Lagaan and Gadar: Clash of the titans
MUMBAI: Two Bollywood blockbusters with big star-casts are set for a mega
clash at the box office when they are released across India on Friday.
Lagaan with one of India's top actors Aamir Khan and Gadar-Ek Prem Katha
starring hunk Sunny Deol, are both period films.
Leading newspapers have splashed stories across their pages about the
looming box office war with one paper calling it the "Clash of Titans".
Both movies are million-dollar productions with plenty at stake for the film
industry hungry for a hit after a string of miserable flops.
Komal Nahta, editor of a film trade magazine, called it a "red-letter day"
for the industry.
Lagaan tells the tale of the fight by peasant farmers over 100 years ago
against oppression during British colonial rule while Gadar is a dramatic
love story set during India's traumatic partition over half a century ago.
"The film (Lagaan) is about the triumph of the human spirit," said the
normally low-profile Khan who went on a publicity blitzkrieg before the
release.
Deol, whose recent releases Farz and Champion bombed, is understandably
nervous. "I have put my soul into this film and I want it to yield good
results......I am proud of this movie," Deol told leading film publication
Screen.
The key box-office battleground is expected to be Mumbai which has the
biggest cinema-going population.
With monsoon rains and gusting winds battering the city, Mumbai's film-crazy
public will have to brave the elements to watch their favourite heroes as
the film industry waits anxiously for the cash registers to ring.
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Salman's claim of Rs 25 lakh rejected
A special court on Thursday rejected the claim put up by film actor
Salman Khan demanding Rs 25 lakh due to him from the proceeds of attached
film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, in which he played the lead role.
Designated judge A P Bhangale was of the view that the actor's claim could
be entertained only during trial when he deposed as witness in the case
involving alleged nexus between Bollywood and the underworld.
Salman's father and script writer Salim Khan, who holds a power of attorney
on behalf of his son, filed a petition demanding Rs 25 lakh due to the
actor. He filed an agreement between Salman and producer Nasim Rizvi which
disclosed that the former had agreed to perform in the movie for a
consideration of Rs 1.5 crore, out of which Rs 25 lakh was due to him.
The judge observed that Salman had not come before the court and had
preferred to file his claim through his father. Hence, direction to court
receiver to pay Salman Rs 25 lakh received from the proceeds of the film
would be "premature".
"At this stage, Salman is not before the court. He shall appear as witness
when the trial begins. Therefore his claim could be considered when he
deposes before the court for recording evidence and not before," the judge
noted.
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Sanjay Khan back to films with movie on Ramayan
Sanjay Khan's story is the reverse of most of Bollywood stars:
>>From films to TV serials and back to the silver screen with a big bang.
The megastar of the sixties is planning a mega film based on the epic
Ramayana and with icons like Amitabh Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan in lead
roles.
Maryada Purushottam a mythological film based on the life of Sri Ram will
have Amitabh Bachchan as Dasarath," said the actor-director-producer, in the
capital recently to promote his historical megaserial 1857-Kranti.
While he is tight-lipped about rumours that Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik
Roshan, his son-in-law will be Rama, it is currently the industry's
worst-kept secret.
"I cannot make a statement about Hrithik doing the role right now. Hrithik
to mera bachcha hai... (he is my son). He is very busy now."
Then he hastens to add: "For Rama, we are looking for a man with beautiful
eyes, good physique and a charisma that suits the role." If not Hrithik, who
else is he talking about?
"Jackie Shroff will be doing the role of Ravana, and with the production
experience we have acquired over the years through television, we can assure
you the film will be a visual feast."
He is not merely boasting, going by how the people have received his serials
like The Sword of Tipu Sultan, Jai Hanuman, The Great Maratha, Shohrat and
Jannat.
Khan has two more films and a couple of serials like Maharathi Karan and
Alladin lined up.
The next film that he is planning will see yet another star son debut,
"Zayed Khan is a graduate from London school of acting," the proud papa
informs.
While family soaps in designer households with almost the same "Sas-Bahu"
storylines rule, Sanjay Khan has chose his own path of historical and
mythological serials, renewing his commitment with the saga of India's first
war of independence in the serial 1857-Kranti. Why?
"In the age of low cost family dramas, what I tried to attempt in Kranti was
a serial that has got quality of an epic, and has cinematic values."
"What we see in channels is just superfluous. There is no depth in these
family soaps," says Khan, who opened the genre of historical megaserials to
Indian television with the highly successful The Sword of Tipu Sultan.
"Except a few programmes, the channels are full of rubbish," he alleges. "I
cannot contribute to this way of thinking. So I chose a different path."
"People watch programmes not for channel loyalty, but for its quality. The
gameshows are becoming too much and boring," says the man who feels a
product must speak for itself, more than the promos.
For him, 1857-Kranti, a 104-episode megaserial that started on June 2 in
DD-I was a challenge indeed: "The idea to make a serial on the first war of
independence or what the British called Sepoy Mutiny was in my mind from the
time I was working on Tipu Sultan.."
"It was a challenge re-enacting the gigantic drama, a time when the entire
continent of India was subjugated by the English."
The serial is not strictly historical, as "we had to fictionalise a little
to create a few dramatic moments."
All the events in the serial had been shot on location.
"Not a single set was made for the shots. Because I feel the sets do not
convey the full momentum of the events."
It being a mega project, the budgets are equally high: "We are working on an
estimated budget of 2.5 crores. In the long run, each episode will be shot
under a budget of around 13 to 14 lakhs."
Two more serials are in the pipeline, a mythological based on the life of
Karna Maharathi Karan and another based on Arabian Nights Alladin.
"The story of Karan, I feel, is for all time. We have already shot the
childhood and adolescence of Karan. Alladdin is basically for children. In
it we have in store some great post-production special effects."
An established director-scriptwriter with his own production company Numero
Uno, Sanjay Khan is an ace businessman who also runs a successful Spa
business in the city of his birth, Bangalore: "My Spa business is quiet
successful, which, I dare say, made Bangalore the Spa capital.
Asked when he would hit the screen again as an actor, he pulls up a surprise
revealing he never wanted to be an actor in the first place: "Just because I
am six-feet-something and have blue eyes doesn't mean I wanted to become an
actor. But by the time I could say Jack Robinson, I was 55 films deep." of
India."
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Fardeen regrets cocaine abuse
NEW DELHI: Hindi film actor Fardeen Khan, who was detained a few weeks ago
for possessing nine grams of cocaine, says he regrets his action and is
"completely off it now."
"I broke the law, got caught, paid the price for it... I still feel guilty
about the pain I caused to my family... I am completely off it now," the
actor says in BBC world's talk show Face to Face to be aired on Wednesday 10
pm.
Asked if he thought he was the 'wrong man at the wrong place' as the police
was reportedly expecting to nab a senior politician or a pop singer, Fardeen
said: "No, never. You got to know what you are doing. You get caught if not
today, it could have been another day."
Describing the arrest and five days in custody a bit of "both a learning
experience and a nightmare," the actor says what he regretted most was the
pain he caused to his family.
"It was hardest on my family- mother, father and sister... People who loved
me... To read something like you facing a case, especially a narcotics
case."
Fardeen Khan was arrested from an ATM counter of a bank in Juhu, Mumbai
along with drug peddler Nasir Abdul Karim Sheikh on May five last by zonal
director of Narcotics Control Bureau Ajay Ubale who recovered nine grams of
cocaine from the actor's car.
He was later released on payment of Rs 20,000 bail on May 10. Under the
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the offence can get
upto a year's imprisonment, a fine or both.
Asked if still having to face a case worries him, the son of famous actor
Firoz Khan says: "My offence has not been considered that serious. The only
charge against me is attempting to purchase with the intention to consume.
The case will take its own course."
While he hates preaching on drug abuse, the hero of romantic potboilers like
Prem Agan, Jungle and Pyar Tune Kya Kiya said: "It's just not worth it when
I look back on it and everything I went through, my family went through...
You have to know the repercussions of any kind of substance abuse."
"I have learnt my lesson the hard way... I would ask people who indulge in
substance abuse to know what you are doing, read about it, know the
consequences and be responsible for your actions."
Asked how stronger he had emerged after the drug episode, he said he had
always been emotionally strong and the case has reinforced that strength:
"Looking back, you think, hey, you can go through a tough time...!"
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'Lagaan' will make audiences laugh and cry: Aamir
MUMBAI: Aamir Khan found the period film Lagaan, in which he starred and
also made his debut as a producer, a demanding project.
The film, set for worldwide release this Friday, tells the tale of the fight
by peasant farmers more than 100 years ago against oppression during British
colonial rule in India.
"It was a tough film but an enjoyable experience to act in and produce. Both
are demanding," said Khan who has 12 years under his belt as an actor in the
Hindi film industry.
"The film is about triumph of the human spirit," said Khan, who plays a
farmer leading the fight against British plans to impose a land tax on a
parched village waiting for the annual rains to fall so that it can plant
crops.
"There are moments in the film that will make audiences laugh and cry," Khan
told Reuters.
The film, which has six song-and-dance sequences, was shot last year over a
period of six months in Bhuj before the killer earthquake that devastated
the region in January.
Some 10,000 village locals took part in the film along with actress Gracy
Singh and 20 British actors who were given tutoring in Hindi before they
began shooting in Bhuj.
Khan's friend Ashutosh Gowarikar made his debut as writer and director of
the film. "He (Khan) shared my dream of trying to do something different,"
Gowarikar said.
The director, who took two years to finish the script, did extensive
research on period costumes as well as the Hindi dialect spoken by the
region's locals.
Singh, who plays the romantic lead with Khan, was chosen for the role after
30 other actresses were auditioned. "She needed to be a trained Indian
classical dancer," Gowarikar said.
The film, which opens with Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan narrating,
taking the audience back more than a century, had its first public showing
last Sunday in Bhuj for the locals.
"It was (to fulfil) our promise to them since we got to know them closely,"
said Khan.
The film which has English subtitles will premiere at Sun City on Friday at
the International Indian Film Awards ceremony.
British actor Paul Blackthorne, who plays the cruel English officer Captain
Russell who decides to impose the tax said he could not believe he "would be
wearing an officer's uniform and riding a horse in the Indian desert".
"It was tough and the most fantastic period of my life."
A keen photographer, Blackthorne plans to hold an exhibition of the pictures
he took during shooting when he returns to England and donate the proceeds
to the earthquake relief fund.
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Ash-Salman back together
Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai are back together! It was reported that the couple had spilt after a misunderstanding over Salman's ex-girlfriend Somy Ali. But they seem to have patched up and are with each other again. Close sources claim how the hunk comes on the sets of Devdas and waits for his lady-love for hours on the end. Wonder of wonders is that his conduct is like that of a well-behaved schoolboy and he does not embarrass Ash by his brash behaviour. One had sensed that the bond between them was far too strong to break off so easily. Its time for Mama Rai to face a heavy bout of tension yet again!
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Zee in the plus with Gadar
GADAR-THE PREM KATHA has opened this week and though there are talks that the producers are in the red thanks to the budget going haywire during the making of the film, producer Nitin Keni has clarified that the amount they had invested has been recovered from the distributors.
"The actual budget of the film is Rs. 18 crores and we have recovered the amount from the sale of the Indian and Overseas territories, which includes the music rights (Zee Records)," Keni tells me, adding in the same breath, "But if you add the interest on the investment made, we haven't recovered that amount, but are hopeful of recovering it from the sale of the satellite rights."
It must be recalled that GADAR is amongst the first Hindi film where all the payments, from the artistes to the spot boys, were made by cheques. "Even the entire amount from every distributor is in white," Keni adds.
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