JAI HIND

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

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

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

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

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

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

TIME AUDIO SELLS MUSIC REPERTOIRE TO TIPS

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

NEW CINEMA TO OPEN AT MUZAFFARNAGAR

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

SUNIL DUTT INJURED

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

NEW CINEMA TO OPEN AT CHANDRAPUR

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

O.P. RALHAN DEAD

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

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

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

MULTIPLEXES IN JAIPUR TOO

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

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

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

‘SHAKTIMAAN’ MATTER ON 13TH JULY

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

NANABHAI BHATT DEAD

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

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

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

CENSOR NEWS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

REGIONAL FILMS

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

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

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

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

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

TRAILERS

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

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

IMPORTED FILMS

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

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

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

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

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

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

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

History Repeating Itself?

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

On 28th May

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

LATEST POSITION

The Rakshan Bandan holiday/s on 7th/8th proved bountiful for the industry.

Barood reaped the benefit of Raksha Bandhan holidays but dropped from 5th/6th day onwards. 1st week Bombay 36,42,868 (71%) from 12 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,03,505 from 5 cinemas, Vapi 4,85,986 from 2 cinemas, Padra 1,30,225, Rajkot 1,28,390 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar (matinee) 24,069; Pune 8,06,646 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,46,825; Delhi (6 days) 23,22,062 (62.91%) from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,80,435 from 2 cinemas, Agra 1,87,000, Varanasi 1,39,432 (70.15%), Allahabad 1,01,000, Bareilly 1,39,432 (70.15%); Calcutta (6 days) 17,55,979 from 18 cinemas; Nagpur 5,34,286 from 6 cinemas, Amravati 95,579, Bhilai 92,864; Bhopal 2,53,250 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 7,27,687 from 4 cinemas; Hyderabad 20,23,978 from 11 cinemas (1 in noon), share 7,25,928.

…………

Godzilla (dubbed) has done excellent. 1st week Bombay 4,54,913 (100%) (2 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,72,450 from 3 cinemas, Baroda (English & Hindi) 2,30,351, Rajkot 1,50,230, Adipur 1,64,923, share 1,16,455, record; Pune 3,38,467; Delhi 18,92,581 (85.51%) from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 3,35,647 from 2 cinemas, Varanasi (6 days) 1,61,372, Allahabad 94,300; Calcutta (6 days) 16,69,608 from 15 cinemas (1 in noon); Nagpur 45,038.

………..

Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha is doing very well in Bombay, West Bengal, C.P.C.I. and South. 3rd week Bombay 22,49,795 (94.82%) from 5 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 5,82,805 from 4 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Vapi 2,35,896, total 10,64,702, Rajkot (matinee) 14,160, Jamnagar 92,789 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 6,48,184 from 3 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,10,000; Delhi (6 days) 18,39,773 from 6 cinemas; Kanpur 2,87,200, Varanasi 1,20,117, Allahabad 1,13,000, Meerut 1,39,128, 1st week Bareilly 1,55,006 (68.87%), 3rd week Hardwar 49,589; Rohtak 20,494; Calcutta (6 days) 5,44,117 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 2,42,391 from 2 cinemas, Amravati 1,19,001, Akola 1,35,344, total 4,68,254, Raipur 1,39,373, Bhilai 91,045, Chandrapur 81,790 (2nd 85,238), total 3,30,560; Bhopal 2,85,601 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 5,49,281, Ajmer 1,23,291, 1st week Bikaner 2,18,134; 3rd week Hyderabad 6,93,346 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon).

Dulhe Raja 5th week Bombay 5th week Bombay 6,48,553 (52.17%) from 4 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,21,320, Jamnagar (matinee) 9,583; Pune 1,45,254 from 2 cinemas, 1st week Barsi 30,981; 5th week Delhi (6 days) 4,15,342 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,07,648 from 2 cinemas, Agra 1,48,756, Varanasi 1,12,632, Allahabad 74,300, Bareilly 90,927 (42.09%); 2nd week Rohtak 10,364; 5th week Calcutta (6 days) 1,08,561; Nagpur 1,49,124 from 2 cinemas, Amravati 68,510, 4th Akola 60,125, total 4,13,167, share 2,68,862, 5th week Raipur 84,698, Bhilai 60,270, 4th Jalgaon 48,064, total 4,16,868; 5th week Bhopal 38,783; Jaipur 3,90,388 from 2 cinemas, 2nd week Ajmer (gross) 1,69,092, Bikaner 85,780; 5th week Hyderabad 4,18,931 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon).

Satya 6th week Bombay (TF) 41,22,214 (82.71%) from 10 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 97,143, Baroda 22,083, Rajkot (mg. shows) 9,865; Pune (TF) 5,23,893 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur (TF) 1,73,687, 2nd week Barsi (TF) 43,877 (1st 79,153); 6th week Delhi (6 days) 2,47,913 from 2 cinemas; Kanpur 81,434 from 2 cinemas, Allahabad 45,861, 1st week Hardwar 78,800; 6th week Calcutta (6 days) 1,07,815; Nagpur (TF) 87,916, Amravati (TF) 1,07,523, Akola (TF) 59,066, total 4,36,392, share 3,09,406, 2nd week Dhule (TF) 92,302 (1st 1,18,450), total share 1,18,471, Wardha (TF) 61,009, Yavatmal (TF) 60,040; Bikaner 38,380; 6th week Hyderabad 3,34,810 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon).

________

Godzilla (English) 1st week Bombay 8,95,474 (92.01%); Delhi (6 days) 26,03,585 from 4 cinemas; Calcutta (6 days) 6,02,039 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 2,11,875; Vijayawada 2,30,000, Visakhapatnam (noon) 50,278.

DELHI-U.P. DISTRIBUTOR AJAY GOEL DEAD

Ajay Doel, proprietor of M.K.D. Films (96), Delhi, was killed in a gas leak accident in his office in Delhi earlier this week. Kriya ceremony was held on 14th August.

MADHUBHAI PATEL DEAD

Madhubhai Manibhai Patel of Laxmi Cinema, Nadiad, Natraj Talkies, Borsad, and Natraj, Kapadwanj, passed away in Nadiad on 7th August. Besna was held on 13th at his residence in Nadiad.

SIZE DOESN’T MATTER!

Glamour, the preview theatre housed in the premises of Gaiety, Galaxy and Gemini cinemas of Bandra, Bombay, will very soon be turned into a commercial cinema. The mini cinema has 46 seats, and the admission rate will be Rs. 65. Its weekly capacity (daily 5 shows) will be Rs. 64,400.

The new cinema will open with Godzilla (English). It is equipped with Dolby digital sound and a new AC plant. It is being managed by Manoj Desai and Rajesh Thadani.

INDUSTRY PLEADS FOR MORE RELIEFS IN U.P.

The Film Makers’ Combine and the Association of Motion Picture & TV Programme Producers hosted a meeting on 9th August at Citizen Hotel to discuss the U.P. government’s film policy with Kalraj Mishra, tourism minister of the state.

While thanking the minister for the reliefs granted by the Uttar Pradesh government, including reduction in entertainment tax and industry status for films, a fervent appeal was made to further reduce entertainment tax.

The CHAMPP also presented a memorandum to the minister at the meeting, requesting for the following:

(1) The U.P. government should give a grant of Rs. 15 lakh, like the Maharashtra government, to a filmmaker making films in Bhojpuri, Brajbhasha, Awadhi, Bundelkhandi, Maithili, Purvi, Garhwali and other languages of the state.

(2) Films made in regional languages should be granted entertainment tax exemption for one year if filmed 50% in the state and for 2 years if 75% shooting is done in the state.

(3) 50% concessions should be given to the units of regional films shooting on locations in U.P. and staying in government lodges. Such concessions should also be given by the tourism and other departments of the state.

(4) The film producer should get as a loan up to 50% of the grant at minimum interest rate from government’s financial institutions, taking into consideration the progress of the film.

RAVI DEWAN’S BEAUTY CARE SALON

Action master and director Ravi Dewan and his wife, Maya, are inaugurating a beauty care salon today (15th August). Called Maya’s, it is situated at MHADA, Building no. 7, Flat 001, Oshiwara Extension, New Link Road, near Tarapore Towers, Andheri (W), Bombay. Phone: 639-1386.

DO YOU KNOW?

4.41 CRORE IN 1 WEEK

* The English and Hindi versions of GODZILLA have collected a total of 4.41 crore in 1st week on 123 prints in India. The first week’s all-India share is a fantastic 2.91 crore!

MAIN SOLAH PER CENT KI!

* In a unique coincidence, Dev Anand’s MAIN SOLAH BARAS KI has collected 77,248/- against the capacity of 4,64,915/- at New Era in Malad, Bombay, thereby achieving the dubious distinction of recording 16.62% collections in its first week! This uncanny similarity between the film’s title and its percentage collections has led people to wonder whether Dev Anand will now make an autobiographical film and title it MAIN EK SAU SOLAH BARAS KA! If nothing else, it would at least give some hope to that film’s distributors — for a similar coincidence (116% collections)!

YOU ASKED IT

Why are so many horror films being made?

–Because their budgets are small and they are made in a short span of time. Other than these, small non-star cast films don’t have buyers.

There’s a fad to cut non-film albums these days, coupled with making music videos. Are these enterprises paying?

– If a private non-film album clicks in a big way (like Alisha Chinai’s ‘Made In India’, Daler Mehndi’s ‘Bolo Ta Ra Ra Ra’ and Altaf Raja’s ‘Tum To Thehre Pardesi’), it can yield profits of a couple of crores or even more!

For a super-hit music album like Dil Se.., is it worth spending lakhs on publicity?

– Of course, it is worth the money being spent before the film’s release. It would be wrong to not spend on publicity of a hit album.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Kaho Naa…Kareena Hai

So, finally the lid is off. Our sources have confirmed that Kareena Kapoor has been signed by director J.P. Dutta finally. Of course, there’s no formal announcement by Dutta so far. It may be recalled that Kareena Kapoor’s controversial departure, a few weeks ago, from Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai had opened up a can of worms. It has been rumoured since then that Kareena left the film because she was being offered a film by J.P. Dutta, pairing her opposite Abhishek Bachchan. The rumours seem confirmed now, with the news of Kareena signing the J.P. Dutta film which stars Abhishek Bachchan with Jackie Shroff and Sunil Shetty. There, the cat’s out of the bag.

Tug-Of-War For Film

A controversy involving Bade Miyan Chote Miyan may soon start in Delhi. For, there seem to be two distributors of the film for Delhi-U.P. While one is the original distributor to whom the film was sold at a price of 2 crore plus, the other is a new entrant. It so happened that after having acquired the film and even paying under-production money, the original distributor reportedly developed cold feet and asked for a price reduction. The producer, not in a mood to reduce the price, negotiated with another distributor who expressed his willingness to buy the film. In the meantime, Major Saab was released and it not only took a flying start but also did good business in the subsequent weeks. This seems to have influenced the thinking of the original distributor who is now keen to release BMCM himself. But the producer has reportedly promised the distribution rights to the other distributor. Who will finally get the film and at what price remains to be seen. In the meantime, the producer must be feeling thrilled about the heat the film is generating, what with two buyers ready to buy it at a heavy price.

‘Dil Se..’ Craze At Peak

The music of Dil Se.. is rapidly making inroads into the hearts of millions of people everywhere. Almost every other person is heard humming various tunes from the Dil Se.. album, seemingly paving the way for a fantastic opening for the film, due for release next week. In fact, the never-before-heard combination of A.R. Rahman, Gulzar and Lata Mangeshkar has become so adorable to the public that it would not be surprising if cinema halls all over the country witness scenes of people getting up and dancing on their seats, whistling, even showering coins on the screens and asking for an encore, especially of the Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan number when the film releases.

VINOD KHANNA ELECTED MP

Vinod Khanna won the Lok Sabha election from the Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab by a margin of over a lakh votes. He defeated his nearest rival, sitting MP Sukhbans Kaur Binder, by 1,06,843 votes.

PRABHA THAKUR WINS AJMER LS SEAT

Rajasthani film producer and poetess Prabha Thakur won the Lok Sabha election from the Ajmer constituency, on a Congress ticket. She defeated her nearest (BJP) rival by a narrow margin of 5,772 votes.

Prabha Thakur had produced the Rajasthani film Binani Howe To Isi, and the Hindi film, Jai Mahalaxmi Maa.

SATTOOR CHANDRASEKHAR NO MORE

Sattoor Chandrasekhar of Natraj 70mm Theatre, Secunderabad, expired on 5th March in Hyderabad due to a heart attack. He was cremated the same day.

Sattoor had served as an office-bearer of the Hyderabad State Film Chamber of Commerce and the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce and was also a member of the executive committee of the Film Federation of India.

BHARAT RATNA FOR SATYAJIT RAY

Satyajit Ray was posthumously honoured with the Bharat Ratna in Delhi at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 1st March. Ray’s son, Sandeep, received the award from President K.R. Narayanan.

RAMESH SIPPY’S DAUGHTER TO WED

Marriage of Priya, daughter of Bombay distributor Ramesh Sippy, with Rajeev will be solemnised on 17th March at the NSCI (West Lawns), Worli, Bombay. A reception to celebrate the wedding will be held the same day.

MARATHWADA CINEMAS PUT OFF STIR

The Marathwada Cinema Exhibitors’ Association has postponed its proposed indefinite theatre bandh, which was to have started on 5th March, following an assurance by Maharashtra guardian minister Chandrakant Khaire and revenue minister Narayan Rane. The MCEA is protesting against the illegal demand of entertainment tax by the Maharashtra government on service charges collected by cinemas, and other issues relating to cinemas. About a hundred cinemas were to down shutters from 5th March. No where else in the state is entertainment tax levied on service charge collected by cinemas as the service charge is entertainment tax-free.

A meeting with the office-bearers of the Association was held in Bombay at Mantralaya on 4th March. After discussions, Khaire and Rane assured the office-bearers that the issues would be settled at an early date. The ministers appealed to them to not press for the closure of cinemas indefinitely.

President Atul Save, Jugal Tapadiya, Noor Khan, Ashok Amin, Qaiser Khan, Mukesh Amin, Bhaskar Amin and Basant Kauria represented the MCEA in the meeting.

RAJA GOSAVI DEAD

Vetaran stage and Marathi film actor Raja Gosavi, popularly known as Danny Kaye, passed away in Bombay in the early morning hours of 28th February. He was cremated the same evening.

The 73-year-old actor was applying make-up for the last show of the Marathi play, ‘Brahmacha Bhopala’, at Dinanath Mangeshkar Hall at Vile Parle when he suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed. He was rushed to Nanavati Hospital in an unconscious state, where he passed away.

Raja Gosavi was a great actor and was known for his comic roles on stage as well as in films. Among his well-known Marathi films were Avgachi Sansar, Raja Gosavichi Gosht, Ganget Ghoda Nahla and Gurukilli. On stage, he had played a variety of roles. His film, Pradyapak Visar Bhole, is scheduled for release shortly.

Raja Gosavi was a door-keeper at the Rajvilas theatre in Pune where his starrer, Lakhachi Gosht, was released, went on to become a hit and, in fact, changed his life. He had also worked in two Hindi films, Bhabhi and School Master. He had acted in about 250 Marathi films in a career spanning 55 years. He was in the midst of writing his autobiography, ‘Ek Rajachi Gosht’ (‘The Story Of A King’) when the end came.

ANNOUNCEMENT & LAUNCHING

Hrithik, Kareena In Rakesh Roshan’s ‘Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai’

Film Kraft’s Prod. No. 11, titled Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai, will be launched on 21st March with a song recording at Sahara India. The song will be composed by Rajesh Roshan and penned by Saawan Kumar Tak. Producer-director Rakesh Roshan will launch Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor in this film co-starring Anupam Kher, Dalip Tahhil, Johny Lever, Mohnish Bahl, Satish Shah, Farida Jalal and Ashish Vidyarthi. Story-screenplay by Ravi Kapoor and Honey Irani, dialogues by Sagar Sarhadi, cinematography by Kabir Lal, and editing by Sanjay Verma are the other credits. Shooting will start from April.

YOU ASKED IT

What is the business of the all-time Gujarati hit, Desh Re Joya Dada Pardesh Joya, so far? How much is it expected to do?

– In 8 weeks, it has fetched a share of about a crore from Gujarat and Saurashtra. It is expected to touch the 4-crore mark. The music sales are also as strong as the film.

I am planning to make a Hindi film and I am inclined to remake an old classic hit with some changes. Should I go for it?

– It is a good idea because, after all, old is gold. Try remaking an old family social.

Will Titanic be dubbed in Hindi like so many other Hollywood films?

– It is likely to be dubbed in Hindi. In fact, it should be dubbed because its story is like a typical Hindi film love story. Added to that is the Titanic ship disaster which will be a novelty for Hindi film viewers. If dubbed in Hindi, the dubbed version has chances of clicking in a major way.

DO YOU KNOW?

* SALAAKHEN, which gives the impression of being an action film (and not only because of the presence of Sunny Deol), has been okayed for universal exhibition (after cuts, of course). What is surprising is that the lady-members in the examining committee insisted that the film be granted ‘U’ certificate while most of the male members were in favour of an ‘A’ certificate. The film was censored in Hyderabad.

* ZOR has created another theatre record at Krishna, Raipur, by collecting 43,012/- in 3rd week. Distributor’s share for 3 weeks: 2,69,902/-.

* DESH RE JOYA DADA PARDESH JOYA (Gujarati; tax-free) has created a record by collecting 1,25,106/- in 1st week, 1,26,963/- in 2nd week, and 1,26,963/- in 3rd week at Kamal, Sabarmati (Ahmedabad).

* SARKARNAMA (tax-free) has created a city record for Marathi films by collecting 1,21,559/- in 18th week at Prabhat, Pune.

* SARKARNAMA (Marathi; tax-free) has created a record by collecting 42,789/- (nett for 21 shows) in 1st week at Shiv Shankar, Miraj.

Vinod Khanna, M.P.

A filmi is a filmi is a filmi. And so, even though Vinod Khanna has been elected to Parliament, his phillum connection will always find expression in what he talks in the Lok Sabha. Here’s how his first day in the Lower House might be.

The handsome star will board the early morning flight to Delhi — yes, he will wake up early because Parliament is not like a producer’s set where Vinod can report late. Once in the capital city, Vinod will ask his make-up man to do his make-up and his dressman, to give him his costume, and will then leave for Parliament House in his brand new imported chauffer-driven car.

Once there, he will alight from the car, a revolver in hand, and dash into the House, firing his revolver in the air and hurling abuses at imaginary villains. And even while Vinod would be making his entry with a bang, his driver would be banging at the door of the accountant for collecting petrol money.

Once in his seat, BJP members would welcome the hero with the song Bambai se aayaa mera dost, dost ko salaam karo from his own starrer, Aap Ki Khatir. Vinod would make polite conversation with BJP members to acquaint himself with the working of the Lok Sabha. For instance, he would ask L.K. Advani about the different shifts in which Parliament works. Advani would shift his attention, unable to understand what Khanna was talking about. Vinod would then turn to Atal Behari Vajpayee and enquire about the manner in which instalments would be paid to LS members. Instalments? What instalments? Vajpayee would look quizzically at Vinod and the latter would change the topic. “What about lunch break?, he would ask, adding, “Will it be of one hour or less?” Even before Vajpayee or Advani would attempt to reply to that, Vinod would quiz them further, “How long will the current schedule of Parliament be?” Perhaps, the PM-to-be will explain to the charismatic star, “We have sessions of Parliament, not schedules.” To which Khanna would smile and say, “Like our card sessions and drinking sessions, is it?”

The Speaker would take his chair and call the House in order. Since it would be the first day, the excitement and chatter will take some time to die down. The Speaker would shout ‘silence silence’ on the mike. After silence is attained, Vinod Khanna would be almost ready to break into a song-dance sequence, waiting for the Speaker to give the “Action” order. That’s what ‘silence’ is followed by on the sets, you see. When the Speaker himself would go into action instead of shouting “Action”, a perplexed Khanna would wonder what’s going on.

Anyway, he would make the most of it by mugging the long pieces of dialogues he would have got written on sheets of paper — dialogues penned by Kamlesh Pandey. When the Speaker would ask Vinod Khanna to speak, the actor would stand up, look his face in a mirror he would be carrying and ask for glycerine. “Glycerine? What on heavens are you up to?”, the Speaker would ask him. “Sir, some dialogues in my speech are full of emotions and, so, I’ll need glycerine to cry while mouthing them,” Khanna would confess. Glycerine granted.

Pin-drop silence. The Speaker would look at Vinod and wonder why he wasn’t starting. Vinod, very innocently, would ask the Speaker to give the orders. What orders? “Sir, you must say, ‘Start sound, camera, action’,” Khanna would enlighten the Speaker.

The opening speech would read something like this: “Gurdaspur aur India, Mera Gaon Mera Desh. People of India — Mere Apne. Whether it is Amar Akbar Anthony, I pledge to serve the people of India till the last drop of my Khoon Pasina. I’ve passed the Imtihan of elections, now I want to do something constructive for the country in general and Gurdaspur in particular.

“I had promised to convert Gurdaspur into Paris and so I will. In my election meetings, I had also expressed a sincere desire to start a school and college in Gurdaspur. For this, I’ve already spoken to Padmini Kolhapure who, after Delhi, will build an acting school in G’pur.”

In an emotion-choked voice, Khanna would continue, “For coming to Parliament, I’ve had to make a big Qurbani — of my acting career which, as it is, was not going any great guns. But when I was at the peak of my career, I gave it up for Osho Rajneesh. Now I give it up for…….”. Vinod would burst into tears.

There would be thunderous applause in the Lok Sabha. Secretary Sandeep Sethi, who would be watching the live telecast of the Lok Sabha proceedings on Doordarshan, would immediately call up Vinod Khanna on his cellphone to congratulate him for such a fantastic performance. “Tussi chha gaye, Vinod,” (“You’ve made a great mark,”), he would shout into the phone.

Assuming that the BJP proves its strength in the House, the question of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya would naturally arise. Like a true hero, Vinod Khanna would once again rise to the occasion and, this time, deliver an impromptu speech. “Sir, I have a suggestion,” he would begin. “Let us not waste more time on deliberating whether a Ram temple or mosque should come up at the disputed site. I would suggest that a Shiv temple be built there instead. I would be only too glad to gift the huge Shiv statue erected by my art director, Nitin Desai, for Himalay Putra. It has no value for me now and I’d be happy if it can occupy a pride of place at Ayodhya.”

The press would, quite understandably, hound Vinod Khanna after the first day’s session. How was his first experience in the Lok Sabha? “Well, it’s been a satisfying day,” Vinod would reply. “I’m liking my new role, it’s so different. As in a film, in the Lok Sabha too, we have heroes (like me) and villains (like the Congress members). Again, as on film sets, there’s less work and more waste of time in Parliament too. Film actors entertain the masses, so do politicians. Artistes act in front of the camera, politicians have to act even when there’s no camera. 80% of our films are flops, similarly, 80% of the work transacted in the Parliament is flop. There’s one difference though — in the film industry, stars are cordial to each other but spit venom against one another in print; in the Lok Sabha, you are allowed to abuse your colleagues to their faces.”

Two last questions: What is it that Vinod Khanna would miss the most in Parliament? Vinod would think for a while and then reply, “The Speaker didn’t announce ‘pack-up’ before we called it a day.” And what is the greatest similarly between a film set and the Lok Sabha? Without thinking for even a moment, Khanna would answer, “As on film sets, in Parliament too, the most used and abused word is ‘silence’ — and it is repeated the loudest.”

Shhh…. silence now!

– Komal Nahta

But Why?

Most of our stars have no story-sense and yet, all of them insist on having a narration (of the story) before signing a film!

The more saleable a star, the more secure he should feel. But in reality, the more saleable a star, the greater is his feeling of insecurity. Why else do the top stars charge prices so high that it would appear as if there would be no tomorrow?

Ninety per cent of our films have the same ghisi-piti stories and yet, every producer, every director, every actor every time claims that every film of his is different.

Stars have no control over public tastes, choices or preferences but still, they manipulate the releases of their starrers as if the public had secretly whispered into their ears which of their films they would like to see first and which later!

Producers call their distributors their partners but when it comes to showing these partners their films, they make all sorts of excuses.

Most producers proclaim from rooftops release dates of their films which they are cent per cent sure, they will not be able to meet. What kick they get out of fooling the trade, even they mustn’t be knowing.

Stars know, if there’s one community which can keep them away from reality, it is the community of chamchas. And yet, when their film is released, they turn to these very chamchas to feed them with the ‘real’ reports.

The producer, the director and the artistes are the last to know that their film has bombed. Nobody knows why?

Writers insist on 5-star hotel rooms for working on scripts, but most scripts are so bad, one would think they were thought of and written in a slum.

Directors are aware that content is what is important in a film but yet, spend lakhs and crores on form while conveniently neglecting substance.

Heroes and heroines normally judge their under-production films by their individual roles but the fact is, a film is a team effort.

Music directors plagiarise tunes uninhibitedly but when it comes to admitting, they never do it. Then, it’s a case of uninhibited lies.

Those connected with a film invariably overestimate its worth on the opening day and come closer to reality as the days progress. On the other hand, those not connected with a film invariably begin on a negative note on the day of its release and they also come closer to reality as the days progress.

Directors and artistes are quick to take the credit for a success/hit but even quicker to shift responsibility for a flop.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Lull Before Storm

Tomorrow Never Dies is running in four main cinemas of Bombay this week. The English version is showing at Sterling (3rd week) while the dubbed Hindi version is being screened at Jamuna Palace (3rd week), Dreamland (1st week) and Minerva matinee (1st week). It also opened at Satyam (which is as good as a main cinema) this week. This is suggestive of the terrible state in which cinemas not only in Bombay but all over India are, thanks to few releases and the flopping of films. The scene will undergo a sea-change from 27th March when the flood of releases will begin. Cinemas, which are going abegging today, will then find themselves in a commanding position. That is to say, the scales will tilt in their favour then.

‘Love’ly Adjustments

Three romantic films — Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai and Pyar To Hona Hi Tha. All are due for an early release. But the makers of the three love stories have mutually decided to give enough gaps between the three releases so that they do not eat up into one another’s collections. If only all producers thought the same way!

This One Has Length & Strength

Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount’s Titanic, the biggest hit of Hollywood, hit the screens in India on 6th March. So immense is the craze for this blockbuster in India that the film is bound to prove a runaway hit, more so because it lives up to the sky-high expectations that’ve been generated. The opening in Bombay at Regal and Cinemax cinemas was very good, and the film should have a glorious and long run at these cinemas. The highest admission rate at suburban Cinemax is a whopping Rs. 100! Titanic ship’s disaster, achieved through computer graphics, looks so real that it leaves the viewer dumb-founded. The love story on board the Titanic is just too cute and, in fact, is like a typical Hindi film story. Little wonder then that the audience at Regal on the first day gave a standing ovation to the film. Director James Cameron and the film’s lead pair, Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet, should soon become household names in the major cities of India, at least. Even the length of the film is like that of a long Hindi film. Its running time is over 3 hours and so, Paramount has decided to have just three shows in every cinema screening it, instead of the usual four shows. Such a sacrifice (of one show daily) is unthinkable on the part of our producers/distributors. We’ve had four shows of films with a running time of even 3 hours and 14 minutes.

‘Ishq’ 100 Days: Celebrating With The Audience

Producer Gordhan Tanwani is a showman of a different kind. He is celebrating the 100 days of his Ishq today (7th March) in a unique style. Beginning today, those seeing Ishq in different cities will be given a picture postcard of Tanwani’s next, Pyar To Hona Hi Tha, and some lucky ones will even get an audio cassette of PTHHT free of charge! This gift distribution scheme will go on in all major cities for six days till 12th March. Why, Gordhan Tanwani has reserved about 50,000 audio cassettes specially for free distribution among patrons of Ishq in its 15th week.

Election Putra

A lady in Gurdaspur constituency, from where Vinod Khanna contested (and won) the Lok Sabha elections, is such a great fan of the actor that she insisted on casting her vote for him despite being pregnant and due for delivery any moment. Her family had no alternative but to heed her repeated requests. Even as she finished casting her vote, the lady complained of acute labour pains and, believe it or not, delivered her baby right in the voting booth. So thrilled was the fan on giving birth to a baby boy after casting her vote that she instantly named him Vinod. For actor Vinod Khanna, who has also been a producer (Himalay Putra) and Bombay distributor and who has effected film deliveries as well as taken film deliveries, this delivery (of a child) must have been a new experience.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ Dubbing Starts

Dubbing of G.S. Entertainment’s Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya commenced at Ketnav on Dec. 22 with Arbaaz Khan. The film also stars Dharmendra, Salman Khan, Kajol, Anjala Zaveri, Kiran Kumar, Asif Sheikh, Kunika, Ashok Saraf, Ashish Balram Nagpal, Tiku Talsania, Anand Balraaj, Dinesh Hingoo, Nirmal Pandey and Abu Malik. It is directed by Sohail Khan who also produces it jointly with Bunty Walia. Music: Jatin Lalit. Vashu Bhagnani presents it.

LATEST POSITION

Despite severe cold and even rains (in some parts of the country), CHACHI 420 has done very well after a dull start because it picked up in many places due to mouth publicity. ISHQ and DTPH are also doing well.

Chachi 420, as expected, picked up at many places as the week progressed. 1st week Bombay 34,63,408 (89.29%) from 10 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,02,103 from 3 cinemas (1 in daily 1 show), Baroda 1,84,976, Jamnagar (21 shows) 93,492; Pune 5,23,666 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 2,38,454, Solapur almost 1,50,000 (99.80%), Satara 1,20,587 (84.63%); Belgaum 1,47,238; Delhi 30,82,848 (81.39%) from 7 cinemas; Kanpur 1,61,708, very good in Lucknow, Varanasi 1,03,234, Allahabad 85,500, Gorakhpur 56,000; Calcutta 12,72,190 from 11 cinemas; Nagpur 4,44,249 (98.31%) from 3 cinemas, Amravati (6 days) 1,85,796, Akola 1,38,949, Dhule 96,443, theatre record, Bilaspur 1,15,113; Indore 2,65,871, Bhopal 3,42,886 from 2 cinemas; opened in Jaipur on 25th, 1st day 64,459 from 2 cinemas; 1st week Hyderabad 11,15,274 from 5 cinemas (1 in noon).

Aflatoon is dull. 1st week Bombay 29,02,383 (68.36%) from 10 cinemas (11 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,75,942 from 6 cinemas (1 in daily 1 show), Vapi 2,78,656, Baroda 1,13,763, Bharuch (gross) 2,28,210, Rajkot 1,83,432 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 93,072; Pune 6,81,466 from 5 cinemas (2 in matinee); Hubli 1,23,845; Delhi 29,61,599 (57.58%) from 11 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,71,995 from 2 cinemas, Varanasi 1,17,929, Allahabad 1,07,000, Gorakhpur 1,05,000; Rohtak 25,742; Calcutta 6,17,987 from 7 cinemas; Nagpur 4,16,559 from 5 cinemas (2nd week 1st day 3,001 in 1 cinema), Jabalpur 1,18,587, Amravati 1,01,448, Akola 99,051 (2nd week 1st day 8,500); Bhopal 2,67,525 from 3 cinemas; opened in Jaipur on 25th (1st day 1,21,228 from 5 cinemas); 1st week Hyderabad 25,15,704 from 16 cinemas (1 in noon).

……

Ishq 4th week Bombay 29,22,117 from 8 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Sapna, Vasai 76,571, H.M. Deluxe, Bhayandar 1,29,827; Ahmedabad 7,09,630 from 4 cinemas, Vapi 2,12,556, total 14,17,363, 1st week Rajpipla 98,968, city record, 4th week Rajkot 1,60,000, Jamnagar (28 shows) 96,284; Pune 9,76,333 from 5 cinemas (1 in mat.), Kolhapur 1,23,671, Satara 1,14,787 from 2 cinemas (1 in mat.); Hubli 1,39,368, Belgaum 1,13,876, Dharwad 54,316, Bijapur 57,508; Delhi 14,92,391 from 7 cinemas (1 unrecd., 1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,14,915 from 2 cinemas, Varanasi 1,29,240, Allahabad 1,17,000, Meerut 1,61,778, Gorakhpur 76,000; Nagpur 4,07,236 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,30,013 (3rd week 1,66,124), Amravati (6 days) 1,32,597, Akola 1,19,650, total 6,86,000, 3rd week Durg (6 days) 57,957, 2nd Jalgaon 1,32,144; 4th week Bhopal 2,48,807 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 3,11,847 from 2 cinemas (1 cinema 6 days), Bikaner 26,000.

Dil To Pagal Hai 8th week Bombay 25,66,922 (75.98%) from 7 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,26,904 from 3 cinemas, Baroda 1,67,692, Rajkot (mat.) 27,900, Jamnagar (noon) 22,409; Pune 7,35,017 from 3 cinemas (1 in mat.), Kolhapur 1,83,234, Satara (mat.) 37,073; 1st week Gadag 68,567, Bijapur 1,34,570 (full); 8th week Delhi 8,04,060 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 85,733, Varanasi 77,167, Allahabad 35,000; Rohtak 7,198; Calcutta 7,29,887 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 1,41,707 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,02,207 (7th week 1,30,108), total 12,06,668, Amravati 1,12,455, Akola 82,861 (7th week 79,788), total 10,63,600, Jalgaon 52,011, Gondia (gross) 3 weeks’ total 3,02,338; 8th week Bhopal 87,668; Jaipur 3,98,889; Hyderabad 6,23,053 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

A.G. VARTAK’S DAUGHTER WEDS

Dr. Samata, daughter of eminent exhibitor and distributor of Bombay, A.G. Vartak, got married to Dr. Shrikant on 25th December at Vasai, Bombay.

SILVER JUBILEE

Gupt has completed silver jubilee (25 weeks) runs at Vivek and Kalyan cinemas of Delhi.

YOU ASKED IT

When it is said that a good initial is half the battle won, how do you explain films like Chachi 420 which pick up by mouth publicity?

– Films like CHACHI 420, JUDAAI and BANDIT QUEEN are few and far between. The saying that a good initial is half the battle won is general.

With one more Akshay-starrer, Aflatoon, flopping, what is the future of Akshay Kumar and his starrers in the making?

– Akshay Kumar needs to pull up his socks before it is too late. A handful of films with top makers is what he needs to sign — and sign fast!

How would you describe 1997?

– The worst ever year for the film industry — a year of calamities and catastrophes, fears and failures.

DO YOU KNOW?

* One Ramarao Jadhav of Sangli has become a crazy fan of the Marathi film SARKARNAMA, running at the local Anand cinema. He sees it day after day in the 6 p.m. show and has now been permitted (by the local film representative) to see it free of cost. What’s more, he has also been presented an audio cassette of the film. When asked why he liked the film so much, he replied that he liked the usage of the word satkar in the film to describe the kidnapping and murder of persons by the politician. He also said, he liked the jugalbandi of the chief minister and the cultural affairs minister in the film.

* The cinemas of Ujjain have screened the following numbers of films in 1997: Nirmal Sagar 13, Metro 14, Prakash 24, Trimurti 25, Narendra 30, Kamal 33, Swarg 49, Bhatwal 50, Sunderam 51, Ashok 54, and Mohan 55.

* To take advantage of the tax-exemption policy of the Maharashtra government for Marathi films, Dada Kondke has been reviving his old Marathi hits one after the other. This week, he has revived SASARCHA DHOTAR in Pune, and RAM RAM GANGARAM in Bombay.

Not Worth Their Price

No star is worth his price today. Consequently, most of the films are also not worth their prices. It is surprising, therefore, how distributors continue to buy films at exorbitant prices. Or are they paying hefty prices at all now? Equally confusing is the fact that producers are running after stars who act pricey.

The first week’s figures of some star-cast films should serve to be eye-openers for all concerned — producers, distributors and the stars themselves. The last-named section of the industry badly needs to wake up to the bad realities of the film business today. For, if they realise that they are being unreasonable in their demands, they will appreciate the need to bring down their prices.

Shapath, starring Mithun Chakraborty and Jackie Shroff, collected 76.67% in Bombay and 69.42% in Delhi. Akshay Kumar fared equally badly with Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi collecting 75.38% in Bombay and 79.71% in Delhi. Akshay’s position deteriorated further with Aflatoon which closed its first week at 68.36% in Bombay and 57.58% in Delhi. Qahar may have boasted of such names as Sunny Deol and Sunil Shetty in its cast but did it manage to draw in the initial crowds? The first week figures for Bombay and Delhi were 70% and 75.27% respectively. Nana Patekar’s Ghulam-E-Musthafa may have reaped the benefit of Diwali in Bombay and barely managed a face-saving 87.55%, but in Delhi, the first week closed at 65.87% only. Even a two-hero (Anil Kapoor and Govinda) film like Deewana Mastana could collect just 92.06% in Bombay, and 89.45% in Delhi. When such is the position of star-studded films, cases of Vishwa Vidhaata (Jackie Shroff and Sharad Kapoor) and Bhai Bhai (Samrat and Manek Bedi) are absolutely pathetic. The former’s first week was 38.94% in Bombay and 33.85% in Delhi, while the latter’s corresponding figures were 56.05% and 29.58% (despite tax-exemption)! Dhaal, starring Vinod Khanna and Sunil Shetty, closed at 50.90% in Bombay and 37.77% in Delhi.

If these terrible figures can’t put the artistes to shame, what will? If these pathetic collections cannot serve as an eye-opener for producers, what will? If this sorry state of affairs cannot awaken the distributors, whatever will? And the aforestated statistics may be relating to the films of just a few stars but the position of almost all the artistes is the same. Barring a couple of heroes, nobody’s film is able to draw in the initial audience. And even those stars, whose films command a bumper opening, have to depend on the support of a good banner, a brilliant director, hit music — in other words, it is the entire set-up which matters.

The star prices and film prices are unrealistic, unjustified and completely wrong. And wrong economics cannot last forever. It has to be set right. If not corrected by a concerted attempt, the correction process can spell disaster. A disaster that can be averted!

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Urmila Replaces Karisma

Karisma Kapoor had replaced Urmila Matondkar in Dil To Pagal Hai. It’s now Urmila’s turn to replace Karisma. Miss Matondkar has stepped into the shoes of Miss Kapoor in Sunny Deol’s London. Reportedly, it is the rescheduling of the film’s shooting because of which Karisma couldn’t allot all the required fresh dates that prompted her to opt out of the project. In London, Urmila is paired with the two Deol brothers, Sunny and Bobby.

Five Million Dollars For Getting Pregnant!

Some of the court judgements in the US are truly interesting — as interesting as the court cases. One such recent case and judgement involves US actress Hunter Tylo. She has been awarded 5 million dollars after she was fired from Melrose Place for being pregnant and, therefore, not attractive enough for her role as a seductress. The Los Angeles superior court jury on 22nd December held that pregnancy was no bar to remain seductive. To make her point that she could be both, pregnant and sexy, at the same time, Tylo, who is now in the eighth month of pregnancy, wore tight mini skirts to court each day. What’s more, the jury even remarked that Tylo looked very attractive to the court.

Missed The Train

Pehle aap, pehle aap is a phrase that goes well with the nawabs of Lucknow who are said to have missed a train because of their etiquettes. But what happened in a Lucknow train the other day would change the phrase to Pehle main, sirf main! Unconfirmed reports say that filmmaker Muzaffar Ali, his wife and daughter were thrown out of a moving Lucknow Mail heading for Delhi on 21st December. Although Ali has not lodged any complaint, eye-witnesses have said that it was indeed Muzaffar Ali and his family who were pushed out of the first class air-conditioned compartment by the henchmen of a politician. The GRP has also confirmed that the filmmaker was thrown out of the train at Lucknow station as soon as it began to move. It is learnt that the security personnel and attendants of the politician dumped a few bags and suitcases of Ali on the platform. It was then Muzaffar Ali and his family’s chance to be practically thrown out!

HAMESHAA

Sippy Films’ Hameshaa (UA) is a reincarnation story. It narrates the tale of two lovers whose love story comes to a tragic end because of the machinations of the boy’s best friend who is a prince. The prince, who loves the same girl, envies his friend because while his own love is unrequitted, that of the friend is reciprocated by the girl. His jealously prompts him to nip the love affair in the bud by killing his own friend so that he can marry the girl. But the girl, rather than reciprocating the prince’s love, commits suicide. The two dead persons are reborn and destiny brings the prince (who has become middle-aged by then) and the two reborn persons (who look similar to what they looked in their previous lives) together. The girl tries to remind the guy of their previous lives even as the prince once again tries to woo her and win her over. The lovers, who could not unite in matrimony in their previous lives, finally unite in their new lives but only after exterminating the prince.

A reincarnation tale of this kind should have had romance that would have moved mountains, music that would have mesmerised the listener, and revelation of the past lives that would have drawn claps and applause from the audience. But unfortunately, the romance is half-baked, unexciting and tame, music is far from haunting, and the revelation of the past lives has been treated childishly, to say the least. Nothing has been established properly with the result that the incidents fail to involve the audience or move them. Screenplay is more an assemblage of scenes which have been seen earlier. In fact, there’s no attempt whatsoever to give the audience anything new. Dialogues are ordinary. Tempo is slow at several places.

Saif Ali Khan does an average job. Aditya Pancholi is so-so except in dramatic scenes where he looks ill at ease. Kajol gives an impressive account of herself. Aroona Irani has been hopelessly wasted in an inconsequential role. Her character seems to have been defined to add an unnecessary eerie and suspense angle. Laxmikant Berde is hardly comic. Ishrat Ali’s comedy is irritating. Kader Khan gets no scope. Tej Sapru is good in a minuscule role. Achyut Potdar and Satyen Kappu lend fairly good support. Milind Gunaji has a worthless role in a special appearance.

Sanjay Gupta’s direction is as immature as his scripting. No care has been taken to knit a cohesive story or make the narration exciting or even tolerable. It often appears that the director was in a hurry to simply can scenes. When the romance in the lovers’ first lives itself does not come across as intense, one can’t imagine it to appeal in their rebirths. Although some songs — in particular, ‘Rang tadi rang tadi’, ‘Neela duppatta’ and ‘Hamesha hamesha’ — are well-tuned, Anu Malik’s music does not have the haunting quality which was necessary for a reincarnation subject. Picturisations of ‘Neela duppatta’, ‘Rang tadi’ and a couple of other songs are very eye-pleasing. Kabir Lal’s camerawork is very good. Action is routine. Background music should have been more effective. Mixing (Dolby sound) is appropriate. Production values are quite nice. Opticals and special effects are good.

On the whole, Hameshaa is a poor reincarnation drama with no hopes at the box-office.

Released on 11-9-’97 at Metro (matinee) and on 12-9-’97 at Maratha Mandir and 14 other cinemas of Bombay thru Sippy Films. Publicity: very good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor everywhere. 1st day Indore about 27,000/- (against a capacity of 1,55,000/-), 2nd day 20,000/- (capacity 1,42,000/-).

JUDGE MUJRIM

Shivshakti Production’s Judge Mujrim (A) is the story of a very fair judge who is led to give a wrong judgement which, if carried out, would result in an innocent young man being hanged to death. The wrong judgement is the result of a vengeful plan of an underworld don whose brother has been sentenced to death by the honest judge. The don, in order to belittle the judge, traps him into believing that a murder seen by him (judge) has been committed by the young man when actually it is committed by his look-alike. As a result, the judge sentences the innocent man to death but he soon realises that he has been misled. He then goes all out to save the innocent man who also happens to be his sister’s lover. For saving the man, the principled judge even adopts unlawful methods.

The story had the germs of a good suspense drama but the screenplay is quite shoddily written so that its impact is poor. The introduction of the look-alike in the story kills the excitement that could have come with the suspense angle. It looks rather too simplistic. Not only is the drama dull, even performances of most of the artistes don’t rise beyond the average level. Minimum justice has been done to the characterisations. For instance, the heroine (judge’s sister), who is a police inspector, gets to show her bravery only in the climax. For the rest, she looks like a dummy. The judge’s wife is an advocate but she has practically no role worth her while.

Romance is absent and comedy is weak. Action scenes are average. Dialogues are ordinary.

Jeetendra does well as the judge. Sunil Shetty is good in action scenes but routine in dramatic ones. Mukesh Khanna is alright. Kiran Kumar’s villainy is fair. Ashwini Bhave and Sujata Mehta have been wasted. Johny Lever, in a triple role, fails to make people laugh. Ashok Saraf, Surendra Pal and the others provide average support.

Jagdish A. Sharma’s direction is as poor as the script. Bappi Lahiri’s music is also barely passable. ‘Hum tum donon mil gaye’ is about the only hummable song. Picturisations of the songs are commonplace. Photography and other technical aspects are below the mark.

On the whole, Judge Mujrim is a dull fare but the low price it has fetched from distributors is quite a positive factor.

Released on 12-9-’97 at Ganga Palace and 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru Param-Anand Pictures. Publicity & opening: fair. …….Also released all over.

DASARI NARAYANA RAO SURRENDERS BEFORE MAGISTRATE

Director Dasari Narayana Rao on 9th September surrendered before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate in Madras trying economic offences, V. Periyakaruppiah, in a case for wilfully failing to file his income-tax return for the assessment year 1985-86. The income-tax department had registered a case against him under section 276C of the Income-Tax Act on 22nd March, 1989.

As Dasari did not appear in the court for the trial, the economic offences court had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him on February 6 last year.

BONUS FOR CINEMA STAFF ON 100 DAYS OF ‘BORDER’

Vishwajyoti Films, Bhusawal, the C.P. Bear distributors of Border, have announced 15 days’ salary as bonus to the staff of two cinemas — Rajkamal, Akola, and Rajlaxmi, Amravati — where the film will celebrate 100 days on 19th September. The respective cinema owners will also pay 15 days’ salary as bonus to their staff members.

NO ELECTIONS FOR IMPDA

The 58th annual general meeting of the Indian Motion Picture Distributors’ Association on 18th September will not be followed by elections to the executive committee as there are 11 members in the fray in the Ordinary class for 11 seats, and 3 in the fray in the Associate class for 3 seats. All the members will, therefore, be declared elected unopposed.

Dilip Dhanwani, Guru Shenoy, Manoj Khivasara, Pradeep Singh and Tekchand Anchal, who had filed their nominations, have all withdrawn. Of the sitting members, Gulshan Rai and Sharad Doshi have opted out of the elections this year. In their place will come Ramesh Sippy and Tolu Bajaj, the only two new members who’ve filed their nominations and not withdrawn them.

In the Associate class, since all the three sitting members are eligible for re-election and no new member has filed his nomination, the three will be declared re-elected.

The annual general meeting at Birla Kreeda Kendra, Chowpatty, Bombay, on 18th will be followed by a dinner party the same evening at S.S. Hall, Garware Club, Bombay.

Asia’s Biggest Film City Inaugurated

Ramoji Film City, Asia’s largest film city, was inaugurated in Hyderabad on 11th September. Owned by press baron and film producer and distributor Ramoji Rao, the Film City is the best in Asia and is equipped to handle a hundred film productions at a time.

It has all production and post-production facilities so that a producer can walk in with the script and walk out with the print.

The Film City, located on a 1,000-acre plot of land, has 40 studio floors, scores of locations, properties, set designing and construction facilities, state-of-the-art equipment for post-production work, a sophisticated processing laboratory, digital audio work-stations for dubbing and sound editing. The Film City also houses hotels, dormitories, bank, travel agency, communication and business infrastructure, a power station etc. It is professionally planned and also professionally managed.

Mukul Anand No More

Director Mukul Anand died of a heat attack in Pune on 7th September at 5.30 a.m. at the Army Hospital. He was 46 and had just returned from the USA after a long shooting schedule of his ambitious project, Dus. Mukul is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.

A technical wizard, Mukul had directed a total of 11 Hindi films and one Gujarati film. Although none of his Hindi films was a major hit, every film was technically brilliant. Whether it was his maiden Hindi venture, Kanoon Kya Karega, or Amitabh Bachchan starrer Hum, his films had a distinct technical finish. Besides Hum, he directed Bachchan in Khuda Gawah and Agneepath. Amitabh bagged the National Award for his acting in Agneepath. Mukul’s other films were Main Balwaan, Aitbaar, Insaaf (Vinod Khanna’s comeback film), Sultanat (which introduced Juhi Chawla), Khoon Ka Karz, Maha-Sangram and Trimurti. The Gujarati film he directed and which was his very first attempt was Kanku Ni Keemat.

Mukul Anand was also an accomplished ad film maker and the Pepsi (Yehi hai right choice baby, aha!) ad was one of the many, many advertisement films made by him. His ad film company was called MAD — short for ‘Mukul Anand Directs’.

He was very enterprising and had a positive approach to his work. Sincere in what he did, he never bothered about the results and concentrated on his work. Mukul was forward-looking and never cried over spilt milk.

Educated in an army college, he was a disciplinarian who was awake every morning at 6 o’clock. He was jolly by nature and always enthusiastic about his work.

Mukul’s funeral was held in Bombay at midnight on 7th because even though his body arrived from Pune in good time, his daughter, who was at a boarding school of Mussoorie, reached Bombay only around midnight. But even that late an hour did not deter his hundreds of friends and fans from the film industry from attending the funeral. The chautha ceremony on 10th September was also largely attended.

The Jolly, Good Fellow Is Gone

News of Mukul’s death came as a shock to me as it must have to everybody else. Mukul was so full of life that it is difficult to believe that he could have died so suddenly and silently.

I became friendly with Mukul when he was directing Main Balwaan for Pranlal Mehta. We struck an immediate rapport and I found him extremely warm as a person, zestful and energetic. He was always full of ideas and believed in what he did. He loved to joke and fool but was never malicious in his jokes.

I still remember when he was shooting Main Balwaan at Hotel Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur and I had gone to cover the shooting. Power-cuts were frequent in Jodhpur and there was one such power failure while the shooting was on, and I was on the set. Back in Bombay, Mukul was picturising a song for the same film on a set at Film City. I had visited the set and, as bad luck would have it, the power failed the moment I entered the set. Mukul immediately co-related the power failure of Jodhpur with the one that day and jokingly conveyed to Pranlal Mehta that my presence on his set always resulted in holding up the shooting due to power failure. Believe it or not, the third time I visited Mukul Anand’s set at some studio in Bombay (I don’t member the film’s name), there was power failure again (and this, when power failures aren’t common in Bombay) and Mukul and I burst out laughing. For a few years after that, electricity and power used to be one point of discussion between us whenever we met. Mukul used to invariably tease me about being the dushman of producers for holding up their shootings by ‘causing’ power failures and, in fact, he used to keep his fingers crossed when I was on his set.

Years passed by. Mukul moved on to bigger and bigger projects and became extremely busy. Our meetings became less frequent but whenever we met, he exuded the same warmth, the same affection. His infectious smile was intact, his jokes never ceased. I was happy that he hadn’t changed.

Then came Hum, his first of the three films he made with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. Mukul had shot Hum extensively in Mauritius and it was he and producer Romesh Sharma who had given me the list of places I should visit when I went to Mauritius for my honeymoon in 1991. In fact, Mukul had come to my house a few days before I left for Mauritius and had, in his own handwriting, listed down the places I should shop at, the beaches I should see and the hotel I should stay in and eat at. Hum was released in the same week as I got married and on my return from Mauritius, the controversy between Amitabh Bachchan and Film Information started. The controversy went on for a fairly long time and that’s the time Mukul and I drifted apart. But even in the breaking of our friendship, there was no bitterness from either side. In that way, the breaking of our friendship was, so to say, graceful. He was angry with me, I presume, for not classifying Hum as a hit and superhit, and I resented a comment he made in Stardust vis-à-vis the Hum controversy.

The first time I saw Mukul after that was many months later, at Amitabh Bachchan’s party at Go Bananas when he (Bachchan) bagged the National Award for the best actor for Agneepath. I must admit that both, Mukul and I, acted childish that evening when we came face-to-face but refused to shake hands or even acknowledge each other’s presence. Obviously, I missed his jokes, his loud laughter and his backslapping that day.

Just as suddenly as we had drifted apart, Mukul and I became friends again. It was at some shooting of his that we exchanged pleasantries and it didn’t take more than a minute to strike the same rapport. Although I found him jolly even then, I noticed that Mukul had become a serious businessman too. By then, he had started his ad film company, MAD, and he spoke to me about the turnover of the ad film world being much more than that of the feature film world. Our ‘continuity joke’ about power failure had been forgotten by both of us by then.

The last time I met Mukul was at his office at Worli, Bombay, where Neha-MAD had organised a party on 19th July to brief the press about his Prithvi. Mukul, energetic and zestful as ever, spoke to me about his ad films, about his company having diversified into event management and about his latest passion, Dus.

Mukul was full of ideas and plans that day as he was always. Little did I know then that that would be the last time I would be meeting Mukul.

Call it an uncanny coincidence or whatever but just a few hours before Mukul must have been taken to the Army Hospital in Pune on 6th/7th September after suffering a heart attack, there was a power failure on the road on which I live. No, I did not meet Mukul or laugh with him over the power failure of 6th night. But the following morning, I received the tragic news of Mukul’s death in Pune.

His smile, his jokes, his laughter, his plans, his zest for life, his sincerity for his work — all came to my mind as memories. Mukul, a friend, became a memory on Sunday, the 7th of September. A memory that I will cherish forever.

– Komal Nahta

CCCA AGM, ELECTIONS ON SEPT. 24 IN JAIPUR
No Heat, No Excitement

Elections to the executive committee of the strongest trade association — the Central Circuit Cine Association — for 1997-98 will be held on 25th September in Jaipur. The annual general meeting will be held a day earlier.

There doesn’t seem to be much heat this year on the election front. Although there are 22 nominations for 8 seats in the Distributors’ section, and another 22 nominations for 8 seats in the Exhibitors’ section, the possibility of last-minute withdrawals and adjustments is not ruled out. There is a likelihood that consensus candidates are selected in advance and the others may withdraw their nominations. As it is, no strong opposition group seems to have emerged to lock horns with the ruling group of Santosh Singh Jain. As C.P. Berar distributor Mohan Kasat beautifully summed up the scene, “It is ice-cold.”

The valid nominations of the Distributors’ section are as follows:

C.P. Berar Distributors (to elect 4) (valid nominations 9): Anil Rathi, B.N. (Laaloo) Kabra, Bharat Khajanchi, Dilip Mudliar, K.D. Sonar, Mohan Godha, Pramod Kumar Munot, Ramkishan Kasat and Vishnuprasad Agarwal.

C.P. Berar Exhibitors (to elect 4) (valid nominations 10): Azad Laddha, Amit Jaiswal, H.D. Bagga, Loonkaran Pareekh, Mahendra Jain, Milapchand Jain, Pramod Kumar Munot, S.K. Surana, Vijay Rathi and Vishnuprasad Agarwal.

C.I. Distributors (to elect 2) (valid nominations 5): Mohan Godha, Nandkishore Jalani, Santosh Singh Jain, Sunil Choudhary and Vinod Malhotra.

C.I. Exhibitors (to elect 2) (valid nominations 4): O.P. Goyal, Ramesh Sureka, Shiv Kumar Jaiswal and Uttam Nahar.

Rajasthan Distributors (to elect 2) (valid nominations 8): Chandrashekhar Choudhary, Kishanchand Jain, Mohan Godha, Nandkishore Jalani, Ramdhan Mamoria, Santosh Singh Jain, Sandeep Bhandari and Sunil Choudhary.

Rajasthan Exhibitors (to elect 2) (valid nominations 8): Chandrashekhar Choudhary, Kishanchand Jain, Liyakat Ali, Narendra Kumar Sharma, Rajendra Mamoria, Rameshchand Jain, Ramdhan Malhotra and Trilok Singh.

DO YOU KNOW?

* A little known fact about late director Mukul Anand is that he had started his directorial career with a Gujarati film, KANKU NI KEEMAT, which he directed for producer Romesh Sharma.

* The Nargis Dutt Memorial Foundation, set up by Sunil Dutt soon after the death of Nargis, has over the years donated medical equipments worth Rs. 7 crore to 18 centres in India, dealing with cancer patients. The Foundation also has centres in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago and several other cities of the USA, Canada and Europe, and they help raise funds for Indian medical centres.

YOU ASKED IT

What do you think of three big films being scheduled for release on Diwali?

– Besides DIL TO PAGAL HAI, ISHQ and GHULAM-E-MUSTHAFA, there is BHAI also being planned for Diwali release. Of course, it isn’t the right thing to do but then nobody wants to sacrifice the festival period.

Does Gulshan Kumar’s Super Cassettes not have the rights of any forthcoming film which has music by Nadeem Shravan?

– It does. The music of Boney Kapoor’s Hindi remake of the Tamil film KAADHAL KOTTAI is scored by Nadeem Shravan, and its audio rights vest with Super Cassettes.

Why are films flopping one after the other? Have people stopped frequenting cinemas?

– Don’t blame the people alone. If a film is good, there is no dearth of audience. When the recent releases themselves have been bad, how can you expect them to run?

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

150-Crore Insurance Cover For Amitabh Bachchan?

Amitab Bachchan is negotiating with the Life Insurance Corporation for a personal life insurance policy of Rs. 150 crore under the ‘Key man insurance policy’ scheme. This policy is quite popular these days and is meant for the person who heads a company and whose role in the day-to-day functioning of the company is indispensable. If the policy goes through, it will be the biggest LIC policy cover for any individual in the country. And yes, Abhishek, son of Amitabh Bachchan, will be the LIC agent for Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd. which will have to pay Rs. 16 crore premium annually for 16 years. The payment of premium will be considered a company expenditure and will be tax deductible.

Killing Rumours…

The false news that Shah Rukh Khan had been shot dead by an unknown person literally spread like wild fire on 11th September. Newspaper offices were flooded with phone calls to verify the news. Film Information office itself must have answered over 800 calls from different cities, states and even countries! Actually, this was the third or fourth occasion that Shah Rukh Khan had been ‘killed’ in the past month or so. But never was the rumour of the actor’s murder so strong. A day earlier, there were rumours that Amitabh Bachchan had been shot dead.

…And Grilling Rumours

The way in which the Gulshan Kumar murder investigations are being reported by the national press is shocking, to say the least. Even news of insignificant or negligible news value is blown out of proportion by several newspapers. Perhaps, the most wrongly used term in such reporting is ‘grilled’. Newspaper reports day after day make a mention of stars, producers, playback singers, music directors etc. being grilled. But the fact is that not many of them have been grilled, they have only been interrogated. The dictionary meaning of ‘grill’ is ‘subject to or undergo torture or great heat’; subject to severe questioning (esp. by police)’. The least the police can do is to issue a clarification that they are interrogation sessions and not grilling sessions that they are holding with various film people. Or is it that even the Bombay police is enjoying and deriving some kind of sadistic pleasure in the press reports about grilling of important personalities?

Plaza To Reopen

Finally, Plaza cinema at Dadar, Bombay, will reopen on Dassera — actually, a day earlier — with Deewana Mastana. The cinema, which was a target of the serial bomb blasts in Bombay in March ’93, has remained closed for three-and-a-half years now. There were rumours during this period that the cinema would never reopen. But all those rumours will finally be put to rest once late V. Shantaram’s Plaza reopens on 10th October.

LATEST POSITION

It was a normal week.

Maharaja has not lived up to its majestic title and faced a steep fall in collections from mid-week. It is, however, good in East Punjab, some stations of U.P. and Rajasthan. 1st week Bombay 30,46,719 (70.29%) from 10 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,60,169 from 6 cinemas, Vapi 2,62,806, Rajkot 1,56,424, Jamnagar 1,37,876; Pune 9,25,206 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 34,76,207 (56.93%) from 11 cinemas (1 on F.H., 1 unrecd.); Kanpur 3,22,439 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Lucknow 2,74,680, Agra 2,50,000, Allahabad 1,50,625; Amritsar 60,365; Calcutta 13,95,333 from 13 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Nagpur 5,25,060 from 5 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,33,390, Amravati 1,61,428, Akola 1,20,000, Dhule 1,21,209, Raipur 1,16,014, Durg 77,894, Jalgaon 1,41,735; Indore 1,64,498 (5 on F.H.), Bhopal 3,18,130 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 8,39,901 from 4 cinemas, Bikaner 2,17,852; Hyderabad 26,80,132 from 12 cinemas, share 12,87,600 (2 on F.H.).

Mere Do Anmol Ratan is disastrous and collects unbelievably low. 1st week Bombay 10,06,220 (37.49%) from 7 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Delhi 1,89,088 (29.80%) from 2 cinemas; Kanpur 37,769, Lucknow 53,246, Agra 90,380; Calcutta 1,44,706 (other cinemas unrecd.); Nagpur 29,888 from 2 cinemas; Bhopal 52,827 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 4,24,462 from 6 cinemas (3 in noon).

………..

‘PYAAR KIYA TO DARNA KYA’ CELEBRATES SILVER JUBILEE

G.S. Entertainment’s Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya entered 25th (silver jubilee) week yesterday (11th September) at Metro (matinee), Bombay. The film, directed by Sohail Khan and produced by him jointly with Bunty Walia, stars Dharmendra, Salman Khan, Kajol, Arbaaz Khan, Anjala Zaveri, Kunika and Kiran Kumar. Music has been scored by Jatin Lalit, Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid.

EMPEROR OF CINEMA AKIRA KUROSAWA DEAD

Akira Kurosawa, Japan’s topmost filmmaker, who put his country on the world map, died in Tokyo on 6th September. He was 88 years old. Kurosawa is the only director who has won two Oscars for the best foreign film, apart from a lifetime achievement award presented to him at the Oscar awards ceremony in 1990.

He began his career in 1936, hoping to use his skills as a painter, for films. He switched over as an assistant director in the same year, with the film Senman Choja. In 1948, he made Drunken Angel with actor Toshiro Mifune with whom he had a life-long association. Mifune died last year in December. Kurosawa shot to international fame in 1951 with Rashomon, a medieval murder tale which broke new cinematic ground by using different narratives to tell the same story from four points of view. He made 30 films of which The Seven Samurai, Drunken Angel, To Live, Run and Rhapsody In August are the best-known. The last-named film was made in 1991 and starred Richard Gere. His last film was Madadayo, made in 1993. This film marked the 50th anniversary of his film career.

PRABHAKAR SUVARNA DEAD

West Bengal distributor Prabhakar Suvarna (Anubhav Films Enterprises) expired on 8th September in Bombay due to kidney failure. He had undergone heart bypass surgery a few days back, after which his kidneys failed. He was 52 years old.

‘TITANIC’ GESTURE

The grand success of the home videos of Titanic, released last week in the U.S., was believed to be a foregone conclusion. However, it is not widely known that this success is also partially due to a company called Deluxe Video Services Inc., which was entrusted with the job of making millions of copies of the film on video cassettes. Hundreds of employees of the company worked very long hours so that the required number of video cassettes could be made ready by the deadline. That their efforts have not gone unnoticed can be judged by the fact that Paramount arranged for a continuous and free showing of Titanic for the hard-working employees of Deluxe Video Services Inc. Thus the film was played continuously round-the-clock in all four break rooms at Deluxe, thereby making their employees feel suitably rewarded for a job well done.

PRANLAL DOSHI ELECTED CEAI PRESIDENT

Pranlal K. Doshi was elected president of the Cinematograph Exhibitors’ Association of India for 1998-99 at the first meeting of the newly elected executive committee held on 11th September in the Association office. A.D. Chaphalkar was elected deputy president, Vinod H. Kansagara, vice president, and Gunvantrai N. Desai, hon. treasurer.

Earlier, at the 52nd annual general meeting held the same day, the following other members too were elected to the executive committee: Suresh Choksi, Nitin Datar, Soli Arya, Yunus Aghadi, Sharad Pai, Kanhaiyalal Navandhar, Suryakant Patil, D.F. Hodiwalla, Rashmi Bhalodia, Ulhas Joshi, Rajendra Jain, Nester Desouza, Rahul Haksar, Russ Balaporia, Prashant Vartak, N.F. Damania and Vimal Doshi.

V.N. Borawake, Manoj Khivasara, Ismail Patel and Govind Khoont were co-opted to the committee.

17 IN FRAY FOR 12 SEATS IN IMPDA COMMITTEE

A total of 17 members will contest in the elections to the executive committee of the IMPDA in the Ordinary Class. Of the 17 members, 12 are sitting members and five are new contestants. The sitting members standing for re-election are Ayub Selia, Balkrishna Shroff, Devendra Shah, Guru Shenoy, Haresh Bhatia, Kantilal Mehta, N.N. Sippy, Ramesh Sippy, U.A. Thadani, Tolu (Vashdev) Bajaj, Vinay Choksey and Vinod Kakkad. The five new persons in the fray are Abid Zaffar, Manoj Khivasara, Pradeep Singh, Sanjay Chaturvedi and Tekchand Anchal.

There will be no election in the Associate Class as there are no fresh nominations in this category. Therefore, the three sitting members viz. Indravadan Shah, Mohan Susania and D.Y. Pattani will be elected unopposed.

The executive committee has a strength of 15 — 12 in Ordinary Class and three in Associate Class. Elections will be held on Tuesday, 22nd September at Birla Kreeda Kendra, Chowpatty, Bombay.

IMPPA ELECTION NOMINATIONS

The last date for filing nominations for elections to the executive committee of the IMPPA is 14th September. The elections are scheduled to be held on 28th September at ISKCON, Juhu, Bombay.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE MEETS IN BOMBAY

Several members of parliament (MPs) attended the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the I & B and Communications ministries, in Bombay on 11th September. From the film industry, Santosh Singh Jain, Sultan Ahmed, Shakti Samanta, K.D. Shorey, Pappu Verma, Rajender Singh Hora and others attended.

The industry representatives explained the problems plaguing the industry viv-à-vis the CBFC, government, cable pirates etc. Speaking to Information, Santosh Singh Jain said that the meeting was “fruitful”.

FILM CITY PROJECT IN DEHRADUN IN COLD STORAGE?

Yet another glaring example of how a change in the political scenario can change the government’s tune towards important issues is the following. Reportedly, the U.P. government has put the plans of building a Film City in Dehradun in cold storage. Chief minister Kalyan Singh had two months back promised a delegation of the film industry that the government would provide land for the purpose, ostensibly being carried away by the central government’s decision to grant industry status to films. But now, he is reported to have developed cold feet over the project, thanks mainly to the fact that the demand for a separate statehood for Uttaranchal region in the state is fast gaining ground. It may be mentioned here that Dehradun is an integral part of Uttaranchal and hence if a separate statehood is granted for the region, the U.P. government will not be able to gain any mileage out of the Film City.

The film industry has been hit hard by this change in the governmental attitude towards Film City, for, the project was perceived as one which would be able to provide an ideal environment for filmmaking. Fresh locations, safer environment and the site’s proximity to both, Delhi and Lucknow, made the proposed Film City in Dehradun a perfect choice for producers. But now, embroiled in a political wrangle, the project seems to be doomed. Much to the dismay of the film industry, we may add.

ANDHRA GOVERNMENT’S NEW MEASURES FOR TELUGU FILM INDUSTRY

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has announced a single-window system for granting permissions for shooting Telugu films in the state. Speaking at a meeting with a delegation of the Telugu Film Producers’ Council on 7th September, Naidu promised to take a number of remedial steps to help the Telugu film industry come out of the present crisis. He said that a uniform fee of Rs. 1,000 would be charged for hiring a location to shoot films. Moreover, he said, the government would levy uniform charges for the use of government guest houses and motels by film producers, actors and technicians.

Naidu also assured the delegation that stringent action would be taken against those indulging in video and audio piracy, and, if need be, the government would suitably amend the Cinematograph Act or bring in fresh legislations. The CM assured the delegation that he would look into their demand for subsidies and entertainment tax exemption for small-budget films.

The meeting was attended by the Andhra minister for home and cinematography, A. Madhava Reddy, and chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Film Development Corporation, Murali Mohan, among others. The Telugu Film Producers’ Council delegation was led by its president, Dasari Narayana Rao.

TEJNATH ZAR PASSES AWAY

Veteran writer, producer and director Tejnath Zar passed away in Bombay at Sushrusha nursing home at Shivaji Park on 10th September after a brief illness. He was 73 and is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.

Having begun his career as far back as in 1952, when he joined producer Nanabhai Bhatt as a writer, Tejnath Zar will be remembered for his simplicity and humility. After setting up his own concern, Zar’s International, in 1956, he produced films like Khoj, Tajposhi, Shahi Mehmaan, 24 Ghante, Chaalis Din, Reshmi Rumal, Naqli Nawab, Vachan, Garam Khoon, Sardar and Anokhi Chaal, apart from directing Chaalak.

He also had a long association with producer-director Jugal Kishore who had nearly all his films written by Zar. Another distinction to Tejnath Zar’s credit is that three of the most prominent villains of Hindi films turned heroes with films written by him. These villains were Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna and Amjad Khan, who gave their maiden performances as heroes in Sabak, Nateeja and Dada respectively.

Some of Tejnath Zar’s recent works include writing five-six episodes for B.R. Films’ popular TV serial Kanoon, made a couple of years ago. Moreover, he had been the honorary general secretary of The Film Writer’s Association for the last two-three years and also an executive committee member of the IMPPA. He worked selflessly for the Association.

Zar’s chautha will be held on 13th (tomorrow) between 4.30 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. at Arya Samaj Hall, Santacruz (W), Bombay.

CCCA ELECTION SCENE
Leaderless Opposition Defies Jain’s Ruling Panel

As expected, the CCCA election heat has caught on in C.P. Berar and C.I. in just the same way as it had been generated a while ago in Rajasthan (reported in our issue last week). Hectic activity is on at a feverish pitch to form panels — basically, there will be two panels viz. the ruling group panel, headed by CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain, and the opposition panel. The opposition panel, though, has no leader. However, C.I. distributor O.P. Goyal may well emerge a leader of sorts of the opposition candidates, such is the force with which he is opposing the ruling group of Santosh Singh Jain.

In C.P. Berar, exhibitor Munshiram (of Jeet cinema, Bilaspur) will be contesting this year from the opposition. His supporters feel that the Chhattisgarh-Mahakoshal region has long been ignored as no member from this region has been taken on the executive committee. Munshiram, therefore, will represent this “long ignored” region and may get regional support. Laloo (N.D.) Kabra’s nomination is another one which is creating quite a stir in C.P. Berar. Although a sitting member, Santosh Singh Jain is contemplating excluding his name from his panel and, in his place, taking in G.E. Naik, manager of Mihir Pictures, Bhusawal. Jain’s anti-Laloo stance stems from two facts — one, according to Jain Saheb, Laloo, despite being a committee member, supplies prints to SMR cinemas and thereafter takes the plea that he hasn’t supplied the prints; secondly, Laloo had promised to make a deferred payment of Rs. 5 lakh to the producer of Bhai (which he distributed in C.P. Berar) and Jain had stood guarantee for it, but instead of making the payment within four weeks of the film’s release, as promised, Laloo delayed it by some weeks. On his part, Laloo says that a number of distributors supply prints to SMR cinemas but Jain Sahab is singling him out. As regards the Bhai payment, Laloo insists that he had not promised to make it within four weeks. “Otherwise also,” he says, “I did make the payment, so why should Jain Sahab be angry?”

In C.I., distributor O.P. Goyal is heading the opposition group. Among the other likely opposition candidates are Sunil Chowdhry and Jaiswal (of Kanchan Shree Talkies, Jaora). According to Goyal, “The elections this year will be one of the most fiercely contested. We, the opposition, have decided to oppose Santoshji tooth and nail.” The anti-bandh lobby may well vote in favour of the opposition to give vent to their sentiments.

In the meantime, Santosh Singh Jain is not spilling the beans about who will and who won’t be included in his panel. In his characteristic diplomatic style, he told Information that he would be able to decide on his panel only after a couple of days. But he gave an indication that Naik would come in place of Laloo Kabra. In Rajasthan, Baba Ramdeo, Kishinchand Janiani and Rajendra Mamoria may be the new opposition contestants. Reportedly, Rajendra Mamoria is prevailing upon members of his territory to come to Nagpur to cast their votes.

The last date for filing nominations for the elections is 12th September (today). The elections will be held on 27th, and annual general meeting, on 26th.

RECEPTION COMMITTEE FOR CCCA AGM

A reception committee under the chairmanship of Dilip Singh Tuli was formed for the organisation of the 45th annual general meeting of the Central Circuit Cine Association on 26th and 27th September in Nagpur at the Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande Hall. Vijay Kher and Prashant Rathi are the vice chairmen. The other office-bearers and members of the committee are S.B. Patil, secretary, K.K. Sawhney, treasurer, B.M. Diwan, joint secretary, S.A. Sorathiya, public relations officer, K.G. Sarda, R.P. Sharma, Pramod Munot, Dr. Bhiwapurkar, Raju Khanduja, Prakash Ramrakhiani, Praneet Singh and Milind Naik.

Among the distinguished personalities expected to attend the annual meeting are some artistes, besides ministers of Maharashtra, like Pramod Navalkar, Narayan Rane, Nitin Gadkari and Anil Deshmukh.

It may be mentioned here that it is after six years that the annual general meeting of the CCCA is being held in Nagpur. The 39th AGM was held in Nagpur in 1992 when Anil Kapoor and other stars and some singers had attended the meeting. Over, 1,200 members are expected to attend the meeting this year.

VEDPRAKASH MENDIRATA RESIGNS FROM FORUM

Vedprakash Mendirata on 11th September resigned from the presidentship of the Indore Film Distributors’ Forum. His resignation has reportedly been accepted.

According to reliable sources, there were differences between Mendirata and some members of the Forum, which led to his resignation.

HEAVY TURNOUT EXPECTED AT CCCA ELECTIONS

With the Madhya Pradesh bandh from 17th September a certainty now, the direct effect of the closure is likely to be seen in the attendance at the annual general meeting and the elections of the Central Circuit Cine Association on September 26 and 27. The turnout for the double event in Nagpur is expected to be large this year, not just because there is likely to be a fierce fight between the ruling group and the opposition but also because exhibitors of Madhya Pradesh will have a lot of free time on hand. Since cinemas will be closed, exhibitors might as well use the opportunity to attend the AGM and also cast their votes. Distributors, too, will be comparatively free as there will be no new releases from 17th September.

As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. The silver lining to the dark cloud of the bandh is that the voter turnout at the elections of the biggest and the strongest film trade association may well be heavy.

Amidst Protest From Indore, Ujjain Trade
Madhya Pradesh Cine Trade Gears Up For Indefinite Closure From September 17

Despite a strong opposition from distributors and exhibitors, mostly of Indore and Ujjain, the Madhya Pradesh cinema closure from 17th September is now a certainty. Cinemas all over the state will down shutters for an indefinite period.

Even as a signature campaign was carried out in Indore and Ujjain, urging the CCCA president to call off the proposed bandh, the Amravati film trade on 11th September unanimously decided to support the bandh call of the CCCA and, at a meeting held under the chairmanship of CCCA vice president Vijay Rathi, even passed a resolution to that effect. It was also resolved that no distributor would supply prints for screening to exhibitors in M.P. from 17th. It was also agreed that distributors would telegraphically inform exhibitors of the state to stop screenings of films from 17th September.

CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain will visit Indore next week to take stock of the situation and to impress upon the several dissenting members of the Indore and Ujjain trade the need to observe the bandh for the larger interest of the trade. Except for Sapna-Sangeeta, Alka, Premsukh and Praful cinemas of Indore, the entire exhibition sector of Indore and Ujjain is said to be unhappy with the proposed bandh.

The stage, therefore, seems to be set for the Madhya Pradesh cinema closure from 17th September. The CCCA has given the call for an indefinite bandh in protest against the anti-industry stand of the M.P. government. So blatant has the apathy towards the film industry become that the M.P. chief minister, Digvijay Singh, refused to meet a delegation of the M.P. film trade on 1st September when the industry observed a day’s token bandh and again on 2nd September.

The industry has been pressing for various demands, principal among them being reduction in entertainment tax, check on cable piracy, allowing cinemas to levy a tax-free service charge on every ticket, granting industry status to films, as done by the central government, simplification of procedure for issuance and renewal of cinema licences, and reduction of power tariff for cinemas.

With the bandh in M.P. a certainty now and with the CCCA having asked its members of Rajasthan and Maharashtra belt of C.P. Berar to also show solidarity by not releasing new films on and from 17th September, it is unlikely that there will be any major releases till the bandh is called off. Even otherwise, there weren’t too many big films scheduled for release on 17th or 25th September. Bandhan, earlier due on 25th, has now been postponed to Oct. 2, that is, if the M.P. cinemas reopen by then.

Although it is hoped that the bandh will be called off by 2nd October at least, the entire release schedule of the forthcoming weeks is uncertain and will remain so till the bandh begins and a clearer picture of the state of affairs in Madhya Pradesh emerges.

Cinemas Will Be Entitled To Rebate Of Compound Tax During Bandh Period In M.P.

Since a number of cinemas in Madhya Pradesh pay compound tax and since compound tax is to be paid on a weekly basis in advance, there is a fear in the minds of many exhibitors of the state that they would have to bear the burden of the compound tax even though their cinemas will be closed indefinitely from 17th September.

But a legal opinion, sought by the Central Circuit Cine Association (CCCA), which has given a call for the indefinite closure, breaks this myth. Advocate Rakesh Jain, in his legal opinion, has said that closed cinemas will be entitled to a rebate of the compound tax paid if the cinema proprietor gives an intimation of the closure of his cinema to the Excise Commissioner, Deputy Excise Commissioner of the Division, Collector and the District Excise Officer within 24 hours of the closure. If such an intimation is given, the proprietor shall be entitled to proportionate rebate in his weekly instalments after he submits an application to the Collector in this behalf.

Thus the relevant condition is that such an application must be made within 24 hours to the concerned authorities and the application for rebate must be made to the Collector in this behalf.

Under sub-rule 4(g) of rule 16 of the Madhya Pradesh Entertainment Duty Rules, instalments of advance compound tax is payable by the proprietor irrespective of the number of shows held during the week and he shall not be entitled to any refund or rebate on account but there are certain exceptions. One such exception is contained in sub-rule 4(I) of rule 16 which says that the proprietor of a cinema may close his cinema under intimation to the concerned authorities within 24 hours of the closure.

YOU ASKED IT

What happens to Mani Ratnam after Dil Se..?

– Mani can still make a Hindi film but it is unlikely that anybody will pay him the kind of price they paid him for DIL SE…

With films like Satya, China Gate and Kaun? being made, does it mean that a different genre of films is also getting financial backing?

– Yes, it does mean so. Not just the financiers, audiences too — at least in cities — are beginning to appreciate the new kind of films.

How long do you think will the Madhya Pradesh cinema bandh last?

– God and M.P. chief minister Digvijay Singh alone know it. Or may be, even they don’t know how long the bandh will last. With elections due in M.P., the government has to give reliefs before the election code of conduct rules come into operation. That is, if the government is in a mood to help the industry.

DO YOU KNOW?

* The dispute between producer Naraindas Mukhija and Gopal Bharatiya, the Bihar distributor of his MAHARAJA, was finally resolved last Saturday. The latter, alongwith another distributor, took the film’s delivery.

* CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain has denied a statement attributed to him in a gossip trade paper, that artistes, who did not attend the anti-cable piracy rally on 18th August in Bombay, should be fined a lakh of rupees each. According to Jain, “I did not say that the artistes should be made to pay a fine of Rs. 1 lakh each although I did mention that the absence of most of our stars was heart-burning.”

* Yet another clarification comes from producer N.N. Sippy, who is shooting  his SILSILA HAI PYAR KA in Switzerland. The same trade gossip paper reported — falsely, of course — that Karisma Kapoor had fallen ill in Switzerland, which had upset the entire shooting stint. The fact is that Karisma was ill for just one day, after (and before) which the shooting progressed so marvellously that Sippy and his director, Shrabani Deodhar, will manage to wrap up the schedule on 13th September — a full three days before time! Guess, for the gossip trade paper, it’s silsila hai desperate jhooth ka!

FIT FOR CINEMAS, NOT FOR DD

* Producers of several old films are going crazy, trying to get their films re-certified for telecast on Doordarshan. Even though they are prepared to accept cuts for ‘U’ certificate (DD telecasts only ‘U’ certificate films), the CBFC has refused them certificates on different grounds such as superstitious theme, excessive violence and sex. Among the films refused certificate this year are JUNOON, BHAI, DO RAHA, KAGAZ KI NAO, INSAAF KA TARAZU, JAAGRUTI, MAA, PATI PATNI AUR TAWAIF and KSHATRIYA.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Days Of Chocolate Heroes Again

The days of baby-faced heroes all over the world are returning with the unprecedented success of Titanic and its chocolate-faced hero, Leonardo DiCaprio. For the last decade or two, tough guys of the screen like Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Jackie Shroff and Sunil Shetty in India, and Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis in Hollywood were the ones who attracted women the most. But with the arrival of Leonardo, the scale has gone down for good-looking tough heroes. Researchers in Britain and Japan were recently testing the belief that the most feminine of women and the most masculine of men were seen as the most attractive. But they found that while people in general preferred faces of women that were more feminine, men whose faces were not really rugged were also seen as the most attractive by both the sexes.

Big Film, Big Controversies

Vashu Bhagnani’s Bade Miyan Chote Miyan seems to be making news, not always for the right reasons. C.I. distributor Ashok Tolani had appointed the Advanis of Shri Bableshwar Films as sub-distributors for the territory. But the latest news is that the Advanis have relinquished the rights in the film, reportedly because of a dispute over its price. Naaraaz miyan! In the meantime, the Delhi high court will hear Delhi-U.P. distributor Bedi’s matter in the Bade Miyan Chote Miyan case on 14th September. But there’s also a move for an out-of-court settlement.

Hoarding In Rajasthan? No, No, No!

Rajasthan distributors would do well to take note of this . All films, of which hoardings have been put up in Jaipur before release, have failed to create a mark at the box-office. Examples: Jeans, Kareeb, Satya and Dil Se... It may be noted that putting up hoardings of due-for-release films is a recent phenomenon in Jaipur. Years ago, a huge hoarding of Saawan Kumar’s Sanam Harjai had also occupied a pride of place in the pink city. But its collections saw the distributor of the pink city in the red.

Producers, Distributors In Same Boat

With the continuing spate of films bombing at the box-office all over India, the film industry seems to be heading for a massive cash crunch, worse than the one prevalent today. The situation has become so bad that not only have the distributors suffered heavy losses, even producers have begun to be affected severely by the flopping of their films. A leading Bihar distributor, who is known for his acerbic wit, was recently heard summing up the situation thus: “Pehle, sirf distributors ke makaan bikte thhey, par ab to producers ke makaan bhi bikne lage hain!” So, producers and distributors are now sailing in the same boat. Or rather, sinking in the same boat!

INFORMATION MEETS

“There are a lot of people who still savour the misconception that I only sing in those films, audio rights of which lie with T-Series. This isn’t true.”

– ANURADHA PAUDWAL

RAJ VIDYA

Date: 20th July, 1998. Venue: United Nations Headquarters, New York. Occasion: The presentation of the Cultural Ambassador In Music Award. This, perhaps, marks the greatest day in singer par excellence. Anuradha Paudwal’s illustrious career so far. For, she became the first ever Indian to have been presented this award. While receiving awards is nothing new for the talented singer, this one must surely hold the pride of place in her vast and ever-increasing collection of trophies and awards. “More than anything else, it was an immensely emotional experience,” she says, while reliving the moment. “Tears of joy began rolling down my cheeks the very moment they informed me about the award.” Considering the fact that the famous Carnatic vocalist, M.S. Subbalaxmi, has been the only other Indian who has performed in front of such a distinguished gathering (she did it in Geneva), Anuradha Paudwal’s feat seems to be no mean achievement. And yet, she remains unflinchingly modest in spite of the accolade, as we found out during our chat with her.

Beginning her career way back in 1973 with a minuscule rendition of a shloka in Abhimaan, Anuradha Paudwal has traversed great distances in her musical journey so far. Hero, Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka, Dil, Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak, Beta and, in the recent past, …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya, Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi and Aflatoon are only a few of the films her voice has left a mark in. Moreover, her long association with T-Series has resulted in a vast number of devotional and ghazal albums in which she has lent her voice. In a chat with Information, Anuradha Paudwal clears a number of misconceptions about her, apart from baring a few important facts about herself.

ON RECEIVING THE U.N. MUSIC APPRECIATION CLUB’S AWARD

It was a very fascinating experience for me mainly because, here in India, you don’t even imagine performing for, let alone being honoured by, such a select gathering of people, and that too, in New York! It was an extremely emotional experience, too, as it makes you feel wanted and reassured. While at the function, I realised for the first time how well my work in the last 25 years or so has been appreciated. Prior to this, I had some idea that my work could reach a large number of people, but what I saw at the U.N. was completely unexpected for me. For one, there were about 20-odd women from various countries around the world, who had come all dressed up in saris to welcome me! As if this were not all, they even recited a few Sanskrit shlokas! Later, I performed some of my bhajans and a few devotional pieces at the function, and was pleasantly surprised when they gave me a standing ovation. People do show a lot of respect here in India, but when the foreigners show such high respect for your work, it is extremely touching.

ON EARLY BEGINNINGS

I never ever thought that I would end up singing in films. I come from a family that has absolutely no background in films. Though my mother was very fond of singing, my father wasn’t. He and my sisters were more academically inclined. So, eventually, it was my mother who really encouraged me to continue singing. She hoped that some day, I might even get to sing in a film! Later, when I was offered to sing a shloka in Abhimaan, I for the first time began thinking seriously about becoming a playback singer. Incidentally, my career in films began with a shloka, just like the first time I faced the microphone….I had sung Shivstuti then. Anyway, after Abhimaan, I began to find the work very challenging. Just about then, a ballet was being made, the music for which was being composed by Pt. Jasraj who asked me to sing in it. During that time, I started learning music from him, and later, from a few other distinguished teachers of Hindustani classical music. Soon, I began getting a few offers for songs in more films.

ON THE ‘BIG BREAK’

Well, I think my shloka in Abhimaan was my biggest break, for the simple reason that it is remembered even today. In fact, I still get a farmayish for that shloka almost every time I perform at shows. Its popularity continues to amaze me, especially considering the fact that it hardly lasts half a minute or so on the screen. I guess, people seem to remember it after so many years mainly because it comes at a very crucial juncture in the film. Anyway, after Abhimaan, there came Doooriyaan, Kalicharan, Saajan Bina Suhagan and a few others. Later, I began getting some more films where all I got to do was sing a line or two here and there. You see, that was the time when a lot of male-dominated films were being made. Most of these films had almost all their songs picturised on their heroes. Even in musicals like Amar Akbar Anthony, a female singer didn’t have much scope to display her talent. This dismal phase in my career lasted till Hero came along, or so I thought. I had two full songs in the film, which became quite popular. Yet, my career didn’t seem to take off. It was only when my songs were consistently becoming popular with Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka, Jeena Teri Gali Mein and Aashiqui, that I became established as a singer in the true sense of the word. It took me over fifteen years to get there.

ON DECIDING TO SING EXCLUSIVELY FOR T-SERIES

Like I said, when my career didn’t seem to take off in a big way even after Hero, I began to become disillusioned with the industry. So, I thought of bringing out a private album of my own. Very soon, I produced an album called ‘Durga Saptashati’ and began making the rounds of various music companies. I was completely taken aback when they told me that there was absolutely no market for my voice! Finally, I took the album to T-Series which readily took it up together with another album that I had done, called ‘Manache Shlok’. Both the albums did extremely well and later, Gulshanji asked me, ‘Why are you going through the hassles of producing your albums? Why don’t you let us do it for you?’ I liked the idea very much. He also said that the company will promote me as well as it could, except — and he asked me as a request — that I would not do private albums with any other company. I immediately agreed and that was it. There was nothing on paper — only a verbal agreement between Gulshanji and me, that I will not cut any private albums with anyone else. I agreed simply because here I was, 15 years in the industry and still being told that there was no market for my voice. Then comes this person who says, ‘I’ll establish you… just that I request your exclusivity.’ So, why shouldn’t I have taken up that offer? And in any case, I have never had to regret the decison ever in my life.

ON OVER-EXPOSURE ON TELEVISION

One thing that I had admired about T-Series was the way they marketed their albums. For the first time, songs were being brought to the people in a big way. I still remember when Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka became a hit, people asked me, ‘arre, yeh hai kya? Film, video, ghazal, or what?’. Similarly, Gulshanji was, perhaps, the first person in India who thought of making videos to promote music albums. I was very hesitant when he asked me to appear in a video of my private album a long time ago. At that time, he had told me that it was okay if I didn’t do it then, but sooner or later, music videos were going to be the order of the day and that it would be very difficult for me to refuse appearing in them. To think of it, he said this when nobody was making videos in India and there were no satellite channels except DD-1 and DD-2. Anyway, I agreed and soon enough, music videos became a part and parcel of a singer’s job. For me, appearing in videos has helped a lot in the success of my albums. I achieved popularity with all kinds of listeners. Morever, thanks to the videos, people can now identify my voice with my face.

ON SUCCESS

Success comes only after being consistently good at doing something. When an artiste gets his/her type of songs consistently, only then does his/her voice become established. In my case, the popularity of my songs in Hero did not establish me simply because I wasn’t consistently getting my type of sogs for two-three years after that. It was only when Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka, Jeena Teri Gali Mein, Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak and Beta happened in quick succession of each other that my voice became established.

ON HER MUCH-HYPED RIVALRY WITH LATA MANGESHKAR

It is like you said, hyped. There is nothing of that sort, in reality. See, I believe that you cannot have rivalry with someone you don’t know. I do not know Lataji well as I have hardly met her a couple of times. So, there is no question of rivalry between us. In any case, Lataji is a great singer and one of my favourites. So, I really think that it is the people and the media who/which created this myth about our rivalry by misrepresenting certain things that I had said.

ON HER LONG ABSENCE FROM HINDI FILMS

There is no doubt in my mind that the Indian public, by an large, would like to hear me sing film songs, apart from the devotional ones. Even I used to think that the popularity of devotional music can never match that of film music. But, after being to the U.N., I am extremely delighted that they chose to acknowledge my work in the field of devotional music and not in films. Even the citation they presented me with bears only the names of my devotional albums and not my films! So, this reassures me as it means that I haven’t really been on the wrong path all along. Moreover, I think, it is all pre-destined. If I was heavily into films, I wouldn’t have been able to do the entire Bhagvad Gita on tape as it requires a lot of concentrated effort. I have also been able to perform large collections in Sanskrit like Saptashati (which comprises as many as 700 shlokas). This kind of work takes up a lot of your time and energy as it is extremely vital to be mentally attuned to do it. You just cannot do it when you are too busy running from one studio to another. Anyway, all said and done, I have again begun singing in films of late, but the irony is that there are a lot of people who still savour the misconception that I only sing in those films, the audio rights of which lie with T-Series. This isn’t true. I am open to singing for all kinds of films, irrespective of who brings out their audios.

ON FORTHCOMING FILMS

There are a lot of good offers coming my way of late and one may look forward to hearing my songs in films like Khauff, Khubsoorat, Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya and many more.

LATEST POSITION

Dil To Pagal Hai has done extraordinary in 1st week, creating new records everywhere. …. 1st week Bombay 39,88,183 (100%) from 8 cinemas (6 on F.H.), Chandan, Juhu, Bombay 8,13,989, Panvel 3,18,461 (100%); Ahmedabad 13,47,432 from 4 cinemas, Kalol 1,65,904, Vapi 4,75,328 (100%), Valsad 4,83,504 (100%), Baroda 2,46,001, Padra 3,27,852 (100%), Bharuch 3,48,880 (100%), Navsari (27 shows) 3,31,447, Rajkot 3,03,419 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,84,779 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Surendranagar 2,19,672; Pune 8,27,647 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,92,341, Solapur 1,91,849 (100%), Satara 2,03,854 (100%) from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Hubli 2,13,227 (100%), Belgaum 1,55,344 (100%), Dharwad 1,56,884 (100%); Delhi 39,56,213 (97.93%) from 9 cinemas; Lucknow 3,78,997 (100%), Agra 2,99,726, Varanasi 3,40,289, Allahabad 2,05,600, Meerut (6 days) 2,02,662 (100%), Bareilly (6 days) 1,87,630 (79.98%), Dehradun 1,99,901 (93.27%), Hardwar 1,10,000, Gorakhpur 1,59,000, Azamgarh about 50%; very good in East Punjab, Rohtak 78,219; Calcutta 31,44,740 from 16 cinemas; Patna 100%, Jamshedpur about 90%, fair in Ranchi; Nagpur 9,43,996 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,13,072, Amravati 2,53,922, Akola 2,01,713 (100%), Dhule 2,21,121, Raipur 2,60,391, Bhilai 2,53,500, Durg 2,09,059, Jalgaon 2,17,286, Chandrapur 2,45,588; Indore (6 days) 3,37,753 (2 on F.H.), Dewas 1,30,000 (1st day 36,000, 8th day 8,500), Bhopal (6 days) 5,87,430 from 3 cinemas, Ujjain quite good in 1st week, steep decline on 8th day, Guna 86,000 (opening day was 24,000); Jaipur 13,16,963 from 4 cinemas; Jodhpur 5,31,321 from 2 cinemas, Bikaner 2,48,500; Hyderabad 40,69,887 from 15 cinemas (2 in noon), share 22,74,763.

Ghulam-E-Musthafa has done well only in Bombay, Maharashtra (parts) and Gujarat. Distributors of most of the other circuits stand to lose heavily. Surprisingly, it hasn’t fared too well even in many Muslim centres. 1st week Bombay 46,30,157 (87.55%) from 16 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,16,461 from 4 cinemas (4 unrecd.), Rajkot 1,00,004, Jamnagar (matinee) 31,334 (1 regular unrecd.); Pune 10,66,093 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 3,19,446 from 2 cinemas, Solapur 4,00,706 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Hubli 2,47,521 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), Belgaum 2,44,521 (100%) from 2 cinemas, Dharwad 1,87,847; Delhi 28,15,401 (65.87%) from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow (6 days) 1,81,446, Agra 3,30,419, Varanasi 2,00,822, Allahabad 1,47,500, Meerut (6 days) 1,90,247, Bareilly (6 days) 1,16,289 (68.25%), Dehradun 1,25,000, Hardwar 75,423, Gorakhpur 1,54,000; Calcutta 24,47,973 from 18 cinemas; Nagpur 5,99,904 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (5 days, 21 shows) 1,76,619 (99.45%), Amravati (6 days) 2,36,301 from 2 cinemas, Akola 2,39,731, Raipur (6 days) 1,53,795, Bhilai (6 days) 1,23,042, Wardha 92,855; Indore (6 days) 1,43,654 (4 on F.H.), Bhopal (6 days) 3,55,142 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 6,00,660 from 3 cinemas, Jodhpur 2,65,000, Bikaner 2,05,076; Hyderabad 28,31,990 from 15 cinemas (1 in noon), share 14,50,990.

Bhai took a flying start and reaped the benefit of Diwali festival period. Is still very good in Gujarat and Delhi-U.P. but dropped noticeably in other circuits from 6th and 7th day onwards. It should fetch commission to all distributors. 1st week Bombay 41,25,030 (85.55%) from 15 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,88,320 from 4 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Asodar 2,01,483, Rajkot 2,92,277 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,33,000; Pune 11,59,092 from 8 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 3,07,723 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Belgaum 1,08,120 (100%); Delhi 31,30,118 (81.47%) from 11 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow (6 days) 2,09,828, Varanasi 2,14,217, Allahabad 1,14,037, Meerut (6 days) 1,42,144, Bareilly 1,43,564, Dehradun 1,13,760, Saharanpur (27 shows) 1,33,949, Gorakhpur 1,54,700, Muzaffarnagar 1,19,680; Nagpur 5,50,506 from 5 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days, 25 shows) 1,86,259 (79.75%), Amravati (6 days) 1,69,201, Akola 1,34,015, Raipur (6 days) 1,98,537, Bhilai (6 days) 2,00,657 from 2 cinemas, Jalgaon 1,82,350, Chandrapur 1,35,784, Yavatmal (gross) 1,68,410; Indore (6 days) 91,348 (4 on F.H.), Bhopal (6 days) 1,67,251 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 6,68,709 from 4 cinemas; Vijayawada 1,82,020.

………..

Deewana Mastana 4th week Bombay 23,92,974 (76.94%) from 7 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,20,931 from 2 cinemas, Baroda 95,858, Rajkot 2,20,790 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 8,89,312 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,42,375, Solapur 1,57,846 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 1st week Barsi 60,170, 2nd week Satara 1,75,454 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 1st week Miraj 1,12,047; 4th week Hubli 1,07,257, Belgaum 98,847, 3rd week Dharwad 41,852; 4th week Delhi 16,00,798 from 9 cinemas; Lucknow 1,77,786, Agra 1,49,500, Varanasi 1,02,878, Allahabad 91,800, Bareilly 50,966 (22.81%), Dehradun 89,000, Hardwar 18,000, Gorakhpur 43,000; Rohtak 9,238; Nagpur 1,45,256 from 3 cinemas, 2nd week Jabalpur 1,67,091, total 3,20,936, 4th Amravati 1,09,216, Akola 1,05,700, total 4,90,079, Raipur 1,10,286, total 4,63,028, Bhilai 39,751, total 2,90,980, 1st week Wardha 79,209, 4th week Yavatmal 27,893 (3rd 24,194), 1st week Khandwa (6 days) 67,361; 4th week Bhopal 1,07,066; Jaipur 2,45,658; Hyderabad 3,37,893 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

Pardes 13th week Bombay (TF) 9,98,732 (98.07%) from 3 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Pune (TF) 79,132 (1 unrecd.), Kolhapur (TF) 1,10,000, Solapur (TF, 7 shows) 74,059 (100%), Satara (TF, matinee) 22,862, 9th week Miraj (TF, matinee) 18,201; 13th week Hubli 63,478; Delhi (TF) 3,87,730 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 1,28,375, Agra 98,974, Allahabad 59,500, 4th week Gorakhpur 26,000; 13th Akola (TF) 83,000, 1st week Gondia (TF) 93,033, Wardha (TF) 95,443; 13th week Hyderabad 5,76,679 from 5 cinemas (1 in noon).–

HIT ‘MASTER’

Chiranjeevi’s new film, Master (in Telugu), is creating waves in Nizam. It yielded a share of 70 lakh in 1st week on 21 prints in Nizam circuit. The film is expected to do a business of 3.5 to 4 crore.

DECISION ON DUBBED ‘KAMA SUTRA’ SOON

Justice Sawant of the Bombay high court on 5th November heard the arguments of all-India rights holder of Kama Sutra (Hindi dubbed), R. Mohan, in the matter of grant of certificate to the film. The CBFC, it may be recalled, had offered additional cuts in the dubbed Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions, which were cleared in the original English version of the film.

The CBFC has been given a week’s time to submit its replies.

SALIM KHAN’S FARMLAND TO BE SEIZED

Writer Salim Khan and his actress-wife, Helen, are among the celebrities whose farmlands have been ordered by the Supreme Court to be seized. On 4th November, a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice J.S. Verma and Justice S.C. Sen set aside and quashed the order of the Bombay high court staying the possession of 156 acres of land in Panvel, 52 kms. from Bombay, housing the plush farmhouses. The land and the constructed structures worth approximately Rs. 150 crore will now be seized by the forest department for violation under the Forest Conservation Act and for commitment of other crimes.

FILM SCREENING FOR SHANTARAM AWARDS

The screening of films for the three best film awards (in any Indian language) and three children’s films awards of the V. Shantaram Foundation is currently on at Gem preview theatre under the observation of Tarun Mazumdar, chairman of the juries panel, and in the presence of Kiran Shantaram, chairman of the Shantaram Foundation awards.

YOU ASKED IT

What is the scope of test trials of new films in India before their release in cinemas? Can improvements be made on the basis of suggestions of the test audience? Will they help?

– Test trials should be conducted for the betterment of a film. The makers can gauge public reaction even before the film comes for scrutiny of the public.

What kind of Hollywood films have a chance of clicking when dubbed in Hindi?

– Those which have some novelty and do not have too much of alien content or too much dialogue-baazi.

How important is it for a star to stick to roles his image demands rather than trying to do something against his image?

– Very, very important. In majority of the cases when established stars try to go against their set image, the results are disastrous.

PRODUCTION NEWS

Anu Malik Replaces Nadeem Shravan

Producer Smita Thackeray has replaced the music director in her maiden production venture, Haseena Maan Jayegi. In place of Nadeem Shravan, it is now Anu Malik who is scoring the music.

‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ 15-Day Spell Complete

Writer-director Karan Johar completed a 15-day shooting spell of Dharma Productions’ Kuch Kuch Hota Hai on Nov. 7 on a set at Mehboob Studios. Many scenes and a song were picturised. For the song, the participants were Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, Anupam Kher, Archna Pooran Singh and over 500 college students. Others in the cast are Farida Jalal, Himani Shivpuri, Reema and Johny Lever. Music by Jatin Lalit, lyrics by Sameer, cinematography by Santosh Thundiyil and choreography by Farah Khan are the other major credits of the film being produced by Yash Johar.

‘Prem Aggan’ Ooty Schedule Complete

Producer-director Feroz Khan completed a 20-day shooting schedule of F.K. International’s Prem Aggan on Nov. 5 in Ooty. Many scenes and songs were picturised featuring Fardeen Khan, Meghna Kothari, Raj Babbar, Anupam Kher and Sameer Malhotra. The film has music by Anu Malik.

‘Major Saab’ Almost Complete

With the conclusion of a 10-day shooting spell at Neem-Ka-Thana in Rajasthan on Oct. 25, the entire shooting, except for a song picturisation, of ABCL’s Major Saab is complete. The song will be picturised from Nov. 11 to 20 in Bombay and New Bombay. Ajay Devgan, Sonali Bendre and dancers will participate. Dubbing will start on Dec. 1. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Sonali Bendre, Nafisa Ali, Mohan Joshi, Shahbaaz Khan, Mushtaq Khan and Ashish Vidyarthi. It is being directed by Tinnu Anand from a story by Robin Bhatt and screenplay by Robin Bhatt and Santosh Saroj. Action: Bhiku Verma. Music: Anand Raaj Anand.

‘Vidroh’ Climax

A 10-day shooting stint of K.B. Pictures’ Vidroh began on Nov. 1 on Bombay locales. Akshay Kumar, Amrish Puri and others are participating in the picturisation of climax scenes. The film, being written and directed by Dilip Shukla for producer Kulbhushan Gupta, co-stars Raveena Tandon, Raj Babbar, Mohan Joshi, Rami Reddy, S.M. Zaheer, Alok Nath, Govind Namdeo, Deepak Qazir and K.K. Raina. It is presented by Vinod Avlani and its music is scored by Anand Milind. Lyrics: Sameer.

Anil Kapoor, Kajol In Rama Naidu’s Next

Producer D. Rama Naidu has signed Anil Kapoor and Kajol to play the lead roles in Suresh Productions’ next which will be directed by Satish Kaushik. Anupam Kher plays an important role in the film which will be a remake of the Telugu hit, Pavitra Bandham. It will go on the sets in January.

DO YOU KNOW?

‘DIL TO PAGAL HAI’ SWEEPS BOX-OFFICE

BOMBAY

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 8,13,989/- in 1st week at Chandan, Juhu, Bombay.

* Creates a theatre record at Roopalee, Panvel (Bombay), by collecting 3,18,461/- in 1st week.

* Creates theatre records in 1st week at the following cinemas of Ahmedabad: Anupam, by collecting 2,71,922/-; Amber, by collecting 2,67,774/-; Shiv, by collecting 3,01,491/-. All shows were full in all the 3 cinemas.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 3,27,852/- (100%) in 1st week at Krishna, Padra.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 2,46,001/- in 1st week (28 shows) at Pratap, Baroda, where Dolby digital sound has been installed. All shows were full.

* Creates a city record at Patan (North Gujarat) by collecting 2,25,829/- (97.71%, gross) in 1st week at Kohinoor. It drew 25 shows full.

* Creates a city record by drawing all shows full (4,83,504/-) in 1st week at Dreamland, Valsad.

* Creates a record by collecting 1,65,904/- in 1st week at Satyam, Kalol.

* Creates a record by collecting 2,19,672/- in 1st week at Milan, Surendranagar.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 3,31,447/- in 1st week at Jehangir, Navsari. Twenty-seven shows were full.

* Creates a city record by collecting 4,15,328/- (full) in 1st week at Shree, Vapi.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 3,48,880/- (full) in 1st week at Shalimar, Bharuch.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,11,151/- (full) in 1st week at Astron, Rajkot. Also creates a city record for matinee shows by collecting 92,224/- (100%) in 1st week at Galaxy, Rajkot.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,44,317/- in 1st week at Galaxy, Jamnagar. Twenty out of 21 shows were full. It has also created a theatre record by collecting 40,462/- in 1st week at Anupam (matinee), Jamnagar. Total of 2 cinemas: 1,84,779/-.

* Creates a theatre record by drawing all shows full (4,51,253/-) in 1st week at Mangala, Pune.

* Creates a theatre record by drawing all shows full in advance (1,91,450/-) in 1st week at Bhagwat Chitra Mandir, Solapur.

* Creates a theatre record by drawing all shows full (2,13,227/-) in 1st week at Apsara, Hubli.

* Creates a record by collecting 1,56,884/- (full) in 1st week at Sangam, Dharwad.

* Creates a record by collecting 1,55,344/- (full) in 1st week at Nartaki, Belgaum.

DELHI-U.P.

* Creates a city record in Lucknow by collecting 3,78,996/- (nett) in 1st week (28 shows) at Anand. All shows were full!

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,99,901/- (against a capacity of 2,14,330/-) in 1st week at Natraj, Dehradun.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,10,000/- in 1st week at Payal Palace, Hardwar.

BENGAL

* Creates theatre records in 1st week at the following cinemas of Calcutta: Metro (5,32,269/-), Priya (3,27,803/-), Mitra (2,49,246/-), Puspasree, Behala (1,07,793/-), Puspasree, Kadamtala (1,98,071/-), Jaya (1,17,138/-), Sonali (1,51,896/-), Gem (1,96,097/-), Rakhee (1,26,340/-), Crown (2,62,592/-), Malancha (1,88,316/-), and Radha (1,82,721/-).

C.P. BERAR

* Creates a city record in Nagpur by collecting 3,20,958/- in 1st week at Smruti.

* Creates theatre records at the following cinemas of Nagpur in 1st week: Jayshree (1,72,417/-), Jaswant (2,85,045/-), and Alankar (1,65,576/-).

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,45,584/- in 1st week (32 shows) at Jayant, Chandrapur.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 2,53,500/- in 1st week at Maurya, Bhilai.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,17,286/- in 1st week at Rajkamal, Jalgaon.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 2,01,713/- (all full) in 1st week at Vasant, Akola.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,53,922/- in 1st week at Chitra, Amravati.

* Creates a Khandesh record by collecting 2,21,120/- in 1st week at Jyoti, Dhule.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,60,391/- in 1st week at Raj, Raipur.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,09,059/- in 1st week at Swaroop, Durg.

* Creates a record by collecting 2,13,072/- in 1st week (29 shows, all full) at Jyoti, Jabalpur.

C.I.

* Created history by collecting 47,912/- (gross) on the opening day at Deepika, Nagda (C.I.). All 4 shows were full.

RAJASTHAN

* Creates records at three cinemas of Jaipur in 1st week: Raj Mandir, by collecting 4,85,912/-, Man Prakash, by collecting 3,48,919/-, Moti Mahal, by collecting 2,98,190/-.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,32,116/- in 1st week at Bharat, Alwar.

* Creates a city record in Bikaner by collecting 2,48,123/- in 1st week at Suraj.

* Creates a city record in Udaipur by collecting 3,37,835/- in 1st week at Chetak.

* Creates a record by collecting 3,45,415/- in 1st week at Girdhar Mandir, Jodhpur. Also creates a theatre record by collecting 1,85,906/- in 1st week at Kalpatru, Jodhpur.

* Creates a theatre record in 1st week at Mayur, Kota. Also creates a theatre record at Durgesh, Sri Ganganagar in 1st week.

* Draws all shows full in 1st week and creates a city record at Plaza, Ajmer.

MYSORE

* Creates records at the following cinemas of Bangalore in 1st week by collecting: 5,08,773/- at Sagar (28 shows), 4,75,573/- at Galaxy (28 shows), 3,03,826/- at Naga (28 shows), 52,498/- at Kino (7 shows), and 2,93,964/- at Parimala (28 shows).

OVERSEAS

* Creates history in USA-Canada by collecting $1.2 million from 30 cinemas in 1st week.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

That’s Business Today

Believe it or not but Pardes has fetched a share of 57 lakh in just 13 weeks from Bombay’s Minerva cinema. Still going strong in its 14th week, the film is poised to celebrate a jubilee at the cinema. The extent to which business has increased today as compared to, say, 20 or 25 years back can be gauged by this: the distributor’s share of one of the biggest blockbusters of all times, Sholay, in five-and-a-half years’ run (3 years in regular shows and two-and-a-half years in matinee shows) at Minerva cinema at that time was 35 lakh, while the share of Pardes from the same Minerva cinema in just 13 weeks is 57 lakh!!

Alvida Amritsar?

Punjab distributors are facing a new kind of problem which is threatening to change the face of business in that circuit. Many exhibitors of Amritsar, instead of booking films with distributors, have started screening them by obtaining prints from illegal sources. Since many producers do not even know this, no corrective action is being taken by them. East Punjab distributors are seriously thinking of taking deliveries of films at prices excluding the expected shares from Amritsar! Producers need to do something — and do it fast.

Matinee Magic?: An Experiment

The Barjatyas, who love to experiment, are at it again. By next week, they will have revived the unabridged version of HAHK..! in 45 to 50 cinemas all over but in matinee shows only. Two prints are already engaged in matinee shows in their third week now and are both yielding very good shares. In Solapur, at Kalamandir cinema, the film collected Rs. 11,058 in 1st week and Rs. 10,900 in 2nd week against a capacity of Rs. 15,393 in matinee shows. At Kopergaon (also in Maharashtra), the film collected about 63% in 1st week and 60% in 2nd week.

Just For One Seat

A bizarre incident took place at Shri Mankeshwar Chitra Mandir, Islampur (Maharashtra) during the screening of Ghulam-E-Musthafa last week. The cinema was packed to capacity and a man, who had purchased a balcony ticket from black marketeers, did not have a seat for himself. When the door-keeper too was unable to accommodate the guy, a heated argument between the two of them ensued. The ticket-holder lost his cool and did what nobody would have dreamt of doing. He bodily lifted the door-keeper and threw him down from the balcony to the stalls! Luckily for the door-keeper, he did not sustain any injuries, but a spectator, who was watching the film in the stalls, was caught unawares when the door-keeper fell on him. He broke a couple of his bones — of course, for no fault of his! He had to be rushed to hospital in a serious condition but is now out of danger!