‘KN…PH’ 100 DAYS IN C.P. BERAR: BONUS, GIFTS, OVERFLOW

Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai has completed 100 days of its run at the following cinemas and centres in C.P. Berar:

Anand Cinema, Raipur; New Vasant Talkies, Bhilai; Satyam, Bilaspur; Anand, Jabalpur; Ashok Talkies, Jalgaon; Manek Talkies, Akola; Panchsheel Cinema, Amravati; Alankar, Nagpur; and Bhatwal Talkies, Dhule. It is expected to go on to celebrate silver jubilee in Raipur, Bilaspur, Jabalpur, Jalgaon, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur.

Vishwajyoti Films, the distributors of the film, have, together with the exhibitors in whose cinemas KN…PH has completed 100 days, distributed bonus equal to one month’s salary to staff members of the cinemas. Vishwajyoti Films has also distributed a month’s salary as bonus to its staff members.

Vishwajyoti Films was earlier distributing free T-shirts of KN…PH to lucky winners in cinemas. It has now started also distributing attractive photo cards of Hrithik Roshan to every person buying at least 5 balcony tickets of a show.

Laloo Kabra of Vishwajyoti has already paid over Rs. 42 lakh to Rakesh Roshan as overflow from KN…PH. Understandably then, Rakesh Roshan has decided to give the distribution rights of his next film too to Kabra.

KISHAN KUMAR ARRESTED

The Delhi police arrested actor and music industrialist Kishan Kumar on 28th April soon after the Supreme Court stayed the anticipatory bail granted to him by the Delhi high court in a case relating to cricket match-fixing.

The police took him into custody immediately after he was produced by the Tihar jail authorities before additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM), Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal, who had issued the production warrant against Kumar.

The production warrant was issued on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) application seeking his custody for further questioning in connection with alleged hawala transactions and FERA violations.

SUNEEL DARSHAN’S CELEBRATION & LAUNCHING PARTY

Producer-director Suneel Darshan launched Shree Krishna International’s Rishta – A Bond Of Love on 27th April at The Regent. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Juhi Chawla, Karisma Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mohnish Bahl, Ashutosh Rana and Shakti Kapoor. The story by Suneel Darshan is being scripted by S.M. Ahale and Robin Bhatt. Dialogues: K.K. Singh.

Before the launch of the new film, Suneel distributed 100 days’ trophies of his Jaanwar to the film’s artistes, technicians and unit members.

SAJID NADIADWALA’S SISTER WEDS

Marriage of Afeefa, sister of producer Sajid Nadiadwala, with Arshad was solemnised on 27th April at The Club, Andheri, Bombay. A reception to celebrate the wedding was held the same evening.

HEMANT TRIVEDI CRITICAL

Young fashion designer and a sought-after costume designer of the film industry, Hemant Trivedi slipped into a coma after escaping death in a near-fatal road accident on the morning of 22nd April. He was admitted to Lilavati Hospital and is still critical.

Hemant was on his way to the airport when his Maruti car slammed against a vegetable tempo near Khar junction on the Western Express highway. He was sitting on the front seat next to his driver and was rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state.

PANDIT MUKHRAM SHARMA PASSES AWAY

Pandit Mukhram Sharma, a prolific and poignant script-writer, died on 25th April in Bombay due to old age. He was in his eighties. When the Hindi film industry was in its infancy, Pt. Mukhram Sharma carved a niche for himself by penning a number of bold and socially relevant themes. As veteran producer-director B.R. Chopra acknowledges in all humility, “Panditji laid the foundation for the success of my banner by giving me such brilliant scripts as Ek Hi Raasta — the first film to be made by B.R. Films — Sadhana and Dhool Ka Phool. Almost two decades later, he returned and wrote Karm for us. We have lost an excellent writer whose pen was a formidable force which could weave stories with a deep concern for social norms and he did succeed in breaking several ‘accepted’ do’s and don’ts.”

Pt. Mukhram Sharma, unlike most sensitive writers, was a man with an astute business acumen too — a rather rare combination. In the mid 1950s, he, along with N.C. Sippy and Mahesh Kaul, floated a production company titled Anupam Chitra. Talaq, Santaan and Diwana were made under this banner. The number of successful films he wrote were many — in fact, his name alone was a guarantee for the film’s success.

PEARL PADAMSEE DEAD

Stage and film actress Pearl Padamsee died of cardiac arrest on the night of 23rd April. Besides acting on stage and also directing plays, she played character roles in films like Khatta Meetha and Baaton Baaton Mein.

GANPATI BOHRA NO MORE

Ganpati, the youngest of the six sons of late producer Shree Ram Bohra, breathed his last on 28th April at 3.30 a.m. at his residence in Bombay. He was only 40 and had been suffering from cancer of the oesophagus (food pipe).

Ganpati Bohra, who was a producer and director, led a zestful life albeit brief. He had been suffering from cancer since more than a year. After medication, his condition had improved and he had also resumed office some months back. He had to be hospitalised about a fortnight back when his condition worsened. He was taken home on 23rd, five days before the end came. Ganpati was directing Balidan at the time of his death. He had earlier directed Mard (starring Mithun Chakraborty) and Kafan.

Ganpati is survived by his mother, wife, five brothers, two sisters and their families. His cremation at Chandanwadi crematorium the same day (28th) was largely attended by the Naaz traders.

Uthamna will be held on Monday, May 1. The venue and time of the uthamna had not been fixed at the time of going to the press.

RAZA MURAD ELECTED CINTAA PRESIDENT

Raza Murad was elected president of the Cine & TV Artistes’ Association at a meeting of its executive committee held on 24th April. Dharmesh Tiwari was elected general secretary, and Satyen Kappu, vice president. Dara Singh and Deep Dhillon were elected treasurer and assistant secretary respectively.

PRODUCTION NEWS

12-Day Stint Of ‘Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam’

BMB Productions’ Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam is being shot in a 12-day schedule from today (April 29) at Royal Palms, Filmistan Studios and at various locations in Bombay. Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Suman Ranganathan, Atul Agnihotri, Alok Nath and Laxmikant Berde are participating. A song and action scenes are being filmed. Salman Khan plays the other lead man in the film being directed by Atheyaman and produced by K.C. Bokadia. Bharat Shah presents it. It is fast nearing completion.

‘Raju Chacha’ Climax

A 25-day shooting schedule of Devgan’s Films’ Raju Chacha will begin on May 1 at Wilson Dam and on different locales of Nasik. The entire climax and some action scenes will be picturised on the entire cast including Rishi Kapoor, Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Govind Namdev, Shahbaaz Khan, Smita Jayakar, Pramod Moutho, Tiku Talsania, Usha Bachani, Anil Nagrath, Navin Bava, Adi Irani, Johny Lever and child artistes Harsh Lunia, Hanshuk Vaidya, Sakshi Sen and Kewal Chadda. Being produced by Veeru Devgan and directed by Anil Devgan, the film has music by Jatin Lalit. Story: Anees Bazmee. Screenplay: Robin Bhatt. Dialogues: Javed Siddiqi. Lyrics: Anand Bakshi. Dances: Raju Khan. Cinematography: Nirmal Jani. Action: Jai Singh. Editor: Chandan. Art: Nitin Desai. Bharat Shah presents the film.

‘Dhadkan’ Racing Towards Completion

Venus Records & Tapes Ltd.’s Dhadkan is racing towards completion. Being directed by Dharmesh Darshan, the film stars Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Shilpa Shetty, Mahima Chaudhry, Parmeet Sethi, Sushma Seth, Kiran Kumar, Neeraj Vora, Manjit Kullar, Anjana Mumtaz, Nilofer and Sharmila Tagore. Its music is scored by Nadeem Shravan and lyrics are penned by Sameer. Cinematographer: W.B. Rao. Art: Bijon Dasgupta.

DO YOU KNOW?

* D. Rama Naidu’s Telugu hit, KALISIVUNDHAM RAA, has created a record by celebrating 100 days at as many as 76 cinemas of Andhra Pradesh.

* KN…PH is the 11th film to celebrate 100 days at Delite Theatre, Delhi, in the last six years. The earlier ten films were HAHK..!, RAJA HINDUSTANI, PARDES, ISHQ, JAB PYAAR KISISE HOTA HAI, PYAAR TO HONA HI THA, MANN, BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN, HUM AAPKE DIL MEIN REHTE HAIN and HS-SH.

YOU ASKED IT

Is it true that Hrithik Roshan has a meatier role than Shah Rukh Khan in Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham?

– What you are saying is the figment of someone’s imagination. Merely because KN…PH is a super-hit, Karan Johar will not give a meatier role to Hrithik and lesser role to Shah Rukh Khan. The young director has far too much confidence in himself and his story to play it by star popularity. Perish the thought!

Who has dubbed for Sanjay Dutt in Jung?

– Sanjay Dutt surely hasn’t!

Why do good times come in spurts in the industry and not remain for a few months together?

– Because filmmakers are short-sighted. They think of immediate gains rather than long-term profits. And, therefore, they are unable to hold on to good times for a longer period.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Sex Sells More Than Stars

The business of sex and horror films is thriving even as big-budget and star-studded films fall like nine pins one after the other. What stars cannot do, cheap and vulgar sex is doing — luring the audience to cinemas. For, the business of non-star cast sex and horror films is rosy only because of the addition of uncensored portions or, what is called, ‘bits’ in them. Why, distributors who buy such films are interested in only seeing the ‘bits’ in the trial show before a deal is struck. The enthusiastic ones insist on ‘bits’ being shot with the same artistes who are there in the film. Earlier, the ‘bits’ used to be sex portions of a film not even remotely connected with the film in which they were to be added. But the demand these days is for matching masala (another code word for ‘bits’). At small stations, some of these sex films yield shares more than even hit or successful star cast films. For instance, Sarfarosh was booked at a ‘C’ class centre of Rajasthan on a fixed hire of Rs. 20,000 whereas Johrabai was booked at the same centre on a fixed hire of Rs. 30,000!

Rishta-Bound Amitabh

Seems Amitabh Bachchan is destined to have an atoot rishta with Rishta, the film. In not too distant a past, Rishta was to be a production venture of ABCL, and Indra Kumar was to direct that film. Well, that one did not go beyond the launching stage. And now, Amitabh stars in Suneel Darshan’s Rishta – A Bond Of Love along with Akshay Kumar, Juhi Chawla, Karisma Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mohnish Bahl and Shakti Kapoor. Meanwhile, Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria are about to launch Rishta (the same subject which was to have been made for ABCL) with Anil Kapoor in the lead.

His Mother’s Choice

With Jaanwar having achieved the success it deserved, producer-director Suneel Darshan was toying with the idea of making another story-oriented action film with Akshay Kumar. He had already worked out the subject and had even recorded a song for the film. But before it could be launched, Suneel went to Indore for a while, where he has his distribution office. In Indore, the doors of his mind opened to an old subject which had been haunting him for a long time. Back in Bombay, he narrated the revived-in-Indore subject to his mother who liked it immensely. She advised him to make the film on that subject and keep the action subject in abeyance because she thought, Suneel would grow as a director with the film of which Suneel had narrated her the story. Suneel then gave a narration of the subject to Akshay Kumar, who, too, gave the same reaction as Suneel’s mother. And when Suneel approached Amitabh Bachchan, he also liked the subject and readily agreed to do the film. And thus was launched Rishta – A Bond Of Love.

Role-Winning Innocence

Several months back, Abhishek Bachchan had seen the Telugu super-hit, Tholi Prema, and had liked it immensely. He was so enamoured of the hero’s character that he requested producer Vashu Bhagnani to remake it and cast him in the hero’s role in it. But Vashu told Abhishek that he didn’t think him (Abhishek) to be the appropriate choice for the role. What the script demanded was a very innocent-looking hero, according to Vashu. Some months later, when Vashu saw Jeetendra’s son, Tushar, he immediately signed him on for the Hindi remake of Tholi Prema, titled Mujhe Kuch Kehnaa Hai. What won Tushar the lead man’s role was his genuinely expressive innocence on the face.

Of ‘Lagaan’ And Lagan

Aamir Khan, who is shooting his Lagaan on a village set at Kunaria near Bhuj (Gujarat), had a cause to partake in a lagan (marriage) of his two love-struck British artistes. Jammy and Catkin, who are among the many Britishers acting in his film, fell in love during the shooting schedule and decided to get married. Aamir, who had the marriage conducted as per Hindu rites, performed the kanyadaan, acting as the bride’s father. The only ‘lagaan’ (tax) in this lagan was an amount of Rs. 5,000 which the groom had to shell out to retrieve his stolen shoes from the bride’s friends!

INFORMATION MEETS

“The basic idea of all films is to give an emotional experience”

– KUNDAN SHAH

Dr. SHIVAJI SEN-GUPTA

For those who had seen Kundan Shah’s diploma film at the FTII, Bonga — a wacky 20-minute virtually silent comedy — it came as no surprise to find him associated with the first widely acclaimed sitcom on TV, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. However, what came as a cause for distress was that he was only an ‘episode director’. And to add to one’s woes, he remained an episode director in such runaway successes as Nukkad, Manoranjan, Wagle Ki Duniya, Circus and Mrs. Madhuri Dixit. In fact, Abhi To Main Jawaan Hoon was his first independent serial and this, too, had a limited viewership since it was made for Hinduja’s cable network, ‘In Mumbai’.

On the feature film front, he made his debut with a comedy, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro which was followed, after a fair gap, with Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Strange to reflect that Hum To Mohabbat Karega and Tips Films’ Kya Kehna will be only his third and fourth releases — a sad state of affairs for an ingenious and prodigally talented filmmaker. The bright side is that Shah has finally been ‘recognised’ and a steady stream of films crafted and designed by him are on the anvil.

Born in Aden on October 10, 1947, Kundan Shah shifted to Bombay when he was in sixth standard. After graduating in commerce from Sydenham College, he worked for four years in a publishing concern (Popular Prakashan) before joining the FTII at the age of 25. One could, hence, console oneself by saying that good things have happened to him relatively late in life!

Excerpts from our conversation:

The question that first comes to mind is a rather obvious one — why did it take you so long to make your first film?

– The answer is just as obvious! Opportunities have to come your way. It is not all that easy to get a break. Bonga, as a showreel, did not help me at all because you can’t possibly tell a story in a span of 20 minutes. Neither can one make such a film with dialogues. I did a lot of research and soul-searching on this and the only comforting factor which emerged was that the best short films made in the history of cinema are without dialogues, such as Roman Polanski’s Three Men And A Wardrobe and Roberto Enrico’s An Incident At The Owl Creek. Now this is something that is not taught at the FTII. It should, in my opinion.

Anyway, after returning to Bombay, I began as an assistant. I was Saeed Mirza’s only assistant director in Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai?. That was a great experience since it gave me the opportunity to write scenes and dialogues at the spur of the moment. Saeed improvised a fair bit in this film. I also did mundane jobs like writing the continuity and sounding the clapper-board! Thereafter, I assisted Vinod Chopra in production in his maiden film, Sazaye Maut. I still treasure my stint as Robin’s (Rabindra Dharmaraj’s) chief assistant director in Chakra. Coincidentally, that was Robin’s first and — as it regrettably turned out to be — last film. I was particularly drawn towards this film on account of its poignant story penned by Jaywant Dalvi. It may interest you to know that this was Rajkumar Santoshi’s first film as an assistant director.

Another reason could be my attitude. I had strong convictions about filmmaking per se. The basic idea of all films is to give you an emotional experience. I still believe in this premise. I was quite sceptical about the way films were being made. The formula was king and I could not quite adjust myself to what is fashionably termed as ‘mainstream cinema’. The ‘art’ films were made only by the FFC (later NFDC) then. So, I started writing scripts to feed my creative hunger — nothing fancy, just scripts based on simple ideas. My first sense of achievement came when I won the third prize jointly with Vijay Tendulkar in a script competition held by the FFC!

Was this the script that resulted in JAANE BHI DO YAARO?

– No, no, not at all. Although I was elated that I had won an award for my script, I somehow did not feel that it would be the right one for my first film. I explained this to Anil Dharker, the then incharge of films at the FFC, who asked me to submit another script — something I felt, would be more to my liking as my launching pad. I went back to them with the script of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro much later.

Meanwhile, you became part of a ‘new wave’ in TV!

– That is an exaggeration since there was only one channel — Doordarshan — then. But I have an affinity towards comedy, for coming up with gags, and they clicked and, in the process, made stars of strugglers like Shafi Inamdar, Swaroop Sampat, Satish Shah etc. Since I only directed a few episodes of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Nukkad, amongst others, it really didn’t boost my career very much.

JAANE BHI DO YAARO was labelled as a ‘black comedy’! How do you react to this?

– In that case, you can call Woody Allen’s comedies pathological! The key character in any comedy is the underdog; look at the films of Chaplin and Buster Keaton. When an underdog fights for his rights, a comedy is born and there is an emotion attached to it, a life. For instance, when one sees the ‘tramp’ Chaplin madly in love with a beautiful, rich girl in The Gold Rush, it evokes a sense of poetry and pathos.

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro had barely 39 scenes, out of which 19 were before the interval. In fact, all my films have long scenes. The opening scene of my forthcoming Hum To Mohabbat Karega, in which the hero meets the heroine, is 11 minutes long! The climax of Kya Kehna is 12 minutes in length. Now, this may defy traditional film grammar, but when you make a comedy, you build a gag upon a gag and then you milk these gags!

Several eyebrows were raised when you cast Bhakti Barve in JAANE BHI DO YAARO.

– Well, the casting of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro has an interesting aside. Naseer was an obvious choice since I had built a good rapport with him during Albert Pinto…. and Sazaye Maut. I actually wanted to cast Aparna Sen in the role played later by Bhakti, but Aparna fell asleep while hearing the script! Not that I blame her; the script was slow in pace, full of minute details.

KABHI HAAN KABHI NAA starred Shah Rukh and Suchitra. What made you pick them?

– I had been very impressed with Shah Rukh in the TV serial Fauji, and then later, I did a couple of episodes of Circus with him. He was not a superstar then and I enjoyed working with him. My films always have strong protagonists and Shah Rukh is a very versatile actor. As for Suchitra, I was looking for a fresh face that radiated warmth and innocence, and I think, she lived the role.

To digress a little, although you have made few films only, one person who has been a constant feature in all your films is writer Ranjit Kapoor. Can you shed some light on this?

– I share an intuitive rapport with Ranjit Kapoor and I also have tremendous respect for his phenomenal talent. He is an extremely intelligent and a multi-faceted person. Not only is he well-read but he has an exhaustive knowledge of music too. Further, I feel, he is one of the foremost talents in Hindi theatre. Indeed, he is something of a cult figure on stage. He has a rare knack of handling actors, of drawing the best out of them — and although he is rarely present on the sets, he brings in all these nuances when we are scripting. I must confess that our tuning is so perfect that when we watch the final print, it is difficult to make out who has contributed how much!

Although he has written only the dialogues of Kya Kehna, he will be writing all the films I make from now on. Also, I have immense regard for Majrooh Sultanpuri. Ranjit and Majrooh will be associated with me in all my future ventures.

Coming to LOVERIA — is it status quo or status woe?!

– Frankly, I just don’t know. You know, I had written the script of Loveria way back in 1979. The film is complete; it needs just about a fortnight’s post-production work. I will be the happiest man when this film is released. You will see Saif and Karisma in a different light. A lot of love, a lot of pain, a lot of effort has gone into making Loveria.

Perhaps, for the first time in your career, you have so much work on hand. HUM TO MOHABBAT KAREGA and KYA KEHNA are on the verge of release. It must be a heady feeling!

– All films are shadows of oneself. I have a strong protagonist in every film — be it Preity Zinta in Kya Kehna or Bobby Deol in Hum To Mohabbat Karega. Bobby Deol enacts the role of a waiter in an Udipi restaurant in Hum To Mohabbat Karega and I have a gut feeling, this will be one of his best performances. I had written this object in 1994 and I am very glad that it will not languish in my files of mortgaged dreams but pulsate on the big screen.

One gets the feeling from the ads that KYA KEHNA is a departure of sorts for you as a filmmaker.

– Kya Kehna is definitely a departure, but in many ways, it is similar to the kind of films I have been making. You see, when you give your soul to a film, the soul remains the same! But a lot of things in the film are very bold, and I am very grateful to my producers, Tips Films, for giving me a free hand. The film deals with a very serious issue. There is this girl, Preity Zinta, who believes in truth. Now, truth is a pretty relative term and she makes the audience question what is right and wrong about her viewpoints. The inherent strength of this character as well as the family background are the high points of this film.

Since the film revolves around a character and not dramatic events, the climax, quite understandably, is the resolution of this character. This is a dramatic sequence around 12 minutes long, in which Preity is attacked. I am looking forward to the manner in which viewers react to this climax.

What are your impressions on the present state of affairs in the film industry — given the high mortality rate of films at the box-office?

– I think, we are concentrating too much on the music and too little on the content of films. One of the reasons for the films flopping is this excessive emphasis on music. Promos of all the films look alike since they are mostly made by music companies. I strongly believe that a concentrated effort must be made to make a good film. The music would then automatically be a hit!

It  is believed that most of your future projects will be for Tips Films. Comment.

– Well, Tips Films has made a very generous offer and since they are excellent producers, I have agreed. I had only one misgiving — that since Tips is basically a music company, they will be making musicals, which is really not my cup of tea. But they were very understanding and have given me a free hand to make films on subjects I believe in. The musicals can be made by others. After all, I am not the only director who will be making films for Tips!