TAAL

Mukta Arts’ Taal is a musical love triangle. A rich industrialist’s son falls in love with a simple girl who is the daughter of a middle-class music teacher and singer, and promises to marry her. But due to a sudden turn of events, the relationship between the girl and the guy sours. Although the boy has immense faith in the power of true love, the girl, hurt and humiliated as she is, decides to move ahead in life and forget her brief affair as a bad dream. She meets a rich and prosperous owner of an entertainment company, who takes her under his wings and soon makes her an international singing-dancing star. He also falls in love with her, but his love is selfish in the sense that he wants to possess the girl at any cost. The girl is torn between her two lovers. On the one hand is her true and first love and on the other, the guy who gave her fame and stardom. Once again, a turn of events puts her in a dilemma. The problem is resolved in a fairly lengthy climax.

The story has not much of a novelty but the treatment of director Subhash Ghai is quite remarkable. However, although his direction gives evidence of his mastery over the craft, the script is below the mark. For one, the screenplay is loose and the film gets boring at many places — an error which will have to be rectified by early and judicious re-editing (at least 20 minutes can safely be chopped off). Secondly, the character of the industrialist’s son (lover) is so passive that it lacks fire. The boy telling every relative/acquaintance of his that he/she would get his love back to him sounds rather funny, especially because he himself does little to win her back and instead sermonises on the power of God and faith in love — something which today’s impatient audience isn’t prepared to buy unless convinced very very carefully. Further, the romance between the girl and the industrialist’s son is not so youthful nor are the pangs of separation so painful. The fire sequence looks contrived.

On the positive side, the film has witty dialogues, brilliant gloss, excellent music and breathtaking song picturisations. But even all these do not make up for the relatively weak drama and the dull characterisation of the young lover.

Anil Kapoor does a splendid job, playing to the gallery all through the second half. His entry at the interval point evokes claps. His performance in the climax is wonderful. If only the amount of effort that’s gone into making Anil’s characterisation mass-appealing had gone into making the other hero’s character also more audience-acceptable, it would’ve been so much better. Although Akshaye Khanna suffers on account of a dull characterisation, his performance is natural to the core. Aishwarya Rai has less dialogues and more expressions and she comes out with flying colours. She casts a magical spell on the audience with her beauty, dances, glamour and acting. Alok Nath, as Aishwarya’s father, is first-rate. The confrontation scene between him and Akshaye’s father (Amrish Puri) just before interval is superb. As much credit for the said scene goes to the visualiser as to the director and to Alok Nath. Amrish Puri is effective but gets less scope. Mita Vashist leaves a mark. Saurabh Shukla is wasted. Jividha Sharma and Tanya Mukherjee are good as Aishwarya’s sisters. Supriya Karnik, as Akshaye’s aunt, is superb. Sushma Seth deserved a better role. Prithvi Zutshi, Manoj Pahwa, Rajesh Khera, Vinod Raut and the others lend fair support.

Subhash Ghai makes the film a visual treat. Although his direction has brilliant touches, the weaknesses in the script sometimes eclipse his directorial brilliance. A.R. Rahman’s music is masterly. ‘Ramta jogi’, ‘Ishq bina’ and the title song are extraordinary and their picturisations are heavenly. ‘Aag lage lag jaave’ is also lavishly picturised and Aishwarya’s dance is fantastic. The ‘Nahin paas tu’ song needs to be deleted as it hampers the film’s pace. Production values are grand. Kabir Lall’s camerawork is simply dazzling and mesmerising. Sharmishtha Roy’s sets are great. Background score is fabulous.

On the whole, Taal is high — very high — on gloss, glamour, grandeur, style, music but is low on racy screenplay, pacy drama and mass-appealing ingredients. The low points, however, outweigh the high points of the film. It will appeal to the gentry audience more than the masses and will, therefore, do well in ‘A’ class centres. Considering its high price on the one hand and city appeal on the other, it can hope to fetch returns only in Bombay, Maharashtra, Delhi (not U.P.), South and Overseas. Business in Bengal, Bihar and Rajasthan in particular and in small centres in general will be dull.

Released on 12-8-’99 at Metro and on 13-8-’99 at 18 other cinemas of Bombay thru Metro Films. Publicity & opening: bumper. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark in West Bengal (dull), C.I., Rajasthan and East Punjab (in stalls). There was a noticeable drop in collections on 2nd day in U.P., C.P. Berar and C.I.

KOHRAM

Mehul Movies Pvt. Ltd.’s Kohram (UA) is a story of good versus evil, the former represented by army officers and the latter, by a corrupt minister and the nation’s enemies in the neighbouring country. A conscientious army officer is dubbed a traitor when he tries to kill the actual traitor. This forces him to leave the army and live in obscurity and in disguise. Another army officer is sent to investigate whether the look-alike is actually the ex-army officer. Not only is the mystery unravelled but the truth about who is actually the traitor is brought to the knowledge of the higher authorities. Ultimately, the two army officers eliminate the nation’s enemy.

The film abounds in action and also has a good dose of comedy. What it lacks in are fiery dialogues and exciting/tension-filled confrontation scenes between the two army officers, played by firebrand actors Amitabh Bachchan and Nana Patekar. The dialogues, in fact, fall short of the stature of the two great actors pitted against each other for the first time. Comedy (of Nana Patekar and Tabu) is enjoyable. The latter part of the climax holds appeal for the classes only, as it has a mere symbolic significance.

Amitabh Bachchan does a fine job. Nana Patekar is the life of the film and impresses the maximum in light scenes. His get-up with a pony-tail, however, looks odd. Tabu is cute as the corrupt police officer. Danny Denzongpa makes a competent and polished villain. Jaya Prada has no worthwhile role. Mukul Dev also does not get much scope. Mukesh Rishi is good. Jackie Shroff leaves a mark in a special appearance. Ayesha Julka is so-so. Kabir Bedi is effective in a guest role. Ali Khan, Avtar Gill, Mukesh Rawal, Pushpa Verma, Jassi, Sikander Khan, Santosh Gupta, baby Jahan and the rest lend fair support.

Mehul Kumar’s direction is quite good but he seems to have under-estimated the power of punch-packed dialogues and a fiery drama. Music (Dilip Sen Sameer Sen) is a letdown. Except for the ‘Banaras ke bhaiyya’ song, which is fairly well-tuned, the other songs have mere functional value. Bhiku Verma’s action is good. Camerawork is alright. Background score is adequate. Other technical values are of standard.

On the whole, high-priced Kohram scores for its light moments more than the drama and dialogues. It cannot be expected to have a long run except in Maharashtra and West Bengal where Nana has a fan-following. It will fetch good returns in Bombay, West Bengal and C.P. but do average elsewhere on the strength of business mainly in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres.

Released on 13-8-’99 at Central Plaza and 23 other cinemas of Bombay thru Veekay Enterprises. Publicity & opening: excellent. …….Also released all over. Opening was very good in U.P., Bengal and C.P. Berar but below the mark in East Punjab, Rajasthan and Nizam.

LATEST POSITION

The bumper opening of TAAL in many parts of the country has taken the industry by surprise.

Trishakti is a washout. 1st week Bombay 22,77,209 (45.40%) from 11 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,53,265 from 5 cinemas, Jamnagar 53,107; Pune 2,58,657 from 3 cinemas, Solapur 1,23,617; Delhi 6,16,859 (29.78%) from 6 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,06,982 from 2 cinemas, Agra 75,888; Calcutta 6,80,946 from 10 cinemas; Nagpur 1,80,153 from 4 cinemas, Amravati 67,728, Raipur 57,608, Bhilai 42,858 from 2 cinemas; Indore 42,000 (2 on F.H.), Bhopal 72,000; Jaipur 1,47,893 from 2 cinemas, Bikaner 54,139; Hyderabad (gross) 8,74,782 from 9 cinemas (2 in noon).

………..

Hindustan Ki Kasam, due to the fantastic initial value and abundant action, will prove to be safe in several circuits. 3rd week Bombay 18,04,817 (43%) from 9 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,93,811 from 5 cinemas, Baroda 1,24,324; Pune 4,42,740 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 83,775; Delhi 14,95,870 from 9 cinemas; Kanpur 2,22,628 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,61,060, Agra 1,37,000, Varanasi 1,96,311, Allahabad 1,28,870, Bareilly (6 days) 68,258, Dehradun 83,526; Calcutta 2,19,889 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 57,751 from 2 cinemas, Amravati (6 days) 64,960, Akola 48,330, Raipur (6 days) 1,11,762, Bhilai (6 days) 28,986, Jalgaon (5 days) 97,156, Yavatmal 54,386; Indore 82,421 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 5,43,997, Bikaner (gross) 1,42,830; Hyderabad (gross) 2,95,205; Guntur (gross) 69,840, total 2,13,788.

Mann 5th week Bombay 6,33,456 (55.46%) from 2 cinemas (3 unrecd., 5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,96,837 from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 1,26,090 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 4,84,772 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 92,172, Solapur 22,876, 1st week Barsi 52,937; 5th week Delhi 10,54,608 from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 1,63,825 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,40,401, Agra 1,20,783, Varanasi 95,353, Allahabad 74,000, Bareilly (6 days) 28,127, Dehradun 50,000; Calcutta 6,21,045 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 1,08,028 from 2 cinemas, Amravati (6 days) 77,992, Akola 44,076, total 5,49,600, Raipur (6 days) 99,120, 4th Jalgaon 49,789, total 5,72,178, 3rd week Wardha (5 days) 33,166; 5th week Indore 1,02,421; Jaipur 1,56,473; Hyderabad (gross) 3,91,398 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon, 1 unrecd.).

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is still doing extraordinary in Bombay and Gujarat-Saurashtra. 8th week Bombay 43,34,872 (67.68%) from 11 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 5,07,288 from 4 cinemas, Rajkot 73,150, Jamnagar (matinee) 6,837; Pune 3,56,009 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee) 24,447; Delhi 4,39,025 from 2 cinemas.

BABY BOY FOR AADESH, VIJAYETA

Vijayeta Pandit, wife of music director Aadesh Shrivastava, delivered a baby boy on 7th August at a private nursing home in Bombay. This is the couple’s second child.

SECRETARY PREM GHAI PASSES AWAY

Prem Ghai, secretary to Rakesh Bedi, Alok Nath and Ishrat Ali, passed away on 12th August at Belle Vue Nursing Home, Andheri, Bombay, where he was admitted following brain haemmorhage. The funeral, held the next day (13th August), was attended by many members of the Cine Artistes Secretaries Association.

Chautha will be held today (14th August) at Arya Samaj Hall, Versova, between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

DARA SINGH TO CONTEST LS ELECTIONS FROM ROHTAK

The BJP will field actor-producer-director Dara Singh as its candidate from the Rohtak constituency in the  forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

‘HOGI PYAR KI JEET’ 100 DAYS

Shweta International’s Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet celebrates 100 days of its run today (14th August) at many centres in India. Produced by Anil Sharma and directed by P. Vasu, the film stars Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Neha, Mayuri Kango, Ketaki Dave, Mohan Joshi, Tiku Talsania, Prithvi, Raza Murad, Arjun and Anil Dhawan. Screenplay & dialogues: Anwar Khan. Music: Anand Milind. Lyrics: Sameer. Choreography: Raju Khan. Cinematography: Damodar Naidu.

‘BORDER’ TAX-FREE IN DELHI

J.P. Dutta’s Border has been exempted from payment of entertainment tax in Delhi with effect from 23rd July, 1999. The film’s distributor for Delhi-U.P. is Kewal Suri’s Movie Tee Vee Enterprises.

YOU ASKED IT

Since Nepal’s distribution rights are given separately and not with Bihar these days, what should be the ratio for Nepal?

– 10 to 12 per cent of the Bihar territory.

After the expiry of the distribution rights (for 10 or 5 years), where do the prints go?

– Technically, the distributor is supposed to hand over all the prints and publicity materials, which are in his possession, to the producer after the expiry of his distribution rights. But rarely does any distributor do this. Some distributors do send back the unserviceable prints to the producers during the tenure of the contract.

One always reads in trade papers that so-and-so film has broken such-and-such record at the box-office. But then, so many films are mentioned as breaking records and creating history. What is the historical truth?

– Any film can create history by virtue of record collections for the time being because admission rates are not static.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

‘Taal’ing Images

For the first time ever, a Hindi film — Subhash Ghai’s Taal — will be released on the state-of-the-art IMAX screen. Taal will open on 24th August at the IMAX 3-D theatre in White River State Park, USA. The theatre boasts of a 40 ft. high (about 6 storeys tall) and 80 ft. wide screen, a 6-channel digital surround sound system (about 10,000 watts of sound) and the latest equipment in 3-D technology. IMAX technology works on a 70mm, 15 perforation film (technically known as 15/70 system) with each frame being ten times the size of a standard 35 mm film. Moreover, the specially designed IMAX projectors impart the images more clarity, sharpness and brightness than a normal film. The ultimate effect of this on the viewer is that while watching the film, he feels like he is in it! The screening of Taal at IMAX-Indianapolis is a joint effort of Eros Entertainment and Shyaam Entertainments (Indianapolis).

It would not be out of place to add here that the premiere of Taal was held on 13th August at the Empire cinema in Leicester Square, Central London. Surprisingly enough, the tickets for the premiere show were selling at an unbelievably high premium: 50 pounds for a 10-pound-rated ticket! And this, despite the cinema having as many as 1,400 seats.

Testimonial To A ‘Perfectionist’

The following quote needs absolutely no comments:

Deepa Mehta, on working with Aamir Khan in 1947 Earth: “I looked at many actors to play Ice Candy Man and the one who responded to the script as a whole and not just to his own part was Aamir. I was very impressed with that — thank God for small mercies! Wish there were more actors like him. I feel that his ‘perfectionism’ is one of his major strengths…. Aamir, not unlike other actors, offered suggestions. I’m very open to suggestions from my actors, especially if they are intelligent ones, like Aamir. More than just suggestions, it was a dialogue about his character in a particular scene. For example, there was one scene, where Aamir felt, Ice Candy Man (his character) is very upset. I felt, Aamir should underplay that bit of dialogue, while Aamir felt that he should not. We did it my way and, to this date, I regret not having listened to him. But very rarely did we disagree or get into long conversations about how to play a scene.” Did she say, she wished there were more like Aamir? Our thoughts exactly!

Enigmatic Karisma

Is Karisma Kapoor on a quitting spree? Not too long ago, she walked out of Sajid Nadiadwala’s Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega. News now comes that she is also not doing Deepak Shivdasani’s Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke. Preity Zinta has been signed in Karisma’s place for Shivdasani’s film. One hears that Karisma has also returned the signing amounts of a couple of other films. What’s cooking, Karisma?