PREM AGGAN

F.K. International’s Prem Aggan (UA) is a love story which doesn’t look like an F.K. banner film. Except for Feroz Khan’s unfailing eye for visuals, there’s no F.K. stamp whatsoever. The romantic tale has the oft-repeated rich versus poor angle, and the incidents in the drama are devoid of excitement. Even the screenplay has flaws. For instance, the heroine promises her father that she will never go back to her beloved, but she breaks her promise without any new development which would warrant a heroine to go back on her word. There is too much of verbosity and the lengthy dialogues between the girl and the guy and between their fathers are terribly boring. Yet another drawback — and a major one at that — is that there’s not a single comedy scene which can make one laugh or even smile (the comedy between Dinesh Hingoo and Rakesh Bedi is so poor, it’s a tragedy!) and not even one tear-jerking scene. Music, which is generally a highlight of Feroz Khan’s films, is not up to his standard this time. The film’s ending is abrupt and it almost appears as if there’s no climax.

Debut-making Fardeen Khan looks good and impresses in action scenes but needs to improve in acting and a great deal in dialogue delivery. Meghna Kothari makes a confident debut but lacks glamour and is very short. Sameer Malhotra, as Meghna’s brother, is okay. Shama Gesawant is fair. Sanjay Bhatia fails to create any mark. Anupam Kher is effective. Raj Babbar’s track (of military) has no relevance to the film; he performs ably. Beena and Smita Jaykar lend reasonable support. Kamal Chopra is average. Satish Shah is okay. Rakesh Bedi and Dinesh Hingoo are irritating. The rest of the cast pass muster.

Feroz Khan’s direction is limited by the poor script. But his penchant for shooting on breathtaking locations is evident in the film. Locales of Australia are fantastic and they’ve been captured marvellously by cameraman Kabir Lal. Anu Malik’s music, though good, does not befit a teenage love story starring newcomers and definitely not a Feroz Khan film. ‘Hardam dam bedam’, ‘Hum tumse mohabbat’, ‘Dekh ke tujhko’, ‘Khaate hain kasam’ and ‘Tere pyar’ are well-tuned. Song picturisations impress for the visual beauty (locations) more than the choreography. Dialogues (Sudarshan Faakir) are very good but only at a handful of places. Action scenes (S. Kammo and Javed Khan) are well composed. Production values are nice and so are the technical aspects.

On the whole, Prem Aggan will spell pain & agony — pain for the audience who’ve seen Feroz Khan’s hits earlier, and agony for the film’s distributors because it will prove to be a non-starter all over except in Bombay and South, where it will drop after taking a fair start. Considering its unduly high price, it will entail heavy losses to all its distributors.

Released on 30-10-’98 at New Excelsior and 14 other cinemas of Bombay by UTV Motion Pictures thru Shringar Films. Publicity: excellent. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was very dull everywhere except in Bombay and South.

VISHRAM BEDEKAR DEAD

Director and story-writer Vishram Bedekar passed away on the morning of 30th October in Pune. He was 93.

He had written the story for Prabhat’s runaway bilingual hit, Padosi (Hindi) and Shejari (Marathi), both directed by V. Shantaram.

Vishram Bedekar had directed three Hindi and six Marathi films viz. Thakiche Lagna Aani Satyache Prayog, Krishna Arjun Yudh, Narad-Naradi, Vasudev Balwant, Chul Ani Mul and Pahila Palna. The Hindi films directed by him were Rustom Sohrab, Ek Nanhi Munni Ladki Thi and Lakha Rani. In the last named film, Guru Dutt assisted Bedekar.

Vishram Bedekar was born on 13th August, 1906 and rose to become a towering personality in the literary and film circles. He is survived by his wife and son.

He was cremated the same day.

‘JEANS’ TO BE SENT FOR OSCARS

Shankar’s Jeans (Tamil) will be India’s entry to the Oscar Awards this year. The film, incidentally, has completed 200 days in Tamil Nadu and is the first Tamil film to run for more than 100 days in Malaysia and Singapore.

Jeans is produced by Ashok Amritraj and Dr. J. Murali Manohar and stars Aishwarya Rai and Prashant. Its music is scored by A.R. Rahman.

SUBHASH GHAI CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF MUKTA ARTS

Subhash Ghai celebrated the completion of 20 years of his Mukta Arts on 24th October at the plush Audeus Studio in Bombay. The well-attended function, which began in the morning with a pooja, was followed by a sumptuous lunch.

The function also marked the wedding anniversary of Mukta and Subhash Ghai.

Among the celebrities who attended the function were Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Bobby Deol, Aishwarya Rai, Mahima Chaudhry, Amrish Puri, Javed Akhtar, Mita Vashishth, Ramesh Taurani, Ashok Mehta, Ayesha Shroff, Alok Nath, Ila Arun, Naghma, Bharat Shah, Yash Chopra, Manmohan Shetty and Anees Bazmee.

As is his custom, Subhash Ghai announced his next film at the function and said, it would be a multi-starrer. The name of the film and its cast will be announced in January 1999.

‘PYAAR TO HONA HI THA’ 100 DAYS

Baba Films’ Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha completed 100 days on 30th/31st October at Bombay’s Metro and Cinemax cinemas. Written and directed by Anees Bazmee for producer Gordhan Tanwani, the film stars Ajay Devgan and Kajol. Music is scored by Jatin Lalit.

A.P. HIGH COURT FROWNS ON SOUND LEVELS IN CINEMAS

The Andhra Pradesh high court has issued directions which may force cinema owners in the state to tone down, or even turn off, their digital and Dolby sound systems as the decibel levels in the cinemas is affecting the hearing of audience, according to a report filed in by the state Pollution Control Board. The PCB had earlier set up a task force to study the sound intensity levels in selected cinemas in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad following the HC directive during a public litigation filed by one Gopala Krishna Kalanidhi in 1996. The task force, after conducting studies at Devi 70mm, Sudershan 35mm, Odeon Deluxe, Odeon 70mm, Sandhya 70mm, Sandhya 35mm, Maheshwari 70mm, Parmeshwari 35mm and Shanti, observed that in all the cinemas, the noise frequency levels varied between 74.5 and 96 decibels — far in excess of the standard level of 45 decibels set by the Central Pollution Control Board. The PCB also observed that the cinemas opting for sound systems like Dolby, DTS and Surround are creating the highest sound pollution. Following the PCB  report, a division bench of the high court ruled that cinemas be made to adhere to the norms set by the PCB. The court has also directed the PCB to send copies of the report to the Director General of Police as well as to all district collectors. The court has also directed the concerned authorities to ensure that the maximum permissible frequency of sound is incorporated as one of the essential conditions to be followed by exhibitors.

Hum Aapse Hit Chaahte Hain, Naidu Saab

KOMAL NAHTA

Papa, main papa ban gaya/Papa, main papa ban gaya blared the loudspeaker as we entered Rama Naidu Cine Village in Hyderabad last Saturday. On the set, Anil Kapoor was sitting on Anupam Kher’s lap, mouthing the lines playing on the loudspeaker. The set — interior of a house — was decorated with colourful balloons and the party mood was very much in evidence. The lines of the song being picturised said it all. Anil Kapoor was dancing with joy with his dad Anupam Kher. Occasion: Anil’s wife, Kajol, had delivered a child. Or so we thought. Only to be corrected. Kajol had not delivered a child as yet. News had come in that Kajol was expecting Anil’s child. Obviously, we thought, since Kajol was busy delivering hit after hit, where was the time for her to deliver kids?

Jokes and festivities apart, where on earth was Kajol? Why was the mother-to-be not partaking in the celebrations? Producer Suresh Naidu explained that Anil and Kajol are divorced. He continued, “Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain is a love story in which the romance begins after the divorce.” A novel concept, don’t you think? It is for a Hindi film, but the story has been seen in Telugu and Tamil. In fact, Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain is a remake of the Telugu super-hit Pavitra Bandham which was also earlier remade in Tamil. Venkatesh had played the hero in the Telugu version. Its heroine, Soundarya, won the National Award for the best actress for her role in this film.

And if Soundarya won it for the Telugu version, Kajol will surely pick up the National Award for the Hindi version, feels D. Rama Naidu. In fact, so impressed is Rama Naidu with Kajol’s performance that he says, “If Kajol doesn’t win the National Award for the best actress next year for this film, it will mean that the Awards are not impartial.” Saying this, Naidu gets down to relating scenes from the film, almost enacting them one by one. It shows how charged he is about the film. He reveals how he has been moved to tears in every trial show of the film’s rushes. Why, we see Naidu’s eyes moistening even while he is narrating scenes from the film. We’ve covered shootings of Rama Naidu’s earlier films too but we’ve never seen him so excited about any project as he is about Hum Aapke Dil…. And Naidu himself admits to this.

Coming to the long title of the film, Suresh Naidu chuckles, “Dad (Rama Naidu) was against this title. He could barely remember the title and so was adamant that we finalise an alternative title. But Satish Kaushik kept persisting for Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain till dad finally relented.” Papa Naidu smiles, “Today, I think, the title is better than the others we had thought of. It gives a feel of the film.”

Satish Kaushik bagged the film as director, thanks largely to Anil Kapoor. Besides, as Suresh Naidu explained, “It’s our policy at Suresh Productions, to give a chance to unsuccessful directors more than to successful ones.” In that case, Satish should thank Boney Kapoor for having given him a chance to make two disasters! Jokes apart, Anil Kapoor put in a good word and that’s how Naidu was prompted to make Satish Kaushik the captain of the ship. Satish revealed how Anil had broken the news to him at 3 o’clock in the night. “I was abroad for shooting, and one night, I was alarmed when my telephone rang in the middle of the night,” recalled Satish, adding, “It was Anil from India who telephoned me to give me the good news that I would be directing Naidu Sahab’s film.” Satish then revealed how he had felt demoralised after his Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and Prem had bombed but said that he never gave up hope. He felt, this film would be his ticket to fame as a director. Satish also plays a comic role in the film. The name of his character is German (!) because his father, while returning from Germany, had forgotten to get anything for him and so “he tells me to rename my self ‘German’!”

Whatever the comedy in the film, its mainstay will be emotions. Rakesh Bedi, who also plays an important role in the film, recalled how he had tears in his eyes when he was narrated the story by Satish Kaushik. With such brilliant actors as Anil Kapoor, Kajol and Anupam Kher in its cast, the emotions will be something to wait for, we’re sure!

The Naidus have taken care to not let the remake have any South touch whatsoever. Satish Kaushik, in fact, has given the film a very North Indian flavour. Why, even while this piece is being written, the film is being shot in Delhi. Rama Naidu explained that even the actor, who plays a beggar in the film and appears in just one scene, was brought to Hyderabad (for the shooting) from Bombay, such was the care they had taken to ensure that the film did not have a South Indian flavour.

Contrary to the general belief that Kajol is a difficult actress, the Naidus can only be heard singing the heroine’s praises. Why, Rama Naidu rates Kajol as the best among the 80-odd heroines he has worked with in the 90-plus films produced by him so far in South Indian languages and Hindi! No mean compliment, this. Suresh Naidu revealed how Kajol, at the time of signing the film, had requested them to complete the film fast and not go on with shooting endlessly as she loses interest in projects that take very long. Suresh explained, “This suited us fabulously because we believe in making films fast. Kajol allotted us 62 days and, believe it or not, her work has been completed in exactly 62 days!”

Although the Naidus are known to complete their films fast, this remake has taken “the longest time” — 10 months of shooting, according to Rama Naidu. But with shooting almost complete now and dubbing having begun already, Rama Naidu has plenty of time on hand to be ready for the release date — 22nd January ’99. Earlier, Rama Naidu had decided to release the film on 29th January but the release date has been advanced by a week to take advantage of the Idd festival.

POINT NOTED

* Anil Kapoor’s character in HADMRH has negative shades. As Suresh Naidu puts it, “At interval point, the audience will hate Anil.”

* Kajol wears only sarees and, at times, Punjabi suits in the film.

* Rama Naidu has four more subjects ready to be launched in Hindi. He has recently completed a Bengali film with an eye only on awards. His aim is to make at least one film in every language of India. Soon, he will start an Oriya film, to be followed by a film each in Gujarati, Marathi etc.

* Kajol is not quitting films, as is generally believed. When D. Rama Naidu asked her whether she was quitting acting, she is reported to have told him: “Do you also believe these rumours?” The industry should rejoice that such a talented actress is not bidding goodbye to films.

* If you thought, Rama Naidu is just into film production (soon reaching the 100-film mark), you’re wrong. He devotes a lot of his time now to social work and philanthropic activities. “I want to be remembered as a good human being after I’m dead and gone,” says Naidu, the noble soul. He has built a home for the aged and is ready to donate 5 acres of land each for an orphanage and for a home for the handicapped, and another 10 acres for an educational institution for poor people.

* Anil Kapoor believes in destiny. “I tried my level best to see that Pukaar was released this year. But I couldn’t compete with destiny. It was destined to come next year,” says Anil philosophically. Another thing Anil is convinced about is: “If you’re honest, you are bound to succeed.”

HERO HINDUSTANI

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

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

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

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

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

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

LATEST POSITION

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

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

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

……….

AJIT BIDS ADIEU

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

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

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

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

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

PRODUCTION NEWS

Raj Kanwar’s Film In Mauritius

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

DO YOU KNOW?

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

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

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

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

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

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

The Worst Maintained Cinemas

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

Quotable Quotes on CENSORSHIP….

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

– Manoj Kumar

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

– Farooq Sayed

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

– Mukesh Bhatt

ON THE CURRENT STATE OF FILMS….

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

– Manoj Kumar

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

– Devendra T. Shah
(Bombay distributor)

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

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

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

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

“Stink!”

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

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

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

Kajol Charisma

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

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

KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI

Dharma Productions’ Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a love story with a difference. It is about a guy whom two girls love. He gets married to one but the other girl is not able to forget him. Destiny brings the guy and the other girl together again but by that time, she is engaged to get married to another boy. How the old flames are rekindled forms the latter part of the film.

The story may not be novel but the presentation by debut-making director Karan Johar is definitely very novel and extremely fresh. That the young director is intelligent is borne out not just by his deft handling of a difficult and sensitive subject but also by his mixture of fares for the young audience and the ladies.

The first half is youthful and very modern in thought. The second half is also youthful but it is here that Indian and ladies sentiments have been pumped in in a large measure so that ultimately, it is the post-interval portion which moves the viewer emotionally. What’s more, the drama looks so believable that the viewer is more likely to get carried away by the entire play. There are loose moments at a few places but the overall impact is so wonderful, so brilliant that one wouldn’t even want to think of the few dull moments.

A lovely screenplay is complemented by natural dialogues. Several comedy punches are true-to-life, making the film still more believable. Another intelligent departure which Karan makes from several other seasoned directors is that at least at two or three places, he gives reason to the audience to cry and then, immediately thereafter, to smile and even laugh. So one laughs while one is still crying!

Shah Rukh Khan does an excellent job, first as the fun-loving college boy and then as a mature father with the heart of a child. Kajol proves yet again that she is the best actress we have on the scene today. Her expressions are absolutely marvellous, her acting is almost flawless. The girl should pick up several awards for a performance which will be widely discussed. Ranee Mukerji does well in a brief role. Salman Khan is fantastic in a special appearance. His entry will bring the house down, such is the build-up of the drama at that point. His dance is terrific. Johny Lever is very good. Archna Pooran Singh is really effective in a brief role. Anupam Kher does a good job in his distinctive style. Reema and Himani Shivpuri are effective. Sana Saeed acts with a rare confidence. But the guy who deserves kudos is the little Sardar (in the film), Parzan Dastur. He is, in two words, unbelievably superb. Neelam makes a cute special appearance, playing herself.

Karan Johar is a fabulous addition to the list of brainy writer-directors. In his very first film, he proves that clarity of thought and Indianness in content of one’s venture are two pre-requisites to make it to the top bracket. Karan has made it! Look, for instance, the seasoned handling of difficult scenes like the one in which Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol meet after years, the one where her saree is blown by the wind, revealing her anatomy, the one in which news of postponement of Kajol and Salman’s marriage is broken… the list is long.

Jatini Lalit’s music may not have that quality of being an instant hit but it has melody which will see the music grow day by day. Besides the title song, which is already popular, ‘Saajanji ghar aaye’, ‘Ladki badi anjaani hai’ and ‘Tujhe yaad na meri aaye’ are very appealing. Song picturisations (Farah Khan) enhance the impact a great deal. The picturisations are colourful, lively and fresh. Camerawork is extraordinary. Art direction (Sharmishtha Roy) is wonderful. Technical aspects are of a high order. Production values are lavish. Editing is crisp.

On the whole, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is not a hit, not a super-hit but a super-duper hit, a blockbuster which, besides fetching box-office rewards, will also bring in many awards.

Released on 16-10-’98 at Liberty and 16 other cinemas of Bombay thru Yashraj Film Distributors. Publicity: bumper. Opening: extraordinary. …….Also released all over. Opening was bumper everywhere.

SALIM AKHTAR APOLOGISES TO CBFC

Producer Salim Akhtar has apologised to CBFC chief Asha Parekh, regional officer Sanjeevani Kutty, other CBFC officials and members of the CBFC board. In a letter addressed to Asha Parekh, Salim has stated that he was not satisfied with the decisions of the Examining and Revising Committees of the CBFC and had, therefore, staged a protest and also given interviews to the press, which were critical of the CBFC. He has also mentioned in the said letter that he and his unit members never meant to hurt the feelings of anybody at the CBFC, and if anybody had felt hurt, he apologised for the same. He has assured Asha Parekh that such things would not happen in future.

It may be recalled that the unit of producer Salim Akhtar had on 20th September sported black ribbons on their arms, against the CBFC’s attitude towards Mehndi.

BAIL FOR SALMAN KHAN

Salman Khan was granted bail by the sessions court in Jodhpur on 17th October (today). The judge has asked him to deposit his passport with the court within a week and to furnish a surety of Rs. 2 lakh.

Earlier, Salman Khan, who was on 12th October arrested following his alleged involvement in a poaching case near Jodhpur, was remanded to judicial custody till 26th October by the additional chief judicial magistrate in Jodhpur on 16th. After the judge passed the order for remand, the actor was taken to the central jail in Jodhpur.

Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre, who were with Salman during the time he is alleged to have killed some black bucks and chinkaras, were granted bail earlier. Salman faces three cases of poaching of the wild animals. A case under the Arms Act was also registered against him for possession of arms, but another court in Jodhpur granted him bail in that case after he surrendered the arms allegedly used in killing two chinkaras.

Saif, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali earlier returned from Jodhpur where the unit was shooting for Rajshri’s Hum Saath Saath Hain.

In a shocking incident close on the heels of Salman’s arrest, the Maharashtra forest department seized two spotted deer, a peacock and a black buck during a raid on the Panvel (near Bombay) farmhouse of Salman’s father, Salim Khan. The police claim that the endangered animals have been held captive at the farmhouse for the last 6 months. Writer Salim Khan applied for anticipatory bail on 16th following the raid.

YOU ASKED IT

Is this week’s release, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, the costliest film as far as distribution rights are concerned?

– Yes, it is the costliest film so far. It has generally been sold at 2.25 to 2.35 crore per major circuit but the smaller circuits have gone for as much as 2.75 to 3 crore.

You keep writing that film prices should come down but they seem to be going up. Comment.

– Distributors keep cribbing that they are finished because of high prices but they seem to be buying new films at high prices all the same. Comment.

With a sudden rush of big forthcoming releases, don’t you think, there’ll be a shortage of cinemas for further releases?

– Yes, the cinema shortage will be felt from now onwards. On an average, there’ll be one major release every week for a couple of months at least.

FILM INDUSTRY & CENSORSHIP

Censorship has always had the film industry on tenterhooks. Given below are important developments/policies/appointments relating to censorship of films in the last 25 years.

* Censors have been extremely strict since the seventies and even before that. In 1975, exhibition of Aandhi was suspended by the government. The ban was finally lifted after the film was revised. The negative of Kissa Kursee Ka was confiscated by the government in the same year.

* A new censor policy was formulated in 1976, which adversely affected the industry. Many releases were postponed as reshooting and drastic cutting became necessary to conform to the new policy.

* In 1977, the then I & B minister, L.K. Advani, announced that censorship would be rationalised. Censors became liberal to an extent in 1977 after two harsh years.

* A 10-point censor guideline was published by the government in January ’78. This brought some relief to harassed producers. But as the year progressed, censors became strict again.

* The Central Board of Film Censors conducted a public survey on the prevailing standard of censorship in 1978. Satyam Shivam Sundaram was taken as a test case.

* In 1979 , it was decided to censor all Hindi films (even if produced in Madras or Calcutta) in Bombay only.

* The collector of Bombay in 1980 prohibited trials of censored films in preview theatres without obtaining prior permission.

* Hrishikesh Mukherjee took over as Censor chairman in 1981, and producers heaved a sigh of relief.

* 1982 was a terrible year vis-à-vis censors. About 50% of the films faced either censor trouble or delay at the censor office. Meri Awaaz Suno was banned by the Central government in 1982, after its release. The ban was lifted when the producer agreed to a few cuts. But before that, several high courts stayed the government ban. The matter reached the Supreme Court.

* Censor problems were minimal in 1983. Bikram Singh was appointed censor chairman in that year. The new name for the censor board, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), was given in 1983. The new gradings — ‘UA’ and ‘S’ — in film certification were also introduced in 1983.

* In 1984, film re-certification was discontinued. Earlier, films were required to be re-certified after 10 years. But from ’84, certificates issued once were valid forever. But censor problems continued to haunt producers.

* A Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) was set up in 1984 with Vyas Dev Mishra, retired chief justice of Himachal Pradesh, as its head. But produces continued to face problems at the censors’ hands.

* Censors were strict as usual in 1985 too. Censorship was put under the ministry of human resource development in that year. In the same year, the censor certificate of Teri Meherbaniyan was changed from ‘A’ to ‘U’ and that of Ram Teri Ganga Maili, from ‘U’ to ‘UA’. However, a long kiss was passed in Saagar in the same year. It was, perhaps, the beginning of a liberal attitude towards sex in films.

* 1986 had many films being referred to the CBFC’s revising committee. Some films were ultimately cleared by the Tribunal. A Marathi film, Maficha Sakshidar (Hindi version: Phansi Ka Phanda) got the certificate through court.

* In 1987 also, the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal was quite busy. It cleared more than half-a-dozen films.

* Pati Parmeshwar was in censor hot waters for a year-and-a-half and was finally okayed by the Supreme Court in 1989. The CBFC had appealed in the Supreme Court against the Bombay high court order.

* New and stricter censor guidelines were issued in 1989.

* B.P. Singhal, a retired police officer, was appointed CBFC chairman in 1990, after which censorship became very strict. It was like a virtual police raj at the CBFC.

* Shakti Samanta replaced B.P. Singhal as CBFC chairman in 1991.

* Sadak was called by the I & B ministry after it was cleared by the CBFC in 1991. The ministry refused a certificate to the film. Finally, an out-of-court settlement was arrived at after the producer moved the high court.

* Justice M.P. Verma became the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal chairman in 1991.

* The Bandit Queen was banned by the court in 1994 on a plea made by dacoit Phoolan Devi on whose life the film was based. After being cleared and released in Jan. ’96, it was again banned by the Delhi high court. The film was finally cleared by the Supreme Court. The film contained a lot of swear words.

* Mira Nair’s Kama Sutra – A Tale Of Love faced terrible censor trouble in 1996. Ultimately, the Bombay high court ordered the Hindi dubbed version of the film to be censored without any extra cuts in visuals over and above the cuts in the original version.

* Asha Parekh was appointed chairperson of the CBFC in 1998.

BLOCKBUSTERS OF 25 YEARS
(1973-1997)

1973
Bobby, Zanjeer, Jugnu, Daag, Anuraag

1974
Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, Bidaai, Roti, Chor Machaye Shor, Prem Nagar

1975
Sholay, Jai Santoshi Maa, Deewaar

1976
Kabhi Kabhie, Laila Majnu, Dus Numbri, Fakira, Hera Pheri, Kalicharan,
Udhar Ka Sindur

1977
Amar Akbar Anthony, Dharam Veer, Parvarish, Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man
Bhaaye, Hum Kisise Kum Nahin

1978
Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Don, Trishul, Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, Swarag Narak, Kasme Vaade

1979
Noorie, Jaani Dushman, Dada, Sargam

1980
Aasha, Qurbani, Insaf Ka Tarazu

1981
Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Love Story, Kranti, Laawaris, Meri Awaaz Suno

1982
Namak Halaal, Nikaah, Vidhaata, Prem Rog

1983
Coolie, Himmatwala, Avtaar, Hero, Andhaa Kaanoon, Betaab

1984
Sharaabi, Tohfa

1985
Pyar Jhukta Nahin, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Mard

1986
Nagina, Swarag Se Sunder

1987
Pratighaat

1988
Tezaab, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak

1989
Maine Pyar Kiya, Ram Lakhan, Chandni, Tridev

1990
Dil, Ghayal

1991
Phool Aur Kaante, Saajan, Sanam Bewafa

1992
Beta, Deewana

1993
Aankhen, Baazigar, Anari, Tirangaa, Khal-nayak, Darr

1994
Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Jurassic Park (dubbed), Dilwale, Mohra, Krantiveer

1995
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Karan Arjun, Raja, Bombay (dubbed),
Rangeela, Coolie No. 1

1996
Raja Hindustani, Agni Sakshi, Bandit Queen, Saajan Chale Sasural

1997
Border, Dil To Pagal Hai, Ishq

FILM INDUSTRY & GOVERNMENT:
A TUMULTUOUS RELATIONSHIP

♠ The central government in 1974 threatened to nationalise distribution trade, to begin with, of Delhi-U.P. This created a nationwide stir which soon subsided.

♠ The Union government put a blanket ban on construction of new cinemas in 1974 due to shortage of cement!

♠ The government heavily increased excise levy on release prints in 1975.

♠ Film people contributed Rs. 31 lakh to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund and also collected about Rs. 4 lakh by taking out a mammoth rally on the streets of Bombay in 1975. Distributors and exhibitors all over India contributed a day’s collections. In 1997 again (on 11th December), stars raised funds (Rs. 1.18 lakh, clothes etc.) for cyclone victims.

♠ Foreign shootings were banned by the central government in 1976. Permission to shoot abroad was granted only to a couple of producers to complete their unfinished work.

♠ I & B minister L.K. Advani in 1977 called a conference of state information ministers (on 4th November) in New Delhi to evolve a new film policy.

♠ Excise levy on release prints, which was calculated on the basis of length of a film prior to 1977, began to be calculated print-wise from 1977 onwards. There were just 2 slabs as per length — above 4,000 metres and below 4,000 metres. For a while in 1977, ad valorem excise duty replaced the excise levy on prints. The industry fought tooth and nail against the ad valorem duty and in June-July, there were no new releases for four weeks!

♠ The Maharashtra film industry downed shutters for a day in August ’85 to protest against the proposed levy of sales tax on film transactions. The proposed levy was put off later.

♠ It was Black Diwali for the film industry in 1986. The entire Maharashtra film industry unitedly launched an agitation against imposition of new taxes and high entertainment and other taxes, by downing shutters. The industry closure lasted 31 days and during that period, two big morchas were organised and a public meeting was held at Chowpatty in Bombay. The agitation bore fruits, and the Godbole Committee recommendations were accepted by the state government. As a result, entertainment tax was reduced from 177% to 100%.

♠ Parliament in 1986 passed a bill to curb denigration of women in the media, including films.

♠ The Central government reduced excise duty on release prints by 10% in 1987.

♠ The Uttar Pradesh exhibitors closed down in 1987 for 55 days for demanding relief in entertainment tax.

♠ The Karnataka film industry also downed shutters for 19 days in 1987.

♠ The Kerala film industry went on a strike in 1987 and called it off on 31st December without getting any relief.

♠ The Union government (National Front government of V.P. Singh) abolished excise duty on release prints in the Union Budget of 1990. Excise duty had been first imposed in 1960.

♠ 1990 was a year of strikes in film industries of various states, against the state governments. Gujarat exhibitors went on strike for 2 weeks in 1990, demanding, among other things, reduction in entertainment tax. The government permitted exhibitors to levy a tax-free service charge of 50 paise per ticket. There was a  partial strike in West Bengal. The Karnataka film producers’ bandh of production activities ended after a month. It was organised to bring down charges of studios, recording studios and laboratories and also to reduce rentals in cinemas and workers’ wages. In Bombay, some craft associations went on a strike for a few days in September, demanding higher wages. A strike was averted in Madhya Pradesh because the government relented and introduced a bill in the Assembly to reduce entertainment tax in the state from 150% to 100% and to give other reliefs to the industry.

♠ The Maharashtra government towards the end of 1992 permitted cinemas to levy 50 paise tax-free service charge per ticket.

♠ The U.P. government hiked the tax-free service charge from 25 paise to Re. 1 per ticket in 1994.

♠ The Tamil Nadu government built a huge Film City in Madras in 1994.

♠ Cinemas in Maharashtra downed shutters for a month from 1st January ’97 to protest against the state government’s movie to hike entertainment tax in the state from 50% to 100%. The tax was ultimately fixed at 60%.

♠ The Maharashtra film industry observed a day’s closure in August ’98 to protest against the government’s apathy in the matter of cable piracy. The M.P. film industry, too, observed a day’s bandh in September to demand several reliefs and government action, but both the protests (in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh) have not so far made any practical difference in the prevailing position.

Diwali To Diwali
(1-11-’97 to 16-10-’98)

* In the 50 weeks between last Diwali and this Diwali, a total of 130 Hindi films have been released. Of these, 26 are dubbed films. The number of releases are more compared to last year when 111 films hit the screen in 55 weeks. Of the 111, there were 23 which were dubbed.

* Of the 130 films, three have been released this week. Of the balance 127, just about 20 were plus fares — ranging from commission-earners to blockbusters. Which means, the percentage of successes was just about 17.

* Dil To Pagal Hai, released on Diwali last year, and Ishq, a few weeks thereafter, proved to be the two blockbusters of the period.

* Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya and Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha were the two universal hits of the period. Dulhe Raja (super-hit in Bihar), Ghulam (super-hit in Bombay), Bandhan, Chachi 420 and Godzilla (dubbed) were the other notable successes. Satya (blockbuster in Bombay and Maharashtra), Major Saab, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Shapath, Aunty No. 1, Kama Sutra – A Tale Of Love, Maut were some other earning propositions. The English film, Titanic, did outstanding business in India as in the rest of the world. Why, it even celebrated silver jubilee in Bombay and cities of South India. It has so far done a business of over 25 crore in the country.

* The list of debacles during the period under reference was very long. Dil Se.., Jeans (dubed; its original Tamil version was a good success in Tamil Nadu), Qila, Saat Rang Ke Sapne, Yugpurush, Main Solah Baras Ki, Kareeb, Mere Do Anmol Ratan, Sham Ghansham, Achanak, Vishwa Vidhaata, Banarasi Babu, Zor and Salaakhen were among the major disappointments.

* Mithun Chakraborty created a record of sorts with the maximum number of releases in 50 weeks. Of the 104 films (130 releases minus 26 dubbed films), Mithun starred in 14 — that is in 13.46% of the total releases!

* Hollywood film Titanic, though an English film, did business matching that of a Hindi blockbuster in Bombay, South and major cities elsewhere. The 11-Oscar awards-winning film was one of the biggest hits of the period in India.

* Govindbhai Patel’s Desh Re Joya Dada Pardesh Joya was the Gujarati Titanic of the period. Tipped to do a business of 10 crore in Gujarat and Saurashtra, it created new records wherever released. It fared very well even outside Gujarat and was hailed by Gujaratis abroad too. Its music cassettes fetched a fortune.

* Vinod Khanna for the first time contested, and won, the Lok Sabha elections from the Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab. Gujarati film hero Upendra Trivedi was elected MP from the Bhiloda constituency in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat. Producer and financier T. Subbirami Reddy was elected member of Parliament from Visakhapatnam.

* Rakesh Roshan introduced son Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor (sister of Karisma) in Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. But before the film could make much progress, Kareena was replaced by another newcomer, Amisha Patel. Kareena will now be launched by J.P. Dutta opposite debut-making Abhishek Bachchan in Refugee which, too, was launched during the period.

* Perhaps, the most exciting and talked-about development after Diwali was the Central government’s recognition of film business as an industry, on 10th May. Although the newly conferred industry status is yet to translate into tangible benefits, it is felt that easy bank finance will, in time to come, become available for construction of new cinemas, film production etc.

* The nation was in the grip of Aati kya Kandala, Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan and O O jaane jaana wave as the three songs became veritable anthems.

* Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar faced the camera for a film. She shot for Boney Kapoor and Rajkumar Santoshi’s Pukaar, in which she plays a cameo role.

* The Bombay high court passed a landmark judgement in the case of Mira Nair’s Kama Sutra – A Tale Of Love when it held that there can be no additional cuts ordered in visuals of a dubbed film if its original has been certified by the CBFC.

The Showmen also commend……

Dear Komal,

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate you on the distinctive Silver Jubilee (25 years) of Film Information. It is indeed a great tribute to the devotion and hard work of Mr. Ramraj Nahta. It is also a tribute to your love for your father for keeping the tradition alive and carrying the trade weekly with credit and grace.

That you have great respect for your heritage is also a pleasurable light on the loving son of the author of Film Information. You have really kept alive the glory and popularity of the trade journal. Some of the new features you have added, like Editorial notes and Comments and Graffiti are other embellishments for which you deserve all praise.

On this memorable day of the Silver Jubilee of the Journal, let us all remember our old and lovable friend, Mr. Ramraj Nahta, who was not only a journalist but also a Producer where he rose to the position of President of IMPPA and contributed a lot to the benefit of the trade. I am sure, you will also follow in his footsteps and leave your footprints on the sands of time. May God bless you and help you to go ahead and achieve a place of honour for yourself.

You have my love.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. B.R. CHOPRA

Information will only speak about the truth and that is our Ramraj. God bless Ramraj’s soul and all of you at Information.

– MANOJ KUMAR

Film Information is a good magazine and gives a lot of information. Komal Nahta has been doing a very good job. He must continue the good work and see to it that what Ramraj Nahta started off, goes on for many more years to come. The flag should fly high.

– ASHA PAREKH
Chairperson, CBFC

Be neutral like a true journalist and keep up the ethics of journalism. You have already kept the flag of Film Information flying very high. It would have been a dream come true for Ramraj-ji who had started the magazine 25 years ago!!

– PRAKASH MEHRA

My dear Komal,

As is customary, I send you my heartiest congratulations on the completion of 25 distinguished years of publication of Film Information, one of the most popular and successful periodicals of the fraternity. I wish to reproduce a quotation.

“The press is not only free, it is powerful. That power is ours. It is the proudest that man can enjoy. It was not granted by monarchs; it was not gained for us by aristocracies; but it sprang from the people, and, with an immortal instinct, it has always worked for the people.” – Disraeli

The concluding words of the above quotation prompted me to reproduce the saying of the great thinker. Undoubtedly, you have rendered glorious service to the people of the film industry all these years and I am personally overwhelmed that after the untimely and sudden death of our dear Ramraj-ji, you carried on the journey with courage and determination. Journalism is a torch-light for the society and I am sure, you will go on marching ahead with the shining torch of Film Information lighting the path for the film fraternity on the road to prosperity and stability. Keep up your present policy of constructive and purposeful reporting and keep Film Information free from scandalous writing in which most of the film magazines are indulging.

Once again, all my best wishes and may you have bigger glory and success when you celebrate the golden jubilee of your esteemed publication.

With love,
Yours sincerely,
J. OM PRAKASH

Komal Nahta had his illustrious father at the helm of affairs before him. He is doing a great job and I think, he is brilliant and forthright. He also has a great style of writing. I often read his interesting essays which hit straight at the industry for its shortcomings. At the same time, he understands the industry’s problems. I wish Film Information tremendous success under the leadership of Komal and I am sure that it is going to continue serving the industry for many many years to come.

– FEROZ KHAN

When I was in the 7th standard, Saturdays for me meant Film Information. I used to love reading the percentages and figures of collections. It became a game for me to read which film is doing well. I used to also love reading trade reviews. Film Information, to me, is a childhood memory. Every Saturday, my father would be working half a day and would unfailingly bring back the latest issue with him. That was the most exciting thing for me then. Fridays would be Screen and Saturdays would be Film Information. So, all I can say is that I’m dying to read my one-line review and my interview in it because that is something I have done over the years.

– KARAN JOHAR

DIWALI SPECIAL

“KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI has a certain ’90s’ feel to it. It doesn’t advocate any backward values. It’s a modern film with Indian values.”

– KARAN JOHAR

RAJ VAIDYA

Karan Johar many not even be one film old, but he is already being hailed as a bright new light in Hindi films. His debut venture, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, has probably been one of the most awaited films in recent times. Unfazed — and somewhat nervous — by the kind of publicity his first film has generated, Karan Johar spoke to us on the eve of release of KKHH. In his first-ever interview with a trade paper, he revealed his reasons for taking up direction, along with his cinematic influences as well as what films mean to him.

Firstly, why films? What prompted you to become a director?
– I never really though I’d get into films. Given my educational background and our family being town-based, I was never really linked to the film industry till a very late phase in my life. All through my growing-up period, I did all sorts of things that were not related to films. I thought, I would probably get into marketing or export management or advertising. Even though I was obsessed by Hindi films (I used to love watching Hindi films and listening to Hindi film music), the thought of becoming a director never crossed my mind. It was only when Adi (Aditya Chopra) and I got really friendly while in college together, I realised that my life was changing completely. He, for whatever reason, felt that I had some kind of potential and asked me to assist him on DDLJ. This one decision ended up changing my life completely. If I am a director today, I attribute it to him. He is the only reason why I stood behind the camera. But for him, I’d still be doing something altogether different in my life. He made me tap my potential — the one I never thought I had.

Obviously, you are being modest, for, there must have been something in you that Aditya happened to spot…
– ….I really don’t know about that. I keep asking him, but all he says is that he felt, there was something in me. You see, we used to chat a lot about films. And when you are an avid movie buff, you have an opinion about everything. More importantly, you exercise that opinion among friends. You also speak about your interests. I used to be mad about Raj Kapoor, Yash Chopra and Sooraj Barjatya, and films like Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!. Probably my raving about films made him realise — more than it did me — that I had an aptitude for filmmaking. He just thought that I had a flair, may be because of my tastes, my aesthetics or probably because of the way I thought. And the fact that he realised it more than I did, is the reason why I think he deserves more credit than me if KKHH works.

How much of an influence has the Yash Chopra kind of cinema had on you?
– You must understand that Adi has a lot to do with my decision to become a director. Moreover, I’ve always loved the Yash Chopra kind of films. He always follows a story and then, gives it his class. Be it Deewaar, Trishul or his earlier Waqt, they were all basically good stories which were given a Yash Chopra stamp. I just love that about him. Likewise, in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I followed a story and gave it my style. At the same time, I’m completely influenced by Yash Chopra’s sense of aesthetics, the sense of detailing, the finer points in costumes, sets, etc. Another influence, I must say, I have is of Raj Kapoor. There was always a certain amount of class to his films. Every frame looked grand and was mounted to perfection. Moreover, every film of his related to its times. Similarly, KKHH has a certain ’90s’ feel to it. It is definitely not, like how everyone believes, a family film. It doesn’t advocate any backward values. It’s a modern film with  Indian values. It is modern not only in its look, but also in content. Probably, Hum Aapke Hain Houn..! has more traditional Indian values, but KKHH has more modern characters. I guess, that is my little bit that comes into the film. But, otherwise, I am completely influenced by what I have seen. In fact, my influences are the very reason why my film exists, simply because I’ve had such a limited experience before KKHH. I didn’t assist my father on any of his films, nor did I assist Mahesh Bhatt or Mukul Anand or such. I just assisted Adi during DDLJ for a maximum of 2 years and that’s all the experience I have. Given the limited experience I had before KKHH, it was only natural for me to include all that I had observed and bring my own bit into it.

…And what is your own bit?
– When you see the film, you’ll know what I mean! There is something completely different about the film. There is not one scene in the film that looks like another. The feel of the film may be inspired, but the thought behind the film, the emotion, everything else is new. There are new characters doing the same things, but you will think that they are doing different things. Yet, the inspiration is all from the Yash Chopra and Raj Kapoor schools of thought. I added my own bit to it because I think, that’s how you make a film. You have to have your own stamp, otherwise why are we making films?

Were you, at any point during the making of KKHH, concerned about Shah Rukh’s last two films, DUPLICATE and DIL SE.., flopping at the box-office?
– I never really bothered about it. I think, Shah Rukh is a superstar. I don’t think, Duplicate and Dil Se..‘s flopping makes any difference because his films get a huge opening. Even KKHH will get a good opening because of him and not because of me. In my opinion, Shah Rukh is the biggest star we have right now — and I’m not saying this because he is my friend, but because I know the kind of appeal he has with any age group, be it with kids or with mothers and mothers-in law or with teenage girls.

Secondly, if you notice carefully, Shah Rukh follows this graph. Even before DDLJ, he gave flops like Guddu and Oh Darling…. It is something everyone goes through. Basically, I feel, the film is above the film star. A star can only bring people into the theatres, but after that, the film must survive on its merits. Again, Duplicate is my own film, but I am not upset with the audience for not liking the film. I’d rather be upset with some faults in the film itself. You must realise that Shah Rukh is the best thing that happened to Duplicate. He tried his level best and if the film has been released at all, it is because of him. He is the reason why the film was made in the first place. My father and Shah Rukh released the film completely on their own. Absolutely no other input has gone into the film. But, there must be something with the film, which was picked up by the audience and so, the film flopped. I personally believe that the audience is always right. The audience never fails.

Given how you feel about Shah Rukh, did you have him in mind all along….
–…To the contrary, it was Shah Rukh who had me in mind! Some time around the making of DDLJ, Shah Rukh had told me that if I ever made a film, he would work in it. He is the one who approached me and he is the reason why I went ahead with the project. As I have said, I have two people to thank — Adi, for being the reason why I became a director, and Shah Rukh, for being interested in the project. I wrote it with him in mind and didn’t imagine working with anybody else. However, that in no way means that I will always have him in mind for all my films in future.

….And what about Kajol?
– Kajol has been a childhood friend. But more importantly, I feel fortunate that two people who I am comfortable working with, also happen to be the best actor and best actress around. I rate Kajol as the finest actress we’ve seen, at least in the nineties.

KKHH being your home production, was there any occasion when the producer in you had a difference of opinion with the director in you?
– Contrary to how when a father and son work together, there is a generation gap and all that, we faced no such problems. My father is the sort of producer who never questions anyone. He has been like that with every director he has worked with and not just with me. At times, I feel, it was wrong on his part for not questioning some things. He should have. But that’s the way he is. He had never questioned any of his directors and he was certainly not going to question his son. For him, the fact that I was doing something was more precious than what I was doing. Simply put, I wanted to make a film and he wanted me to make it the best way I could. So, I must say that I was thoroughly spoilt during the making of KKHH. So much so that at times, I feel, I have spent money at places where I could have saved. I was lavish and flamboyant all through the making of the film. I don’t think, that’s a luxury every debutant director gets. I don’t think, I’d ever be able to work for anyone else.

Given the fact that Sony Music is not such a big player in Hindi film music distribution, how did you decide upon them to sell your music to?
– Look, I believe, everything has changed and we must face this fact. I believe, people’s attitude towards Hindi films has changed. Even marketing of films has become a different ball game altogether. My reasons to opt for Sony are — (a) because they have a new kind of appeal in their packaging, and (b) because Sony is an international and upward moving company. They operate in a very modern way and have done a brilliant job of marketing the music of KKHH. I agree that HMV and others are senior companies, have great records and are fantastic in their own ways, but I feel, it is nice to try out newer things. Otherwise, how would you know if Sony is a good company until you try them? Again, going to Sony wasn’t like going to a raw, new company, I was going to an international company. I don’t know about their penetration in the interiors, but they’ll probably get there, too. I had all along been confident that my music would pick up after the film’s release as it is more situational. I am lucky that it has even reached this position without people having seen the film. So, all in all, I feel, it is nice to build a relationship at ‘A’ level and then, move on to ‘B’ level, where they will also get better and we’ll also get better.

What is filmmaking to you?
– I always believe that going to cinemas is all about going to see somebody else’s life, somebody else’s story. I think, it is the most important thing for a film to have a strong story. Moreover, it should be told in a such a lucid manner that even a child can understand. I feel, KKHH has that quality. Similarly, my next film will also have a strong story. It may not be a boy-girl love story, but something completely different. This is because you exhaust all your ideas in your first him. To me, the second film is always more diffcult to make than the first one. There is a certain rawness in your first film. Certain memories, certain reflections, sub-conscious elements, which all get exhausted in your first film. So, it is actually your second film that decides whether you’re a good director. Sooraj Barjatya was a damn good director when he made Maine Pyar Kiya, but he became the world’s best after he made HAHK..!, because he did a better job and made it a bigger commercial success. So, hats off to him! I don’t know what I’ll make next, but I hope that I will enjoy the process of making it as much as I enjoyed making KKHH.

What, according to you, constitutes cinematic liberty?
– To me, cinematic liberty is actually taking the audience for granted at times…. just skipping things while presuming that the audience will understand. I certainly didn’t take too many liberties when I wrote KKHH. That was because I don’t think that people are ready to be taken for granted anymore. If you really look at the films that have worked, you’ll notice that most of them have taken very few cinematic liberties. There are, however, a number of films being made, that take a great deal of liberties — to the point of absurdity in some cases — but they are not working anymore. Unless the film is entertaining to the hilt and if that entertainment overrides the cinematic liberties taken in the film, I don’t see it working. Otherwise, you are just taking liberties at the risk of being caught because the audience catches flaws very fast.

1998 has been a terrible year for the film industry. To what do you attribute the failure of so many films in the year so far?
– It is not just 1998. According to the trade, every year is a bad year. I believe, we’ve never had a good year! But, jokes apart, I have always maintained that if we make bad films, then we will always have a bad year. On the other hand, which flop film have you seen this year, that deserved to be a hit? Every film that I have liked, has done really well. So, if you make good films, they will always run.

You had announced your release date right when you had started KKHH. How did you manage to finish the film on the dot?
– I would say that it is 50% planning and 50% luck… and there’s also a little bit of God somewhere. But really, I don’t know. I mean, one can’t foresee the future simply because anything can go wrong at any time. The fact that it didn’t happen with KKHH, I suppose, I’m lucky. This is the first film of my father, which has been completed so fast. It has taken only nine months and is ready for release within a year. So, I suppose, it is his goodness over the years that I am reaping the benefits of.

What are your plans in the near future?
– I don’t think, I am in a position to decide anything at the moment. Right now, it is only Kuch Kuch Hota Hai on my mind. Agar kuch kuch nahin hota hai, that is something I’ll have to see.

Finally, what are your feelings on the eve of KKHH’s release?
– I am completely scared and anxious. I am also surprised that I am here today.

LATEST POSITION

The Dassera and Gandhi Jayanti holidays last week proved bountiful for the box-office everywhere.

Bandhan has done very well on the strength of family audience. Where it was released on Thursday (Dassera), it got the added benefit of the holiday. It is fantastic in U.P., Bengal, Bihar, C.P. Berar and Nizam, and fair in Bombay city (affected due to BEST bus strike), Delhi city, C.I. and Rajasthan. 1st week Bombay 48,00,516 (82%) from 13 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,25,900 from 7 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Padra 1,21,215, Rajkot 1,51,615 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,04,627; Pune 10,32,156 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,90,000, Solapur 2,77,230 from 2 cinemas; Hubli 2,50,770 (100%), Belgaum 1,62,204 (100%); Delhi 42,96,493 (84.32%) from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,82,874 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,48,049 (100%), Varanasi 2,57,855, Allahabad 2,47,353, Bareilly 1,66,332 (76.92%), Dehradun 2,65,303 (83.83%), Hardwar 1,06,027 from 2 cinemas; Rohtak 21,761; Calcutta 33,56,229 from 13 cinemas; Nagpur 7,19,178 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,53,363 (100%), Amravati 1,46,095, Akola 1,46,093, Raipur 1,91,902, Bhilai 1,75,549, Jalgaon 1,65,000, Chandrapur 1,70,006; Indore 2,21,000 (5 on F.H.), Bhopal 4,32,274 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 8,95,440 from 4 cinemas, Ajmer (29 shows) 2,15,702, Bikaner 1,07,786; Hyderabad 39,71,083 from 14 cinemas, share 19,85,000, Aurangabad share about 3 lakh.

……….

SMOOTH SAILING FOR BOTH

Both the big releases of Diwali had a relatively smooth sailing at the hands of the censors. In Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, there was an objection to just one word — ‘rag’ (as in ragging) — which director Karan Johar agreed to change. Shah Rukh Khan, talking of ragging in his college, says, “Hum naye students ko rag karte hain, pareshaan karte hain.” Since a girl, staying in a  Bombay hostel, recently committed suicide, allegedly because she was ragged by her seniors, the censors felt, it wouldn’t be proper to allow the word in the film. Karan agreed that the hero of the masses, Shah Rukh, could be construed as sending wrong signals if he was allowed to mouth the word ‘rag’ even if that was in a lighter vein. And so, the sentence was changed to ‘Hum naye students ko gaana gaane ko kehte hain.’

In Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, the word Khaini in the Khaini song has been replaced with Beeda. A couple of other words in two scenes, too, have been changed, besides some other cuts effected in visuals.

‘DTPH’ SILVER JUBILEE

Yash Chopra’s Dil To Pagal Hai (TF in Maharashtra) entered combined 50th week at Novelty (matinee), Bombay, on 9th October.

SALMAN, SAIF, TABU, SONALI, NEELAM CHARGED FOR HUNTING WILD ANIMALS

Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali have been charged under sections 9, 13 and 51 of the Wildlife Act of 1972, for hunting deer near a forest in Jodhpur. While the two heroes were granted anticipatory interim bail by the district judge on 9th October, the three heroines were presented before the munsif magistrate the same evening and were released on bail. The hearing has been fixed for 12th October. In the meantime, Salman has denied that they were hunting in the forest.

The artistes, who are in Jodhpur for the shooting of Rajshri’s Hum Saath Saath Hain, were arrested by the forest department. Salman and Saif have been ordered to not leave the premises of Hotel Umaid Bhawan Palace where they are staying, before and after the film’s shooting.

JAYWANT PATHARE NO MORE

Well-known veteran cinematographer Jaywant Pathare expired in Bombay on 9th October. He was 77 and is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Jaywant Pathare had started his career with Raj Kapoor’s Aah. His last film was Jhanjhawat (Marathi). He had won a couple of awards for his films Anupama (B & W) and Bemisal.

‘SATYA’ 100 DAYS AT 2 BOMBAY CINEMAS

Ramgopal Varma’s Satya (tax-free in Maharashtra) is celebrating 100 days of its run today (10th October) in Bombay at two cinemas, Eros and Plaza. Incidentally, Satya has been granted tax exemption for a further period of 3 months, that is, up to 10th January, 1999.

RAMCHANDRA DAS DEAD

Cameraman Ramchandra Das passed away on 8th October in Bombay. He was 58 and is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. Das was the honorary treasurer of the Western India Cinematographers’ Association (WICA) and the honorary general secretary of the FWICE.

ACTOR RODDY MCDOWALL NO MORE

British film and TV actor Roddy McDowall, who made Hollywood his home and is remembered for his performance of an apeman in The Planet Of The Apes, died on 3rd October in Los Angeles. He was 70 and was suffering from cancer. Some of his best films are John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley, Cleopatra and The Greatest Story Ever Told.

SHROFFS’ DIWALI LUNCHEON PARTY

Bombay distributors Shyam Shroff and Balkrishna Shroff will host a luncheon party in their office on 14th October. The Shroffs have been throwing such Diwali parties in their office since 1993.

PRODUCERS’ BANDH IN CALCUTTA ENTERS 20TH DAY

The suspension of all production activities by producers in West Bengal entered the 20th day today (10th October). The suspension call was given by the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) on 21st September due to non-cooperation and misbehaviour by a few artistes with some producers.

Following the EIMPA call, there have been no shootings, editing, recordings and dubbings in Calcutta or elsewhere in the state for 20 days now.

PANCHSHEEL, BHOPAL TO REOPEN ON 20TH

Panchsheel cinema of Bhopal, which has been closed for renovation since seven months, will reopen on 20th October with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. 8-track DTS sound system has been installed at the cinema. Owner Azizuddin has spent heavily on the renovation.

The air-cooled cinema has a capacity of 1,427 seats divided as: Box 11, Balcony 589, and Family 827. Capacity nett per show is Rs. 16,773, and for 28 shows, it is Rs. 4,69,644.

BABY BOY FOR ATUL AGNIHOTRI

Atul Agnihotri’s wife, Alvira, delivered a baby boy on 7th October at Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay.

MATTER OF RELEASE OF NON-KANNADA FILMS IN KARNATAKA SETTLED

The matter regarding the release of non-Kannada films in Karnataka has been amicably settled due to the good offices of K.C.N. Chandrasekhar, president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), Bangalore.

A delegation of the Film Federation of India (FFI) comprising its president, Santosh Singh Jain, Sv. Rm. Ramanathan, K.D. Shorey, N.N. Sippy, Shakti Samanta and L. Suresh had a meeting with the KFCC president and other members of its executive committee in Bangalore on October 6 and 7.

YOU ASKED IT

Which of the two Diwali releases is expected to take a better start?

– Can’t both, BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN and KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI, take flying starts? The initial craze among masses is greater for BMCM, while among youngsters, it is for KKHH.

Is it true that Salman Khan has replaced Chandrachur Singh in Tips’ Friends?

– Yes, it is true, but then, such changes in cast are not new. There have been so many films in which either the hero or heroine or important character artiste has been replaced by another, for whatever reasons.

What is the ratio of success in the field of non-film music albums?

– The same as in films.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Ramanand Sagar’s mega TV serial, SHRI KRISHNA, has achieved the unique distinction of earning the highest ever advertising revenue for DD, by a weekly serial. It has earned more than Rs. 70 crore. In its first year run on DD1, the serial earned more than Rs. 31 crore as advertisement revenue, by selling a total of 45,045 seconds of advertisement time — another record. …Producer Subhash Sagar’s ALIF LAILA has completed a run of 100 weeks on East Net — a division of M. Net of South Africa. The serial has been granted a further extension to air all its episodes.

* The latest Chiranjeevi starrer in Telugu, CHUDALANI VUNDI, is a jackpot. In Nizam, it has done a business of 2.3 crore in just 4 weeks. It is directed by Guna Shekhar and produced by Ashwini Dutt.

* Character actor Anjan Srivastava has bought two new cars — an Audi 80 and a Honda Accord. He comes for shooting in one car and returns home after pack-up in the other!

* That Madhuri Dixit is a thorough professional is common knowledge. The actress proved it once again when she wore a thin chiffon saree in snow-laden Alaska for a song picturisation of PUKAAR. And this, while all the other unit members were dressed in kilos of woollens!

* B. Subhash’s DULHAN BANOO MAIN TERI is inspired from a real-life incident. Once when B. Subhash was waiting at Sahar International airport, Bombay, to board a flight to the USA, a young girl approached him and asked him whether he was going to London. When he replied in the negative and asked her what her problem was, the girl broke down and said, she was in love with an NRI from London, who had promised to marry her, before leaving for London. She added that thereafter, she never heard from him and, therefore, she wanted to go to London to find him. Well, this is the inspiration for DULHAN… too.

* Joharilal Jhanjharia of Alka and Premsukh cinemas, Indore, has created a record of sorts. He has been the chairman of the scrutiny committee of the CCCA elections for more than 25 years now! Jhanjharia, incidentally, is known for his honesty.

CENSOR NEWS

Epic Enterprises’ Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was given C.C. No. CIL/1/59/98 (U) dt. 16-10-’98; length 4043.87 metres in 16 reels (cuts: 47.41 metres).

Dharma Productions’ Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was given C.C. No. CIL/1/58/98 (U) dt. 30-9-’98; length 5071.49 metres in 18 reels (minor deletion in sound only).

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Tension Hota Hai

Finally, the much awaited trial of debut-making director Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was held on 6th October at Film City’s preview theatre. The first trial of the film’s first print was for the unit members and a few very close friends. It must have been Karan Johar’s proudest moment — showing his first creation to all those who were close to him. But, it was also the most scary moment of his life, we learn. For, as against the normal practice of people frequenting toilets during film shows either out of boredom or on a genuine call, it was the director himself who was running to the toilet more times than anyone else during the KKHH trial! “What could I do?”, explains Karan, “I was so nervous. I must have visited the toilet 12 times. It was even worse than appearing for my ICSE exams. some years ago!” We guess, his anxiety should be over, now that everyone — without a single exception — who has seen his film, is raving about it at length.

Odds Favour Amitabh?

On the eve of the Diwali release of Amitabh-starrer Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, here’s some interesting data of the Amitabh-starrers which were released on Diwali in the last 25 years, together with how they fared at the box-office: Saudagar (Diwali ’73): Flop; Parvarish (’77): Hit; Muqaddar Ka Sikander (’78): Blockbuster; Yaarana (’81): Hit; Mard (’85): Hit; and Akayla (’91): Flop. As you can see, out of the six Amitabh-starrers that have been released on Diwali, as many as four have been hits. Going by this, the odds seem to be quite in favour of BMCM. Let’s wait and watch.

Fax On Demand

As his Amitabh-Govinda starrer, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, gears up for a Diwali release, more compliments are coming producer Vashu Bhagnani’s way. This time from his C.P. Berar distributor, Laloo Kabra. Laloo, who is himself known for his speed and efficiency, praises Vashu Bhagnani for his efficiency. It so happened that as soon as Vashu got the censor certificate of BMCM, he telephoned all his distributors to give them the good news. Like he must have done with his other distributors, Vashu volunteered to fax a copy of the censor certificate to Laloo too. And guess what? He did it within the next 40 seconds! For Laloo, it must have surely been a big surprise as the very moment after he hung up the phone with Vashu, he got the copy of the certificate on his fax machine. Quite a Tez Miyan, this Vashu.

Ramoji Rao Strikes Deal For Film City

While the Indian film industry continues to ignore Ramoji Rao’s ultra-modern and self-sufficient Film City in Hyderabad, news comes in that a Hollywood venture is slated to be entirely filmed at the same Film City. The film, titled Night Fall, will be jointly produced by Ramoji Rao and Hollywood producer-director Roger Corman of New Horizons. The deal was struck after Corman visited the Film City on Ramoji Roa’s invitation. He was reported to be so impressed with the facilities available that he immediately finalised the plans for the film with Rao. Corman also mentioned that the Film City could be rated as one of the best in the world and added that it offered the same facilities that studios in Hollywood did. The budget of Night Fall is estimated to be in the region of US $20 to 30 million.

“Revise Ratios, Abolish MG Royalty”: Pramod Munot

Leading C.P. distributor-exhibitor Pramod Munot is not the one who minces words when he talks about the incongruities that exist in the film trade today. According to him, it is high time that all-India ratios were revised. He argues that while the admission rates in all the major cities have increased vastly, those in the smaller centres have not risen proportionately. Munot suggests that in order to determine the new ratios, the collections of a universal hit be taken into account. The new ratios can be easily worked out on this basis, he adds.

Munot also proposes that the MG royalty system should be abolished completely. It is not at all fair as the distributors pay crores of rupees to the producers who ignore them, he alleges. According to him, there is absolutely no business ethics among producers who refuse to show their films to the very people who have bought them. The business is reduced to gambling in such cases, he laments. And if the producers are so secretive about their films, let them give them to distributors on advance basis, suggests Munot.

Finally, he draws attention to a statement by a top industry leader, published a few weeks back in a national daily, in which the leader has expressed his cynicism at the government’s decision to grant industry status to films. The leader is quoted as saying that the new status has not benefitted the film industry at all. How irresponsible can the man be, asks Munot. He adds that the leader, perhaps, does not realise what benefits the government’s move will yield to the exhibition sector, for example. Bank loans would be made available for building new cinemas, power tariffs would be lower, and these would be only a few of the benefits that would come into the exhibition sector, he concludes. As it is, Munot feels, there should be 50,000 cinemas today rather than the existing 13,000.

Tailpiece

Q: Why were Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam, Tabu arrested together, by the forest officers in Jodhpur (where they have gone for the shooting of Rajshri’s film) earlier this week? (Read details elsewhere in this issue).
A: Because they told the forest officers: “Hum Saath Saath Hain!”

Q: What if the five artistes are proved guilty of hunting wild animals in the forest?
A: They’ll individually admit: “Maine Shikaar Kiya.”

FILM INFORMATION SILVER JUBILEE

The congratulatory messages and good wishes we’ve been receiving all through the week on FILM INFORMATION completing 25 years on Dassera this year have overwhelmed us. We at INFORMATION humbly acknowledge the messages and resolve to keep the flag flying high.

The congratulatory advertisements and messages will be published in our issue next week, which will be a SILVER JUBILEE-cum-DIWALI BUMPER issue.

– Editor

BANDHAN

Siddhivinayak Creation’s Bandhan (UA) is a family drama about the bond of love between a brother and sister, which gets extended to cover the boy’s brother-in-law too. The boy, brought up by his sister and her husband, treats the latter as his be-all and cannot even dream of disobeying him. The brother-in-law, by the seductive designs of a girl of loose character, falls into the trap laid by her and from that point begins the confrontation between the brother and his brother-in-law who till then was like God to him. The brother-in-law throws him out of his house and even does not permit his wife to meet her brother and parents. A further misunderstanding between the brothers-in-law aggravates matters and the brother feels guilty of having brought misery to his sister. In the end, all misunderstandings are cleared and the brothers-in-law once again unite.

The story is of the kind one saw in films of the seventies and eighties. Its treatment, though, is more contemporary and there are four or five truly heart-touching scenes which have immense ladies appeal. The biggest drawback of the film, however, is the poor characterisation of the sister’s husband (Jackie Shroff). His shift from being a hero to becoming a villain looks less convincing and should have been much more well explained. Romance also takes a backseat, maybe due to censor cuts.

Jackie Shroff, despite a faulty characterisation, does a good job. Salman Khan is the life of the film and acts ably. Ashwini Bhave, as his sister, appeals in dramatic scenes. Rambha is passable as Salman’s girlfriend, and the film could have done with a better heroine, given Salman’s ‘A’ class image today. Shakti Kapoor and Ashok Saraf provide some light moments. Ashok Saraf, especially, is effective in the climax. Mukesh Rishi passes muster. Shweta Menon is alright. Himani Shivpuri lends admirable support. Anjan Shrivastava is good. Aasif Sheikh does a fair job. The horse has been made good use of.

K. Murali Mohan Rao’s handling of an old subject is nice. Some of his directorial punches make a straight entry into the heart for their emotional content. Of the songs, ‘Tere naina mere nainon ki’ is very appealing. The title song and ‘Balle Balle’ too are good but a couple of other songs are ordinary. Song picturisations are colourful but lack novelty. Action scenes are quite okay. Photography and other technical values are of a good standard.

On the whole, reasonably-priced Bandhan has Indian values and sentiments for ladies and family audience and will, therefore, keep everyone happy. It has better chances in Maharashtra, U.P., M.P., Bengal and Bihar, where it may yield overflow.

Released on 1-10-’98 at Minerva and 11 other cinemas and on 2-10-’98 at 10 more cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity: good. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. It opened in Bengal on 29-9-’98 due to Puja holidays.

GAURI PICTURES DECLARED ‘DEFAULTER’ BY IMPDA, TOA, CEAI

Distributors Gauri Pictures of Bombay and Nagpur have been declared ‘defaulter’ by the joint tribunal of the Indian Motion Pictures Distributors’ Association (IMPDA) and the Theatre Owners’ Association (TOA). The decision was taken after a complaint over non-settlement of dues of Usha Talkies, Kolhapur, came up before the tribunal. The complaint stated that Usha Talkies had exhibited Soon Ladki Sasarchi (a Marathi film distributed by Gauri Pictures) which incurred deficits for a period of six weeks. When a number of reminders, issued by Usha Talkies to Gauri Pictures, asking the latter to settle dues amounting to more than Rs. 38,000, failed to evoke any response, Usha Talkies lodged a complaint with the TOA. The Cinematograph Exhibitors’ Association of India (CEAI) has also since declared Gauri Pictures a ‘defaulter’.

SANJAY KHAN FINED RS. 54 LAKH

Sanjay Khan has been fined Rs. 54 lakh by the Karnataka Electricity Board for allegedly drawing more power than allotted for a resort being constructed by him and his relatives on the outskirts of Bangalore.

NEW CINEMA HALL

A new cinema, Eshwari Chitra Mandir, opened recently on Stadium Road at Chitradurga in Karnataka. It has 818 seats and a capacity of Rs. 6,826.45 (nett) per show. Nett capacity for 28 shows is Rs. 1,91,140.60.

LANGUAGE FILMS IN KARNATAKA: FFI DELEGATION TO BANGALORE

A delegation of the Film Federation of India (FFI) comprising Santosh Singh Jain, K.D. Shorey, Shakti Samanta, N.N. Sippy, L. Suresh and R.M. Ramanathan will leave for Bangalore on 6th October, to impress upon the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (an affiliate of the FFI) of the need to do away with the imposed 7-week delay in the release of language films other than Kannada in the state of Karnataka. The KFCC had recently announced and implemented its decision that films made in any language other than Kannada will not be released in the state for at least seven weeks from its premiere release elsewhere. As a result of this stricture, Hindi as well as Tamil, Telugu and other language films are suffering.

The delegation will also meet Ramakrishna Hegde and Karnataka chief minister J.H. Patel.

PAHLAJ NIHALANI ELECTED AMPTPP PRESIDENT

Pahlaj Nihalani was elected president of the Association of Motion Pictures & TV Programme Producers (AMPTPP) at its annual general meeting held on 28th September at Citizen Hotel, Juhu, Bombay. Amit Khanna, Shyam Benegal, Shabnam Kapoor and Satish Kulkarni were elected vice presidents, and Kamal Kumar Barjatya and Yash Johar, hon. treasurers. Jimmy Nirula was elected hon. secretary.

Others elected to the governing council for 1998-99 were: G.P. Sippy, Subhash Ghai, Gulshan Rai, Ramesh Taurani, Ratan Jain, Bhappi Sonie, Manmohan Shetty, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Salim Akhtar, N. Chandra, Harmesh Malhotra, Vashu Bhagnani, Mahesh Kothare, N.D. Kothari, Subroto Bose and Jagdish Sharma.

Ramesh Sippy, Gordhan Tanwani and Nalin Kumar Gupta were co-opted to the council.

GULSHAN RAI RE-ELECTED IFEA CHIEF

Gulshan Rai was unanimously re-elected president of the Indian Film Exporters Association at the first meeting of the newly elected council of management held on 30th September. Sunder F. Rai was elected vice president, and Manohar Bhatia, hon.secretary. Chandrakant Mehta was elected hon. treasurer. Earlier, at the 34th annual general meeting of the IFEA held on 26th September, the following, besides the abovenamed, were declared elected to the council of management: Rajinder Singh Hora, S.C. Mittal, J.K. Mittal, Shiv Laungani, Hirachand Dand, Amar Asrani, Mohan Chhabria and Prassanan Kumar Sajnani.

Subhash Ghai, Arjan Lulla, S. Narayanan, Malati Tambay-Vaidya and Sanjay Chhabria were co-opted to the council.

VISHNUKUMAR VYAS NO MORE

Notel Gujarati stage and film actor Vishnukumar Vyas died in Bombay on the morning of 29th September after a massive heart attack at a private nursing home. He was 78 and is survived by his wife, three sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.

Popularly known as Guruji, Vishnukumar Vyas was an accomplished actor and had done a lot of stage, besides acting in a number of Gujarati films. Some of his well-known films are Visamo, Daku Rani Ganga, Mhari Laaj Rakhje Veera etc.

The actor had been admitted to the nursing home four days before the end came, when he complained of uneasiness and suffocation. Vyas, besides acting, had also directed a number of dramas and written some of them. Many of his dramas were popular even abroad.

He was cremated at the Hindu crematorium at Ghatkopar. Many Gujarati film and theatre personalities attended the funeral.

MOHD. SHAFI NIYAZI DEAD

Mohammed Shafi Niyazi, pupular composer and noted qawwal, expired on 25th September in Bombay. He was 67 and is survived by his wife and three children.

Shafi had an impressive command over the Urdu language, and the Urdu repertoire that he was building for Venus was one of the most comprehensive. His most recent claim to fame were his compositions for Venus’ hit musical album, ‘Tum To Thehre Pardesi’. Born on June 8, 1931, Shafi hailed from a non-musical family, but soon learnt to play the dholak and started attending mehfils and mushairas. His family’s opposition made him run away to Nagpur in 1949, to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. That trip proved short-lived and he had to soon return home. He then migrated to Bombay where he met famous qawwal Bandey Hassan Aagreywalley. After a period of apprenticeship, Shafi got a chance to prove his mettle — at a qawwali contest with the popular qawwal, Abdur Rab Chaoos. He made his recording debut with the devotional song, Yun jo jahan mein lakhon nabi aaye hai, tumsa nahi aaya, in 1953, on the HMV label. He joined Venus in 1988. Soon, he was in charge of the Urdu repertoire and he, almost single-handedly, built the vast Urdu repertoire of Venus. The current singing sensation, Altaf Raja, is also his disciple.

HEMA MALINI’S DANCE IN KOTA

Hema Malini will give a Durga dance performance on 11th October in Kota at the Nagar Nigam stage on the occasion of the Dassera fair.

DEV ANAND’S BIRTHDAY

Dev Anand’s birthday was celebrated on 26th September at Ketnav when the seventh song of Vijay Anand Productions’ Jaana Na Dil Se Door was recorded. Internationally renowned qawwal Fareed Sayeed Sabri of Jaipur sang qawwalis on the occasion, besides singing the seventh number for the film, which was tuned by Dilip Sen Sameer Sen. It was penned by Neeraj.

YOU ASKED IT

What do you think of the new IMPPA executive committee? Will it do something to improve the lot of the producers?

– The new committee can do something if it decides to be bold. For several years now, it has been seen that the IMPPA, as a body, has not been able to assert its position in its interaction with other associations.

Will this Diwali be lucky for the film industry?

– Be optimistic! Diwali will definitely bring cheer and joy in the industry. The festival of lights will brighten up the face of the film industry.

Is it right for a producer to not show his film to his distributors before release?

– It is not right but what can you or I do about it? It is the concerned distributors who can object, but the question is, will they?

CCCA ELECTIONS
Clean Sweep For Santosh Singh Jain

Santosh Singh Jain was unanimously re-elected president of the Central Circuit Cine Association (CCCA) at the first meeting of the newly elected executive committee held on 27th September in Nagpur. This is Jain’s 34th term as president. Vijay Rathi was re-elected vice president, and S.K. Surana, hon. secretary. Ramesh Sureka was re-elected hon. treasurer.

Earlier, at the elections to the executive committee, it was a clear sweep for Santosh Singh Jain’s panel. All 16 candidates of his panel were voted to power, with no seats for the opposition panel or the independent candidates. Since Jain’s panel comprised all sitting members except B.N. (Laloo) Kabra, the same executive committee of last year has come to power this year too, with just one new face — G.E. Naik who has replaced Laloo Kabra.

There was no election in the C.I. Distribution section as there were only two members in the fray for two seats. Santosh Singh Jain and Vinod Malhotra were, therefore, declared elected unopposed.

There were elections for the remaining 14 seats of the executive committee. A total of 691 votes were polled, less than the expected 750 to 800. Of these, 80 were declared invalid, leaving 611 valid votes. Uttam Nahar (C.I. Exhibition) polled the highest number of votes — 550. Last year also, Uttam Nahar had bagged the maximum votes in Jaipur.

The list of the winning candidates in the different sections is as under:

C.P. Berar Distribution: Bharat Khajanchi (polled 508 votes), Dilip Mudliar (406), Ramkisan Kasat (374) and G.E. Naik (329).

C.P. Berar Exhibition: S.K. Surana (488), Vijay Rathi (433), Azad Laddha (408) and Mahendra Jain (382).

C.I. Distributioni: Santosh Singh Jain and Vinod Malhotra, both declared elected unopposed.

C.I. Exhibition: Uttam Nahar (550) and Ramesh Sureka (547).

Rajasthan Distribution: Mohan Godha (453) and Nandu Jalani (296).

Rajasthan Exhibition: Kishanchand Jain (376) and Trilok Singh (327).

The vanquished candidates were:- C.P. Berar Distribution: B.N. (Laloo) Kabra (306 votes), Brijmohanlal Dewan (209), Sharang Chandak (208), Rajkumar Mansukhani (52), Tarachand Kanuga (52). C.P. Berar Exhibition: Munshiram Upaveja (224), Narendra Agarwal (188), Vishnu Prasad Agrawal (170) and Vinod Trivedi (151). C.I. Exhibition: Shivkumar Jaiswal (125). Rajasthan Distribution: O.P. Goyal (267) and Baba Ramdeo (206). Rajasthan Exhibition: Kishinchand Janiani (232), Rajendra Mamoria (188), Narendra Sharma (50) and Rameshchand Jain (49).

The voting started at 8 a.m. at the Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande Sabhagriha in Nagpur on 27th. It got over by 1.30 p.m. and counting of votes commenced at the art gallery annexed to the Sabhagriha at 3 p.m. The results were declared at 7.45 p.m.

The annual general meeting on 26th had its share of heat and fury. But while opposition members criticising the ruling group is understandable, what was surprising was that an opposition member openly criticised the candidature of another member of his (opposition) panel. Baba Ramdeo decried O.P. Goyal’s candidature from Rajasthan and felt that since Goyal belonged to the C.I. region, he should have contested the elections from C.I. Baba Ramdeo also announced in the open session that Rajasthan distributors and exhibitors would not support Goyal for this reason. To make matters worse, another candidate from Rajasthan, Kishinchand Janiani, announced that O.P. Goyal was not on their (opposition) panel. And all this even as Goyal had become a self-styled opposition leader! Reportedly, Santosh Singh Jain had incited Baba Ramdeo and Kishinchand Janiani against Goyal. Mohan Godha of the Santosh Singh Jain panel was at the last minute taken by the opposition panel as their member too.

On 26th, at the 45th annual meeting, legal advisor B.G. Dave was felicitated. Dave, who has been associated with the legal work of the CCCA and is also the legal advisor to The Kalyan Pictures Pvt. Ltd., Amravati, will soon shift to Jodhpur to lead a retired life there.

A demonstration show of the English film Species II was held for the CCCA delegates on 26th at Smruti cinema, Nagpur. To drive home the effect of Dolby digital sound, some scenes were shown alternately in mono and Dolby sound.

The arrangements for the annual general meeting and the elections, supervised by the CCCA’s reception committee, were very good. The venue of the meeting was well-decorated.

Following Landslide Victory At IMPPA Elections
Shakti Samanta Elected IMPPA President
Sultan Ahmed Faces Defeat

It was a near-clean sweep for Shakti Samanta and his Dynamic group in the IMPPA elections on 28th September at ISKCON, Juhu, Bombay. The group bagged 13 of the 16 seats in the Ordinary Class and all but one of the five seats in the Associate Class I. Sultan Ahmed’s United group faced a miserable defeat with only two of their candidates (Sandeep Sethi and Preeti Sapru) making it in the Ordinary Class and one (Anand Girdhar) in the Associate Class I. Sultan Ahmed himself lost the elections. He was the sitting IMPPA president. Dara Singh, the independent candidate who was being backed by both the groups, made it in the Ordinary Class.

Actually, the well-attended annual general meeting that preceded the election, gave an indication that the voters wanted a change this year and had come to vote the group led by Shakti Samanta. The annual meeting itself was a stormy affair with firebrand speeches made by Rajeev Kumar, N.N. Sippy and Vinod Chhabra. Although the speeches of Sippy and Rajeev Kumar were not really aimed at any individual, they did go to expose the ineffectiveness of the IMPPA. Obviously, therefore, the voters interpreted that as the ineffectiveness of Sultan  Ahmed as IMPPA president. Vinod Chhabra made an emotion-charged speech and lamented that he was never treated with respect by IMPPA president Sultan Ahmed and even by some of the employees of IMPPA. He recalled how effective Shree Ram Bohra and Ramraj Nahta had been as past presidents of the august body and said, they would come to the rescue of their members no sooner they sensed trouble. All the three speakers were lustily cheered and, in fact, their speeches cleared the decks even more for the change which members were looking for and had come for.

The elections started soon after the conclusion of the 59th annual general meeting around 7.30 p.m. A total of 123 votes were cast in the Ordinary Class, of which three were declared invalid. In the Associate Class I, all 56 votes cast were valid.

Pappu Verma and Suresh  Malhotra, the two returning officers, began the counting of votes soon after elections were over and it was clear from the word ‘go’ that it was the day of the Dynamic group. K.D. Shorey bagged the maximum number of votes — 81. In the Associate Class I, it was Darshan Sabarwal who polled the highest number of votes — 41.

Those elected in the Ordinary Class were: K.D. Shorey (81 votes), Shakti Samanta (79), Vinay Kumar Sinha (73), Pranlal Mehta (70), Satish Khanna (68), Sushama Shiromanee (68), Rajeev Kumar (67), Saawan Kumar Tak (67), Dara Singh (64), Preeti Sapru (64), N.R. (Babloo) Pachisia (62), Pawan Kumar (61), Madan Mohla (60), Sandeep Sethi (57), Mukesh Bhatt (56) and Surendra Bohra (56).

In the Associate Class I, the winners were: Darshan Sabarwal (41), S.K. Kapur (40), Surjit Aujla (33), Dimppy Ramdayal (31) and Anand Girdhar (25).

The losers in the Ordinary Class from the the Dynamic group were B. Subhash (who polled 45 votes), Satyendra Pal Chaudhry (54 votes) and Vinod Talwar (50 votes). The other losers in the Ordinary Class, all of Sultan Ahmed’s United group, were: Sultan Ahmed (51 votes), Kulwant Jani (43), Nitin Manmohan (42), Boota Singh Shaad (39), K. Pappu (35), Deepak Shivdasani (33), Anil Ganguly (32), Kant Kumar (30), Prakash Jha (30), Shanoo Mehra (28), Sujit Kumar (23), Avtar Bhogal (19) and Sharukh Mirza Beig (16).

Those who were not elected in the Associate Class I were Johny Bakshi (22 votes), Surendra Mohan (18), B.R. Ishara (14), Ranjeet (9), Kamal Sadanah (5) and Rajiv Suri (4). All except Johny Bakshi (Dynamic group) and Rajiv Suri (independent) belonged to the United group.

Before the annual meeting, five veterans viz. Gulshan Rai, Gulshan Behl, Anand Bakshi, Suraiya and late Aspi Irani were honoured, the last posthumosly, by the IMPPA for their contributions to the film industry. Chief guest B.R. Chopra, paying rich eulogies to all the five honoured veterans, handed over special IMPPA trophies to them. Late Aspi Irani’s trophy was accepted by his widow.

The first meeting of the newly elected executive committee for 1998-99 was held on 29th at IMPPA House, in which Shakti Samanta was unanimously elected president. Samanta had chaired the organisation for four terms earlier. Saawan Kumar Tak was elected senior vice president, and Sushama Shiromanee, vice president. Vinay Kumar Sinha was elected hon. treasurer.

IMPPA ELECTION SIDELIGHTS

** Ex-IMPPA president Sultan Ahmed gave a feel of his sportsman spirit when he sat in the election hall all through the vote counting process even as it was clear that he and his group were facing defeat. He made an exit after the results were announced formally.

** That producers who make Hindi films prefer to use Hindi as the language of communication was clear when several of them booed Rajiv Suri for making a speech in English. Another thing that went against Suri was that his speech was too lengthy and was too general to make any impact. On the other hand, producer Rajiv Kumar was applauded even though he spoke in English, perhaps, because he made valid points and was also short and sweet.

** The election results of IMPPA this year were as unpredictable as the box-office fates of many of the releases this year. Like producers, like products!

** Sultan Ahmed’s non-election has shocked the trade. It is, perhaps, for the first time in the 61-year history (although this was the 59th annual general meeting, the body is 61 years old) of the IMPPA that a sitting president lost the election.

“Filmmaking is all about crisis management.”
SUBHASH GHAI
Caught in action in wet Chamba

Rain rain go away
Come again another day

Subhash Ghai must’ve sung this couplet a thousand times last week as he and his huge unit of Taal sat in Chamba, waiting for the skies to clear and the rains to stop. The cold morning of 22nd September started on a wet note. Even then, Ghai and his unit had reached the scenic location a few miles away from Chamba city, hoping that by the time they’d be ready to shoot, the weather would have improved. But did it? It only worsened. The drizzle turned into a downpour and the convoy of cars that had wound its way to the top (the location was at a great height) had to soon take an about-turn, now winding its way downwards. The unit headed for another location, a few kilometres away from the earlier one. Ghai announced, he had to picturise a scene and two lines of a song at that location and, in fact, needed to shoot them in the rain.

The new location was as heavenly as the earlier one. The huge mountains, green fields, overcast skies, thick fog and the light drizzle (the downpour had stopped), all these provided the perfect backdrop for Ghai’s scene-and-song shooting. Choreographer Saroj Khan and her assistant, Jojo, instructed Aishwarya Rai and her two screen sisters, Jividha and Tanya, about their dance steps. All the three of them were dressed in white. A few rehearsals and a few retakes later, the shot was finally okayed. It was then time for the scene for which Aishwarya quickly changed her costume. Akshaye Khanna was ready by then.

The scene showed a despondent Aish sitting quietly and Akshaye asking her what she was thinking. When Aish refused to divulge her thoughts, Akshaye continued that he was aware that she was thinking just like the heroine of a Hindi film would — a hero comes from the city to the village, hero and heroine fall in love and then it’s time for the hero to return to the city to never come back to the village. Realising that that was exactly what she was thinking, Aish wondered aloud whether the same would happen in their case as it was time for Akshaye to return to his city. But Akshaye put her at ease by saying, this was his life, not a Hindi film. He acknowledged that both of them would have to fight it out with their respective families before they finally united in matrimony. At this point, Aish presented a red muffler to Akshaye with the word ‘Manavsi’ neatly embroidered on it. To Akshaye’s question about what the word meant, Aish explained, “Manav jaisi….. Manav jaisi Mansi”. Manav is Akshaye’s name in the film, and Mansi is Aishwarya’s. “The two of us will always be together now,” concluded Aish as Akshaye fondly touched the muffler and finally prepared to leave.

There were plenty of retakes of the shot. At times, although Ghai and his genius cameraman, Kabir Lal, were happy with the shot, Akshaye wasn’t. Thinking he could better his performance, he asked for some more retakes. Ghai sportingly agreed till at last, all of them were convinced that the best shot had been okayed.

Since the day’s shooting had started only in the evening, it began to get dark even as the shot was being taken. A few close-ups and other shots were wrapped up quickly before it got too dark for shooting. The last shot required a fan, to show Aish’s loose hair being blown by the wind, and Ghai’s efficient unit hands had installed the fan atop the terrace (that’s where the shooting was being done) in no time. Even as Subhash Ghai was instructing Aish for the last shot of the day, the strong breeze, stirred up by the huge fan, blew off his hat. Perhaps, it was the fan’s way of saying, “Hats off” to Ghai and his unit, who had wrapped up a lovely scene and two lines of a song in such a short time and despite the worst weather.

Had the weather been good, Ghai had also planned to shoot using the huge ‘Akela’ crane on another location. The ‘Akela’ crane, which can reach a height of 85 feet, had come to Chamba all the way from Madras. It was in the process of being installed for the shooting, from early morning even as it drizzled and rained, but at the end of the day, the dismantling process began when it became clear that the unclear weather wouldn’t permit shooting from atop the crane. The Akela crane, which takes a few hours to set up, is remote-controlled and can do without a cameraman perched on the top alongwith the camera (read details in 3-E column in this issue).

As if the rains weren’t bad enough, the camera and generator vans were caught in a terrible traffic jam while they were returning from the morning location to where the actual shooting took place. The traffic jam along delayed shooting by almost three hours. It was once again the efficient unit hands who literally pushed a stalled lorry to clear the way for the vans to pass, that ultimately made shooting possible that evening.

Call it a coincidence or whatever, just the previous evening, Subhash Ghai, while talking of Taal, had said, a lot of unforeseen circumstances and happenings at the time of shooting necessitated one to constantly adapt to and make the most of the given situation. “Film-making is all about crisis management,” explained Ghai. As if to prove his point, the rains created the crisis the following day. And sure enough, Ghai managed the crisis well enough to be able to at least shoot what he finally did, rains and traffic jam notwithstanding.

To say that the music of Subhash Ghai’s film is extraordinary is to state the obvious. But to say that A.R. Rahman’s music sounds different is to state the unbelievable. Yes, Rahman’s music in Taal has the North Indian flavour, something which Ghai has been able to extract out of the whizkid.

After shooting, Subhash Ghai spoke of his hero and heroine. He was all praise for Aishwarya Rai whom he described as very, very professional. “I’ve not worked with a more professional actress,” said the veteran producer-director and added, “Her professionalism reminds me of Nutan.” Ghai is aware that Aish tends to act childish in front of the camera at times and is guarding against this very consciously. About Akshaye, he dispelled rumours that the boy was a difficult actor. “He is very co-operative,” said Ghai, “and a tremendous actor.” But the best comments were reserved for his other hero, Anil Kapoor. Although Anil was not in Chamba, Subhash Ghai and Saroj Khan praised his down-to-earth attitude and described him as a producer’s delight. They spoke proudly of how Anil Kapoor would double up as a production hand whenever the need arose, especially on outdoor schedules.

One rose up the following morning to be greeted by heavy rains. Waste of another day? Not for Ghai! The guy was up at 6 a.m. and was busy shooting instructions to his unit to reach the location (Dalhousie), more than an hour’s drive from Chamba. He was confident that the weather God would not let him down again and he’d be able to shoot a couple of hours later. In other words, he was preparing once again to manage the crisis. Even when the shooting schedule started in Delhi (from where the unit then shifted to Chamba), there had been a crisis of sorts — Ghai was running high temperature and had been advised rest by his doctor in Bombay. But rest he did — after his daily shooting which he refused to postpone. As Ghai joked, “All these days of shooting, I was sick. Now that I’m feeling alright, the weather is sick.”

Anyway, it was time for us to bid goodbye to the Taal unit. We left by road to Jammu to catch a flight to Delhi (and from there to Bombay). After barely 45 minutes of the 7-hour drive, we missed being hit by a boulder that came rolling down the mountain on the road and ultimately fell down into the valley hundreds and hundreds of feet below. We missed the boulder that must’ve weighed over 50 kgs., by barely 10 seconds. It was a crisis we had least expected. Thankfully, God had managed this crisis for us. Or else….. the  very thought now sends shivers down our spines.

– Komal Nahta

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

IMPPA: A Different Scene

Elections for three important associations in the industry were held over the last two weeks. The Indian Motion Picture Distributors’ Association (IMPDA), the Central Circuit Cine Association (CCCA) and the Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association went to the polls with great fervour. While members of the IMPDA and the CCCA voted the sitting members again to their executive committees (the only exception being G.E. Naik who replaced B.N. (Laloo) Kabra in the CCCA), the scenario was quite in contrast as far as IMPPA was concerned. Last year, it was the members of the United group who swept the polls but this time, the same United group faced defeat at the hands of the Dynamic group. It’s a different story that several sitting members of last year had left the United group this year and have been re-elected this year, but under the aegis of the Dynamic group.

‘Dil Se..’ Triumphs…. In Britain

There is hope for Dil Se.. yet. The latest reports indicate that Dil Se.., which bombed in India, has proved to be a huge success in Britain. Its phenomenal run there can be gauged from the fact that the film collected more than £67,000 in just three days of its premiere release in London. The film ran to packed houses in a number of Asian-dominated suburbs all over Britain and, in the process, became the first-ever Hindi film to break into Britain’s weekly Top 10 films. The film’s tremendous success among British-Asians is seen as largely due to the popularity of its hero, Shah Rukh Khan, and A.R. Rahman’s hit music. Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan, the foot-taping number from the film, has become a big rage among Asians living all over Britain.

The ‘Bade Miyan’ Of Fashion

Arguably the most outrageous costume designer in Bollywood, Firoze Shakir is known as much for his wild and wacky personality as for designing the flamboyant costumes of Govinda. Firoze, who changes his own appearance so often that some people have trouble recognising him at times, has currently designed the new-look costumes for Amitabh Bachchan in David Dhawan’s Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. His costumes for both, Govinda and Amitabh Bachchan, in the film have been so well-appreciated that he has been flooded with offers for a vast number of new films. On a recent publicity campaign of BMCM, Firoze travelled all over Bombay, distributing posters of the film. He says, he did this out of love for producer Vashu Bhagnani who provides him with a lot of inspiration for his work. Speaking about BMCM to Information, Shakir said, “The magic of Vashu Bhagnani, David Dhawan, Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda, and a sprinkling of the wild clothes designed for the duo — is just the right recipe for success!

KEEP THE FLAG FLYING HIGH

Film Information, born on 6th October, 1973, has completed 25 years of its publication this week. Started with the blessings of industry stalwarts, by founder-publisher-editor Ramraj Nahta who promised, “There will be a strong emphasis on timely information and news, news that affect the business in a variety of ways, tightly edited with proper consideration to the needs of the industry.” And if one goes through all the issues of the magazine, it can easily be said that the promise has been kept, not only by the founder-editor but also his successor, Komal, who is currently editing the paper.

Being associated with the paper from its first issue, rather, even prior to that — from the planning stage — as a moral support and contributor, it is a matter of pride for me to say that the paper faced with a smile all the storms that came its way and never allowed any force to affect its moral strength, its honest reporting and its pursuits for the betterment of the industry.

Keep Ramraj’s flag flying high, Komal!

– JAGAT GUPTA

‘SOLDIER’ SONGS: BEAUTIFUL TUNES, PRETTY LOCATIONS

Kumar and Ramesh Taurani have yet another winner in their hands in the music of their home production, Soldier. Anu Malik and Sameer have teamed up with the Tauranis and given a hit music score. Director duo Abbas-Mustan and the choreographers seem to have been pretty impressed with the music score for, they’ve made the songs as exciting, if not more, visually too. Most of the songs have been picturised on exotic locales of Australia and New Zealand.

In the meantime, one song is being picturised now on Bobby Deol and Preity Zinta on a rich and opulent set erected at Filmistan Studios. Preity Zinta, the girl who was to be introduced in Soldier but was seen first in Dil Se.., looks pretty and dances very gracefully, as was evident in the preview of the songs of the film on 24th September at Sumeet preview theatre.

The screening was followed by cocktails and dinner at Hotel Sun-N-Sand.

Ramesh Taurani informed at the party that Soldier would be released on 30th October or 20th November. Of course, efforts are on to meet the October date.

CALCUTTA STUDIOS UNDER CLOUDS OF DISPUTE

Film studios in Calcutta may face closure if the ongoing dispute between producers and associations of artistes and technicians is not resolved soon. The dispute has reportedly been caused due to an increasing number of joint ventures between Indian and Bangaladeshi production companies. The dispute has highlighted two major problems occurring as a result of Indo-Bangaldeshi collaborations. Firstly, while an increasing number of Indian film companies are collaborating with the Bangladeshi ones, the same is not reciprocated by the latter. As a result, the interests of Calcutta companies in Bangladesh are not served, it is felt. Secondly, Indo-Bangladeshi ventures in Calcutta have restricted themselves to a fixed set of artistes and technicians — a practice that has made the other sections of the industry quite unhappy.

It may be mentioned here that West Bengal has some of the strongest trade unions in the country, which are perceived as having destroyed many industries. Now, certain sections fear that the film industry in the state may also fall prey to their thoughtless agitations. It may be mentioned here that the unions of artistes and dubbing artistes succeeded in restricting the inflow of Hindi dubbed films in West Bengal last year.

MAHAKAUSHAL CINE ASSOCIATION FORMED

Anand Bernard of Anand Cinema, Jabalpur was elected the first president of the newly-formed Mahakaushal Cine Association, at a meeting of exhibitors of the region held at Hotel Arihant Palace in Jabalpur recently. The Association has been formed with an aim to discuss and find solutions to the various problems plaguing film trade in the Mahakaushal region of C.P. Berar. Kapoor Chand Jain (of Apsara Talkies, Sagar) and Suresh Gupta (of Neeraj Talkies, Katni) were elected vice presidents; Suneet Jain (of Vineet Cinema, Jabalpur), general secretary; and Anil Jaiswal (of Harihar Talkies, Narsingpur) and Surendra Sharma (of Pankaj Talkies, Chhindwara), joint secretaries. Ramnarayan Agrawal of Vandana Cinema, Jabalpur was elected treasurer.

Later, in his inaugural address, president Anand Bernard urged the government to provide its fullest co-operation to the film trade in Mahakaushal region.

CHHATTISGARH DISTRIBUTORS, EXHIBITORS FORM ASSOCIATION

A body of exhibitors and distributors of Chhattisgarh region of C.P. Berar, under the name and style of Chhattisgarh Rajjya Exhibitor & Distributor Association, was formed at a meeting held on 15th September in Raipur, to solve local problems of its members. It was made clear that this Association would not be a parallel body to the CCCA. An ad hoc committee was elected at the meeting. Loonkaran Parekh is the first president, and Sudarshan Behl, Prakash Jain, Ashok Jajodiya, Biharilal and Ramniwas, vice presidents. Lavanya Kumar Tiwari is the secretary, and Shahed Ahmed, joint secretary. Narendra Jaiswal was elected treasurer.

Representatives from different stations of the region have been nominated on the ad hoc body as under:

From Raipur: Maheshbhai, I.C. Dhariwal, M.K. Gupta, G.K. Solanki, P.M. Gattani, A.J. Kawle and T.C. Kanuga. Bilaspur: Munshiram. Ambikapur: Babulal. Korba: Ramesh Jaiswal. Raigarh: Sagar Agrawal. Durg: Ajai Jadhav and Dilipbhai. Rajnandgaon: G.D. Wadhwa. Jagdalpur: Kiran Jaiswal. Dhamtari: Sathi Lal Lunkad. Mahasamund: Prakash Sakherkar. Rajim: Ved Prakash Tiwari. Nawapura: Anand Agrawal. Mungeli: Ashok Soni. Kanker: Dilip Lunia.

CHHOTUBHAI KANTHARAI DEAD

Chhotubhai Kantharai, former owner of Girnar cinema, Rajkot, and Drive In, Ahmedabad, passed away in Rajkot recently. He was 78 and a successful businessman. He donated large amounts for social causes.

SURINDER KAPOOR RE-ELECTED GUILD PRESIDENT

Surinder Kapoor was re-elected president of the The Film Producers Guild of India Ltd. for 1998-99 at the first meeting of the Guild’s Council of Management held on 24th September at B.R. Chopra’s residence. Yash Chopra and Amit Khanna were elected vice presidents, and Kamal Kumar Barjatya and Kiran Shantaram, hon. treasurers. B.K. Rau continues to be the secretary.

This is the fourth consecutive term of Surinder Kapoor’s presidentship.

Earlier, at the 44th annual general meeting of the Guild, held the same day, the following 19 members were unanimously re-elected to the Council of Management: Surinder Kapoor, Yash Chopra, Amit Khanna, Randhir Kapoor, Kiran Shantaram, Kamal Kumar Barjatya, J. Om Prakash, F.C. Mehra, T.C. Dewan, Ramdayal, Harmesh Malhotra, A.G. Nadiadwala, Rajkumar Kohli, Tilak Raj Magan, Prakash Mehra, Pramod Chakravorty, B.R. Chopra, Ramanand Sagar and Gulshan Rai.

AMITABH’S VOICE FOR ‘HERO HINDUSTANI’

Amitabh Bachchan has lent his voice to the opening commentary in Hero Hindustani. Amitabh recorded the commentary for the film at B.R. in his golden voice on the night of 25th September, extolling the rich cultural heritage of India.

The film, release of which has been postponed to 21st October (New Year’s day), will also very likely have a new song. The ‘Saanwal Saanwal’ number, which is already included n the film’s audio cassettes, had not been picturised. It may now be picturised in the days to come.

Incidentally, Raja Hindustani had been released in 1996 on New Year’s day which happened to fall on a Monday that year. Hero Hindustani will be released on this year’s New Year day which falls on a Wednesday.

BABY GIRL FOR NUSRAT

Playback singer Nusrat delivered a baby girl at a nursing home at Malad, Bombay, recently.

BABY BOY FOR AMITA NANGIA

Actress Amita Nangia delivered a baby boy on 23rd September in Bombay.

ENT. TAX REDUCED IN U.P.

Entertainment tax in Uttar Pradesh was reduced from 125% to 100% from 14th September. Collections have shown an increase in the last two weeks following the reduction in tax, which has been passed on to the paying public.

CCCA Goes To Polls In Nagpur Tomorrow
Heavy Attendance Expected

Finally, the Central Circuit Cine Association, the strongest film trade body, goes to the polls tomorrow (27th September) in Nagpur. The 45th annual general meeting is scheduled to be held there today (26th) and it is expected to be a stormy affair. Since there’s a fairly strong opposition panel which is fielding candidates against the ruling panel’s candidates, the annual meeting may turn out to be an exciting affair, witnessing heated exchanges of only words, one hopes.

The opposition has been criticising Santosh Singh Jain’s ruling group for having done very little for the members. In particular, the Madhya Pradesh cinema closure, scheduled from 17th September, had come in for a lot of criticism from some quarters. Of course, ultimately, the bandh had to be called off even before it was initiated. But even this call of cancellation is being used by the opposition to expose what they call the ruling group’s lack of planning.

What the elections have in store for the CCCA and its members will be clear only in the late night hours of 27th when the polling results will be declared. But it does seem likely that Santosh Singh Jain, who has presided over the Association for over 30 years, will this time have to contend with a strong opposition. Meanwhile, Jain had till 25th September not even announced his panel members, obviously with the intention of waiting and watching.

The heat, that has been generated for the elections, is expected to result in a huge attendance at the annual general meeting and elections. On a rough estimate, polling this year may touch or even cross the 800-mark.

In the meantime, M.A. Naqvi, Union minister of state for I & B, is scheduled to inaugurate the annual meeting today at 10.30 a.m. at Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande Hall. Narayan Rane, minister of revenue, Maharashtra, will preside. Pramod Navalkar, minister for cultural affairs, Maharashtra, will be the chief guest. Nitin Gadkari, minister of state for PWD, Maharashtra, and guardian minister of Nagpur, Anil Deshmukh, minister of state for education & cultural affairs, Maharashtra, and Vinod Khanna are expected to be the guests of honour.

N.N. Sippy Re-Elected IMPDA President

N.N. Sippy was unanimously re-elected president of the Indian Motion Picture Distributors’ Association for 1998-99 at the first meeting of the newly elected executive committee held on 22nd September in Bombay at CCI. N.N. Sippy continues as president for the 13th consecutive year. Indravadan Shah was elected vice president, and Kantilal Mehta, hon. treasurer. Devendra Shah and Haresh Bhatia were elected hon. secretaries.

Earlier in the day, the following members were elected to the executive committee after the 59th annual general meeting of the IMPDA at Birla Kreeda Kendra, Chowpatty, Bombay:

Ordinary Class: Balkrishna Shroff (he polled the highest number of votes — 199), N.N. Sippy (176 votes), Devendra Shah (163), U.A. Thadani (156), Tolu Bajaj (151), Haresh Bhatia (142), Ramesh Sippy (125), Ayub Selia (122), Vinay Choksey (120), Kantilal Mehta (118), Guru Shenoy (110) and Vinod Kakkad (107).

In the Associate Class, the following were elected unopposed: Indravadan Shah, Mohan Susania and D.Y. Pattani.

The losing candidates in the Ordinary class were Pradeep Singh (102 votes; lost to Vinod Kakkad by 5 votes), Manoj Khivasara (96 votes), Sanjay Chaturvedi (90 votes), Abid Zaffar (52 votes) and Tekchand Anchal (36 votes).

A total of 257 votes were polled. During the election, the policy of allowing as valid votes carrying single names (introduced last year) came in for heavy criticism from a few members. This was because a lot many ballot papers were, at the time of the counting, observed to be having just one name instead of 12 (since there was no contest for 3 seats in the Associate Class). The issue will come up for discussion during future meetings of the executive committee.

Earlier, in his opening address at the 59th annual general meeting of the IMPDA, president N.N. Sippy outlined the various problems that the film industry was facing at present. These included a major financial crunch, abnormally high costs of film production, high theatre rentals, and cable, video and audio piracies, among others. Sippy also criticised the stars for demanding exorbitantly high prices when they were unable to assure the success of films. He lamented that the theatres continued to be poorly maintained in spite of the exemption of service charge of Re. 1 and Rs. 2 per ticket from entertainment duty, granted by the Maharashtra and Gujarat governments respectively, for their upkeep.

N.N. Sippy made a special mention of the industry’s struggle in combating cable piracy of films. According to him, the fight against cable piracy can be won if the industry chooses to collaborate fully with the police. He suggested that sufficient resources can be generated to fight the menace, simply by the producer and the distributor jointly paying a subscription of Rs. 5,000 on release of their film, to a specially earmarked fund. Moreover, the exhibitors could also contribute a sum between Rs. 500 and Rs. 5,000 for the purpose. He cited the example of Tamil Nadu, where the local film industry and the administration worked hand-in-hand to effectively check the growth of cable piracy in the state. He urged the Hindi film industry to emulate their Tamil counterparts.

The first meeting of the new executive committee was followed by a cocktail-dinner party at the Garware Club.

YOU ASKED IT

Do you have any inside reports of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai?

– It is heard that the first half is light and fun-filled, and the second half will make the audience weep, so strong are the emotions.

What is the business of Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha expected to be in Bombay circuit?

– It may touch 4 crore!

What kind of story does M.F. Husain’s Gaj Gamini have?

– One doesn’t know about its story. But the five heroines in the film represent the five moods of a woman. In the film, the woman is played by Madhuri Dixit, and the other heroines represent the different faces of Madhuri.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Columbia Tristar’s promotional strategy for GODZILLA is paying rich dividends at Chitra Talkies, Amravati. A major part of the promotions is aimed at school and college students, who are offered the tickets for the film at half the rates. Moreover, a special screening of the film was held for government officials of the region. The officials were reported to be so impressed with the film that they dashed out letters to various schools and colleges in Amravati, recommending the film for their students. Subsequently, booking counters were opened at a few schools and colleges. Students were seen in large numbers, awaiting their turn at these counters. Apart from this, specially prepared stickers and toffees were distributed free of cost to the patrons. Not to be left behind, the local cable operators in Amravati have begun telecasting various programmes depicting people’s craze for the film.

* SATYA (tax-free) has created a theatre record by collecting 49,360/ in 5th week at Ashok, Jalgaon.

* DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE (tax-free) has entered 150th combined week at Maratha Mandir, Bombay in matinee shows. It has collected a total of 53,42,309/- in its 96-week run at the cinema so far.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

When East Meets West

The impending CCCA elections are fast developing the shape of a major battle being waged by two rival camps. The panel of opposition is leaving no stone unturned in its bid to seize power from veteran president (and not president veteran! How else would one describe someone who has spent half his life being the president of the CCCA?!) Santosh Singh Jain and his panel. Obviously, all kinds of rumours are floating in the air and one is at a loss to decide what to believe and what not to. In fact, the rumour mills in the territory are being run at such a fast pace that when asked if he had heard the latest, a wag remarked, “Don’t tell me that even Santosh Singh Jain has joined the opposition panel now!!”

Once An Actor, Always An Actor

As Rishi Kapoor’s directorial debut, Aa Ab Laut Chalen, races towards completion, the confirmation comes that he has no plans — repeat, no plans — whatsoever of quitting as an actor. The confirmation comes from the man himself who wants to put all the rumours about his quitting acting to rest. “I am open to acting assignments even now,” Rishi Kapoor told Information. And why just acting? “I am even open to directorial assignments outside the R.K. banner! In fact, after Aa Ab Laut Chalen, I will definitely direct an outside film before I start one for R.K.”

Mithun And Jackie — Birds Of A Feather…

It sure looks like Jackie Shroff is taking a leaf out of Mithun’s book. Of late, he has been on a major signing spree and has accepted nearly 15 assignments in the past couple of months alone! What is curious is the fact that many of these films have him co-starring with Mithun Chakraborty. So, what’s the deal? Have they found some kind of common agenda? Or is it simply a case of Mithun rubbing off on Jackie? Like they say, jaisi sangat, waisi rangat! But then, who knows…?

LATEST POSITION

Heavy rains in different parts of the country played havoc with the box-office which even otherwise was in the doldrums.

Tirchhi Topiwale has done well only in some centres due to lack of oppositions. For the rest, it has done poor. 1st week Bombay 26,67,723 (66.66%) from 11 cinemas; Ahmedabad 3,50,825 from 4 cinemas, Baroda 85,345, Rajkot 78,880; Pune 3,60,062 from 4 cinemas, Kolhapur 80,718; Delhi 9,68,146 (42.78%) from 6 cinemas; Kanpur 66,454, Lucknow (21 shows) 92,239, Allahabad 48,500; Amritsar 54,110; Calcutta 3,95,496 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 1,22,735 from 2 cinemas, Amravati 1,10,659, Akola 85,000; Indore 60,000 (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 70,000; Jaipur 3,24,360 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 11,78,744 from 10 cinemas (2 in noon).

………….

Dil Se.. 4th week Bombay 9,58,819 (68.46%) from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Ahmedabad (mg. shows) 12,584 (2 unrecd.); Pune 4,73,559 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 46,332; Delhi 14,11,366 from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 1,04,870, Lucknow 1,84,623, Varanasi 67,107, Allahabad 68,500, Bareilly (6 days) 27,839; Calcutta 1,42,613; Nagpur (6 days) 74,454 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 46,262, Akola (6 days) 24,016, Raipur (6 days) 43,683, Bhilai (6 days) 31,200, 1st week Yavatmal 69,424; 4th week Indore 72,003, Bhopal 50,914; Jaipur 1,25,008; Hyderabad 4,97,087 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon), Aurangabad 2 weeks’ total 4,19,000.

Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha 8th week Bombay 33,82,101 (84.84%) from 10 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,01,438 from 2 cinemas, Rajkot (matinee) 9,425, Jamnagar 40,583, total 6,28,075; Pune 4,09,494 from 3 cinemas, Kolhapur 59,000, Solapur (matinee) 21,347; Delhi 6,59,544 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 80,084, Lucknow 1,71,870, 7th week Varanasi 81,353, Allahabad 45,100, 8th week Meerut 74,298, 6th Bareilly 41,559; 8th week Calcutta 1,38,469; Nagpur 1,13,359 from 2 cinemas, 6th week Jabalpur 1,14,824, total 9,80,700, 8th Amravati 51,115, Akola 65,050, total 9,15,500, Raipur 70,622, Bhilai 30,533; Indore 1,17,917, Bhopal 75,046; Ajmer 60,165; Hyderabad 3,06,216 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), 7th week Aurangabad 1,18,000.

NATRAJ, KOTA SOLD

Natraj Cinema of Kota has been sold. The cinema, which is closed now, will reopen shortly, after renovations are carried out by the new owners.

WEBSITE ON INDIAN FILMS LAUNCHED

Mitter Infotech, a computer software company, has announced the launch of a new website, www.channelbollywood.com, where Internet users from all over the world will be provided access to various information on the Indian film industry. The website is designed as a film magazine which includes topics like film reviews, list of hit and flop films, music ratings etc., apart from articles on filmmaking and career guidance. Other proposed features include photo galleries where the users will be able to download photographs of stars.

The launch of the website will coincide with an online chat session with Shammi Kapoor at 8 p.m. today (19th September). The chat session will be hosted by the American Internet giant, Yahoo! Inc. The website will be formally launched at a party at CCI, Churchgate, Bombay, today.

MAZHAR KHAN DEAD

Actor-producer-director Mazhar Khan died at Lilavati Hospital at Bandra, Bombay on 16th September at 5.30 p.m. He was 42 and was suffering from a kidney and other ailments. He had been on dialysis since 10 months.

Mazhar was admitted to the hospital on 15th morning and was put on dailysis immediately thereafter. He had also been undergoing treatment abroad for kidney failure and pancreatic problems.

Mazhar got his break as an actor in Ramesh Sippy’s Shaan, in which he played a lame beggar. He worked in several films thereafter and was also well-received in Ramesh Sippy’s television serial, Buniyaad. He turned a producer and director with Gang which he started six to seven years ago but which could not be completed even till his death. Bharat Shah had stepped in into the venture some time back. Only a few days’ shooting remains to be done to complete the project starring Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff, Juhi Chawla and Javed Jaffri.

Mazhar was married twice, the second time to Zeenat Aman from whom he had two children. Zeenat and Mazhar had been divorced some time ago. His first wife was abroad with their son when Mazhar passed away.

He was buried on the night of 16th at the Santacruz cemetery.

GOPAL SRIVASTAVA DEAD

Publicist Gopal Srivastava expired on 13th September at Bombay Hospital. He was 60 and was the regular publicist of films made by J. Om Prakash and Rakesh Roshan. He used to also be the publicist of Rakesh Roshan when the latter was an actor.

Gopal had been admitted to hospital a few days back for a severe ailment but his condition only deteriorated. His last rites were performed on the afternoon of 17th at Chandanwadi crematorium. Commander (retd.) R.P. Rai, a school-friend of Gopal and now a director at Bombay Hospital, was very helpful in completing all the required formalities at the hospital since no relative of Gopal lives in Bombay. Another friend, Col. (retd.) Janak Kalia, was also helpful.

CBFC REBUKES PRODUCERS FOR NON-COMPLIANCE WITH RULES

In a recent communication addressed to producers’ associations, the CBFC has reprimanded film producers and distributors for non-compliance with Rule 38 of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules. The said rule states that the category of the censor certificate issued to the film must be clearly mentioned while advertising the film in any manner (be it through newspaper ads, hoardings, posters, handbills or trailers). The letter, signed by CBFC  chairperson Asha Parekh, also warns that strict action would be taken against those who violate the rule. In a reply to the CBFC, the Association of Motion Pictures & TV Programme Producers (AMPTPP) has pointed out the impracticality of the CBFC suggestion. As things stand, getting a film certified by the censors remains the last stage in film production, with most films being released within two to three weeks after their being certified. On the other hand, the time required for the printing of a film’s publicity materials is normally between six and eight weeks. Moreover, a publicity campaign for a film needs to run for at least six to eight weeks before its release, if it is to prove effective. Thus it becomes imperative for the publicity materials to go into print long before the censor certificate is applied for, thereby making it impossible for them to carry the category of the censor certificate issued.

Perhaps, the CBFC will pay heed to these simple facts.

U.A. THADANI ELECTED TOA PRESIDENT

U.A. Thadani was elected president of the Theatre Owners’ Association for 1998-99 at the first meeting of the council of management of the TOA, held on 16th September in Bombay. R.V. Vidhani was elected vice president, C.N. Mirani, hon. treasurer, and Nester D’souza, hon. secretary. Earlier, at the annual general meeting of the Association, the following other members were elected: Indulal D. Shah, Kiran Shantaram, R.P. Anand, N.F. Sidhwa, F.C. Mehra, R.F. Balaporia, Salim Ebrahim, K.A. Thadani, N.F. Damania, N.N. Menon, Milap B. Joshi and Girivarsinh.

Baseless Rumours Spread By Interested Parties

It happens when two big films are slated for release on the same day. And so it is happening in the case of the two big Diwali releases — Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. People associated with each of the two films insist that their film will hit the screens on October 16 but the other film has been postponed. That is to say, people interested in KKHH are spreading rumours that BMCM has been postponed, whereas persons interested in BMCM swear that in the case of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, kuch kuch ho gaya hai and, therefore, the film will not hit the screens on Diwali.

Of course, there’s just no truth in both claims as they are based on no facts whatsoever. It is all loose talk, indulged into to spread panic. The fact is that as of today, both, BMCM and KKHH, are being readied for release on Diwali.

44 Members In Fray For IMPPA Executive Committee

The elections to the executive committee of the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association, to be held on 28th September after its annual general meeting, will be a keenly contested affair. For, as many as 32 members (including 11 sitting members) will contest for 16 seats in the Ordinary Class, and 12 members (including five sitting members) will contest for five seats in the Associate Class I.

Subject to withdrawal, the following 32 members will contest in the Ordinary Class: Anil Ganguly, Avtar Bhogal, B. Subhash, Boota Singh Shaad, Dara Singh, Deepak Shivdasani, K.D. Shorey, K. Pappu, Kant Kumar, Kulwant Jani, Madan Mohla, Mukesh Bhatt, N.R. (Babloo) Pachisia, Nitin Manmohan (Panchamiya), Pawan Kumar, Prakash Jha, Pranlal Mehta, Preeti Sapru, Rajeev Kumar, Saawan Kumar Tak, Satish Khanna, Satyendra Pal Chaudhary, Shakti Samanta, Shanoo Mehra, Sharukh Mirza Beig, Sujit Kumar, Sultan Ahmed, Sundeep Sethi, Surendra Bohra, Sushama Shiromanee, Vinay Kumar Sinha and Vinod Talwar.

In the Associate Class I, the contest will be among the following 12 members: Anand Girdhar, Arjun Hingorani, B.R. Ishara, Darshan Sabarwal, Dimppy Ramdayal, Johny Bakshi, Kamal Sadanah, Rajiv Suri, Ranjeet, S.K. Kapur, Surendra Mohan and Surjit Aujla.

Although three members (Vinod Talwar, Arjun Hingorani and Rajiv Suri) will contest independently, the fight this year seems to be mainly between two groups — Sultan Ahmed’s United Group and Shakti Samanta’s group.

Sultan Ahmed’s group consists of the following members, besides himself, in the Ordinary Class: Anil Ganguly, Avtar Bhogal, Boota Singh Shaad, Dara Singh, Deepak Shivdasani, K. Pappu, Kant Kumar, Kulwant Jani, Nitin Manmohan, Prakash Jha, Preeti Sapru, Shanoo Mehra, Sharukh Mirza Beig, Sujit Kumar and Sundeep Sethi. In the Associate Class I, the following members are being fielded by the United group: Anand Girdhar, B.R. Ishara, Kamal Sadanah, Ranjeet and Surendra Mohan.

The group, led by Shakti Samanta, consists of the following contestants, besides Samanta himself, in the Ordinary Class: B. Subhash, Dara Singh, K.D. Shorey, Madan Mohla, Mukesh Bhatt, N.R. (Babloo) Pachisia, Pawan Kumar, Pranlal Mehta, Rajeev Kumar, Saawan Kumar Tak, Satish Khanna, Satyendra Pal Chaudhary, Surendra Bohra, Sushama Shiromanee and Vinay Kumar Sinha. In the Associate Class I, the group’s candidates are: Darshan Sabarwal, Dimppy Ramdayal, Johny Bakshi, S.K. Kapur and Surjit Aujla.

GLAMOROUS IMPPA ELECTIONS

The IMPPA elections this year will see at least six artistes battling it out. Dara Singh, Sujit Kumar, Preeti Sapru, Sushama Shiromanee, Kamal Sadanah and Ranjeet can be expected to get in some glamour in the elections to the executive committee of the biggest body of film producers.

IMPPA Presidents, Present And Past, Battle It Out For The Chair

The fight this year on the IMPPA election front is basically one between Sultan Ahmed and Shakti Samanta. Both are contenders for the IMPPA president’s chair and, coincidentally, both have been presidents in the past too. In fact, Sultan Ahmed is completing his fourth consecutive term as president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association this month, and Shakti Samanta has been president for four terms before that — of which three terms were consecutive.

As in any election, allegations and counter-allegations are being freely traded between the too warring groups. Supporters of Sultan Ahmed quite bluntly say that Shakti Samanta is eyeing the president’s chair because he is no longer the CBFC chairman and, therefore, has a lot of free time on hand. Detractors of Shakti Samanta also feel, the man is too non-committal and rarely, if ever, takes a stand. On the other hand, they say, Sultan Ahmed is frank and bold. Perhaps, that is why, Sultan Ahmed commented, “The opposition is planning to have a dummy president.”

On their part, the pro-Shakti Samanta members feel, Sultan Ahmed has done precious little for the Association in his four-year tenure and they argue that he (Sultan) has reduced the IMPPA to almost a non-functioning body. On his part, Sultan Ahmed denies that he hasn’t done much for the Association, its members and the film industry. According to him, his had been one of the strongest voices that demanded an industry status for the Indian film industry. As far as the state government of Maharashtra was concerned, Sultan Ahmed, through various apex bodies like the FMC and the CHAMPP, had been instrumental in persuading the government to grant subsidy of Rs. 15 lakh, apart from 100% tax-exemption to Marathi films. The IMPPA president personally met with the I & B minister, as part of a delegation, and helped in impressing upon the minister the need to rationally interpret the CBFC guidelines on depiction of animals in films. Few are aware that Sultan had made personal efforts to avoid imposing restrictions on foreign channels operating in India as doing so would result in widespread unemployment in the entertainment industry. He has also been one of those who successfully persuaded the U.P. government to reduce entertainment tax in the state from 125% to 100%. Sultan Ahmed was one of those who led the film industry’s campaign against cable piracy. Moreover, he has been instrumental in the formation of a joint tribunal between the IMPPA and the EIMPA. Sultan Ahmed was also instrumental in settling the dispute between producer B.B. Bhalla and Essel Vision, which was financing the former’s Tune Mera Dil Le Liya. He also settled the dispute between television producer Neerja Guleri and her director, Sunil Agnihotri. He intervened in the legal battle between producers and video rights owners in the Bombay high court and helped to arrive at distinctive definitions of different video and cable rights.

To Sultan Ahmed’s claims of achievements, Shakti Samanta’s supporters ask just one question, “In how many of his achievements has Sultan Ahmed alone done something? He is simply trying to hog the limelight for work done by industry leaders collectively.”

When contacted, Saawan Kumar of the Samanta faction told Information, “I feel, what the industry lacks today is unity. The need of the hour is to unify all the various Associations in the film trade and bring them under one umbrella. There has also been a lot of talk, over the past few years, about betterment of the film industry and what not. But these have remained just talks. There hasn’t been any real action taken on various key issues including video and cable piracy. The cable operators continue to air new films within days of their theatrical releases. If IMPPA is really concerned about the issue, there are various ways and means to achieve a complete eradication of cable piracy. Sadly, I cannot elaborate on them as that will amount to educating the opposition.

“Shakti Samanta has been unable to actively participate in IMPPA’s activities over the past few years as he had to devote a lot of time functioning as the CBFC chairman,” added Tak. “But now, he has come forward and promised his full co-operation in every mater concerning IMPPA. We have absolutely no doubt in his leadership abilities, which is why we are supporting him. On the other hand, Sultan Ahmed has done nothing but just talk throughout his term. This is the main reason why a number of his own people have been disillusioned by him and come to us. We have promised them a change for the better. Our actions will speak louder than their words.” Shakti Samanta adds, “The reason why I am contesting these elections after a long gap is that over the past few years, I was very busy working with the CBFC, which left me with very little time for any other activity. But since the time I stepped down from the CBFC chairmanship, I’ve had a number of IMPPA members approaching me with requests to involve myself once again with IMPPA activities. So, in effect, you can say that I am in the fray due to the wishes of a large section of IMPPA members.”

In the meantime, it may be mentioned here that Saawan Kumar too was keen on the IMPPA presidentship but ultimately agreed to join forces with Shakti Samanta who, if the group wins a majority, will occupy the president’s chair. K.D. Shorey, also of the Shakti Samanta group, has been known to be too fond of the coveted chair which has been eluding him for years. S.K. Kapur is also said to have apologised to Sultan Ahmed for joining hands with Shakti Samanta although his sympathies are with both the groups.

While Sultan Ahmed’s group may be given credit for ushering in fresh and young blood into IMPPA by proposing the candidatures of such producers as Kamal Sadanah, Preeti Sapru, Deepak Shivdasani, etc., there is at least one candidate whose inclusion in his group may well see it face embarrassing questions. That candidate is Anand Girdhar who is currently employed with the Zee group. It is common knowledge that Zee and the film industry are at loggerheads over the issue of cable piracy. Anand Girdhar, who even otherwise has not produced a film for many years now, is viewed as a member of the enemy (Zee) and, like a Shakti Samanta supporter said, “He deserves no place in IMPPA in today’s times.”

HADD KAR DI!

Dara Singh seems to be the favourite of both the groups. For, while Sultan Ahmed’s group claims that Dara Singh is contesting from their group, Shakti Samanta’s group claims that he is contesting from their group. In fact, the lists of candidates issued by both the rival groups show Dara Singh’s name. As for Dara-ji, he is tight-lipped about which group his loyalties lie with. Hadd kar di, Dara-ji — if one may borrow from the name of the serial starring the actor!

IMPPA TO HONOUR FIVE INDUSTRY PEOPLE

Producers Gulshan Behl and Gulshan Rai, lyricist Anand Bakshi, singer-actress Suraiya and late producer Aspi H. Irani are the five veterans who will be felicitated this year by the IMPPA at its 59th annual general meeting on 28th September at ISKCON, Juhu, Bombay. IMPPA honours five veterans every year, for their contributions to the industry.

M.P. Cinema Trade Closure Called Off Following M.P Assembly Elections Announcement
M.P. Bandh Cancellation Becomes CCCA Election Issue

The Madhya Pradesh cinema closure, which was scheduled to start on 17th September, was called off on 16th. This followed the announcement of assembly elections in the state because of which the election code of conduct rules came into operation. No government is permitted to give any reliefs during the time the code of conduct rules remain in operation. It would, therefore, be futile for the M.P. cinemas to close down indefinitely because the government, even if it wanted to help the industry, would not be able to give or announce any reliefs.

CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain met M.P. chief minister Digvijay Singh on 15th and was told by the latter about the applicability of the code of conduct rules. Following that meeting, Jain announced that the indefinite closure of cinemas against the anti-industry policies of the state government would be postponed for the present.

As it is, many distributors and exhibitors, especially of Indore and Ujjain, were against the closure and had, in a meeting held on 14th September in Indore, even decided to call for a postponement of the strike. The meeting was presided over by Joharilal Jhanjharia and attended by about 90 members. Besides Jhanjharia, the others who were vociferous in condemning the timing of the proposed closure were Premdev of Devshri and Abhinayshri cinemas, Indore, Ajit Kasliwal of Smriti and Kusum cinemas, Indore, R.S. Khetawat of Neelkamal Talkies, Indore, Dinesh Gupta and O.P. Goyal. Several members decried the proposed closure and even said, it was an election stunt of Santosh Singh Jain to garner votes in the CCCA elections.

Whether or not it was an election ploy, the calling off of the closure is sure to have serious repercussions on the voting pattern in the CCCA elections scheduled to take place on 27th September in Nagpur. The opposition panel has already started poking fun at, what they term, Santosh Singh Jain’s “lack of planning and short-sightedness”. The opposition also questions the logic of first calling for the cinema closure even though it was common knowledge that the assembly elections were due to be announced any day, and then calling it off. The Jain panel may find itself in a tight corner while trying to answer this question which has been made an election issue by the opposition. The opposition is also blaming the ruling group of having wasted a couple of lakhs of rupees of the Association for printing posters of the closure, sending telegrams for the bandh to all the exhibitors of the state, etc., what to talk of the waste of precious time and energy.

YOU ASKED IT

Which actor has played the maximum number of double roles?

– Undoubtedly, Amitabh Bachchan. Even three of his forthcoming films have him in double roles. They are BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN, LAL BAADSHAH and SURYAVANSH.

In your opinion, how many seats will Santosh Singh Jain’s panel bag in the CCCA elections on 27th September?

– 100% victory for the Jain panel seems to be out of question because there’s a tough opposition this year. As regards the number of seats, let the panel be decided first (read details elsewhere in this issue).

Which film has had the maximum number of songs?

– Madan Theatres’ INDRA SABAH, released in 1932, had 71 songs! Madan Theatres’ three other films viz. CHATRABAKAVALI , GURU ZARINA and BILWAMANGAL, also produced in 1932, had 41, 37 and 27 songs respectively. The Tamil film, PAVILAKODI, released in 1934, had 50 songs, and Tamil SRI KRISHNA LEELA, released the same year, had 62 songs.

DO YOU KNOW?

* It will be a Dharmendra film festival now. His SHER KHAN will hit the screens next week, to be followed by KALICHARAN on 2nd October, and NYAYDAATA on 9th. This week, Dharmendra-starrer ZULM-O-SITAM has been released in Bombay.

* MAUT has created a city record by collecting 34,000/- on the opening day at Rajkamal, Jalgaon.

* SATYA (tax-free) has created a Khandesh record once again by collecting 73,744/- in 4th week at Ashok, Jalgaon.

* TITANIC has created a South Gujarat record for English films by collecting a total of 6,45,474/- in 3 weeks from Shree, Vapi.

‘SOON LADKI…’ GROWING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

* SOON LADKI SASARCHI (Marathi; tax-free) is creating havoc in different centres, including ‘C’ class centres, of Maharashtra. It created a record in Nasik by collecting 45,451/- in 1st week and 56,780/- in 2nd week at Vijayanand, despite heavy rains and floods in Nasik. At Prasad, Vita (a ‘C’ class centre), it has created a record by collecting 21,600/- in 1st week and 30,110/- in 2nd week. Share of 2 weeks: 42,000/-, an all-time record! At Manmad, the film collected 55,617/- in 2nd week in spite of heavy rains. At Vishnu, Kopargaon, also, it created a record by collecting 24,650/- and 35,230/- in 1st and 2nd weeks respectively, despite rains. It collected 34,019/- in 1st week at Shivanta, Junnar, despite floods and a poor start (2,200/- on 1st day and 8,717/- on 7th day). It has collected 40,023/- in 2nd week (21 shows) at Rajmahal, Karad.

MIX MASALA

DIFFERENT STANDARDS FOR DIFFERENT MEMBERS

Apropos CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain’s comment (published in our issue last week) that he was unhappy with C.P. distributor Laloo (B.N.) Kabra and was, therefore, not including his name in his panel because, among other things, he (Laloo) supplied prints to SMR cinemas, a supporter of Laloo has sent us this bit of interesting information: Vijaya cinema of Korba is not a CCCA member; yet, it has recently screened Mere Do Anmol Ratan and Kshatriya. Mere Do Anmol Ratan is being distributed by Laddha Bros. (of which Azad Laddha is a siting member of the executive committee and will also be re-contesting from Santosh Singh Jain’s panel). Kshatriya is being distributed by S.R. & Bros. (of which Vijay Rathi is again a sitting member and a contestant from Jain’s panel). The questin is not how Laddha and Rathi screened their films in a non-member cinema (everybody does it!) but how Santosh Singh Jain overlooked this fact while not forgetting to ignore Laloo’s supply of prints to SMR cinemas.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Censors Strike Again

In a recent case in Madras, the censors have once again laid bare their double standards in deciding what is fit for viewing by different language-speaking communities in India. Why else would they demand a deletion of three scenes from the Hindi dubbed version of a Malayalam film titled Blind Sex, which was already granted an ‘A’ certificate by the Madras office of the CBFC? The censors’ demand is baffling as it is strictly in contradiction of the guidelines which state that the censors can order no cuts of visual nature while approving a dubbed film, the original version of which has already been issued a censor certificate. This was also upheld by the Bombay high court in the case of Mira Nair versus CBFC last year. The censors had then granted an ‘A’ certificate to the original (English) version of Kama Sutra. However, when the film’s Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions were applied for, the censors had demanded further cuts in the visuals. Director Mira Nair contested the censors’ demand in the court which ruled in her favour, stating, ‘the examining committee (of the CBFC) shall confine itself to censorship of the audio track (alone)’. It is amply evident then that in demanding more visual cuts in the dubbed version of Blind Sex, the censors have shown utter disregard for the high court ruling, as also their hypocrisy inasmuch as the fact that, in the censors’ opinion, certain language-speaking audiences are more mature than others.

As if this were not enough, the censors have also demanded that the title of the Hindi dubbed version of Blind Sex be changed from Andhi Vasna to just Vasna! Now, what sense does this make, only the censors can tell… but it sure looks like a call of the censors’ strike again, wot?

Sailing To Shoot

Producer-director Rakesh Roshan will soon embark upon a shooting voyage in the Indian Ocean. He is due to set off for Bangkok by sea on 5th November, with a crew of over 80 people, for two shooting stints of 10 days each for Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. The first stint will begin aboard the very ship which will take the unit to Bangkok, in a journey that will last 10 days. After arriving in Bangkok on the 14th, he will commence another shooting spell which will also include extensive under-water photography. And, for the people who are comparing the film with Titanic, we ain’t saying nothing. We just wish him ‘Bon Voyage’!

One Film, Two Heroes, Two Climaxes

A new Malayalam film, Harikrishnans, has achieved the rare distinction of having been simultaneously released with two different endings! The film, which brings together the two stalwarts of Malayalam cinema, Mammootty and Mohan Lal, is released with two different climaxes with an aim to please the fan-followings of both the stars. Such a move is necessitated due to a severe crisis in the Malayalam film industry, which has resulted in losses worth Rs. 35-40 crore on account of nearly 65 to 70 films lying unfinished in the cans. A rapid increase in costs of making films has resulted in such an alarming rate of films lying incomplete. To add to the Malayalam film industry’s woes, the percentage of hits per year has dwindled to five, while that of films recovering their costs, to 15. These are the main reasons that have brought together the two biggest Malayalam film stars in a film, after a cut-throat rivalry over the numero uno position during the past decade or so. The Malayalam film industry, in the meantime, is watching the outcome of the stars’ combined appeal at the box-office. Incidentally, the industry has introduced self-regulation whereby only one film is released in a week as a corrective measure against the current crisis.

Maha-Jinxed Film Titles

Time for another look at the jinxed titles of Hindi films. With the non-success of Maharaja, it has been proved once again that films with Maha in their titles never work at the box-office. Our resident statistician has once again burnt a lot of midnight oil and has finally come up with a number of films beginning with Maha, which proved to be maha bombs at the box-office. Here’s the list — Maha-Sangram, Mahaguru, Mahaadev, Mahaan, Mahakaal, Mahashakti, Maha Chor, Maha Badmash, Maha Shaktishali, Mahaveera, Maha Shaktimaan and the latest, Maharaja. Our resident statistician further informs that there is only a single exception to the above rule, but it pertains to television as B.R. Chopra’s serial, Mahabharat, proved to be a record-breaker in terms of popularity. So there!

Dream Merchant

Bollywood Goes Bill Bill

Pick up any newspaper and you have US president Bill Clinton and his ex-girlfriend, Monica Lewinsky, staring you in the face. Reams and reams of newsprint contain material about the sex liaison between Billy Boy and the White House intern, Monica.

As expected, I dreamt about the two of them last night. I dreamt that our Bollywood writers had written umpteen scripts inspired by the Kenneth Starr report about the sexual escapades of the American rashtrapati (maybe, Bill translated the Hindi word literally and, therefore, attempted to play pati to the entire rashtra!) and the intern half his age. Suddenly, our producers and directors seemed to have all decided to make films on the biggest sex scandal of the century.

I bumped into Ramesh Taurani who blushed a deep red when I asked him if he was planning a film on Bill and Monica. “Aap ko kaise maloom chala?”, he asked, and then revealed, “Yes, I am planning such  a film and it will be called Jab Sex Kisise Hota Hai. Taurani, however, refused to divulge any more information just like Bill Clinton had refused to give any information to Starr.

Gordhan Tanwani, flush from the success of Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, was more forthcoming. “See, we are planning three films, based on the Bill-Monica love story, in quick succession of one another,” he said. “The last two will be like sequels to the first.” And what will the three romantic sagas be titled? “The first one will be called Sex To Hona Hi Tha, to be followed by Monica Ko Dress To Dhona Hi Tha… (note the three dots) and the last one, …Nahin To Expose To Hona Hi Tha.” Brilliant, I thought. Tanwani further informed, “Sex To…. will be directed by South’s I.V. Sasi. For Monica…..Dhona…, who better than Vinod Chopra who seems to be an authority on dhobis, laundries and dhona-vona. The last in the trilogy will be directed by my favourite, Indra Kumar, because of his penchant to expose limitlessly — expose raw stock, I mean.”

Sohail Khan told me, he had postponed Hello Brother for a while and would instead be starting a love story titled Lafda Kiya To Darna Kya. Salman Khan would play Bill Clinton in the film since the love story was about Bill’s real-life adventures. Sohail also added, “Most probably, Arbaaz Khan will play the role of Kenneth Starr. The search is on for a new girl to play Monica Lewinsky. An established heroine will play Hillary Clinton.”

Writer-turned-producer Bhaarat B. Bhalla was the happiest. He said that like there was a silver lining to every dark cloud, the delay in completion of his Tune Mera Dil Le Liya also had a positive side. “Now,” he whispered excitedly, “I’ve decided to just add a few scenes to incorporate the Bill-Hillary-Monica triangle to my romantic story. I think, I can wrap up the film in just 10 days. Since I’m a writer myself, I’ve taken care not to harm the earlier story while adding masala through the additions. And I don’t even have to think of a new title. I will get it changed to Tune Mera Bill Le Liya!”

David Dhawan couldn’t control his excitement. “My team of writers has come up with something really ‘hillary’ious, you will laugh your guts out,” he shouted with joy. “My film on the romance between Clinton and Lewinsky will be titled Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi. Amitabh Bachchan will play Bill Clinton and this will actually be the first time he will be playing his age. Rekha will play Monica Lewinsky and I’m planning to take Jaya Bachchan as Hillary. Yeh film Hill-a ke rakh degi, mera Bill — sorry, dil — kehta hai!”

Rajkumar Santoshi telephoned from Alaska (where he is shooting Pukaar) to say that he was making a love story inspired by the US President’s sex scandal. “From Alaska, I’m going to New York to dig more details,” he cried with joy. “I’ll start this film no sooner China Gate is over and I’ll call it Monicagate.”

Yet another call from phoren land was Rakesh Roshan’s. “Thank God,” sighed Rakesh long-distance, “I’ve just begun Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. So it won’t be difficult to make some script changes to incorporate the story of Bill’s dil ka rog and Hill’s dil ka dukh. Imagine, what my film is going to turn out to be — an inspiration from Titanic as well as the titanic sex drama of this century, which may ultimately make the US President sink. Ah yes, please announce in your trade paper that I’ve altered the title of my film to Kaho Naa…Hua!”

The otherwise media-shy Shyam Bajaj, too, seemed to have joined the bandwagon of film producers who were running to the press to make announcements of their Bill films. Shyam spoke in soft tones but could not succeed in hiding his new-found joy. “Bill Ne Phir Yaad Kiya, that’s the title of my next. We will launch the film on 14th February, Valentine’s Day, with a song recording. The first song will be a parody of the Tere naina mere nainon ki kyon bhaasha bole bole bole song from my Bandhan. For a feel of the new song which will be picturised on the hero (playing Bill Clinton) and heroine (playing Monica), I’ll give you an antra:

Tera jhoome jo badan
Zameen dole dole dole
Mere sau tonne ke wazan
Chal haule haule haule”

Umesh Mehra was initially tight-lipped about his version of the Bill-Monica sex-saga. But, after a lot of prodding, he spilled the beans.”Yes, my version of the Clinton kahani will be an Indo-Russian co-production. The Russian president will himself direct the muhurt shot at Bombay’s Film City. This would be one way to get back at the US President, so feels Yeltsin.” When asked to reveal more details of the film, Mehra added, “Dilip Kumar will play the hero. The film will be called Billa Ka Qila Kyon Hilla.” “Koi distributor milla?”, I queried and left without waiting for a reply.

Music company-turned-producers Polygram informed that although they will not indulge in bhed chaal, they will, nevertheless, put pictures of Bill Clinton on all the posters and banners of their due-for-release film, Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate. “People can associate the connection between the picture of Bill and the title of our film,” said a spokesman of Polygram, wishing to remain anonymous.

Mahesh Bhatt revealed that he had abandoned plans to make a film on the ‘sex, lies and videotape’ story of the twentieth century because “Bill Clinton has admitted to the adultery. Had he not admitted and apologised, I would have made Bill Hai Ke Manta Nahin.”

Ram Gopal Varma said, he would only technically upgrade his Rangeela, add a few scenes (to be shot in 3-D) between Aamir Khan (whose name would be changed to Billu Badshah) and Urmila Matondkar (she’ll be called Monica oh my darling, by Billu Badshah) and re-release the film as Rangeela Billu Ki Satya Kahani (3-D).

Yash Chopra was quite original. In keeping with his penchant for showing his heroines in white, he said, his next love story would be titled Lady In White House. Before he could divulge more information, son Aditya intervened and asked his father to reveal nothing now, but everything in the film!

Sooraj Barjatya was the last to reveal his plans. “See, I might make a film based on the Bill-Monica story but since our films are devoid of sex because hum saaf saaf hain, the story will have a new twist. It will talk of the probable impeachment of Bill Clinton when the president will announce to the world “Hum saath saath thhey”. But the climax will be totally unexpected. Hillary Clinton will address the nation and publicly accept Monica Lewinsky as part of the family. In that sense, the climax will be the opposite of Judaai. It will also expose the foreigners to the advantages of the joint family system, if you know what I mean. Finally, Hillary and Monica will make a joint appearance on television to announce to the world: Hum Saath Saath Hain. Both of them will disown Bill who will tearfully return to his presidential duties, muttering, ‘Maine pyar kiya, maine pyar kiya, phir maine inkaar kiya, phir maine inkaar kiya…'”.

– Komal Nahta

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.

MAHARAJA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MERE DO ANMOL RATAN

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

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

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

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

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

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

CCCA TO BUY BUILDING IN JAIPUR

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

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

BEDI MIYAN TAKES VASHU MIYAN TO COURT

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

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

POLICE COMPLAINT AGAINST NASEERUDDIN SHAH

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

ASHA PAREKH RE-ELECTED CINTAA PRESIDENT

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

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

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

SIX INDUSTRY MEN NOMINATED TO SPECIAL CELL

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

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

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

PRASAR BHARATI ORDINANCE ISSUED: GILL MOVES COURT

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

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

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

O.P. KEJRIWAL APPOINTED ACTING CEO OF PRASAR BHARATI

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

SUBHASH GHAI TO INSURE ‘TAAL’

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

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

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

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

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

DRIVE IN, AHMEDABAD COMPLETES 25 YEARS

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

CINEMA IN AURANGABAD REOPENS

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

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

‘JAB PYAAR KISISE HOTA HAI’ 100 DAYS

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

‘TITANIC’ SUCCESS PARTY

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

ANIL SHARMA DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BADLE KI AAG!

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

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

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

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

CCCA ELECTIONS
Rajasthan In Grip Of Election Fever

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

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

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

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

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

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

YOU ASKED IT

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

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

Why are stars and directors always insecure?

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

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

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

TV & VIDEO INFORMATION

SONU NIGAM TURNS MUSIC DIRECTOR

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

DO YOU KNOW?

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

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

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

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

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

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

HISTORIC SHARES

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

IN & OUT OF BOMBAY

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

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

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

Bihar distributor Gopal Bharatiya is in town.

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

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Maha Sad!

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

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

‘Maharaja’ Premiere That Never Was!

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

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

LATEST POSITION

DIL SE.. has been rejected by the classes as well as the masses. It will put distributors and exhibitors to heavy losses. It has done somewhat better in Bombay and South. The Telugu dubbed version is also weak.

Dil Se.. has been rejected by the audience despite its hit music. Although it has done well in the first week in Bombay, Delhi, some centres of U.P. and in South, it will entail losses to the tune of about 60 lakh to a crore per major territory. 1st week Bombay 66,25 958 (91.20%) from 13 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 12,40,017 from 6 cinemas, Vapi 2,56,062, Padra 1,56,006, Rajkot 1,60,468, Jamnagar (matinee) 27,492; Pune 11,95,029 from 6 cinemas (3 in matinee), Kolhapur 2,17,000 (1 unrecd.), Solapur 3,23,775 from 2 cinemas; Hubli 100%, Belgaum 100%; Delhi 52,41,206 (88.99%) from 10 cinemas; Kanpur 3,33,570, Lucknow (6 days) 3,20,471, Agra 2,35,400, Varanasi 1,97,165, Allahabad 1,75,000, Meerut (6 days) 1,81,489, Bareilly (6 days) 1,23,677 (64.60%); Calcutta 23,07,967 (69.93%) from 16 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Nagpur 7,89,592 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,51,774, Amravati 1,82,659, Akola 1,36,469, Raipur (6 days) 1,51,820, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,09,970, Bilaspur (6 days) 1,22,870; Indore (6 days) 3,53,402 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.), Bhopal (6 days) 3,07,532 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Hyderabad 43,40,353 from 17 cinemas.

………

Godzilla (dubbed) 3rd week Bombay 5,95,152 from 2 cinemas; Ahmedabad 1,99,347 from 3 cinemas, Baroda (Hindi & Eng.) 1,30,108, Rajkot 1,00,500; Pune 1,95,474; Delhi 16,05,434 from 7 cinemas; Kanpur 80,156, Lucknow 1,77,193, Agra 72,000, Varanasi 86,033, Allahabad 29,338; 1st week Rohtak 10,270; 3rd week Nagpur 2,10,372, 1st week Jabalpur 57,742, Akola 49,542.

Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha 5th week Bombay 22,75,065 (97.70%) from 5 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 86,421 (2 unrecd.), Rajkot (matinee) 15,507 (1 unrecd.), Jamnagar 75,803; Pune 6,04,096 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 65,724, Solapur 89,276; Delhi 15,45,063 from 7 cinemas; Lucknow 2,26,678, Varanasi 1,05,898, Allahabad 62,000, Meerut (6 days) 89,973, 3rd week Bareilly 51,114 (22.70%), 5th week Hardwar 24,544; Calcutta 3,74,431 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 1,76,049 from 2 cinemas, 3rd Jabalpur 1,68,524, total 6,18,866, 5th week Amravati 81,247, Akola 91,144 (4th 1,27,320), total 6,86,718, Raipur 93,369, 2nd week Yavatmal 84,268; 5th week Indore 1,51,429 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,13,197; 3rd week Bikaner 1,04,278; 5th Hyderabad 5,07,417 from 4 cinemas.

_________

Godzilla (English) 3rd week Bombay 5,07,970 (69.59%); Delhi 7,83,950 from 2 cinemas; Calcutta 2,05,177; Vijayawada 3 weeks’ total 6,45,680.

CINE ARTISTES’ ASSOCIATION FINDS INFORMATION EDITORIAL DISTURBING

While Information‘s editorial last week, condemning the stars for remaining absent from the Bombay film industry’s rally against cable piracy on 18th August came in for a lot of praise for its boldness, frankness and honesty, the Cine & TV Artistes’ Association has taken strong objection to the same.

In a letter to Film Information, the honorary general secretary of CINTAA, Ram Mohan, has blamed Information of unnecessarily blaming the stars for utter lack of responsibility. The letter, quite strangely, asks of the editor: “Do you expect, my dear friend editor, that our stars should leave aside their shooting schedules and their other professional commitments?”

(Of course, we did expect that. After all, why else did the Action Committee cancel all production activities that day?)

The letter further adds: “Was it a rally to draw the government attention towards video piracy? Or was it a get-together of the stars? Or a tamasha to draw the public out of their homes on to the streets to collect donations for some drought or flood relief fund or defence fund?”

(Here, we’d like to ask Mr. Ram Mohan: If you justify the absence of stars, what were Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan, Sunil Shetty and CINTAA president Asha Parekh doing at the rally? Creating a tamasha?!?)

The letter also requests us to desist from criticising each other at this “crucial juncture”.

(If it is such a crucial juncture, why did the stars not attend the rally, we ask again. A wrong must be criticised and will be criticised.)

SINGER SUNIDHI ROBBED

Singer Sunidhi Chauhan and her family were robbed by seven men at gun-point last week in Bombay. The armed men robbed their car, gold chains, rings, cellphone and other valuables worth Rs. 3 lakh. A complaint has been lodged at the Oshiwara police station in Bombay.

SAURASHTRA DISTRIBUTOR ATTEMPTS SUICIDE

Saurashtra sub-distributor Vasu Jayram (Deepa Films, Rajkot) attempted suicide last week but was saved in time. He was reportedly forced to take such a drastic step after running into huge debts following the flopping of some of his films. He is presently recuperating in a Rajkot hospital.

YOU ASKED IT

What repercussions will the flopping of Dil Se.. have?

– Distributors and exhibitors will brood over its failure for some more days and also swear that unrealistic prices are killing the industry. After that, everyone will forget about it and continue to pay crazy prices for films.

Will the industry rally of 18th August against cable piracy yield fruits?

– The government has made promises to the industry but it seems very unlikely that there will be implementation of what has been promised. This is India.

When will distributors stop ‘playing blind’ in the acquisition of films?

– Never! Very often, films are bought by distributors on announcement or while they are under-production. It has to be a blind game in such cases. When completed films are acquired, their producers may be unwilling to show the film to the prospective buyers. So, it’s again a blind game.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Chandan at Juhu, Bombay, has become a favourite cinema of a number of film stars who have been frequently seen enjoying their evenings there with friends and families. Madhuri Dixit, Abhishek Bachchan and Sanjay Khan are only a few names on the long list of Chandan’s high-profile visitors.

* SATYA (tax-free) has created a theatre and Khandesh record by collecting 1,62,374/- in 1st week at Ashok, Jalgaon.

* PYAAR TO HONA HI THA has collected an excellent 16,03,754/- in 5 weeks at Novelty, Lucknow. 5th week: 2,26,677/-.

* TITANIC (E.) has created a record by collecting 70,230/- in 1st week (21 shows) and 59,794/- in 2nd week (despite heavy rains) at Shivshankar, Miraj.

‘DIL SE..’: ZOR KA JHATKA LAGE AUR BHI ZOR SE..

Distributors of Dil Se.. all over except, perhaps, of Mysore circuit, are in for terrible losses.

Exhibitors of the various circuits are queuing up in their respective distributors’ offices, asking for compensation. Like the film’s distributors, the exhibitors, who paid fancy MGs or FHs, also stand to lose heavily.

*          *          *

A new cinema, Sapna, was to open in Nasik with Dil Se.. on 28th August. The cinema owner, Sanwaldas Thakur, had paid a hefty MG amount to Bombay distributor VIP Enterprises. A part of this amount was paid by a post-dated cheque. Reportedly, the cinema owner was so shaken by the film’s debacle that he refuses to take the licence for starting the new cinema.

*          *          *

Some cinemas in Gujarat, like Apsara in Baroda and Krishna in Padra, are repeating the hit Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan song after interval. Their logic is that there’s no relief in the second half. Also, the song comes right at the start of the film, thereby diluting its impact. Besides, they argue that even where the song actually appears, it does so without a situation, so, even after interval, it can be repeated without any situation. Distributors of several circuits have become self-appointed editors and have reportedly heavily edited the film.

*          *          *

Saurashtra sub-distributor Nanubhai had acquired both, Barood and Dil Se.., from VIP for a fantastic (combined) price. The combined loss will be more than 50% of his investment. Kasam se!

*          *          *

In Delhi, an exhibitor of Hapur (U.P.) went to the office of Om Namah Shivay Enterprises, the distributors of Dil Se.. and Gunda. Asking for the booking, the exhibitor told the distributor that he would screen the film for just one week. The distributor tried to prevail upon him to screen it for 2 weeks at his cinema. “After all, Dil Se.. is such a big film,” argued the distributor. This shocked the exhibitor. He cried, “Dil Se..? Who has come here for Dil Se..? I’ve come to book Gunda!” The distributor didn’t know where to look!

*          *          *

In C.I., the collections of Dil Se.. were disastrous everywhere. For example, in Dewas, collections were Rs. 700 against a capacity of Rs. 6,500 in some shows on the fourth day. Little wonder, the film has been discontinued in Dewas after just one week.

*          *          *

In Rajasthan too, the scene was as ugly as in C.I. Fifth day’s collections in some cinemas of Jaipur were less than 40%.

*          *          *

In Bihar, collections nosedived from 2nd and 3rd day onwards.

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A Bengal exhibitor joked about Dil Se... “It has a super hero, a super heroine, a super-hit director, super-hit music, super-hit choreography and super-hit opening. Everything is super. Even the losses are super-duper!”

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An East Punjab exhibitor telephoned us to say that this is what distributors and exhibitors of Dil Se.. are singing:

Jiyaa jale
Jahan jahan chale..

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Distributors’ Woes

Many distributors all over the country are getting disillusioned with their producers — and the flopping of their films is not the only reason. Actually, it is because of the current practice of keeping the film under wraps right till the day of its release. This is fast becoming a trend among film producers. Many producers have begun excluding even their distributors from having a dekko at the film! Very often, the poor distributors, even after investing huge sums of money in the film, do not get to see even a single frame before its release. Take the case of Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se... Not a single preview of the film was held for its distributors and exhibitors. Hence, when the film bombed so terribly, it caught its distributors completely unawares. Repeated occurrences of such types have finally forced the distributors to openly voice their protest at this “unfair” and “unethical” practice indulged into by producers. On the other hand, producers complain that if they hold trials of their films and if distributors do not like them, they start playing games with the producers.

Jitendra Jain, a leading C.I. distributor, compares today’s scenario with that of the past. He recalls how valued the opinions of distributors and exhibitors were to even a producer-director of such a stature as Dr. V. Shantaram. Says Jain, “Even though he distributed all his films himself all over India, he would still invite a number of distributors, exhibitors and friends for the previews of his films. After the previews, he would very seriously consider every suggestion made by them about improving/exploiting the film.” According to Jain, there was no compulsion of any kind on Shantaram to show his films to the distributors as he distributed them himself. But he did so only because he had a healthy respect for their opinions, a trait, sadly, missing in today’s producers, he laments. Jain also cites the example of the Barjatyas who likewise distribute their films themselves. Yet, they make sure that their films are previewed by distributors, exhibitors and friends much before their release. And their suggestions are taken seriously by the Barjatyas.

Finally, the point remains that even if a producer does not have respect for his distributors’ opinions, he must be obligated to show him the film, say distributors. If for nothing else, only because the distributor has invested money in the product. Sadly, this right is being denied to him, feel distributors of all India. Maybe, after seeing a film in a preview, a distributor can plan his release strategy better. But……..

Four New Cinemas For Jodhpur

Jodhpur residents will have four more cinemas for their viewing comforts. The owners of Kohinoor Cinema, Jodhpur, are building a cinema hall on the same road on which Kohinoor stands. It is expected to be ready soon. Permission to construct three more cinemas has already been sought. The work is expected to begin shortly on a cinema to be built on a plot between Kamla Nehru Nagar and Housing Board Colony. It will be owned by the Nasranis of Nasrani Cinema, Jodhpur. Jagdeo Singh Khalsa of Khalsa Theatre, Falna, is coming up with a 300-seat cinema hall on Sardarpura ‘B’ Road. The Bohra brothers (producers and exhibitors) have already set the plans in motion for a 200-seat cinema on the Jodhpur-Pali highway. This cinema will be part of a multiplex, complete with restaurants and other recreational facilities.

Manisha + Khan = Jinx

Our resident statistician is not in the least bit surprised over the dismal failure of Dil Se.. at the box-office. According to him, the film was destined to bomb the moment Manisha Koirala was signed opposite Shah Rukh Khan. His analysis indicates that the odds are always against the film that pairs Manisha with a ‘Khan’. To prove his point further, he provides the examples of Akele Hum Akele Tum, in which she was paired with Aamir Khan; Majhdhaar, Sangdil Sanam and Khamoshi, in which she starred opposite Salman Khan. Needless to say, all the four films were super-duds. Come to think of it, even the only earlier film in which she was paired with Shah Rukh Khan, Guddu, turned out to be a turkey at the box-office! So Dil Se.. was, perhaps, destined to go the Guddu way! Raj Kumar Santoshi is well aware of this ‘Manisha + Khan = Jinx’ equation. Maybe he would, therefore, steer clear of Manisha while casting a heroine for his film that stars not only one but two Khans (Aamir and Shah Rukh). Hmmm….. about time we took our resident statistician more seriously!

Rational Thinking Is Need Of The Hour

The debacle of Dil Se.. has sent tremors in the industry. While this is not the first film to have bombed, its resounding failure raises some pertinent points.

Were the producers justified in selling the film at the price of 2 crore per major circuit? If one were to go by the market forces of demand and supply, the price of 2 crore looks perfectly justified. But it is a wonder that our distributors, who constantly crib about the risk factor in their business, agreed to be dictated simply by the market forces and chose to overlook the risk in buying the film at the prohibitive price. Frankly speaking, the proposal looked tempting, what with Shah Rukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Mani Ratnam’s names adorning it. To top it all, A.R. Rahman’s music score was a definite bait to lure buyers to strike a deal at even an otherwise unthinkable price.

But if the distributors would have thought rationally and not let emotions dictate terms, would they have really paid 2 crore for a film directed by Mani? After all, Mani Ratnam may have given hits but he has also delivered bombs. His Bombay was a super-hit but his Roja was only a sectional hit. A number of his other dubbed films like Anjali and Dalapathi and Hindi remakes of his Tamil hits, like Dayavan, have bombed miserably. Business prudence then should not have permitted distributors to pay the fancy money demanded by Mani and presenter Bharat Shah.

Even after having paid such a heavy price, what did the distributor get? A whole lot of suspense before the film’s release! No distributor was shown the trial of Dil Se.. till one day before its release. Not that seeing the film two or three days or even a week in advance would have made any difference to how it ultimately fared. But still, distributors did get a feeling of being cheated after having paid through their nose. Like the distributors, exhibitors too were groping in the dark. They too paid fancy terms to distributors and are, today, shedding tears of blood alongwith the distributors.

Coming to Mani Ratnam, how could he have been so careless and callous about his script? When his heroine was being shown as a terrorist, he should have at least taken care to show his hero in good light. But he chose to do the reverse. People are complaining that Manisha Koirala’s negative character is not easily digestible, but they are also disillusioned with the characterisation of Shah Rukh Khan. For, he too is a negative character in the film, maybe not as negative as Manisha but, nevertheless, negative. At least two points in the film bring out his negative traits. One, even after getting engaged to Preity Zinta, he is shown as trying to woo Manisha. Which means, if Manisha would have said “yes” to his advances, he would have dumped Preity — and for no fault of hers! That’s not like a Hindi film hero. Secondly, Shah Rukh is least concerned about the security of India, his primary aim being to coax Manisha to get married to him. That is why, his death in the climax failed to evoke the sympathy it should have. Indians don’t like selfish lovers, and Shah Rukh is shown as being exactly that. Further, there’s no repentance on his part for his selfishness.

It is because of faux pas such as these that the concept of script doctoring must come soon in India. Hollywood has script doctors, who are experts in their field. Writers, directors and producers there bury their egos when it comes to the betterment of their films. They don’t mind taking the expert opinion of a script doctor, but will Indian directors or writers be ready to take a second opinion? Considering that the stakes are so high today, they should be more than willing to do so. That’s the only way, complete objectivity can be brought into a project. A dialogue on this aspect would be an interesting exercise.

Coming back to Dil Se.., the losses in most of the circuits are going to be back-breaking. The failure of Dil Se.. will, one hopes, teach a few lessons to the trade. For one, prices of films should be more reasonable and realistic. Yash Chopra, after DDLJ, could have sold his DTPH at the ratio of 3 crore, but he chose to sell it at 2 crore only. The market forces were at work then also, but Chopra did not let greed get the better of his considerateness. Secondly, the background of a maker and his past films should decide the right price of his next. Mani Ratnam has always made ‘class’ films and such films, even if they click, have limitations. Thirdly, super-hit music score may not be enough for a film to hit the bull’s eye. Fourthly, script is the thing. We need to become more serious about this single aspect of filmmaking and if that happens, the other things will fall in place automatically.

– Komal Nahta