AS PREVIEW AUDIENCES RAVE...

Nidaan to hit screens on July 7
By Our Correspondent
An enchanting love story with a social message, Nidaan, produced by RV Pandit, producer of National award winning film Maachis, will be released all over India and abroad on July 7.
Briefing newsmen about the film in Bangalore, Pandit said though his film doesn’t feature big names, he was awaiting an appropriate time to release it, after eliciting views from a cross section of people throughout the country. Over two lakh people, which included prime minister AB Vajpayee himself, top government and military officials and the Mumbai Police have already seen the film and appreciated it for its powerful message. However, he declined to elaborate further on the film.
He said it was Vajpayee who had suggested the title for the film about four years back when he was the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha. The film has been exempted from entertainment tax by various state governments viz. Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka, he added.

Express Publications General Manager CV Subba Row, who was also present on the occassion, said the new Indian Express group chose to join hands with the film producer as it had a social message to convey to the audience. The group will help Pandit release the dubbed versions of the film in various languages such as Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam besides Hindi.

Efforts were on to dub the film in Kannada also, he added.
Replying to questions, Pandit said he had asked the government to present the film in other countries too. The film was screened in London a few months ago for British parliamentarians and the response was overwhelming. Similar responses were reported from countries like Malaysia, Thailand and others, he added.
He said the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had already approached him for 15 video copies of the film to be sent to various countries.

He stressed that he had deliberately chosen not to cast popular artistes, excepting a special appearance by Sanjay Dutt, so that the message could be delivered more effectively. In fact, actress Nisha Bains, who played the lead role in the film, had left the country after completing the shooting of the film and is presently working as an airhostess for an American airliner, he revealed.

Pandit said he had spent Rs 2.5 crore on the film, with a running time of two and a half hours, and much more on arranging sneak previews of the film for over two lakh people.

He said the film is titled Diagnosis in English, Uyirinuyirae in Tamil, Manasuna Manasai in Telugu and Edi Kathai Illa in Malayalam.
He said his film Jayate was selected for the panorama section of the 1999 Film Festival. His another film Dharmiyan would also be released a few weeks later, he added.