Old is gold: Why Bollywood is turning to re-releases amid string of flops

6 jam yang lalu

New Delhi, India – When Raghav Bikhchandani recovered retired connected societal media that Gangs of Wasseypur, nan acclaimed Indian blockbuster released successful 2012, was each group to deed nan theatres successful New Delhi again, he knew he could not miss it this clip and moreover alerted respective movie clubs and WhatsApp groups he was portion of.

For nan 27-year-old transcript editor, getting to watch nan two-part movie felt for illustration “finally being introduced to nan astir memed movie successful Indian popular culture” arsenic he recovered himself commuting for 3 hours connected an August day to a seedy theatre successful nan city’s Subhash Nagar neighbourhood to drawback nan movie connected nan large screen.

“I came into Hindi cinema overmuch later successful life, and I had missed retired connected seeing this connected nan large screen. When I was studying overseas successful Chicago, moreover NRIs successful my assemblage would quote dialogues from this movie but I had ne'er gotten a chance to spot it. So I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity,” he told Al Jazeera.

Based successful a mining municipality successful eastbound India connected a decades-long feud betwixt rival gangs chiefly dealing successful coal, “the achromatic diamond”, nan Anurag Kashyap-directed duology attained fame and captious acclaim pursuing its full-house premier astatine nan 2012 Cannes Film Festival successful France.

With an inventive cast, crisp dialogues, pitch-black drama and gritty setting, nan five-hour epic crime and governmental play cemented its position arsenic 1 of nan astir memorable Indian films of nan past decade.

But it isn’t just Gangs of Wasseypur. Bollywood, India’s much-vaunted Hindi movie manufacture based successful Mumbai, arsenic good arsenic location movie studios dispersed crossed nan world’s astir populous nation, are witnessing an unprecedented surge successful re-releases of films celebrated successful nan past, immoderate going arsenic acold backmost arsenic nan 1960s.

Dozens of specified films person deed theatres successful galore cities this twelvemonth – acold much than ever earlier – arsenic nan country’s astir $200bn movie manufacture looks to revive its fortunes aft taking aggregate hits successful caller years.

In a state for illustration India, which produces much films a twelvemonth than Hollywood, cinema is fundamentally a wide medium, astir enjoyed successful nan acheronian and dreamy confines of a movie theatre showing its latest offering connected a 70mm screen. But nan coronavirus pandemic hurt Indian films – arsenic it did pinch movies globally. Since 2022, theatres crossed nan world person been struggling to get group back, a situation compounded by nan emergence of online streaming and OTT platforms.

India reeled nether 2 deadly COVID-19 waves successful 2020 and 2021, forcing nan closure of astir 1,500 to 2,000 theatres – a mostly of them single-screen cinemas, which could not guidelines up to nan firm franchise-driven multiplexes mostly seen successful shopping malls mushrooming crossed nan country.

Then location is nan rising costs of making a full-length film. Stars, chiefly men, are now paid an unprecedented fee, immoderate amounting to astir half of a film’s budget. Moreover, nan disbursal of their entourage – constitution and publicity crew, vanity vans, hotels and recreation – puts further financial strain connected producers and studios. Recently, salient shaper and head Karan Johar told journalists nan prima fees successful Bollywood were “not successful touch pinch reality”.

To make matters worse, Bollywood successful caller years has been witnesser to a drawstring of flops, pinch moreover large multiplex chains specified arsenic PVR INOX incurring dense losses – and truthful forced to beryllium much imaginative successful their offerings.

It was against specified a backdrop that theatre owners and filmmakers decided to re-release aged films. Many of films that person returned to theatres were runaway successes nan first clip around, while others weren’t – until now.

PVR INOX’s lead strategist Niharika Bijli was quoted successful a study successful September this twelvemonth arsenic saying nan concatenation re-released a whopping 47 films betwixt April and August this year. While nan mean occupancy for a caller merchandise during this play stood astatine 25 percent, re-releases enjoyed a higher mean of 31 percent, according to nan reports.

Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, whose 2002 deed Tum Bin was released again this twelvemonth to overmuch fanfare, told Al Jazeera nostalgia has “a ample domiciled to play here”.

“There are usually 2 kinds of viewers going successful for nan re-releases. The first is nan group who missed these films successful theatres. Maybe they saw it connected OTT and felt for illustration having a theatrical acquisition of it. Or there’s group who person memories, nostalgia attached to a film, and want to revisit it,” he said.

Indian movie waste and acquisition expert Taran Adarsh agreed, saying nan occurrence of Tumbbad, a 113-minute mythological scary initially released successful 2018, was impervious that nan look of reruns was working. “It’s besides astir nostalgia, immoderate group mightiness want to acquisition nan magic of a movie connected nan large surface again,” he said.

Tumbbad did not do good erstwhile it first came out. But pinch rising fame and captious acclaim, nan movie was re-released successful September this twelvemonth and went connected to execute importantly amended than nan twelvemonth it deed nan large screen.

“When it re-released, Tumbbad really collected complete 125 percent much gross successful its opening play than it did backmost successful 2018. People will watch things if location is word-of-mouth publicity and theatre owners and distributors are alert of it. Superstars for illustration Shah Rukh Khan and Salman [Khan] are coming backmost to theatres, acknowledgment to Karan Arjun getting a re-release,” said Adarsh, referring to nan actors, who, contempt being successful their precocious 50s, proceed to beryllium nan apical 2 reigning stars successful Bollywood.

First released successful 1995, Karan Arjun, a rebirth-themed action play directed by actor-turned-director Rakesh Roshan, is group to deed Indian theatres connected Friday to people its 30th anniversary, pinch a marque caller trailer.

Kuch bandhan aise hote hai, jinke liye ek janam poora nahi hota! #KaranArjun re releasing successful cinemas worldwide from Nov 22nd!@RakeshRoshan_N #RajeshRoshan @BeingSalmanKhan @itsKajolD #MamtaKulkarni #Rakhee #AmrishPuri @tipsofficial @PenMovies #30yearsOfKaranArjun pic.twitter.com/D7tih2QwMf

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) November 13, 2024

Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, wide regarded arsenic 1 of nan pioneers of India’s alleged creation cinema activity of nan 1970s, told Al Jazeera nan determination to re-release specified films is taken by nan producers. Recently, Benegal himself saw nan restoration and re-release of his 1976 classic, Manthan, India’s first crowdfunded movie for which much than 500,000 farmers contributed 2 rupees each to show nan communicative of their activity that founded Amul, India’s largest dairy cooperative.

“Because it’s a analyzable and time-consuming process, you only take to reconstruct those movies that you wish to sphere for long. Fortunately for us, it worked retired well. The restoration was fantabulous and we sewage a awesome consequence from nan audiences,” Benegal said, adding that the measurement a movie is made, and not conscionable its themes, contributes to its intergenerational appeal.

“A movie is very overmuch portion of your ain time. A film’s taxable tin get dated very quickly. If group crossed generations are reacting to it, past it mightiness beryllium that its connection appealed to them,” he told Al Jazeera.

And it’s not conscionable Bollywood – aliases Hindi cinema – that’s cashing successful connected nostalgia for nan olden days and their movies.

Mahanagar, nan 1963 Bengali classical by India’s astir celebrated filmmaker, Satyajit Ray, was released successful theatres crossed India – to immoderate spirited ceremony by nan fans of Ray, who successful 1992 was awarded an honourary Oscar grant for a life of acclaimed work.

Down south, megastars specified arsenic Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Chiranjeevi and Mohanlal besides saw their celebrated hits making a comeback to nan screens. Rajinikanth, 73 and Haasan, 70, are 2 of nan astir successful actors successful Tamil connection cinema, enjoying a cult following.

Sri, who only goes by 1 name, is simply a trading master successful Chennai, nan superior of nan confederate Tamil Nadu state. She told Al Jazeera it was nan lure of Rajinikanth that first prompted her liking successful nan re-releases astir her.

“The first clip I heard astir re-releases was erstwhile Rajinikanth’s Baashha was being screened again. The movie was primitively released successful 1995 erstwhile I was an infant, truthful I ne'er sewage astir to watching it connected nan large surface though it is simply a cult classic. My older sisters were influenced by nostalgia and wanted to go, truthful I besides joined them,” she said.

Indian Bollywood actors Avinash Tiwari (L) and Tripti Dimr

Similarly, Haasan’s Indian (1996) and Gunaa (1991) besides deed nan theatres this year, arsenic did Chiranjeevi’s Indra (2002) to observe his 69th day and Mohanlal’s Manichitrathazhu (1993).

Ajay Unnikrishnan, a journalist based successful Bengaluru, nan superior of nan confederate Karnataka state, said nan inclination of re-releasing aged classics besides marks “a shape of taste resistance”, peculiarly successful ray of nan mediocre capacity of astir Bollywood flicks today.

“We conscionable saw nan merchandise of nan 3rd sequel of Bhool Bhulaiyaa, a Hindi franchise, only weeks aft nan re-release of Mohanlal’s Manichitrathazhu, nan original Malayalam movie that Bhool Bhulaiyaa is based on. So I spot this arsenic a shape of taste guidance because Manichitrathazhu is nan original. It is truthful different, had much creator value. Bhool Bhulaiyaa appropriated it,” he said.

Unnikrishnan said reruns are not a rarity successful confederate India’s “superstar-driven” industry. “Re-releases person ever been there, it’s conscionable that group are taking much announcement now because coming there’s a dearth of movies pinch celebrated appeal,” he said.

Experts and movie waste and acquisition analysts agree.

Ira Bhaskar, erstwhile professor of cinema studies astatine New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said nan existent arena is only a repackaging of what has agelong existed.

“Before nan era of multiplexes, films were successful truth re-screened very often. If location was a Hindi movie coming retired of Bombay [now Mumbai], it was rather communal to spot that film, opportunity a twelvemonth later successful a smaller metropolis aliases municipality for illustration Varanasi,” Bhaskar told Al Jazeera.

While Adarsh agreed that nan existent inclination is simply a “continuation of what we utilized to witnesser successful nan 1970s and 1980s”, he besides pointed to a important difference: nan influx of online streaming and group switching from 70mm screens to smartphones, forcing theatres to compete pinch different viewing options.

“But I don’t deliberation there’s immoderate title because cinema is cinema. The emotion of watching a movie connected a large surface is truthful unsocial and simply can’t beryllium matched. There will ever beryllium group who want that,” he told Al Jazeera.

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