FLASHBACK | 4 November, 2022
(From our issue dated 8th November, 1997)

LATEST POSITION

Dil To Pagal Hai has done extraordinary in 1st week, creating new records everywhere. …. 1st week Bombay 39,88,183 (100%) from 8 cinemas (6 on F.H.), Chandan, Juhu, Bombay 8,13,989, Panvel 3,18,461 (100%); Ahmedabad 13,47,432 from 4 cinemas, Kalol 1,65,904, Vapi 4,75,328 (100%), Valsad 4,83,504 (100%), Baroda 2,46,001, Padra 3,27,852 (100%), Bharuch 3,48,880 (100%), Navsari (27 shows) 3,31,447, Rajkot 3,03,419 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,84,779 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Surendranagar 2,19,672; Pune 8,27,647 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,92,341, Solapur 1,91,849 (100%), Satara 2,03,854 (100%) from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Hubli 2,13,227 (100%), Belgaum 1,55,344 (100%), Dharwad 1,56,884 (100%); Delhi 39,56,213 (97.93%) from 9 cinemas; Lucknow 3,78,997 (100%), Agra 2,99,726, Varanasi 3,40,289, Allahabad 2,05,600, Meerut (6 days) 2,02,662 (100%), Bareilly (6 days) 1,87,630 (79.98%), Dehradun 1,99,901 (93.27%), Hardwar 1,10,000, Gorakhpur 1,59,000, Azamgarh about 50%; very good in East Punjab, Rohtak 78,219; Calcutta 31,44,740 from 16 cinemas; Patna 100%, Jamshedpur about 90%, fair in Ranchi; Nagpur 9,43,996 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,13,072, Amravati 2,53,922, Akola 2,01,713 (100%), Dhule 2,21,121, Raipur 2,60,391, Bhilai 2,53,500, Durg 2,09,059, Jalgaon 2,17,286, Chandrapur 2,45,588; Indore (6 days) 3,37,753 (2 on F.H.), Dewas 1,30,000 (1st day 36,000, 8th day 8,500), Bhopal (6 days) 5,87,430 from 3 cinemas, Ujjain quite good in 1st week, steep decline on 8th day, Guna 86,000 (opening day was 24,000); Jaipur 13,16,963 from 4 cinemas; Jodhpur 5,31,321 from 2 cinemas, Bikaner 2,48,500; Hyderabad 40,69,887 from 15 cinemas (2 in noon), share 22,74,763.

Ghulam-E-Musthafa has done well only in Bombay, Maharashtra (parts) and Gujarat. Distributors of most of the other circuits stand to lose heavily. Surprisingly, it hasn’t fared too well even in many Muslim centres. 1st week Bombay 46,30,157 (87.55%) from 16 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,16,461 from 4 cinemas (4 unrecd.), Rajkot 1,00,004, Jamnagar (matinee) 31,334 (1 regular unrecd.); Pune 10,66,093 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 3,19,446 from 2 cinemas, Solapur 4,00,706 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Hubli 2,47,521 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon), Belgaum 2,44,521 (100%) from 2 cinemas, Dharwad 1,87,847; Delhi 28,15,401 (65.87%) from 9 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow (6 days) 1,81,446, Agra 3,30,419, Varanasi 2,00,822, Allahabad 1,47,500, Meerut (6 days) 1,90,247, Bareilly (6 days) 1,16,289 (68.25%), Dehradun 1,25,000, Hardwar 75,423, Gorakhpur 1,54,000; Calcutta 24,47,973 from 18 cinemas; Nagpur 5,99,904 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur (5 days, 21 shows) 1,76,619 (99.45%), Amravati (6 days) 2,36,301 from 2 cinemas, Akola 2,39,731, Raipur (6 days) 1,53,795, Bhilai (6 days) 1,23,042, Wardha 92,855; Indore (6 days) 1,43,654 (4 on F.H.), Bhopal (6 days) 3,55,142 from 3 cinemas; Jaipur 6,00,660 from 3 cinemas, Jodhpur 2,65,000, Bikaner 2,05,076; Hyderabad 28,31,990 from 15 cinemas (1 in noon), share 14,50,990.

Bhai took a flying start and reaped the benefit of Diwali festival period. Is still very good in Gujarat and Delhi-U.P. but dropped noticeably in other circuits from 6th and 7th day onwards. It should fetch commission to all distributors. 1st week Bombay 41,25,030 (85.55%) from 15 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 7,88,320 from 4 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Asodar 2,01,483, Rajkot 2,92,277 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,33,000; Pune 11,59,092 from 8 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 3,07,723 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Belgaum 1,08,120 (100%); Delhi 31,30,118 (81.47%) from 11 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow (6 days) 2,09,828, Varanasi 2,14,217, Allahabad 1,14,037, Meerut (6 days) 1,42,144, Bareilly 1,43,564, Dehradun 1,13,760, Saharanpur (27 shows) 1,33,949, Gorakhpur 1,54,700, Muzaffarnagar 1,19,680; Nagpur 5,50,506 from 5 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days, 25 shows) 1,86,259 (79.75%), Amravati (6 days) 1,69,201, Akola 1,34,015, Raipur (6 days) 1,98,537, Bhilai (6 days) 2,00,657 from 2 cinemas, Jalgaon 1,82,350, Chandrapur 1,35,784, Yavatmal (gross) 1,68,410; Indore (6 days) 91,348 (4 on F.H.), Bhopal (6 days) 1,67,251 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 6,68,709 from 4 cinemas; Vijayawada 1,82,020.

………..

Deewana Mastana 4th week Bombay 23,92,974 (76.94%) from 7 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,20,931 from 2 cinemas, Baroda 95,858, Rajkot 2,20,790 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Pune 8,89,312 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 1,42,375, Solapur 1,57,846 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 1st week Barsi 60,170, 2nd week Satara 1,75,454 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), 1st week Miraj 1,12,047; 4th week Hubli 1,07,257, Belgaum 98,847, 3rd week Dharwad 41,852; 4th week Delhi 16,00,798 from 9 cinemas; Lucknow 1,77,786, Agra 1,49,500, Varanasi 1,02,878, Allahabad 91,800, Bareilly 50,966 (22.81%), Dehradun 89,000, Hardwar 18,000, Gorakhpur 43,000; Rohtak 9,238; Nagpur 1,45,256 from 3 cinemas, 2nd week Jabalpur 1,67,091, total 3,20,936, 4th Amravati 1,09,216, Akola 1,05,700, total 4,90,079, Raipur 1,10,286, total 4,63,028, Bhilai 39,751, total 2,90,980, 1st week Wardha 79,209, 4th week Yavatmal 27,893 (3rd 24,194), 1st week Khandwa (6 days) 67,361; 4th week Bhopal 1,07,066; Jaipur 2,45,658; Hyderabad 3,37,893 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon).

Pardes 13th week Bombay (TF) 9,98,732 (98.07%) from 3 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Pune (TF) 79,132 (1 unrecd.), Kolhapur (TF) 1,10,000, Solapur (TF, 7 shows) 74,059 (100%), Satara (TF, matinee) 22,862, 9th week Miraj (TF, matinee) 18,201; 13th week Hubli 63,478; Delhi (TF) 3,87,730 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 1,28,375, Agra 98,974, Allahabad 59,500, 4th week Gorakhpur 26,000; 13th Akola (TF) 83,000, 1st week Gondia (TF) 93,033, Wardha (TF) 95,443; 13th week Hyderabad 5,76,679 from 5 cinemas (1 in noon).–

HIT ‘MASTER’

Chiranjeevi’s new film, Master (in Telugu), is creating waves in Nizam. It yielded a share of 70 lakh in 1st week on 21 prints in Nizam circuit. The film is expected to do a business of 3.5 to 4 crore.

DECISION ON DUBBED ‘KAMA SUTRA’ SOON

Justice Sawant of the Bombay high court on 5th November heard the arguments of all-India rights holder of Kama Sutra (Hindi dubbed), R. Mohan, in the matter of grant of certificate to the film. The CBFC, it may be recalled, had offered additional cuts in the dubbed Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions, which were cleared in the original English version of the film.

The CBFC has been given a week’s time to submit its replies.

SALIM KHAN’S FARMLAND TO BE SEIZED

Writer Salim Khan and his actress-wife, Helen, are among the celebrities whose farmlands have been ordered by the Supreme Court to be seized. On 4th November, a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice J.S. Verma and Justice S.C. Sen set aside and quashed the order of the Bombay high court staying the possession of 156 acres of land in Panvel, 52 kms. from Bombay, housing the plush farmhouses. The land and the constructed structures worth approximately Rs. 150 crore will now be seized by the forest department for violation under the Forest Conservation Act and for commitment of other crimes.

FILM SCREENING FOR SHANTARAM AWARDS

The screening of films for the three best film awards (in any Indian language) and three children’s films awards of the V. Shantaram Foundation is currently on at Gem preview theatre under the observation of Tarun Mazumdar, chairman of the juries panel, and in the presence of Kiran Shantaram, chairman of the Shantaram Foundation awards.

YOU ASKED IT

What is the scope of test trials of new films in India before their release in cinemas? Can improvements be made on the basis of suggestions of the test audience? Will they help?

– Test trials should be conducted for the betterment of a film. The makers can gauge public reaction even before the film comes for scrutiny of the public.

What kind of Hollywood films have a chance of clicking when dubbed in Hindi?

– Those which have some novelty and do not have too much of alien content or too much dialogue-baazi.

How important is it for a star to stick to roles his image demands rather than trying to do something against his image?

– Very, very important. In majority of the cases when established stars try to go against their set image, the results are disastrous.

PRODUCTION NEWS

Anu Malik Replaces Nadeem Shravan

Producer Smita Thackeray has replaced the music director in her maiden production venture, Haseena Maan Jayegi. In place of Nadeem Shravan, it is now Anu Malik who is scoring the music.

‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ 15-Day Spell Complete

Writer-director Karan Johar completed a 15-day shooting spell of Dharma Productions’ Kuch Kuch Hota Hai on Nov. 7 on a set at Mehboob Studios. Many scenes and a song were picturised. For the song, the participants were Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, Anupam Kher, Archna Pooran Singh and over 500 college students. Others in the cast are Farida Jalal, Himani Shivpuri, Reema and Johny Lever. Music by Jatin Lalit, lyrics by Sameer, cinematography by Santosh Thundiyil and choreography by Farah Khan are the other major credits of the film being produced by Yash Johar.

‘Prem Aggan’ Ooty Schedule Complete

Producer-director Feroz Khan completed a 20-day shooting schedule of F.K. International’s Prem Aggan on Nov. 5 in Ooty. Many scenes and songs were picturised featuring Fardeen Khan, Meghna Kothari, Raj Babbar, Anupam Kher and Sameer Malhotra. The film has music by Anu Malik.

‘Major Saab’ Almost Complete

With the conclusion of a 10-day shooting spell at Neem-Ka-Thana in Rajasthan on Oct. 25, the entire shooting, except for a song picturisation, of ABCL’s Major Saab is complete. The song will be picturised from Nov. 11 to 20 in Bombay and New Bombay. Ajay Devgan, Sonali Bendre and dancers will participate. Dubbing will start on Dec. 1. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Sonali Bendre, Nafisa Ali, Mohan Joshi, Shahbaaz Khan, Mushtaq Khan and Ashish Vidyarthi. It is being directed by Tinnu Anand from a story by Robin Bhatt and screenplay by Robin Bhatt and Santosh Saroj. Action: Bhiku Verma. Music: Anand Raaj Anand.

‘Vidroh’ Climax

A 10-day shooting stint of K.B. Pictures’ Vidroh began on Nov. 1 on Bombay locales. Akshay Kumar, Amrish Puri and others are participating in the picturisation of climax scenes. The film, being written and directed by Dilip Shukla for producer Kulbhushan Gupta, co-stars Raveena Tandon, Raj Babbar, Mohan Joshi, Rami Reddy, S.M. Zaheer, Alok Nath, Govind Namdeo, Deepak Qazir and K.K. Raina. It is presented by Vinod Avlani and its music is scored by Anand Milind. Lyrics: Sameer.

Anil Kapoor, Kajol In Rama Naidu’s Next

Producer D. Rama Naidu has signed Anil Kapoor and Kajol to play the lead roles in Suresh Productions’ next which will be directed by Satish Kaushik. Anupam Kher plays an important role in the film which will be a remake of the Telugu hit, Pavitra Bandham. It will go on the sets in January.

DO YOU KNOW?

‘DIL TO PAGAL HAI’ SWEEPS BOX-OFFICE

BOMBAY

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 8,13,989/- in 1st week at Chandan, Juhu, Bombay.

* Creates a theatre record at Roopalee, Panvel (Bombay), by collecting 3,18,461/- in 1st week.

* Creates theatre records in 1st week at the following cinemas of Ahmedabad: Anupam, by collecting 2,71,922/-; Amber, by collecting 2,67,774/-; Shiv, by collecting 3,01,491/-. All shows were full in all the 3 cinemas.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 3,27,852/- (100%) in 1st week at Krishna, Padra.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 2,46,001/- in 1st week (28 shows) at Pratap, Baroda, where Dolby digital sound has been installed. All shows were full.

* Creates a city record at Patan (North Gujarat) by collecting 2,25,829/- (97.71%, gross) in 1st week at Kohinoor. It drew 25 shows full.

* Creates a city record by drawing all shows full (4,83,504/-) in 1st week at Dreamland, Valsad.

* Creates a record by collecting 1,65,904/- in 1st week at Satyam, Kalol.

* Creates a record by collecting 2,19,672/- in 1st week at Milan, Surendranagar.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 3,31,447/- in 1st week at Jehangir, Navsari. Twenty-seven shows were full.

* Creates a city record by collecting 4,15,328/- (full) in 1st week at Shree, Vapi.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 3,48,880/- (full) in 1st week at Shalimar, Bharuch.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,11,151/- (full) in 1st week at Astron, Rajkot. Also creates a city record for matinee shows by collecting 92,224/- (100%) in 1st week at Galaxy, Rajkot.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,44,317/- in 1st week at Galaxy, Jamnagar. Twenty out of 21 shows were full. It has also created a theatre record by collecting 40,462/- in 1st week at Anupam (matinee), Jamnagar. Total of 2 cinemas: 1,84,779/-.

* Creates a theatre record by drawing all shows full (4,51,253/-) in 1st week at Mangala, Pune.

* Creates a theatre record by drawing all shows full in advance (1,91,450/-) in 1st week at Bhagwat Chitra Mandir, Solapur.

* Creates a theatre record by drawing all shows full (2,13,227/-) in 1st week at Apsara, Hubli.

* Creates a record by collecting 1,56,884/- (full) in 1st week at Sangam, Dharwad.

* Creates a record by collecting 1,55,344/- (full) in 1st week at Nartaki, Belgaum.

DELHI-U.P.

* Creates a city record in Lucknow by collecting 3,78,996/- (nett) in 1st week (28 shows) at Anand. All shows were full!

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,99,901/- (against a capacity of 2,14,330/-) in 1st week at Natraj, Dehradun.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,10,000/- in 1st week at Payal Palace, Hardwar.

BENGAL

* Creates theatre records in 1st week at the following cinemas of Calcutta: Metro (5,32,269/-), Priya (3,27,803/-), Mitra (2,49,246/-), Puspasree, Behala (1,07,793/-), Puspasree, Kadamtala (1,98,071/-), Jaya (1,17,138/-), Sonali (1,51,896/-), Gem (1,96,097/-), Rakhee (1,26,340/-), Crown (2,62,592/-), Malancha (1,88,316/-), and Radha (1,82,721/-).

C.P. BERAR

* Creates a city record in Nagpur by collecting 3,20,958/- in 1st week at Smruti.

* Creates theatre records at the following cinemas of Nagpur in 1st week: Jayshree (1,72,417/-), Jaswant (2,85,045/-), and Alankar (1,65,576/-).

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,45,584/- in 1st week (32 shows) at Jayant, Chandrapur.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 2,53,500/- in 1st week at Maurya, Bhilai.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,17,286/- in 1st week at Rajkamal, Jalgaon.

* Creates a theatre record by collecting 2,01,713/- (all full) in 1st week at Vasant, Akola.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,53,922/- in 1st week at Chitra, Amravati.

* Creates a Khandesh record by collecting 2,21,120/- in 1st week at Jyoti, Dhule.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,60,391/- in 1st week at Raj, Raipur.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,09,059/- in 1st week at Swaroop, Durg.

* Creates a record by collecting 2,13,072/- in 1st week (29 shows, all full) at Jyoti, Jabalpur.

C.I.

* Created history by collecting 47,912/- (gross) on the opening day at Deepika, Nagda (C.I.). All 4 shows were full.

RAJASTHAN

* Creates records at three cinemas of Jaipur in 1st week: Raj Mandir, by collecting 4,85,912/-, Man Prakash, by collecting 3,48,919/-, Moti Mahal, by collecting 2,98,190/-.

* Creates a city record by collecting 2,32,116/- in 1st week at Bharat, Alwar.

* Creates a city record in Bikaner by collecting 2,48,123/- in 1st week at Suraj.

* Creates a city record in Udaipur by collecting 3,37,835/- in 1st week at Chetak.

* Creates a record by collecting 3,45,415/- in 1st week at Girdhar Mandir, Jodhpur. Also creates a theatre record by collecting 1,85,906/- in 1st week at Kalpatru, Jodhpur.

* Creates a theatre record in 1st week at Mayur, Kota. Also creates a theatre record at Durgesh, Sri Ganganagar in 1st week.

* Draws all shows full in 1st week and creates a city record at Plaza, Ajmer.

MYSORE

* Creates records at the following cinemas of Bangalore in 1st week by collecting: 5,08,773/- at Sagar (28 shows), 4,75,573/- at Galaxy (28 shows), 3,03,826/- at Naga (28 shows), 52,498/- at Kino (7 shows), and 2,93,964/- at Parimala (28 shows).

OVERSEAS

* Creates history in USA-Canada by collecting $1.2 million from 30 cinemas in 1st week.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

That’s Business Today

Believe it or not but Pardes has fetched a share of 57 lakh in just 13 weeks from Bombay’s Minerva cinema. Still going strong in its 14th week, the film is poised to celebrate a jubilee at the cinema. The extent to which business has increased today as compared to, say, 20 or 25 years back can be gauged by this: the distributor’s share of one of the biggest blockbusters of all times, Sholay, in five-and-a-half years’ run (3 years in regular shows and two-and-a-half years in matinee shows) at Minerva cinema at that time was 35 lakh, while the share of Pardes from the same Minerva cinema in just 13 weeks is 57 lakh!!

Alvida Amritsar?

Punjab distributors are facing a new kind of problem which is threatening to change the face of business in that circuit. Many exhibitors of Amritsar, instead of booking films with distributors, have started screening them by obtaining prints from illegal sources. Since many producers do not even know this, no corrective action is being taken by them. East Punjab distributors are seriously thinking of taking deliveries of films at prices excluding the expected shares from Amritsar! Producers need to do something — and do it fast.

Matinee Magic?: An Experiment

The Barjatyas, who love to experiment, are at it again. By next week, they will have revived the unabridged version of HAHK..! in 45 to 50 cinemas all over but in matinee shows only. Two prints are already engaged in matinee shows in their third week now and are both yielding very good shares. In Solapur, at Kalamandir cinema, the film collected Rs. 11,058 in 1st week and Rs. 10,900 in 2nd week against a capacity of Rs. 15,393 in matinee shows. At Kopergaon (also in Maharashtra), the film collected about 63% in 1st week and 60% in 2nd week.

Just For One Seat

A bizarre incident took place at Shri Mankeshwar Chitra Mandir, Islampur (Maharashtra) during the screening of Ghulam-E-Musthafa last week. The cinema was packed to capacity and a man, who had purchased a balcony ticket from black marketeers, did not have a seat for himself. When the door-keeper too was unable to accommodate the guy, a heated argument between the two of them ensued. The ticket-holder lost his cool and did what nobody would have dreamt of doing. He bodily lifted the door-keeper and threw him down from the balcony to the stalls! Luckily for the door-keeper, he did not sustain any injuries, but a spectator, who was watching the film in the stalls, was caught unawares when the door-keeper fell on him. He broke a couple of his bones — of course, for no fault of his! He had to be rushed to hospital in a serious condition but is now out of danger!