Have had enough of recession, producer-multiplex deadlock, the escalating ratio of flops and the poor quality of films. All this talk is coming out of my ears. If you start overeating, chances are you'd start vomiting. Well, I've been talking so much on the above-mentioned topics - on and off camera - I can't take it anymore.
So what do I talk then? Yesterday, someone asked me an interesting question. For how long will the corporate houses sit quiet? Meaning, they haven't announced any fresh project in the last quarter [January to March 2009]. What results will they announce in the first or second quarter of 2010, if they decide to lie low today?
Hmmm… that rang a bell. The corporates have picked up money and need to deliver. I presume, they would make a series of fresh announcements after the next quarter, after June. The situation should be in control by then. Hopefully, the flow of movies - big, medium and small - should also begin from June/July onwards. Right now, they too are watching the slow phase and hoping that they don't repeat the mistakes they committed earlier [overpricing].
The stand taken by some producers/distributors to support single screens by re-releasing their past collection is laudable. While in conversation with two top distributors this week, they recalled how GADAR and HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN collected big bucks from single screens [there weren't any plexes then] and the likes of GHAJINI and RAB NE BANA DI JODI, even SINGH IS KINNG, OM SHANTI OM and DHOOM 2, despite having the support and strength of plexes, haven't been able to outperform GADAR and HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN, business-wise.
That's so true! If you maintain your single screens well, the viewer would definitely throng the venue with his family. Let me recall Seth Tarachand Barjatya's [the founder of Rajshri] initiative during MAINE PYAAR KIYA. Sethji would ensure that the theatres were well-maintained, were equipped with good sound system and the overall atmosphere was hygienic. Only then would MAINE PYAAR KIYA be 'entrusted' to those theatres. The family audiences, which had stopped going to theatres, came back in large numbers then.
If it could happen then, why not today? Think about it!
How would I describe Feroz Khan? A style icon? A legend? A great storyteller? He was all this and more. I interacted with him a few times. During the premiere of DAYAVAN [at Minerva] and later PREM AGGAN [at Liberty, if my memory doesn't fail me]. We met briefly. We lost touch. Much later, RGV invited me for a screening of JUNGLE at Adlabs, much before its release. He was re-launching Fardeen Khan.
I distinctly remember, I was [pleasantly] surprised to get a call from Khan-saab that evening. The voice on the other line was very humble, very soft. It was not a call from a film-maker of larger than life movies, but a doting father who was anxious that his son find a foothold in the industry.
I interacted with Khan-saab at Johannesburg again, during IIFA. He was promoting JANASHEEN. I kept asking questions, he fielded them like a pro. Fardeen was nervous, not Khan-saab. He shielded his son like a lion. Later, at the premiere of JANASHEEN [at New Excelsior], Khan-saab stood at the entrance introducing Fardeen to the heavyweights.
We met again at Dubai, during IIFA again. Khan-saab had decided to remake QURBANI and had also recorded a song. I requested him to play the song again. He did. He was keen to make it with Saif, Priyanka and Fardeen. Today, that dream remains unfulfilled and I sincerely and genuinely hope that FK Jr. completes his dream some day.
Khan-saab was a style icon, blessed with a dashing personality. He made great movies - very stylish and very interesting. But I'd remember him as a doting father who wanted only the best for his son Fardeen. We will miss you, Khan-saab.
