(From our issue dated 21st January, 1995)
Mani Ratnam’s Bombay has still not been cleared by the CBFC (Bombay). It is learnt from reliable sources that the CBFC is awaiting a green signal from the government of Maharashtra. It is also learnt that the Bombay regional office of the CBFC has repeatedly reminded the state government to give its decision on the film. Insiders feel, the decision will not be forthcoming before the assembly elections are completed in the state. Therefore, the release of the film before March is ruled out.
FILM PERSONS ON CBFC ADVISORY PANEL
Some more persons have been appointed members of the Bombay advisory panel of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with immediate effect. They are in addition to those appointed on 21st December, 1994. Most of the newly appointed persons are connected in one way or the other with the film industry.
The new members are: Satish Kulkarni, Mahesh Kothare, Ramdas Phutane, Vinay Kumar Sinha, Dinkar Chowdhary, Sheetal Jain, B.S. Shaad, Leena Sen, Virendra Singh Khurana, Harish Mohante, A.K. Bir, S.S. Thapa, Anand, J. Om Prakash, Nitin Mavani, Basu Chatterji, Jyothi Venkatesh, Narendra Desai, Asha Parekh, Tanuja, Farida Jalal, Sushama Shiromanee, Seema Deo, Shama Zaidi, Shobha De, Bhawana Somaaya, Supriya Pathak and Pamela (Mrs. Yash) Chopra.
KAUSHAL BHARTI PASSES AWAY
Noted film writer Kaushal Bharti passed away on 16th January in Bombay following heart failure. He was 65 and is survived by his wife, a son (actor Ashwin Kaushal) and a daughter.
Kaushal Bharti was in the army before he came into the industry. During his army days, he wrote a book, titled ‘From Gun To Pen’. The book was lauded by his friends in the army but he was pulled up by the top brass on the grounds of “not being responsible to his job”. He ran away from the army and came to try his luck in film acting. But he happened to meet Dilip Kumar who gave him a chance as an ‘unofficial writer’ in his own film, Gunga Jumna. Bharti was just a 20-year-old lad when he wrote this script. At 23, Dilip Kumar assigned him to write the script and dialogues for Dil Diya Dard Liya, made by late A.R. Kardar. Thereafter, he became Dilip Kumar’s favourite writer and wrote the scripts and dialogues for Ram Aur Shyam and Sunghursh.
Kaushal Bharti wrote subjects and dialogues for a number of other notable films like Bhai Ho To Aisa, Mela, Tere Mere Sapne, Gambler, Professor Pyarelal, Phandebaaz, Madhavi, Dil Ka Raja, Subah-O-Sham, Santosh, Agni, Buniyaad, Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Dharmatma, Janbaaz, Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat and Dalaal (Prakash Mehra). He had also written the commentary for the first 25 episodes of Sanjay Khan’s serial, Sword Of Tipu Sultan.
He had also produced and directed Darindafrom his own script.
At the time of his death, he was scripting Balbir Kumar’s Mahakranti.
DHARMENDRA BEREAVED
Kewal Krishan Deol, father of Dharmendra, passed away in Bombay on 15th January at 2.35 a.m. due to old age. He was in his eighties.
Of Cinema Cinema And A 100 Lapses
NFDC’s Cinema Cinema 100, a celebration show on the occasion of the centenary of cinema, directed by Subhash Ghai and held on 15th January at the NSCI, Bombay, was pathetically dismal. It looked totally incoherent and seemed to have been conducted without a proper script, what to talk of research. A massive show like this should have been planned with a lot of care and executed with even greater care.
But carelessness, rather than care, was the catchword at the show. Subhash Ghai cut a sorry figure when he tired in desperation to hold the show together — the show which had started showing signs of cracking badly, a few minutes after it got started.
It was pre-publicised as the show of shows, the greatest event, blah blah. And yet, there was no compere for such a ‘grand event’! To add to the miseries of the audience, Subhash Ghai had no text to refer to and so he said whatever came to his mind, in broken English and Hindi many times. And to add to the miseries of the organisers, the show was being covered live on Doordarshan. It must have been the first occasion when the small screen must have made the big screen-waalas look so small!
Veterans and legends whose contributions to the cinema industry have been gigantic, were carelessly omitted from the history of cinema. Could one imagine the Indian cinema industry in its present form without the works of Satyajit Ray, Lata Mangeshkar or S.D. Burman? On January 15, one did not have to imagine it. The Cinema Cinema 100 show presented the industry’s history without so much as a reference to these and hundreds of other stalwarts. Why?
To say that the audio-visual system failed, when it was supposed to start, is shameful. But that is what the organisers have said. What is cinema? An audio-visual show, of course. It, therefore, means that cinema failed on the occasion of centenary of cinema. Lumiere Brothers would have committed suicide had they been alive.
The star attendance at the show was indeed suicidal. Except for a handful of big names, many of the artistes did not show up for the show. To sustain audience interest in a show of the kind Cinema Cinema 100 was, star presence was of paramount importance. The audience who had paid Rs. 5,000 for one ticket, naturally felt cheated. After all, NFDC hadn’t promised them the stars in the sky, which were visible from the open-air stadium.
If on the one hand, heavy-weights of the Indian film industry were kept out of the show, Shiamak Davar was given so much prominence, it appeared as if he were a pillar of the industry! Davar and his troupe presented song and dance items which were good, but what was their relevance in a centenary show of cinema?
As if Davar wasn’t enough, choreographer Saroj Khan occupied the centrestage in the dance recital which was supposed to be choreographed by her. Since when have choreographers become dancers? Maybe, since the time directors became comperes. Or since the time Doordarshan switched on its cameras. After all, national coverage is no small event, right Saroj? Unfortunately, all what should have taken place back-stage was taking place in full public view.
The selection of clippings from films down the years was far from satisfactory. If the audience started hunting for logic in the clippings, it (audience) can blame only itself for that. Because, even the organisers would not be able to logically explain the inclusions and exclusions.
One learns that several items rehearsed for the show were simply not presented on the actual day. Which brings one to the more important question: were rehearsals actually held? Doesn’t seem so! For, if a rehearsal had been held, why did a show, announced at the start as a 3-hour extravaganza, stretch on for five hours? And what relevance did the fashion show have in Cinema Cinema 100? Instead, wouldn’t it have been better if regional language cinemas had been given more footage?
And whoever categorised the stars in such absurd classes as natural actors, dialogue actors, singing actors etc. etc.?
About the only interesting features in the show were Johny Lever’s item, Shah Rukh’s performance and Madhuri Dixit’s dance recital. And, of course, the gigantic set put up by art director Nitin Desai who was, at the end of it all, not even introduced to the public.
Little wonder then that the majority in the industry condemned the show in no uncertain terms. Why, B.R. Ishara went to the extent of rushing a telegram to I & B minister K.P. Singh Deo, airing his feelings thus: “After seeing 100 years of cinema, I wish cinema had died at the age of 99 years.”
Perhaps, the only consistent point about the show was that since it was an NFDC production, it had to fare like other NFDC productions. Yes, Cinema Cinema 100 indeed lived up to the NFDC reputation. Only thing, this one did not even have much artistic value.
YOU ASKED IT
Why was the response to the IFFI ’95 in Bombay not so encouraging?
– The charm of the festivals has reduced because video cassettes of several internationally acclaimed films, shown in the festivals, are available even before the festivals.
Is Amitabh Bachchan’s decision to corporatise the film industry wise?
– Yes, it can go a long way in streamlining the industry. It can also wean away the underworld from the industry. If it succeeds, more industry people will move in this direction.
It is rumoured that Sunny Deol will not be acting in Rakesh Roshan’sKoyla. Is it true?
– Yes, Sunny has opted out of KOYLA due to date problems. Shah Rukh Khan may now do the role.
DO YOU KNOW?
‘KARAN ARJUN’: CLEAN SWEEP IN 1ST WEEK
* Creates history by yielding a share of 2,46,000/- from Kalpana, Kurla, Bombay. This is more than 2 weeks’ share of KHAL-NAYAK from the same cinema.
* Creates a record by collecting 1,57,988/- at Jivanjyot, Surat.
* Creates a record in Kanpur by yielding a distributor’s share of 5,25,000/- from 4 cinemas.
* Yields a share of approximately 23 lakh in 1st week from East Punjab, including fixed hires of 4 stations.
* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,03,000/- at Rachna, Faridabad.
* Creates theatre records at both the cinemas of Amravati by collecting 1,10,004/- at Priya and 1,06,472/- at Shyam.
* Creates a theatre record by collecting 1,24,651/- at Abhay, Chandrapur.
* The first week’s share from C.I. is an unprecedented 15 lakh. In Indore alone, its share surpasses the six weeks’ share of HAHK..!.
* It has created theatre records at Sangeeta, Indore by collecting 1,60,380/- and at Premsukh, Indore by collecting 1,55,686/-.
* Creates theatre records at both the cinemas of Ujjain: Narendra 75,297/-; and Sundaram 1,05,976/-.
* Creates a city record by collecting 2,71,353/- at Premprakash, Jaipur. Also creates theatre records by collecting 2,67,000/- at Mayank, Jaipur, 1,70,769/- at Paras, Jaipur (32 shows full), and 2,20,052/- at Laxmi Mandir, Jaipur. 1st week’s share: 6,50,000/-.
* It is the first film in the history of Hyderabad and Secunderabad to be continued in 2nd week in as many as 11 cinemas. It was released in 12 cinemas in the first week.
* Dilshad Films, the Nizam distributors of KARAN ARJUN, have displayed 19 banners of the film in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Bangle shops in the old city have displayed cut-outs of Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan due to the importance of bangles in the film.
* The office of the Nizam distributors, Dilshad Films, Secunderabad, is flooded with requests for tickets and more tickets of KARAN ARJUN.
* Although Dilshad Films received more lucrative offers from exhibitors of Nizam, they did not go back on their earlier commitments and gave the film for screening only to those to whom they had committed.
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* Irfan Kamal whose debut-making film, CHAHOONGA MAIN TUJHE, did not fare well, is now being signed by reputed makers. He has bagged a film each of Nitin Manmohan, Sajid Nadiadwala and director Mahesh Bhatt (for producer Goldie Behl, son of late Ramesh Behl).
* HAHK..! is the first film in the last 32 years to celebrate silver jubilee at Chitra, Amravati. MUGHAL-E-AZAM and JIS DESH MEIN GANGA BEHTI HAI had celebrated jubilees at the cinema. Incidentally, like HAHK..!, MUGHAL-E-AZAM was also released on 5th August. Sweets will be distributed among cinegoers on Sunday (22nd January) to celebrate the film’s jubilee.
LONGEST TITLE
* Have you heard of a longer title than this one: SHREE SHREE RAJADHIRAJA SHREE SHREE MADHANA RAMARAJA SHREE SHREE VILASA RAJA SHREE SHREE MADHUBANA RAJA SHREE SHREE KRISHNADEVA DONGA RAJA? Well, this 20-word title is that of a Telugu film. It was censored in Madras on 14th December.
DUKHIRAM SWAIN DEAD
Veteran Oriya film actor Dukhiram Swain expired this week due to a heart attack. He was 70. Dukhiram had acted in over 100 Oriya films. He mostly played roles of villains.
