KHOOBSURAT
Jhamu Sughand’s Khoobsurat is the story of a plain Jane who is so ordinary-looking that every boy to whom the girl’s family proposes marriage, rejects the girl. This makes the girl’s large joint family very tense and worried for her. In the meantime, a young good-for-nothing guy impersonates a distant relative of the girl’s family and comes to stay with them with the ulterior motive of robbing it of some lakhs of rupees. He wins the hearts of all the family members due to his feigned good-heartedness and even succeeds in turning the plain Jane into a sexy girl, much to the joy of the family members. His aim is to get a rich boy hooked on to the sexy lass in the hope that the girl’s wealthy in-laws would then indirectly meet his financial needs. But destiny has something else in store for the guy as well as the girl. Even while the girl is being groomed by the guy, she falls in love with him and ultimately gets married to him.
The film, designed as a comedy, is heavily inspired by Bawarchi. Even several characters are borrowed from the old film. As regards the girl’s marriage problem, the guy trying to reform her so that her would-be in-laws would come to his rescue, seems to be rather far-fetched. The romance between the girl and the guy has not been shown. While some comedy punches make one laugh for the wit and humour in the dialogues, several others fall flat. The first half is somewhat better but the second half is too lengthy and dull at many places. Even otherwise, many of the jokes are of the kind that will appeal to the city audience only.
Sanjay Dutt does reasonably well. But his fans will be disappointed to see him in a role that runs counter to his action image. Urmila Matondkar is fair. Om Puri gets a role that does not befit his stature. Ashok Saraf evokes laughter at places. Jatin Kanakia is very good and his always being at a loss for the right word entertains at times. Paresh Rawal is very effective and raises a lot of laughter with his popular jingle quotes. Himani Shivpuri impresses with her English words thrown in in Hindi dialogues. Supriya Sachin is alright. Farida Jalal is beginning to get type-cast. Anjan Shrivastava is so-so. Johny Lever could have been more fruitfully used. Dinesh Hingoo is good. Razzak Khan is hopelessly wasted. Master Vishal Solanki, baby Vritika, Heena Qureshi, Sophia Haque and the rest provide average support. The dog has been exploited quite well.
Sanjay Chhel scores in the field of dialogue-writing. Although his dialogues have a city flavour, they are quite original. His screenplay writing, however, leaves something to be desired. As a director, Sanjay Chhel makes a naive debut and needs to improve in the department of narration. Music (Jatin Lalit) is a plus point. ‘Ghoonghat mein chand hoga’ is a hit number. ‘Gash khake’, ‘Mera ek sapna hai’ and ‘Tum khoobsurat ho’ are the other appealing songs. Picturisations of songs are fairly eye-catching. Camerawork (Madhu Ambat) is good. Technically, alright. Action scenes are functional.
On the whole, Khoobsurat is a film for the gentry audience in select cities. It should do fair in Bombay, Maharashtra and South, but its prospects in other circuits are barely average and below.
Released on 26-11-’99 at Novelty and 15 other cinemas of Bombay by Friends India thru Shringar Films. Publicity: very good. Opening: good. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull/ordinary in most places.
LATEST POSITION
Last week’s release, DILLAGI, did not pick up at all, after a disastrous start.
Dillagi proves a major disaster; will entail untold losses to its distributors. 1st week Bombay 49,07,825 (73.92%) from 11 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 13,65,104 from 4 cinemas, Jamnagar 95,502 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 11,77,180 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,74,310; Delhi 53,28,933 (81.46%) from 10 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Kanpur 3,07,618 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,93,706, Varanasi 2,38,495, Meerut (6 days) 2,38,318, Bareilly (6 days) 1,44,430, Hardwar 1,05,140; Calcutta 13,60,284 from 7 cinemas; Nagpur 5,74,614 from 5 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,28,179, Amravati 1,88,260, Akola 1,31,276, Raipur (gross, 6 days) 2,15,809, Bhilai 58,980 from 2 cinemas (1 cinema discontinued after 4 days; 2nd cinema’s collection is for the first 5 days), Jalgaon (6 days) 1,52,506, Bilaspur 80,587 from 2 cinemas (1 cinema for 3 days); Indore 1,95,000 (4 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,00,430; Jaipur 9,74,861 from 4 cinemas, Bikaner 2,58,955; Hyderabad (gross) 35,13,730 from 19 cinemas; Vijayawada (gross) 2,16,353, dull in Overseas also.
…………
Jurm Ka Vinashak (dubbed) is doing very well in U.P. 1st week Allahabad was 78,623, Gorakhpur (4 days) 87,726, Agra 1,25,431, Kanpur 1,40,000 from 2 cinemas, Meerut (10 days) 1,25,000; 1 week Delhi 3,72,913 from 3 cinemas.
Hum Saath-Saath Hain, despite steep drop in matinee/noon shows, manages well in 3rd week due to the other shows. Drops further in Delhi-U.P. 3rd week Bombay 67,25,647 (70.57%) from 13 cinemas, Vasai (gross) 3,32,471, Panvel (gross) 1,67,449; Ahmedabad 23,83,110 from 8 cinemas, Baroda 4,80,497 from 2 cinemas, Padra 1,87,288, Bharuch 3,16,168, Valsad 2,96,554, Mehsana 2,05,562, Patan 1,12,104, Kalol 1,49,629, Palanpur 2,03,492, Bardoli 2,04,556, Ankleshwar 1,58,254, 2nd week Godhra 1,15,350, Dahod 1,36,802, 3rd week Rajkot 2,16,146, Bhavnagar 1,25,136 (2nd 1,29,047), Jamnagar 1,42,817, Surendranagar 1,05,779, Adipur 1,05,370, Morbi 94,431, Jetpur 75,560, Bhuj 96,726 (58.72%); Pune 18,59,403 from 6 cinemas, 3 weeks’ total at Barsi (gross) 3,62,239, 3rd week Kolhapur 2,28,283, Solapur 3,28,610, Nasik 4,91,979 from 2 cinemas, Ichalkaranji 1,65,598, Sangli 1,72,435, Ahmednagar 2,60,550 from 2 cinemas, Miraj 1,05,732, Islampur 1,67,124, Satara 1,48,306, Karad 85,020, Kopergaon 1,18,026, Shrirampur 1,36,213, 2nd week Baramati 83,207, Alibaug 1,29,700, 1st week Akluj 1,45,431; 3rd week Hubli 1,81,234, Belgaum 1,80,473; Delhi 35,36,443 from 10 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,19,519 from 3 cinemas, Lucknow 6,17,819 from 2 cinemas, Agra 3,16,658, Varanasi 2,21,403, Allahabad 1,81,578, Ghaziabad 1,79,970, Meerut 1,84,186, Bareilly (6 days) 1,21,302, Dehradun 1,60,585, Gorakhpur 1,18,863, Aligarh 1,59,634; Ludhiana 3,24,486 (2nd 3,63,141, 1st 3,47,017), Jalandhar 3,16,358 (2nd 3,88,310, 1st 4,70,699), Jammu 1,16,093 (2nd 1,54,509, 1st 1,67,910), Chandigarh 2,91,197 from 2 cinemas (2nd 3,32,436, 1st 3,89,004), Faridabad 98,322 (2nd 1,13,253, 1st 1,56,603), Patiala 1,59,085 (2nd 1,82,400, 1st 2,24,145); Calcutta 16,88,102 from 14 cinemas; Patna 2,72,205 (2nd 2,70,952, 1st 2,81,000), Hajipur 62,212 (2nd 57,520, 1st 61,960); Nagpur 9,29,608 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 4,00,604, Amravati 2,85,660, total 9,56,190, Akola 2,11,753, total 6,64,106, Dhule 1,65,430, Raipur 3,39,259, Bhilai (5 days) 1,06,717, Jalgaon 2,31,910, Bhusawal 1,86,259, Gondia (gross) 1,54,451, total 4,78,945, Wardha 1,07,085, Chandrapur 2,53,908, total 9,04,759, Yavatmal 1,71,289, Khandwa 2,51,255, total 7,50,039; Indore 1,94,617 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,41,766; Jaipur 6,44,765, Jodhpur (gross) 6,13,342, Ajmer 1,50,057, Bikaner 1,75,692, Kota 1,75,512, Bhilwara 1,15,027, 1st week Alwar (gross) 1,67,248; 3rd week Hyderabad (gross) 13,64,453 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.), Aurangabad (gross) 2,83,498, Jalna (gross) 98,228, Latur (gross) 1,84,269, Parbhani (gross) 1,32,658, Nanded (gross) 1,20,264; Bangalore 11,90,843 from 4 cinemas (collections affected due to heavy rains); Madras 3,57,945; Overseas:- UK 17 days’ gross UK pounds 371,690 from 25 screens (no. 13 in UK Top 15 for the Nov. 21 weekend), at no. 25 in US Top 50 for the Nov. 21 weekend, grossed US$ 1,592,291 in 17 days.
Shool 3rd week Bombay 13,56,251 (46.58%) from 6 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 34,316 (1 unrecd.); Pune 3,43,003 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 45,638; Delhi 4,58,368 from 3 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 52,852 from 2 cinemas (1 cinema for 3 days), Lucknow 1,87,208, Varanasi 80,176, Bareilly (3 days) 11,200; 2nd week Nagpur 45,324, total 1,31,733, 3rd week Amravati (6 days) 24,981, Raipur (3 days) 40,990, 2nd week Bhilai (gross) 1,21,725; 3rd week Indore (4 days) 36,391, Bhopal 70,000; Hyderabad (gross) 1,79,947 from 2 cinemas.
Vaastav 6th week Bombay 21,98,032 (58.97%) from 8 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 61,491 (1 unrecd.); Pune 4,26,182 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee) 40,490; 1st week Bijapur 1,50,000; 6th week Kanpur 1,02,608 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 64,868, Varanasi 89,702 from 2 cinemas, Allahabad 41,000; Calcutta 1,00,982; Nagpur 1,19,939 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 29,345, total 3,86,605, Amravati 51,884, Akola 44,420, 3rd week Jalgaon 1,38,000 (2nd 1,84,285), 2nd week Chandrapur 87,003, total 2,63,036.
‘SIRF TUM’ SILVER JUBILEE
Boney Kapoor’s Sirf Tum is celebrating silver jubilee this week in Bombay, Patna and Hyderabad. Starring Sanjay Kapoor, Priya Gill and Sushmita Sen, the film is directed by Ahathian from his own story and screenplay. It has dialogues by Anees Bazmee, lyrics by Sameer, and music by Nadeem Shravan.
ILLEGAL SCREENING OF ‘HS-SH’ STOPPED
The Moghat Thana police on 20th November raided the premises of a cable operator at Khandwa (C.P.) and stopped an unauthorised cable telecast of Rajshri’s Hum Saath-Saath Hain. The police recovered a pirated VHS copy of the film and other video equipments from the cable operator, Rakesh, who was arrested on the spot for violating the Copyright Act, 1957.
RAMNORD WATCHMAN SHOT AT
In a shocking incident that occurred on 20th November, unidentified assailants fired at the watchman of Ramnord Laboratories at Jogeshwari, Bombay, in broad daylight. The watchman, who was shot in the abdomen, was rushed to a nearby hospital where his kidney had to be removed as a result of the bullet wound. It is believed that the assailants, who fled the scene, were sent to scare Girdharilal Seksaria, owner of Ramnord, into submitting to an extortion demand. Girdharilal himself wasn’t present in the laboratory when the incident took place. His two sons, however, were in the premises. Police investigations are in progress.
VIDEO PIRATES ARRESTED
Several unauthorised VCDs of various Hindi films were recovered by the social service branch (crime) of the Bombay police in two separate raids on VCD retailers in the city recently. The raids were conducted at the behest of the Feature Film Copyright, Bombay.
The police raided Junaid VCD shop at Musafirkhana, Bombay on 11th November and arrested one Junaid Israr Samsi following recovery of pirated VCDs of Mast, Taal, Mann, Arjun Pandit, Sarfarosh and other films from the shop.
The second raid was conducted on 19th November at Balaji VCD shop at Dharavi, Bombay, during which the police recovered illegal VCDs of Hum Saath-Saath Hain, Shool, Mast, Taal, Baadshah, etc. and arrested one Ramesh Sundaram Pillai.
‘ARJUN PANDIT’ 100 DAYS
N.R. Pachisia’s Arjun Pandit, starring Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla, completed 100 days of its run today (27th November) in Bombay and other centres of India. Directed by Rahul Rawail, the film has music by Dilip Sen Sameer Sen.
WIFPA SUBMITS MEMORANDUM TO JAITLEY
A delegation of the Western India Film Producers’ Association, comprising Naresh Mohnot, Sangram Shirke, Prabhat Pandey, Sajid Ali, Dr. D.K. Sharma, O.L. Sharma and Ronu Mukerji, met I & B minister Arun Jaitley at Sahyadri guest house in Bombay on 19th November to discuss the industry’s problems, especially those of small-budget film producers. The delegation also submitted a memorandum to him.
The memorandum draws the minister’s attention to various difficulties faced by film producers and offers suggestions to solve them. It suggests several measures to eliminate the CBFC’s discriminatory attitude towards small-budget films. These are (a) appointment of eminent and knowledgeable people from the film trade on the CBFC; (b) amendment of the Cinematograph Act to ensure that films are only certified and not mutilated; (c) easing of the CBFC guidelines; and (d) allowing producers to quote precedents before the examining and revising committees.
The WIFPA memorandum also suggests that the Cable TV Act, 1995 be suitably amended to make it mandatory for every cable operator to publish and publicise, in advance, the list of films that he intends to show from time to time. A harsher set of penalties for copyright violation has also been demanded.
The other demands of the WIFPA are (a) an increase in royalty paid by All India Radio to producers for Hindi and regional songs aired on AIR; and (b) abolition of entertainment tax.
The WIFPA has also urged the I & B minister to take up with the finance ministry the issues of (a) waiver of countervailing duty and reduction of customs duty on raw film stock imported into the country; and (b) bringing on par the customs duty structure on equipments and raw materials for film, TV and music industries with that for the information technology industry.
STARCITY CINEMA OPENS IN BOMBAY
Starcity, a state-of-the-art cinema at Matunga, Bombay, opened on 26th November with Hum Saath-Saath Hain. It is the first cinema in India built ground up with Lucasfilms’ THX technology and is installed with Dolby digital surround EX sound. The cinema stands on the plot where Badal-Bijlee cinemas once stood.
The 471-seater, with plush interiors, is centrally air-conditioned. The admission rates are Rs. 75 for 12 noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. shows, and Rs. 90 for 9 p.m. shows. The weekly capacity is Rs. 6,40,854.20 (28 shows).
The cinema is controlled by Shringar Cinemas.
AIFPC’S PRE-BUDGET MEMORANDUM TO FINANCE MINISTER
In a pre-Budget memorandum addressed to Union finance minister Yeshwant Sinha, Pahlaj Nihalani, president of the All India Film Producers’ Council, has appealed for substantial reliefs for the film industry in the forthcoming Union Budget in view of the dwindling revenues and increasing taxes thrust on the film industry.
The following is the gist of the letter:
♦ Relief in income tax for revenue earned from export of films: In this regard, the AIFPC has asked for extension of section 80HHF of the Income-Tax Act to all categories of assessees in addition to just corporate bodies. AIFPC has also requested for either a suitable amendment in section 80HHC so as to enable the exporter to claim the said deduction under section 80HHC for all the years upto 31-3-’99 or for making the new section 80HHF applicable retrospectively with effect from 1-4-’83 as has been done for the tea industry.
♦ Chapter 85.25 of Finance Bill 1997 (which exempted recorded audio and video cassettes from excise duty in the last Budget). The letter requests the FM (finance minister) to issue necessary directives to the officers of the Central Excise, stating that exemption is with retrospective effect, and the excise department should not harass the producers unnecessarily.
♦ It has been requested to completely abolish the unreasonable customs and countervailing duties on negative and positive raw films.
♦ The rates of customs duty on equipment and raw material for film, television and music industries be similar to the duty structure laid down for information and technology industry.
♦ An appeal for inclusion of film processing laboratories, recording and editing in the Projects Imports Regulations, 1986.
♦ Regarding entertainment tax, the AIFPC has demanded total abolition or uniform entertainment tax in all states to a minimum possible level.
NEED OF THE HOUR
SAVE THE DROWNING ORISSA DISTRIBUTORS
The havoc wrought by the cyclone in Orissa has adversely affected collections in cinemas in the state. Many cinemas on the coastal belt of Orissa have been badly damaged in the super-cyclone that ravaged the state on October 29 and 30.
Collections in the cinemas, which are functioning, have plummeted to 20-25% of the normal level. Producers, who are always generous when it comes to helping the flood or riot-affected in the country or when calamity strikes, would do well to come to the rescue of the Orissa distributors. A rebate in the price of films released after the floods and also of films due for release in the coming few months would be perfectly in order. In fact, that is the need of the hour.
‘DULHE RAJA’ TELECAST
ZEE TO GET INJUNCTION ORDER VACATED TODAY
Zee Telefilms Ltd. is likely to have the injunction order, passed by the Guwahati civil court junior division no. 4, vacated today (November 27). The said order restrains the telecast of Eastern Films’ Dulhe Raja on Zee Cinema tomorrow (28th). The ex parte injunction was granted by the civil court on 20th November in a writ petition filed by the film’s Assam distributor, Subal Kumar Dey, against the producers (Eastern Films) and Zee Telefilms Ltd.
In the petition, Dey had claimed that the film’s satellite telecast was in violation of the terms of contract which his concern had entered into with the producer. The contract, claimed Dey, granted his concern exclusive distribution, exhibition and exploitation rights of the film in Assam territory for 10 years.
When contacted, producer-director Harmesh Malhotra told Information that the legal counsel of Zee had already filed an application for the vacation of the injunction order. He added that the court had heard Zee’s arguments on 26th November. Harmesh Malhotra expressed confidence that Zee would succeed in obtaining the vacation order today (27th) even though the court is closed on Saturday. The telecast would, in all probability, go as planned, he added. Terming the distributor’s court case “a ploy to extort money” out of him, Malhotra cited the case of the telecast of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai on Sony TV a few weeks back. Sony Entertainment Television had then succeeded in getting vacated a similar injunction order, passed by the Guwahati court, in a similar writ petition filed by the Assam distributor of KKHH, he added. The telecast of that film, too, had gone on as planned.
‘TAAL’ 100 DAYS
AN IKON FOR AN ICON!
The elite of Delhi from the worlds of fashion, drama, politics, music, media and the bureaucracy attended the 100 days’ celebrations of Subhash Ghai’s Taal on 23rd November at Hotel Hyatt Regency. Besides Ghai, who flew from Gandhinagar (Gujarat), where the 100 days of Taal at City Pulse was celebrated on 21st (read report next week), the lead artistes of the film, viz. Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna and Aishwarya Rai as also cinematographer Kabir Lal were present in Delhi.
The same morning, Jacques Nasser, president of the Ford Motor Company, launched the Ford Ikon car in India by gifting the first car to Subhash Ghai in appreciation of him being the director of the last two decades.
YOU ASKED IT
Can you explain why Hum Saath-Saath Hain is not as strong in Delhi-U.P. and East Punjab as in the other circuits?
– Even the producers cannot fathom the reason for such a discrepancy. Do you have an explanation?
What are the reports of Deep Blue Sea?
– Those who’ve seen the film feel that its dubbed Hindi version, MAUT KA SAMUNDAR, will create waves.
What are the total collections of the first 3 weeks of Hum Saath-Saath Hain in India?
– Over Rs. 21 crore on about 284 prints.
IN & OUT OF BOMBAY
Producer Surendra Bohra and Gujarat exhibitor Nandu Bohra will return to Bombay from Jodhpur on 3rd December.
Mr. Dayanand Mandre of S.A.S. Movies, Bangalore, will be in town (98211-12063) from November 28 to 30.
Mr. Pramod K. Gupta of Rangbhumi and Intimate Relations, New Delhi, will be in Bombay at Hotel Seaside (620-0293/0696/0297; office phone no. 646-4055) from November 30 to December 4.
Mr. Naraindas Mukhija of Shree Navchitra Distributors P. Ltd., Jaipur, is expected in town (636-0106) next week.
DO YOU KNOW?
* Tarakarama and Ramakrishna 35mm cinemas of Hyderabad have decided to open separate counters for sale of tickets of HS-SH for senior citizens, such is the rush of old people for the film. The former cinema has printed attractive tickets on art paper! It has also started online booking for the film.
* Ramanand Sagar’s latest mythological TV serial, JAI GANGA MAIYA, has bagged the top spot among TV serials in India by achieving a high of 13.6 TRP within just 2 months of its telecast on DD1. The serial is currently telecast at 9.30 on Monday nights. Sagar’s previous serial, SHRI KRISHNA, had also created history by earning nearly Rs. 100 crore in advertising revenues for Doordarshan. Sagar’s biggest epic, however, remains RAMAYAN which is currently being telecast on Sony.
* Rajshri has decided to bring down the admission rates to the pre-HUM SAATH-SAATH HAIN level at most of the cinemas screening the film (HS-SH) in Bombay city and suburbs.
* While HS-SH is only in its 4th week, Baba Ramdeo, the controller of Kalpatru cinema, Jodhpur, is already on Cloud Nine! And he has reason to feel elated. His faith in HS-SH before its release, had made him spend not less than 15 lakh to give the cinema a grand new look, besides installing Dolby SR sound system. His faith has verily been vindicated by HS-SH (High Scoring-Scaling High film). The first week gross was 7,27,000/-, 2nd week too was 7,27,000/- and the 3rd week was 6,14,000/-. And what’s more, the collections of the first 3 shows of the 1st day of 4th week are equal to the collections of 4 shows of 3rd week’s last day. Baba Ramdeo is confident of the film scaling higher in 4th week.
* Producer Dr. D. Rama Naidu has earned a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records for having produced a record number of 101 feature films in various Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali. He is presently planning to produce at least one film each in the other Indian languages.
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Matinee Fact
While the collections of Hum Saath-Saath Hain range from good to extraordinary in the 3, 6 and 9 p.m. shows, the film seems to be on the mat in the matinee shows (know as noon shows in circuits outside Bombay) all over. The collections recorded in matinee/noon shows are a dismal 15 to 20 per cent at many places. Such extreme variation has never been witnessed before in any film in the distant or immediate past. HS-SH is a ladies’ film and such films generally record dull collections in the 12 noon shows. But the difference in collections of matinee/noon shows and other shows of HS-SH is of a unique kind.
Doubly Tragic
One can’t but feel sorry for C.P. Berar and Rajasthan distributor Mohan Godha. He had Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain for C.P. Berar and Rajasthan. The film, as is well-known, proved a disaster. As if that was not enough, he acquired Dillagi, again for C.P. and Rajasthan, for an astronomical price. And the film met with a catastrophic end in the first week itself!
Costume Family Drama?!
In what category would you place Hum Saath-Saath Hain? In the category of family-social, of course. But this is surely the first family social in which big money has been spent on costumes. To cite an instance, just one suit worn by Saif Ali Khan has cost the producer half a lakh! Now, with so many costumes worn by so many stars and artistes in this film, the money spent on dresses can well be imagined. But, sadly, that doesn’t qualify the film to be placed under the category of ‘costume drama’. Shall we place it in a newly-coined category: Costume family drama?!? Incidentally, people living abroad have loved some of the costumes worn by the stars of HS-SH so much that they are asking their relatives and friends in India to have similar ones tailored for them (by the same costume designers) and sent to them!
Deols And ‘Dillagi’s
The title Dillagi has come to mean disillusionment for the Deols — for the second time. As far back as in 1978, producers Bikram Singh Dehal and Ajit Singh Deol had made Dillagi, which, needless to say, did not do well. History has repeated itself with Sunny Deol’s Dillagi.
