(From our issue dated 2nd July, 1994)
MOHRA
Trimurti Films Pvt. Ltd.’s Mohra (UA) is an action and suspense film. The suspense is revealed mid-way. A lady journalist initiates an attempt to get a young man who is undergoing life imprisonment, released by proving him not guilty. The attempt bears fruit and the young man is released from jail. But he is exploited by a man for his (the latter’s) personal gain. When the young man realises that he is being used as a pawn in somebody’s hand, that too, for an illegal cause, he revolts. Supporting him is a police inspector.
The film has a big canvas and, although the story and screenplay are not free from flaws, the presentation is both, fast-paced and sleek, thereby making up for the negative points. Action is in abundance. Romance and songs come at the appropriate places. The turns and twists are interesting and the climax is a suitable finale to the entire drama. To top it all, there is the ‘Mast mast’ song which is already a veritable rage. Dialogues (Dilip Shukla) are weighty.
Naseeruddin Shah comes up with a winning performance and uses the perfect amount of restraint for a role that has various shades. He is superb. Akshay Kumar gets lesser scope but he does full justice to his character. His ‘Mast mast’ dance is lovely and so are his action scenes. Sunil Shetty scores in action as well as emotional scenes and has some clapworthy stunts to perform. His entry is brilliant. Raveena Tandon looks very glamorous and shines in this male-dominated set-up. Her dances are good. Paresh Rawal does an excellent job, playing to the gallery and entertaining with his comedy. He provides relief at various places. Sadashiv Amrapurkar is good. Gulshan Grover impresses; his ‘dirty mind’ dialogue is catchy. Raza Murad is effective. Harish Patel’s stretched ‘hain’ is enjoyable. Tej Sapru, Yunus Perwaiz, Vinay Sapru, Kunika and Sonali Singh lend good support. Poonam Jhawer does not impress. Dinesh Anand, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Avtar Gill, Priya Tendulkar, Gavin, Aparajita (she has slimmed down), Anil Nagrath and the rest are adequate.
Rajiv Rai scores in direction and makes the film a visual treat. Viju Shah’s music has the super-hit ‘Mast mast’ number. ‘Pyar karo’ is very well-tuned and its picturisation is superb. The other songs are okay. Background music is effective. Locations are wonderful. Camerawork (Damodar Naidu) is top class. Production values are lavish. Other technical aspects are of a high standard.
On the whole, Mohra has taken an extraordinary start and will keep everybody amply satisfied. It has the potential to do ‘A’ class business, thanks to the wonderful start. First week’s business is destined to be historic.
Released on 1-7-’94 at Novelty and 31 other cinemas of Bombay thru Modern Movies. Publicity: excellent. Opening: unprecedented. …….Also released all over. Opening was breathtaking everywhere; police had to be called in to control the crowds at several places.
YOU ASKED IT
On the basis of the first half of 1994, how do you look at the second half of the year?
– It should be exciting.
Which film is Mahesh Bhatt busy with these days?
– He is shooting for GENTLEMAN and a Telugu film down South.
How is the film market currently?
– Films are being announced aplenty. Deals are being concluded briskly.
Are action films in again?
– When were they out?
MIX MASALA
TOP TOUCH!
It started at the hands of the superstar. And it is concluding at the hands of the thespian. That’s Saawan Kumar’s Chaand Kaa Tukdaa. Amitabh Bachchan had sounded its clapper-board for the muhurt shot. And its first negative was cut on 1st July by none other than Dilip Kumar.
REPEAT REACTION
Good music never dies. Even in its repeat-run at Metro, Bombay, the audience watching Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke go berserk during the screening of the super-hit song, ‘Ghunghat ki aad mein’. They shower coins and even start dancing to the beat of the tune.
PERFECT TIMING
Some distributors of Waqt Hamara Hai have taken advantage of Mohra and re-released it this week. Besides Mohra, Waqt Hamara Hai is the only film starring Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty together. A mast mast planning, this!
DO YOU KNOW?
* The Madras regional office of the CBFC is functioning without a head for almost ten months now. It has no full-time regional officer since September ’93.
* Jimmy Nirula’s SAZA, directed by Dayal Nihalani and starring Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty, is closed for all-India even before the commencement of its shooting.
* Mehmood, who directs Canmore Cinema’s DUSHMAN DUNIYA KA, also stars in it and plays ‘Bakriwala Baba’. In keeping with the mood of the character, he will record a qawwali for the film on 9th July with goats participating in the recording. Mehmood himself will render the qawwali, penned by Ravindra Jain and tuned by Anu Malik. The goats will provide the alaaps.
* Not only has MOHRA, directed by Sonam’s husband, Rajiv Rai, been released this week, Sonam’s film, DO FANTOOSH, has also hit the screens simultaneously.
* MOHRA has created a theatre re cord by collecting 19,431/- on the opening day (6 shows) at Uday, Akola. All shows were full.
* MOHRA has created a theatre record by collecting 28,000/- on the 1st day (6 shows) at Gangashree, Bilaspur. 1st day Balram, Bilaspur 18,392/- in 5 shows.
* MOHRA has created a C.P. Berar record by collecting 38,915/- on the opening day at Prabhat, Raipur.
* MOHRA has created a city record by collecting 20,064/- (full) on the 1st day at Sapna, Chandrapur.
* MOHRA has created a city record by collecting 32,664/- (all full) on the opening day at Uttam, Bhilai. It has collected 18,877/- on the 1st day at Geet, Bhilai. Total: 51,541/-, all-time city record.
* CHEETAH has created a theatre record by collecting 69,048/- (cap. 80,029/-; 86.27%) in 1st week at Jagat, Bareilly.
* LOLA has created a city record for English films by collecting 8,069/- (nett) on the opening day at Arti, Wardha, in spite of the opposition of AATISH in two cinemas.
* WAQT HAMARA HAI was released in its second run at Amrit, Raipur on 10th June in 6 shows, in spite of opposition of MOHRA. Six shows are usually held for new films. WAQT HAMARA HAI collected 1,513/- in the 6 a.m. show.
IMPDA TO COLLECT RS. 10 PER PRINT FOR FFI
The Film Federation of India is on a drive to augment its financial strength. It has appealed to all its member-associations to contribute to its coffers.
Towards this end, the IMPDA has decided to collect Rs. 10 per print from every distributor-member on the film prints they take from the laboratory. The existing levy of Rs. 50 per film at the time of registration, which was introduced to augment the funds of the FFI, stands withdrawn.
The new levy (of Rs. 10 per print) will have to be deposited with the Association (IMPDA) which would credit the amount to a separate head for onward transmission to the FFI. It would apply to all prints of new films taken out on and from 1st July, 1994.
AMRAVATI CINE CLUB HALL INAUGURATED
The newly constructed hall of Amravati Cine Club in Walkat compound, Amravati, was inaugurated by CCCA president Santosh Singh Jain on June 27. The function was presided over by the mayor of Amravati, Govind Agarwal. It was followed by dinner.
‘LAADLA’ 100 DAYS
Nitin Manmohan’s Laadla, directed by Raj Kanwar, completed 100 days of its run all over today (July 2). It stars Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Raveena Tandon, Anupam Kher, Farida Jalal and Aroona Irani. Music: Anand Milind.
‘KHUDDAR’ 100 DAYS
Ratan International’s Khuddar completed 100 days of its run today (July 2). It stars Govinda, Karisma Kapoor, Shakti Kapoor and Kader Khan. Producer: N.R. Pachisia. Director: Iqbal Durrani. Music: Anu Malik.
‘SALAAMI’ 100 DAYS
Sharukh Sultan’s Salaami completed 100 days of its run last week.It stars Ayub Khan, Samyukta Singh, Raushni Jaffrey, Saeed Jaffrey, Goga Kapoor, Kabir Bedi, Beena and others. Music: Nadeem Shravan.
ARJUN ESCAPES UNHURT
Actor Arjun escaped unhurt on the night of 1st July when some unknown assailants fired shots at him on the road. The identity of the assailants is not known.
VEERU DEVGAN’S DAUGHTER TO WED
A reception to celebrate the marriage of Neelam, daughter of action director Veeru Devgan and sister of Ajay Devgan, with Kiran, will be held on 3rd July, at Hotel Sun-n-Sand in Bombay.
ATMARAM’S DEATH MOURNED
A meeting of the trustees of the Junior Artistes’ Retirement Fund, Bombay, was held on 28th June at the residence of Dilip Kumar to mourn the demise of producer-director Atmaram, founder chairman of the Fund. The meeting was presided over by Dilip Kumar.
Two minutes’ silence was observed at the start. Dilip Kumar paid glowing tributes to Atmaram who, he said, dedicated his life for the upliftment of the industry, especially of the junior artistes.
Dilip Kumar proposed that Atmaram’s TV serial, Bhai Hamne To Suna Hai, be dedicated to him. The proposal was seconded by Yash Chopra. The resolution was passed unanimously.
MANOHARLAL MAKHIJA NO MORE
Manoharlal Makhija, managing director of Liberty Enterprises (Pvt.) Ltd., Bombay and son of Nandlal Makhija, expired in Bangalore on the morning of 1st July.
‘MOHRA’ CAPS
Cinegoers all over Maharashtra are being given free Mohra caps (made of thick paper) with the words ‘Mohra mast mast’ inscribed on them. And the audience is thrilled to wear the caps while watching the film. The caps have been made by Venus Offset who had earlier made Jurassic Park caps.
‘Prem Granth’ Major Spell On Huge Set
Editor-director Rajiv Kapoor commenced a 25-day major shooting schedule of R.K. Films & Studios’ Prem Granth on July 1 on a huge set of a palatial house erected at R.K. Studios. Many dramatic and emotional scenes are being filmed on Rishi Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Om Puri, Prem Chopra, Reema, Suresh Bhagwat and Anupam Kher.
Shammi Kapoor heads the cast of the film which also features Arun Verma, Dinesh Anand and Ghanshyam. In the meanwhile, Aroona Irani has been signed to play an important role. The film has cinematography by Jal Mistry, sound by Anoop Mishra, art direction by Suresh Sawant, lyrics by Anand Bakshi and music by Laxmikant Pyarelal. It is being jointly produced by Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor.
Samantha Fox To Participate In
‘Rock Dancer’ Shooting
S.B. Films’ Rock Dancer will be shot from July 6 in Bombay. A song will be picturised on Britain’s famous pop singer, Samantha Fox. The film stars Kamal Sadanah, Ronit Roy, Ritu Shivpuri, Sharon Prabhakar, Shammi Kapoor, Deb Mukerji, Jalal Agha and Javed Jaffri. It is being produced by Shubir Mukerji and directed by V. Menon from a screenplay by Devjyoti Roy. Dialogues by Tahir, music by Bappi Lahiri and lyrics by Nawab Arzoo, Maya Govind, Indivar and Deepak are the other major credits.
J.P. Dutta Turns Producer With ‘Border’
J.P. Dutta has turned producer with J.P. Films’ Border. The film stars Vinod Khanna, Sunny Deol, Naseeruddin Shah and Sunil Shetty. One more hero and four heroines are to be finalised. It will be presented by Bharat Shah. Music by Anu Malik, dialogues by O.P. Dutta, cinematography by Nirmal Jain, action by Bhiku Verma, editing by Deepak Wirkud, art by Ratnakar Phadke and sound by Vinod are the other major credits. The film will mount the sets soon.
‘SOUND’ FEVER
More and more cinemas are installing the optical stereophonic sound system (and not Dolby stereophonic sound system, as inadvertently mentioned in the ‘Garma Garam’ column of our issue last week). Raghunath cinema, Agra, Woodland, Mysore, Nishat, Kanpur and Sangam, Loni are the latest names to go in for the optical stereo sound system.
Garma-Garam
* *Strange is the film industry. It is so unpredictable that one can never say what the future has in store for whom:
* * Sunil Shetty was scoffed at when he entered films. ‘He can never make it’ was the general opinion. Today, he is a star. He is sought-after. He is hot among distributors and public alike. Hardly any Sunil starrer is open for Punjab.
* * Raveena Tandon was nicknamed the jinxed heroine. Her name spelt failure. Today, Raveena and success are partners. Dilwale and Laadla starred her. Mohra also has lucky Raveena.
* * When Mohra was announced, the trade thought, something was wrong with Gulshan Rai. The title was described as “thanda”, the project was at best a ‘B’-grade set-up. When he quoted 60 as its price, the trade laughed. “60 for what?”, they asked. Today, Mohra is not thanda, it is hotter than heat itself. It is not ‘B’-grade, it is super-‘A’-grade, at least as far as its opening is concerned. Why, it has surpassed even Khal-nayak, in terms of the opening response. And 60 was a reasonable price. So they say – NOW!
* * Jurassic Park was taboo. ‘The Hindi dubbed version can never run’ was the unanimous opinion. Then, a few distributors mustered courage and acquired it for their circuits. They became the butt end of all jokes. Today, they are having the last laugh as they count crores.
* * Saif Ali Khan had all the horrible adjectives attached to his name. His entry in films was counted as the biggest folly. His claim to fame was that he was Amrita Singh’s husband. Today, Amrita is Saif’s wife. And who is Saif? He is a star in his own right. Ole ole ole….
* * Shah Rukh Khan was just not taken seriously. Nobody from the small screen had made it big on the big screen, and Shah Rukh was never considered an exception. One of his earlier films, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, had to literally go hunting for distributors. Today, Shah Rukh has proved to be an exception as also exceptional. He is the rage, the heart-throb, the darling and what not!
* * Distributors used to crib that prices of films were prohibitive. Today also, they crib and complain. But, while a year ago, they used to pay 35 and 40 with caution, they don’t bat an eyelid before paying 60 to 70 today.
* * Mithun Chakraborty was almost considered as gone. His line of flops made distributors wary of touching his films – and producers, wary of touching him. One Dalaal did the trick. Today, Mithun is again a busy hero, acting in some good films. And distributors are showing interest in him and his films.
* * Double-meaning songs and vulgarity/obscenity were the in-thing. Andaz changed the trend and so did the public hue and cry. Today, music companies run miles away from vulgar songs. A few months back, some music companies used to insist on double-meaning lyrics.
* * Vinod Chopra made 1,942 tongues wag when he quoted 1 crore as the price of 1942 A Love Story. Nobody showed interest in his project (at that price). Vinod Chopra didn’t show any interest in selling the film either. Suddenly, the ‘Ek ladki ko dekha’ song became a super-hit. Distributors went running to Vinod Chopra. Vinod smiled, “1 crore”. Distributors also smiled, signed and shook hands. What was dismissed as ‘1942 A Documentary Story’ is today: 1994 A Sensational Story.
* * Not very long ago, admission rate of Rs. 25 was considered too high. Today, talks are that the admission rate at Metro, Bombay for 1942 A Love Story may be as high as Rs. 75 in the highest class. Mohra could have benefitted with such high rates.
* * The entire industry had dismissed R.D. Burman as a spent force. Till 1942 came along. After the songs of the film were recorded, the 1942 team said, a new R.D. Burman was born. Barely had they said this and R.D. died. Had R.D. been alive today, he would have been a force to reckon with – not a spent force.
* * Business was dwindling. TV and video, it was feared, were finishing the industry. But today, sky seems to be the limit for business. The crore-mark was an achievement not long ago. Today, one talks in terms of 2 crore and more. Mohra collects 50,000/- in one station in one day!
* * So, never say die…..
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Tension Takes Its Toll:
Govinda In Shah Rukh’s Role
Ketan Desai’s untitled film, to be directed by David Dhawan, was to have starred Anil Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan. But that is not to be. Shah Rukh has opted out of the project. In his place has come Govinda. Reportedly, Shah Rukh is said to have backed out of the project as he did not want to do a film with Anil Kapoor. It is whispered that there was high-voltage tension between the two heroes at the recent stage shows abroad. While Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor were presenting shows on the one hand, Shah Rukh Khan and others were also presenting shows on the other. Tension between the show promoters led to tension between Anil and Shah Rukh abroad. The tension was seemingly brought to India in the personal baggage of the two stars. Why else is it still there and refusing to come down from the boiling point? Well, Shah Rukh’s refusal to act in the film seems to be a consequence of the ‘imported’ tension….. Shah Rukh’s loss has become Govinda’s gain…. It is heard that Shah Rukh will be acting in the film to be directed by Ketan himself.
‘Mohra’ Mania
Rarely has such mass hysteria been generated as witnessed when Mohra was screened for the trade on June 29 at Novelty, Bombay. Though the screening was not a public affair and not even publicised as such, news travelled like wild fire. Result: at the end of the show, hundreds of fans had assembled outside the cinema to have a glimpse of their favourite stars (there were Naseeruddin Shah, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Kajol, Raza Murad, to name a few). The ardent fans paid scant respect to law and order and in the general chaos, the police had no option but to resort to a lathi-charge. But the fans would just not budge. There was a virtual traffic snarl with a bumper-to-bumper jam extending right from Novelty cinema to Girgaum Court, which is no small distance. The police and traffic cops may have had a tough time but the day of the devout fans was made. And so was Rajiv Rai’s! Because it was an indication of the unbelievable craze that Mohra and the ‘Mast mast’ song had generated.
Khan Dost: No! Khan Dushman: Yes!
The two hot-headed Khan heroes are at it again. One of them is reported to have threatened a press photographer this week at Mehboob Studios. And the other Khan hero is said to have threatened a journalist of a film glossy, again at Mehboob Studios. Both these Khan heroes were shooting for the same film when they behaved in the same questionable manner. Same same – rather, shame shame!
Missing Miss Version
Although the music cassettes of Mohra have two versions of the super-hit ‘Mast mast’ song (one, a duet, and another, a solo female number), the film has only the duet. And why is the solo female version missing, when the song has virtually become a national anthem? To quote Rajiv Rai (a day before the film’s release), “A film’s length is very important to hold the attention of the audience. The goings-on should be fast-paced and crisp. We have picturised the female version and even got it censored. I don’t know when I will incorporate it in the film. Maybe, I’ll wait for the audience reaction to the film and then add the song on a trial basis in some cinemas to guage the public reaction.”
Veeru Devgan’s ‘Action’
Rakesh Roshan is terribly disturbed with action director Veeru Devgan’s ‘action’. Veeru was earlier composing the fights for Rakesh’s Karan-Arjun but due to some date problems, Rakesh opted for Bhiku Verma instead. In the meantime, Veeru had done some work for Karan-Arjun. Rakesh Roshan alleges that Veeru has pinched his (Rakesh’s) idea and used the same in Vijaypath, starring son Ajay Devgan. In Karan-Arjun, Shah Rukh Khan always carries a katty (a small weapon made of rubber and wood) with him and the katty is also used in the climax. Says a hurt Rakesh, “Veeru Devgan has used the katty in Vijaypath, and the film’s banners also show Ajay on horseback with the reins in his mouth and a katty in his hand. This is lifted from my film. The katty idea was mine. Even if it had been Veeru’s idea, he was not justified in using it for another film.”
‘Karan-Arjun’: Action Now
Rakesh Roshan completed the last song picturisation of Karan-Arjun this week on a huge temple set (art director: R. Verman) at Mehboob Studios. Besides the two heroes (Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan) and the two heroines (Mamta Kulkarni and Kajol), the others who participated in the song-dance (choreographed by Chinni Prakash) were Raakhee, Amrish Puri, Ranjeet, Arjun, Vishnu Sharma, Aasif Shaikh and a crowd of junior artistes. Rakesh is now picturising scenes on the set. After this spell, about 40 days’ shooting will remain to be done, mostly of action scenes. Talking of production today, Rakesh Roshan lamented, “Everything has become so costly. Cost of production has shot up.” Karan-Arjun will be released in 1995 – either in February or else in April after the examinations. It would not be out of place to mention here that Rakesh Roshan was among the first few who had predicted that Shah Rukh would be a top star. And this, when Shah Rukh was a nobody.
Down Sonam Lane
Destiny, they say, plays an important part in every person’s life and so it was with Raza Murad. He made his debut in the Amitabh starrer, Ek Nazar. Sonam (his niece) was not even born then. In fact, Raza’s sister was pregnant with the possibility of delivering Sonam who was to later become a star. As Raza goes in flashback mode, he remembers how, when he attended the premiere of Ek Nazar at Novelty, Bombay, with his pregnant sister, he would hardly have imagined that 252 films later, he would be attending (on 29th June ’94) a trade show of a film made by none other than Sonam’s husband, Rajiv Rai, at the same Novelty cinema. And this time, in the company of Sonam herself! Yes, Mohra is Raza’s 252nd film. Time flies and how! But such quirks of fate make for pleasant memories.
