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Komal Nahta

Subhash Ghai has decided to postpone the shooting of his new film, Yaadein. Instead of April, Ghai will now start his film in August. He may shoot a song or two before that, but regular shooting will only begin in August. Ghai is quick to clarify, "But the release schedule will remain the same. Yaadein will hit the screens some time in April next year." And what has caused this postponement? Well, Ghai, like so many others in the film industry, is planning to go public and that is taking a lot of his time. He wants to be free of all those matters before he goes full-steam into production and direction work.

Preity pack
Close on the heels of last week's music cassettes of Baaghi, which came cutely gift-wrapped in see-through bags, now come the music cassettes and CDs of Tips's Kya Kehna. To match with heroine Preity Zinta's character of a school-girl in the film, the music album came with a Barbie doll! Other accessories like a writing pad etc were also there, but the two dolls were what held one's attention -- the Barbie and Preity, that is!

Nadeem-Shravan, Anuradha together again

Anuradha Paudwal, who had of late decided to sing only devotional songs, suddenly changed her mind. She is now singing a film song under the baton of Nadeem-Shravan, much to the shock of those belonging to the late Gulshan Kumar camp. The singer's proximity to the late music magnate and his company, Super Cassettes, is common knowledge. Also known is the court case against Nadeem who is alleged to be involved in the murder of Gulshan Kumar. The last time Anuradha rendered a song for Nadeem-Shravan was exactly four years back. It was a duet with Kumar Sanu, recorded on March 28 at Sunny Super Sounds. And it was again on March 28 this year that she sang a song for the duo. This time too, it was a duet with Kumar Sanu and was recorded at Sunny Super Sounds. The new song is for Aroona Irani and Kuku Kohli's Dil Hai Aashiqana.

Sridevi's comeback? Not yet

Rumours of Sridevi's comeback are doing the rounds again. Before Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein had started, the rumour was that Sridevi would be paired with Amitabh Bachchan in the film. The rumours now in circulation are that Subhash Ghai has signed the actress for a role in Yaadein. But in both cases, the rumours are baseless as neither Chopra nor Ghai had approached Sridevi for acting in their films. Even otherwise, Sridevi, whenever she stages a comeback, is keen to do so in a film produced by husband Boney Kapoor. For the time being, she has decided to remain away from the arc lights. In the meantime, Boney, who had acquired the Hindi remake rights of the Telugu hit, Anthapuram, will start the film with another actress instead of Sridevi as originally planned.

Poor show

The motto of our film industry is that the show must go on. But a theatre may sometimes find it impossible to go on with its show. A case in point is that of Sona (Borivli), Bombay, which was screening Hum Saath-Saath Hain in a repeat-run last week. In the first three days, the film could collect only Rs 6,000 (approx.). Discontinuing the film, the management, instead of screening some other film, kept the cinema closed for the remaining four days of the week! Seems, there is hardly any audience for a repeat-run film these days. Otherwise, what explains the dismal fate of another superhit film at Relief, Ahmedabad?! The theatre was screening Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in a repeat-run last week. How much did it collect in a week? Just Rs 20,216 against a capacity of Rs 4 lakh. That's just 5.05 per cent! Unprecedented, indeed! Some shows of Le Chal Apne Sang too had to be cancelled last week in Nasik because of lack of audience.

A taxing matter

The film trade in various circuits is facing tough time in the new financial year which began on April 1. And the common cause is entertainment tax. Tax on entertainment is a state subject in India, because of which the rates of tax differ from state to state for the same film. The Karnataka government hiked entertainment tax on non-Kannada films screened in the state from 70 per cent to 100 per cent. The Gujarat government reduced the tax-free service charge permitted per ticket from Rs 2 to Re 1. The Rajasthan government has made it compulsory for cinemas to pay compound tax because a lot of them indulge in entertainment tax evasion. In the meantime, the Andhra Pradesh government is facing pressure from exhibitors of the state to abolish entertainment tax completely.

A look at the week

**Ratings based on box office collections and cost of the film**

Rating	Film	Production House	Verdict	Position Last Week	No Of Weeks Since Release
1	Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge	Baba Films	Average (Losing in some circuits)	1	2
2	Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai	Film Kraft	Superhit	2	12
3	Hera Pheri	A G Films (P) Ltd	Losing (Average in Bombay & CP Berar)	New	1
4	Badal	Aftab Music Industries	Average (Above average in North, Bihar)	3	8
5	Pukar (Tax-free in some states)	S K Films Enterprises	Average (Above average in Bombay, South, C P Berar due to tax exemption)	5	9
6	Krodh	Ashok Honda Productions	Average	4	3
7	Jaanwar	Shree Krishna Intl	Above average	6	15
8	Hum Saath-Saath Hain	Rajshri	Hit	8	22
9	Khauff	Chirag Arts	Flop	9	5
10	Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani	Dreamz Unlimited	Loser (Average in Bombay)	10	11

Komal Nahta edits the popular trade magazine, Film Information.

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