BICHHOO
Bhagwan Chitra Mandir’s Bichhoo (A) is the story of a young man whose mother and two sisters commit suicide after being subjected to humiliation of the meanest form. The man seeks revenge on the wrong-doers by taking law into his hands. Even after his revenge, he continues to indulge in killings and becomes a contract killer. A girl enters his life and changes the tough guy. She brings to fore the soft inside of the man even as she gets trained by him in using arms and ammunition. The girl, whose family is killed by a double-faced police officer, resolves to kill the officer and is aided in her endeavour by the young man. Ultimately, her mission is accomplished but in the action drama, her beloved is also killed.
The film has a fast pace in the first half and gives hardly any chance to the viewer to think. But after interval, its pace slackens and boredom creeps in at places. The tragic ending will not be liked by some. Besides this, two more drawbacks of the film are: (a) the hero takes his revenge before interval and, as such, there’s no mission in his life thereafter, and (b) there is scant consideration for law in the drama throughout the film. On the plus side are the abundant action and three good songs. Emotions are missing. Romance is limited. Climax, in which an army of police is called in to nab just one man housed in a building, looks exaggerated. Dialogues (Dilip Shukla) are okay.
Bobby Deol does a fair job. He however, needs to improve in dramatic scenes — especially his voice modulation when shouting his lungs out. Rani Mukerji is spontaneous and good in some scenes but average in others. Ashish Vidyarthi is a bit too stagey. Ishrat Ali has a fixed expression on his face. Avtar Gill does fairly well. Mohan Joshi is alright. Malaika Arora is okay in a guest appearance. Virendra Saxena acts ably. Sachin Khedekar leaves a mark. Siddharth, Farida Jalal, Mahavir Shah and Dolly Bindra lend good support. Shweta Shetty’s dance on the hit song, rendered by herself, is sexy. Hans Raj Hans and Ganesh Acharya are okay.
Director Guddu Dhanoa has made the film’s first half really racy, which is the best thing about the film. But his over-reliance on action and side-tracking of other ingredients of a masala fare is not desirable. Music (Anand Raaj Anand) is good. ‘Jeevan mein jaane jaana’, ‘Tote tote ho gaya’ and ‘Yehi hai arzoo’ are racy songs and their picturisations are good. But the placement of ‘Tote tote ho gaya’ is too early in the film. Background score is effective. Production and technical values are of standard.
On the whole, Bichhoo should do well in the North. In the other circuits, it will have to depend on its reasonable price on the one hand and its excellent start on the other, to come to its aid. Business in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres will be good.
Released on 7-7-2000 at Novelty and 23 other cinemas of Bombay thru Vimal Agarwal and R.M. Ahuja & Co. Publicity: excellent. Opening: very good. …….Also released all over. Opening was superb in U.P., East Punjab, Rajasthan and C.P.
LATEST POSITION
The first week’s business of REFUGEE is tremendous despite the drop in collections from the 4th day onwards everywhere. A definite commission earner.
Refugee 1st week Bombay 83,75,163 (93.78%) from 15 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 38,54,196 from 8 cinemas, Padra 4,50,502, Vapi 10,10,652 from 2 cinemas, Jamnagar 2,71,179, Adipur 2,25,788 (100%); Pune 20,51,699 from 7 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 2,56,934 (100%); Delhi 67,94,132 (81.65%) from 12 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 7,50,836 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 6,00,754, Agra 4,03,000, Varanasi 4,95,558, Allahabad 3,27,868, Bareilly (6 days) 2,16,162, Hardwar 2,00,000 (69.44%); Calcutta 33,84,040 from 14 cinemas; Nagpur 12,17,357 from 5 cinemas, Amravati 2,96,889, Akola 2,25,151 (95%), Bhilai 3,32,424, Jalgaon 3,00,062, Wardha (28 shows) 1,36,828, Chandrapur 2,87,456, Bilaspur 3,07,211 from 2 cinemas, Ballarpur 1,05,062, Itarsi almost 100%; Bhopal 4,32,024 from 2 cinemas (1 unrecd.); Jaipur 17,65,962 (74.72%) from 4 cinemas, Ajmer (29 shows) 1,80,611; Hyderabad (gross) 34,29,175 from 12 cinemas (1 in noon).
………….
Tarkieb drops further. 2nd week Bombay 5,86,442 (9 cinemas unrecd., 6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,37,358 from 4 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Baroda 1,04,881, 1st week Rajkot 1,00,450 (1 in matinee unrecd.); 2nd week Pune 5,46,376 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,91,784 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 12,94,371 from 8 cinemas; Kanpur 1,50,883 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,95,339, Agra 1,25,000, Varanasi 92,816, Allahabad 95,162, Bareilly (6 days) 42,000; Calcutta 1,92,221; Nagpur 47,916, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,17,007, Amravati (6 days) 1,38,334, Akola 75,434, Jalgaon 1,00,573; Indore 72,000, Bhopal 60,650; Jaipur 93,022; Hyderabad (gross) 2,88,209 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon).
Joru Ka Ghulam 3rd week Bombay 7,40,580 (50.08%) from 3 cinemas (9 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,90,398 from 3 cinemas (1 unrecd.); Solapur (matinee) 46,342; Delhi 1,67,798 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,49,653 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,18,044, Agra 1,63,000, Varanasi 85,049, Allahabad 61,243, Bareilly 29,715; Calcutta 1,40,199; Nagpur 93,376, Amravati 89,650, Wardha 30,064, Sagar (5 days) 21,971; Indore 94,000 (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 1,17,607 from 2 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 2,98,879 from 2 cinemas.
Josh 4th week Bombay 30,96,967 (59.69%) from 11 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,00,329 from 2 cinemas, Rajkot 1,70,690, Jamnagar 26,792; Pune 5,44,307 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 96,590 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Barsi 65,927; Delhi 10,12,239 from 5 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,42,769 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,30,273, Agra 73,500, Varanasi 78,906, Allahabad 59,093, Bareilly (6 days) about 42,000, Muzaffarnagar 46,000, total 2,81,616; Calcutta 2,51,506; Nagpur 2,01,418 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 62,770, Amravati (6 days) 1,10,763, Akola 52,104, total 5,37,490, Jalgaon 95,526 (3rd 94,427); Jaipur 1,83,671, Ajmer (gross, 28 shows) 79,035; Hyderabad (gross) 4,75,139 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon).
Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai 25th week Bombay 4,04,297 (33.27%) from 3 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,09,392 from 6 cinemas, Baroda 81,511; Pune (matinee) 26,600, Solapur (6 days) 63,870; Delhi 3,35,856 from 3 cinemas; Kanpur 52,563, Lucknow 1,26,009, Agra 44,700, Varanasi 66,277, Allahabad 30,113; Nagpur 76,290 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 41,690, total 26,59,016, Amravati 41,095, Akola 58,531, total 26,80,881, Raipur 44,789, total 26,58,614, share 19,33,242, Jalgaon 47,430, total 25,06,664; Bhopal 42,000, total 36,12,481; Hyderabad (gross) 2,17,423 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon, 2 on F.H.); 2nd week Guntur (r.r., gross) 65,446, 1st week Ongole (r.r., gross) 77,681.
VASHU BHAGNANI TO FETE ISMAIL DARBAR
Producer Vashu Bhagnani will host a party at Hotel Guestline, Juhu, Bombay, this evening (8th July) in honour of the music director of his Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa, Ismail Darbar, who has bagged the National Award for the best music of 1999. The award was for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
The audio cassettes of TJCG will also be released by Tips at the same function.
GUDDU DHANOA HOSPITALISED
Producer-director Guddu Dhanoa was admitted to the ICCU of Nanavati Hospital in Bombay on 6th July, a day before the release of his Bichhoo. He complained of chest pain on 5th, was admitted to a private nursing home for a few hours and took a discharge the same night. When his condition deteriorated on 6th, he was hospitalised. His condition is stable and he is likely to be discharged shortly.
‘BICHHOO’ VCDs IN MARKET BEFORE THEATRICAL RELEASE
On a complaint lodged by Prakash Laxman Utekar, field officer, Feature Films Copyright, PSIs Shirish Inamdar and S.D. Ingule conducted a raid at shop no. 39 at Musafirkhana, Bombay, and arrested the shop owner, Imran Aziz Khan, who was selling pirated VCDs of Josh and Bichhoo. While Bichhoo was released in the cinemas on 7th July, its VCDs were available one day earlier (6th July)!
‘REFUGEE’ CASSETTES SEIZED
The Balaghat police seized illegal video cassettes of Refugee in a raid conducted on 4th July. The police acted on a complaint lodged by local representative M.P. Mishra, and M.S. Rathore, manager, Shyam Talkies, Balaghat.
CMM TO START MUSIC CHANNEL
After the launch of its religious channel, ‘Aastha’, CMM will be launching a 24-hour music channel in premium digital mode. The channel will be positioned on the global beam of Thaicom-3. A complete music channel, it will have programmes dedicated to film, non-film and pop music. According to CMM’s managing director, Kirit C. Mehta, “During the trial phase, we will have truncated telecasts of Aastha and CMM music channel, both at different time zones on a single channel. In the coming weeks, both, Aastha and CMM music channel, will be telecast on different channels.” The test signals of the channel have already started.
The CMM music channel will beam programmes like ‘Coming Soon’, ‘On The Tracks’ (dedicated to old songs), ‘Deadly Medley’ (for film trailers), ‘Hum Tum’ (which will have soft romantic numbers), ‘Fresh Hai Bhai’ (new songs) and so on.
WALTER MATTHAU DEAD
One of America’s best-loved comic film stars, Walter Matthau, breathed his last on 1st July in Los Angeles following cardiac arrest. Matthau, who had a history of heart problems, was 79.
He spent five decades in show business and acted in more than 60 films. He won an Oscar in 1996 for the best supporting actor for his performance in Billy Wilder’s The Fortune Cookie. Matthau won a Tony award for his stage work in A Shot In The Dark. Some of his very popular films are The Odd Couple, Grumpy Old Men, Grumpier Old Men, Buddy Buddy, The Front Page, Kotch and The Sunshine Boys.
ANOTHER MYTHOLOGICAL FROM DHEERAJ KUMAR
Creative Eye Limited will launch a mega serial, Jai Jai Shree Ganesh, on July 10 at Film City. Director: Dheeraj Kumar. Script: Darshan Lad and Vikas Kapoor. Music: Sharang Dev. Lyrics: Abhilash.
SUDHAKAR BOKADE CLARIFIES
At a press conference called by him on 4th July, producer Sudhakar Bokade clarified that the news published in a Marathi daily that he had attempted suicide by consuming an overdose of sleeping pills was “totally false”. “I am hale and hearty,” he told Film Information in a telephonic conversation. Information had also published a report last week, based on the report of the Marathi daily. The error, though inadvertent, is regretted.
NATIONAL FILM AWARDS
‘SARFAROSH’ ADJUDGED BEST POPULAR FILM
Sarfarosh, produced and directed by John Mathew Matthan, was adjudged the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, at the 47th National Film Awards. A triumph indeed for Matthan, a first-timer in the arena of feature filmmaking! Malayalam film Vanaprastham, directed by Shaji N. Karun, was adjudged the best film in the feature films category. The film also won the best actor award for Mohanlal. Kiron Kher bagged the best actress award for her unusual performance in the Bengali film, Bariwali, directed by Rituparno Ghosh. Incidentally, Bariwali happens to be Kiron Kher’s home production, and she has acted in a Bengali film for the first time.
The best supporting actor award went to Atul Kulkarni for Hey! Ram, while Sohini Haldar and Sudipta Chakraborty shared the best supporting actress award for their performances in Paromittar Ek Din and Bariwali (both Bengali) respectively.
The best director award was bagged by Buddhadev Dasgupta for Uttara (Bengali). The award for the best first film of a director was shared by Shekhar Kappula’s Dollar Dreams and Ashwini Chaudhury’s Laado (Haryanvi).
Music director Ismail Darbar, who made his debut with Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, bagged the award for the best music director.
YOU ASKED IT
With CVDs (compact video discs) coming out in the illegal market even before the film is released in cinemas, would it not be wiser to delay the Overseas delivery by a week?
– It may be wise, but it is not practical at all. Overseas territory, which fetches several crores for a big film, may not fetch even 50% of the price after a week of release.
Amitabh Bachchan is striking public attention for his television game-show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, his son, Abhishek, is winning a lot of appreciation on his debut in Refugee. And what’s more, Amitabh has almost cleared his dues of ABCL. Does it mean that happy days are here again for AB?
– Maybe, baby!
What do you predict for Aftab Shivdasani?
– He is a very spontaneous actor. He should lose a little weight and improve his latecoming habit, that is to say, he should not make people on his sets wait!
DO YOU KNOW?
* REFUGEE has created a record at Krishna, Padra (Gujarat) by collecting 4,50,502/- in 1st week (28 shows).
* REFUGEE has created a city record by collecting 10,10,652/- in 1st week from 2 cinemas of Vapi: Shree (6,25,882/-) and Vaishali (3,84,770/-).
* REFUGEE has created a city record in Jaipur by collecting 8,31,170/- in 1st week at Raj Mandir. Admission rates were hiked for the film, because of which it did not record 100% collections at the cinema. Nevertheless, such a figure has never been recorded in the pink city.
* KN…PH has created history in Raipur by yielding the highest ever share of 19,33,242/- in 25 weeks from Anand. 25th week’s collection: 44,789/-, city record. Total 26,58,614/-.
* KYA KEHNA! has become a favourite with the ladies and the youngsters at Krishna, Raipur, thanks to the cinema’s manager, Gurmit Singh Gurudutta, and local representative Lucky Rangshahi (of Shree Rang Films, Amravati), who have been experimenting with new methods of promotion of the film. Currently, a quiz, woven around the film, is being conducted for the public. This is not only soliciting public participation but also getting in the audience!
* In view of Subhash Ghai’s TAAL being the first Indian film to have been insured, United India (the insurance company which provided the cover) has decided to name its film policy after Ghai’s banner (Mukta Arts) as ‘Mukta Cine Policy’. This announcement was made by the insurance company on 6th July at Mukta Arts’ press conference in Bombay.
* In keeping with the excitement and craze for the film among the people of Bhuj, REFUGEE was released last week at not one, but two cinemas of Bhuj — Modern and Ravi. For the first time in Bhuj, a new film was released at two cinemas. It may be mentioned here that REFUGEE was extensively shot at Bhuj.
* Urmila Matondkar will be the much-seen actress in the coming weeks. She stars in three films which are to be released in close proximity to each other: JUNGLE, KUNWARA and DEEWANE. Her co-stars are all different — Fardeen Khan, Govinda and Ajay Devgan.
A Cut In Time…
J.P. Dutta bowed to public demand and re-edited his Refugee mid-week. The film was found by the audience to be too lengthy and boring in parts. Even before Dutta could effect cuts, his distributors had chopped off portions they felt were dull. Word had spread among his distributors on Friday (30th June) itself that cuts were being effected without J.P.’s consent and they exchanged notes on the various cuts to be carried out.
Not just J.P. Dutta, most directors become very sentimental when it comes to re-editing their films. But the harm the delay in cutting the dull portions does cannot be overlooked. For, the people, who see the full-length film, cannot be stopped from spreading the word that it is boring.
There have been several cases of directors delaying re-editing. Subhash Ghai refused to cut his Pardes short but had to budge from his stand on the second day of release itself. Indra Kumar would hear nothing about picking up the scissors after the release of Mann, but he had to reconsider and re-edit it after five days of the release. Why, J.P. Dutta himself re-edited his previous film, Border, after it hit the screens. What the makers don’t take into consideration is that after they’ve effected the cuts here in Bombay, it takes two to three days to carry out the corrections across the country. The loss ultimately is theirs.
In the particular case of Refugee, the two necomers — Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor — had found such a universal acceptance that the audience was willing to overlook the fact that the film was boring in parts. Now that it’s been re-edited by about 12 minutes by J.P. — and another eight to ten minutes by distributors and exhibitors — the pace has become faster.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the film will not be a loser in any circuit despite very mixed reports. The bumper initial was a boon. In most of the territories, Refugee should fetch commission for its distributors. The Bombay distributor’s billing in the first week itself (including MGs and FHs) is about 75% to 80% of the investment. Ditto the Delhi-U.P. distributor. The East Punjab distributor has covered his entire investment in the first week. The C.I. distributor has earned a share equivalent to 65% of his MG royalty. The C.P. Berar distributor has recovered 60% of his MG royalty in 7 days. With such impressive figures, it shouldn’t be a surprise even if a couple of distributors share overflow with J.P. Dutta.
Dutta, on his part, should keep the publicity and promotion of the film in full gear. In fact, television promotion needs to be stepped up. Unlike in the case of re-editing, J.P. should not delay refuelling the promotional campaigns. Collections have dropped at most of the places, but the drop in 90% of the cases is not continuous. Sustained publicity can steady the collections even further.
* * *
If Boney Kapoor releases his Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai on 11th August, it will be a Himalayan blunder that he will be committing. The music cassettes of the film are due to be released around 20th July. That means, the gap between the audio release and the film’s release would be barely 21 days! Anil Kapoor starrers normally don’t take good initials, so what would it be without proper promotion of music? Distributors and exhibitors shudder to think! Wonder, why Boney Kapoor doesn’t see reason and postpone the release by two or three weeks. As it is, there are far too many releases in the coming weeks — till 18th August. Therefore, August 25 or September 1 should be a more ideal release date for Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai. Why kill the dil?
– Komal Nahta
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Kaun Banega…?
Whether anyone will succeed or not in becoming a ‘crorepati’ in the Kaun Banega Crorepati television show is to be seen. But Amitabh Bachchan has already become one — by hosting the show. Yes, the actor is reportedly being paid several crores for anchoring the show. So, kaun banega crorepati? Of course, Jaya ka pati!
A Paanch-Star Gesture
Producer Tutu Sharma sure knows how to reward talent. Vijay Maurya, one of the five heroes of his Paanch, will never forget the night when, in a split second, Tutu made the actor’s long-cherished dream a reality. It was late night when Tutu and his team had seen the rushes of about 80% of Paanch. Tutu was thrilled with the rushes and with the work of new director Anurag Kashyap, heroine Tejaswini Kolhapure, and all his five heroes. Vijay Maurya’s performance, in particular, had left Tutu stunned. Outside the preview theatre, Tutu asked Vijay, a resident of Moradabad, what his dream was. The newcomer was hesitant and Tutu had to prod him on to open up. The simpleton replied, a little apprehensively, “Sir, nobody in the three generations of my family I have known, has ever possessed a car. I want to earn enough money to some day own a car.” Tutu took Vijay outside where his Maruti Zen was parked and, handing over the car keys to Vijay, said, “Here, this car is yours. I had bought it three months back, but I think, you deserve it.” Vijay couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. He thought, it was all a dream. Actually, it was the realisation of his dream! The story did not end there. The next morning, Tutu, a little scared, broke the news to his wife, actress Padmini Kolhapure. He was scared because he had given away the family car without so much as informing his wife. Padmini Kolhapure heard Tutu’s story and had just this to ask her husband. “Are you happy about having made Vijay happy?” Tutu replied, “I’m very happy.” Padmini then said, “I’m happy if you are happy.”
‘Gadar’ — Violence In The Midst Of Shooting
Zee’s Gadar – A Love Story is a period film of love in the midst of violence. And the film’s unit has encountered violence wherever the film has been shot. Some time back, there were protests and threats against the shooting at Imambara in Lucknow. During the recent shooting at Amritsar railway station, a huge crowd of locals gathered on day one of the shooting and some of them indulged in stone-throwing. The local police, therefore, had to resort to lathi-charge. However, the situation was brought under control with the help of policemen and railway authorities in Amritsar and the shooting was completed over the next three days. A steam engine was brought all the way from Delhi railway museum and the Amritsar railway station was repainted to lend the ambience of 1947 when the migration took place from both the sides of the border following the announcement of Partition. The whole gadar-like situation (gadar means ‘mutiny’) was escalated due to the participation of stars like Sunny Deol, Amrish Puri and Amisha Patel. Secondly, it was after over a decade that a film was being shot in Punjab. It is being shot since the last one month at Ferozpur, Amritsar, Dunera, Dalhousie and Pathankot. According to Nittin Keni, who is producing the film for Zee, “The inspiration behind the shooting in Punjab was Vinod Khanna, the MP from Gurdaspur. Full co-operation was extended by all his associates and campaign managers, who helped the unit at every step.” The film is being directed by Anil Sharma.
Leela Chitnis: Lonely In America
Character actress Shashikala, who was on a holiday in the United States and Canada recently, returned to Bombay with a heavy heart and sad memories. While on her holiday, she met a grocer in Connecticut, who informed her of the pathetic condition in which yesteryear’s superstar was living. Shashikala immediately went to see her. There, at a nursing home for the aged, she found Leela Chitnis! The lady who, till not long ago, was playing the doting mother’s roles, was lying all alone, abandoned by her family and friends and without a cent to her name. Only a kindly nurse was looking after her daily needs. Leela did not recognise Shashikala when she went to meet her and, in fact, is not in a condition to recognise anyone. A distressed Shashikala related this sad story to her journalist-publicist-friend, Hilla Sethna. Where are the veteran actress’ loved ones, one is led to ask!
This Wasn’t Off The Mark!
A first-year B.Com. paper on Mercantile Law at the M.S. University in Baroda, asked the candidates to write a short note on “offer and acceptance”. For one student, the answer lay in the offer of love by Amisha Patel in KN…PH and its acceptance by Hrithik Roshan.
The student’s answer read: “Amisha Patel offered a hand to Hrithik Roshan. Amisha Patel was after Hrithik Roshan like anything. Amisha Patel was from a very rich family. Hrithik Roshan was from a poor family. There was a villain between the two, who was her father. Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel were in deep love. They used to sing songs, run around the trees, sit together for hours and look into each other’s eyes.”
Did the answer get a big zero? Surprisingly, not! The answer was ‘accepted’ by the examiner who ‘offered’ the student a good six marks! Kaho naa…aisa aur kahin hota hai?
SHOOTING COVERAGE
MATTERS OF THE HEART
Is 28th June the day of the festival of colours? Holi usually falls in the month of March, then what’s the unit of Boney Kapoor’s Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai doing with colours in Hyderabad? We’d been told, they were wrapping up the patch-work shooting of the film, but then, the white shirt of director Satish Kaushik is dotted with red, blue, yellow and green colours. So is the white shirt of the assistant cameraman. Ditto the colourful shirts of several other unit members. Boney had earlier mentioned that Johny Lever’s character in Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai is of a person who, when happy, celebrates any festival — be it Diwali, Holi or any other — any day. We wonder whether real life is emulating reel life and the unit-wallahs are following in the footsteps of Johny’s character. But we don’t have to wonder for long. Standing near the director’s chair on the set at Padmalaya Studios, plonk comes a coloured water drop on our shoulders! It’s the huge multi-coloured umbrella under which is placed Satish’s chair and the television monitor that’s responsible for the colourful welcome to us. You see, it’s been raining in Hyderabad, and the colours of the umbrella, which happened to be new, are running. No celebrations, no festivities!
BONEY’S ‘QUICKIE’
Actually, there is celebration in the evening. The film’s completion is reason enough for Boney to throw an impromptu party. It’s not just the completion but rather the quick completion which is the underlying point here. As Anil Kapoor, the film’s hero and co-producer, says, “It’s been completed in less than even a year.”
SATISH KAUSHIK MISSES A HEART BEAT
Satish Kaushik looks a trifle nervous at the party. The reason for his nervousness, which comes to light with the rising sun the following day, is quite cute. The director, not able to cope up with his nervousness any longer, telephoned Anil Kapoor in his hotel suite and told his actor the cause of his worry. As it happened, Boney had seen the rushes of the film in Bombay on the morning of 28th before leaving for Hyderabad, but he had not given any comments to Satish Kaushik about the film. This had made Satish nervous enough to think of the worst. “Maybe, Boney has not liked the film and is, therefore, avoiding talking to me about it,” the crest-fallen comedian-cum-actor told Anil. When Anil conveyed the director’s fears to his producer-brother, Boney could only laugh. “I didn’t tell him anything because there’s not much to be changed,” he told Anil. Then, explaining the same thing to Satish who was on tenterhooks, Boney reached Satish’s suite to reassure him that the film had shaped up very well and to discuss the “minor changes” that were to be effected.
A relaxed Satish is back at Padmalaya after being let down by rains for more than two hours. The patch-work scenes, which were to be shot outdoors, could not be shot due to the rains. In the studio, scenes with Anil Kapoor and Sonail Bendre are canned. “Just passing shots,” Anil informs. Literally so because Sonali is seated in a car which is supposed to be passing by!
AISH CRIES, SATISH SMILES
After these shots, a whole scene is reshot. It is an emotional encounter between Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai when the latter is packing her bags to leave the former’s home forever. The scene had been shot earlier but, both, Anil and Aishwarya, as well as Satish Kaushik felt, it could be improved by performances with a little more of feeling. Glycerine in Aish’s eyes, sorrow in Anil’s eyes — one take, two takes, three takes… after a few more, it’s joy in the director’s eyes. This is how he had wanted the scene.
A DIFFERENT STORY
Boney Kapoor lets us in on the story. Remake of the Telugu hit, Pelli Cheskundam (“don’t ask me the spelling, you please contact Mr. D. Rama Naidu for that,” jokes Boney), the film is about two principled human beings, Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai. The film opens with a scene showing Anil, Aish and two kids. The audience is led into believing that theirs is a happy and complete family, but a couple of reels later, the truth is revealed. Anil and Aish are no man and wife and the little girl and boy are not the kids of either of them. As the story unfolds, you are informed that Aish is a rape victim, spurned by her family and best friend, secluded by society. Her rape was the result of her stand against a goonda — in other words, a result of her stand on a matter of principle. Anil Kapoor, who has met Aish briefly before her rape and rejection, offers her his home to live in. With nowhere else to go, Aish starts living with Anil. The two kids are Anil’s step-brother and -sister. Anil had gotten to know of his dad’s extra-marital alliance, from the dying mother of the two innocent children and he had confronted his father to give the two kids their rightful place in society. Scared to own up his waywardness, Anil’s father had point-blank denied any alliance with any woman, which had led the principled Anil to leave his own home and stay separately with his half-brother and -sister. It is in this home that Aish lives with the trio.
OF VOWING AND WOOING
Anil slowly but surely begins to love Aishwarya but the latter holds him in too high an esteem to even think of marriage with him. Enters Sonali Bendre who vows to bring back Anil to his parental home and woos him to win his heart. Aish feels jealous of Sonali. Hey! wait, isn’t this love? Aish has to admit that she, too, loves Anil. Just when you think, all’s well and that will end well, comes the bolt from the blue. The pre-climax and climax, quite understandably, have drama and melodrama as their high-points.
5-STAR COMEDY
Boney is quite confident that the five comedy tracks in the film — Anupam Kher, Johny Lever, Jaspal Bhatti, Satish Kaushik and a newcomer being the comedians — would appeal a great deal to the masses. Anupam Kher, a much married man, is in love with his neighbour’s wife and he pretends to be a somnambulist (one who walks in his sleep) to escape to the neighbour’s house every night. Johny Lever’s is the other comedy track, and the third light track is that of Jaspal Bhatti. Satish plays Anil’s secretary. The comedy of the newcomer, who is a look-alike of a veteran actor, springs from his single suit which he wears every day.
RELEASE DATE
When asked how he would release the film on 11th August when its music had not yet been released, Boney admitted quite frankly, “See, it is not as if the music of my film is going to draw the audience to the cinemas. Mine is a story-based film and its music will grow after the film is released. Even otherwise, Anil-starrers don’t take such a great start that I should be unduly concerned about the popularity of my film’s music prior to its release. I’ve got special posters printed with the release date (11th August) prominently displayed on them… I am confident of both, the film and its music.” Anil Kapoor adds, “Even if the film’s music is out on 10th August, we will release the film on 11th August.” Although the confidence of the two brothers is appreciable, still, we don’t quite see reason for them to hurry with the release of the film, a decision which they may have to regret later!
Brother Anil is branching out into independent production with Anupam Kher and Satish Kaushik as his partners. Called Voice, his company will produce feature films and is already into production of software for television. To a question about how Anil would cope with the production problems alongside his acting career, the actor replied, “Even now, I am a producer. So, nothing’s going to change. I will not get into the day-to-day business of production. Plus, Boney is always there to help us.”
ESHA, “A STAR IN THE MAKING”
About the heroine of his Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe, which Boney shot in early June in the US, the producer says, “Esha Deol will be a big star, mark my words. She is simply remarkable.”
– Komal Nahta
