5 QUESTIONS
BILLBOARD
MAKING WAVES
MEMORIES
MOVIES CHAT
QUOTE MARTIAL
REVIEWS
ROUGH CUTS
SHORT TAKES
SOUTHERN SPICE
WISH THE STARS
ARCHIVES
                       

Pukar gets Army's nod

Komal Nahta

This must be a record of sorts. Pukar is due for release this Friday (February 4) and an entire scene for the film, to be incorporated in the pre-climax, was shot as late as on January 29. Director Rajkumar Santoshi flew from Bombay to Hyderabad where Anil Kapoor was shooting for brother Boney Kapoor’s new film. The additional scene required the participation of a couple of artistes, apart from Anil. From Hyderabad, Santoshi flew to Madras to have the negative developed. After all the post-production work was completed on January 31, the part was added in the film’s prints. As a result of this, the delivery of prints for the overseas circuit was also delayed. Much like the film itself which has taken over four years to complete.

Incidentally, the money that has gone into the film's making is not a joke. Believe it or... well, you’ve got to believe it, because this is straight out of the accounts books -- that Boney Kapoor has spent a little over Rs 240 million on the project. It may be mentioned here that Rajkumar Santoshi’s previous film, Ghatak too, had been a much-delayed release and its good performance at the ticket-windows had the trade circles stunned.

Pukar has been sold at a price of Rs 22.5 million per major territory. That’s a big price but then, the money spent is all too visible. The film was first cleared by the Defence authorities in Delhi before it could be okayed by the Censor Board in Bombay.

It's a common practice to have films with military background passed by the Defence people. In this case, not only did the Defence authorities clear the film, but also complimented Santoshi for a very authentic presentation of the people in uniform. They even invited the director to be their guest in Delhi and make another film on the Defence authorities.

Back home in Bombay, the censor officials too, did not ask for a single cut. Considering that the film has abundant action and also some firebrand dialogues, it is a wonder that the censors did not touch the scissors at all! Prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is scheduled to see Pukar on February 1 in Delhi. By the way, the film’s director, Rajkumar Santoshi himself is distributing the film in Delhi-Uttar Pradesh. The distribution rights were given to Santoshi as his remuneration for the direction.

Last-ditch effort

Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, alongwith their director Aziz Mirza, are making the rounds of various circuits to promote their film, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. They were in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) on January 23, in Calcutta on January 31, are proceeding to Lucknow on February 1 and will also visit places like Patna in the coming days. The trio is trying to get tax-exemption for their film which has a well-pronounced patriotic colour in the concluding reels.

Meanwhile, the collections of the film have steadied in Maharashtra, at least. Not that it would be an earner, but the film may not prove to be a losing proposition in Bombay and CP Berar circuits. Both these circuits have parts of Maharashtra as its constituents.

Govinda's loss was Anil's gain
Govinda apologised to Subhash Ghai after the release of Taal. Apologised? Well, this is how the story goes. It was Govinda who was first considered for the role which ultimately went to Anil Kapoor. Govinda felt it was a supporting role and not the main lead. After a round of discussions with Ghai, Govinda politely declined the offer. In fact, the dancing hero is also reported to have expressed his surprise to Anil at the latter’s agreeing to do the role which was secondary. But after the film clicked and Anil’s performance came in for such a lot of praise, Govinda, in his typical boyish style, apologised for his lack of foresight and even touched Ghai’s feet for having declined the offer.

Loss, flop, disaster: the equation

A reader of this column has asked me to explain the difference between a loser and a flop. I’ll also add a 'disaster' here. Let us take the example of a film which has cost the distributor Rs 20 crore to acquire. Add to this, the cost of, say, 50 prints, which comes to Rs 40 lakh. In addition, there's the cost of publicity of, say, Rs 20 lakh. So the distributor’s total investment would be Rs 2.6 crore.

Now if the film were to do a business of Rs 2.6 crore, it would be counted as an average fare. If it were to do anywhere between Rs 2.2 and 2.59 crore, it would be classified as a loser. If it were to do less than even Rs 2.2 crore, it would be called a flop. But if the business were to be, say, Rs 1.5 crore or even less, it would be termed a disaster. There is no fixed formula but the magnitude of the losses would decide what a film should be classified as.

Hrithik, the new darling
Hrithik Roshan is the new boy on the block. Girls are going ga-ga over the hero who has the looks, the physique and who also knows to dance gracefully. Of course, he has acted confidently too. Not just the girls, even producers are queuing up to sign the boy. What is giving Hrithik more mileage is that the films of two reigning Khans have been rejected, while his film has been doing so well. Aamir Khan’s Mela may be going strong in small centres but it is a damp squib in cities. Shah Rukh Khan’s Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani too, took a beating at the box-office. Therefore, the excitement about the newcomer in trade circles is even greater. What’s more, while both Mela and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani did not even open to full houses, Hrithik Roshan’s debut film took such a fantastic initial that the trade people are literally swooning over the new Roshan!

Madhuri off to US

Madhuri Dixit is off to the US on February 6 to be with hubby dear whose birthday falls on February 11. Soon after the release of Pukar, Mrs Nene will fly to America for a fortnight. Does she like this arrangement of having to be away from her husband for weeks and even months together? Madhuri laughs her famous laugh, "There’s fun in this type of arrangement also."

A look at the week

Rating	Film	Production House	Verdict	Position Last Week
1	Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai	Filmkraft	Above average (hit in Bombay and South)	2
2	Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani	Dreamz Unlimited	Loser (average in couple of circuits)	1
3	Jaanwar	Shree Krishna Intl	Average (Above average in Hindi belt)	3
4	Mela	Venus	Loser (above average in Hindi belt)	4
5	Hum Saath-Saath Hain	Rajshri	Hit	5
6	Vaastav	Adishakti	Above average (Hit in Maharashtra)	6
7	Khoobsurat	Jhamu Sugandh	Flop	8
8	Taal	Mukta Arts	Above average (completed silver jubilee)	7
9	Bulandi	Maa Sherawali Productions	Flop	9
10	Lake Placid	20th Century Fox	Flop	10

Komal Nahta edits the popular trade magazine, Film Information.

Earlier column                           Do tell us what you think of this column