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Bhagnani's magic formula

Komal Nahta

Film flopped? Worry not. You'll recover your cost.

That is, if you have the business smarts of the ilk of Vashu Bhagnani.

Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa bombed at the BO. But he is none the worse for it. In fact, he is happy.

Reason: The canny producer has recovered all his costs.

Magic formula: Recover the cost of your film from the sales of the satellite, music and overseas rights.

Caution: The formula is not valid for a film which doesn't have a glitzy star cast. (Never mind that the 'glitz' of Tera Jadoo... was Abhishek, more Abhishek and nothing but Abhishek!)

From lover to brother!

There's something about Fiza.

Correction, there's something about Hrithik Roshan in Fiza. It must have been all those publicity blurbs, liberally plastered all over the city, loudly proclaiming, in search of her brother.

Which explains why Hrithik has received a record 3,500 -- we kid you not: three thousand five hundred -- raakhis this September.

Do these tokens of sisterly love have anything to do with Hrithik announcing his marriage next year to girlfriend Suzanne?

We'll let you take the bets on that one.

Of real dreams...

Writer Aatish Kapadia's television serial, Sapnana Vavetar, is hailed as something of a messiah on DD Gujarati.

Thanks to this one serial, DD Gujarati's popularity soared sky-high.

Aatish started dreaming big. He decided to make a Hindi version of the serial simultaneously and kept it aside hoping that some channel would, one day, approach him for the Hindi version.

His dream did become reality.

Today, the Hindi version, Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka, is just as popular as the Gujarati one. Only, this time, it's Sony TV's viewership that has shot through the satellite roof!

Incidentally, Aatish had written Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria's Mann. Which bombed at the BO.

And which Aatish takes sole responsibility for. Says the 30-something writer, "I am responsible for the debacle of Mann. I knew would bomb the very first day of its release when I saw it at Bombay's Chandan cinema. People simply weren't enjoying it.

"I rang up Ashok, who was watching the film at Eros, told him what I saw.But he just wouldn't believe me -- the reaction at Eros was positive. And convinced me that I was overreacting and that I shouldn't panic."

As it turned out, Aatish's perception was no dream. It was harsh reality.

Figures that seduced the BSE!

It was a rare honour for Subhash Ghai, chairman and managing director of Mukta Arts Limited.

The showman made a presentation to members of the Bombay Stock Exchange at the prelisting ceremony held at the BSE Convention Centre on August 25. Mukta Arts is only the second company to be invited for such an address.

Ghai's presentation was attended by the movers and shakers of the Bombay broking community. Prominent members of the BSE governing board including Anand Rathi (president), Deena Mehta (vice president), A N Joshi (executive) and J J Bhatt (director, investor services & listing) graced the occasion.

The total revenue generation of the film industry is expected to grow from Rs 6,215 crores in 1999 to Rs 33,984 crores by 2005. Export earnings from film software are expected to increase from Rs 665 crores to Rs 14,700 crores by 2005.

A case of seduce by figures, hmm?

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	Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai	S K Films Enterprises	Above average in Bombay, hit in Gujarat, but losing to average in other parts of the country	New	New
2	Dhadkan	Venus Records & Tapes Ltd	Disaster	2	3
3	Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega	Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment	Average in some circuits and above average in some	4	4
4	Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa	Puja Films	Disaster	1	2
5	Deewane	S P Creations	Disaster	3	3
6	Kunwara	Tips Films	Loser (average in some circuits)	5	6
7	Refugee	J P Films	Above average (fantastic initial) (average in a couple of circuits)	7	9
8	Jungle	Varma Corporation Ltd	Above average	6	7
9	Josh	Venus	Above average in Bombay and South (average to losing in all other circuits)	8	12
10	Bichhoo	Bhagwan Chitra Mandir	Above average in North India, average in some circuits	9	8

Komal Nahta edits the popular trade magazine, Film Information.

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