JIS DESH MEIN GANGA REHTA HAI
Quest Films’ Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai is an insipid drama that travels from a village to a city and back to the village. A village simpleton (Govinda) is the darling of his parents and the villagers. A fun-loving boy, he is the cynosure of the eyes of a pretty girl (Sonali Bendre) who wants to marry him. But the naive guy hardly understands what love means. All hell breaks loose in his life when he learns that the ones who’ve brought him up are not his real parents. The actual parents had put him — when he was a little child — in the care of his foster parents because he had a disease which could be cured only if he lived in a village atmosphere with a lot of sheep and goats around him. After more than 20 years, his real parents take him away to the city where he ends up feeling suffocated and finally returns to his foster parents.
The film, inspired by the Marathi film, Ekta Jeev Sadashiv, has been indifferently made. Not much thought or effort seems to have gone into the film’s scripting and making (screenplay writer and director: Mahesh Manjrekar). Several incidents are so childish that it is difficult to believe that one can incorporate such scenes in a film of the 21st century.
To expect the audience of today to digest a story in which a vaid, to save a dying child, prescribes that he should live amidst goats and sheep, is ridiculous! Worse still, the real parents don’t even bother about the child’s education and upbringing. The city atmosphere is hardly in evidence when the villager comes to his real home. What he is shown suffocating in, instead, is the atmosphere at home. There’s no base for the city-bred girl (Rinke Khanna) falling in love with the village bumpkin, except, perhaps, that he could make her laugh and get her into a good mood! Save for a couple of emotional scenes between Govinda and his foster parents, everything else looks superficial and orchestrated. Comedy of at least two characters — the P.A. of Govinda’s father, who keeps repeating what his boss says, and the father of Rinke Khanna, who is terribly cock-eyed — is extremely irritating. The interval point is shockingly abrupt. Dialogues are commonplace.
Govinda, who is generally a fantastic performer, fails to impress in this film. Rather than coming across as a naive and rustic village bumpkin, Govinda appears like an oversmart guy who is feigning innocence. Resultantly, almost everything he does looks fake. His dances, though, are good. Sonali Bendre looks pretty and does quite well, but she gets very little scope to act. Her dances are very graceful. Rinke Khanna lacks glamour and does an average job. Shivaji Satam acts very naturally. Reema does an extremely fine job. Shakti Kapoor looks tired. His wig is weird! His performance is ordinary. Himani Shivpuri is so-so. Milind Gunaji is expressionless and his performance is wooden. Supriya Karnik is artificial. Kishore Nandlaskar, Ankush Chaudhary and the others lend average support.
Mahesh Manjrekar’s direction is far from satisfactory. The film looks like a job hurriedly done with scant regard to viewers’ likes and dislikes. Quite honestly, direction and script are both childish. Anand Raaj Anand’s music is very good. The ‘Prem chhe’ song is excellently tuned and, together with its picturisation, it is about the only good thing in the film. The title song, ‘Meri shaadi karva do’ and ‘Prem jaal mein phans gayi main to’ are also well-tuned. Camerawork (Teja) is good. Other technical values are average. Production values are ordinary. Action is functional.
On the whole, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai has just one ‘Kaem chhe…. prem chhe’ number to talk about. Despite its reasonable price, the film will prove to be a burden on its distributors.
Released on 13-10-2000 at Novelty, Metro (matinee) and 21 other cinemas of Bombay thru Govinda Yashwardhan No. 1 Distributors. Publicity: very good. Opening: average. …….Also released all over. Opening was very dull at many places.
ILLEGAL SCREENING DISRUPTED
The Raisinghnagar (near Jaipur) police raided the local K.V. Palace Cinema where Fiza was being screened unauthorisedly on 9th October. The screening was stopped and the print was seized by the police. The raid was conducted at the behest of the CCCA’s vigilance inspector, Amarjeet Singh.
SURINDER KAPOOR ELECTED GUILD CHIEF FOR SIXTH TERM
Surinder Kapoor was re-elected president of The Film Producers Guild of India Ltd. at its 46th annual general meeting held on 30th September at The Club. Yash Chopra and Amit Khanna were re-elected vice presidents. Kiran Shantaram and Kamal Kumar Barjatya continue as hon. treasurers and B.K. Rau continues as the secretary.
The following members were elected to the council of management before the election of office-bearers: Surinder Kapoor, Yash Chopra, Amit Khanna, Kamal Kumar Barjatya, J. Om Prakash, T.C. Dewan, Harmesh Malhotra, Prakash Mehra, Sandeep Singh (Bobby) Bedi, B.R. Chopra, Raj Kumar Kohli, F.C. Mehra, Ram Dayal, A.G. Nadiadwala, Tilak Raj Magan, Yash Johar, Ramanand Sagar and Pramod Chakravorty. Kiran Shantaram and Randhir Kapoor are permanent members.
The annual meeting was followed by dinner hosted by Surinder Kapoor.
FICCI TO HOLD INTERACTIVE MEETING WITH SUSHMA SWARAJ
Union I & B minister Sushma Swaraj will have an interactive meeting with representatives of the entertainment industry on 19th October at Regent II, Hotel Regent, Bandra, Bombay. The minister will present her vision statement for the entertainment industry and invite suggestions from industry representatives on the future course of action. The meeting is being held under the aegis of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Confirmations for participation at the interactive meeting can be sent to Siddharth Dasgupta or Mousumi Pal at FICCI, Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi-110 001, or on tel. no. 011-3316527/011-3738760 (extn. 323). Fax: 011-3320714, 011-3721504 or at e-mail: ficcinat@vsnl.com.
YOU ASKED IT
How many cinemas in the country closed down in the last 12 months? How many new cinemas came up?
– Totally, 179 cinemas closed down in the year 1999-2000. A sizeable number of cinemas closed down in Tamil Nadu (54), Andhra Pradesh (42) and Kerala (20), which constitutes 65% of the total number of cinemas closed. The number of new cinemas which came up was just 18!
On what basis are the ratios of the territories fixed? On the basis of cinemas or population?
– On the basis of population, area and, above all, business.
A reputed astrologer has predicted happy times for the Hindi film industry from Diwali onwards. Your comment?
– That’s great news and I sincerely hope, the prediction comes true. By the way, I, too, predict what the astrologer predicted.
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Record Number Of Prints
The M-M films hitting the screens this Diwali will translate into mega-shares for their distributors, given the tremendous craze for them and the large number of prints being taken out by distributors of both the films. Whatever the merits of the two films — Yash Chopra’s Mohabbatein and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Mission Kashmir — they are bound to take bumper openings. The Diwali festival and holidays will only add to the exciting opening of the films.
Adlabs is the common laboratory processing the two films. “As of today, there’s an order for 400 prints of each film,” revealed Adlabs owner Manmohan Shetty. The number is likely to increase as the release date comes closer. Beyond doubt, both the films will break all earlier records as far as the number of prints released in the first week goes.
The first print of Mission Kashmir came out yesterday (13th). The preparation of further prints will begin soon. In the meantime, the prints of Mohabbatein are under preparation at Adlabs. Manmohan Shetty has not seen either of the films but his preview theatre at Film City sure has been witness to three trial shows of Aditya Chopra’s second film. The only people who’ve seen it are the family members and close friends of the Chopras, technicians and the stars of the film. The stars’ trial was the third one.
Yash Johar Grappling With Rumours
Karan Johar’s second venture, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, is scheduled to go before the cameras on Monday (16th October). The hot-shot director zipped off to Shirdi on 10th October to seek the blessings of Sai Baba. In the first shooting schedule, the three heroes — Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan — will face the camera. KKKG will take exactly a year to complete and, like in the case of his first film, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Karan has decided on the release date of the film even before it has rolled. KKKG will hit the screens on Diwali 2001.
In the meantime, papa Yash Johar is grappling with rumours that he is richer by Rs. 35 to 40 crore, that being the price he has sold the music, Overseas and satellite rights of his film for. But, Johar Sr. denies all this talk as humbug. “I’ve not yet clinched the deal for a single territory,” clarified Yash Johar, and added, “How can I, when I’m not even sure of how much the film is going to cost to make?”
Obviously, Johar knows, projects like these come once in a lifetime.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Passion
Whatever Vidhu Vinod Chopra does, he does in style. Whether it is his film or a promotional brochure, his indelible stamp has to be there. A look at his 28-page publicity brochure of Mission Kashmir convinces one of his inclination towards the classy and the glossy. Vidhu Vinod Chopra was born and brought up in Kashmir and he had always wanted to make a film on Kashmir. The brochure declares that his film is dedicated to “Kashmiriyat — the centuries-old Kashmiri tradition of religious tolerance and harmony”. This grand publicity brochure verily reflects Vidhu’s attachment to the land of his birth. Every page of the 28-page brochure has a black backdrop and, therefore, the colour and black-and-white photographs stand out prominently. The text is printed in white with the headings of the thumbnail sketches in red. All in all, a grand effort!
Free Show Versus No Show
Talk of giving anything free and there’ll never be a shortage of takers. Like it happened at Cinemax Theatre at Goregaon, Bombay on 6th October. Shringar Films, the Bombay distributors of Astitva, held a free ‘ladies special’ show of the film at 3 p.m. at the theatre alongwith three other cinemas of Bombay (Liberty, Gemini and Plaza). Well, women gate-crashed into Cinemax in spite of police security, and those who couldn’t get free tickets even staged a mini dharna. Against a seating capacity of 638, the cinema had to ultimately accommodate 1,000 ladies, many squatting on the floor in the aisles!
Of course, besides the film, the enthusiastic women got a chance to see Tabu and Sachin Khedekar in flesh and blood. The two accompanied director Mahesh Manjrekar and answered questions posed to them by the womenfolk. A sample of the questions and answers:
Q: Why is it that a woman has to use her husband’s surname after marriage?
A: (by Tabu): That need not be the case. Till today, I use my mother’s surname and not my father’s.
Now, this was about the free show. In one or two stations of U.P., Astitva had to be discontinued from the cinema due to lack of audience. And yes, you’ve guessed it right! There was no free show there!!
Kaem Chhe…. Prem Chhe, And Now…. Shame Chhe
Mahesh Manjrekar was taking pride in telling people that he had completed Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai in barely 35 shooting days. But going by what he has offered in the film, it looks like he mustn’t have taken even 35 days to complete the shooting! With the poor initial reports of the film filtering in from all sides, Manjrekar must’ve realised that a good film is all that matters; completing a film in a record time is of no consequence if the reports are bad. Of course, he did ensure a good margin of profit for producer Jackie Shroff by completing the film so quickly.
Govinda, who can otherwise be relied upon to deliver a brilliant performance, whatever the role, is ill at ease in JDMGRH. Perhaps, the hurrying up took its toll on the talented actor. As for Mahesh Manjrekar, Jis Desh Mein…. becomes his third flop in a row. After Nidaan and Astitva, this week’s release has completed his hat-trick of disasters.
Of course, Nidaan and Astitva at least had sensitive topics ably handled by the director. But Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai has just a song — Kaem chhe…. prem chhe — to talk about. Besides Kaem chhe…. prem chhe, the film — frankly speaking — is shame chhe for Mahesh Manjrekar.
Happy Birthday, Amitabh Bachchan!
So, the Big B who made his foray into television with a show the name of which must today easily be the most repeated words across the country, celebrated his 58th birthday on 11th October. And what are the gifts Bachchan received?
Well, most of the gifts were bouquets of flowers or bottles of champagne with birthday cards. While all flowers smell almost the same and all champagne tastes almost the same, the b’day cards presented plenty of variety (all a figment of the writer’s imagination).
Abhishek Bachchan’s card wished dad many happy returns of the day and had the following words written by the Small B in his own hand-writing:
Dear Dad,
Tera jadoo chal gayaa even on the small screen, mera kab chalega on the big screen?
– Your son who feels
like a Refugee
after a half-success
and dhaai flops!
Hrithik Roshan’s greeting card was accompanied by a Coke bottle instead of a bottle of champagne. The card said:
Respected Superstar,
Don’t you think, I deserve the crown now? Kaho naa….hum Superstar hai?
Regards,
– Hrithik
Rekha’s was a sexy, glamorous and colourful card which wished the ageing Bachchan a happy birthday and asked him a question but without four options like in his Kaun Banega Crorepati show.
Queried the card: Kaun banega mera pati?
Karan Johar didn’t need to convey his feelings through a birthday card because he attended the birthday party thrown by the star. Giving the birthday boy a warm hug, the under-30 director whispered into the nearly-60 actor’s ear:
“Congratulations on your super-success on the television screen…. and please don’t let the flopping of Abhishek’s films bother you. That’s the way life is! Kabhi khushi kabhi gham….!!”
Aditya Chopra’s birthday card was not traceable. As he admitted later, “Like I don’t see trials of others’ films and don’t show trials of my film to others, I neither celebrate my birthday nor attend others’ birthdays. Similarly, I neither accept gifts nor give gifts.”
Kerry Packer of Channel Nine Gold sent his greetings via e-mail. The message, sent obviously with a view to woo Bachchan to do a television show for Packer’s company, packed in a lot in a few words. It read:
Birthday greetings! Star (Plus) is not for superstars. Completing 58 and entering GOLDen jubilee plus NINE is just the right time to join hands with Channel Nine Gold.
The greetings from Doordarshan came with a terse verse:
Dear Amitabh-ji,
Ho do you do?
Some pay when it is due
Others, when overdue
Still others never do
How do you do?
And yes, happy birthday to you!
– Doordarshan
Madhuri Dixit called the superstar on telephone, from the US.
Madhuri: Many happy returns, Amit-ji.
AB: So, you’re also jumping onto the TV bandwagon, like me, huh?
Madhuri: (giggles) I’ve changed my mind since I’d rather be here with hubby. What to do (breaks into a song)
Hum to thehre pardesi
Saath kya nibhayenge….!
Siddharth Basu, the director of KBC, had this to say to birthday boy Amitabh: “Great news! I just phoned a friend to find out what the Zee Sawaal Dus Crore Ka show is going to be like. This friend had conducted a public opinion poll on the likely effect of Zee’s show on our TRPs. And, believe it or not, the chances of the Zee show reaching anywhere close to ours are not even 50-50. So, happy returns tomorrow — to the studio, of course, for the next episode.”
– Komal Nahta
