Benaam review :
Understanding the Ooty model!!
Prabhuji Mithunda's Ooty productions starting from Jallad (1995) and extending right up to Marshal (2002) included a free stay for cast and crew at his Hotel Monarch. Quite a few scenes and all songs got shot there as well. Cynics loathe these movies but I always marvelled at Mithun's business acumen in minting money through these micro-budget movies all shot back to back through sheer economy of scale. The cast, crew as well as director TLV Prasad were commonly hired and most of them like Mohan Joshi, Gulshan Grover, Rami Reddy etc paid on daily basis. Two to three movies were simultaneously filmed on a single day with practically the same storyline : Prabhuji is a honest cop who avenges a bunch of villains after they murder his parents and rape his young sister. All these movies worked fabulously in interiors of North India and Bengal. Producers made money, distributors made profits and Mithun became highest tax payer of India from 1997 to 1999. Critics be damned!! Specific to Benaam, I found the heroine Payal Malhotra quite hot and sexy...
Regards,
Sumeet Nadkarni.
