TARAZU
Vee Vee Combines’ Tarazu (A) is yet another Akshay Kumar starrer with an oft-repeated and routine story which makes it look like other Akshay starrers released in recent times. It has the same good versus evil drama. On the good side are a police inspector, his brother, his sister-in-law, his beloved and his Muslim doctor. The evil force is represented by a don and his son. When the police inspector is not able to get justice in the court of law, he takes law into his hands and wipes out the evil forces one by one. So as not to come in the eyes of the police, the inspector is declared to be in a coma in hospital even while he actually exterminates the villains.
The story and screenplay are both quite childish. Several incidents are repetitive in the sense that they’ve been seen in earlier films. An attempt is made to make the drama light in the first half but if a few scenes entertain, several others fail to even get a smile on the lips. Situations have been forcibly created to raise laughter and that’s what is jarring. Further, the light scenes have been stretched too much, thereby robbing them of their humour value. A conscious attempt is also made to bring in communal sentiments but they hardly surface. Emotions are completely absent and even the romance is not very lively. Dialogues are okay.
Akshay Kumar continues to shine in action scenes and not impress in acting. Sonali Bendre’s performance is not too consistent. While she is good in some comedy scenes, she isn’t effective in others. Amrish Puri does not have much scope to leave a mark, and he actually disappoints if only because of that. Mohnish Bahl is quite nice. Kader Khan is alright as the Muslim doctor. Ranjeet, Shashi Sharma, Anil Dhawan, Rana Jung Bahadur, K.K. Raj, Anil Nagrath and Ajay Chadha fill the bill. Tej Sapru, Tiku Talsania, Harish Patel, Guddi Maruti and Dinesh Hingoo lend good support.
Direction is so-so. Director Vimal Kumar fails to inspire his cast to come up with effective performances. Rajesh Roshan’s music is good. ‘Ae deewane dil’ and ‘Haseena gori gori’ are very well-tuned numbers and the picturisation of the latter song is beautiful. Other song picturisations could have been better. ‘Su su su’ and ‘Chal ganne ke khet mein’ are, however, ordinary numbers. Action scenes have been well-composed. Editing needed to be much sharper. Camerawork is eye-pleasing. Background music is poor at places.
On the whole, Tarazu is too routine a fare to catch the fancy of the audience and will, therefore, find it difficult to touch the average mark.
Released on 1-8-’97 at Novelty and 20 other cinemas of Bombay thru Ahuja Films. Publicity: good. Opening: average. …….Also released all over. Opening was below expectations at several places.
LATEST POSITION
Heavy rains in many parts of the country have adversely affected box-office collections. …….Except for ANACONDA (dubbed), which has fared excellently, none of last week’s releases could make any mark at the ticket windows.
Lav Kush proves a total disaster. Its Bengali version, however, is excellent. 1st week Bombay 2,64,400 (25.66%) from 4 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Solapur about 23,500; Delhi 3,20,050 (28.38%) from 4 cinemas; Agra 50,565, Allahabad 25,000, Gorakhpur 48,000, Hardwar 49,000; Calcutta 1,30,970 from 2 cinemas; Indore 75,000 from 2 cinemas; Jodhpur 1,06,000, Bikaner 35,657.
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Anaconda (dubbed) has done extremely well. 1st week Bombay 10,63,168 (75.84%) from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Pune 3,28,115 from 3 cinemas; Meerut 1,61,398; Nagpur 2,39,457 (100%); Hyderabad 3,30,832 (100%), Aurangabad 100%; Vijayawada (English version) 3,53,318 (100%).
Yes Boss drops further in Delhi-U.P., East Punjab, Bengal and C.P.C.I. Rajasthan but is very good in Bombay and South. 2nd week Bombay 26,88,661 (88%) from 8 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Rajkot 1,27,200 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 83,565; Pune 6,40,683 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,08,467 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 1st week Satara 92,882 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 2nd week Hubli 1,12,365, Belgaum 98,356; Delhi 35,85,252 (69.76%) from 11 cinemas; Lucknow 2,55,934, Allahabad 93,000, Gorakhpur 75,000 (1st 1,05,000); Calcutta 7,41,306 from 4 cinemas; Nagpur 2,60,771 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 96,606, total 2,68,732, Amravati 92,623, Akola 64,800 (1st 1,18,108), Raipur 1,22,438, Bhilai 71,906, 1st week Chandrapur 1,26,662, 2nd Yavatmal (18 shows) 37,364; Bhopal 2,25,011 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 3,34,063 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad 11,66,227 from 4 cinemas.
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Gupt 4th week Bombay 21,58,933 (66.83%) from 9 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Vapi 91,794, total 11,02,985, Rajkot 1,48,650, Jamnagar 48,465; Pune 6,84,552 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 96,914, 2nd week Satara 1,09,433 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 4th week Delhi 6,12,550 (61.03%) from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 1,92,455, Agra 1,38,000, Allahahad 88,050, Gorakhpur 51,000 (3rd 82,000), 1st week Hardwar 90,000; 4th week Calcutta 4,51,150 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur 1,03,213, 3rd Amravati 1,16,381, total 4,90,918, 4th week Akola 56,450 (3rd 73,986), Raipur 86,448, total 5,93,815, Bhilai 38,484, 1st week Durg (9 days) 83,134, 3rd week Jalgaon 73,000, 4th Gondia 26,200, total 1,96,024, Chandrapur 58,183, Yavatmal (18 shows) 9,683; Indore 1,34,406, Bhopal 85,984; Jaipur 4,38,216; Hyderabad 5,75,802 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon); Vijayawada 1,85,146, 2 weeks’ total at Visakhapatnam 3,91,832, Guntur 2,86,247.
Border 7th week Bombay (TF) 22,38,686 (76.41%) from 8 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Baroda 65,979, Rajkot 91,656, total 10,68,429, Jamnagar (noon) 16,575; Pune (TF) 6,89,933 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee, TF) 31,761, 3rd week Barsi (TF) 32,340, total 1,22,992, 6th Satara (TF) 64,829 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 7th Belgaum 41,956; Delhi 34,19,672 from 13 cinemas; 6th week Lucknow 2,87,080, 7th week Agra 78,760, Allahabad 74,000, Gorakhpur 79,000 (6th 87,000); Calcutta 2,52,039 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur (TF) 1,81,421 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 85,706, total 13,70,567, Amravati (TF) 1,20,441, Akola (TF) 1,09,980 (6th 80,539), total 9,13,817, Raipur 53,424, Bhilai 37,485, Chandrapur (TF) 65,650, total 9,62,478, Yavatmal (TF, 17 shows) 17,661; Indore 1,09,840, Bhopal 1,05,098; Jaipur 2,29,474, Bikaner 29,462; Hyderabad 3,71,744 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon).
RAJIV RAI ESCAPES BID ON LIFE
Director Rajiv Rai escaped a bid on his life at his office at Tardeo, Bombay, on the evening of 31st July when five assailants entered his office, planning to kill him. Rajiv, who had been receiving threatening telephone calls for ‘protection money’, had a personal bodyguard (a police constable) in his office. The constable injured one of the five assailants who has been arrested. Two more persons in connection with the murder bid were arrested later.
FWA FELICITATES GULZAR, JAVED AKHTAR
The Film Writers’ Association felicitated two of its members — Gulzar and Javed Akhtar — on 27th July at Hotel Sands for being honoured with the National Awards this year for Maachis and Saaz respectively.
Ramanand Sagar, the founder-member of the Association, was the chief guest. B.R. Chopra, Prakash Mehra and Sultan Ahmed were guests of honour.
Ramanand Sagar presented trophies and shawls to Gulzar and Javed Akhtar. B.R. Chopra presented a trophy to Hassan Kamal for the U.P. government’s Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad award. Ali Sardar Jaffery was the recipient of the Maharashtra government’s Urdu Academy award trophy which was accepted on his behalf by FWA president Ali Raza from Sultan Ahmed. Prakash Mehra gave the Ramakrishna Jaydayal Harmony award trophy to Nida Fazli, which was accepted on the latter’s behalf by FWA general secretary Tej Nath Zar.
Qamar Jalalabadi, Hassan Kamal, Ved Rahi and Jainendra Jain paid glowing tributes to Gulzar and Javed Akhtar. Hassan Kamal said that of all the awards received by a writer, the award from co-writers was the best. Jainendra Jain praised the two writers and said that they had done the other writers a favour by not compromising on their writings, as now, all the other writers could quote the examples of Gulzar and Javed Akhtar whenever a producer asked them to write something vulgar. Ved Rahi felt that the initial criticism of Maachis as being one-sided, was incorrect. Qamar Jalalabadi also paid glowing tributes to the two writers and was thanked by Javed Akhtar whom he called “naujawan”. According to Javed, he had not been called “naujawan” for many years now.
The function ended with a vote of thanks by Ali Raza and Tej Nath Zar. Tabassaum compered the function.
SANJAY DUTT’S PLEA REJECTED
The designated TADA court on 1st August rejected a petition filed by Sanjay Dutt, seeking permission to visit Salt Lake in the USA for the shooting of a film.
NEW CINEMA OPENS IN HUBLI
Sri Laxmi Narayan Chitra Mandir, a new cinema in Hubli, opened on 31st July. Shruthi Haakida Hejje (Kannada) is the opening attraction. The cinema is equipped with Monee Ultra Stereophonic sound.
CAA TO HONOUR ARTISTES AT AGM ON 15TH
The 39th annual general meeting of The Cine Artistes’ Association will be held on 15th August at 10.30 a.m. at Holiday Inn.
A felicitation function will also be held on the occasion when ex-presidents of the CAA, some veteran artistes and award winners will be honoured.
The ex-presidents to be honoured are late Jagdish Sethi, late Gajanan Jagirdar and late Iftekhar Ahmed. The veterans who will be honoured for their contributions are: Achla Sachdev, Agha Jaan (posthumously), Bibi Almas, Janki Das, Karan Dewan (posthumously), Madhubala (posthumously), Meena Kumari (posthumously), Mumtaz Ali (posthumously), Nalini Jaywant, Pradeep Kumar, Raj Kumari, Shobhna Samarth, Sulochana, Trilok Kapoor (posthumously), Usha Kiran and Veena.
Mithun Chakraborty will be honoured for bagging a National Award for the best supporting actor for Swami Vivekanand. Tabu and Rajeshwari will be honoured for receiving the National Awards for the best actress (Maachis) and the best supporting actress (Sardari Begum) respectively. Mohan Joshi, who bagged the Maharashtra government’s award for the best actor for the Marathi film, Rao Saheb, will also be honoured.
Mithun will be specially felicitated for strengthening the film trade union movement. Nitish Bharadwaj will also be felicitated for winning the Lok Sabha elections last year. The CAA’s legal advisor, P.K. Pandit, will be specially felicitated in recognition of his legal assistance rendered over the years.
Kamini Kaushal will be the chief guest.
NATIONAL AWARD FOR FILM ON NATIONAL INTEGRATION
Producer P.V. Gangadharan has bagged the National Award for the best film on national integration for his Malayalam film, Kanakkinave.
‘JEENE BHI DO YAARO’ JUBILEE
Media Entertainment Company’s sitcom, Jeene Bhi Do Yaaro, which is aired on Friday at 8 p.m. on STAR Plus, celebrates its silver jubilee this week. It features Madhavan, Sandhya, Rushali R., Shubha Khote, Raju Kher, Rajesh Khera, Kamia Malhotra and Aparna.Trophies were presented to the technical team and crew, at a private gathering this weekend.
It is conceived and directed by Akashdeep, and edited by Sanjay Walia.
CHANDRAKANT SANGANI NO MORE
Veteran writer-producer-director Chandrakant Sangani died on 28th July in Bombay at Nanavati Hospital following heart failure. He was 68 and is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.
Chandrakant Sangani had produced and directed 14 Gujarati films including Mare Javoon Bele Paar, Jigar Ane Amee, Tana Riri etc. He had also produced and directed one Hindi film, Gunahon Ki Shatranj.
He had played the hero in Jamai Raja (Gujarati) opposite Bindu in 1963. He was also the villain in Mehandi Rang Lagyo (Gujarati) which starred Rajendra Kumar. He also did bit roles in Hindi films.
Chandrakant Sangani had won eleven awards of the Gujarat state government for his films, direction and writing. He used to direct full-length dramas from 1948 to 1970 and also acted in about 80 stage-plays, besides directing about 50. Sangani had written a Gujarati novel, ‘Kholana Khudnar’.
NARAYAN RAJGOR SUCCUMBS TO INJURY
Veteran Gujarati film and stage actor Narayan Rajgor died at a hospital in Baroda on 28th July after receiving bullet injuries in a dummy firing during the shooting of Govindbhai Patel’s Desh Re Joya Dada Pardesh Joya at Lucky Studios, Halol. Uthamna was held in Bombay on 31st.
Rajgor was injured when Feroz Irani fired a dummy bullet at him in the studio on 25th July. The scene being picturised required Feroz to aim a revolver at Narayan Rajgor’s head but fire it in the air. Due to a miscalculation, Feroz pressed the trigger of the pistol even while it was pointing towards Rajgor’s head. The dummy bullet made a two-inch deep wound on the 68-year-old actor’s forehead and he had to be rushed to Mayo Hospital in Baroda. He slipped into a coma instantly and never recovered thereafter. He breathed his last on 28th in the hospital, and his body was flown to his residence in Bombay after a post-mortem.
Feroz Irani, producer-director Govindbhai Patel and the other unit members have been given a clean chit by the police following an inquiry. The deceased’s family has given an affidavit stating that they had no doubt that the cause of the death was an accident.
Narayan Rajgor had acted in over 150 films, besides a number of stage-plays. Some of his films are Dada O Dikri, Son Kansari, Patli Parmar, Saajan Ne Sathware, Laju Lakhan, Prem Na Bandhan, Raj Rajvan etc. He had played a bit role in the recently released Hindi film, Do Aankhen Barah Hath. He had received a number of Gujarat government’s state awards.
He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
ANNOUNCEMENT & LAUNCHING
Mahesh Bhatt To Direct Gulshan Kumar’s Next
Producer Gulshan Kumar has signed Mahesh Bhatt to direct Super Cassettes Industries Ltd.’s next. Kishan Kumar plays the male lead. Other cast and credits are being finalised.
PRODUCTION NEWS
‘Stree 420’ Is Now ‘Chachi 420’
The title of Raajkamal Films International’s Stree 420 has been changed to Chachi 420. It is almost complete and is being readied for an early release. Presented by Kamal Haasan and Jhamu Sughand and directed by Kamal Haasan for producer Saab John, the film stars Kamal Haasan, Tabu, Amrish Puri, Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Ayesha Julka, Nassar and Raj Zutshi. Lyrics and dialogues: Gulzar. Music: Vishal Bhardwaj.
YOU ASKED IT
How sensible is it to release three big films – Pardes, …Aur Pyar Ho Gaya and Daud – one after the other?
– Very senseless!
Is it true that Indra Kumar is having second thoughts about picturising a song of Ishq on Amitabh Bachchan?
– Not true at all. The song will be picturised on Amitabh, as planned.
How many films is Tips producing currently?
– Six films of Tips are at different stages of production. They are ALBELA, FRIENDS, JAB PYAR KISI SE HOTA HAI, KUNWARA, KACHCHE DHAAGE and SOLDIER.
DO YOU KNOW?
* A vinyl hoarding of PARDES is the first of its kind to be put up in Rajkot near Mahila College. The 40 ft. x 20 ft. hoarding, showing Shah Rukh Khan and Mahima Chaudhary, is attracting a lot of public attention.
* Although producers Pranlal Mehta and Vijay Mehta have prepared five promotional trailers for their YUGPURUSH, only three will be aired on satellite channels. The video copies of the five trailers will be sent to distributors of the film to select the best three. The three selected ones will then be telecast on satellite channels.
HERE & THERE
Stars In Trouble For Stopping Train
After bandit queen-turned-MP Phoolan Devi, it is now the stars who have been charged of stopping a train for more than 25 minutes. A railway magistrate of Jaipur issued summons to Karisma Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Satish Shah and director Tinnu Verma to appear before him on August 1 for allegedly stopping a passenger train at Narena station for a film shooting in March this year. The magistrate took congnisance of a complaint filed by the assistant station master of Narena station that the stars and the director unauthorisedly pulled the chain of Link Express on March 11 to shoot a scene for their film, Bajrang. The complaint alleged that the train was stopped for more than 25 minutes, disrupting traffic on the route and causing inconvenience to the passengers.
Jaya Prada Ahead Of Sridevi In Income-Tax Arrears
South-based film stars were named in the Rajya Sabha on 29th July for their income-tax dues. Jaya Prada tops a list of 15 stars who owe income-tax in excess of Rs. 10 lakh each, with tax arrears of Rs. 1.13 crore. Next on the list is R. Gundamani with arrears of Rs. 78.97 lakh, and Sridevi owing Rs. 77.44 lakh. Others in the list are Senthil (Rs. 41.36 lakh), Murlikanthan (Rs. 24.31 lakh), Vijayashanti (Rs. 22.22 lakh), Arjun (Rs. 19.63 lakh), Soundarya (Rs. 17.27 lakh), R. Raja Babu (Rs. 15.45 lakh), and Srividya and Khushboo (Rs. 12.13 lakh each). Minister of state for finance Satpal Maharaj gave this information in reply to a question by R.M. Kumar.
Notices Issued To Vacate Five Delhi Cinemas
The Delhi authorities have become more vigilant with regard to safety in cinema halls after the Uphaar cinema tragedy. This week, notices have been issued by the Delhi Municipal Corporation to five cinemas to vacate their premises within five days, for violation of building bye-laws. The five cinemas are: Archana (which has been given ten days’ time because it also houses New Delhi Television Ltd. which produces STAR News), Paras, Virat, Sapna and Sangam.
Laughter, The Best Medicine
Here are some jokes to keep you smiling for the entire week:
Akshay Kumar’s new title: Rich man’s Mithun Chakraborty. At the rate at which his films are bombing, he has a fair chance of becoming the Mithun of 1997.
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Manjit Singh, the only distributor who paid a price for the distribution rights of Lav Kush, can’t believe that the film has bombed. Since the Bengali version of Lav Kush is faring excellently, Manjit Singh is contemplating paying another 30 lakh for the distribution rights of the Bengali version for C.I.!
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Q: What if Bobby Deol plays a double role in a film?
A: It will be Bobby’s first Deol role!
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Q: What does the East Punjab distributor scream when he sees Shah Rukh Khan?
A: “Yes loss!”
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Q: Why is Sanjay Kapoor praying for the success of Mere Sapno Ki Rani?
A: So that he can be called the most princely actor. He first clicked in Raja and if he clicks with this Rani, it will be something which even brother Anil Kapoor couldn’t achieve. Remember Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and Rajkumar?
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Q: After retirement from films, which is the best place for Sreedevi to go to?
A: Parliament, of course! If Phoolan Devi and Rabri Devi could make it, why not our Sreedevi? And with Jaya Prada already there, the film industry can expect a good tohfa from Delhi.
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Q: What is the similarity between ex-Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and Amitabh Bachchan?
A: Plenty. When Laloo found himself losing his position, he promptly brought wife Rabri Devi in the ring. Likewise, after Mrityudaata, when Amitabh found himself losing his position, he, too, promptly brought wife Jaya Bachchan in the acting arena once again.
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Q: Why is Raveena Tandon the RAT of the industry?
A: Because like a true rat, she was the first to desert the sinking ship called Akshay Kumar!
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Q: Why do some of our action heroes neglect acting and concentrate completely on action?
A: Because, before every shot, when the director shouts, “Action”, these heroes think, he is asking them to perform action stunts!
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Q: What does the feather below the logo of Pardes indicate?
A: It is the feather which fell off from Subhash Ghai’s cap when his Trimurti was released.
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What did Yash Chopra say to son Adi (Aditya Chopra) when another Akshay Kumar starrer — Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi — was announced for Diwali release alongwith his own Dil To Pagal Hai?
– Mr. & Mrs. Khil to paagal hai, Adi.
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3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Panic In Foreign Land
All is not well with the film being shot from start to finish on a foreign land. The cameraman has already been changed, it is heard. And there are loud whispers that the producer and its two heroes aren’t happy with the work of the director too. Perhaps, that’s the reason the panic button was pressed and a few directors approached to take up or, at least, supervise the project. One such director, who was approached, is the young genius who gave the biggest blockbuster of 1996. Anyway, a close friend of the hero is the director who has finally flown to the foreign city to help his friend in need.
In A Writer’s Words
The best compliment anybody must have paid Akshaye Khanna is the one paid to him by Javed Akhtar. Lyricist Javed saw some reels of Dinesh Gandhi’s Lawaris and was floored by the performance of the handsome son of Vinod Khanna. The guy plays a roadside Romeo in the film and, according to Javed, “his mannerisms, his gait, his dialogue delivery and his acting are all superb”. So when the film’s debut-making director, Shrikant Sharma, asked Javed what he felt about Akshaye and whether the young boy was a star, Javed replied, “Star? Arre bhai, he is an entire galaxy of stars!” Javed feels, Akshaye just needs one major hit before reaching right on the top.
Price Hike
If there’s no denying the fact that Akshaye Khanna is the new darling of the masses, it is also a fact that the guy is letting success affect him too much. Why else would he be changing his price not once but twice and thrice in the case of one film. He may have signed this particular film before he became a rage, but that does not mean that he can hold the producer to ransom and increase his price indiscriminately. The producer in question, rather than obliging Akshaye, thought it fit to take his signing amount back from the actor and bid him goodbye. Will somebody tell Akshaye that it’s good to be important, but it is also important to be good?
Laloo And Lady Luck
C.P. Berar distributor Laloo Kabra, who has released Border in C.P. Berar, is convinced that film distribution is all a game of luck. He acquired Border at the eleventh hour when its earlier distributor, Raju Kothari, and producer-director J.P. Dutta decided to part ways. As against Border, there are three films (released recently) which Laloo was very keen to buy at some point of time or the other, but couldn’t or didn’t buy them finally. One was Ghoonghat, of which the original distributor, Mohan Kasat, refused to relinquish the rights. The second was Lav Kush but the astronomical price which producer Dilip Kankaria was asking for put off Laloo rather badly. And the third was Mrityudand which again Laloo couldn’t acquire for some reason. The box-office fates of all the three films send jitters down Laloo’s spine today and he is happy that he was lucky not to have bought any of the three films. Laloo must thank Lady Luck for favouring him so much.
The Price Of Over-Confidence
While on Lav Kush and the high price its producer, Dilip Kankaria, was quoting for its distribution rights before release, it must be mentioned here that the unrealistic price he was demanding proved to be a terrible curse for Kankaria. For, except for one territory, the film did not find buyers in the whole of India and had, therefore, to be released by Dilip Kankaria himself. The disastrous fate of the film must’ve made Kankaria regret his decision to release the film in almost the whole of India himself. Incidentally, the single territory for which the film was sold is C.I., and the unfortunate buyer is Manjit Singh.