KHAUFF

Chirag Arts’ Khauff (A) is the story of a contract killer falling in love with his target. A girl, who is an eye-witness in a murder case, is to depose before the court, but is prevented from doing so by a contract killer whose services have been hired by the murderer’s father. The contract killer also falls in love with the girl. The hardships and trauma the girl has to go through because of the contract killer coming in her way, finally prompts her to play a game. She uses the same contract killer to eliminate those who had hired him to finish her off. In the end, she kills him too and thereby avenges the murder of her innocent and dear friend, the rape of her little sister, the killing of a conscientious police inspector and the killing of the contract killer’s friend to terrify her.

The film is designed to be a thriller but it is so predictable that it hardly thrills. That the police officer is going to be murdered and the girl will be the sole eye-witness to this murder becomes crystal clear even before it actually happens. Again, the killing of her friend is also anyone’s guess. Another drawback is the weak characterisation of the girl. At the drop of a hat, she overlooks the fact that she is to give witness in the court for the murder of her innocent and dear friend, and for no solid reason, she even refuses to give the witness! After that, when she recounts her friend’s murder in the climax, it looks silly. The contract killer’s love for the girl, whom he is terrorising, also doesn’t go down too well. Climax involving the contract killer and those who had hired him is too listless and short to be true; the other part of the climax involving the contract killer and the girl is as predictable as the rest of the film.

What, however, is good about the film is that it moves at a very fast pace.

Sanjay Dutt does a fair job as the contract killer. But the continuity jerks become obvious, thanks to his changing hair-length. He is ill at ease in difficult dance movements and goes through them as if they were strenuous PT exercises! Manisha Koirala impresses in some dramatic scenes but is too ordinary otherwise. She has not taken care of her looks, make-up and costumes. Sharad Kapoor acts quite well. Simran is natural. Jaspal Bhatti has been terribly wasted in a double role. Parmeet Sethi is okay. Suresh Oberoi gets very limited scope and is good. Farida Jalal, Mukesh Khanna, Tinnu Anand, Beena and Navin Nischol provide able support. Ishrat Ali is getting stereotyped. Satyen Kappu, Achyut Potdar, Homi Wadia, Dinesh Anand, Gavin, Hussain, Brij Gopal and Rajesh Joshi fill the bill. Raveena Tandon and Daler Mehndi lend face value and glamour in a song-dance.

Sanjay Gupta’s direction is noteworthy only for the stylishness he adopts; otherwise, like the script, the direction also leaves a lot to be desired. Music is a mixed bag. Three songs — ‘Ladti hai to ladne de’, ‘O gori tu chali kahan’ and ‘Saiyan more saiyan’ — are well-tuned and also lavishly picturised. Other song picturisations are also rich and one of them is quite sensuous too, but at least two songs are musically dull. Action scenes (Ravi Dewan) are quite well-composed but there is less action considering that it is a Sanjay Dutt starrer. Kabir Lal’s camerawork is reasonably good. Background score is effective. Production values are of a fairly good standard.

On the whole, Khauff has initial value and that’s about all. The two-day holiday weekend (4th and 5th March) will help. Its small length (running time is a little over 2 hours) is a minus point.

Released on 3-3-2000 at Maratha Mandir and 27 other cinemas of Bombay thru Raj Enterprises. Publicity: very good. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over.

LATEST POSITION

It is the KAHO NAA…PYAAR HAI fever across the country!

Hey! Ram drops further. 2nd week Bombay 9,33,502 from 2 cinemas (5 cinemas unrecd., 5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,31,877 from 3 cinemas; Pune 6,94,763 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 95,840; Hubli 1,42,437; Delhi 16,50,280 from 5 cinemas; Lucknow 1,65,018, Varanasi 54,744, Allahabad 72,822, Dehradun 67,000 (1st 1,21,000); Calcutta 6,92,510 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 1,84,751, Amravati (6 days) 54,935, 1st week Yavatmal (4 days) 68,563; 2nd week Indore (6 days) 62,999; Jaipur 4,08,700; Hyderabad (gross) 8,75,614 from 3 cinemas.

Daku Ramkali 2nd week Bombay 4,53,227 on 4 prints (2 on F.H.); 1st week Pune 1,79,925 from 3 cinemas; 2nd Delhi 1,52,462 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.); 1st week Allahabad 44,307, 2nd week Varanasi 65,138; Calcutta 5,68,689 from 8 cinemas (5 on F.H.); 1 week Raipur 52,496, 2nd week Bilaspur 25,215, total 75,500; 1st week Hyderabad (gross) 2,74,916 from 4 cinemas (3 in noon , 2 on F.H.).

Devi (dubbed) 2nd week Bombay 4,14,898 from 3 cinemas; 1st week Ahmedabad 1,09,909 from 3 cinemas; 2nd week Pune 63,584, Solapur (matinee) 23,062; Calcutta 4,33,802 from 7 cinemas; Jabalpur (6 days) 29,540, Amravati 52,058, Raipur (6 days) 26,371; 1st week Jaipur 1,32,620.

Badal 3rd week Bombay 14,61,407 (52.95%) from 6 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,11,498 from 6 cinemas, 1st week Dahod 91,864; 3rd Pune 1,52,825, Solapur 1,30,778 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 1st week Bijapur 1,57,036; 3rd week Delhi 14,06,973 from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 3,32,003, Allahabad 1,69,432, Bareilly 1,51,416, Dehradun 92,000 (2nd 1,28,000), Hardwar about 45,000; Calcutta 6,61,259 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 1,34,644, Amravati 1,28,277, Akola 1,00,677, total 4,74,954, Raipur (6 days, gross) 1,80,727, Durg 50,062, 2nd week Jalgaon 1,15,101, 3rd Wardha 49,909, total 2,65,367, 2nd week Chandrapur 1,34,252, total 3,75,272; 3rd week Indore 1,26,269 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 95,654; Jaipur 2,60,429, 2nd Bikaner 1,48,618; 3rd week Hyderabad (gross) 4,11,626 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon, 1 on F.H.).

Pukar has improved in M.P. due to tax-exemption. 4th week Bombay 11,53,789 (41.93%) from 4 cinemas (4 cinemas unrecd., 4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,63,518 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot 49,000; Pune 3,43,747 from 3 cinemas, Solapur 57,333; Delhi 12,82,836 from 6 cinemas, tax-free from this week; Lucknow 1,46,705, Varanasi 97,794, Allahabad 49,462, Bareilly (6 days) 26,033, Dehradun 85,525 (3rd 1,05,582); Calcutta 2,99,089 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur 1,50,498 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (TF, 6 days) 70,502, Amravati (6 days) 67,063, Akola 70,971, total 4,80,394, Raipur (TF, 6 days) 64,619, Yavatmal 15,325; Indore (TF) 77,713; Hyderabad (gross) 7,78,454 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon).

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani has also picked up in M.P. following tax-exemption. 6th week Bombay 9,90,291 (41.69%) from 5 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Pune 1,67,984 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Lucknow 1,24,292, Varanasi 26,567, Allahabad 22,635; Calcutta 1,19,167; 3rd week Jabalpur (TF, 6 days) 82,181; 6th week Indore (TF) 55,000, Bhopal (TF) 64,270; Hyderabad (gross) 34,311 (noon shows).

Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai is going greater than great guns! 7th week Bombay 43,73,182 (98.04%) from 10 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 8,22,670 from 3 cinemas, Baroda 2,36,732, 1st week Padra 2,68,624; 7th week Pune 9,48,787 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Solapur 1,87,058; Dharwad 57,264; Delhi 16,32,778 from 6 cinemas; Lucknow 3,51,009, Varanasi 1,65,416, Allahabad 1,06,859, Bareilly (6 days) 56,989, 6th week Dehradun 1,36,000 (5th 1,54,879), 7th week Muzaffarnagar about 30,000, 4th week Hardwar about 50,000; 7th week Calcutta 9,74,164 from 6 cinemas; Nagpur 3,55,361 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 1,21,940, total 10,88,000, Amravati 1,37,820, total 11,41,783, Akola 1,32,093, total 10,18,393, Raipur 1,30,640, 5th week Durg 67,002, 2nd week Wardha 1,29,073, 7th Jalgaon 1,25,478, 6th week Chandrapur 1,26,849, total 11,17,649, 5th Yavatmal 1,13,067; 7th week Bhopal 1,81,000; Jaipur 2,50,166, 5th week Bikaner 87,416; 7th week Hyderabad (gross) 5,78,396 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon, 4 on F.H.).

MARATHI FILM ACTRESS RANJANA DEAD

Marathi film actress Ranjana Deshmukh passed away yesterday (3rd March) at Raheja Hospital in Bombay. She was suffering from diabetes and had been admitted to the hospital a week ago. She was 45.

Ranjana had begun her film career as V. Shantaram’s discovery in Chandanachi Choli Ang Ang (Marathi) in 1975. She then played heroine in numerous Marathi films till 1987 when her career came to an abrupt end following a car accident which rendered her paralytic below the waist. Ranjana is survived by her mother, Vatsala Deshmukh, and aunt, Sandhya, both well-known actresses.

GUJARAT TRADE PROTESTS STATE BUDGET PROPOSALS

The Gujarat and Saurashtra film trade submitted a memorandum of demands to Gujarat finance minister Vajubhai Vala on 1st March. A delegation called on the minister and registered its protest against the state Budget proposals involving reduction of the tax-free service charge per ticket from Rs. 2 to Re. 1; the withdrawal of compound tax facility from towns with population between 1 lakh and 3 lakh; and the withdrawal of benefit of subsidy to Gujarati film producers.

The delegation also made it known that if the concessions were not restored, the entire distribution and exhibition sectors of the state would down shutters indefinitely from March 17 or 24. The Budget is likely to be presented in the Assembly in the month-end.

OM PURI NOMINATED FOR BRITISH AWARD

Om Puri was last week nominated in the best actor category in the British Film Academy awards. He earned the distinction for his role in East Is East and joined other nominees, Ralph Fiennes (The End Of The Affair), Jim Broadbent (Topsy-Turvy), Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) and Russell Crowe (The Insider). East Is East was also nominated for the best film award alongside The End Of The Affair, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Oscar nominees American Beauty and The Sixth Sense. American Beauty bagged the maximum nominations — 14 in all.

BFA awards will be announced on 9th April in London.

NADEEM SHRAVAN DONATE RS. 25,000

Nadeem Shravan have donated Rs. 25,000 to the family of late film publicist and journalist Jagdish Sharma, who died recently in Bombay. Shravan gave a cheque of the amount at the first recording of Kuku Kohli’s Yeh Dil Aashiqana in Bombay on 24th February.

‘PUKAR’ TAX-FREE IN DELHI

Boney Kapoor’s Pukar has been granted exemption from payment of entertainment tax in Delhi for 12 weeks. The letter granting the exemption was received on 1st March and the film began to be screened at tax-free rates from 3rd March onwards.

‘KN…PH’, ‘HEY! RAM’, ‘PUKAR’ VCDs SEIZED

Acting on a tip-off by the Motion Pictures Association, the D.B. Marg police, Bombay, raided a shop at Bankar building, Grant Road and seized several unauthorised VCDs of recently released films like Hey! Ram, Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai, Pukar, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Dillagi, HS-SH and others. The police also seized 6,000 inlay cards of Gordhan Tanwani’s Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge which is due for release on 24th March. The total value of the seized goods is over Rs. 1,22,000. The police also arrested 4 persons from the shop.

SARKAR’S CO-OPTION IN EIMPA SNOWBALLS INTO CONTROVERSY

Parimal Kumar Sarkar’s co-option to the executive committee (producers section) of the Eastern India Motion Picture Association (EIMPA) has been held to be illegal, and the Association itself has confirmed the same.

The co-option was carried out even though no producer-member of the executive committee proposed Sarkar’s name. As soon as Sarkar was nominated, all the elected producer-members left the meeting under protest. Thereafter, at a general meeting of the producers section of the EIMPA, it was resolved that the co-option of Parimal Kumar Sarkar from the producers section was invalid and could not be ratified by the section. Not just that, a parallel Association is also in the process of being formed by members who have not taken the unconstitutional act of Sarkar’s co-option lightly. Complaints are being accepted from members by the new Association and are also being processed.

ANWAR KHAN WEDS

Story-screenplay-dialogue writer Anwar Khan got married to Samira Begum on 1st March at Hotel Sea Princess, Bombay.

YOU ASKED IT

How many films has Fardeen Khan signed after Prem Aggan?

– He is doing Ram Gopal Varma’s JUNGLE with Sunil Shetty. And dad Feroz Khan’s QURBAN TUJH PE MERI JAAN as also Subir Mukerji’s MAATI.

Since there is a dearth of good subjects, why doesn’t anyone think of making a film totally employing special effects from the beginning till the end?

– Such a film may not work in India because the audience here is hungry for good subjects, not great special effects.

When was entertainment tax first levied on films in India?

– In 1922. The tax then was 12%.

With so many avenues for viewing films, like satellite, cable television, home video (and in the near future, the internet), why do people prefer watching films in cinema halls?

– The magic of cinema halls, the darkness, the ambience, the togetherness cannot be replicated in any other medium.

PRODUCTION NEWS

‘Bichhoo’ Negative Cut By Dharmendra

The final negative cutting ceremony of Guddu Dhanoa’s Bichhoo was performed on Feb. 25. Dharmendra formally cut the first negative. Starring Bobby Deol and Rani Mukerji in the lead, the film has story by Santosh  Dhanoa and screenplay and dialogues by Dilip Shukla. Music: Anand Raaj Anand. Lyrics: Sameer. Editing: V.N. Mayekar. Cinematography: Shripad Natu. Audiography: Suresh Paswan. Veena Sood is the executive producer. It is presented by Narinder Dhanoa. Banner: Bhagwan Chitra Mandir.

‘Aaghaaz’ Stint In Hyderabad Complete

Producer Dr. D. Rama Naidu this week completed a 19-day shooting stint of Suresh Productions’ Aaghaaz (The Beginning) at Rama Naidu Studios and in and around Hyderabad. Sunil Shetty, Sushmita Sen, Namrata Shirodkar, Anupam Kher and others participated. The film is being directed by Yogesh Ishwar. Screenplay: Nikhil Saini. Dialogues: Kamlesh Pandey. Art: Sharmishtha Roy. Music: Anu Malik. Lyrics: Sameer. Cinematographer: Shyam K. Naidu. Action: Abbasbhai.

MIX MASALA

‘CHAL’NEWALI FILMS

“Koi film nahin chal rahi, ji, koi film nahin chal rahi, Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai ke sivaye.” This is the most common refrain in film circles these days. But worry not! There is a queue of chalnewali films lined up for release in the months of May, June and July. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the ‘chal’newali films: Chal Mere Bhai, Chalo Ishq Ladaye and Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa. On top of the line-up is Le Chal Apne Sang. Chalega?!?

MARATHON MOVIE WATCHING SESSION

A total of 14 Thais stayed up 51 hours at a stretch to smash the world record on 20th February, for watching films non-stop. They saw 25 films in all, with just 5-minute rests after every film, and another 15-minute meal break at the end of three films. Of the 468 people, who began the marathon movie-watching session in Bangkok on 18th February noon, 64 had not succumbed to slumber when they passed the previous best set by a Hungarian who had watched 20 films in 37 hours and 25 minutes. The oldest among the 14 Thais was a 55-year-old woman. There were 3 other women in the group of record-breakers. The winners will split the 1,00,000 baht (US $2,702) in prize money. The organisers will send a video of the event to the Guinness Book of World Records to get confirmation of the new record.

DO YOU KNOW?

 * Happy days are here for producers. No, no, it is not as if stars have reduced their prices. But satellite rights of films have become hot property and are fetching competitive prices. Besides the channels on air, a couple of more are scheduled to be launched in the near future. The more the channels, the merrier are the producers.

* DULHAN HUM LE JAYENGE is being booked by exhibitors of C.P. Berar on fantastic MGs. The distributor has booked it at Shyam, Raipur at an MG of 6 lakh, and the rental will be 25,000/-. From Mohan, Jalgaon, the film’s distributor has got an MG of 5 lakh, and the theatre rental will be 30,000/-.

* REFUGEE is becoming pretty ‘hot’ among exhibitors of U.P. It has reportedly been booked at Leela, Lucknow on an MG of 13 lakh! The MG it has fetched from Meerut is a whopping 7.5 lakh.

UNION BUDGET GIVES BENEFITS TO FILM INDUSTRY

Raw Film (Positive & Negative) To Become Cheaper Section 80HHF Of I-T Act Extended To Non-Corporate Entities Too

The Union Budget proposals for 2000-01 have some concessions to offer to the film industry.

♦ The 100% deduction allowed to corporate bodies, which export films or entertainment software, under section 80HHF of the Income-Tax Act has been extended to non-corporate entities too. That is to say, individuals, sole proprietory or partnership firms exporting films can also now claim deduction under section 80HHF. However, from the financial year 2000-01, the benefit under the said section will be 80% and it will keep reducing by 20% every subsequent year with the idea of phasing out the benefit in the next 4 years. The rate of tax on the 20% export earnings (80% is deductible u/s 80HHF) for the current financial year will be 38.5%.

♦ The 75% deduction of professional income earned from foreign sources, under section 80RR of the I-T Act, will be phased out over 5 years. Starting from financial year 2000-01, the deduction will be 60% and thereafter, it will reduce by 15% each subsequent year for 4 years.

♦ The limit for reporting payments made in the course of film production under section 285B of the I-T Act (Form 52A) has been raised from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000.

♦ Basic customs duty on jumbo rolls of colour positive film and colour negative film has been reduced from 15% to 5%. Countervailing duty (CVD) on these items has been abolished. However, there will be no benefit of abolition of countervailing duty on jumbo rolls of colour positive as excise duty on slit rolls has not been simultaneously abolished. This is likely to be corrected soon. Otherwise, the only reduction in the price of a roll of 1,000 feet of colour positive will be due to the 10% reduction of customs duty. A roll of colour positive will now cost Rs. 150 to 200 less. Colour negative will be cheaper by about 25% which would be approximately Rs. 5,000 per roll.

♦ Basic customs duty on cinematographic cameras and other related equipments has been reduced from 40% to 25%.

Besides the above, the other amendments in the I-T Act which, though not specific to the film industry, are likely to affect the industry people are:

♦ The surcharge on tax, where annual income exceeds Rs. 1,50,000, will be 15% instead of 10%. Consequently, TDS rates will also incorporate the higher surcharge rate where the income exceeds Rs. 1.5 lakh.

♦ The 100% deduction of export profits under section 80HHC of the I-T Act will be phased out over 5 years. Beginning financial year 2000-01, the deduction will be 80% and it will thereafter reduce by 20% in each subsequent year.

♦ Women assessees will get a special rebate of up to Rs. 5,000 in the tax payable.

♦ Senior citizens will get a tax rebate of Rs. 15,000 instead of the present Rs. 10,000.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Budget Proposals: Then And Now

The industry is generally happy with the concessions granted to it in the Union Budget for 2000-01. AIFPC president Pahlaj Nihalani has rushed a telegram to finance minister Yashwant Sinha which reads: ‘Our grateful thanks to you for granting various concessions and incentives to the film industry in the Budget proposals presented by you in the Lok Sabha on February 29, 2000. These incentives and concessions would no doubt give a fillip to the entire film industry, which has been struggling hard for its survival due to enormous number of problems.’

Exactly 25 years ago, the scene was just the reverse. The Union Budget proposals presented in the Lok Sabha on 28th February, 1975 had the industry up in arms against the then finance minister, C. Subramaniam, and the Union government. TOA president U.A. Thadani had then sent telegrams to the finance minister as well as the then information minister I.K. Gujral. The bone of contention at that time was the proposed hike in excise levy on film prints. The telegrams sent read: ‘Proposed fresh excise levy on film prints is extremely disastrous for the entire film industry stop It will be hard nay impossible to bear the new burden Stop no producer-distributor can afford supply prints to theatres especially medium and small theatres may never get such costly prints consequently they will be compelled to close shop with result that government exchequer will also suffer considerably Stop pray reconsider sympathetically and kindly maintain status quo.’

The World Is Our Playground

More than a thousand people were witnessed queueing up outside the ticket windows at Santa Fe Springs theatre in Southern California (USA) on the opening day of Subhash Ghai’s Taal. Needless to add, the tickets, priced at US $8, were sold out within minutes. Taal, of course, went on to create history by becoming the first Indian film ever to break into the Top 20 in the US. It also stayed in the UK Top 10 for a couple of weeks, enjoying huge success there as well. Taal grossed more than $4 million from the Overseas market.

The outstanding performance of Taal in the Overseas territory is only an indication of how vastly the international market for Indian films has improved in recent times. Prior to Taal, films like Dil Se.., Biwi No. 1, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Muthu (Tamil) proved huge chartbusters abroad. After Taal, Rajshri’s Hum Saath-Saath Hain created another record for Indian films when it was released in as many as 60 cinemas all over the US. Its first 3 days’ collections of $651,575 catapulted it into the US Top 20.

The Overseas market of Indian films, which stood at about $4 million a couple of years ago, is worth $50 million today and is growing day by day. Approximately, 60 million Indians are settled abroad, with North America alone accounting for an Indian population of 1.3 million. Other big markets, apart from the US and the UK, include the Middle East, Australia, East Africa, South Africa and Japan and Switzerland to some extent.

Internet is perceived to be one of the biggest factors contributing to the spurt in the popularity of Indian films at the foreign box-office. Promotion of Indian films on the World Wide Web, together with the broadcasts of Indian channels like Zee, Sony and TV Asia, in Europe and North America, has fuelled an unprecedented interest in Indian films among the expatriates. The growth in the interest level has led to more and more cinemas being made available for Indian films. The number of cinemas showing Indian films in the US has grown from 20 to 50 within the last 2 years alone. Indeed, the world is opening up to our films. Whether the largest film industry in the world also becomes the largest-grossing film industry remains to be seen.

The Most Silver Jubilee(d) Film!

In the last two decades, no film has had the good fortune of having scored so many silver jubilees at one go. Yash Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge has ‘celebrated’ nine silver jubilees by entering 225th combined week in matinee shows at Maratha Mandir, Bombay. The only film to have surpassed this record was Sholay, which had had a run of 265 weeks (regular and matinee shows combined).