JORU KA GHULAM
Noorani Film Corporation’s Joru Ka Ghulam is a comedy. A crook, alongwith his friend, tries to get into the good books of a wealthy industrialist with the intention of running away with a chunk of his wealth. But he finds himself in an awkward position when the industrialist’s spoilt daughter falls in love with him. However, the industrialist announces that either his four daughters, all of marriageable age, would get married together or none would enter wedlock. The crook, whose eye is on the wealth, sets out to find a match for each of the three sisters of his beloved and that isn’t an easy task because the choices and requirements of the three sisters are such as could make anybody tear his hair apart. Ultimately, after finding proper matches for the sisters, the crook has a change of heart and confesses his ignoble intention to the industrialist. But, by then, the industrialist has taken a strong liking for the otherwise genuine guy and is willing to forgive his crookedness.
The film has some hilarious sequences; however, a lot of incidents are not just implausible but also not exciting enough to engage the audience’s attention. The episodes relating to finding proper matches for the three sisters have been hurriedly gone through. Since the plot is thin, scenes are stretched, often to the detriment of the drama. Tanveer Khan’s dialogues are good at places with the crook (Govinda) improvising and making them more enjoyable. The romantic track moves ahead mainly with the help of songs only. Emotions do not touch the heart at all.
Govinda does an excellent job as the crook. He endears himself to the audience and plays the foreign-returned Gujarati to perfection. Twinkle Khanna gets limited scope and is average. She makes a tame attempt to match Govinda’s dancing prowess but fails. Kader Khan acts ably as the rich industrialist. Johny Lever entertains but only at places. Ashok Saraf does a fair job. Ashish Vidyarthi’s track looks contrived; he is, however, good. Razzak Khan’s comedy track of Urdu dialogues is funny, with Govinda and Johny Lever complementing him effectively. The three sisters — Rushika, Rajashree and Rakhi Sawant — are poor. Sonu Sagar is reasonably good. Ali Asgar, Bobby Vats and Ghanshyam lend fair support.
Shakeel Noorani’s direction is alright but he is let down by a script devoid of novelty and replete with unengaging situations. Music (Aadesh Shrivastava) is a mixed bag. A few songs are fairly well-tuned but a couple of them are ordinary too. Song picturisations are okay. Camerawork (Dinesh Telkar) is so-so. Editing is not sharp.
On the whole, Joru Ka Ghulam is an ordinary fare with chances in Maharashtra and U.P.
Released on 16-6-2000 at Minerva and 19 other cinemas of Bombay thru Govinda Yashwardhan No. 1 Distributors. Publicity: good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over.
LATEST POSITION
JOSH has recorded brilliant collections following the flying start it took last week. It is extraordinary in Bombay, Nizam and Delhi mainly. In the rest, although it collected wonderfully on the first five days, a conspicuous drop started on the sixth day. After a good 7th day (Eid holiday), eighth day is quite dull at many places like Calcutta, Ratlam, Jaipur, stations of East Punjab, Bangalore etc.
Josh 1st week Bombay 69,73,725 (100%) from 13 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 40,86,952 from 9 cinemas, Vapi 7,98,472 from 2 cinemas, Padra (28 shows) 2,27,807, Valsad 3,43,465 (87.10%), Rajkot 3,58,620 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar (29 shows) 2,03,103, Bhuj 1,38,010 (58%); Pune 19,90,144 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 4,82,050 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Satara 2,65,951 (100%) from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 75,59,174 (89.87%) from 12 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 6,10,496 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 8,81,459 from 2 cinemas, Agra 3,25,000, Varanasi 2,50,336, Allahabad 2,96,635, Bareilly 1,70,000, Hardwar 1,05,000 (36.45%), Muzaffarnagar 1,25,000 (82.78%); Calcutta 24,72,741 (94.30%) from 7 cinemas (other cinemas undisclosed); Nagpur 11,88,917 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,49,788, Amravati 3,15,110 (99.60%), Akola 3,03,157, Raipur (gross) 4,51,778, Jalgaon 2,80,510, Wardha (5 days) 1,36,115, Bilaspur 2,51,497; Jaipur 11,55,802 from 4 cinemas, Ajmer (gross) 3,06,966, Bikaner 2,69,572; Hyderabad (gross) 46,80,502 from 14 cinemas; Aurangabad 100% from 2 cinemas, excellent!
………….
Kya Kehna! 4th week Bombay 29,69,864 (67.13%) from 9 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,07,625 from 4 cinemas; Pune 5,87,775 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), 3rd week Solapur 60,200, 2nd week Satara 1,28,403 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 4th week Delhi 15,71,553 from 6 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,94,440, Lucknow 3,13,750, Agra 88,764, Varanasi 1,30,125, Allahabad 69,709, Bareilly (6 days) 45,000; Calcutta 10,19,220 from 9 cinemas (1 in noon); Nagpur 3,55,541 from 2 cinemas, 3rd week Jabalpur 1,25,641, total 2,86,107, 4th week Akola 82,366, total 4,19,476, Raipur 78,675, 1st week Jalgaon 1,91,648, 4th week Wardha (3 days) 23,506, Chandrapur 1,05,518, total 5,36,061, Bilaspur 60,429; Indore 2,55,636 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal 1,58,214 (3rd 1,52,000); Jaipur 2,70,495, Ajmer (28 shows) 71,786, Bikaner 76,668; Hyderabad (gross) 3,27,619.
Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai 22nd week Bombay 4,54,686 (51.01%) from 2 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,79,650 from 3 cinemas, Baroda (28 shows) 1,41,230; Pune 2,61,775 from 2 cinemas, Solapur 1,06,764, 20th week Satara (matinee) 41,729; 9th week Bijapur (21 shows) 61,924; 22nd week Delhi 2,48,816 from 2 cinemas; Kanpur 70,410, Lucknow 1,63,284, Agra 56,000, Varanasi 91,165, Allahabad 56,000, 2nd week Bareilly (revived) 58,564; 22nd week Calcutta 1,08,932; Nagpur 1,29,800 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 57,458, Amravati 77,261, Akola 72,183, total 25,08,446, Raipur 78,293, Jalgaon 63,705, 21st week Chandrapur 88,025, 4th Ambikapur 55,010, 1st week Paratwada 90,276, 1st 4 days Dhamtari 84,632, 1st 3 days Bhandara 25,521, 1st day Bramhapuri 8,179; 22nd week Bhopal 95,637 (21st 84,415); Jaipur 1,18,242; Hyderabad (gross) 3,55,455 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.).
‘PU LA’ NO MORE
Renowned litterateur, humourist and media celebrity Purushottam Lakshman Deshpande passed away in Pune on 12th June. He was 80. Affectionately addressed as ‘Pu La’, he was a remarkably versatile personality who excelled in every creative medium, whether cinema, drama, television, music, literature or humour. No public figure in Maharashtra could match the kind of adulation he commanded during the last six decades. He has left behind a bountiful legacy of 40 books, memorable Marathi dramas like ‘Tuze Aahe Tujpaashi’, ‘Tee Phulraani’, ‘Sundar Mee Honar’ and ‘Ammaldaar’; the unforgettable cinematic creations like Goolacha Ganpati and Doodhbhaat and the indelible memories of his one-man shows on stage.
Pu La was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the Sahitya Akademi award and the Sangeet Naatak Akademi fellowship, besides an honorary D. Litt. from Ravindra Bharati University and Pune University.
The multi-faceted man, who was considered “the pride of Maharashtra”, was accorded a state funeral in Pune on 13th June.
YASH CHOPRA CLAIMS 35 LAKH FROM INSURANCE CO.
Producer-director Yash Chopra has claimed a compensation of approximately Rs. 35 lakh from his production company’s insurers, United India, for the delay caused in the completion of Mohabbatein.
Yash Chopra had insured the film for Rs. 15 crore in September 1999. The completion of Mohabbatein, which is scheduled for release this Diwali, was delayed for more than a month due to an injury Aishwarya sustained earlier. A set built for the shooting had to be dismantled after retaining it for some days, thus leading the filmmaker to bear heavy losses.
The insurance company’s chartered accountants are assessing the losses.
NEW CINTAA OFFICE
The inauguration of the new office premises of Cine & TV Artistes’ Association and Cine Artistes Welfare Trust at 220, 221, Kartik Complex, opp. Laxmi Industrial Estate, New Link Road, Bombay-400 053, was held on June 4.
Sunil Dutt and Amitabh Bachchan formally inaugurated the CINTAA and the Cine Artistes Welfare Trust offices respectively. The coconut-breaking ceremony was performed by veteran Chandrashekhar at the CINTAA office and by Raza Murad at the CAWT office. Sunil Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Asha Parekh, Raveena Tandon, Amrish Puri and Arbaaz Khan lit the traditional lamp.
The function was attended by film and television artistes including Dara Singh, Prem Chopra, Shammi, Subbiraj, Arun Bali, Mac Mohan, Dharmesh Tiwari, Gajendra Chauhan, Deep Dhillon, Baldev Khosa, Yunus Parwaiz, S.S. Randhawa, Vikas Anand, Satyen Kappu, Manmoujee, Madan Prakash (gen. secretary, FWICE) and Madhusudan (president, FWICE).
KARNAL CINEMA OWNER FILES CASE AGAINST NIMPA OFFICE-BEARERS
Sanjay Bansal, partner of Inder Palace Cinema, Karnal, filed a suit in the local court against nine office-bearers of the Northern India Motion Pictures Association (NIMPA) including president Dharam Pal Arora and hon. secretary Yash Paul Mittal, alleging fraud, forgery, criminal conspiracy and threatening by them. The magistrate on duty asked the police to investigate the matter. As the defendants did not co-operate with the police, the chief judicial magistrate, Narendra Kumar Mittal, issued an arrest warrant against them. However, no arrests were made as the defendants had taken anticipatory bails.
According to the complainant, Dharam Pal Arora and Yash Paul Mittal conspired with Z.S.D. Enterprises and prepared a fraudulent agreement for the film Qatil Chandalini under his (Sanjay Bansal’s) signature. They then allegedly asked him to pay money for running the film in his cinema although, according to him, he never screened the film.
K.D. SHOREY CRITICAL OF FFI-FICCI ASSOCIATION
Producer K.D. Shorey, the former general secretary of the Film Federation of India (FFI), has asked the FFI president to discuss some matters of importance in the meeting of the FFI on 21st June in Madras, “for the vital and larger interests of the film industry and for keeping the dignity, honour and functioning of the Film Federation of India”.
In a letter dated 5th June, written to the FFI president, Shorey has said that he will raise the issue of FFI’s association with the FICCI. Shorey is of the view that there has been no relief for the FFI from the government since aligning with the FICCI. He further points out that at the FICCI conference, held on March 30 and 31, 2000 in Bombay, no representative of filmmakers was invited to make a representation “on such a matter like Copyright”, while those representing IPRS were invited. At the FICCI conference, says Shorey, highly exaggerated fictional statistics and projections were cited “to lure and misguide innocent public to part with their hard-earned money in IPOs”.
RAMNIKLAL SHAH NO MORE
Gujarati film producer Ramniklal B. Shah expired on the morning of 12th June at his residence at Mulund, Bombay. He was 64. He was cremated the same evening. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.
Popularly known as Mehta-ji, Ramnikbhai had produced several Gujarati films, some in partnership with Shree Ram Bohra and others independently. The films he had made with Bohra were Bhadar Tara Vaheta Pani, Patli Parmar, Son-Kansari, Chori Na Phera Char, Sheth Jagdusha, Vifreli Vaaghan, Chhel Chhabilo and Sonal. Independently, he had made Jamna Bani Jagdamba and Mangal Phera. He used to work as accountant with the Bohras before he had turned a producer.
MEGHRAJ, VASHI REOPENS
Meghraj, a cinema at Vashi, New Bombay, has been converted into a multiplex with three screens. The first screen, christened Meghraj Multiplex Hall No. 3, opened on 16th June with an all-new look. Joru Ka Ghulam is the opening attraction. The multiplex is controlled by Francis of Royston Enterprises. The two remaining cinemas of this multiplex will be inaugurated shortly.
NEW DISTRIBUTION OFFICE FOR C.P. BERAR
A new distribution office for C.P. Berar — Bajaj Films — has opened in Bhusawal at 50, Radhaswami Complex, near Petrol Pump. The concern has acquired Jwalamukhi and Ittefaq for C.P. Phones: 22528, 22720. R: 24248.
UDAY MITHBAOKAR NO MORE
Uday Mithbaokar, a well-known still photographer of Marathi films and stage-plays and owner of Prakash Photo Studio, Dadar, Bombay, passed away on 15th June following heart failure at a hospital in Airoli, New Bombay. He was 53 and is survived by his wife and two sons.
100 DAYS’ CELEBRATIONS OF ‘CHALA BAAGUNDI’: Bahut Achchha!
Producers A. Suryanarayana and Jagadish Prasad have acquired the Hindi remaking rights of the Telugu super-hit, Chala Baagundi. While Sanjay Kapoor has been finalised for one lead role, the hunt for another hero and one heroine is on.
It was for the 100 days’ celebration of Chala Baagundi that we were in Hyderabad on 10th June. E.V.V. Satyanarayana (who had directed the Hindi Sooryavansham) is the man behind Chala Baagundi which, in Hindi, means Bahut Achchha. The 100 days’ function at Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad coincided with the birthday of E.V.V. Satyanarayana. And who else as chief guest for the celebrations than Amitabh Bachchan, the hero of Sooryavansham.
Despite long speeches in Telugu by almost 15 invitees, including Andhra home minister T. Devender Goud and energy minister K. Subbarayudu, Amitabh had a smiling face all through the 2-hour function. When it was his chance to speak, he thanked (thankfully, for us, in English) E.V.V. for extracting good work out of him in Sooryavansham. He admitted that he had been apprehensive about working with E.V.V. because he hadn’t heard of the director. But once E.V.V. came into the project, Bachchan’s fears were put to rest, he added. For, “it had been a pleasure to work with E.V.V.”
A. Suryanarayana revealed, “Anil Kapoor was bowled over by E.V.V. when he saw Sooryavansham before its release. Anil is signed to do one film for me and, after seeing Sooryavansham, he asked me to sign E.V.V. forthwith for the film which he (Anil) was contracted to do. I told him, ‘let the film be released’, but Anil insisted, I sign him before that. I would have loved it had Anil Kapoor played one of the two lead men in the remake of Chala Baagundi but then, the need of the role is a younger hero. So while we are hunting for an appropriate subject for the Anil starrer, we will remake Chala Baagundi. And who better to direct the remake than E.V.V. himself?”
It speaks a lot for the film when non-Telugu understanding persons like us were moved to tears in the climax. Although the story was very engaging and seemed easy to be understood by the non-Telugu speaking invitees, S. Raamanathan interpreted the dialogues in the manner of a running commentary. Why, his voice used to choke with emotions every now and then. Ultimately, the emotions had us too in their grip and the tears rolled down our cheeks.
Chala Baagundi has the potential to hit big time when made in Hindi. It is the story of two foster-brothers who love each other immensely. Both are good guys but the younger one has one weakness — he consumes alcohol like a fish. In an inebriated state, he one day attempts to rape a girl. As fate would have it, this very girl is to come home as his foster-brother’s wife! After the attempt to rape, the boozard is so ashamed of himself that he quits drinking completely. But the foster-brother’s wife — and the victim of his lust — cannot forgive him. So we have the girl seeking revenge on the brother-in-law, and the latter trying hard to not let it be known to his foster-brother that he had tried to rape the girl. Simultaneously, the guy begs of the girl to forgive him and forget the past. Does she comply? Perish the thought! The girl is consumed by the feeling of revenge. As a mark of repentance, the brother-in-law marries a rape victim who has lost her mental balance after the rape. Even this does not move the sister-in-law. Ultimately, the brother-in-law and his wife leave home. But the separation is too much for the foster-brother to bear. All hell breaks loose when the foster-brother can’t locate his missing brother. A very tearful climax rounds off the moving drama which has been wonderfully and sensitively handled.
As one may have made out from the story, the film has tremendous appeal for ladies and families, on the patronage of which it went on to become a big hit. S. Raamanathan revealed, “I had predicted great success for the film when I saw it before release, because of its emotional appeal.” The medium-budget film is expected to do a business of Rs. 10 crore.
Shrikant and Vadde Naveen play the two heroes in the original, and Malavika is the heroine. After the stupendous success of the film, the two heroes have become much sought-after. Why, even E.V.V., who was passing through a low phase of his career, got a shot in the arm with Chala Baagundi. A Suryanarayana informed, “A lot of top stars refused to work with E.V.V. because his last few films had not done well, but after Chala Baagundi, every big star wants to work with the director.”
Dialogues have played an important role in taking the film to such heights. For the Hindi dialogues, Atul Tiwari has been roped in. Atul is also writing the dialogues of Mission Kashmir and had penned the dialogues for Raj Babbar’s Shaheed Uddham Singh.
Jagadish Prasad, who had made Mahaan in partnership with A. Suryanarayana, has once again joined hands with him for the remake. But that will not be Jagadish Prasad’s first connection with Chala Baagundi. The film has already brought in bountiful returns for Jagadish Prasad as he is distributing it in some parts. He asks us, “How did you like the film?”
“Chala Baagundi, very good, too good, bahut achchha,” we reply.
– Komal Nahta
YOU ASKED IT
Why does the trade get worried when two big films are released on the same day?
– Because both the films cut into one another’s revenues. Of course, there have been instances of two or even more films releasing on the same day and both (or all) getting excellent openings and also going on to become hits. The examples of DIL and GHAYAL, released the same day, is a case in point.
What is the report of J.P. Dutta’s Refugee?
– Excellent! Besides the film, also carrying exciting reports are Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor.
Will Bichhoo take a good start after the debacle of Bobby Deol’s recent starrer, Hum To Mohabbat Karega?
– The debacle of HUM TO MOHABBAT KAREGA notwithstanding, BICHHOO is bound to take a flying start, thanks to its hit music and impressive promotion.
When producers making films with animals in their cast are being hounded by Maneka Gandhi and her Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), is there any way out?
– The only way out seems to be the formation of a new body like Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Producers making films with Animals (SPCPA).
DO YOU KNOW?
* A thing of beauty is a joy forever! Rajshri’s B & W film, DOSTI, released last week at Regent, Patna, drew 25 out of 28 shows full in 1st week. It collected 1,28,680/- against a capacity of 1,33,707/- (96.24%). This, in spite of rains and opposition of JOSH. The film had been screened before this at Regent, Patna, for a week — Jan. 17, 1997 to Jan. 23. It had then collected 1,06,798/-.
* Rajshri’s 1982 super-hit NADIYA KE PAAR has been doing excellent business whenever it has been released in Bihar. Even in its repeat-run, history seems to be repeating itself. The film has been revived at the following cinemas and centres of Bihar (with the number of weeks in brackets): Durbar, Siwan (4th week), Ajanta, Biharshariff (4th week), Janta, Gopalganj (2nd week). This week, it has also been revived at Shekhar, Muzaffarpur; Bhagwan, Deogarh; and New Cinema, Mokamah.
* DIL DIJE DIL WAARAN KHE, a Sindhi feature film made after a gap of two decades, has been already sold (even before release) for C.P. Berar, C.I. and Rajasthan. Even exhibitors are keen to book this film at their cinemas. Five shows in Bhopal, 8 shows each in Ajmer and Jodhpur, 10 shows in Ahmedabad, 2 shows each in Pali and Pimpri, and one show at Senoi have been booked for private screenings.
* KYA KEHNA! is going from strength to strength in U.P. At Rakesh, Saharanpur, it collected 69,456/- in 2nd week and 71,274/- in 3rd week. At Elite, Jhansi, the 2nd and 3rd week’s collections are 54,185/- and 56,162/- respectively. At Nishat, Meerut, it is very steady and collected 1,34,276/- in 2nd week, 1,27,573/- in 3rd week, and 1,25,627/- in 4th week. At Pratibha, Lucknow, the film’s collection in 3rd week increased to 3,56,549/- from 3,41,085/- in 2nd week. At Pawan, Ghaziabad, it collected 90,120/- in 2nd week, 1,01,440/- in 3rd week and 1,01,176/- in 4th week.
KAHO NAA… MANCHANDAS HAI… MUQADDAR KE SIKANDAR!
* Durgapur in West Bengal circuit is ecstatic. For, no film has celebrated silver jubilee in this town, but Rakesh Roshan’s KN…PH is well on its way to completing 25 weeks at Anuradha cinema there. The film entered 23rd week this Friday. The record for the longest run before KN…PH was held by Prakash Mehra’s MUQADDAR KA SIKANDAR in 1978. That film had had a run of 17 weeks at Durgapur. Incidentally, while MKS was released in West Bengal by Harsh Manchanda, KN…PH has been released by his son, Niraj Manchanda. …..KN…PH will also celebrate silver jubilee in Calcutta at Hind cinema after two weeks.
Why Take Refuge In Stinging Egos?
If there’s one thing that’s increasing the palpitations of distributors of J.P. Dutta’s Refugee and Guddu Dhanoa’s Bichhoo as well as of exhibitors who’ve booked these films, it is the common release date of the two films — 30th June. It is not the first time that two big films will be hitting the screens on the same day. But there are some issues involved this time, which are not too general, besides the usual issue — of films cutting into one another’s initials first and businesses later.
For one, Refugee marks the debut of two newcomers, Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor. The industry needs newcomers and a grand opening for Refugee will be the first step towards fulfilling this need. Obviously, the opening of any film will be better if there’s no opposition to it. Bobby Deol starrer Bichhoo will be no small opposition to Refugee, more so in North India because of the action flavour and Guddu Dhanoa being its director.
On his part, Guddu Dhanoa had scheduled June 30 as the release date of Bichhoo, only after being assured by his distributor of Delhi-U.P. and East Punjab (who is also the distributor of Refugee for Delhi-U.P.) that Refugee would be released before 30th June. But the release of Refugee kept on getting postponed. Without going into the reasons for the postponement or into who is right and who is wrong, it now appears as if the release date has become an ego issue between the two makers.
But who will suffer because of these two egos? If a miracle happens, none at all will suffer. But, in all likelihood, it is the distributors and exhibitors of the two films, who’ve paid huge MGs and FHs, who will suffer. Can’t this be avoided? It can!
It only requires one of J.P. Dutta and Guddu Dhanoa to have a big heart, keep aside his ego and postpone his release to 7th July. As it is, there’s no major release scheduled for July 7. Then why the rush for 30th June? Contrary to the feeling that the trade will scoff at the one who postpones his film (with words like “darr gayaa”), the trade-wallahs will actually salute the producer-director who gracefully takes his film to 7th July in the larger interest of the trade in general and that of their own distributors and exhibitors in particular.
Come on, Dutta! Come on, Dhanoa! One week won’t make a difference to you. But to your distributors and exhibitors, it will make a world of a difference!
– Komal Nahta
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Honestly, Gada’s Is The Best Policy
Jayantilal Gada, the chief of Popular Entertainment Network (PEN), may be just 36 years old but the name he has made for himself in the industry for his fair dealings is remarkable. The man, who has satellite and Doordarshan rights of an entire library of films, has over the years impressed many a producer with his honesty. An example which stands out is that of his dealing with Subhash Ghai when he had, in 1997, acquired the satellite rights of his (Ghai’s) lot of films. Gada was late by just four days in making the last instalment of payment to Ghai and, even though Subhash Ghai never objected to the delay, Gada sent him a cheque for Rs. 8,136 towards delay charges for four days. So impressed was Ghai with Gada’s honesty that, instead of encashing the cheque, he framed it and kept it as a souvenir of integrity. No compliment could be bigger than this for Jayantilal Gada. It doesn’t then come as a surprise that his company, PEN, which is now coming up with a public issue, is a zero-debt company. As Gada says matter of factly, “I don’t want public money to pay off any debts — I don’t have any — but rather to expand my business.”
Title Suffixes
Adding suffixes to film titles is a current practice gaining currency day by day. Some (or many?) instances: Kargil – The Border, Tabaahi – The Destroyer, Mrityu – The Truth, Sandeh – The Doubt, Taandav – The Dance Of Revenge, Tapish – The Burning Desire, Sazaa – The Punishment, Sparsh – The Touch, Jaal – The Trap, Jadh – The Root Cause and there is also Devi – The Bride In Red. The trend was pioneered by producer-director Raj Kanwar who, unable to obtain the title Daag, christened his Sanjay Dutt-Mahima starrer Daag – The Fire. The senseless ‘fire’ of such circumventing titles (titles to circumvent the regulation in the industry, which prevents a producer from titling his film with a name registered in another’s favour) is spreading fast.
Straight Out Of ‘Josh’!
From reel life to real life. That’s how one would describe what happened in the city of Calcutta at Menoka cinema earlier this week. Like in Josh, the film which was running at the cinema, two rival gangs got into fisticuffs and created a spectacle for everybody around until the local police had to come to cool the members of the rival gangs. As it happened, about 50 fans of Shah Rukh Khan got so excited with his performance in Josh that they decided to put up a life-sized portrait of their idol at the cinema. Another group of die-hard Hrithik fans objected to this and what followed was much like what happens in Josh between Shah Rukh Khan’s Eagle gang and Sharad Kapoor’s Bichhoo gang. Finally, the police had to intervene, again as in Josh.
INFORMATION MEETS
“My entire film is a highlight!”
– J.P. DUTTA
GAJAA
“What sets J.P. Dutta apart from the rest of his tribe? His individualistic style of making films. His attitude — of making films on his own terms. Both, his style and attitude, have been vindicated with the huge success of Border. And Border has raised great expectations from Refugee. The man is confident about his forthcoming film, but doesn’t believe in blowing his own trumpet. He is cool, and that says it all.
J.P. Dutta was busy with the re-recording of Refugee at Rajkamal Kalamandir when we met him this week. He was supervising the mixing of reel numbers 19 and 20, before he spoke to us. The excerpts:
The film trade is concerned that the release of your REFUGEE and Guddu Dhanoa’s BICHHOO should be on the same date: June 30. But, as producers, both of you don’t seem to be perturbed by the impending ‘clash’, if it can be termed so. Your comment.
What’s new about it? Hasn’t it happened before?
REFUGEE, as one gathers, is a love story between a Hindu boy from this side of the border and a Muslim girl from across the border. Is it the success of BORDER which has inspired the subject of REFUGEE?
Tell me, have I written the script or have you written it? You are telling me the story! In reply to your question, I would suggest, you saw the film.
What is the point of difference between these two films?
Border was a war cry while Refugee is a cry for peace.
BORDER showed animosity towards the Pakistani army and that was one of the contributing factors for the high success of the film. Does REFUGEE also have something against….
No, not at all. To put the record straight, Pakistan was not the element of hate in Border. It was just an aggressor. I didn’t play the hate card.
What’s your next? Will it also have an element of patriotism?
I don’t know. But I am tempted to complete this trilogy. Trilogies are rarely made. In India, Satyajit Ray made Apu trilogy. Earlier, Rosellini and Andrezj Wajda made trilogies.
What’s your filmmaking ideology? To earn money? Or to win appreciation? Or both?
There is no such thing as ideology. What I wish is that my work should be looked upon with respect. And that’s what is important for me. Therefore, I have always made films on my terms.
What would you say to the charge that you are not a producer’s director?
I am a producer. Period.
The electronic medium has made a big dent in the film industry’s revenue. How, according to you, can this menace be dealt with?
(Laughs) Had I known, I would have myself stopped it by now. We have to live with the revolution. When talkie films came, the silent era was out. Many filmmakers became suddenly rich and many found themselves in the pits. Even in the silent era, a 4-hour war film was made. It was Napoleon, made in the ’30s. Its LDs have come out now. Though silent, it is an amazing film.
You seem to have seen a lot of foreign war films.
Yes, I have always been fascinated by Western war films. You must have seen the undercurrent of war in my films like Ghulami and Batwara.
This question deals with your personality trait, so don’t get offended….
Then, don’t ask me the question. If you already know, I will get offended, then don’t….
But let me complete my question: There is a general impression that you are a difficult type of person….
You have known me for quite some time now. Did you ever find me that way?
Well, not really.
Then tell your readers. They will believe you more than if I said so!
What explains your fascination for deserts and sand-stretched landscapes?
I love deserts. I like to see human beings in a vast landscape. In Refugee, you will see an unbelievable stretch of the Rann of Kutch where no film has ever been shot. It is restricted to civilians; a vast stretch which is 30 to 40 kms. away from Pak border.
What, according to you are the highlights of your film?
The entire film is a highlight, if you really want to know from me!
