EK "TRIVIA" AISA BHI- PRAKASH MEHRA's ZANJEER

"Iss aitihasik jeet ke baad bhi BHUVAN ka naam itihaas ke pannon mein kahin kho gaya...."

Wondering how this line is related to the title? Let me tell you - there's no relation indeed, besides the fact that with both movies JAVED AKHTAR was involved in the story-writing.

Here, in this section EK "TRIVIA" AISA BHI, I will bring out some facts related to famous movies and actors that created ripples when they occurred. So, who better than the legendary PRAKASH MEHRA to start with? (For those who are not aware: He is the man behind AMITABH BACHCHAN's SUPERSTARDOM. The director of movies such as LAWAARIS, SHARABI, MUQADDAR KA SIKANDAR, etc. Yesterday, i.e Sunday - May 17, 2009, he died because of multiple organ failure). So, here is the first article of this segment as a tribute to PRAKASH MEHRA which I have brought from yore:

Prakash Mehra, the film's producer and director, discusses his experiences while making the landmark movie. 

With Amitabh Bachchan.

Zanjeer, actually, wasn't my film. The film was bought over by Dharmendra from the writers Salim-Javed. Dharmendra came to know that I was planning to make a film called Samadhi written by Pandit Mukhram Sharma. He liked the story idea and told me to exchange the script with that of Zanjeer.

I agreed, but told him that besides acting in the film Zanjeer, he would be a co-producer for the film. He readily agreed.

At the same time, I had bought another story idea for a film called Kahani Kismet Ki from the well known writer K Narayan. Dharmendra liked that subject too.

He told me to give that subject to his godfather in the film industry, Arjun Hingorani. In return he said he would give me full co-operation for Zanjeer. I was disheartened but I said that I did not mind sacrificing two films for Zanjeer..

Dharmendra had already paid the initial amount for the film and he was to play the hero. But he told me that he wanted to start a film for his own brother and would shoot for Zanjeer after half of that film was over. But, I had decided to finish the film within six months with Dharmendra because he was the top actor then.

I told him not to delay things, but Dharam said he was helpless. I told him I had already announced that he would be the hero, Mumtaz, the heroine. He still told me to wait.

But I didn't find it fun waiting so long. One fine day, both of us amicably settled the matter with Dharam agreeing not to work in the film because of his busy schedule.

Then I decided on Dev Anand. I had seen Dev's Kaala Pani and liked it. I thought a change of image could make this film a landmark film for him.

But the only thing which bugged Dev Anand was that there were no songs in the film. He told me to put three-four songs in the film. But I said I wouldn't do that. He then offered me whatever money I wanted for the film if I did it for Nav Ketan, his home production. I refused. And so even he was ruled out as a hero.

After that I went to Raaj Kumar who was already working with Mumtaz for a film in Madras. He liked the film. He felt it was a terrific subject, and that he would like to shoot from the very next day. But he wanted me to go South to shoot the film since he had given bulk dates to a producer in Madras.

I told him the film was based in Bombay and that there was no way that I could shoot in Madras. He told me to reconsider my decision. I didn't.

Now I was getting tensed. Then one day, Pran, who played the Pathan's role in the film, told me to consider Amitabh Bachchan. He told me to see Amitabh's Bombay to Goa. After seeing the film, my gut feeling said that he was a future star.

I was especially impressed by the fight scene between Amitabh and Shatrughan Sinha in the film. I selected Amitabh because of the emotions his eyes could generate. I thought I should give this man a break in my film even though his earlier films had flopped.

Everyone criticised me when I selected him. They came back when O P Ralhan's film Bandhe Haathin which Amitabh acted flopped. There was no way my film could do well, they said, because, in those days, O P Ralhan's name was bigger than Prakash Mehra's.

Amitabh was very upset by the Bandhe Haath fiasco. He told me that he was planning to move back to his native Allahabad if Zanjeer too failed.

I had another shock when the heroine, Mumtaz, decided to get married and quit acting. I think one reason she left could be the flopping of Bande Haath in which she had acted opposite Amitabh. I guess she did not wanted to take one more risk with this film.

Luckily, I was working with Jaya Bhaduri on another film. Amitabh told Jaya that no heroine was willing to work with him. And she told him that I had approached her to play the heroine in the film.

One person I can never forget is Pran. Had it not been for him, the film wouldn't have been completed. Though Manoj Kumar gave him a new role in the film Pukar and asked him to do his new film Shor, he refused, stating that he had committed himself to me for Zanjeer. He used to pamper me like a child during the film.

After 25 years, I won't be wrong if I say Zanjeer became a trend-setter. However, I always object when people say I brought violence to Bollywood cinema. I never made Zanjeer with a violent story in mind. The name, 'angry young man' was given by the press.

Zanjeer was not a violent movie. If you see the film, you will find out that it is the inner conflict of a person who is suffocating and wants to fight against the system. And he cannot do it alone.

When I made the film, I knew it would either be a washout or a trend-setter. There is no romance in the film. The hero never smiles in the film, except during the song Yaari hai iman mera when Pran makes him smile. But my inner feeling was: This film will do something miraculous.

Pran in Zanjeer.

People laughed at me because they felt that after making three jubilees, Prakash has gone senile. How can this man pair Amitabh and Jaya together? They used to say, 'Prakash is making an art film.' I think in making Zanjeer or any other film, the film-maker's convictions are very important.

I had other problems -- there were no financiers and the distributors ran away. They laughed at me, 'Who is this tall idiot hero?' Amitabh used to cry. He used to feel very put off. He used to call me "Sir" in those days. I told him I wasn't his teacher or professor, I am your director. He then started calling me lalla. In UP, one calls his brother aslalla.

He used to complain, 'Lalla, I don't know what will happen to my future after this film.' I used to tell him not to be selfish and think about me. Because it was I who stood to lose every pie if something went wrong.

Among those I should give credit is Manoj Kumar, who inspired me to start my own production. He told me that if I give a flop film as director, I would be jobless. Which is why I made my own film. And some distributors picked the film because they hazarded that since I had given three hits earlier, there were chances this film too could do well.

Interestingly, Bobby was being released on the same day. And, believe me, I was not worried about Zanjeer though Raj Kapoor was shocked byZanjeer's success despite there being only three songs in the film.

Someone told me that Laxmikant-Pyarelal, the music directors of Bobby,had bought out all the cassettes of Zanjeer to stop the three songs by Kalyanji-Anandji from flooding the market. I used to telephone HMV and seek the latest update on the cassette stocks.

The film was released on May 20, 1973. Though the film clicked in Calcutta, it did not do well for the first four days in Bombay. I thought then that the film would flop.

The bad time the film was having affected Amitabh so badly that he went down with a fever. But after four days, when the booking for the second week began, I happened to pass through Gaiety-Galaxy theatre in Bandra. There was a huge rush at the advance booking window. A five rupee ticket was being sold at Rs 100.

I was shocked. To this day, I have never seen such a huge rush outside Gaiety-Galaxy. When Amitabh heard the news, it affected him so much that his fever worsened to 104 degrees centigrade.

He could not believe it. For now he was a star.

SOURCE: INTERVIEW GIVEN TO REDIFF IN 1998.

Critic’s criticism

For some, these are the people who actually help them, save their hard earned money by giving useful tips bang on time.

 

For some, these are insane people who take their profession quite literally.

 

I wont confuse you further, here the community I am talking about is the CRITIC circuit. For a country like INDIA where usually 2-3 movies release every week on an average (Including regional cinema), critics are people who, 95% of the time decide the fate of a movie.

 

This has been a topic of discussion for long, “whether  critics’ ratings play any role in a film’s fate?”. I won’t start a debate over here but would love to highlight a simple point:

 

*

 

This one star can prove to be a nightmare for many directors and producers.

 

*****

 

A combination of these stars can prove to be a boon.

 

Critics are doing a great job by reviewing movies for the sake of cinema, for the sake of audiences and also, helping them in choosing the perfect movie for their perfect outing. BRAVO!!

 

But  do they (critics) ever realize  how much this trend is backfiring INDIAN CINEMA?

 

As a matter of fact:

 

• (One star)--------- Gives an idea to a regular moviegoer that the movie isn’t worth a watch.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

People who wanted to see the flick are now told that they shouldn’t.

Saves a lot of the audience’s money, which otherwise would have been a waste.

Though the PRODUCER and the DIRECTOR who worked for years to complete that movie bear losses in Crores.

BUT WHY SHOULD WE CARE??

 

*****( FIVE STAR RATING) --------Gives an idea that a movie is a must watch.

 

Now, here is the main concern. A low-star rating can definitely influence one not to go to the cinema hall, but higher ratings do not bear the same results. Else, a movie like FIRAAQ would not have been a flop. A WEDNESDAY would have earned more than 30 – 40 CRORE NET GROSS. (Actual figure being 9.9 crores)!!

 

But NO!!! It isn’t happening!!!

 

It’s high time these critics realize that they are part of this industry; if they can’t think well for this industry then no one can. A movie like LADIES TAILOR manages to get more than one  star in a few reviews but NO SMOKING barely manages more than one in any review!! We definitely need a check here- “ON WHAT BASIS ARE RATINGS GIVEN??"

 

Bollywood’s famous critic KHALID MOHAMMED decided the fate of more than hundreds of movies but his own cinema sense could not give him a single hit till date. And he has been continuously delivering duds in the form of FIZA, TEHZEEB, and SILSILAY. Now, CAN he explain, “WHAT CONTENT WAS HE LOOKING FOR IN A MOVIE FOR YEARS?? (For the records, he hardly ever gave more than 2-3 stars to a movie unless it had SHAHRUKH). If these people themselves can’t make a good movie then how they can criticize someone else’s product??

 

A few CRITICS like RAJA SEN and MAYANK SHEKHAR act as if they were born in AMERICA, not INDIA. As if, they've always seen HOLLYWOOD movies and now, are suddenly exposed to the harsh world of BOLLYWOOD. All they can appreciate from BOLLYWOOD is the so-called PARALLEL OR MEANINGFUL CINEMA.

 

I don’t say it’s wrong to criticize a movie but its high time critics realize, that this is their own industry for GOD’S sake!! The latest example is the outright rejection of 99. Agreed it’s not the best product to come out of Bollywood, but it definitely isn’t as bad as its made out to be. In such adverse times when BOLLYWOOD is bleeding, even small successes can bring a smile on at least a few faces.

 

But WHO CARES? All they care about is sticking to their profession, as if FILMFARE has been announcing the Best Critic award to those who grant the lowest star ratings through out the year.

 

 

 

It’s high time we show some maturity, realize and accept the facts, instead of running away from reality. This is our own industry and every effort in a positive direction can bring us laurels and lots of smiles on many faces :)

 

 

99 HAS IT ALL TO HIT A 6

Banner: PEOPLE PICTURES                

Release date: MAY 15, 2009

Genre: COMEDY/ DRAMA

Producer: ANUPAM MITTAL & ADITYA SHASTRI

Director: RAJ NIDIMORU & KRISHNA DK

Star Cast: KUNAL KHEMU, SOHA ALI KHAN, BOMAN IRANI, CYRUS BROACHA, MAHESH MANJREKAR, VINOD KHANNA, SIMONE SINGH, AMIT MISTRY.

 

GiBRa RATINGS:      7/10

What to expect: DEKHEIN PAR KYON?

-Fine performances from an ensemble cast.

- Fresh theme executed well, treated differently (Considering they are FIRST timers in BOLLYWOOD).

-Few hilarious sequences involving AMIT MISTRY & MAHESH MANJREKAR.

- Eye Catching CINEMATOGRAPHY and CAMERA angles.

-Background scores compliments the movie really well.

 

Suggestions for DIRECTOR: YUN HOTA TOH KYA HOTA?

-Music is a let down (One complains because in the end, one can’t hum any song from the film even when one wants to. While watching movie it’s definitely not a hindrance)

-Camaraderie between Cyrus and KUNAL isn’t very exciting.

-Film does drags twice or thrice in between.

 

GBR KYA BOLA?

Quite a relief (reviews on other famous portals did scare me), watching this film in a theatre nearby, won’t be a disappointment. Go watch it with a popcorn in your hands.

RATINGS ON OTHER PORTALS:

REDIFF: 2.5/5

INDIAFM: 2.5/5

GLAMSHAM: 2.5/5

INDIAGLITZ: 1.5/5

 

LOVED BORDER????WATCH HAQEEQAT AND FALL IN LOVE ONCE AGAIN!!

No denying that INDIAN CINEMA has rarely produced any memorable war based movies. If given an opportunity to the present day youth, at best they can come out with names like BORDER, LOC and...... and the list stops then and there. Both movies directed by J.P. DUTTA, one being an outright hit and another being a box office dud. 

FLASHBACK: 

Two days back I bought a MOSERBAER 3 in 1 DVD which had LAKSHYA, BORDER and LOC ( I know its a fantastic deal.... and the best part being i shelled out a mere Rs.45 from my wallet for such a fantastic deal....... what are you waiting for? GO GRAB one for yourself!!) When my roommate saw BORDER as one of the movies I brought, I could see a sense of pride and excitement on his face when he said "MAN WE WILL WATCH IT SOMEDAY TOGETHER.....IT's BEEN LONG SINCE I lAST SAW BORDER!!" , I couldn't relate to his reaction felt he was insane....

FLASHBACK ENDS.

Today, I saw BORDER and it again established my trust in the famous saying that " BORDER is INDIA's best ever portrayal of a war front". With this sense of pride, I started out with HAQEEQAT, my second movie of the day. HAQEEQAT released way back in 1964, starred BALRAJ SAHANI, DHARMENDRA and a new comer PRIYA RAJVANSHI directed by CHETAN ANAND. Initial frames of the movie established the fact that this movie had it all to prove my above statement about BORDER wrong. After one hour in the movie,I was left with no doubt that J P DUTTA must have referred to this film before making BORDER. Though the last few frames before the climax are a little dragging, but the climax being the high point, is a tear jerker.

In one scene BALRAJ SAHANI's troop has to climb one last mountain to secure themselves from CHINA, but they had no energy left..... and then SAHANI encores

"Main sharminda hooon...ki main tum logon ka sardar hoon .....aaj agar dushman aa jayein abhi....toh aisi hi pade rahoge??? bologe aaao looot lo....."

a troop member replies " MAR JAYENGE PAR CHODENGE NAHIN SALON KO"

SAHANI  encores again....." DUSHMANON k LIYE mar jaane ko tayaar ho....PAR dooosri taraf basse tumhare gharwalon k liye,  apne chahiton k liye tum JEE NAHIN SAKTE!!!"

GADAR!!!!!DIALOGAAAA mARA.....:)

I hate RAPE sequences in movies. But this is the first time I loved a movie in spite of having one. The reason being, in all our indian movies RAPE has always been depicted as a social stigma, the girl takes years to overcome the abuse. But here, our heroine fights at the INDO-CHINA border for her COUNTRY, for her LOVE( DHARMENDRA), few minutes after being abused. One word which came out of my mouth was AMAZING!! and the moment I felt that movie made me happy, by doing something differently, the movie throws another shocker at you in the form of the death of DHARMENDRA and PRIYA RAJVANSHI. The highlight being the FRAME where camera shows TWO HANDS shivering to touch each other and the moment you start thinking they they would make it.....both hands come to stand still(with significant gap still maintained) signifying death of THE HERO and THE HEROINE of the movie.

The CAMERA pans to left on DHARMENDRA's face and the song " KAR CHALE HUM FIDA JAAN-O-TAN SAATHIYON....AB TUMHARE HAWALE VATAN SAATHIYON" starts .....fattttte placement of the song. Don't be surprised if you get GOOSEBUMPS while watching that scene.

There's no denying BORDER still stands tall in my tally, but the last fifteen minutes are what will live with me for the rest of my life....:)...So what are you waiting for? GO WATCH HAQEEQAT ASAP &

FEEL THE LOVE....

LOVE FOR YOUR COUNTRY

LOVE FOR YOUR LOVED ONES....

INDIAN CINEMA: DEVDAS TO DEV D

Whenever I discuss INDIAN CINEMA, I often emphasize on the fact that INDIAN CINEMA has churned out its best products in 50's and the next best time is NOW.....

Every time I say this, people around me, do ask one question, WHY do I THINK SO?? And every time I give the same answer. The 50's has BIMAL ROY, V SHANTARAM, GURU DUTT, KISHORE KUMAR, DILIP KUMAR, BALRAJ SAHANI, WAHEEDA REHMAN, MADHUBALA and the list is endless...and NOW, the time we are living in, has directors like ANURAG KASHYAP, RAKESH OMPRAKASH MEHRA, IMTIAZ ALI, DIBAKAR BANERJEE, ONIR and again the list is endless.

Now the question arises..."WHATS THE COMMON THREAD BETWEEN THE ABOVE EXAMPLES??"

There is only one common thing in the above examples....."they all had/ have their own stories to tell and their own unique style of reciting them". There are  no KUMBH KA MELAS, there are no INFIDELITY issues, neither did their male protagonists find that they were brothers, towards the climax of the movies. 

What they shared or have been sharing is sheer uniqueness and a novel idea in each of their outings.

I always ask this question to my friends, "If MADHUBALA's father in the 1958 release CHALTI KA NAAM GADI... didn't have any problem with his daughter finding her soulmate, then.... wtf was AMRISH PURI's problem with KAJOL, in the 1996 release DDLJ???WHAT were these INDIAN CINEMA's "LADKIYON K BAAP" up-to, between these freaking 38 years????"

Answer to this question of mine is very simple, our Indian directors definitely lost track in between these years. In spite of making progressive cinema they started making movies which were actually derived from sub plots of the 50's cinema. And in this exercise they somewhere wasted TWO precious decades which could have taken INDIAN CINEMA to a new level altogether.

Now, coming to the tittle. Why have I named my very first blog as INDIAN CINEMA: DEVDAS TO DEV D?

The answer lies in "time". Time of their release.

• DEVDAS, released in 1955, directed by BIMAL ROY had DILIP KUMAR as the main protagonist. Don't worry I will not write it's review, rather I will emphasize on the fact that the movie was actually based on a novel written by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay - WHAT AN IDEA SIRJI??  

• DEV-D, released in 2008, directed by ANURAG KASHYAP had ABHAY DEOL as the main protagonist. Don't worry I will not write it's review either, rather again I will emphasize on the fact that the movie was actually a remake of DEVDAS(1955)with an ending with which the youth of the present generation can relate.- WHAT AN IDEA SIRJI??
  

• DEVDAS, released in 2002, directed by SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI had SHAHRUKH as the main protagonist. Don't worry I will not write it's review either, rather again I will emphasize on the fact that the movie was actually a remake of DEVDAS(1955)with an ending that the original novel had. - WHERE's THE IDEA SIRJI??
  

You must be wondering WHAT IS THIS BLOGGER UPTO??

But my dear friends, the whole story of Indian cinema revolves around the above three examples. SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI must have done a commendable job with his version. But, why did he invest freaking 50 CRORES on a concept, which was only grand on paper, with no novelty value attached to it?? That's exactly what was the case with our 70's and 80's. Just close your eyes and recall which movies of that era comes to your mind?

DACOITS, INFIDELITY , KUMBH KA MELA, BHAI and TAVEEJ these five words, at least one of them found special mention in 80 % of the movies of that time, exceptions being CHUPKE CHUPKE, DON and a few others.

People say " CINEMA PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN CHANGING SOCIETY". After the success of DDLJ, hardly has any movie released and got success in which the father says NO to his daughter. Because with the success of DDLJ, people started accepting and relating with these issues and we saw some progress( If not within the four walls of a house, then at least on silver screen). Then why did Indian directors shy away from these issues in 70's and 80's, why can't I recall any director's name apart from HRISHIKESH MUKHERJEE, MANMOHAN DESAI and YASH CHOPRA(also SALIM-JAVED as script writers)? Why does my chest bulge out when I talk about 50's cinema and why does it shrink when I have to discuss 70's or 80's??

The answer lies in the fact that though our fathers loved and loathed the movies of 70's and 80's, we surely can't afford to show these films to our kids... neither would they be interested!! The only thing we can do, is to make up for the lost time by celebrating the success of movies like DEV D , JAB WE MET and RANG DE BASANTI in a more GRANDIOSE way so that our grandsons don't use a portal like this in future to express their sorrows for movies made in our time. And that's why I say THE NEXT BEST PHASE IS NOW.......:)so, LETS EXPLORE IT TO THE FULLLEST!!:)