TARKIEB
Jay Movies’ Tarkieb (A) is a suspense thriller. A girl is murdered and her body, dismembered. The case lands in the lap of an expert CBI officer when the police fails to trace the killer. The CBI officer raises fingers of suspicion against a handful of people and even as the mystery thickens, he ultimately solves the murder case by catching the murderer. While there are some thrilling scenes, the biggest drawback of the film is that it is terribly slow. The post-interval portion, especially, gets so repetitive that it tests the viewers’ patience. Since there’s not much relief or diversion, the drama gets monotonous. The monotony gives way to a feeling of being cheated when the identity of the killer is revealed in the climax. That is because the killer turns out to be the man with the least face value and the revelation of whose identity does not have any shock value. His modus operandi of the murder is also not exciting. Further, the suspense does not engage or involve the audience into the guessing game, so essential for a hit suspense drama.
On the positive side, the film has some wonderful pieces of dialogues (Moin-ud-din). So, while Moin-ud-din’s story and screenplay leave a lot to be desired, his dialogues are praiseworthy.
Nana Patekar, as the CBI officer, does a brilliant job. He does not go overboard even once and gets into the skin of the character. In one word, he is first-rate. Tabu is restrained, according to the demand of the role. Shilpa Shetty exudes oomph with a wonderful figure. She acts ably and dances wonderfully. Ashutosh Rana is par excellence. He matches Nana’s performance in scenes showing them together. There’s a certain magic about this actor, that’s endearing too. Raghubir Yadav is a highlight. The entire episode of his with Nana Patekar is superb and actually provides the much-needed relief. Aditya Pancholi acts well. Milind Soman is fair but falters in dramatic scenes. Tiku Talsania does a fine job. Akhilendra Mishra is quite good. Vinod Nagpal, Deepak Qazir, Javed Khan, Shehzad Khan and the rest lend very good support.
Esmayeel Shroff’s direction is fair but his selection of the subject is not even that. Further, he has made the film too slow to be true, at several places. One song — ‘Duppatte ka pallu’ — is very well-tuned (Aadesh Shrivastava) but a couple of others are boring and slacken the pace of the drama. A couple of dance picturisations are heavenly, thanks to Shilpa’s sensuous dances. Background score (Sanjay Chowdhry) is fantastic. Camerawork (Mazhar Kamran) is okay. Editing is not sharp. Other technical and production values are of a fair standard.
On the whole, Tarkieb is a dull fare from the point of view of the masses. It has some appeal for the class audience and will do fair in good cinemas of cities, especially in Bombay and Maharashtra.
Released on 23-6-2000 at Metro and 17 other cinemas of Bombay thru Nobel Film Distributors. Publicity & opening: good. …….Also released all over. Opening was good in Gujarat and Delhi-U.P. but below the mark in several other circuits.
LATEST POSITION
All eyes are on the advance booking of REFUGEE, due for release next week.
Joru Ka Ghulam is good in Maharashtra and U.P. mainly. 1st week Bombay 33,41,475 (82.63%) from 8 cinemas (12 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 13,07,916 from 6 cinemas, Rajkot 2,36,635 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,25,151 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 14,43,629 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee), share about 7,50,000, Solapur 3,23,392 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Satara 1,76,484 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 32,22,248 (55.50%) from 10 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 2,85,203, Bareilly 1,15,240; Amritsar 54,750; Calcutta 7,11,846 from 4 cinemas (others undisclosed); Nagpur 5,00,064 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,83,732, Amravati 2,06,475, Wardha 87,427, Chandrapur 1,51,543, Yavatmal 1,56,515; Indore 2,29,000 (4 on F.H.); Jaipur 6,85,836 from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 28,50,450 from 11 cinemas.
………….
Josh is good in Maharashtra and South. 2nd week Bombay 62,77,309 (88.82%) from 13 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 15,42,111 from 9 cinemas, Rajkot 1,73,845 (1 in matinee unrecd.), Jamnagar (28 shows) 87,820; Pune 12,27,033 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,85,235 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Satara 2,18,829 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 40,85,728 from 8 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Lucknow 5,99,807 from 2 cinemas, Bareilly (6 days) 72,866; Calcutta 9,58,056 from 3 cinemas (others undisclosed); Hajipur 44,379 (1st 68,000); Nagpur 6,13,075 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,32,591, Amravati 2,32,791 (1st 3,15,110), Durg 66,006, Wardha (5 days) 53,824, 1st Chandrapur 2,46,572, Yavatmal (3 days) 25,446; 2nd week Jaipur 3,61,744; Hyderabad (gross) 13,25,636 from 4 cinemas; Vijayawada (gross) 2 weeks’ total 7,56,738 from 3 cinemas.
Kya Kehna! drops at several places but is steady in some others. 5th week Bombay 19,71,192 (47.55%) from 4 cinemas; Ahmedabad 4,98,723 from 4 cinemas; Pune 2,42,900 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 4th Solapur (matinee) 52,808; 5th week Delhi 8,44,575 from 4 cinemas; Lucknow 2,75,986, Bareilly 57,762; Calcutta 6,70,286 from 8 cinemas (1 in noon); Nagpur 2,73,626 from 3 cinemas, 4th week Jabalpur 95,650, total 4,81,757, 5th Amravati (6 days) 1,06,332, 4th Durg 40,194, 2nd week Jalgaon 1,62,078, 5th week Wardha (3 days) 18,519, Chandrapur 63,545, total 5,99,606; Indore 1,83,228 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal 1,12,000; Jaipur 2,21,445; Hyderabad (gross) 2,38,364.
Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai 23rd week Bombay 4,29,704 (48.21%) from 2 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,96,324 from 4 cinemas; Pune 1,92,005 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 75,636, 21st week Satara (matinee) 24,731; 23rd week Delhi 1,79,779 from 2 cinemas; Lucknow 1,20,982, 3rd week Bareilly (revived) 32,741; 23rd week Calcutta 82,004; Nagpur 81,877 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 55,344, total 25,73,407, Amravati 64,019, Akola 63,282, Raipur 54,781, 21st Bhilai 19,055, 1st week Dhamtari 1,31,111, 2nd week 4 days 57,482, 23rd week Jalgaon (27 shows) 50,971, 22nd week Chandrapur 54,919, total 26,73,657, 3rd week Burhanpur (2nd run) 22,200, 5th week Ambikapur 51,940, 2nd week (6 days) Paratwada 57,936, 2nd week (3 days) Bhandak 15,153, 1st week (4 days) Hinganghat 33,600; 23rd week Bhopal 61,636; Jaipur 50,235; Hyderabad (gross) 2,60,549 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon; 1 on F.H.).
CHETAN STUDIO INAUGURATED
J.P. Dutta and Bindiya Dutta inaugurated Chetan Studio on 18th June. Owned by K.L.J. group of companies, the studio is located at floor no. 2, Mehta Estate, opp. Mohan Studio, Andheri-Kurla Road, Andheri (E), Bombay-59. The inauguration was attended by CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain, AMPTPP president Pahlaj Nihalani, Mehul Kumar, Keshu, Pravin Shah, Umed Jain, N.R. Pachisia, Raj Kumar Kohli, Jimmy Nirula, Madan Mohla, Neena Jalan, Hira, Himesh Reshammiya and others.
The studio has a permanent set of a huge bungalow, a suite room and an office.
The launching was followed by a luncheon party.
DOLBY DIGITAL EX SOUND AT GAIETY-GALAXY
Gaiety and Galaxy cinemas of Bombay have been equipped with Dolby Digital EX sound system (8-track). While the new sound system will become operational at Gaiety from 30th June with Refugee, it will be operational at Galaxy from 7th July with Bichhoo. Jungle, like the aforesaid two films, is also mixed in 8-track sound.
The 8 tracks will be audible under the EX sound system as follows: left, centre, right, two subwoofers, extreme left surround, extreme right surround and back surround. Manoj Desai of Gaiety-Galaxy cinemas, explaining the salient features of the EX sound system, informed that Gaiety and Galaxy would be the first two cinemas in Bombay suburbs to be equipped with the EX sound system.
UTV COMPLETES A DECADE
UTV (United Television) completed 10 years on 22nd June. UTV has made tremendous progress during the last ten years and has turned into a big group with a work force of 730 persons. It had started with 16 people in 1990.
UTV has done pioneering work in the field of entertainment and has developed into a pan-Asian media company, providing TV content in seven Asian languages with operations in India, Singapore and Malaysia, regional broadcasting, post-production facilities, animation and almost all forms of allied content from commercial advertisements to motion picture productions.
CINEMA OWNER PASSES AWAY
Aziz Bhimani, owner of Diamond Cinema, Borivli (Bombay), passed away on the night of 16th June at his residence in Bombay following a protracted illness. He was 70. The cinema remained closed for a day on 17th.
TAMIL FILMS’ JAMES BOND PASSES AWAY
Jai Shankar, one of the most popular action heroes of Tamil films, passed away in Madras recently following heart failure. Having acted in more than 250 films, mostly action-oriented ones, Jai Shankar was hailed by the cinegoers as the ‘James Bond of the South’ for his super-quick reflexes and stylish action scenes. Making his debut in the sixties with Iravum Pagalum, he dominated the Tamil screen for more than two decades before he switched over to character roles in the latter years of his career.
NEW DISTRIBUTION OFFICE IN INDORE
A new distribution office — Kareena Films — opened in Indore on 21st June. The office, situated at 7, Vinay Apartment, GSTI Road, Indore, was inaugurated by film critic and publisher Brij Bhushan Chaturvedi. The concern, owned by Kamal Sewani, has Maut Ki Aahat, Dragon, Bhoot Hi Bhoot and Dolly Darling for C.I.
NEW MULTIPLEX IN RAJKOT
Bhupendra Chunibhai Mandliya, owner of Drive In, Rajkot, has applied for permission to construct a cinema multiplex 4 kms. away from Rajkot city. The work on the 3-screen multiplex will begin once Mandliya receives the mandatory NOC from the concerned authorities.
RATHORE BROTHERS BUY KISHOR CINEMA, BHOPAL
Prem Narayan Rathore (Bhajan Seth) and Radheshyam Rathore (Munia Seth) have purchased Kishor Cinema, Bhopal. The cinema will be completely renovated and it will be given a lavish look. It will reopen on Diwali. The Rathore brothers already have nine cinemas of their own in C.I. — at Guna, Shivpuri, Ashok Nagar and Aron.
SALMAN, OTHERS CHARGESHEETED IN POACHING CASE
The forest department of Rajasthan on 17th June chargesheeted the five stars — Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam — accused in the infamous poaching case, in a Jodhpur court. The five, along with a couple of others, had in October 1998 been held for allegedly hunting protected animals like the black buck and the chinkara in Jodhpur where they had gone for the shooting of Rajshri’s Hum Saath-Saath Hain. Salman Khan and Saif Ali Khan were presented in the court on 17th. The actresses were granted exemption from appearing in the court.
The court of the Jodhpur chief judicial magistrate, Raj Kamal Gaur, has impounded Salman’s passport in the case.
BASANTA CHOWDHURY PASSES AWAY
Veteran Bengali film actor Basanta Chowdhury passed away on 20th June in Calcutta. He was 72 and had been suffering from lung cancer. He is survived by two sons.
Basanta Chowdhury, who starred in about 100 Bengali films, including Bhagaban Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Jadu Bhatta, Deep Jale Jai, Abhaya O Srikanta, Raja Rammohan Roy and Andhare Alo, had also acted in some Hindi films such as Ek Doctor Ki Maut, Grahan, Mahayatra and Yatrik.
PRODUCTION NEWS
‘Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai’ On August 11
Boney Kapoor and S.K. Films Enterprises’ Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai is scheduled for release on August 11 all over. Its dubbing is in progress. It was shot till last week in the USA where two songs were picturised. Directed by Satish Kaushik, it stars Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Sonali Bendre, Anupam Kher, Smita Jayakar, Tanaaz Currim, Satish Kaushik, Upasna Singh and Johny Lever. Music: Sanjeev Darshan. Lyrics: Javed Akhtar. Writer: Jainendra Jain. Producer: Surinder Kapoor.
‘Mohabbatein’ On Diwali
Yash Chopra’s Mohabbatein is due for release on Diwali. The film’s shooting is complete and its post-production work is on in full swing. Directed by Aditya Chopra, it stars Amitabh Bachchah, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra, Jugal Hansraj, Jimmy Shergill, Preeti Jhangiani, Kim Sharma and Shamita Shetty. Music: Jatin Lalit. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi.
‘Dhai Akshar Prem Ke’ Unit Returns
The unit of Inderjit Film Combine’s Dhai Akshar Prem Ke returned to India on June 22 following a 21-day shooting spell on picturesque locations in and around Scotland and Switzerland. Four songs were picturised using dancers specially contracted from Paris. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai participated. The dances were choreographed by Saroj Khan. Being produced and directed by Raj Kanwar, the film co-stars Anupam Kher, Tanvi Azmi, Neena Kulkarni, Sushma Seth, Himani Shivpuri, Harish Patel, Supriya Karnik, Dalip Tahhil, Inder Sudan, Shakti Kapoor and Amrish Puri. Music: Jatin-Lalit. Lyrics: Sameer. Story: Raj Kanwar. Scenario: Ratna Rajaiah. Dialogues: Jainendra Jain. Cinematography: Ishwar Bidri. Art: R. Varman. Action: Bhiku Verma. Editing: Kuldeep Mehan. Audiography: Jagmohan Anand. K. Pappu is the film’s co-producer.
YOU ASKED IT
High film prices and high star prices but low collections. Is there a way out?
– How can there be a way out when stars are few and takers are many, when makers are few and again, takers are many. As for low collections, the only way out is to make films, not proposals.
Why is there suddenly a lull in the public issue efforts of film people?
– A couple of film/television-software producers, who were to come out with public issues, have back-tracked for different reasons. Proposals of one or two have been rejected by the National Stock Exchange. The public issue of Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts is due around 10th July.
To what do you attribute the expected grand opening of Refugee?
– To its melodious music, to the new lead pair in the film, and to its extremely well-thought out promotion.
Besides Refugee and Bichhoo, can you say, which forthcoming film will take a good start?
– KUNWARA and HAR DIL JO PYAR KAREGA will take flying starts.
Guddu’s Goodness Gladdens Hearts
The industry heaved a sigh of relief on Monday (19th June) when producer-director Guddu Dhanoa finally announced that he would postpone the release of his Bichhoo by one week so as not to get it in opposition of J.P. Dutta’s Refugee. The announcement was met with cheers in trade circles.
The simultaneous scheduled release of Refugee and Bichhoo on 30th June was giving distributors and exhibitors of the two films sleepless nights because both are big films and are expected to command bumper initials. Since there was no major release the following week (on 7th July), the trade felt that rather than letting two films clash, it would be only too appropriate if one maker postponed his release by just one week. Further, since Refugee stars newcomers Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor, industry interest in the film is immense.
Going back a little, it may be mentioned here that Guddu Dhanoa had scheduled Bichhoo for release on 30th June several months back. On the other hand, Refugee, which was due for release much earlier, kept getting postponed by one week at a time till finally it was announced for a definite release on 30th June. In fact, Guddu Dhanoa had settled for June 30 also because his distributor for Delhi-U.P. and East Punjab, who is the Delhi-U.P. distributor of Refugee too, had convinced him that Refugee would be released before June 30. Embarrassed that Refugee was clashing with Bichhoo and also unhappy that his two films would be in opposition of each other, the Delhi-U.P./East Punjab distributor at one stage was even contemplating relinquishing the Delhi-U.P. rights of Refugee. Although Guddu Dhanoa was not obliged to take the imminent relinquishment into consideration, that was also a reason for his postponing Bichhoo. That way, his distributor would not have to relinquish any rights, he reasoned out.
It is very creditable that despite no fault of his, Guddu Dhanoa volunteered to postpone Bichhoo by a week, bowing down to the wishes of distributors of the two films and exhibitors who would be screening the two films. It is praiseworthy that Guddu announced the postponement of his own volition and did not wait for somebody associated with Refugee to make the first move to approach him (Guddu) and request for a postponement. By doing so, Guddu Dhanoa has given ample proof of his noble intentions and of having the industry’s good at heart.
Distributors and exhibitors of not only Dhanoa’s Bichhoo but also of Dutta’s Refugee are the ones who are the most touched by Guddu’s good deed. Three cheers to Guddu Dhanoa on that one!
– Komal Nahta
History Repeats!
Reproduced hereunder is an item published in the 3-E column of our issue dated 7th June, 1997. It would seem that J.P. Dutta’s films always stir up some controversy or the other. But similar controversies in 1997 and 2000?!? Take a look:
Raj Kanwar’s Second Gesture
It has been Raj Kanwar again, who has shown grace by postponing the release of Itihaas by a week so that Border has no opposition. Border last week was postponed by a week and will now come on 13th June, the day on which Itihaas was earlier scheduled for release. The funny part is that Itihaas release was planned for 13th June, only because Border was initially due to come on 31st May. Raj Kanwar had at that time personally met J.P. Dutta and asked him about the release plans of Border and, on his own, volunteered to come two weeks after Border. The latter film later got postponed by a week, to 6th June. Then, last week, it was decided to postpone Border by a further week. Raj Kanwar was initially reluctant to change his date and stuck to 13th June. After all, it wasn’t his fault if Border was postponed by a week. But Bharat Shah, who presents Border, requested Raj Kanwar to move ahead by one more week just one last time. There were meetings and telephonic conversations galore on 3rd June between Bharat Shah and Raj Kanwar. Finally, Raj relented and Bharatbhai beamed with joy. But Raj Kanwar, in agreeing to release his Itihaas on 20th June, told Bharatbhai that should Border be further postponed, it would be Bharatbhai’s turn to not get it in opposition to Itihaas and, instead, schedule it for any day after 20th June. Bharatbhai, of course, agreed readily.
DO YOU KNOW?
* C.P. Berar distributor Laloo Kabra opened the advance booking of REFUGEE in Nagpur (5 cinemas), Amravati, Akola and Raipur on 22nd June — that is, eight days before the film’s release on 30th June. Normally, there is no system of advance booking in C.P. Berar. The case of REFUGEE is, however, different. So much is the craze for the film among the audience that the advance booking has been sensational in all the four cities. At Smruti cinema, Nagpur, a total of 20 shows had already been booked 100% by 23rd June! Incidentally, looking to the craze, Laloo has decided to open the film at non-simultaneous centres like Nandurbar on 30th June (premiere release) itself!
* Sindhra Movies International’s Punjabi Film, DARD PARDESAAN DEY, is doing well in cinemas of the United Kingdom. It has already had a 6-week run and is still going strong. The film, starring Avinash Wadhawan, Upasna Singh and Deepshikha, is directed by C.M. Nillay and produced by Tejinder Paul Singh and C.S. Sindra. It will be released in Punjab in July.
Producers Can Now Officially Sell Satellite Rights Of Films After One Year Of Theatrical Release
Video Rights Sale After 2 Weeks Disallowed Now
Associations Not To Interfere In Terms Of Agreement
In a major shift from the earlier joint policy of the Film Distributors Council (FDC) and the Film Makers Combine (FMC), which required producers to refrain from selling the telecasting and satellite rights of their films for five years from the date of their premiere theatrical release, producers can now sell the telecasting and satellite rights after one year of the theatrical release. Cable TV and video rights can now be sold not earlier than one year as against six months and two weeks respectively till now. This has been done because it was felt that telecast on cable TV and videos of new films were affecting business very badly. This and other decisions were taken at a meeting held on 19th June in Bombay at Hotel Sun-N-Sand between producers and the Central Circuit Cine Association, the body of distributors and exhibitors of C.P.C.I. Rajasthan. These decisions, arrived at at the said meeting chaired by CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain, are likely to be adopted by other associations of distributors of different circuits in due course of time.
An exception has been made for films, the MG royalty agreements of which for a major territory do not exceed Rs. 25 lakh. Producers of such films are permitted to sell video and cable TV rights of their small-budget films after six months of their theatrical release. Satellite and television rights of the small-budget films, however, can be sold only after one year.
The above is effective from 19th June, 2000.
If any producer supplies his film for telecasting through any of the aforesaid means viz. satellite, television, cable TV or video before the stipulated time, he would be required to share 50% of the amount received from such sale among the all-India distributors and would be permitted to keep only the balance 50% for himself.
In case of agreements other than MG royalty or if the producer releases a film himself, there will be no restriction on time span for sale of the aforesaid rights.
It was also decided at the meeting that all theatrical rights for public exhibition in all formats without any exception would belong to distributors.
It was decided to set up a joint committee comprising five producers and five members of the CCCA to ensure implementation of the arrangements decided in the meeting.
It was agreed that the producer and the distributor shall be free to decide the terms of agreement and they (terms) will not be subject to any guidelines/directives of the respective associations. The producer and distributor would not be required to henceforth sign any declaration contrary to the terms and conditions of their agreement. The arrangement of 19th June was signed by the CCCA, the AIFPC, the Guild, the IMPPA and the WIFPA.
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Simply Unprecedented
Devgan Entertainment & Software Ltd., the Bombay distributors of Refugee, must be commended for the unprecedented publicity of the film. In Bombay city and suburbs alone, a record number of 45 vinyl (yes, vinyl!) hoardings have been put up at vantage points. There are big hoardings put up in Pune (15 totally), Kolhapur (10), Ahmedabad (20), Nasik (5), Surat (5) and Goa (2). In recent years, there has been no system of putting up hoardings outside Bombay city and suburbs. Devgan Entertainment has not put up so many hoardings even for Ajay Devgan starrers! This is not all. Even before the opening of advance booking (which opens on Monday), the Bombay distributors have already started accepting block-bookings for some cinemas. At Shreyas (Ghatkopar), so far, 10 shows have been booked; at Rahul, Pune, 12 shows have been booked. At Ahmedabad’s City Pulse, the film will be screened on two screens and extra shows will be held on Sunday at 8.30 a.m., for which 700 tickets have been group-booked. At Liberty and Chandan, Bombay, extra shows will be held at 9.a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. There are also plans of releasing the film with a maximum number of prints. Incidentally, the film’s running time is 3 hours and 7 minutes.
Games Producers Play
Producers, applying for censorship of their films, are required to make a payment towards the Cine Workers Welfare Cess. This was made effective from 1994. But, soon after it came into effect, the IMPPA managed to get a stay order from the court against the cess. Till 1996, producers did not have to pay towards the welfare cess. But some time in 1996, the court’s verdict, in the appeal preferred by the Central government, went in favour of the government and thereby producers had to pay the cess along with the censor application. Just for your information, the cess payable for Hindi films is Rs. 10,000; for Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali films, it is Rs. 3,000; and for other language films, including English, the cess payable is Rs. 2,000. Those producers, who had not paid towards the Cine Workers Welfare Cess, when the stay order was in operation, are now liable to pay the cess. The CBFC has been contacting those producers who ‘escaped’ paying this cess at that time. When they send letters to the producers by registered post, the letters come back! When producers are attempted to be contacted telephonically, the CBFC gets replies such as, “The producer has shifted his office to an unknown destination” or “We have already sold the negatives, so we are not the producers now.” The CBFC is amused at such stock excuses. But it is keeping a close watch on these producers to corner them when they come to the CBFC office with the application for censoring their next film. Till then, it’s a game of hide and seek!
Roshan-Backed
It’s in their jeans. Their brand name, Pantaloon. And while they were making jeans, they were toying with the idea of making films, too. The first thing they thought of, besides the subject, was music director Rajesh Roshan. And when Vivek Singhania, CEO and director of PFH Entertainment as also the Pantaloon boss, met Rajesh Roshan, they narrated him the subject. This was much before the release of Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai. Rajesh Roshan liked the subject. He opined that Hrithik Roshan suited the lead man’s role. As PFH were new entrants in the film domain, Rakesh Roshan volunteered to be the guiding force behind Na Tum Jaano Na Hum. Incidentally, the title is inspired from the popular song of KN…PH. The film’s director, Arjun Sablok, is a childhood friend of Hrithik and was an erstwhile assistant to Yash Chopra. He has directed a number of television serials including Missing for Sony.
Whither Title Value?
At the meeting of the IMPPA’s Title Registration Committee, held on 22nd June, producer-director Suneel Darshan and his father, Darshan Sabharwal, were prevailed upon to relinquish the title, Rishta – A Bond Of Love, which was registered in favour of Suneel Darshan (due to IMPPA’s “oversight”). Willy-nilly, Suneel gave up the title Rishta – A Bond Of Love. It is by now well-known that Rishta stood registered in favour of Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria even when Rishta – A Bond Of Love was registered in favour of Suneel. After giving up the title, Suneel Darshan asked for an alternative title, Ek Rishta, to which the IMPPA agreed. Goes to prove Suneel’s obsession for ‘Rishta’!
Similar is the case with the title Devdas, which was to be the title of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s new film. Sanjay has not been able to get the title as producer Kailash Chopra has been sitting on it since last some years. Sanjay has now titled his film Aaj Ka Devdas. Looks like, Sanjay will be making a modern film on the legendary Devdas — like a very aaj ka film!
SHOOTING COVERAGE
‘Aaghaaz’: A ‘Love’ly Experience!
Sunil Shetty loves Sushmita Sen. But he is married to Suman Ranganathan. Namrata Shirodkar loves Sunil Shetty. Sunil does not love Suman. He is fond of Namrata but isn’t in love with her. As Sunil Shetty says of the story of producer D. Rama Naidu’s Aaghaaz – The Beginning, “You’ve heard of a love story and a love triangle, but this one is a love square, what with four of us involved!” ‘Love’ly!!
We are in Hyderabad to cover the shooting of Naidu’s new venture which should be complete very soon. The lucky producer, who has struck gold countless number of times in Telugu, Tamil as well as Hindi films, plans to release Aaghaaz on Dassera this year.
Why such a difficult title for a mass-appealing film? Debut-making director Yogesh Ishwar answers that one. “It is an unusual title and one which suits the subject.” Yogesh, before getting his big break from Rama Naidu, used to direct videos for music companies. He had assisted Vinod Chopra in his earlier films. Although Yogesh is not happy remaking a film, he chose to remake a Telugu hit — Sivayya — because “it was a big break for me”. Moreover, he liked the original enough to inspire him to go ahead.
Rama Naidu, who seems to have perfected the art of remaking Telugu films, had five films lined up for remakes in Hindi. Yogesh was asked to see all of them and decide which he would like to remake. Naidu explainis, “What to do? I had five daughters, all of marriageable age. No sense in keeping them at home, better to get them married.” He is, quite obviously, referring to his films as daughters. Even otherwise, girls are referrred to as Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth. And one does not need to be reminded of how wealthy Naidu is! His newest ‘daughter’ — the Telugu film, Kalisiundham Ra (meaning ‘Let’s Stay Together’) — has proved to be the biggest blockbuster ever of the Telugu film industry. It has crossed the business of the previous numero uno film, Samhar Simha Reddy.
The scene of activity is about 30 to 40 kilometres away from Hyderabad city. An old bungalow is turned into a police station of a village in Punjab. Sushmita Sen plays a police inspectress. Sunil Shetty and his brother-in-law, Sharad Kaproor, have come to the police station to meet her.
To meet us have come Naidu’s two illustrious sons — actor Venkatesh and producer Suresh. Older of the two, Suresh has very tiny hair on his head and explains, “I had been to Tirupathi where I offered my hair. It’s the first time I’ve done it because our Kalisiundham Ra has broken all previous Telugu film records.” Suresh informs, “Kalisiundham Ra completed 100 days in all the 76 centres it was released on the opening day. Even now, the film, which is nearing the silver jubilee mark, is doing extremely well.”
Has Venkatesh quit the Hindi film scene? The actor replies, “We will be starting a film very shortly, with Karisma and myself.”
For the present, however, the family is submerged into completing Aaghaaz — or, in other words, taking the Beginning to its logical Ending. Towards this end, the director is shooting till late hours — or rather, till the early morning hours of the following day. It’s strange how despite so much pressure, Sunil, Sushmita, Sharad Kapoor and Suman (Namrata isn’t around) manage to look fresh. Perhaps, it is the appreciation Sunil Shetty has got for Hera Pheri, and Sharad Kapoor for his performance in Josh, that’s giving them the extra energy to work harder and harder.
Also working hard is Naidu’s organisation. In the already huge studio premises has been added one more wing — that for physical special effects and making miniatures.
Sunil Shetty is yet another guy who has mega plans for the future. No place for mini-ideas here. The thinking actor is intelligent enough to know where to invest his money and he has got lined up several avenues of investment. And this time around, the guy won’t be up to plain Mischief (the name of his chain of readymade garments shop)!
– Komal Nahta
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
WELCOME POSTPONEMENT
Dear Sir,
By postponing the release of his Bichhoo to 7th July and thereby averting a clash with Refugee on 30th June, Guddu Dhanoa has indeed displayed his greatness and genuine concern for the cause of the film trade. For the past some weeks, the trade had been apprehensive of the consequences of these two big films coming in opposition of each other. Now that Guddu Dhanoa has magnanimously postponed the film’s release, the confusion and chaos have evaporated into thin air.
Guddu Dhanoa deserves to be saluted for such a gesture. Film Information, too, deserves a pat on its back for its timely editorial last week, pertaining to the issue of the release of these two major films.
– O.P. Goyal
Laxmi Pictures, Indore.