SANGHARSH

Vishesh Films Pvt. Ltd.’s Sangharsh (A) is the story of a research trainee in the CBI, who is offered a dare-devil and dangerous but nevertheless important assignment — she has to track down a psychopath killer who has escaped from jail and who murders little children as a religious ritual. The only person who can help her reach the killer is himself in prison, but this guy is no ordinary mortal. He is a genius and has a mind-boggling memory. He takes a liking for the CBI research trainee and vows to help her but only her, and not the police force which is also on the trail of the psychopath killer. How the girl and her genius-guide succeed in nabbing the killer and saving a child from being murdered, in the nick of time forms the nail-biting climax.

Inspired from Silence Of The Lambs, the film, written by Mahesh Bhatt, moves on a single track and offers almost nothing by way of relief, romance or comedy — all so essential for mass-appeal. The entire drama is very tense and the viewer yearns for some relief which is sadly missing. The point of child sacrifice looks a bit dated. Further, there is so much gore and violence in the second half that it could put off the women audience completely. Music (Jatin Lalit) is so dull that the songs not only hamper the flow of the drama but also bore a lot.

Akshay Kumar, as the jailed genius, does very well. Not only is he exceptional in action scenes but he also acts ably. Preity Zinta looks glamorous and acts with the ease of a seasoned actress. She gives a great deal to the role of the CBI research trainee. Ashutosh Rana is first-rate as the psychopath killer. He does such a fantastic job that he evokes immense hatred for himself among the audience. He looks every inch the character he plays and could easily pick up awards for his performance. His delirious mocking of his opponents by drumming his fingers on his lips is dramatically brilliant. Aman Verma is fair. Madan Jain, as the police inspector at loggerheads with the CBI, is very natural and he leaves a mark. Vishwajeet Pradhan does a good job. Vicky Chopra and Ninad Kamat lend able support. Master Jass Trivedi, master Mazhar, baby Alia and the others are alright.

Director Tanuja Chandra has not only extracted good work from her artistes but has also narrated the subject effectively. However, she falters while infusing the usual commercial ingredients (like songs) in the drama, making them look like add-ons. Music, as said above, is pathetic. Song picturisations are equally bad. Camerawork (Dharma Teja) is good. Dialogues are very good at some places. Action (Abbas Ali) scenes are well-composed.

On the whole, Sangharsh is too violent to have universal appeal. Besides, the subject as well as the treatment hold sectional appeal — for the class audience. It has chances in Bombay mainly. Its reasonable price is a point in its favour. In the North and Eastern circuit, however, the film can hope to achieve very little.

Released on 3-9-’99 at Novelty, New Empire and 16 other cinemas of Bombay thru Ahuja Films. Publicity & opening: very good. …….Also released all over.

GODMOTHER

Gramco Films’ Godmother (A) is the story of an uneducated woman who rules a man’s world. The woman, Rambhi, is one day shocked to learn that her husband (a gang-leader), who had just vowed to give up violence, himself becomes the victim of violence and is killed. This uneducated lady takes over the reins of her late husband’s gang. The local politician tries to use Rambhi as his pawn for getting political mileage. The uneducated woman turns out to be too smart for the politician. For, while she lets herself to be used by him, she, too, uses her new-found power to improve the wretched condition of the people of her community and, at the same time, to eliminate all those who opposed her. She is even elected to the Vidhan Sabha. Meanwhile, her son grows up and falls in love with a beautiful girl who is in love with a guy of a minority community. The son attacks the girl’s beloved and this episode is given a communal colour by the local politician who had always resented Rambhi’s rise to fame. Rambhi realises the futility of her power games, gets the beautiful girl married to her true lover, asks her son to mend his ways and also asks her community people to rise above petty parochialism by sacrificing her own life. Her martyrdom spells doom for the scheming politician.

The story is quite novel but the film suffers on a couple of counts. For one, it has elitist appeal only, and its pace is quite slow. Secondly, it has no saleable stars to attract the audience to the cinemas. Dialogues, penned by story writer and director Vinay Shukla, are really good at several places.

Shabana Azmi excels as Rambhi, the leader of the Mer community. She looks and plays every inch an uneducated woman who soon successfully rises in stature and power. A difficult role, she enacts it with consummate ease. Milind Gunaji, as her husband, gives a polished account of himself. Nirmal Pandey is brilliant and natural to the core. Govind Namdev evokes hatred as the manipulative politician. In one word, he is fantastic. Anup Soni stands out as Shabana’s brother-in-law. Raima Sen is good. Sharman Joshi does quite well. Ashwin Kumar is effective.

Notwithstanding the offbeat and dry subject which he has handled, it is to Vinay Shukla’s credit that his direction and narration show sparks of brilliance. Editing is sharp. Music (Vishal Bharadwaj) matches the film’s mood and the songs have some appeal. Background score is remarkable. Cinematography (Rajen Kothari) is extraordinary. Action scenes (Shahid Ali) are natural. Costumes (Mandira Shukla) of the characters deserve special mention. Technically, good.

On the whole, Godmother may have won six National awards and deservedly so, but its single-track dull subject, lack of popular stars of today and elitist treatment will make box-office rewards in most of the circuits a far cry. It should do somewhat better in Bombay and parts of Gujarat.

Released on 3-9-’99 at Eros and 3 other cinemas of Bombay thru V.I.P. Enterprises. Publicity & opening: very good. …….Also released in Delhi-U.P., Bengal and Nizam. Opening was dull at many places.

LATEST POSITION

BAADSHAH started sliding down from 5th and 6th day onwards.

Baadshah has done well initially in Bombay, Nizam and Mysore, is so-so in Delhi, fair in U.P., C.P.C.I. but truly dull in East Punjab and Bengal. 1st week Bombay 76,04,778 (91.42%) from 14 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 18,69,268 from 6 cinemas, Padra 1,74,453, Rajkot 2,21,850 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Jamnagar 1,58,123 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Adipur 1,23,341; Solapur 4,22,029 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 55,35,478 (77.50%) from 11 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Lucknow 9,94,703 from 2 cinemas, Agra  2,95,798, Allahabad 3,33,980, Meerut 2,80,016, Bareilly 2,48,357, Dehradun 2,41,968, Saharanpur 2,13,508, Hardwar 1,14,147; Calcutta 31,32,042 from 18 cinemas; Nagpur 11,30,756 from 5 cinemas, Jabalpur 2,71,662, Amravati 1,93,162, Akola 1,83,169, Raipur (gross) 4,00,335; Indore 3,82,759 from 2 cinemas (4 on F.H.), Bhopal 3,85,179 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.); Jaipur 12,22,420 from 5 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 59,59,328 from 22 cinemas (1 in noon); Vijayawada (gross) 3,29,340, Visakhapatnam (gross) 3,29,217, Kurnool (gross) 2,09,150 from 2 cinemas, Tirupati (gross, 6 days) 1,32,600, Cuddapah (gross) 1,20,000.

………..

Arjun Pandit drops dramatically in metro cities but is good in U.P. and East Punjab. Is an earner in Bombay, East Punjab but a loser in Nizam. 2nd week Bombay 22,78,494 (67.58%) from 8 cinemas (11 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,68,020 from 6 cinemas; Kolhapur 1,76,775, Solapur 1,01,460; Delhi (6 days) 14,13,509 from 8 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Lucknow 3,34,444, Allahabad 1,77,500, Dehradun 2,01,005, Hardwar 1,31,393, total 3,43,435, very good; Calcutta 3,24,416 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 1,26,860 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,24,251, Amravati (6 days) 1,03,655, Akola 90,910, total 2,62,300, Raipur (6 days) 1,60,897, Jalgaon (6 days) 80,791, Wardha (6 days) 74,672; Indore 97,896 (3 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,26,948; Jaipur 3,32,700; Hyderabad (gross) 3,58,300 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon).

Taal withstands the opposition of ex-superstar (Kohram), current superstar (Baadshah) and other big releases and collects well in 3rd week in many circuits. It has picked up in C.P.C.I., at places by 20-30% over the previous week. 3rd week Bombay 43,88,502 (76.66%) from 9 cinemas (7 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 9,13,479 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 2,16,220, Jamnagar 87,500; Solapur 1,64,592; Delhi (6 days) 27,22,884 from 8 cinemas; Lucknow 3,61,948, Agra 3,60,318, Allahabad 1,44,413, Meerut 1,94,920 (2nd 1,91,106), Bareilly 59,597, Dehradun 1,59,000; Calcutta 5,83,013 from 2 cinemas; Nagpur 1,65,901, Jabalpur 1,64,252, total 4,14,774, Amravati 1,82,732, Akola 1,21,400, total 4,78,600, Raipur (gross) 2,48,297, Jalgaon 1,35,000, total 4,91,532, 2nd week Wardha (6 days) 20,734, 3rd week Chandrapur 1,06,251, total 4,26,440; Indore 1,75,665 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 1,56,762; Jaipur 6,33,255, Jodhpur 1,50,000, Ajmer 84,185; Hyderabad (gross) 8,30,750 from 3 cinemas (2 in noon); 3 weeks’ total (gross) Visakhapatnam 6,31,259, Kurnool 3,91,587, Ananthapuram 4,53,286, Cuddapah 1,45,793, 1st week Rajahmundry 1,51,232.

Kohram 3rd week Bombay 6,32,956 (55%) from 4 cinemas (5 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,62,968 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 70,247, Rajkot 64,973 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 68,720 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi (6 days) 1,26,253 from 2 cinemas; Lucknow 1,14,751, Agra 1,08,536, Allahabad 89,208, Hardwar 75,000; Calcutta 1,87,137; Nagpur 81,330 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 74,665, Amravati (6 days) 1,02,221, Akola 50,957, total 4,03,728, Raipur (6 days) 44,650, Jalgaon (6 days) 76,040; Indore 42,816 (1 on F.H.); Hyderabad (gross) 1,39,337.

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Man Saayba Ni Mediye (Gujarati; TF) is doing extraordinary in Gujarat and Saurashtra; expected to do 1 crore.

AJAY DEVGAN’S DISTRIBUTION OFFICE INAUGURATED

The new office of Bombay distributors Devgan’s Entertainment on the 2nd floor of Naaz building (earlier Pahlaj Nihalani’s office) was inaugurated on 3rd September (Janmashtami day) with a pooja and havan performed by Veeru Devgan, Ajay Devgan and Kajol.

G. HANUMANTHA RAO NO MORE

Producer G. Hanumantha Rao died of cancer of the liver on 29th August in Hyderabad. He had been hospitalised some weeks back and his condition was deteriorating. The end came on the evening of 29th in the hospital.

Hanumantha Rao was aware that his end was very near because he told his brothers, producer G.A. Seshagiri Rao and actor Krishna, to take him to their Padmalaya Studios before he passed away. In deference to his wish, his body was kept at Padmalaya for several hours before it was consigned to the flames on 30th at 4 p.m. in Hyderabad. All production and distribution offices in Hyderabad remained closed on 30th August as a mark of respect. The Hyderabad State Film Chamber of Commerce held a condolence meeting on 31st August.

Hanumantha Rao, alongwith his brothers, set up the huge Padmalaya Studios and the Padmalaya banner in Hyderabad.

Together, they produced many Telugu and Hindi films. A few years ago, the Padmalaya banner also branched out into production of television software. Among Padmalaya’s Hindi films were Himmatwala, Takkar, Pataal Bhairvi, Justice Chaudhary, Singhasan, Mawaali, Mulzim, Qaidi, Kaamyab, Hoshiyar, Meri Aawaz Suno, Kanwarlal and Sooryavansham.

G. Hanumantha Rao was the president of the Film Federation of India and the vice president of the Federation of International Film Producers Association at the time of his death.

IMPPA TO HONOUR SIX STALWARTS

The Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association will this year honour Ramanand Sagar, Manoj Kumar, Manna Dey, late Laxmikant, Pyarelal and late Rajendra Kumar by presenting IMPPA trophies for their contributions to the Hindi film industry. The presentation function will be held during the annual general meeting of the IMPPA on 25th September at ISKCON auditorium, Juhu, Bombay. Chief guest Dev Anand will present the trophies. IMPPA every year felicitates five veterans.

YOU ASKED IT

To what do you attribute the good opening of Sangharsh this week?

– Solo release, good promotional trailers, Janmashtami holiday and Preity Zinta.

Is it a fact that the Rajshri people are considering selling the Overseas distribution rights of Hum Saath Saath Hain?

– Yes, it is a fact. Are you interested in buying the rights? Then contact the Rajshri people with a very fat cheque! But be informed that the negotiations are already on. Rather, the deal may be closed any moment at an unheard of price.

How much does Aamir Khan charge for a film?

– Double of what he used to charge four years back. Maybe, he will give you dates after a year — to listen to the story, not for shooting!

DO YOU KNOW?

* Aishwarya Rai is easily the most ‘foreign-returned’ heroine today. Almost every single film of hers — JEANS, …AUR PYAAR HO GAYA, AA AB LAUT CHALEN, HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM, TAAL and forthcoming HUM PANCHI EK DAAL KE — has had portions shot abroad.

* Producer Salim and director Raj Kanwar are racing ahead to complete BADAL so that they can release it on 7th January next year, making it the first release of the new millennium. But already on the list of releases for the first week of year 2000 are MELA and KAHO NAA…PYAAR HAI.

* As a ‘special festival offer’, VIP Enterprises, the Bombay distributors of GODMOTHER, distributed free tickets to the first fifty ladies in the 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. shows on Friday (1st day) at Eros, the main cinema of Bombay. The festival offer will continue today (Saturday).

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

Multiplexes In Maharashtra: Nothing Official About It!

After a great show of enthusiasm initially, the Maharashtra government seems to have lost interest in the development of cinema multiplexes in the state. For, even after five months since the announcement of the tourism and multiplex policy, the government is yet to list it in the gazette. It is pertinent to note here that all government policies are ratified and come into effect only after publication in the gazette. Thus, Maharashtra government’s multiplex policy, announced in April this year, has yet to come into effect. Perhaps, the state government can take a leaf out of neighbour Gujarat government’s book. The latter has developed and, more importantly, put into effect a very comprehensive policy as far as entertainment complexes are concerned. As a result, state capital Gandhinagar has an exciting multiplex, City Pulse, already up and running, while another — Rajshri Movie World — is to open in some time. There are a few others which are in various stages of completion throughout the region. Hope the example won’t be lost on Maharashtra government officials who will soon — we hope, again — rectify their folly and take due action.

Tax Evasion, Andhra Style

Some cinema owners in the state of Andhra Pradesh have thought of a novel way to cheat the state government and are adopting it every week, thereby evading entertainment tax worth lakhs of rupees. The Andhra government grants entertainment tax concessions to cinemas screening Telugu films produced in the state. To take advantage of the concessions, some cinemas, even though they screen Hindi films, show names of Telugu films in their DCRs and other records. Of course, some officers of the Commercial Taxes department are hand-in-glove with such exhibitors who hoodwink the government into believing that their cinemas have screened Telugu films when actually they’ve shown Hindi or dubbed Telugu films. The concession, it may be mentioned, is available only to original Telugu films produced entirely in Andhra Pradesh. The Vigilance and Enforcement department recently conducted raids in several cinemas of the state and detected such irregularities. The concessions in entertainment tax had been granted in December ’95.

Howzzat For A Joke?

Now for a good laugh. There is this film due for an early release. And there is this over-enthusiastic guy who is presenting this ready-for-release film. The presenter, who was in Delhi last week, visited offices of exhibitors and cinema controllers in the capital city, accompanied by his Delhi-U.P. distributor. The two of them, perhaps, thought that they were the only smart ones this side of the hemisphere and that exhibitors and controllers are all duffers. For, this is what the presenter told the various exhibitors/controllers: “I’ve sold the film to him (pointing towards his distributor) for 75 lakh but I’m prepared to give him a profit of a further 75 lakh (alongwith his 75 lakh) if he is ready to relinquish the rights in my favour. My hero and I would like to distribute the film in Delhi-U.P. ourselves. We will, of course, release the film through his (again pointing to the distributor) office only, but….” When any exhibitor/controller would, out of courtesy (because, by then, he would realise that all of it is a cock-and-bull story to simply make the film ‘hot’ in exhibition circles), prompt the distributor to accept the presenter’s offer, the distributor would simply grin and shake his head to convey a “no”. This whole drama was repeated in several offices of the capital city, and one exhibitor even remarked, “If the presenter had only used his ultra-fertile brains at the time of story-writing, he may not have had to cook up this story as a ploy to create a hype around the film.” Anyway, ploy or no ploy, the film has hardly succeeded in generating any heat in exhibition circles. As a smart controller concluded, “It is not as if we will believe any and every story. After all, kya hum filmon ke liye marte hain!”

Joke Of The Week

As promised last week, here’s another interesting anecdote, courtesy music director Kalyanji:

Once when actress Raakhee was chatting with Kalyanji at his music room, she overheard him speak to his wife on the telephone. Through their conversation, Raakhee learnt that Kalyanji’s wife was observing the Jaya-Parvati vrat at the time. Curious to know more about it, the actress asked the music director what the vrat was in aid of. Kalyanji explained that it was what Gujarati women did so that they would get the same husband for their next seven lives. At this, Raakhee called up Saakarben (Kalyanji’s wife) and complained in a lighter vein, “This is absolutely unfair. You can’t ‘book’ such a jovial person like Kalyanji for yourself for seven consecutive lives! At least leave him for me in my next life!” Saakarben sportingly replied in an equally humorous manner, “Okay, I’ll let you have him in the next life. But, beware, dare you try to take liberties with him in this life!”