MAJOR
RELEASES IN HOLIDAY SEASON
Hazaar
Chaurasi Ki Maa
For this film which has been inspired by a Bengali novel written by the Jnanpith
award winner, Mahasweta Devi, Govind Nihalani succeeded in coaxing Jaya Bachchan
out of her retirement.
The film
opens in the Calcutta of the 70’s when the air was heavy with revolutionary
fervour and the young gave vent to their anger against the hypocrisies,
injustices, betrayals and counter violence of the State.
The main
feature of this film is Jaya Bachchan’s comeback in front of the camera
with a challenging role spanning 40 years, making the transition from a
submissive, 30-year-old woman to a 70 year-old who’s grown in strength
and political consciousness. Anupam Kher plays her husband and the role of
her son, the film’s hazaar chaurasi is played by Joy Sengupta. Nandita
Das, the fiery beauty of Deepa Mehta’s Fire, is cast opposite him. National
Award winner Seema Biswas and Govind’s protege Milind Gunaji also play
significant roles. Govind Nihalani is the producer, director, editor and
cinematographer of the film which has the financial backing of Manmohan Shetty
of Adlabs. Music is by Dibyojyoti Mishra, former assistant to the late Salil
Chaudhury. The costumes and production design is by Yashodhara Roy, daughter
of the late Bimal Roy.
Aunty No 1
Raveena
took over from Rambha mid-way through the film as the aunty’s loved
one. This comic caper directed by Govinda’s elder brother Kirti Kumar
is based on P K Atre’s play Moruchi Maushi. Scheduled to be released
on March 27, the film has music by Anand-Milind and the music rights are
with Venus.
 Yugpurush
Parto Ghosh who made waves with his film Agni Sakshi, returns with another
film, Yugpurush, starring, Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff and Manisha Koirala
in the lead. Ghosh’s last film Ghulam-E-Musthafa may not have hit
bull’s eye but he is confident that with this film he will be able to
draw in the crowds.
According
to the producer Pranlal Mehta’s son Vijay Mehta, the film is an emotional
drama with some superlative performances by Nana Patekar and Manisha Koirala.
Jackie has a dramatic role. The story dwells on how a guy from an asylum
manages to change the hearts and lives of people including Manisha Koirala
who is a politician’s mistress and Jackie Shroff. The film has music
by Rajesh Roshan and the music rights are with T-Series. It is being released
on March 27.
 Kabhi Na Kabhi
R Mohan’s Priyadarshan-directed Kabhi Na Kabhi is finally slated for
release. Rather long in the making, the film written by Javed Akhtar is being
talked about as an entertainer that could become a runaway hit. Anil Kapoor,
Pooja Bhatt and Jackie Shroff star in the film which has interesting music
by A R Rahman that has already become popular. The music rights are with
Bombino Music.
Grahan
After the
super success of Angaar, director K Shashilal Nair is back, with Jackie Shroff
Entertainment Limited’s (JSEL) debut production Grahan starring Jackie
Shroff, Manisha Koirala, Raghuvaran and introducing model Anupama Verma.
It is the story of two brothers. The music by Illayaraja’s son, Kartik
Raja is being appreciated for its novel touch. The music rights are with
Time Audio.
The film
is complete and was scheduled for a Diwali and then a Christmas release but
has been deliberately delayed because according to Jackie Shroff, “a
lot of films were releasing around that time and I didn’t think it would
be prudent to release it with all the others”.
 Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya
This film was launched before the release of Sohail Khan’s debut film
Auzaar. But the failure of Auzaar did affect the prospects of PKTDK. However,
the fact that the film was Sohail Khan’s home production was enough
to draw in the distributors. According to the film's co-producer Bunty Walia,
Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya is a simple film about the different cultures in
a small town and a city. It is a film of the young, for the young and by
the young. This film is GS’s (Bunty (Guneet) Walia and Sohail’s)
first production. The music rights are with T-Series.
 Aakrosh
According to the director Lateef Binny, Aakrosh is a political thriller made
on the lines of a Hollywood film and inspired by a book he had read a long
time ago. “It is about a prime minister (played by Girish Karnad), who
is unaware of a plot hatched by his fellow ministers to kill him. He believes
in carrying out his duties honestly and sincerely, which is why his partymen
wish to do away with him. Sunil Shetty and Shilpa Shetty play cops who are
assigned to protect the prime minister. Mohan Joshi is the
villain.
The Rs
5 crore project is being produced by Ramesh J Sharma and the music rights
are with Bombino Music.
Keemat
Yes, they are back. Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan in yet another pot-boiler,
Keemat from director Sameer Malkan of Main Khiladi Tu Anari fame, is produced
by Venus and the music rights are with them. As the title signifies, the
story revolves around two happy-go-lucky guys and the price they have to
pay for a mistake they have committed. According to the director it is “an
emotionally based action-oriented comedy film”. Is it a sequel to Main
Khiladi Tu Anari? “No way,” Sameer refutes. “The characterisation
is totally different. It has nothing whatsoever to do with my earlier
film.” The film is scheduled to be released on April 10.
Jeans
Ashok, the eldest of the Amritraj Brothers, who made forays into the world
of entertainment after a fairly successful career in tennis, now owns
Amritraj-Solomon Communications with Michael Solomon, president of Warner
Bros., as partner. His films Jeans with celebrated director Shankar of Kathalan
and Indian fame, is one of the most talked about films which is scheduled
for release in April. Shankar is a director whose name attracts business
abroad. The film has been shot extensively for 45 days in the States and
at all the seven wonders of the world. The film is a multi crore rupee project.
The music rights are with T-Series.
Qila
Dilip Kumar’s grand appearance after Subhash Ghai’s Saudagar, comes
in the form of a double role in Qila, a courtroom drama directed by Umesh
Mehra. In the film Dilip Kumar and Rekha have been paired for the second
time, the first time being Aag Ka Dariya which never got released. It is
a family entertainer with generous dollops of crime and suspense. It is about
these twins, one of whom had led a debauched life and is dead when the film
begins. But his wayward ways have had an adverse reaction on his entire family,
specially his twin brother. Anil Kapoor who was initially signed for the
film backed out due to date hassles. And Mukul Dev was signed on. Qila, according
to the director is Mukul Dev’s best film to date in terms of performance.
“He will walk away with an award. He is stunning in the film.”
Qila is a Hindi-Russian bilingual. “Latif Faizev, my Russian counterpart,
and I used to work on the sets together. They would then cut down the total
length and also half of each song. The rest of the song will be played with
a voice over explaining the lyrics in the background,” explains Mehra.
Interestingly, the thespian plays both a judge and convict in the film. The
music rights are with BMG Cresendo.
 Sham
Gansham
Sham Ghansham launched under the banner of Suneha Arts by Ashok Ghai has
Chandrachur Singh, Arbaaz Khan, Priya Gill and Pooja Batra in the lead. Although
none of them have hit big time yet, the maker is confident and convinced
that one doesn’t need stars to make a hit film. “My four youngsters
have done a fantastic job. They have grown and matured with the film. Not
once did I feel the absence of big names. In fact these youngsters motivated
me to make a good film,” Ghai asserts. However Ghai has two seasoned
troopers, Raakhee and Amrish Puri in stellar roles.
Ashok Ghai,
younger brother of Subhash Ghai and producer of Ram Lakhan, Prem Deewane
and Jaan makes his directorial debut.
 Duplicate
In this film Shah Rukh Khan plays his first double role. Made under the banner
of Dharma Productions, Duplicate is an action-thriller. Juhi Chawla and Sonali
Bendre are the two leading ladies. Farida Jalal, Mohnish Bahl, Sarat Saxena,
Tiku Talsania and Gulshan Grover play other key roles. The film is being
produced by Yash Johar and directed by Mahesh Bhatt and has music in by Anu
Malik and lyrics by Javed Akhtar. According to Yash Johar, Duplicate is a
fun-laden entertainer made for both, the classes and the masses. “It
is for the first time in the history of Indian cinema that we have used special
effects to show the two Shah Rukh Khans fighing with each other in one single
frame.” No doubt, the earlier technology of split frame is out. The
film also boasts of digital graphics which were used in Hollywood films like
Speed, Jurrassic Park and Titanic. The music is already a hit and the rights
of the music is with HMV.
 Main Solah Baras Ki
The main highlight of Dev Anand’s Main Solah Baras Ki is that the film
has been shot in virgin locales of Scotland. Dev is once again introducing
two new faces, the Nivea boy Jas Arora and a girl from Atlanta called Sabrina.
The film is the stroy of Dev Anand played by Dev himself and his young, enamoured
fan (Sabrina). Jas Arora is the boy who would like to be in her dreams but
her dream lover is Dev Anand. Although Dev’s last film Gangster didn’t
do well, Dev, the optimist, is confident he’ll bounce back in the reckoning
with this one. The music rights are with Pen Audio.
Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai
Salman Khan and Twinkle Khanna come together for the fist time in this musical
love story. The film produced by Tips, has been extensively shot all over
the world and is directed by Deepak Sarin whose last film Aaina with Jackie,
Juhi and Amrita broke several records at the box-office. The film has music
by Jatin-Lalit and the music rights are with Tips. The film is scheduled
to be released soon.
Satya
Based on a story revolving around the underworld, Satya is being directed
by Ram Gopal Varma. Varma announced the film with Mahima Choudhary instead
of his protege Urmila Matondkar and created a real flutter. But then Mahima
walked out and the Rangeela girl stepped in but the underworld is the
same.
Naseeb
This is the story of a mechanic whose only ambition in life is to reach the
top. And finally, when his dream comes true, he realises that he was better
off where he was. Directed by Kirti Kumar, the film is produced by Vinay
Kumar Sinha and is scheduled to be released on April 24. The film has been
shot extensively in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Pune. The rights of the
music is with Zee Music.
Salaakhen
Guddu Dhanoa
returns with yet another action film starring Sunny Deol and Raveena Tandon.
Expectations are fairly high since Ziddi, the last film starring the duo,
was the only action film that worked at the box-office last year. The special
attraction of this film is a dance number by Manisha Koirala in a very special
appearance. The film has music by Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen and the music rights
are with T-Series.
 Pardesi Babu
This film deals with a story of an idealist played by Govinda who sticks
to his values and principles in all circumstances. A family entertainer cum
love story blended with Indian values Pardesi Babu is produced by Kulbhushan
Gupta and directed by debutant Manoj Agarwal, one time assistant to the late
Bharat Rungachary. The film has music by Anand Raaj Anand and the music rights
are with T-Series. Rajan Kinnagi of Hum Aapke Hai Koun fame is the
cinematographer. |
