HEERALAL PANNALAL
Indian Talkies’ Heeralal Pannalal (UA) is an escapist fare which tells the story of cops and robbers and a gang of villains who are in desperate search of a diary which has their names as scamsters. There are two Mithun Chakrabortys, one a cop and the other, a robber. Similarly, one Johny Lever is a cop and the other, a robber. The story is a medley of caper films made in the mid-’70s like Victoria No. 203, Rampur Ka Lakshman and Don. The screenplay is a series of contrived scenes and clichés. The only novelty lies in the comedy punches of Johny Lever, but the punches too are occasional.
Mithun Chakraborty has done fairly well in comedy scenes but it is Johny Lever who steals the show in both the roles. Leading ladies Payal Malhotra, Dakshana, Malika Kaur and Anu are okay and get noticed only in the song sequences. Mohan Joshi is fair. Shakti Kapoor is the usual bad man. Raju Kher, as the police commissioner, does well in comedy scenes. Razzak Khan, Deven Varma, Asrani, Virendra Saxena, Pramod Moutho, Rana Jung Bahadur, Padmini Kapila and Aroon Bakshi lend adequate support.
Kawal Sharma’s direction is mediocre. Musically, only one song, devoted to Mata Sheranwali, has some appeal; the rest are average. Production values are fair. Cinematography is good while other technical aspects are so-so.
On the whole, Heeralal Pannalal, a routine masala film, is an also-ran.
Released on 22-10-’99 at Alankar and 13 other cinemas of Bombay thru Raj Enterprises. Publicity: dull. Opening: so-so. …….Also released all over.
MOTHER
Saawan Kumar Productions (Films) Pvt. Ltd.’s Mother (UA) is an unusual and rather unbelievable story of a mother and her daughter whose father’s identity is a mystery. It has so happened that the mother, when she was a young lady, living in Mauritius, had slept with three guys from India, unknown to each other, in a span of a few days as she needed money to save the life of her ailing father. She was impregnated by one of them and even gave birth to the child. Since even she does not know who the father of the child is, she uses the child to extract money out of all the three guys. She uses the monies she receives from the three men in India for the upbringing of her daughter. Years later, all the three Indian men come to Mauritius for a common event and each of them is eager to meet the mother and the daughter. Ultimately, the truth is revealed to all the three men and also their wives who accept the daughter as their own.
The story is un-Indian all the way and to even think that the Indian audience would accept such a plot would be like building castles in the air. Besides, there are so many ridiculously weak points and flaws in the script that the task of making it appealing to the audience becomes almost impossible. The whole issue of who the father of the child is, is treated too lightly for comfort and rather childishly. The young lady’s agony, which drives her to sleep with the three men, has not been shown but is instead explained in a dialogue. The sympathy, if there could be any, for the lady is, therefore, lost. Further, her fooling the three men into believing that the child is theirs makes the woman a fraud, no less! Besides, all the three guys, who don’t bat an eyelid before taking the lady to bed, are shown as guys with golden hearts — an antithesis of sorts. For, the moment the lady tells each of them that the sexual encounter had resulted in her giving birth to a girl-child, they believe her and each one accepts the child as his own! Why should a man believe a prostitute (that is what the lady is in their eyes)? As if that weren’t strange enough, the three men’s wives, too, suddenly feel so emotional towards the child that even they accept the child as their own!! In short, the unusual story (Saawan Kumar) has been naively knit into an extremely childish screenplay (Ravi Kapoor) and has been treated equally childishly by director Saawan Kumar. Some dialogues (Anwar Khan) and a few comic situations are about the only entertaining points in the entire drama. Emotions look fake.
Rekha does well generally, but hams in a couple of scenes. Jeetendra, Randhir Kapoor and Rakesh Roshan are all quite good. Sanober Kabir makes a terribly dull debut in the romantic lead. She has no qualifications of a heroine. Her lover, Rahat Khan, is also no hero material. Shashikala is average. Asrani, Shubha Khote, Nishigandha, Prabha Sinha, Fatima Sheikh, Mushtaq Khan, Dinesh Hingoo and the rest lend average support. Altaf Raja’s appearance in a song leaves no impact.
Direction does not lend credibility to the far-fetched story. Music is average. Song picturisations are routine. Some foreign locations are truly eye-catching. Camerawork is fair.
On the whole, Mother, with an almost retired lead cast, may appeal to the oldies but its fate at the box-office would be disastrous.
Released on 22-10-’99 at Dreamland and 9 other cinemas of Bombay thru Dilsa Distributors Combine. Publicity: good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over except in Bengal and South.
LATEST POSITION
VAASTAV has done very well in Maharashtra and it picked up in U.P. Is good in Nizam but dull in Delhi, East Punjab, Bengal, C.I. and Rajasthan. MAST is poor almost everywhere.
Vaastav 1st week Bombay 62,50,948 (89.33%) from 13 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 9,16,824 from 5 cinemas; Pune 17,16,675 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 2,68,467, Solapur 2,37,908 (1 unrecd.); Hubli 2,79,033; Delhi 28,14,829 (43.25%) from 12 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,33,307 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,47,461, Bareilly 1,76,252 (50.06%), Dehradun 1,98,000, Gorakhpur 2,80,084; Calcutta 28,37,197 from 22 cinemas; Nagpur 6,78,942 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,11,546, Amravati 2,00,494, Akola 1,42,570, Raipur (gross) 1,77,558; Indore 2,55,865 from 3 cinemas (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,78,000 from 2 cinemas; Bikaner (gross) 1,86,555; Hyderabad (gross) 32,39,925 from 13 cinemas, share 16,60,000.
Mast 1st week Bombay 51,52,450 (70%) from 11 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 12,22,621 from 4 cinemas; Pune 8,76,770 from 3 cinemas, Kolhapur 1,54,160, Solapur 1,77,303 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 31,19,369 (61.94%) from 7 cinemas; Kanpur 2,20,646 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,28,870, Agra 2,25,681, Meerut 1,78,768; Calcutta 15,62,572 from 9 cinemas; Nagpur 3,05,405, Jabalpur (6 days) 89,906, Amravati (6 days) 1,46,531, Raipur (6 days, gross) 1,77,877, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,06,421; Bhopal 1,94,511 from 2 cinemas; Bikaner 1,21,929; Hyderabad (gross) 26,75,030 from 11 cinemas.
Sar Ankhon Par 1st week Bombay 1,88,811 (36.48%) from 2 cinemas; terrible in C.P. Berar and Mysore, too.
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B.R. CHOPRA BAGS PHALKE AWARD
Veteran B.R. Chopra will be presented the 1998 Dadasaheb Phalke award. He was named recipient of the most prestigious film award on 21st October. Chopra was also the first director to bag the National Award, for HAMRAAZ.
ANU AGARWAL CRITICAL
Anu Agarwal is presently battling for life at the Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay. She had been rushed there in a critical condition after her car met with an accident on 2nd October. She was, at the time, travelling with a companion who emerged unhurt from the crash.
Anu sustained multiple fractures and was seriously injured. The accident is said to have affected her brain also.
NEW CINEMA IN AURANGABAD
A new cinema, Goldie, will open in Aurangabad on 5th November. A 705-seater, it is the first cinema in Marathwada region to be fully air-conditioned. It is installed with Dobly digital sound system and 24 speakers. A Christie’s platter projector and xenon lamp comprise the projection system.
Goldie is owned by Deepak Jawaharani. L.T. Masand is the manager. The cinema has been designed by Nadkarni Mahajan and constructed by Yash Constructions.
GOSSIP, GEM CINEMAS INAUGURATED
Gossip, a cinema in the Gaiety-Galaxy cinema complex, opened on 22nd October with the English film, The Journey. The film is released by Shringar which is also the controller of the new cinema. It has a seating capacity of 105. Its nett capacity per show is Rs. 3,213.
Gem preview theatre, in the same premises, has been converted into a public cinema with effect from 22nd. It is a 47-seater and its opening attraction is Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. This cinema, controlled by the Thadani group, has a nett per show capacity of Rs. 1,880.
A new preview theatre — Grace — has also come up in the premises. It has 35 seats.
The entire complex is now called G-7 as it houses in all seven cinemas viz. Gaiety, Galaxy, Gemini, Gossip, Glamour, Gem and Grace.
‘HOGI PYAR KI JEET’ SILVER JUBILEE
Shweta International’s Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet entered 25th combined week at Alankar (matinee), Bombay and other places. Produced by Anil Sharma and directed by P. Vasu, the film stars Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Mayuri Kango, Neha, Mohan Joshi, Ketaki Dave, Tiku Talsania, Prithvi, Arjun, Anil Dhawan, Adi Irani, Shiva, Raza Murad and Rajesh Puri. Music: Anand Milind. Lyrics: Sameer. Screenplay and dialogues: Anwar Khan.
ANNOUNCEMENT & LAUNCHING
Sunny, Rahul Rawail Teamed For B.S. Shaad’s Next
Sunny Deol and director Rahul Rawail have been teamed again in producer B.S. Shaad’s next. Manmohan Singh will be the cinematographer. It will be made under the banner of Brar Productions. Its songs will be recorded in January 2000. The film will roll in March next year and regular shooting will start in May/June.
Vinod Shah, Harish Shah, Guddu Dhanoa Launch Sunny-Urmila Starrer
Parth Productions’ untitled venture was launched with a song recording on Oct. 11 at Sunny Super Sounds. The song, penned by Sameer and rendered by Kumar Sanu, was set to tune by Anand Raaj Anand. The launching was attended by a number of stars and other industry people.
The film stars Sunny Deol, Urmila Matondkar and one more heroine. It is being directed by Guddu Dhanoa for producers Vinod Shah and Harish Shah. It is based on a story and screenplay by Rajeev Kaul and Praful Parekh, and has dialogues by Amrik Gill. Cinematographer: Shripad Natu. Regular shooting will commence in December.
YOU ASKED IT
These days, there is a tie-up between sponsors and film producers for advertising on television. How does the economics work?
– The sponsor enters into a contract with the film producer, whereby the latter gives publicity to the sponsor’s product in his film and, in return, the sponsor puts up hoardings, banners and does television publicity of the film. Money may or may not exchange hands. It could also be possible for a sponsor to simply use the title of a big film in the publicities of its product without the producer showing the sponsor’s product in his film. Here too, money may or may not be involved.
What is the meaning of the word hivda in the Mhare hivda mein naache mor song of Hum Saath-Saath Hain?
– Hivda means dil. The line, literally translated, means that a peacock is dancing in my heart.
Why has Dillagi been postponed? Is Sunny Deol not ready with the film or does he not want to come opposite Hum Saath-Saath Hain?
– Sunny’s DILLAGI is not yet ready for release. It will take some time for the first copy to be out, hence the postponement.
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Speechless Mithun
It simply doesn’t pay to be nice. This is the bitter lesson Mithun Chakraborty has learnt the hard way. This week’s release, Heeralal Pannalal, stars Mithun in the lead role but, can you believe it, the film has been released without Mithun’s voice! Yes, Mithun has not dubbed a single dialogue in the film. And no, not because the actor was busy but because director Kawal Sharma kept him in the dark and literally bluffed him. He told Mithun, the film would be released on 29th October, but the next thing the actor knew was that Heeralal Pannalal was hitting the screens a week earlier. Mithun realised that Kawal had fooled him and had got a dubbing artiste to dub his dialogues. The shock must’ve indeed left the actor speechless. What has hurt Mithun more than anything else is that Kawal had fallen at the actor’s feet when he had wanted to launch the film. Said Mithun to Information in a telephonic talk from Ooty, “Kawal had pleaded that if I didn’t sign his film, he’d be on the streets. He emotionally blackmailed me to act in his film. Even when the film was completed, I told him not to bother about my balance payment because I knew, he was in debt. Had he told me that he didn’t have money for the dubbing, I would have even paid from my own pocket for the same. But he has cheated me.” Kawal Sharma, perhaps, doesn’t realise the harm he has done to producers of other Mithun-starrers. After Heeralal Pannalal, distributors of the forthcoming Mithun films may start demanding proof of Mithun’s dubbing for the films. The actor has lodged his complaint with the Cine & TV Artistes’ Association. “Such fraudulent producers should not be let to go scot-free,” concluded an agitated Mithun.
Altered Titles
Numerology has once again come into play. Some film’s titles have now been altered. Like, an ‘a’ has been dropped from Boney Kapoor’s Pukaar to read Pukar. An ‘e’ has gone into Rajiv Babbar’s Zahrela to make it read as Zahreela. The previous Bulundi (Bobby Anand) is now being spelt as Bulandi. And the usually spelt world, ‘Zamanat’, has an ‘h’ to read as Zamanath (S. Raamanathan’s film)!
Sorry Story
Producer Firoz Nadiadwala is very perturbed at the sorry state of story affairs in the Hindi film industry. Says he, “No writer is willing to think and come up with anything new or different. I’ve heard ten stories of late, but, believe it or not, not even a single story had anything novel to offer. Writers behave as though the police will catch them if they come up with something new in their scripts. I don’t know where the industry is heading.” Nadiadwala blames both, the writers and the producers, for this terrible state of affairs in the Hindi film industry.
Confident
While on Firoz Nadiadwala, the guy is very happy with the way his Hera Pheri has shaped up. He has yet to conclude deals for almost the whole of India, but he’s confident that he would get a good deal for the film (which is nearly complete) because both his heroes, Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty, have done “wonderful jobs” in this film directed by Priyadarshan. Besides the heroes, Firoz is excited about Paresh Rawal and Om Puri’s performances. Like Firoz, another producer who is yet to conclude some of his deals for his completed film is Suneel Darshan. But the man is confident of getting good offers now that the promotional trailers of his Jaanwar have begun to be aired on television. The film has melodious music by Anand Milind.
Police Protection For Policemen!
Ever heard of police personnel being deployed to protect policemen from autograph hunters?! Yes, this actually happens every time Bangalore airport security inspector B.C. Patil and deputy commissioner of police (PRO) M. Prakash step out in public. For, these men of the police force invariably get mobbed by the public every time they venture out. Confused? Actually, the reason why these two policemen need security is because they are pretty big stars in Kannada films. This may sound incredible but the truth is that an increasing number of policemen in Karnataka are dropping their batons and donning greasepaint, even if only occasionally, to make appearances on the Kannada silver screen. Be it SI Chandrappa, SI Eashwar Tathagat or constable Honnaiah, each has, at times, taken a break from fighting real-life crime to tackle the reel-life villains.
B.C. Patil had served as a police officer for 13 long years before he first traded his vardee for the costumes of films. He hit bull’s eye with his very first film, Nishkarsha, and hasn’t looked back since. He has acted in more than 20 films already and continues to be a sought-after star of Kannada films — so much so that he hasn’t been able to attend to his police duties since February this year! Likewise, M. Prakash, who began his film career with Namma Bhagya (Tulu) in 1979, has more than 15 Kannada films and several TV serials to his credit.
With more policemen following suit, perhaps, the accusation that the police always arrives after everything is over may not be true, at least in the case of Kannada films!
No Four-Letter Words For Ramu
While Mast has proved to be a four-letter F-word (as in F-L-O-P and not anything else!), Ram Gopal Varma (Ramu) would do better to steer clear of four-letter titles for his films. That is because the four-letter jinx on his films has been proven for the fourth time — Raat, Daud, Kaun and now, Mast. So while Ramu may have used four-letter words in his Satya quite generously, he should now say goodbye to four-letter titles!