ANGAARA
Sri R.V. Films’ Angaara (UA) is the usual good-versus-evil story with the mandatory revenge angle. An honest bank manager is fooled into starting a chit fund, by a group of three men who want to make a fast buck by cheating people. The three men make good with all the money of the public, leaving the honest man in the lurch. The honest bank manager’s son grows up and seeks revenge on all the wrong-doers, winning back his father’s lost reputation.
If the story looks repetitive, the screenplay also offers no novelty. The narration is straight so that there are no unexpected twists or turns which can excite the viewer or arrest his attention. Dialogues are ordinary.
Mithun Chakraborty does quite well. Kamal Sadanah has a brief role in which he has not been able to leave any mark. Rupali shows confidence in her debut attempt. Simran has been wasted. Rami Reddy, Goga Kapoor and Harish Patel play the evil threesome routinely. Mohan Joshi is quite good. Sadashiv Amarapurkar has a double role but to no avail. Sudhir Dalvi, Farida Jalal, Arjun, Gavin Packard, Vijaya and the rest pass muster.
Direction is ordinary. Musically, one song — ‘Dhire dhire bol na’ — is very good, but the other songs are average. Song picturisations needed to be better. Action scenes lack the fire. Photography and other technical values are okay.
On the whole, Angaara is a dull fare, its low price being a blessing.
Released on 13-9-’96 at Dreamland and 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru Sadaf Enterprises. Publicity: quite good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over.
PADMA CHAVAN DEAD
Well-known Marathi film actress Padma Chavan was killed in a car accident on 12th September. She was returning from Pune when a tempo hit the car in which she was travelling, near Kandivli on the Western Express Highway in Bombay. The accident took place near Padma’s house.
Padma Chavan was a very popular actress of Marathi films and was known as a sex symbol. She had acted in a number of Marathi films and some Hindi films too. She also did a number of Marathi stage plays. Her most popular play even today is undoubtedly ‘Lagnachi Bedi’.
YOU ASKED IT
What do you think of the Maharashtra government’s extension of the reduced entertainment tax policy for three months only?
– The policy seems to have been extended just to avoid the industry closure! There’s hardly any reason to rejoice.
Why are so many films being shot abroad these days?
– There are several reasons. For some, shooting abroad is a necessity demanded by the script. For some others, shooting on foreign locations is just a fashion. Still others do it because it’s economical for them. Then there are makers who want to exploit new locales. Finally, there are also some who themselves don’t know why they are shooting abroad!
Who make better directors — writers or editors?
– Film editors generally make good film directors. Writers tend to fall in love with their writing and often cannot bear to edit their scenes.
INTERIM STAY ON HEMA’S ARREST WARRANT
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court on 12th September granted an interim stay till September 19 on the execution of the arrest warrant issued last month by the first class judicial magistrate against Hema Malini in a criminal plea filed by Nagpur-based builder N. Kumar. The latter had lent money to Hema whose cheque for repayment of the same was dishonoured by the bank due to lack of sufficient funds. The magistrate had on 11th September extended the arrest warrant till September 20 while rejecting Hema’s plea for cancellation of the warrant and exemption from appearance in the court, on the ground that she disobeyed the court’s summons.
Hema moved the high court on 12th against the magistrate’s extension of the arrest warrant, by filing a writ petition, and the same was heard by the single judge bench of Justice S.P. Kulkarni. He posted the matter for next hearing on September 19 and granted an interim stay on the execution of the arrest warrant.
Instead Of A One-Year Extension
50% Entertainment Tax To Continue In Maharashtra
For Three Months Only
The benefit of the reduced entertainment tax of 50% in Maharashtra was on 10th September extended for a further period of three months by the government. The earlier ordinance, which was for one year, is due to expire on 15th September. The new extension, therefore, envisages status quo till December 15, 1996.
While the industry was seeking an extension of the old ordinance, it was expecting the renewal to be for one year. In fact, when news of the renewal first broke out on 10th, it was of a one-year extension. It was only on 11th September that word spread that the benefit had been extended for just three months. The 3-month extension was passed in the cabinet meeting of the state government on 10th September.
Following the extension, the film industry has abandoned its plan for a bandh from 20th September.
Opinion on why the extension has been granted for just three months is divided. While some sources in government circles reveal that this is the maximum which could have been done in view of the Election Commission’s restrictions due to the impending elections to a few assemblies, other sources opine that the government was in no mood to continue the benefit beyond December ’96. The government’s stance against the reduced entertainment tax stems from the government’s displeasure with the behaviour of exhibitors who do not pass on the benefit of reduced entertainment tax to cinegoers but, instead, increase admission rates. Yet another story has it that it was due to the ego war between the BJP and the Shiv Sena that the one-year extension was not allowed to be passed in the cabinet meeting.
PLEA TO REDUCE ENT. TAX IN WEST BENGAL FAILS
Calcutta Cinemas To Down Shutters On 24th September
Cinemas in Calcutta will observe a day’s bandh on Tuesday, September 24, to protest against the West Bengal government’s failure to honour its commitment to reduce entertainment tax in the state from the present 70% to the promised 50%. This decision was announced by the Eastern India Motion Picture Association (EIMPA) at a press conference held on 13th September in Calcutta. The strike has been limited to Calcutta only, as the cinema trade is in the midst of a serious crisis.
The leaders of the EIMPA said that when the statewide strike by the Bengal Motion Picture Employees’ Union (BMPEU) in January ’96 had been called off in March ’96, the state government had agreed to grant the film trade various concessions. On this assurance of the government, the EIMPA had agreed to increase wages of cinema employees substantially with retrospective effect from 1st January, 1996. The impact of this settlement and subsequent CLI-linked wage increase had resulted in the wages bill of ‘A’ grade cinemas increasing by upto Rs. 2 lakh.
While the government later implemented the concessions marked ‘A’ to ‘D’ in the minutes (dated 14-3-’96) relating to service charge and admission rates, it expressed its inability to reduce the rate of tax from 70% to 50% in view of the impending elections. It, however, promised to reduce the tax in the forthcoming session of the assembly i.e. Budget session. It may be recalled that the commitment to reduce entertainment tax to 50% is based on the assurance given in January ’94 to the trade by the then minister for information & cultural affairs, Kanti Biswas, to avert the proposed trade boycott of the International Film Festival of India, held that year in Calcutta.
In spite of the commitment, the EIMPA submitted a pre-Budget memorandum to the finance minister on 4th June, 1996 and wrote to the minister for information & cultural affairs on 5th June. However, the government failed to reduce the tax in the Budget. Several representations were made by the EIMPA before the government but to no avail.
As the last resort, the EIMPA has decided to observe a bandh on 24th September.
It may be mentioned here that state-owned cinema halls in West Bengal screen commercial films regularly, free of entertainment tax. The cinemas which do not charge tax are Nandan in Calcutta, Rabindra Bhavan in Howrah, Rabindra Bhavan in Burdwan, Rabindra Sadan in Murshidabad and Dinabandhu in Darjeeling.
DO YOU KNOW?
* For Pran, acting in Mukesh Bhatt’s MR. AASHIQ has sentimental value. MR. AASHIQ is being directed by Mahesh Bhatt and stars Saif Ali Khan and Twinkle. Pran had earlier acted in more than 10 films made by Nanabhai Bhatt, father of Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt. Pran has also worked in quite a few films featuring Sharmila Tagore, mother of Saif, as also Rajesh Khanna and Dimple, parents of Twinkle.
Not Much Heat For IMPPA Elections…..
There are a total of 19 members of the Ordinary class, contesting for 16 seats in the elections to the executive committee of the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA) to be held at its annual general meeting on Wednesday, September 18 at 3 p.m. at the ISKCON, Juhu, Bombay. Shakti Samanta has withdrawn his nomination. In the Associate class I, there are 6 contestants for 5 seats.
Two sitting members — Pawan Kumar and Satish Khanna — have been transferred from one class to another. While Pawan Kumar was a sitting member in the Ordinary class, he will this time be contesting in the Associate class I. Satish Khanna was a sitting member in the Associate class I and will be contesting as an Ordinary class member this year.
The 19 contestants in the Ordinary class are: Anil Ganguly, B.S. Shaad, Dara Singh, Kant Kumar, K.D. Shorey, Pranlal Mehta, Ranjeet, Saawan Kumar Tak, Sultan Ahmed, Sundeep Sethi, Sushama Shiromanee, Vinay Kumar Sinha (all sitting members), Ashok Punjabi, K.K. Talwar, Mehul Kumar, Mukesh Bhatt, Raju Kothari, Satish Khanna (sitting member in the Associate class I) and Sudarshan Rattan.
Johny Bakshi is the only new contestant in the Associate class I. He will be pitted against the sitting members viz. Anand Girdhar, Dimppy Ramdayal, S.K. Kapur and Surjit Aujla. Pawan Kumar, the sixth contestant in this class, was elected last year in the Ordinary class.
There are, therefore, a total of 25 candidates in the fray for 21 seats. This would be the position on the election day if there are no last-minute withdrawals. At the time of going to press, there were rumours that four persons would be asked to withdraw their nominations so that there would be no need for elections.
…..But Plenty Of Heat For IMPPA President’s Chair
Although there’s not much heat for elections to the executive committee of the largest body of film producers — the IMPPA — this year, the IMPPA president’s chair is being eyed by at least two persons. While present president Sultan Ahmed seems to be the majority’s choice, there is a section which wants a change and are backing the other presidential candidate, K.D. Shorey.
K.D. Shorey, it may be mentioned here, has never tried to hide his ardent desire to head the IMPPA, a dream he has nurtured since years. It is reported that Shorey is now trying to garner as much support for himself, among the candidates who will contest elections to the executive committee.
On his part, Sultan Ahmed has made it clear that he is contesting elections again this year because his colleagues in the IMPPA want him to lead the Association once again. Protagonists of Shorey’s presidentship put forth the argument that two years back as also last year, it had been unofficially decided that presidents would be changed every two years and, therefore, it was now time for Sultan Ahmed to make way for K.D. Shorey.
The interesting part is that while there is a lot of campaigning by loyalists of the two presidential candidates, both of them are contesting elections to the executive committee from the same United group. So while for the general producers, the IMPPA elections this time will not be a very exciting affair, there will be plenty of excitement in the first meeting of the executive committee of the IMPPA when the president and other office-bearers will be elected. Of course, the odds are in favour of Sultan Ahmed.
PRANLAL DOSHI ELECTED CEAI PRESIDENT
Pranlal K. Doshi was elected president of the Cinematograph Exhibitors’ Association of India (CEAI) at the first meeting of its new executive committee, held soon after its annual general meeting on 6th September at the CEAI boardroom at Vijay Chambers, Tribhuvan Road, Bombay. U.S. Bhagwat was elected deputy president, and Suresh G. Choksi, vice president. Gunvantrai N. Desai was elected hon. treasurer.
Earlier, at the annual general meeting, the following other members, besides the above, were elected to the executive committee for the year 1996-97:
Nitin N. Datar, M.B. Vartak, Y.S. Bhopatkar, Soli P. Arya, Yunus H.L. Aghadi, Sharad B. Pai, K.H. Navandhar, L.J. Kalantri, Sharad P. Doshi, D.F. Hodiwalla, Rashmibhai V. Bhalodia, Govindbhai P. Khoont (Patel), V.A. Mudholkar, P.D. Chumble, Ulhas R. Joshi, Rajendra L. Jain, Nester Desouza and Rahul M. Haksar.
The following four were co-opted to the executive committee: Russ F. Balaporia, Kiran Shantaram, V.N. Borawake and Naval F. Damania.
CCCA ELECTIONS
Stage Set For Handful Of New Entrants
Some heat seems to have generated on the CCCA election front. The elections to the largest Association of distributors and exhibitors — the Central Circuit Cine Association — are scheduled to take place on 24th September in Indore after its 43rd annual general meeting on 23rd. While there is consensus that the outgoing president, Santosh Singh Jain, should continue as president for 1996-97 too, the other seats in the executive committee are likely to be keenly contested. If elected to the post of president, this will be Jain’s 31st term as the chief!
Santosh Singh Jain had, a while ago, expressed his desire to not contest elections this time, but members of the CCCA prevailed upon him to continue to lead the Association.
A total of 57 nominations have been filed for 16 seats. Of course, there are going to be several withdrawals before the elections but a contest is not ruled out. It was earlier felt that there would be no elections this year as a consensus committee would be selected. With so many members in the fray, that possibility seems to be ruled out now.
Of the 16 sitting members, two — Ashok Purswani (C.P. Berar distributor) and O.P. Bansal (Rajasthan exhibitor) — will not be contesting this time.
The final nominations are as follows:
C.P. Berar Distributors (11 nominations for 4 seats): Anil Rathi, Bharat Khajanchi, B.N. (Laaloo) Kabra, Dilip Mudliar, Deepak Joshi, Ghanshyam Yadav, G.E. Naik, K.D. Sonar, Pramod Kumar Munot, Ramkisan Kasat and Vishnu Prasad Agrawal.
Of these, Bharat Khajanchi, Dilip Mudliar and Ramkisan Kasat are sitting members.
C.P. Berar Exhibitors (13 nominations for 4 seats): Azad Laddha, Chittranjan Choudhary, Gopal Ganediwal, H.D. Bagga, Lavanya Kumar Tiwari, Mahendra Jain, M.N. Lunkad, Milapchand Jain, Pramod Kumar Munot, S.K. Surana, Vijay Rathi, Vishnu Prasad Agrawal and V.V. Trivedi.
Of these, Azad Laddha, Mahendra Jain, S.K. Surana and Vijay Rathi are sitting members.
C.I. Distributors (9 nominations for 2 seats): Anil Rathi, Jitendra Jain, Manjit Singh, Nandkishore Jalani, Prem Dev, Santosh Singh Jain, Suresh Sharma, Vedprakash Mediratta and Vinod Malhotra.
Of the above, Santosh Singh Jain and Vinod Malhotra are sitting members.
C.I. Exhibitors (5 nominations for 2 seats): Hemant Vyas, O.P. Goyal, Prem Dev, Ramesh Sureka and Uttamchand Nahar.
Ramesh Sureka and Uttamchand Nahar are sitting members.
Rajasthan Distributors (12 nominations for 2 seats): Anil Rathi, Chandrashekhar Choudhary, Jitendra Jain, Kailash Sharma, Kishan Chand Jain, Mahaveer Tholia, Mohan Godha, Manjit Singh, Nandkishore Jalani, Sandeep Bhandari, Satyavan Pareek and Sunil Bansal.
Of the above, Kishan Chand Jain and Mohan Godha are sitting members.
Rajasthan Exhibitors (7 nominations for 2 seats): Chandrashekhar Choudhary, Kishan Chand Jain, Liyaqat Ali, Narendra Sharma, Rajendra Mamoria, Ramesh Jain and Ramdhan Mamoria.
Liyaqat Ali is a sitting member.
With the contest being so keen, it is likely that at least four or five new persons are inducted into the executive committee this year. The likely break-up of new members: 1 or 2 from C.P. Berar, 1 from C.I., and 1 or 2 from Rajasthan. In all probability, Santosh Singh Jain should poll the maximum number of votes.
EXACTLY ONE YEAR
The CCCA annual general meeting in 1995 was held on 22nd September and its elections, on 23rd. This year, the AGM is fixed for 23rd September, and the elections, for 24th. While the venue last year was Amravati, it will be Indore this time.
SPECULATION!
In the C.P. Berar trade, there’s speculation about who between B.N. (Laaloo) Kabra and Pramod Kumar Munot will make it to the executive committee this year. Both are not sitting members.
MIX MASALA
CC, CA FOR CCCA
There’s a new candidate contesting the CCCA elections from Rajasthan this year, whose name is Chandrashekhar Choudhary. He is the brother of Rajesh Choudhary (Modern Movies, Jaipur). Chandrashekhar Choudhary is a CA (Chartered Accountant). Isn’t it a coincidence that this CC, CA (Chandrashekhar Choudhary, Chartered Accountant) is contesting for a seat in the CCCA?
LUNCH PARTY FOR TAX CONCESSION
The news of extension of the benefit of 50% entertainment tax in Maharashtra for a further period of three months was celebrated by the Bombay trade with a luncheon party on 11th September at the office of Shringar Films. There was delicious biryani for vegetarians as well as for non-vegetarians. Actually, when the party was hosted, it was understood that the extension was for a year. It later dawned, much to the dismay of distributors and exhibitors, that the extension was effective for three months only.
DEV ANAND HONOURED IN SCOTLAND
The Highland of Scotland Council felicitated Dev Anand on 6th September, for completing 50 years in Indian cinema. Councillor Angus Gordan presented Dev Anand a quaich (a souvenir of Scotland, normally used for a visitor’s welcome).
Mr. Gordan, in his speech, praised the achievements of Dev Anand and thanked him for choosing Scotland for the backdrop of his film, Main Solah Baras Ki. Dev thanked the council for their gesture and said that he would be delighted to come back again to Scotland for another film.
Meanwhile, Main Solah Baras Ki is making brisk progress in Scotland. Shooting started on 7th September. Dev Anand produces, writes and directs the film in which he plays himself for the first time in his career. The film also features newfinds Sabrina, Neeru and Jas Arora with Harish Patel, Suhas Khandke and others. Music: Rajesh Roshan. Lyrics: Amit Khanna. Cinematography: Patni Bros. Audiography: Navin Shah.
Why This Entertainment Tax?
So the industry has won its battle with the Maharashtra government and yet lost it. Or should we say, the industry has won a losing battle?
The extension of the benefit of the reduced entertainment tax for a further period of just three months is hardly what the industry had bargained for. The least it expected was a one-year reprieve. But what the government has granted is an apology of a concession.
Actually, why is the industry fighting for a mere extension of one year? Why not take a long-term approach to the problem of entertainment tax? Why shouldn’t the industry contest the very levy of the tax?
With so many satellite channels and the government-owned Doordarshan providing so much free entertainment to the people in their households, things, as it is, are becoming pretty difficult for the film industry. Add to this, the escalating cost of film production. The stakes have become so high that film business today is riskier than it ever was. In such circumstances, it would not be a day too early if entertainment tax was abolished completely.
Many years ago, a case for the abolition of entertainment tax was made out and the industry even went to the court of law. The actual ground taken then was that entertainment tax had to be the same irrespective of whether one saw the film on a balcony ticket or a stall ticket because the entertainment that was being provided to him was the same. It may shock many to learn that the case, after being admitted, was not pursued by the industry mainly because it involved spending of heavy funds on advocates and solicitors. A solicitor of the eminence of Soli Sorabjee was arguing the case on behalf of the industry.
It is rather shameful that in an industry where crores of rupees are spent on producing every film, where lakhs are spent on costumes of a heroine, where the bill of junior artistes alone sometimes runs into 7-digit figures, a dearth of funds should be felt in the fighting of a cause which, if the industry proves successful, could change the course of business for all time to come.
On an average, about 1,000 films are being produced at any given time. Even if every producers is asked to contribute just Rs. 5,000 towards what can be called the Entertainment Tax Abolition Fund, the industry could collect Rs. 50 lakh in no time. Thus forearmed, it would do well to launch its battle against the very levy of entertainment tax on films in India. For all you know, it might just succeed in getting the much-hated tax removed completely. Now, wouldn’t that be Utopian?
– Komal Nahta