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December 14, 1999
BILLBOARD
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Who won? Who lost? How and why? Komal Nahta has the answers. In our weekly Box Office column.
Further, even the elite may not want to be reminded of a tragedy that shook the world several years ago. Public memory, proverbially speaking, is short. Therefore, despite a good attempt, Bhopal Express may well prove to be a damp squib.
Some points of relevance here. Naseeruddin Shah is first-rate in the film, especially in the scenes where he is shown drunk. Kay Kay is also brilliant. But why on earth did Zeenat Aman stage a comeback with this film? She looks so old, it’s time for Zeenie baby -- old Zeenie baby -- to actually go back!
Not a pretty picture
Sarfarosh, not Ghulam
The same reader was kind enough to point out that I had erred in mentioning Ghulam as a release of the year 1999 in my column last week. I stand corrected; the film I was referring to was Sarfarosh. Sorry for that.
Devgan in the doldrums
Ajay Devgan is in a soup. And he is going places. Don’t get me? Let’s come to the soup part first. The intense actor put up a huge set in Ooty in the Schoolbund area, at a cost of a couple of crores, for his new film, Raju Chacha. The massive set took three months to erect and Devgan did so only after taking due permissions from the authorities. But no sooner was shooting due to start than the authorities told Ajay he’d have to dismantle the entire set due to environmental reasons. Ajay’s plea that it was a very costly set and that he had the required permissions in order fell on deaf ears because, as a friend of the Devgans revealed, the issue has become political.
Changing track records
1999 has been rather unlucky for those who’ve changed tracks. Prakash Jha, who made a name for himself with films like Damul and Mrityudand, strayed from his track and made Dil Kya Kare. And look how it was rejected by the public!
Govind Nihalani’s tryst with commercial cinema led him to Thakshak, the box-office fate of which led him to misery! Indra Kumar, after scoring a hat-trick with masala films like Dil, Beta and Raja, fancied directing a soft romantic film like Mann. But the audience was far from soft-hearted and pronounced their verdict: Mann is simply not done! Result: Indra Kumar has sworn never to do manmaani of this kind ever again.
Rishi Kapoor too, switched gears and took up direction. But his maiden directorial venture, Aa Ab Laut Chalen, did bad enough to prompt the actor to do some rethinking and get back to doing what he does best -- acting.
Mithun mania continues
The year started with the release of a Mithun-starrer, Sikandar Sadak Ka (on January 1, 1999) and may well end with the release of another Mithun Chakraborty film. Both Sultaan and Zahreela are due for release on December 31. In between, there were a number of Mithun starrers which hit the screens -- and hit the distributors too!
Double role with a difference
Family drama
Deal of the week
The news of the week in trade circles was the deal between financier Bharat Shah and Universal Music Company. Bharat Shah, whose closeness to and stake in Venus music company, is well-known, shocked the trade when he struck a deal for the music rights of three films presented by him to Universal. Among the films whose music will be released by Universal are Kamal Haasan’s He Ram, Abbas-Mustan’s Chori Chori Chupke Chupke and Ramgopal Varma’s Jungle.
Keep track...
Songs to keep track of: title tracks of Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Mela.
A look at the week |
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Bhopal Express had a trial release in just two cinemas of Bombay this week. A docu-drama on the infamous Bhopal gas leak tragedy, it marks the debut of celebrated ad film maker Mahesh Mathai into feature films. Although Mahesh has documented the events well -- knitting a tale of two friends with a good bit of humour thrown in -- the film remains one which will appeal to the class audience only.
Khoobsurat is doing good business in Bombay and Maharashtra, but in the rest of the country, the Sanjay Dutt-Urmila Matondkar starrer is having a bad run. At a cinema in Ratlam, there was simply no audience for two shows of the film on the last day of the second week. The cinema management had no other option but to discontinue it and screen the same distributor’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Hey, is that Khoobsurat or 'Doob’surat?
One of my esteemed readers asked me about my distinction between a hit and a success. For him as well as for all of you who care to know, a hit is one which doubles its investment, while a successful film is one which brings profit to the distributor but not as much as a hit would. In other words, a success doesn’t double the investment.
Which brings us to the second part -- of Ajay going places. The actor is trying everything under the sun to get the authorities to see reason. He flew from Madras (where he had gone to plead his case) to Bombay by the midnight Air India flight (no, no not for the 50 per cent concession it offers -- never mind the disastrous fate of his home production, Dil Kya Kare) -- to catch the connecting flight to Delhi to use his political influence there. Hope the guy gets justice from the leaders at least, since the audience hasn’t been too kind with him (Thakshak, Dil Kya Kare and Hindustan Ki Kasam).
Sunny Deol made his foray into direction with Dillagi which has left the entire Deol family disillusioned. Jackie Shroff went corporate, launched Jackie Shroff Entertainment Limited and thereafter, made Grahan. The film, even after more than two years of its completion, is yet to see the light of the day -- or rather, the dark of the cinema halls.
So far, whenever a hero or heroine has played a double role in a film, the roles have been either of father-son/mother-daughter or twin brothers/sisters. But Anil Kapoor plays dual roles of a different kind in T Rama Rao’s Bulandi -- of two brothers born several years apart. For the record, Harish plays the third brother in the film.
As many as 80 members of the Reshamwala family witnessed the 3 pm show of Sooraj Barjatya’s family drama, Hum Saath-Saath Hain on December 5 at Rajmahal cinema in Surat. Spread over five generations, the family consists of members with an age difference of 85 years between the eldest and the youngest. The Reshamwala family is considered one of the largest HUFs (Hindu Undivided Families) in India. The cinema management had a special photograph of the entire family clicked in the cinema and has sent a copy of the picture to the Barjatyas.