(From our issue dated 4th June, 1994)
LATEST POSITION
The heat wave in the North and other parts of India is taking its toll on the box-office collections.
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Jurassic Park (dubbed) proves the biggest blockbuster among dubbed films to-date as also of 1994 so far. 7th week Bombay (TF) 7,27,359 (51.55%) from 6 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,24,385 from 3 cinemas, Surat 11,731, Baroda 25,180 (35.31%), 6th Jamnagar 12,500 (7 shows); 7th week Pune (TF) 2,62,069 from 5 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur (TF) 42,912 (68.57%), Solapur (TF) 21,635 (14 shows), Satara (TF, 14 shows) 13,880, Nasik Road (TF) 49,303; Delhi 6,44,416 from 5 cinemas; 6th week Lucknow 1,51,664 from 2 cinemas, 7th Agra 42,749, 3rd week Allahabad 38,700, 5th Meerut (6 days) 46,680; 6th week Calcutta 9,45,836 from 16 cinemas; 7th Jabalpur 40,170, total 5,19,542, Amravati (TF) 42,396, 7th combined week Akola (TF) 50,500, 5th Raipur 45,705, 6th week Bhilai 30,690, 4th Jalgaon (TF) 49,000, 2nd week Wardha (TF) 25,614, 6th Bilaspur 15,504, total 2,05,000; 7th week Bhopal 29,362; Jaipur 1,10,725, 5th Jodhpur 90,000, 6th week Ajmer 37,575; 7th Hyderabad 1,09,143 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon).
Tejasvini 9th combined week Bombay (TF) 2,66,365 from 4 cinemas; 9th week Kolhapur (TF) 32,720 (65.68%), Solapur (matinee, TF) 7,725, 4th Nasik (TF) 34,500; 8th week Meerut (6 days) 26,919; 9th combined week Nagpur (TF) 96,676, 9th Amravati (TF) 37,975, Akola (TF) 32,650, 3rd week Jalgaon (TF) 48,634, 4th Bhusaval (TF, 6 days) 15,383.
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DO YOU KNOW?
* Before Rajesh Khanna entered national politics, he had a tutor teaching him the Constitution of India.
* Gitanjali Cinema, Nagpur has been screening tax-free films of Khan heroes of late. Instances: Ayub Khan’s SALAAMI, Shah Rukh Khan’s KABHI HAAN KABHI NAA, Aamir Khan’s JO JEETA WOHI SIKANDAR, QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK and HUM HAIN RAHI PYAR KE.
* Police had to resort to lathi charge at Manek, Akola last week to control the crowds for KRANTI (r.r.). According to Khanbhai of Khatri Film Enterprises, the exhibitor was quite reluctant to screen KRANTI (in its fifth run) and had to be almost forced to screen it. The result: record crowds and policemen to control them! Collection (at reduced rates): 63,919/-, a record for repeat-run films.
* LAADLA has created a city record by collecting 83,874/- in 2 weeks at Goyal, Kamptee. 2nd week collection: 35,708/-.
* DILWALE has created a record by collecting 1,87,371/- in 7 weeks at Alankar, Sagar (C.P.). The distributor’s share is a record 1 lakh!
* BEERA BEGO AAYEEJE (R., TF) has created a record by collecting 1,84,349/- in 1st week at Manprakash, Jaipur. 2nd week first day noon show: 7,848/-, full.
SNAPSHOTS
‘HOT’ PROJECT
Vinod Khanna’s film has become ‘hot’ even before its formal announcement, not to talk of the launching. Even though the music director has not been finalised as yet, at least one music company has offered Khanna 65 lakh for the film’s audio rights. One supposes, it is the father-son combination that has made the project so ‘hot’ – father as producer and son, Akshay Khanna, as the debut-making hero.
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SANJAY DUTT ‘CLEARED’
The Cine Artistes’ Association, which had decided to monitor the star-ceiling scheme, has reportedly cleared Sanjay Dutt for Subhash Ghai’s Trimurti. Sanjay is likely to participate, for the first time, in the film’s next shooting schedule.
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BUMPER HIT
Even as the Hindi dubbed version of Jurassic Park is doing unheard of business in India, the original English version is said to have crossed the 1-billion dollar mark in the world! Coming back to the Hindi version, it is expected to touch a crore each in West Bengal (25% of a major territory) and C.P. Berar (40% of a major territory).
YOU ASKED IT
Is the FMC-FDC settlement a victory for the producers or the distributors?
– If the agreement can be implemented properly, it would be a victory for both, producers and distributors.
How much extra would the prints of 1942 A Love Story with Dolby Stereo sound cost?
– The producers have decided to charge Rs. 10,000 extra for every print, whether mono or Stereo.
With so much hue and cry being raised over obscenity in films, do you think censors will become stricter?
– Whether or not the censors be come stricter, the producers themselves have realised that vulgarity/obscenity alone cannot guarantee success.
ARREST WARRANT FOR SANJAY KHAN
The first additional chief judicial magistrate of Mysore city court recently issued a non-bailable warrant against Sanjay Khan when he failed to appear before the court in connection with the Premier Studio fire tragedy case of February 1988, in spite of several extensions.
FILM CITY TO TIE UP WITH WARNER, UNIVERSAL
The Maharashtra Film Stage and Cultural Development Corporation, which runs the Film City in Bombay, is negotiating with Warner Bros., Universal Studios, American Television and companies in South Korea for special effects technology, computerised lighting and camera work and other processes.
New sets are also to be put up at Film City, according to its managing director, Govind Swarup. An additional air-conditioned studio is also on the anvil.
Incidentally, security has been beefed up in Film City. A retired major has been appointed.
NATIONAL AWARDS FUNCTION POSTPONED
The 41st National Film Awards function, scheduled to be held on June 4 in New Delhi, has been postponed. The new date will be announced in due course. However, public screenings of the award-winning films will be held from June 5 to 16, as per schedule.
INDUSTRY MEETS PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE
The film industry representatives had a meeting with the parliamentary committee on communications on 1st June in Delhi. Sex and violence in films were the main topics of discussion. Vimla Verma, MP, presided over the meeting.
The committee wondered how obscene songs were being passed by CBFC. FMC and CBFC chairman Shakti Samanta informed the committee that he had to merely sign the censor certificate and that films were not viewed by him. He also revealed that now film songs were being censored even before their telecast on Doordarshan or satellite channels. It is understood that the working of the CBFC will be improved now.
The committee is expected to make a report to Parliament soon. Other MPs who attended the meeting were L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Shravan Kumar Patel and Fazal Ahmed.
AFTER A MONTH!
There will be new film releases exactly after a month – from 10th June onwards. The FMC had suspended all releases after 6th May. Aa Gale Lag Jaa and Mohabbat Ki Arzoo were, consequently, the last releases. Anth and Jai-Kishen will be the first releases after the settlement of the FMC-FDC dispute over the issue of video release.
VIDEO PIRACY AGAIN?
With the FMC and the FDC having decided to delay video cassettes of films by two weeks and with the governmental machinery being as it is, the menace of video piracy may recur. Since release in Overseas (theatrical as well as video cassettes) would be simultaneous with theatrical release, it may not be possible to stop the proliferation of pirated video cassettes in the country. If the pirated ones do not come from abroad, they may also be made indigenously. Who will check them? The FMC? The FDC? The video distributor concerned? Or the circuit distributors? Or would it be the government? No body is clear on this aspect as yet. Yes, the recent amendments in the Copyright Act may help. But finally, it is the implementation of the amendments that will decide whether or not piracy can be stopped/checked.
Video Release Dispute: Chronology Of Events
(1) 25th November, 1993: The FMC and the FDC met in Indore and jointly decided to delay the release of video cassettes by 3 months from the date of theatrical release. 1st December, 1993 was fixed as the cut-off date, meaning that films started after 1-12-’93 would have video release delayed by 3 months.
It was also resolved at the Indore meeting that no films would be given for telecast on Doordarshan or any satellite channel before 5 years from the date of premiere release in the country.
(2) 11th February, 1994: The FMC, at a general meeting of producers, resolved to release video cassettes simultaneously with theatrical release of films. It rejected the Indore resolution of 25th November, 1993.
(3) 9th March, 1994: The FDC resolved that the 3-month delay would stay. In a meeting held in Bombay, it was decided that videos would be released only 3 months after theatrical release, as decided in the joint meeting of the FMC and FDC in Indore.
(4) 21st March, 1994: The FMC, at a meeting of its executive committee, decided to stick to its resolution for simultaneous release of video cassettes. It was resolved that there would be no delay in release of video cassettes.
(5) 1st May, 1994: The FMC, at a general meeting of producers, resolved to put off all releases after 6th May, 1994. It also reiterated its stand of simultaneous release of video cassettes.
(6) 11th May, 1994: East Punjab distributors (NIMPA) resolved that no distributor of the circuit would, until further directions, send any remittances to producers, whether the payment was towards signing amount, under-production instalments or overflow money.
(7) 12th May, 1994: CCCA (association of C.P.C.I. Rajasthan distributors and exhibitors) resolved to discontinue its joint tribunal with the Film Makers Combine.
(8) 20th May, 1994: Motion Pictures Association (MPA), Delhi, decided that distributors should not pay the instalments due to producers. They should also claim compensation/damages from the producers for not giving the delivery on the due date.
(9) 2nd June, 1994: FMC and FDC agreed, in Delhi, upon a 2-week delay of video cassettes. It was also agreed that cable TV rights would be sold for telecast not before 6 months from the date of a film’s premiere theatrical release. Telecast on DD and satellite channels not before 5 years from date of premiere theatrical release.
NEW RELEASES FROM 10TH JUNE
FMC-FDC Dispute Resolved
VIDEO CASSETTES TO BE DELAYED BY 2 WEEKS
The embargo on film releases has been lifted by the Film Makers Combine (FMC) following settlement of its dispute with the Film Distributors’ Council (FDC) in Delhi on 2nd June. It has been unanimously decided that video cassettes will be delayed for two weeks from the date of theatrical release. It has also been agreed that films will not be permitted to be telecast through cable TV for at least six months from the date of theatrical release and on Doordarshan and satellite channels, for five years.
Following the settlement, releases of films will re-start next week i.e. from 10th June. Anth and Jai-Kishen will be released on 10th, followed by Aatish on 17th. Vijaypath was scheduled for release on 24th June but it is subject to CBFC clearance. The revising committee viewed the film on 3rd June but its decision was not known to producer Dhirubhai Shah.
COMPROMISE FORMULA
Hectic meetings were held in Delhi between representatives of the FMC and the FDC on June 1 and 2. While the FMC had offered to delay video cassettes by a week, and cable TV telecast by three months, the FDC stepped down from its demand for a 3-month delay in release of video cassettes. It (FDC), however, insisted on a 4-week delay. A compromise was arrived at by extending the period of delay for video cassettes to 2 weeks and for cable TV telecast from 3 months to 6 months. For Doordarshan and satellite channels, the period of delay would be five years.
TENSION-CHARGED
The marathon meeting sessions were not without their moments of tension. IMPDA president N.N. Sippy and FMC representative K.D. Shorey were involved in a heated wordy duel and almost came to blows in the meeting on 1st June. At least on one more occasion besides when N.N. Sippy and K.D. Shorey had a heated exchange of words, it seemed as if the negotiation would break down. That was when the FDC demanded a minimum 4-week delay of video cassettes.
CUT-OFF DATE
The cut-off date for the 2-week video release is not yet certain. It is believed that producers of films started on or after 1st January, 1994 would have to delay their video cassettes by two weeks.
FDC NOT TO MONITOR STAR CEILING
The monitoring of the star-ceiling scheme was also left to be decided by the FMC and the Cine Artistes’ Association (CAA). The FDC had taken upon itself the monitoring of the scheme as it felt that the FMC was not doing the job properly. At the meeting in Delhi, it was decided that the FDC would not be concerned with the implementation of the star-ceiling scheme. As the CAA had, a few days ago, resolved to monitor the scheme itself, the meeting left the issue to be settled between the FMC and the CAA.
AGREEMENT ON 6TH JUNE
Although the dispute between the FMC and the FDC has been settled, a written agreement will be signed on Monday, June 6, in Bombay. FDC representatives G.S. Mayawala, G.D. Mehta, O.P. Mittal (all from Delhi), K.G. Dossani (Calcutta), Prabhat Bhushan (Patna), Yashpal Mittal, Dharam Pal Arora (both from Jalandhar), H.S.P. Rao (Bhusawal) and Vijay Rathi (Amravati) are expected to arrive in Bombay tomorrow (June 5) for the meeting on 6th. Prior to the joint meeting of the FMC and the FDC at IMPPA House, a meeting of the executive committee of the FDC will be held at the IMPDA office on 6th.
BOMBAY DISTRIBUTORS KEEN
Insiders reveal that had this settlement not been arrived at, chances were that the Film Distributors’ Council would have disintegrated. The Bombay distributors had reportedly made up their minds that enough was enough and that the dispute had to be settled, come what may. They had also conveyed this to their counterparts in Delhi and Bengal, it is learnt. Had the FDC been adamant on a 3-month delay of video cassettes, the Bombay distributors may have even split from the FDC.
CABLE TV RIGHTS
In the course of the negotiations between the FMC and the FDC, the latter put up a proposal that in the absence of a 3-month delay of video cassettes, distributors should be given the cable TV rights at least. Of course, the FMC rejected the proposal.
‘‘JURASSIC PARK’ IN EAST PUNJAB
Registered But Not Released
NIMPA TO MOVE SUPREME COURT
Following the Punjab and Haryana high court’s order of 20th May, the Northern India Motion Pictures Association (NIMPA) has registered the dubbed Hindi film, JURASSIC PARK, in favour of Anil Kapoor of N.M. Films for East Punjab. But that hasn’t improved matters for the distributor.
Exhibitors of Punjab are reportedly being pressurised by vested interests to refrain from screening the dubbed JURASSIC PARK. They are being threatened with non-supply of films in future for their cinemas if they would screen the dubbed film. One exhibitor of Ludhiana reportedly screened the film on 27th May but had to discontinue it the following day (on 28th), obviously bowing down to pressure tactics.
In the meantime, NIMPA has preferred an appeal in the Supreme Court against the high court’s order dated 20th May. It has stated that the high court was not empowered to pass the order which it did as it involved an internal matter of the Association. The appeal is likely to come up for hearing on June 6 or 7.
It may be recalled here that no dubbed films were hitherto registered by the NIMPA and, consequently, they could not be released in East Punjab circuit. The landmark decision of the high court has opened the gates of the territory for dubbed films, but vested interests, occupying positions in the NIMPA, continue to be against the release of such films. Why else would an Association go in appeal against a high court order which makes it possible for a distributor to release a dubbed film in East Punjab?
Unanswered Questions:
Tough Task Ahead For FMC, FDC
It is fine that the FMC and the FDC have sat across the table and thrashed out their differences, arriving at a settlement. All unilateral decisions taken by both the sides have naturally been withdrawn.
A settlement is a settlement and so long as the entire industry benefits from it, it is not to be assessed as to which side stands to gain more and which side, less. There has to be a give-and-take attitude, more so when a dispute of the dimension as the current one is sought to be settled.
Both, the FMC and the FDC, had realised that they had gone too far in their individual stands. Both were, in fact, keen on a settlement. This served to make things easier.
Although a broad agreement on the various issues has been arrived at, some questions still remain unanswered. The ambiguity on undecided secondary issues needs to be removed for the proper implementation of the agreement in letter and spirit. The unanswered questions that need the immediate attention of the FMC and the FDC are:
(i) What will be the cut-off date from which the resolution of the 2-week delay of video cassettes will come into effect?
(ii) What about films launched after the cut-off date but of which video rights have been sold for simultaneous release?
(iii) What about producers who launch their films after the cut-off date but enter into back-dated agreements for sale of video rights (simultaneous release) to circumvent the FMC-FDC resolution?
(iv) Who will be responsible for ensuring that video piracy does not restart?
(v) How do the FMC and the FDC propose to stop infiltration of video cassettes from Overseas?
(vi) How do the FMC and the FDC plan to ensure that films are not shown on cable TV before 6 months of their theatrical release?
(vii) Who would be responsible for cable TV telecast in violation of the FMC-FDC agreement?
(viii) What will be the course open to producers if video distributors refuse – as they will, in all probability, if the agreement is implemented in letter and spirit – to take delivery after two weeks of theatrical release be cause a film has flopped?
(ix) Will the FMC take action against a video distributor who releases video cassettes simultaneously with theatrical release or will that be left to the producer concerned? And what if the producer himself clandestinely permits the video distributor to release the cassettes simultaneously despite agreement to the contrary?
(x) How much will the quantum of penalty be for violation of the agreement?
(xi) What if video distributors decide to refrain from buying new films unless video cassettes are allowed to be released simultaneously?
All these questions need to be answered now. The settlement of the FMC-FDC dispute is just a fraction of an achievement. So that the achievement bears fruits, it is imperative that decisions be taken on the above matters also. If, not, the agreement will remain merely on paper and nothing will come out of it.
– Komal Nahta
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Salim-Devgan Together Again
Although producer Salim Akhtar and Ajay Devgan have had a tiff and have decided not to work with each other, Salim has repeated Ajay’s dad, Veeru Devgan, in The Don. Veeru had earlier composed the action scenes in Salim’s Jigar. Like Jigar, The Don is also being directed by Farogh Siddiqui.
K.P.S. Gill’s New Role
Punjab IGP K.P.S. Gill is not just a fan of Sridevi. He is also fond of acting, it seems. For, Mr. Gill has played the role of a DGP in producer-director Darshan Bagga’s Punjabi film, Mera Punjab. Indeed, the film’s title suits Gill more than anybody else!
