar 44,985 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 61,610, Solapur (matinee) 21,384; Delhi 2,81,260 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 72,776, Lucknow 46,530, Allahabad 30,000, Meerut 44,996, Bareilly 23,495; Calcutta 4,42,713 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 37,489, Jabalpur 41,447, total 1,00,345, Amravati 76,996, Dhule 22,195, Raipur 41,410, 1st week Bhilai 41,107, 2nd Bilaspur (6 days) 26,403; Bhopal 45,433; Jaipur 1,93,998 from 2 cinemas, Jodhpur 85,000; Hyderabad 1,37,910.

Fire (dubbed) is excellent in Bombay city. 2nd week Bombay 10,18,882 (97.25%) from 2 cinemas, English version 3,49,197 (100%) from 2 cinemas; Ahmedabad 1,11,245; Pune 2,60,055; Delhi 3,55,361, English version 2,62,624; Lucknow 93,249, Agra 55,000, Allahabad 34,132; Calcutta 1,15,382; Nagpur 1,36,146; Hyderabad 1,39,190 from 2 cinemas.

POOR OPENINGS OF ‘DOLI…’ & ‘CHINA GATE’ SEND SHOCK WAVES IN TRADE

The disastrous opening of this week’s Doli Saja Ke Rakhna has stunned the entire trade. One had expected it to open to ordinary houses but an initial of just 15% to 20% (except in Bombay) was unthinkable. What seem to have gone against the film (for initial) are its weak music, cold title and heroine who is not glamorous. Even hero Akshaye Khanna has yet to prove his mettle in a solo starrer and, therefore, does not, perhaps, have the initial pulling power although he is liked by youngsters.

The dull opening of China Gate has also saddened the trade people. Lack of star value (the film has 10 oldies, one new hero, Mamta Kulkarni, and Urmila Matondkar in a special appearance) is the biggest culprit. Besides, publicity was not up to the mark, in the sense that it was started too late. Just one Chhamma Chhamma cannot do the trick. Nor can 20 hoardings put up hurriedly on the streets of Bombay without matching back-up publicity in the rest of the country ensure a bumper opening to a film with a super-bumper price.

Moral of the story: Don’t under-estimate the power of music and marketing. In their absence, you need at least saleable stars!

JAINS DEMAND BAN ON ‘FIRE’

Members of the Jain Vahini Samiti, an organisation of the Jain community in Bombay, met Maharashtra’s minister of state for cultural affairs and education, Anil Deshmukh, on 25th November and demanded a ban of Deepa Mehta’s Fire, now running in the city. The minister promised to see the film and said that if he found it objectionable, he would recommend the central government to ban it. The Jain Samiti alleged that the film was a blot on traditional Indian values.

INDORE TO HAVE 7 NEW CINEMAS

Seven new cinemas are coming up in Indore and they all should be operational in the next two years. Of these, five will be deluxe cinemas — three in the Geeta Bhawan area and two in the mill area. Two more cinemas are under construction and nearing completion in the west side of the city.

DELEGATION CALLS ON ASHA PAREKH: CBFC GUIDELINES DISCUSSED

A film industry delegation, led by Film Federation of India president Santosh Singh Jain, called on CBFC chairperson Asha Parekh on 25th November and discussed a number of key issues pertaining to censorship of films in India. The delegation comprised producer-distributor N.N. Sippy, FFI vice president K.G. Dossani, FFI general secretary K.D. Shorey, producer Raj Tilak, Marathi film producer Satish Kulkarni, Uday Singh of Columbia Tristar, Blaise Fernandes of Warner Bros., and FFI secretary S. Sen. At the meeting, it was decided that a number of workshops, consisting of representatives of the film industry as well as CBFC members, would be organised to discuss CBFC guidelines with an aim to arrive at a more uniform and logical interpretation of the same. The first workshop would be held some time in late January after the conclusion of the IFFI.

MANOHAR SHETTY’S SONS TO WED

Mohit and Hemant, sons of Manohar Shetty of Quality Cine Labs, will wed Mona (daughter of dubbing co-ordinator Leela Ghosh) and Smita respectively on 13th December at Tutkuk’s Lilac Garden, near Chandan cinema, off Lokhandwala Circle and Juhu bus depot, Juhu, Bombay.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

One Print, Two Cinemas, Three Intervals

How print shuttling can become a bane instead of a boon was brought out on Friday last week when Soldier opened at Satyam cinema alongwith others in Bombay and the rest of the country. The 6 p.m. show at Satyam started around 6.45 p.m. because the print, which was being shuttled between Satyam and Ganesh (Lalbaug), reached Satyam late. Instead of one, there were three intervals — one, the regular interval, another before it and the third, after it. While the regular interval was understandable, what agitated the audience were the other two breaks — one of about 10 minutes, and the other, of nearly 20 minutes. By the time the show got over, it was some minutes past 10 p.m. A couple of people, irritated by the triple intervals, even left before the film got over. One can well imagine when the last show would have started and when it must’ve got over, hopefully without extra intervals. A house-full capacity crowd had been waiting outside the cinema from 9.15 p.m. — waiting to be let in. The cinema management couldn’t let them in for no fault to theirs (cinema management’s) or the audience’s! Distributors need to take care that such lapses do not occur. For, the gain by way of saving on print cost could sometimes be less than the loss due to adverse public reaction and negative publicity.

Govinda, Gags & Gimmicks

As if one needed proof that Govinda’s films run more because of the star’s unique brand of humour than because of a sound story-line! Govinda’s track record in the last five years or so is evidence enough, for, it clearly reveals the fact that the only Govinda-starrers to succeed during the period are the ones which stressed on the typical Govinda gags and gimmicks rather than on a strong story. Each of Raja Babu, Coolie No. 1, Saajan Chale Sasural, Deewana Mastana, Hero No. 1, Aunty No. 1, Dulhe Raja and, more recently, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan were a success not because they had great stories, but because they were all made in — what may now be safely called — the true ‘Govinda mould’. On the other hand, during the same period, Govinda-starrers like Achanak, Do Ankhen Barah Haath, Maharaja, Pardesi Babu and some others, which were touted as having strong or, at least, reasonably good stories, fared badly. It seems, the audience wouldn’t care two hoots whether Govinda’s films have stories or not as long as they hold Govinda’s usual brand of comedy (even when dragged to a nonsensical extreme) as a primary ingredient.

It is pertinent to note here that out of the abovementioned eight Govinda successes, as many as six have been directed by David Dhawan! You may draw your own conclusions….

Suranas’ Modern Cinemas

The Suranas of Pushpa Pictures, Bhusawal have the largest chain of cinemas in the Khandesh region — 18, to be precise (6 owned by them and 12 controlled). And they’ve managed such an enviably large chain in a relatively short span of seven-eight years. Thy have cinemas in Dhule (3 cinemas), Amalner (3), Chopda (2), Bhusawal (2), Malkapur (2), Bodhwad (1), Edlabad (1), Khedjigar (1), among others. Of the 18 cinemas, three have been newly constructed while 12 have been fully renovated. Moreover, three more cinemas are already under construction, one each at Edlabad, Bodhwad and Faizpur. Several of these cinemas boast of modern urinals with an automatic handwash, Spartek flooring and cushioned chairs in the balcony class. A highlight of some of these cinemas is their unique music-light systems which enhance the viewing pleasure during song and dance sequences. A single-channel active DTS sound system has been installed at Prabhakar, Dhule (700 seats, minimum admission rate: Rs. 10), Tamboli, Amalner (160 seats, Rs. 6) and Shri Hanuman, Malkapur (700 seats, Rs. 6).

Sleeping His Blues Away

So depressed has the Delhi-U.P. distributor of a recent debacle become after burning his fingers in the disaster that he is seen sleeping most of the time, in his office. One has heard of success going to one’s head. But what do you say to this? Failure taking one to bed?!?

For Your Kind Information

Going by the recent utterances of the minister of state for information and broadcasting, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the film industry must be regretting why it hosted a party in his honour a few months back in Bombay. Naqvi is so disturbed by the portrayal of politicians as vicious men in films that he has threatened to even review the Cinematograph Act in such a way that filmmakers are suitably persuaded to clean up their act and project politicians in a better light. Phew! Should film makers be cleaning up their act or should Naqvi be concerned about having politicians clean up their act? Every Indian knows that politics is the last resort of scoundrels, and the newspapers give enough evidence of what levels politicians these days have stooped down to. Then why does Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi want filmmakers to show politicians and netas as nayaks and not khal-nayaks? The industry has far too often been accused of influencing impressionable minds into doing wrong things. Shouldn’t the I & B minister have the courage to admit that it is real life that has influenced reel life this time? Come on, Naqvi, be a sport — and an honest one at that!

MAHARAJA

Navchitra Productions’ Maharaja (UA) is a fantasy film. A boy, endowed with divine powers, is brought up in a jungle because his life is in danger in the palace in which he was born. An over-ambitious and wicked uncle of the boy wants to kill him so that he can usurp all his wealth. The jungle boy befriends the wild animals in the forests, who ultimately help him to wipe out his menacing uncle and his cronies. There’s also a girl who is madly in love with the wonder-boy.

The film has a lavish making and a lot of interaction between human beings and animals. But several of the scenes involving animals have been executed through computer graphics and they (graphics) are quite poor. That is to say, the audience immediately gets the impression that the human-animal interaction is fake. While the scenes showing animals will be liked by kids, the youth and the older generation will not really fancy them, if only because of the shoddy computer graphics. What’s more, the fantasy drama, especially the angle of divine power, will not find favour with everybody since the film’s stars have an image of their own.

The first half is quite nice with several light-hearted and comic scenes. But the film takes quite a drastic turn after interval. The second half has very few light moments and plenty of continuity jerks. The proceedings then become dull. The pre-climax is poor and so is the climax (with birds and elephants). Dialogues are commonplace.

Govinda does a fairly good job in a relatively serious role. Manisha Koirala hams throughout the film. She seems to be least interested in her work, and that shows. She has not even looked very pretty. A part of her dubbing is also not in her voice. Manisha needs to take a lot of care if she has to live up to the position she has reached. Salim Ghouse makes an irritating villain. Raj Babbar is wasted. Shakti Kapoor’s comedy is the best thing in the film, but he gets little scope after interval. Aroona Irani acts ably. Prem Chopra and Ishrat Ali lend good support. Shashikala fails to impress. Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Monty, Kunika, Amrit Pal, Aparajita, Sudhir, Mac Mohan, Dinesh Hingoo and the others lend fair support.

Anil Sharma’s direction is inconsistent — good at some places but dull at other places. He also resorts to too many cinematic liberties. On the music side, the title song is very nice and so is its picturisation. The other songs are like fillers. Camerawork is effective. Sets are opulent. Action scenes are fair. The lion fight is weak because it looks obviously farcical.

On the whole, Maharaja is an ordinary fare for small centres.

Released on 4-9-’98 at Novelty and 15 other cinemas of Bombay thru Aditya Films. Publicity: very good. Opening: fairly good. …….Also released all over except in Bihar. Opening was very good in U.P., East Punjab, Bengal and Rajasthan (1st day Jaipur 2,04,382/- from 4 cinemas, very good) but dull in C.I.

MERE DO ANMOL RATAN

Tina Films International’s Mere Do Anmol Ratan is the story of a lady who has not been able to conceive a child for years after her marriage. When she does finally deliver a child, a catastrophe takes place in the hospital in which she delivers, so that she is forced to raise two new-borns instead of one. Because of a mix-up, she, or for that matter, nobody knows which of the two is her child. Finally, after many years, it is revealed that both the children have been fathered by the same person, that is to say, they are step-brothers. In the meantime, both the guys also fall in love with one girl. Besides the identity problem, the question of who should get the girl and who should sacrifice is also resolved in the climax. The story resembles (to quite an extent) that of Sham Ghansham.

The biggest drawback of the film is that a sensitive story idea has been treated in too frivolous a manner. The intention must have been to make the film a comedy but the story has too serious a base to be taken lightly. For instance, the mystery of who (among the two) is the lady’s actual son is hardly a matter to be made fun of. In fact, such comedy will not be digested by the audience. The climax is predictable and ineffective.

Arshad Warsi and Mukul Dev deliver average performances. Namrata Shirodkar is dull. Sadashiv Amrapurkar confuses shouting (at the top of his voice) for comic acting. He gets unbearable after a point. Kader Khan is alright. Reema gives a restrained performance. Johny Lever raises a bit of laughter and so does Dinesh Hingoo. Pramod Moutho is so-so.

Direction is average. Had K. Ravi Shankar handled the subject as an emotional drama (emotions are his forte), the film would have had a different colour altogether. Dialogues are witty but only at places. Music is generally functional although a couple of songs are melodious. Camerawork is quite good. Emotions fall flat.

On the whole, Mere Do Anmol Ratan is a non-starter.

Released on 4-9-’98 at Liberty and 7 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.V. Films. Publicity: fair. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over except in Rajasthan. Opening was shockingly dull everywhere.

CCCA TO BUY BUILDING IN JAIPUR

The Central Circuit Cine Association will soon have a premises of its own in Jaipur. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the CCCA in Jaipur on 4th September. Reportedly, a building on Ashok Marg is likely to be purchased by the Association.

A five-member committee has been formed to negotiate for the purchase of the said or any other building. The committee has Kishinchand Janiani as its convenor, and Trilok Singh, Naraindas Mukhija, Ramdhan Mamoria and Baba (D.P.) Ramdeo as its members.

BEDI MIYAN TAKES VASHU MIYAN TO COURT

Delhi-U.P. distributor Bedi has knocked the doors of the Delhi high court for getting an order directing producers Vashu Bhagnani and Sheetal Jain to effect delivery of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan to him for Delhi-U.P.

It may be mentioned here that the producers had sold the distribution rights of the film to another distributor, G.D. Mehta, when Bedi allegedly defaulted in paying his under-production instalments. But Bedi is now keen on distributing this Amitabh starrer (BMCM) himself. Bedi filed the case on 3rd September and it was heard on 4th. The producers have been given two days to file their replies.

POLICE COMPLAINT AGAINST NASEERUDDIN SHAH

A non-cognisable offence was lodged against Naseeruddin Shah for verbally abusing Deepak, the son of Jamnalal Jhaveri, producer of Paltan. Deepak allegedly asked Naseeruddin Shah to return the Rs. 1 lakh the actor owed Deepak’s father, when the actor abused him. The complaint alleges that Naseeruddin walked out of Jhaveri’s Paltan after receiving a signing amount of Rs. 1 lakh. Naseer, on his part, says, he didn’t walk out of the film but rather the film was shelved.

ASHA PAREKH RE-ELECTED CINTAA PRESIDENT

Asha Parekh was unanimously re-elected president of the Cine & TV Artistes’ Association for 1998 and 1999 at the first meeting of the newly elected executive committee of the Association, held on 23rd August. Raza Murad was re-elected vice president, and Ram Mohan, general secretary. Dara Singh and Dharmesh Tiwari were elected treasurer and assistant secretary respectively.

Amrish Puri and S.S. Randhawa were co-opted on the executive committee.

Five sub-committees were also constituted viz. Dispute Settlement Committee (Amrish Puri – chairman, members – Satyen Kappu, Gajendra Chauhan, Dharmesh Tiwari and Shammi); Scrutiny Committee (Raza Murad – chairman, members – Javed Khan, Gajendra Chauhan, Manmoujee, Ali Khan and Yunus Perwaiz); Vigilance Committee (Raza Murad – chairman, members – Deep Dhillon, Ali Khan, Gajendra Chauhan and Javed Khan); Care Committee (members – Dara Singh, Satyen Kappu, Deep Dhillon and Ali Khan); Public Relations Committee (members – Raza Murad and Gajendra Chauhan).

SIX INDUSTRY MEN NOMINATED TO SPECIAL CELL

The Action Committee Against Rampant Cable & Other Piracy has nominated the following six members to the Special Cell which will interact with the police in matters relating to piracy: G.P. Shirke, K.D. Shorey, N.N. Sippy, U.A. Thadani, Shyam Shroff and Pappu Verma.

Bombay commissioner of police R.H. Mendonca has nominated deputy commissioner (economic offences wing) A.D. Shinde as the nodal officer in the matter.

In the meantime, R.H. Mendonca has set up a special cell in each police station to deal with video piracy. The special cell will be headed by the PSI (Preventive) of the police station. He will receive complaints relating to video piracy and showing of films for which copyrights have not been received by the cable operators, and take suitable legal action.

PRASAR BHARATI ORDINANCE ISSUED: GILL MOVES COURT

The government issued the Prasar Bharati ordinance on 29th August after president K.R. Narayanan finally put his signature on it. The cabinet had cleared the same on 26th. The ordinance restores all those provisions which were part of the original Prasar Bharati Act of 1990. It restores the 22-member Parliamentary Committee and 14-member Broadcasting Council. It has also limited the retiring age of the chief executive officer of Prasar Bharati to 62 years, which paves the way for removing S.S. Gill who is 72 years old.

S.S. Gill, as he had announced earlier, moved the Delhi high court on 2nd September against the ordinance. He filed a writ petition challenging the new ordinance. He has challenged the constitutional validity of the ordinance and termed the government action as mala fide. A division bench of the high court comprising Justice R.C. Lahoti and Justice C.K. Mahajan issued show cause notices to the secretaries of information and broadcasting, law and justice, cabinet secretary, Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Prasar Bharati Corporation to reply within four weeks. The next hearing has been fixed for 14th October. However, the court said that any appointment made by the government to the post of CEO would be subject to the final order on the writ petition.

The court asked Gill’s counsel, Kapil Sibal, how the ordinance was mala fide and who were the persons interested in seeking Gill’s ouster. In this regard, Gill submitted an affidavit on 3rd September, naming I & B miniser Sushma Swaraj and state minister for I & B, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. The matter will be decided in the court on 7th September.

O.P. KEJRIWAL APPOINTED ACTING CEO OF PRASAR BHARATI

The government has appointed All India Radio director-general O.P. Kejriwal as the new chief executive officer of Prasar Bharati, till a new final appointment is made.

SUBHASH GHAI TO INSURE ‘TAAL’

Subhash Ghai is the first producer who has gone in for a comprehensive insurance cover, for his new film TAAL. The policy is the direct result of eight months of negotiations between Mukta Arts’ Parvez Farooqui and United India Insurance Co. Ltd. The policy provides a cover for the expenses incurred by Ghai due to the death (either by illness or by accident) of any of the film’s principal artistes viz. Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna and Aishwarya Rai. The cover is also extended to cover the expenses incurred for postponement and deferment of any shooting schedule due to natural calamity, act of God, illness and/or accident of the principal artistes (the above three, besides other stars) and technicians, fire and allied perils, burglary, theft or any mishap during or before the shooting schedule including terrorist risk.

A separate policy will cover loss/damage of sets, wardrobes, costumes, machinery, equipments owned or hired, raw stock/exposed negatives whilst stored and/or lying in the custody of the producer or stored by him in any laboratory or processing unit in India due to accidental loss or damage, natural calamities, act of God, fire and allied perils, burglary, theft and terrorist risks.

Yet another policy provides a cover for the loss of money in transit (i.e. whilst being carried to the location and/or stored at the residence or at location) up to a single limit of Rs. 5 lakh.

Further, more than 200 people connected with the film will be covered up to Rs. 2 lakh each, against death, permanent total or partial disablement.

Moreover, a Third Party Liability policy will cover the expenses incurred due to damage to a third party property as well as up to Rs. 10 lakh for bodily injury to a third party. The policy covers all risks due to accidents to a third party, up to a total of Rs. 40 lakh.

DRIVE IN, AHMEDABAD COMPLETES 25 YEARS

Drive In cinema in Ahmedabad completed its silver jubilee this week. The management has planned several events to celebrate the occasion. The cinema, which began exhibiting films on 6th September, 1973, has been tremendously popular with the cinegoers in the walled city.

CINEMA IN AURANGABAD REOPENS

Sangeeta Cinema reopened in Aurangabad on 23rd September with Dil Se... Owned by Savera group, it has a seating capacity of 914 and is equipped with Dolby DTS sound system.

The reopening function was attended by distributors and exhibitors of Nizam circuit. It was presided over by Uttam Singh Pawar. The formal opening was done by Haribhau Bagade, food and civil supplies minister of Maharashtra. Moreshwar Save welcomed the guests and also felicitated some of them.

‘JAB PYAAR KISISE HOTA HAI’ 100 DAYS

Tips Films’ Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai completed 100 days of its run on 29th August all over. Directed by Deepak Sareen, the film stars Salman Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Namrata Shirodkar (special appearance), master Aditya Narayan, Farida Jalal, Saeed Jaffrey and Anupam Kher. Music: Jatin Lalit. Writer: Honey Irani.

‘TITANIC’ SUCCESS PARTY

Twentieth Century Fox will celebrate the majestic success of Titanic with a party on 7th September at The Taj, Bombay.

ANIL SHARMA DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL

Anil Sharma, director of Maharaja, was hospitalised a week back in a private nursing home in Bombay for an eye ailment. He is fine now and was discharged on 4th September.

M.P. CHIEF MINISTER REFUSES TO MEET INDUSTRY DELEGATION
As A Retaliatory Measure….
….M.P. CINEMAS TO DOWN SHUTTERS INDEFINITELY FROM SEPTEMBER 17

In an extremely callous and condemnable move on his part, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh refused to discuss the demands of the M.P. film industry on 1st September in Bhopal. The incident, criticised by one and all, occurred when a delegation comprising eminent personalities of the M.P. film trade called on him after a rally of the trade was disrupted by the police.

The rally was organised on September 1 with an aim to draw the government’s attention to the problems plaguing film business in the state and the government’s anti-film industry policies. The rally saw the trade in its full strength, with over 1,000 people from all areas of the state participating in it. A state-wide bandh of film-related activities was also observed on that day.

The rally, which set off from Rangmahal Cinema in Bhopal, consisted of such eminent personalities as Santosh Singh Jain, Vijay Rathi, Ramesh Sureka, Vinod Malhotra, Dilip Mudliar, Jitendra Jain, O.P. Goyal, Ramkisan Kasat, Bharat Khajanchi, Uttam Nahar, M.M. Jain, J.P. Chowksey, Loonkaran Parikh, Hemant Shah, Joharilal Jhanjharia and others. It was planned to terminate the rally at Vidhan Sabha Bhavan in the city. Unfortunately, the police forced it to a halt mid-way. Subsequently, it was decided that a delegation of industry representatives would leave for the chief minister’s office and present him a memorandum of demands. But the chief minister’s refusal to even see the delegation irked the trade people to a great extent. Later, two separate delegations met the state leader of opposition, Vikram Varma, as well as M.P. governor Bhai Mahavir, both of whom responded favourably to the demands made by the delegation.

Finally, in a meeting held at Rangmahal cinema at 6 p.m., the trade decided to embark on an intensive course of action to display its protest. The following resolutions were adopted by CCCA at the meeting:

(i) That the entire film industry of the state of M.P. strongly condemns the negative approach of the state government and the humiliating approach towards CCCA;

(ii) it was further decided to close the cinema theatres in the state of M.P. on and from 17-9-’98 indefinitely till further decision;

(iii) that the distributors of C.P., C.I. & Rajasthan regions will not take delivery of the prints for release on and from 17-9-’98 and will also not supply the same to the exhibitor-members within Madhya Pradesh;

(iv) that if any exhibitor violates the decision of indefinite closure, then the entire trade will perpetually stop dealing with the violator.

It was also decided to hold protest rallies in various centres of the state.

BADLE KI AAG!

Is Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh playing hide-n-seek with the M.P. film trade? So it would seem, going by what he did on September 1 and 2.

The M.P. film industry, which observed a bandh on 1st, was scheduled to meet the CM the same day to apprise him of the problems facing it. But although the representatives had sought an earlier appointment, Singh chose not to meet the delegation of leaders who waited for more than an hour outside his chamber. The disgruntled delegation sought another appointment for the following day but even on that day. Digvijay Singh did the vanishing trick. Even while the leaders kept waiting outside his chamber, Singh ‘escaped’ from the back door!

One wonders why Singh chose to do what he did. One source informs us that the CM is repaying the industry for its own wrongs. Reportedly, the industry leaders had on an earlier occasion fixed an appointment with him but did not turn up at the appointed time. Nor did they inform him of the cancellation!

If the above is true, one may be reminded of the Dreamgirl song — Luka chhupi khelen aao — to describe the game being played by Digvijay Singh’s government and Santosh Singh’s CCCA. Maybe, the CCCA can complain by borrowing from the old hit, Bade badle se sarkar nazar aate hain. To which the govt. may reply: Hum to bas aap ki tarah bhaag jaate hain!

CCCA ELECTIONS
Rajasthan In Grip Of Election Fever

With just a little more than a fortnight to go for the elections to the most powerful film association — the Central Circuit Cine Association — the heat is building up. Until last week, it seemed as if the elections this year would be a cold affair. But the scenario has changed today.

Distributors and exhibitors of Rajasthan seem to have contracted the election fever the maximum. This fever is sure to spread to C.P. Berar and C.I. from Rajasthan. A good many nominations are being changed in Jaipur so that votes do not go waste. The election this time will be held in Nagpur on 27th September and, therefore, people who will not be attending the election and the annual general meeting before it, are transferring their nominations in favour of those who will be attending.

From Rajasthan alone, there may be a record number of contestants this year. Besides Santosh Singh Jain, Nandu Jalani, Trilok Singh, Kishanchand Jain and Mohan Godha, the other likely candidates are Ramdhan Mamoria, his son, Rajendra, Baba Ramdeo (or his son Akhilesh), Kishinchand Janiani (or Prem Janiani), Chandrashekhar Chowdhry, Liyakat Ali, Sandeep Bhandari and Narendra Sharma.

The election excitement this year is being interpreted as the desire for change. Although CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain enjoys immense popularity among his members, many of them are now looking for freshness in the working of the Association. The recent fiasco of the Madhya Pradesh industry bandh is being viewed with scepticism by Jain’s detractors who have seized the opportunity to pin the blame on him and his lack of planning.

With things being as they are, it is very likely that there may be a heavy turnout of voters in Nagpur this year. It may be recalled that the last time the CCCA elections were held in Nagpur in 1992, the battle between the ruling Santosh Singh Jain group and the opposition had ended in a tie with each bagging eight seats.

Will there be a similar excitement this year? Only time will tell.

YOU ASKED IT

I have a story and plenty of money. Can I enter the industry as a producer?

– Just a story and lots of money are no guarantee that you will succeed as a producer. There have been countless cases of moneyed men going abegging to their own artistes — for dates which they (artistes) have cancelled.

Why are stars and directors always insecure?

– Unsuccessful stars and directors have the feeling of insecurity because they have to prove themselves. Successful stars and directors are insecure because they are scared of losing their position. They are also insecure about a competitive star/director succeeding.

Your editorial last week made a mention of script-doctoring in India? What would a script doctor’s charges be?

– It would vary from case to case. But, paying a few lakhs to a script doctor for an objective script analysis is worth it when you consider the cost of films today — 6, 7 and even 8 crore.

TV & VIDEO INFORMATION

SONU NIGAM TURNS MUSIC DIRECTOR

Playback singer and TV show host Sonu Nigam has turned a music director with Icon Entertainment’s Yahi To Pyar Hai, a TV serial being produced by Jatin Kumar and Deepak Mukut and directed by Neeraj Pathak. He recorded two songs recently for the serial at Joshna Recording Studio, in the voices of Kavita Krishnamoorthy and himself. The serial stars Sanjay Suri, Aditi Gowitrikar, Kamal Chopra, Madan Jain, Arun Bali, Shraddha, Lucky, Zeeshan Ali, Mahesh Bhatt and Aroon Bakshi.

DO YOU KNOW?

* The preview theatre-turned-cinema, Glamour, Bandra, Bombay, drew all shows full in advance in its first week (8 days). In some shows, there was block booking for the entire 46-seater cinema which is screening GODZILLA (English) in daily 5 shows.

*PYAAR TO HONA HI THA has collected 2,14,953/- in 6th week, and a total of 18,18,707/- in 6 weeks at Novelty, Lucknow.

* DULHE RAJA has created a theatre record by collecting 33,615/- in 8th week at Samrat, Raipur. Total for 8 weeks: 6,69,717/-.

* SATYA (tax-free) has created another Khandesh record by collecting 1,14,139/- in 2nd week at Ashok, Jalgaon.

* TITANIC (E.) has created a South Gujarat record by collecting 2,82,306/- (gross) in 1st week at Shree, Vapi.

* TITANIC (E.) has created history at two cinemas owned by Grandhi Bros. of Vijayawada. At Dasapalla Chitralaya in Visakhapatnam, it has collected 60,39,900/- in 154 days, and at Urvashi 70mm, Vijayawada, it has collected 69,31,142/- in 175 days!

HISTORIC SHARES

* Govindbhai Patel’s DESH RE JOYA DADA PARDESH JOYA has created history at Citylight, Palanpur, by collecting a total of 28,19,614/- in 25 weeks (20 weeks with tax, and 5 weeks tax-free). It has fetched a share of 12,75,000/-. No film since the inception of the cinema in 1951 has celebrated silver jubilee there or even completed 100 days!….. At Roopraj, Pethapur, the film has collected a total of 4,07,712/- in 5 weeks (with tax) and is still going strong. It has already fetched a share of 2,75,000/- in 5 weeks.

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

Producer-director Rakesh Roshan will leave for Bangkok on 9th September to finalise locationis for his KAHO NAA…PYAAR HAI and will return on 16th.

Producer-director Subhash Ghai is in Delhi, shooting TAAL, and will proceed to Chamba from there for further shooting.

Producer Boney Kapoor left for the USA on 4th September.

Bihar distributor Gopal Bharatiya is in town.

Mr. Ramesh Bhandari of Rahul Movies, Jaipur, is at Hotel Evergreen (386-4214/386-3489).

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Maha Sad!

Producer Naraindas Mukhija had a unique experience with his Bihar distributor, Gopal Bharatiya. Mukhija was very secretive about his Maharaja and did not show it to anybody, not even to his distributors, before release. But even while a trial show of the film was on at Rajkamal a week before the film’s theatrical release (it was being seen by the producer, the director and their families), the Bihar distributor reached the preview theatre unannounced. The producer was taken aback but, luckily for him, when the distributor reached Rajkamal, it was interval time. The producer refused to start the second half of the film lest his distributor also saw it. Finally, the distributor got the hint that he was there uninvited and that that was creating the problem, so he left (and the trial show continued thereafter). But, but….. that was not all.

The agitated distributor forthwith sent the producer a telegram, stating that he was not interested in releasing his film as the price increase (the price had been hiked by the two of them mutually, some days before this incident) was not acceptable to him. Many moments and a couple of days of tension later, the producer showed the distributor the trial show. But after seeing the film, the distributor refused to take delivery at the enhanced price despite earlier having agreed to the new price. He asked for delivery at the original price. Mukhija did not succumb to the pressure even if that meant Maharaja not opening in Bihar this week. On his part, Bharatiya says, “I agreed to a price hike because Mr. Naraindas Mukhija told me, he had made a fantastic film and had over-spent in doing so. But both his claims proved to be false when I saw the trial. Why should I pay for a Mercedes and take delivery of a second-hand Fiat?

‘Maharaja’ Premiere That Never Was!

Have you heard of a premiere show being organised, invitation cards being distributed and then, the show being cancelled? Well, that’s what happened this week. A premiere show of Maharaja was organised on 3rd September at Yeshwantrao Chavan auditorium in Bombay by Silver Screen Services and the film’s Bombay distributors, Aditya Films. The show was, however, cancelled after the cards had been distributed to the invitees. But the organisers had no courtesy to even inform the news of the cancellation to the invitees, some of whom made it to the auditorium only to be told by the security men there that the show was not on. Yes, no representative of Aditya Films or Silver Screen Services was in sight at the premiere venue.

The security guys told the guests that their auditorium was under repairs and it couldn’t possibly have been fixed as the venue of the premiere show. Another source tells us that the organisers failed to get the charity commissioner’s permission for tax-exemption as it was supposed to be an invitee show. Whatever the reason, the silence on the part of the organisers was disgusting. Or did they think, nobody would have, in any case, taken their invitations seriously and, therefore, there was no need to inform them of the cancellation? And to think of it, Aditya Films is releasing the film in Bombay. If this is how a premiere show was handled, how will the exploitation of the film be handled is anybody’s guess.