AAR YA PAAR
Ketan Mehta Films Pvt. Ltd.’s Aar Ya Paar (A) is a crime thriller. A playboy meets an arrogant millionairess, charms her and ultimately marries her. Not the kind to settle for one woman, the playboy has an affair with his wife’s secretary, too. The two plot to murder the millionairess so that they can usurp her wealth and property. But tragedy strikes them as their game is exposed by a smart police inspector.
The film’s main plus point is its racy pace and equally racy music. On the minus side is the simplistic screenplay which shows the police officer solving the murder mystery as if it were as easy as saying ‘A’ to ‘Z’. From where he gets his clues so that he should suspect the playboy is not revealed to the audience. As a result, the interest of the viewers is reduced in the second half. Also, the mystery-solving is rather lengthy.
Jackie Shroff looks a handsome playboy and does remarkably well. The three heroines are a letdown, both glamour-wise and performance-wise. Deepa Sahi is the best of the three and exudes oomph. Ritu Shivpuri has a brief role; she dances ably and exposes uninhibitedly. Kamal Sidhu does not impress one bit. Paresh Rawal is natural as the police inspector. Satish Shah, Harish Patel, Ajit Vachani, Mamik and the other artistes lend adequate support.
Ketan Mehta has made the film rather slickly and has maintained a fast pace of narration. He has exposed his three heroines to titillate the masses and he succeeds fairly well. However, his screenplay writing leaves a lot to be desired. Besides, there’s no chill in the murder drama. Viju Shah deserves distinction marks for a peppy music score. The title song, ‘Pyar kar deedar kar’ and ‘Dil diya pyar kiya’ are wonderful compositions. The build-up to the ‘Pyar kar’ song is lovely and its picturisation is just too sensuous. Background music is effective. Dialogues are very good and witty at places. Camerawork is nice, and the foreign locations are pretty. Action is appropriate.
On the whole, although Aar Ya Paar has some merits, its dull to average start in most of the circuits may tell on its box-office prospects, especially in view of the dull Ramzan period.
Released on 31-1-’97 at Alankar, New Excelsior and 17 other cinemas of Bombay by Venus-Pen thru Shringar Films. Publicity: good. Opening: below the mark. …….Also released all over. Opening in Delhi-U.P. was better than in the rest of India.
EXCISE DUTY ON FILM ROLLS TO GO DOWN?
The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Appellate Tribunal that the cutting, slicing and packing processes of jumbo rolls of films are not considered as manufacturing activities under column ‘F’ of the Central Excise Act. The order was passed by the Supreme Court recently in the case of Chokshi Bros. versus Collector of Central Excise. The excise department had gone in appeal against the Tribunal’s order. The appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Following this decision, excise duty on film rolls is expected to be reduced.
FFI DELEGATION MEETS UNION
FINANCE MINISTER
A delegation of the Film Federation of India comprising members from all the regions of the film industry called on P. Chidambaram, union minister for finance, to seek reliefs on certain items including deduction in customs duty on raw stock, abolition of countervailing duty and benefits under section 80HHC of the Income Tax Act to film exporters. The delegation also called on R. Gopalnathan, secretary, Customs and Central Excise, on the advice of the finance minister.
The delegation was led by president K.G. Dossani and comprised M. Balasubramanian, L. Suresh (both from South), P. Mitra (from Calcutta), G.S. Mayawala (from Delhi), Rajinder Singh Hora and Malti Tambay-Vaidya (both from Bombay) and Supran Sen, secretary, FFI.
SC REJECTS PLEA TO QUASH CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IN COPYRIGHT CASE
A division bench of the Supreme Court on 27th January heard a special leave petition (SLP) filed by Asia Today Ltd. (ATL), seeking to quash criminal proceedings in a copyright infringement case filed by IMPACT Ltd. (Indian Media Protection Against Copyright Theft) on behalf of Cable Video India Ltd. (CVIL). The matter was heard by the bench consisting of Justice M.K. Mukherjee and Justice Kripal. While the court order stayed only the arrest part of the prayer in the petition, it rejected the petitioners’ plea and allowed the police to carry on investigations and seizure as per law.
It would be recalled that a division bench of the Bombay high court comprising Justice A.V. Sawant and Justice Parker had earlier rejected the writ petition filed by Vijay Jindal, Zee Network managing director, and Siti Cable general manager Leena Sharma on January 8, 1997, seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against them, following which the petitioners filed their petition in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has given Maharashtra state police and other respondents including IMPACT four weeks to file their replies.
SHRIDHAR PRASAD DEAD
Writer-producer Shridhar Prasad expired on 23rd January in Delhi due to illness. He had produced Jivi Rabaran (Gujarati) and Bijli (Marathi). Among the films written by him were Hatyara, Be-Aabroo and Bud-Naseeb.
Shridhar Prasad was also a journalist and a fearless one at that. He used to write for Film Information for several years. He used to look after the dates and affairs of Vidya Sinha in her heydays.
PRODUCTION NEWS
Pahlaj Launches ‘Indian’
Producer Pahlaj Nihalani launched Chirag Deep International’s Indian on Jan. 31 at Film City. It is being directed by Padam Kumar and stars Sunny Deol and Aishwarya Rai in the lead. Co-producer: Bharat Shah. Music: Anand Milind.
‘Soldier’ In Rajasthan
A 15-day shooting spell of Tips Films Pvt. Ltd.’s Soldier is currently in progress in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and other places in Rajasthan. The film, being directed by Abbas Mustan, stars Bobby Deol, Preity Zinta, Ashish Vidyarthi, Sharat Saxena, Jeetu Verma, Salim Ghouse, Farida Jalal, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Gulshan Grover and Suresh Oberoi. Story by Shyam Goel, screenplay by Shyam Goel and Sachin Bhaumick, dialogues by Adesh K. Arjun, music by Nadeem Shravan, lyrics by Javed Akhtar, action by Akbar Bakshi, editing by Hussain Burmawala, art by Sharmishtha Roy, dances by Saroj Khan, and cinematography by Thomas Xavier are the other major credits.
TV & VIDEO INFORMATION
MANISH GOSWAMI’S NEW SERIAL ON AIR FROM 7TH
Siddhant Cinevision and producer Manish Goswami will celebrate the 100th episode of their serial, Daraar, with a party at Juhu Hotel on 3rd February. Their next serial, Aur Shama Jalti Rahee, is ready for telecast on Zee TV from 7th February every Friday at 9.30 p.m. It is directed by Lekh Tandon and written by Reoti Saran Sharma. It stars Rajeev Verma, Smita Jayakar, Arundhati, Shefali Chhaya, Divya Seth and Sachin Khedekar. Music is scored by Talat Aziz. A preview of the new serial will also be held at the party.
YOU ASKED IT
Till when is the impact of the month-long cinema closure in Maharashtra, on the flow of releases, going to be felt?
– Till April, at least. Because, the multiple releases every week of February are likely to be rescheduled if one or two of them click in a big way.
Who are the producers who are making films in wholesale?
– ABCL, Time, Tips, Venus, Jackie Shroff Entertainment Ltd., Pahlaj Nihalani, K.C. Bokadia, Plus Channel, Bombino, Mahesh & Mukesh Bhatt, Mukesh Duggal.
Is Madhuri Dixit the heroine of Raftaar?
– No. As yet, nobody has been finalised for the heroine’s role.
Month-Long Cinema Bandh Called Off Unconditionally
Cinemas In Maharashtra Reopen
Govt. Promises Reliefs From 1st April
Cinemas all over Maharashtra reopened on 30th/31st January following an unconditional withdrawal of the bandh by the action committee of the film industry. The reliefs or concessions in the matter of entertainment tax will be discussed in a meeting between the film industry and the state government early next week and they will be effective from 1st April, ’97. Till then, the cinemas will continue to collect and pay 50% entertainment tax as before 1st January, ’97, the day on which almost 1,300 cinemas all over the state downed shutters.
The bandh call had been given following the government’s decision to hike the rate of entertainment tax from 50% to 100%. The rate had been 50% since September ’94.
Following the calling off of the bandh, cinemas in Bombay reopened on 31st January. In the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra (C.P. Berar), cinemas reopened on 30th as the week starts on Thursdays there.
The decision to reopen cinemas was taken on 28th January after the action committee met the revenue minister, Narayan Rane, and revenue secretary, Ajit Warty. The chief minister had, before that, made it expressly clear that his government would grant reliefs only after the bandh was called off, not before that. The action committee and distributors of C.P. Berar had also met Bal Thackeray, deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde, cultural affairs minister Pramod Navalkar, finance minister Eknath Khadse, etc. at different times to arrive at some amicable settlement. In deference to the wishes of the chief minister, the action committee decided to call off the closure from 30th/31st January. The government has assured the action committee members that the grievance of the industry on the entertainment duty structure on cinema tickets would be amicably resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned.
Pressures had been mounting on the action committee to reopen cinemas due to various reasons. For one, it was clear that the government was in no mood to oblige the industry until it called off the bandh. The election code of conduct, effective in Maharashtra till 5th March 1997, also made it impossible for the government to grant any relief, benefit or concession to anybody till it was in operation. Thirdly, most of the exhibitors had either lost or started losing their patience and wanted cinemas to reopen by Idd, at least, in the hope that the box-office would look up after the otherwise dull Ramzan month. It is because of these pressures as well as the fact that cinemas in Marathwada region did not participate in the closure and continued to function all through the 30 days of the cinema bandh as also the fear that more cinemas (especially in the Vidarbha region) would revolt and follow in the footsteps of the three cinemas there which reopened last week in defiance of the bandh call, that the action committee stepped down from its earlier stand that cinemas would not reopen till reliefs were announced. In a way, therefore, it is the government which has had the last laugh as the industry was made to eat humble pie. Of course, the industry can take solace in the fact that cinemas will continue to pay 50% entertainment tax but even that is till March 31 only. Besides, there is no written order for 50% tax and it is hoped that no demand for arrears would be raised later because the actual rate of tax in operation is 100%. Of course, the industry has been orally assured that a demand for 100% tax would not be made till a final decision on the matter is taken. If the government does grant the demand of the industry, the closure will have been worth its while. But for that, the industry will have to wait till the government takes a decision. Till then, one really can’t say whether the industry is in a better position post-closure or not.
Following the cinema closure in Maharashtra, all major releases had been rescheduled. Release plans of all big and star-cast films had been put off as no producers and distributors wanted to release their films without Bombay cinemas reopening. With cinemas reopening this week, there is expected to be a flood of releases for four or five weeks, at least. Judwaa, Yeshwant, Judaai, Auzaar, Hero No. 1, Lahoo Ke Do Rang and Himalay Putra are some of the major films lined up for release in February or early March.
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
DCRs – Delay Collection Reports
Cinemas in Maharashtra will not prepare the daily collection reports (DCRs) this week till a final order from the state government or a specific communication from their association, based on such an order of the government on the rate of entertainment tax, is received by them. For, only after deducting tax will it be known how much is owed to the distributor from out of the collections. Of course, the leaders and members of the action committee of the film industry are confident that the tax rate till 31st March, at least, would be 50% only.
Where Is The Audience?
Quite contrary to the general belief that the film-going audience in Maharashtra was hungry for films after the month-long cinema closure, collections on 31st January — the day on which cinemas reopened — were poor and even dismal. There could be two probable reasons for this. One, the dull Ramzan period when Muslims do not frequent cinemas. And two, lack of knowledge about the cinema reopening. One hopes, once the Ramzan month gets over and with mouth publicity of the reopening of cinemas, the box-office will present a rosier picture. As it is, one gets the feeling that February will be a lucky month for the industry.
Waiting For A Clear Field
Saawan Kumar, who was keen to release his Muslim romantic drama, Salma Pe Dil Aagaya, on Idd, has postponed the film. With the cinema closure in Maharashtra having been called off, releasing the film on Idd would have meant clashing with such big films as Judwaa and Yeshwant and withstanding the oppositions of new big films every week thereafter. Had the closure not been called off, Saawan Kumar would have definitely gone ahead with his Idd release even if that would have meant not releasing it in Bombay and Maharashtra. For, in that case, he would have got a clear field in the rest of India, at least. Rather than take advantage of the Idd festival, Saawan has decided to play it safe by postponing the release of Salma… till after all the big films have been released. An intelligent decision, this. After all, his Salma… does not boast of a big star cast. In fact, Aadesh Srivastava’s music is the film’s biggest star, with at least four songs being extremely well-tuned numbers. Not only are the songs melodious, they’ve also been picturised ably.
Badhai And ‘Judaai’
Yet another film which has been postponed is Boney Kapoor’s Judaai. It was to have hit the screens on 14th February but will now come two weeks after that, on 28th February. In spite of the film winning rave reviews in trial shows, Boney did not want to bring it alongwith other big films “because mine is a social film. I’d rather wait for the rush to clear.” Boney is hardly bothered about the fallout of his marriage to his film’s heroine, Sridevi, on the box-office fate of the film. The news of their marriage will have no adverse effect on the film, he is convinced. Incidentally, while January was a month of badhai (congratulatory messages) for Boney and Sridevi, February will be the month of Judaai. And March may be the month of temporary judaai in real life as Sridevi will fly to a foreign land to deliver their first baby there.
Costliest Hindi Film
Producer Pahlaj Nihalani launched Indian, his most ambitious venture, on 31st January at Film City in style. Special posters of Indian adorned the walls all over Bombay city a few days before the muhurt. Such publicity is usually done at the time of release of a film. The budget of Indian is rumoured to be approximately 20 crore! Which would make Indian the costliest Hindi film on the sets. This film was earlier planned to be produced by Sunny Deol, but the project changed hands even before it could start.
Eye-Filling And Interesting
Producer Rakesh Nath (Rikkoo) and debutante director Reema Rakesh Nath have picturised most of the songs of their Mohabbat on scenic locales of Canada. Besides having a good music score (Nadeem Shravan), the film boasts of eye-filling locations and slick camerawork (Rajan Kinagi). At least one song — ‘Don’t break my heart’ — will be a hit in the months to come. It is picturised on Madhuri Dixit and Akshaye Khanna. Another song picturised on both the heroes, Sanjay Kapoor and Akshaye, is interesting. Akshaye, it must be mentioned here, is a charming boy who will be accepted with open arms. His gait, poise and smile will endear him to the audience. …Information saw the songs of Mohabbat at a screening a few days back.
New Titles
Have a look at some interesting/funny titles applied for registration with the title registration committee:
Hello Tumse Pyar Kiya, Chor Ke Ghar Chori, Dal Dal, Prem Patra, Humse Mile Tum, Milte Milte, Ek Pati Teen Patniyan, Ladka Naram Ladki Garam, Oh Priya, Hum To Aise Hi Hain, Daya Ki Devi, Raja Pardesi, Pardesi Raja….
Observations
To end the column with some observations:
The response to the trailer of Yeshwant in cinemas of Bombay is simply remarkable. The bold and raw dialogues by Nana Patekar are making the audience go wild with excitement.
Tips is leaving no stone unturned and sparing no money to publicise its first production venture, Auzaar. It has put up a beautiful and costly backlit hoarding of the film at the strategic Juhu beach. It is the same site where the backlit hoarding of Barsaat had been put up, followed by the backlit hoarding of Dil Ke Jharoke Main.
One thought, it would never happen. But that’s exactly what’s happening. Tips’ Auzaar and Vashu Bhagnani’s Hero No. 1 will both be released on 21st February. Vashu’s earlier film, Coolie No. 1, was presented by Tips.