LAV KUSH
Devyank Arts’ Lav Kush is a mythological film based on the story of the twin sons of Lord Ram. The story does not have much drama and the screenplay adds little to make the incidents dramatic. Except for a couple of emotional scenes (when Laxman leaves Sita in the jungle; interaction between Sita and Lav-Kush), there isn’t much which moves the viewer to tears. Besides, after a point of time, the film moves at a slackened pace which results in boredom creeping in. But the biggest drawback, perhaps, is the absence of a super-hit musical score. Although three to four songs are well-tuned, what was the demand of the mythological drama was haunting melody, songs that could become a rage among the audience. In their absence, the drama appears dull. Furthermore, with television bringing the whole Ramayan free to people’s houses, the charm of seeing a chapter therefrom over again is minimum, more so because one has to pay for it.
Jeetendra does an average job as Ram and has a permanent frowning expression on his face. Jaya Prada plays Sita ably. Master Aditya and baby Shreshtha impress as the twin children. Arun Govil gives a very good account of himself as Laxman. Dara Singh is alright in the role of Hanuman. Pran plays Valmiki with sincerity. Jayshree Gadkar, Beena, Tiku Talsania, Aroona Irani and the rest provide average support.
V. Madhusudan Rao’s direction looks dated. Although computer graphics give the film a modern look, there’s still no novelty because graphics of almost the same kind have been seen on the small screen. Besides, the narration is of the style of the sixties. Even though some songs (‘Katha ye Ram ki’, ‘Pativrata Siya Purshottam Shriram’, ‘Ramayan ki katha suno’, ‘Yeh vidhi ki dekho’) are well-tuned, Raamlaxman’s music is a letdown when judged by the demand of the genre of the film. Cinematography is good. Dialogues are fair. Although the film is about two children, there’s hardly anything for kids in it. Money seems to have been spent quite lavishly in the post-production stage but not as much in the production stage. Dolby DTS mixing is very good.
On the whole, Lav Kush has come many years late and, given the poor start and in the absence of an interesting narrative, emotions and hit music, it will fail to make a mark at the box-office. It, however, may do well in some pockets and small centres.
Released on 25-7-’97 at Maratha Mandir and 4 other cinemas of Bombay by Devyank Arts thru Shringar Films. Publicity: fair. Opening: very poor. …….Also released all over except in C.P. Berar and South. Opening was disastrous everywhere except East Punjab where the first two shows’ collections (in Ludhiana) were about 70% due to a Lav Kush rath yatra taken out by the distributor for two days prior to the film’s release. 1st day Indore about 14%.
ANACONDA
(DUBBED)
Columbia Tristar Films of India Ltd.’s Anaconda (dubbed from the English film of the same name; A) is an adventure film about a monstrous snake. This typical kind of snake gulps down humans after cracking their bones with its tight grip and regurgitates the body after a while. A group of persons encounters the 40-feet long snake and loses its members one by one to the deadly snake. To add to their woes is a villain who wants to kill the snake and, to achieve his purpose, subjects the group to all sorts of risks. Ultimately, the two surviving members of the group succeed in escaping from the clutches of the snake and even manage to kill it.
The film has terrifying and horrifying moments which send chills down the viewer’s spine. Scenes of the snake have been picturised just too remarkably. Although the drama does get dull at times and moves very slowly in the initial reels, it has more than its share of excitement, especially in the last one hour.
Dubbing is fair. The commentary at the start of the film, to explain about the snake and its whereabouts, is good and prepares the audience for what’s in store for them. Performances are all good.
Direction is remarkable. Camerawork and computer graphics are just too brilliant. Background music and sound effects are also splendid.
On the whole, Anaconda has the merits to prove a paying proposition.
Released on 25-7-’97 at Novelty and 4 other cinemas of Bombay thru A.A. Enterprises. Publicity & opening: good. …….Also released in Delhi-U.P., C.P. and Nizam to good houses.
LATEST POSITION
It was a normal week, and the Idd holiday didn’t really see collections going up.
Yes Boss has met with a mixed response. It is very good in Bombay circuit and South as also some big cities, but dropped quite alarmingly in many centres of the other circuits (like Delhi-U.P., East Punjab, Bengal, Bihar, C.P.C.I. Rajasthan). It has done well in Overseas. 1st week Bombay 33,93,479 (90%) from 9 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Rajkot 1,67,422 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,02,933; Pune 7,55,800 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee); Hubli 1,39,821 (100%), Belgaum 1,27,268; Delhi 35,94,680 (80.97%) from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,83,599 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,78,893, Allahabad 1,25,100, Amritsar 52,400; Calcutta 26,16,468 from 23 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Nagpur 5,69,226 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,72,127, Raipur 1,63,135 (66.77%), Bhilai 1,03,244; Bhopal 3,29,013 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 6,30,564 from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad 34,87,501 from 17 cinemas, share 17,03,703.
Daava is below average in some circuits and average in others. 1st week Bombay 19,53,436 (61.38%) from 10 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Baroda 78,258, Jamnagar (matinee) 19,944; Pune 6,01,193 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee); Belgaum 100%; Delhi 16,94,140 (53.94%) from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 2,03,489 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,27,204, Agra 1,09,330, Allahabad 88,500, Bareilly 90,661 (51.03%), Hardwar 65,000; Amritsar 49,480; Calcutta 15,53,426 from 18 cinemas; Nagpur 2,94,786 from 4 cinemas, Raipur 1,39,342 (57.54%), Bhilai 71,047, Jalgaon 1,19,747; Indore 2,26,255 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal 98,200; Jaipur 3,99,890 from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad 16,17,836 from 10 cinemas (1 in noon), share 7,02,657.
Mrityudand has maintained reasonably well in Maharashtra and M.P. due to tax-exemption. 2nd week Bombay (TF) 9,78,688 (70.11%) from 6 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Baroda (matinee) 20,660; Pune (TF) 3,65,012 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 3,18,578 from 2 cinemas; Kanpur 55,086, Lucknow 77,749, Agra 34,362, Allahabad 23,779, Bareilly 35,820 (15.58%); Calcutta 90,367; Nagpur (TF) 94,435, Jabalpur (TF) 73,622, total 1,99,318, Bhilai (TF) 48,322, 1st week Jalgaon (TF) 60,009; 2nd week Indore (TF) 62,956, Bhopal (TF) 1,00,310, 1st week Ujjain (TF) 78,838; 2nd week Jaipur 69,637.
Gupt is extraordinary in Bombay, Gujarat, South and fair in other circuits. Should do over 4 crore in Bombay circuit and more than 60 lakh in Kerala alone! 3rd week Bombay 26,96,749 (78.68%) from 10 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Vapi 1,70,240, total 10,11,191, Padra 1,62,674, Rajkot 1,67,690 (1 in matinee unrecd.), Jamnagar 72,458 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 9,05,064 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 9,99,581 from 4 cinemas; Kanpur 2,59,089 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,36,622, Agra 1,80,050, Allahabad 88,000, Bareilly 62,126 (28.29%); Calcutta 4,80,614 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 2,28,027 from 2 cinemas, Dhule 67,194, total 2,92,031, Raipur 1,09,795, Bhilai 44,991, 2nd week Amravati 1,40,779, total 3,74,537, Jalgaon 1,06,000, 3rd week Gondia 39,275, total 1,69,824, Chandrapur 90,008, total 3,89,063; Indore 1,61,681, Bhopal 1,09,846 (2nd 1,08,222); Jaipur 5,89,019 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 7,02,171 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon), share 3,39,380; Vijayawada 3 weeks’ total 9,36,927, share 4,49,233, Kurnool 4,22,890, 1st week Visakhapatnam 2,30,289 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), share 1,10,988, Guntur 1,76,267, share 1,10,410.
Border 6th week Bombay (TF) 25,80,386 (83.44%) from 9 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Baroda 1,03,955, Rajkot 1,17,212, Jamnagar 45,624, total 5,83,000; Pune (TF) 8,54,995 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), 2nd week Barsi (TF) 38,606; 6th week Belgaum 47,914; Delhi 33,22,644 from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,93,263 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,05,111, record, Agra 86,460, Allahabad 80,000, Bareilly 44,628 (19.98%), Hardwar 25,000, total 4,01,159; Calcutta 3,64,706 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur (TF) 2,21,321 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,32,275, total 12,84,661, Raipur 66,727, Bhilai 45,883, 5th week Durg (5 days) 26,563, 1st week Bhusawal (TF) 1,52,274 (100%), 6th week Wardha (TF) 29,550, Chandrapur (TF) 56,187; Indore 1,36,905, Bhopal 1,35,268; Jaipur 2,58,160; Hyderabad 4,00,897 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), share 1,52,373.
SNAKE BEATS THEM ALL
Indian filmmakers should hang their heads in shame. And not just because Jeevan Yudh, released this week, has had a 40% opening or Lav Kush (also released this week) has taken a 15% start or Ghoonghat (third release of the week) has opened to 30% houses.
If the above openings are shocking, more shocking is this. A dubbed (Hindi) Hollywood film, Anaconda, which has a snake as the central character, has registered the best initial this week. Yes, Columbia Tristar’s Anaconda (dubbed) has taken a respectable start not just in Bombay but also at places like Nagpur and Meerut.
Three cheers for the snake then and three boos for the three heroes of the three films! Hiss, hiss!!
BENGALI ‘LAV KUSH’ RELEASED AMIDST TENSION
The Bengali version of Dilip Kankaria’s Lav Kush was released on 25th July in Calcutta amidst much tension. Artistes and technicians of the Bengali film industry have been up in arms against Kankaria ever since he announced the release of the Bengali version, as they claim, it is a dubbed version. Dubbed Bengali films are not, as a rule, permitted to be released in Bengal. Kankaria, on the other hand, has maintained that Lav Kush is a bilingual.
Not satisfied with Dilip Kankaria’s contention, the Bengali industry artistes and technicians staged a dharna outside cinemas which were screening the Bengali version of Lav Kush on Friday.
As Kankaria had already obtained a court order to prevent the stay of release of the Bengali version, the anti-Lav Kush lobby got licences of at least three cinemas which were scheduled to release Lav Kush (Bengali), suspended. All the three cinemas — Uttara, Purabi and Shree — are of Kankaria himself. Kankaria contends that the suspension of licences was sudden and without show cause notices having been issued to the cinemas.
The Bengali version of the film could, therefore, be released in 16 of the 19 scheduled cinemas. The Hindi version was released in two cinemas (Hind and Ujjala).
FILMS FAIR ’97
The Films Fair will be held at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan from August 23 to 31, 1997. Films Fair ’97 will be a trade fair with a difference. Being organised by the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), it has been subtitled the Genesis of Motion.
Marketing the centenary of films in India, the fair will bring together major film and television houses, both, from the country and abroad, exhibiting the history of cinema, major landmarks of the film industry, the role of film and TV in society, and techniques of filmmaking including the process. It will also enable various industrial units and manufacturers dealing with TV and photography-related equipment, both Indian and foreign, to display and sell their products.
The ITPO has formed an advisory committee with eminent film personalities including N.P. Nawani, secretary, Information & Broadcasting, Sunil Dutt, Sultan Ahmed, Pahlaj Nihalani, Asha Parekh, Ramesh Sippy and K.G. Dossani, president, Film Federation of India.
A series of seminars on subjects of topical interest are being organised during the fair. These include ‘Mainline Cinema Versus Parallel Cinema’, ‘The Emerging Role of Satellite Channels’, ‘Role of Cinema Television in Society’ and ‘The Film Industry Expectations and Government Policy Framework’.
Films Fair ’97 will not only showcase the strength and capabilities of Indian film industry vis-à-vis the international motion picture industry, but will provide entertainment bonanza to the visitors through screening of films at Shakuntalam theatre and a number of sponsored events.
MANAGER OF MAYFAIR, LUCKNOW MURDERED
Noon shows of all the cinemas of Lucknow on 20th July were suspended following the murder of Rakesh Khatri, manager of Mayfair cinema, Lucknow. Mayfair was closed for all the four shows.
KABIR BEDI BEREAVED
Siddharth, son of Kabir Bedi from his first wife, Protima Bedi, and brother of Pooja Bedi, committed suicide in Los Angeles on 19th July. He was a chronic patient of schizophrenia and was 25 years old.
‘JUDWAA’ SILVER JUBILEE
Sajid Nadiadwala’s Judwaa entered 25th combined week at Minerva (matinee), Bombay. It stars Salman Khan in a double role, with Karisma Kapoor, Rambha, Anupam Kher, Shakti Kapoor, Dalip Tahhil, Satish Shah, Jack Gaud, Bindu, Deepak Shirke, Mukesh Rishi, Ishrat Ali, Tiku Talsania, Dinesh Hingoo, Reema and Kader Khan. It is directed by David Dhawan and written by Rumi Jafri. Music: Anu Malik.
FWA TO FELICITATE JAVED AKHTAR, GULZAR
The Film Writers’ Association will felicitate Javed Akhtar and Gulzar on 27th July at Hotel Sands for winning National Awards for 1996. Javed Akhtar has bagged the award for the best lyrics (Saaz), and Gulzar has won the award for the best popular film (Maachis)
CINEMA CLOSED
Gaisford cinema in Rajkot downed shutters from 22nd July for an unspecified period. It is one of the older cinemas of Rajkot.
HOLLYWOOD LAUNCHES ‘RAMAYAN’: SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS TO BE DONE IN INDIA
For the first time, perhaps, a Hollywood producer has engaged an Indian company to do the special visual effects for his film. John Caruhasa Breathwaite, the producer of Ramayan, has contacted Ramesh Meer (The FX Factory) to create the special visual effects of his film to be made in English with Western actors.
Jeff Rector, who has featured in movies like Slider and Double Impact, will play Rama. Jerry Rector, Jeff’s twin brother, will play Laxman. Sita will be played by Chandni Breathwaite who has also featured in films such as Jerry Maguire and Father’s Day. The film will be directed by Artist Robinson.
The film is the culmination of 20 years of research done by John Caruhasa on this project. Its shooting will commence on 3rd October. Ramesh Meer will go to Los Angeles next month for the pre-production meeting with the cast and crew.
The project has the blessings of the ISKCON temple, Bombay, where the producer has stayed as a monk for many years while researching on the script of the film.
H.D. MISTRY ELECTED WIMPTSEA PRESIDENT
H.D. Mistry was elected president of the Western India Motion Picture & Television Sound Engineers Association for 1997 at its annual general meeting held on 13th July at Empire Audio Centre. B.N. Tiwari was elected vice president, and S.C. Bhambri, general secretary. E. Rudra was elected treasurer, and Madan Prakash and J.C.V.R. Rao, joint secretaries. Other elected members of the executive committee are: K.B. Sharma, Abdul Gadir, V.M. Gandhi, Sushil Malik, P.S. Mishra, Dilip J. Sawant, Tahir Khambati, Ramanand Prasad and Kirti K.A. Chedda.
RAMCHANDRA MUKHIYA ELECTED UPFAA PRESIDENT
The first meeting of the newly elected executive committee of the Uttar Pradesh Film Artist Association was held on 20th July when Ramchandra Mukhiya was re-elected its president. Manohar Bharti was elected vice president, and Satyavir Singh, secretary. Anup Singh and Ravi P. Bhagat were elected treasurer and general secretary respectively. Jagdish Singh, Prem Singh and Kunal Singh were unanimously co-opted on the committee.
YOU ASKED IT
What will happen to the industry, considering that all the three Hindi films released this week have had disastrous openings?
– Don’t panic. It’s just a coincidence that the three films have been released on the same day. Frankly speaking, had you expected any of the three films to open well? One is a non-star cast film, the other has out-of-demand stars, and the third has a hero who has a line of flops to his discredit and even the film itself gives a non-fresh look. Further, except for GHOONGHAT, the other two films haven’t even been publicised well.
What will be the opening (initial) of Mere Sapno Ki Rani, Pardes and …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya?
– MERE SAPNO KI RANI will have to bank upon its popular family-appealing music for an initial draw, PARDES has to depend upon the name of Subhash Ghai, and …AUR PYAR HO GAYA, upon the pair of Bobby Deol and Miss World Aishwarya Rai.
How are so many films scheduled for release in the coming weeks? Where are the cinemas?
– Not all the running films are good. Cinemas will be free once some of the films are discontinued. Of course, there is a rush of releases, but the situation is not as alarming as is being felt today.
DO YOU KNOW?
* Venus has brought out special pocket calendars of HAMESHAA with the film’s advertisement on one side of it and the days and dates from June 1997 to May 1998 on the other.
* The C.P. Berar distributors of BORDER, Laloo Kabra and Narendra Agarwal, have hit upon an appropriate idea to make BORDER a more paying proposition. They are now approaching schools for block bookings for their students. And since the war scenes in the film have educational value, the response from the schools is extremely positive.
* Novelty is the first cinema in Lucknow as well as in U.P. to instal Dolby digital and DTS sound system.
* Sagar’s serial, SHRI KRISHNA, is currently being telecast on SABC-1 in South Africa and has become very popular.
* YES BOSS has created a theatre record by collecting 1,72,127/- in 1st week at Vineet, Jabalpur.
* MRITYUDAND has created a record for tax-free films by collecting 78,838/- in 1st week at Trimurti, Ujjain. 2nd week first day: 7,000/-.
* GUPT has created a district record by collecting a total of 10,11,191/- in 3 weeks from Shree, Vapi. 3rd week: 1,70,240/-.
* SONGADYA (Marathi, TF, r.r.) has created a city record by collecting 77,070/- in 1 week at Shyam, Amravati, in spite of release of GUPT and MRITYUDAND in Amravati on the same day and communal tension in the city for 2 days.
MIX MASALA
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Sunil Shetty plays a fashion photographer in Nitin Manmohan’s Prithvi, but at the press conference of the film held last Saturday, Sunil, while replying to a query, said he was playing a press photographer in the film. Of course, it was simply a slip of Sunil’s tongue, but one which made the press guys happy because they felt, he was one of them — on screen, at least.
MIXING BUSINESS WITH PLEASURE?
There was some high-tension drama on the seventh floor of Naaz cinema building in Bombay last Saturday. The owner of one office on the floor brought in a girl of questionable character in his office. Some coolies outside Naaz telephoned the man’s wife and told her of her husband’s habit of picking up girls. The frightened man asked his peon to lock himself and the girl up in the office and go away. After a pretty long time, the owner (who had the keys) asked somebody to open the main door and let him out, giving the excuse that his peon had mistakenly locked him inside the office (!!!) and gone away home. That wasn’t all. By this time, two constables had arrived on the scene but the guy (his face was lal by now) had hidden his girl in a tiny cabin in his office. When interrogated, the man kept denying the presence of any girl in his office. Probably, the police couldn’t find the girl — or is it that they couldn’t even find the cabin?
NAAZ JUNGLE
The publicities displayed in offices in Naaz cinema building in Bombay these days take you back to the jungle days. Ashish Chhabria’s office has pictures of snakes all over because he is distributing Anaconda in Bombay. Tolu Bajaj is the distributor of The Lost World: Jurassic Park and so you see dinosaurs all over (in pictures, of course). From these two offices on the first floor, if you go to the sixth floor of Naaz, pictures of elephants, monkeys and dogs will stare you in the face in the office of Ashok and Nandu Ahuja. These animals play key roles in Ahujas’ forthcoming release, Jodidar.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
‘PARDES’ MUSIC: WHERE’S THE NADEEM SHRAVAN TOUCH?
Dear Komal,
It is very surprising that the musical score of Pardes sounds more a Laxmi-Pyare-Subhash Ghai creation than the work of Nadeem Shravan. The Pyare touch reverberates throughout the score. What perplexes me is that if Subhash Ghai wanted his songs to sound like that, he could have continued with his old team. He also had the choice to allow Nadeem Shravan to lend their individual distinct style. I am eagerly waiting for Shikhar score, only to see if Subhash Ghai has asserted himself there too, because A.R. Rahman is also equally headstrong. There is nothing wrong in a filmmaker insisting upon a certain musical style for his film. Pardes tonal patterns bear the signature of Subhash Ghai endorsed by Laxmi Pyare, and the evergreen Anand Bakshi factor is very much there.
– J.P. Chowksey
Prachi Films, Indore.
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Not Interested
Believe it or not but one film, released all over recently, could not open in C.P. Berar because exhibitors were just not interested in releasing it. Exhibitors in Maharashtra were scared that since the film would take a disastrous start, they would lose out on the service charge on cinema tickets. And exhibitors of Madhya Pradesh, who are known to indulge in tax cutting, weren’t interested because they felt, when there wouldn’t be any audience, where was the tax going to come from and what cutting would they do. Hey Ram!
A Genius Called S.N. Agarwal
If today, many cinemas of the USA, Europe, the Far East and the Middle East use Indian cinema projectors, the credit goes to late S.N. Agarwal who died exactly a year ago at the age of 79. It was also Agarwal’s genius which brought to the country such new technologies as wide-screen presentation, Cinemascope presentation, magnetic 4-track Stereophonic sound system, Perspecta Integrator Stereo sound system, Photodiode-Solar cell technology (solid state) amplifiers, integrated circuitry, use of timing belt in projection equipments (to reduce noise and vibration in them). It was he who was instrumental in supplying and installing equipments in the Drive In cinemas of the country. He engineered and commissioned the first 4-track Optical Stereo film, HAHK..!. Out of 12,500 cinemas in India, S.N. Agarwal’s companies (Cinecita, Cinerama, Cinefones and Monee & Co. Pvt. Ltd.) have installed the sound and projection equipments in over 4,000 cinemas! B.R. Chopra had once called Agarwal a “machine man who has changed the dimension of presentation in motion picture and brought new dynamism and technologies”. It was because of Agarwal’s pioneering efforts that Chopra used in-speech projectors, thereby giving a new technical avenue to save enormous time of busy artistes by speeding up sound dubbing. Today, most of the dubbing, recording and re-recording theatres are equipped with hi-speed projectors, recording machines and dubbers etc. Again, it was Agarwal who indigenously manufactured and installed the Rock & Roll projectors at Film City and V. Shantaram’s Rajkamal Studios. The industry should be proud of Agarwal who brought India on the international map with his cinema projectors.
Time Sharing Basis
For the first time, perhaps, the triple cinema complex of Satyam, Sundaram and Sachinam at Worli, Bombay, is screening two films each this week. This is indicative of the rush of releases currently. At Satyam, Ghoonghat has been released this week and it is sharing the cinema with last week’s Yes Boss. Gupt and Border (tax-free) are sharing shows at Sundaram. At Sachinam, there’s Mrityudand (tax-free) and Virasat. Besides these three cinemas, there are several other cinemas in Bombay which are screening two films a day.